In the morning, the sky was just slightly bright.

Janis went to the Twenty-One Ring with some trepidation.

The higher the country goes, the narrower the ground becomes, and the more sparse the flow of people becomes. The twenty-first ring is like a huge palace...... And this is the nursery of the Virgin-in-Waiting.

After verifying his identity, presenting his token, and registering his blood and soul movements, Janis put on a special gemstone brooch that could be used to take pictures of the whole process, and under the guidance of the two papal guards, he followed the prescribed route to the agreed location.

Each candidate saint girl is from here to carry out all kinds of closed learning, until they learn the ability to communicate with the Nine Pillars God, and the ability is fully cultivated, or any of the data is not up to standard and is eliminated, will not be released.

The cultivation of the saint is extremely rigorous. No failure of any assessment is allowed.

With this high rate of elimination, any qualified girl will be recruited after reaching the age - and the saints who are recruited can be eliminated at any time.

The reason why there are only women is because the top lineage of the "Eternal Virgin" requires that the inheritor must be a pure, indifferent and quiet young woman. Although the Holy Maiden "Pure White" is active outside, there are at least twenty or thirty alternate saintesses inside.

Those who are not eliminated will be considered as alternates. As long as the current saint has an accident, she will immediately choose the best to fill the place.

And the cruel part here is that even if you meet all the criteria, even if you don't make any mistakes, even if you are the best in all the assessments...... But if you end up waiting for the age excess, you will also be eliminated on schedule.

In order to ensure that the mind is pure, it will not be polluted by other thoughts, which will lead to deviations in the path...... The number of people to whom the Saint-in-Candidates have access is limited and investigated, and any conversations with visitors are closely monitored. The dissemination of anomalous ideas to the Virgin-in-Candidate was sentenced to the highest level of punishment in the Ecclesiastical Assembly.

As for Janis, who was a temporary visitor, she was of course not allowed to speak to any of the Saint-Elects. Therefore, she will not meet anyone on this path.

It's all planned.

As she walked through the solemn and silent hallway of the Sanctuary, the sound of the footsteps of the two papal guards rang in her ears. The sound of footsteps echoed through the empty sanctuary—the three of them were the only ones in the corridor hundreds of meters that could accommodate more than twenty people walking side by side.

In the extremely silent environment, even the footsteps of the two of them echoed in the pure white corridor, sounding like thousands of horses.

A thought popped into Janis's head:

Grey had probably made the right thing to do for Gloria to have Miss Blue Rose as a mentor.

Because if Gloria was still studying in the Twenty-First Ring, then Janis would not have been able to see her. I'm afraid the atmosphere here will make Gloria condensed for a long time. Fortunately, I sent her below to recuperate...... It's possible for her to live so long.

Mercedes has lived here for a long time because he refuses to admit defeat, and although he does not have condensation, he also joins the controlled fire.

Controlled Fire is the faction that opposes the Inheritor, and the only Inheritor Mercedes has ever come into contact with is the Eternal Maiden.

Presumably, during her years of penance, she had long hated the inheritance system of the Alternate Holy Maiden.

There is hardly any decoration in the surrounding pure white corridors...... There are no sculptures, no paintings, just identical, protruding flame reliefs and illuminations.

Pure white candles, pure white flames, infinite loops. It looks like it's endless, coming to the end of the world – and the slight upward ramp can be exhausting. The cloisters here are all of such a structure that they are called the "Infinite Cloisters".

The 21st Ring is not signposted, nor is there any device to mark the time.

There is no clock, no sun, moon and stars.

In this case, the saints must remember and always judge the current time through a very regular life, as well as their own state, even the rhythm of their heartbeat and breathing. If the biological clock is confused as a result, it will also be eliminated.

This in itself was one of the penances that gradually dissipated the restlessness of the candidate saints, but it made Janis unable to help but become anxious.

The road never ended, and she felt anxious and uncomfortable.

When she turned the corner and finally saw Grey, Ariston shouted and greeted her:

"—Grey!"

It looks like a huge chapel, but there are no seats for spectators.

The crimson wooden floor, like dried blood. The ceiling was a dull red, and the room was filled with white candles of varying heights—thousands of candles burning quietly, and the room was filled with faint, sacred incense.

I saw the pure white saint wearing her white robe like a wedding dress, kneeling peacefully in front of the nine statues.

She clasped her fingers to her chest, her eyes covered with ribbons. From afar, it looks like a blooming lily.

The two papal guards stopped at the door, and let Janis walk over.

Janis was still very anxious, but when she smelled the incense, her mood gradually calmed down a little. Her hurried footsteps slowed down a little as a result.

"Grey, how are you ......?"

…… Where to meet?

Janis had wanted to ask.

But the Holy Maiden did not look back, and said calmly, "That's how I wait for you every day, Yanis.

"Every day in an infinite loop, I don't know if tomorrow will change. But I can only go on...... You can't be anxious, you can't regret it, you can't give up.

"You've only been walking like this for an hour, and I've been walking for a hundred and ninety-five years."

Ariston fell silent, speechless.

She stood three or four meters away from the Holy Maiden, but she didn't dare to step forward for a while.

She was silent for a long time before she whispered, "I don't know...... You'll always wait for me. ”

"Because I believe in you."

