Three days later.

The wind of late February swept through the towering buildings of the imperial capital of Herrom, and in the winter morning air, the huge buildings of the Knights of Silence stood solemnly and majesticly.

The building's towering minaret rises into the sky, the surface of which is engraved with ancient legends of the battle against demons, and the snow-white stone walls are covered with a thin layer of frost, making it even more mysterious.

Approaching the gate, two knights in dark gray heavy armor and spears stood here, the metal pattern inlaid with the carved metal pattern of the door several meters high was the holy seal of the Silent Branch—the cold gray totem was made of a hollow eyeball in the center, and although it had no pupils, it emitted a faint light, as if it was the last glimmer of hope to be swallowed by it, and several twisted, intertwined chain vines were entwined around the edges, and these vines were surrounded by sharp thorns that held it firmly in place.

Once a taboo existence in the Northern Continent, the Silent Branch now has an office in the imperial capital of Herrom, and its name has finally been designated as the Temple of the Knights of Silence.

The clergy who worked here were mainly responsible for coordinating and logistics with the imperial capital Herrom in other provincial branches, and had recently screened out new clergy who wanted to join the Silent Branch.

After the Resurrection Church as a whole obtained the security clearance in the Protos Empire, the three branches under the three bishops who were interested in fighting for the status of the talker were all rapidly expanding in the empire, and many people who were already in the gray area had direct channels to join the big ship of the Resurrection Church.

Yesterday, a preliminary examination of the Protestant priesthood was held here.

The complete assessment content is divided into the preliminary examination, the re-examination, and the final assessment.

The content of the preliminary examination that has been completed so far is the conceptual written test.

The Annihilation Branch will notify those who passed yesterday's written exam this morning.

In the afternoon, the re-examination and the final assessment will be conducted at the same time.

Although it may seem tight, the high level of execution that the priests need is also a basic criterion for their extinction branch.

When the doors of the Temple of the Knights of Silence slowly opened, a wide hall was revealed, huge chandeliers hung from the high dome, emitting a white glow, and the surrounding walls were covered with paintings depicting the deeds of the Resurrection Church in the Holy War in the Northern Continent.

Arched doors lead to the rooms inside, and the deepest part of the corridor leads to the council chamber.

The main chamber is the most majestic place in the Order of the Dead Knights, with its tall doors made of sturdy oak and a large round table hall behind it, with high windows that let in natural light and let sunlight shine through the glass on the tables and walls.

Even though it was still morning, several of the High Priests of the Silent Branch were already sitting around the table, their faces grim, and the Holy Seal Pendant on their chests that shimmered purple was a testament to their status.

On the table were stacks of sorted rolls and folders, detailing the identity information and assessment results of the Protos Empire who had taken the preliminary examination yesterday.

In the center of the hall, a middle-aged man in a dark gray robe was looking through it, wearing a ring made of bones in his hand, touching the pages from time to time.

He occasionally looked up to ask for the opinions of the other two archclericals beside him, while a young knight in dark gray armor recorded the conversations of several archclericals with a pen, and the other two archclericals each held several papers in their hands, discussing the results of a certain candidate from time to time.

The atmosphere in the room was solemn, and every priest knew that this assessment was part of the expansion of the Silent Branch's power in the Empire, and whether or not they could select talents who could adapt to the new policy of the Empire could have a great impact on whether the Silent Branch could win the bishop's election in more than two months.

Under the current situation and policies of the Protos Empire, they need more manpower that is good at planning or strategy than forces that are good at frontal combat.

The middle-aged man in charge of this work in the council chamber, the archpriest of Caius, is at the heart of the decision, and everyone else is waiting for his final decision.

In addition to examining the candidate's wisdom, learning ability, and basic skills, the objective and subjective questions of the written test can also analyze the candidate's essence, personality, and style of action to a certain extent.

"I didn't expect him to pass the exam, it seems that he has done his homework."

Archpriest Caius pulled out a test paper and compared it with a matching resume, commenting.

Each candidate has a special intelligence officer from the church to check his or her resume.

I saw that in the document in the hands of the archpriest of Caius, the name column reads [Iron Fist] Serio, and the photo on the side is a burly, dark brown skinned, with a single horn on the top of the head, and a heavy black and gold bracelet on the wrist.

Intelligence wrote that he was a famous gladiator who was banned for brutal killings on the field, showing that he had an almost insane love of fighting, but also disdained to attack the weak, such as not hurting children and women, and had been imprisoned several times.

"It's a desperate guy in this country, but our resurrection church doesn't reject the half-demons very much."

The Grand Priest, who was sitting next to Caius, took the paper, which had a score of 65 just five points above the passing mark, and smiled slightly.

"If the Decepticon branch also has a new move, he's more likely to go there."

Another archclerical commented.

Generally speaking, the Deceptive Branch would fight with them openly and secretly, especially now that they are in a clear relationship of competing interests, but this time, surprisingly, the Deceptive Branch did not start recruiting new priests in the Imperial Capital.

"Those idiots were probably scared of our people and then sneaked in, but this time they were extra cautious."

"But beware of the Overlord Branch's people making trouble."

Caius said indifferently, sifted out a few unqualified test papers, and picked up a test paper with a passing score again.

Originally, the Silent Annihilation Branch and the Overlord Branch were both wanted targets of the Empire, and they had nothing to fear, and they could directly use killers against each other.

Now both sides cannot directly use force in the empire, but the Deceptive branch has repeatedly fallen into passivity, and has been assassinated by the clergy of the Silent Branch.

It's not that the clerics of the Deceptive branch are not as smart as them, it's just that their doctrine and character dictate that they like conspiracy, while the Annihilation branch is good at conspiracy.

Domineering Catholicism is not a character that will tolerate it.

It seems that he has not done anything now, but as soon as he finds an opportunity, he will settle accounts with the Bishop of Silence.

On top of another resume picked up by Caius was a young man named [Tongue of Fire] Redor, with long red hair and wearing a black priest's robe.

The message reads that he is believed to be a dangerous fire mage who has burned down an entire village for no specific reason, and that he has an irritable and impulsive personality.

"It can be seen that he is a copycat of Bishop Destruction Ivanos, as if his hair is also dyed, in order to be more like Bishop Destruction."

Caius's voice was a little helpless.

Although this candidate seems to have a mental problem, his score is not bad, with a full 76 points.

It can be seen that his qualifications and chaos as a bad party are extremely high.

"If this guy is in the Southern Continent, I'm afraid he will follow the Destruction Branch."

"It's a pity, according to the character of Bishop Ivanos, if you see someone imitating him, you will probably turn him to ashes or kill him in the most cruel way."

"But the heavyweights should still be behind, these two can only be said to have their own characteristics."

The other two archclericals also laughed.

(End of chapter)