While the Crusaders crush the undead army, thousands of miles away in the holy city of Lancelot, the lich Elzam emerges from the portal.

The city, named after Lancelot, is the headquarters of the Lancelot Order, and there are only two kinds of people in the entire city: church personnel and pilgrims.

In the center of the city is the resplendent Lancelot Temple, from which all the roads of the city radiate as if the sun were shining brightly.

Because Lanelot's priests would provide free medical treatment to the people of the Holy City, many dignitaries would choose to die here - even if they had the financial and power to the same level, they would not have access to the same level of medical care in their own country.

So the holy city of Lancelot has a large number of luxurious estates, which are in stark contrast to the dilapidated houses built by ordinary pilgrims, all of which are equally bathed in the glow of Lancelot.

Lancelot's theologians believe that this is the embodiment of Lancelot's teachings.

As soon as Elzam stepped out of the portal, he saw three clergy dressed in gold-trimmed robes.

The old man in the middle, wearing a white top hat with Lancelot's emblem.

Elzam quipped, "More than once I have felt that the 'crown' of the Lancelot Pope is like a tulip that has not opened. ”

Old man: "Although Your Excellency has the tone of an acquaintance, I don't know Your Excellency. ”

Elzam: "yes, the last time I was here, you weren't born yet. Why hasn't the Lancelot Order been developing followers among the elves, if it's an elven pope, I can talk to him every time I come. ”

The Pope smiled slightly: "Unfortunately, the elves have their own beliefs, and they are still very loyal to their patrons, only the half-elves will become believers in my lord." ”

Elzam: "Half-elves are fine, at least for a few hundred years."

"Actually, I've always found it strange that elves have their own protectors, dwarves have their own protectors, and even so many dwarfs of the unbelievers have their own protectors.

"Very few of these races believe in a god other than their protectors. But human beings are different, human beings have no shelterers, and corresponding human beings will believe in various gods. This is very strange if you make a longitudinal comparison between races. ”

Pope: "This is a false proposition, there are so many dwarves who do not believe in the Torrag, and there are even dwarfs who do not believe in Caris Newman, and even form an Explorer's Guild with members all over the world." ”

Elzam: "But humans really don't have patronus......

The Pope interrupted it: "Your Excellency, have you come to discuss theology with me?" ”

Elzam: "That's one of the purposes. In fact, many of you who have the title of Holy One have had a good conversation with me. I have reason to believe that my presence has inspired your philosophical research. ”

Mages study how magic works in preparation for physical reproduction, while priests study how magic works mainly in philosophical inquiry.

This is mainly because the ascension of a priest is based solely on devotion to God, but there is no quantifiable measure of piety. Lancelot also never told the pastors how to ascend.

Therefore, believers have developed many "paths" that are said to be able to ascend to the ring, some of them accumulate good karma and sow Lancelot's blessings, some of them hide in seminaries to think about philosophy, and some of them pay attention to a deliberate plan to expand Lancelot's sphere of influence.

No matter which way it went, someone eventually arrived at the Ninth Ring Road.

Some even claim to have become Lancelot's electors and envoys, but in official records, Lancelot never performed miracles to confirm the identity of these people.

And so a new theory was born: Lancelot is like the sun, shining on all equals, good and bad.

A lich inspired the philosophical studies of Lancelot's theologians, and that's not something hard to accept.

The Pope spoke: "Although I can see that your interest is high. But I'm not interested in talking to you for a long time, I'm old, and it's hard to stand like this. ”

Elzam: "I understand your feelings, I've aged too. At that time, I was too old to hold the pen and could only hold it with the mage's hand, but my concentration was also decreasing, not to mention maintaining a spell that required concentration like Ice Storm, and even maintaining the mage's hand.

"Considering that there is still so much research to be done, I have no choice but to choose lichification in the end."

Pope: Are you here to repent?" ”

"Of course not. The sins I have committed can be finished by repentance, and even a good-natured god like Lancelot cannot forgive me. The lich let its jaw click on the roof of its jaw, which was its "laughter", "I can only say that I was naïve in the past." ”

It paused, and said what the church wanted to cover up anyway: "In the past, I thought that the good character I had accumulated as a priest in Lancelot for so long would make me a good lich.

"I can't help but become a link between the undead and the living. Think of it, what a wonderful sight it was, the living and the dead still living together. Since then, there has been no life or death.

However, this is not the case. The living believe that the resurrection of their dead loved ones is a blasphemy against them, and they cannot tolerate their loved ones who have become ugly zombies.

"If the reaction of the living is because of their subjective feelings. The reaction of the dead is instinctive, and they instinctively devour the living and let the living join their side.

"Good lichs don't exist, and the longer I resist, the stronger my instincts only grow. I've even begun to hate the Born, and every time I've been surrounded and suppressed, I can see the Born pulling each other's backs and calculating with each other.

"In comparison, my army of the dead is much better than theirs, united as one, and each individual is serving the interests of the group."

The Pope finally interrupted Elzam's words: "Your army of the dead has been crushed more than once by the living who are pulling each other's hind legs. ”

Elzam: "yes, so I've been thinking about a question, why? The answer is initiative. Although the undead army will not pull each other's legs, it has also lost the explosive power brought by subjective initiative.

"They acted on my orders. Do you understand? I'm the one who affects the undead army, I'm just a mage nesting in the research room, a priest who can't even wield a meteor hammer, and I can't even wear heavy armor.

"How can an undead under my control be able to defeat the Crusaders. On the contrary, look at the one who is, the shadow land he built is still fine. ”

Elzam: "So over the years, I've been researching how to make the undead army have subjective initiative. I've tried to resurrect the great generals of history and let them lead my army.