Gray replied, "Janis won't lie to me, she'll definitely come back."

So I waited here...... That's my practice.

"You are my Infinity Corridor."

The saint replied calmly.

Her voice was cold and calm. No anger, no anxiety.

It seems that all feelings have been smoothed out by an infinite loop, and only obsession remains.

“…… I'm sorry. ”

"There is no point in apologizing, Janis. I'd like to hear your explanation. ”

"—that kind of thing is good!"

Janis couldn't help but feel the emotions that were beating in her heart—guilt, repentance, anxiety, fear. The incomparably complex emotions made her feel tormented, and she wanted to pull her heart out of her chest and carve the clutch poem with a paintbrush.

When she was promoted to the fifth energy level, becoming a powerful person in this world, and being revered as a master, she had never had such a vulnerable moment.

She even thought she had grown up and would never be afraid again.

But now, Janis found that it was just that she hadn't touched what she cared about. That's simply because she's strong enough to lose what she holds dear so easily.

She clenched the jeweled brooch on her chest, but she was determined to speak. She tells Grey the secrets of the Wine of Eternal Life and the Tears of Time, and tells her the secret of the theft of the Tears of Time.

- If this will lead to Freya being held accountable, then she will be held accountable - to get her to safety at all costs. Janis had made up her mind.

She's already sorry for Grey, and now she has to tell Grey about it.

Hearing this, Grey was silent for a long time.

"So you care so much about me."

She ignored the anxious Janis and just whispered, "Why didn't you come back?" ”

“…… Because of my cowardice. ”

This time, Janis finally gave her own answer: "I can't face the first mistake head-on...... Mistakes on top of mistakes. ”

Finally, Grey got up from the ground.

She turned around and said calmly, "Get on your knees." ”

Janis knelt down in front of Grey without hesitation.

Grey reached out her hands and stroked Janis's cheeks. Hold up Janis's face and make her look into her eyes.

Janis didn't know why at first, but after holding this position for a while, she suddenly realized something - her pupils suddenly dilated.

The corners of Grey's mouth rose slightly.

"Then I forgive you, Janis."

Grey's cold and calm voice echoed, "In the name of pure whiteness, I forgive your sins. ”

At that moment, Janis felt something heavy in her heart suddenly disappear.

But she couldn't wait to breathe a sigh of relief for herself to get through, and instead looked directly at Grey, with fear streaming in her eyes: "Is it ......?"

"—I'm not afraid of that kind of thing."

The pure white saint said, untying the white cloth belt that tied her eyes: "Because I can no longer succeed the pope, once it is revealed, the impact on the church will be too bad."

"All cardinals know about it. In this case, I am unlikely to be attacked...... Because that would have covered up the fact that I had spontaneously condensed, and the impact on the attackers would be even worse. ”

She slowly opened her eyes.

I saw that her left eye was a beautiful sky blue, and her right eye was as black as the starry sky of the universe.

Her eyelid was partially broken, and her right eye could no longer be fully closed or fully opened. A prosthetic eye that looks like a glass bead.

“…… You're already condensed. ”

Janis's face turned ugly: "It's because ...... Me? ”

Although there is no detailed research, the color of the curdling is basically related to the path.

Black, on the other hand, is the color of the path of love.

"Don't be sentimental. I can't live without you, Janis. ”

Pure White closed his eyes again and tied the silk layer by layer. Janis immediately got up and walked behind her to help her tie up.

"I was just thinking...... That's it. You deserters won't understand it either. ”

The saint was about to say something, but "looked" at Janis and finally gave up.

She reached out and crushed the jeweled brooch on Janis's chest, "These conversations may cause trouble for you and Master Freya. Then don't turn this thing in...... If you ask, you will say that we fought, and I broke it for you. ”

“…… No problem? ”

"As a saint, I still have this power."

Pure white replied.

"Oh, yes."

Hearing Freya, Janis remembered something else: "Ivus's dates—do you still have them?" ”

"Yes. I only took it twice and haven't taken it again since. ”

The saint nodded: "If I eat them, maybe it will be possible to cure the coagulation." But after two doses, I felt like the amount was not enough.

"I don't know how long they'll last or if they'll continue to be born. In that case, it is better to preserve them for posterity...... It may be useful to the elves in the future. So I prayed to the power of amber and saved them. It's okay to keep it for at least a few hundred years. ”

"You're glad you didn't continue to take ......"

Janis was a little scared, and then explained Freya's theory.

Chunbai was silent for a while, and finally shook his head: "Don't worry too much, that's just a theory."

"However, since Master Freya is here...... Just leave them to the professionals. ”

As she spoke, she pulled out a blue gemstone ring: "They're in there." ”

"That'...... What about Cardinal Loki? ”

"An investigation is underway, and the results are optimistic."

The corners of the pure white mouth rose slightly: "The Eighteen Rings have been able to confirm that Bremm's giant power comes from Cardinal Loki." The evidence has been fixed. Whether or not I can succeed the Pope in the end, he will definitely not be able to. ”

“…… What? ”

Hearing this, Janis was stunned: "Cardinal Loki is a wildfire giant? ”

She thought of Evas, who had gone to Cardinal Loki alone, and became nervous: "Wait a minute, then you can come with me first-

"Ivus has gone to Cardinal Loki!"

(End of chapter)