"But it failed, and the performance of the famous generals was not much different from that of ordinary death knights.

"I tried to transform a ghost that wasn't under my control with a special soul, and it disintegrated."

"Enough!" Once again, the Pope interrupted Elzam, "We've talked enough. No matter what you've tried, I'm not interested! Let's get straight to the point. ”

Elzam: "Why do you think I'm not getting to the point?" I thought about it for a long time before I thought of a way to enter the treasure trove. Even if I transfer most of the paladins and priests of the temple, there will definitely be the strongest priest in the world, that is, the Pope, to stop me.

"With my fighting ability, it is basically impossible to defeat the strongest priest in the world. So the Order's treasure trove is a place I'll never be able to touch.

"But why should I fight you. As I said, I've been cultivating the undead with subjective initiative, and now it's time to test the results! ”

The Pope and the two cardinals next to him immediately became alarmed.

The next moment, the treasure vault's defenses suddenly activated, and the entire treasure vault was completely shrouded in holy light.

Then a dark shadow appeared in front of Elzam, and blue flames danced at the edge of the black shadow, and it was rapidly shrinking under the erosion of the flames.

Elzam raised his forehead: "It seems that the shadow created by gathering such a powerful aura of death still can't pass the defense of the treasure vault." ”

The pope and the cardinal looked at each other.

At this time, the cardinal on the right finally couldn't bear it: "What exactly do you want to take from the treasure house?" Every one or two hundred years, you're going to invade the treasure vault, what appeals to you so much? Is it Karzath's Horn of Magical Energy? ”

Irzam didn't answer, but raised his hand: "Now you can only break through, time stops!" ”

**

After some time.

Dragging his weakened body, the Pope came to the dregs of the lich, and after careful observation, he announced: "The lich Elzam Malcolm has been slain again. ”

The Chief Cardinal muttered, "At the end of the day, we still don't know why this lich is in the treasury. ”

The second cardinal said disapprehantly: "There are so many things in the treasure vault that can be targeted by evil creatures, and any one of them that is snatched by the lich will form a danger worthy of extinction." ”

Chief Cardinal: "But...... I still find it strange, but after reading the Order's record of Elzam, I have the feeling that his attack on the treasure vault is like clocking in at work, and he is destroyed by the guards after he attacks. ”

Second Place: "After all, it is a lich, it has infinite life, and even if it is destroyed, it will be resurrected." Didn't he say it himself, undead creatures don't have subjective initiative......"

"It's talking about the undead that it controls." The Chief Cardinal corrected.

At this time, the Pope spoke: "From another point of view, our Order has to thank it, every one or two hundred years, it will make a big event, and every time the Immortal Army Order that suppresses it will greatly increase its prestige in the whole continent." ”

Second Place: "The defense of the treasure vault will also be strengthened." ”

Chief: "The only regret is that we have not been able to find its life box, and there is no way to completely destroy it......"

Suddenly, the Chief Cardinal stopped: "I can't find the life box?" Your Excellency, the Pope, regarding what it just said that he was once a priest of Lancelot......"

"That's an absolute lie. Our Lord never shares His blessings with the Wizards. The Pope said firmly.

When a pastor obtains divine magic, he is actually sharing God's grace.

A mage can also be a priest if he is religious. However, these generally happen to low-level mages, because the stronger the mage, the more they understand the nature of the world, and the more they understand the world, the weaker their faith becomes.

Conversely, the more religious a person is, the less likely he is to understand the nature of the world (*)

But Lancelot never shared his favor with a mage, and as long as he was a mage, he could not become a priest of Lancelot.

To this day, no one knows why this is happening.

However, since there is a god who gives himself the ability to give orders like Kailin, there are naturally gods who don't like mages.

The Chief Cardinal touched his chin and thought for a moment before saying, "Is it possible...... I mean, let's say, Elzam's life box is actually in our treasure trove. Every time he does something, it's so that we are stronger and the treasury is better protected......"

The Pope was furious and struck the ground with the scepter in his hand: "How dare you say such blasphemous words! How could my lord have kept a lich's lifebox in his treasury! ”

The Chief Cardinal hurriedly bowed and apologized: "I'm sorry, but I owe it to me. ”

The Pope continued to growl: "Do you want to say that my lord is in cahoots with a lich and raises self-respect? How can you, as the chief cardinal, say such blasphemous words! ”

At this time, the second seat said, "But...... As a result, the stronger we are, the more believers we have, the more we can help more people. The Treasury's defenses have been enhanced, and it can also make it difficult for other World-Destroying Seal items to be stolen.

"In fact, there has been no record of theft in the treasury for thousands of years, only the fallen priests guarding and stealing themselves."

The Pope continued to pound his scepter on the ground, knocking it a few times before suddenly coughing violently before falling forward.

The rage had clearly drained his already scarce physical strength.

Seeing this, the two cardinals hurriedly performed healing techniques. However, Lancelot's healing technique would not interfere with natural death, and the depleted Pope opened his mouth wide and tried to take a breath.

At this time, if there is medical technology in some technologically advanced planes, probably the Pope can still rescue it.

But this is Garia, the plane of the idealistic side.

Their medical techniques were also in a very primitive state due to the presence of healing potions, healing techniques, and other spells.

So the two cardinals could do nothing but call in the probationary priest to carry the pope to the bed.

They could only watch the Pope die—no, walk into Lancelot's temple.

Of course, as the hero who personally killed a thousand-year-old lich, the Pope is probably about to be canonized.

**

Elzam perceived it through his own soul.

"The chief cardinal is quite flexible." It thinks.

"It's a pity that there are too many things preventing him from re-examining the treasures in the treasure vault. The clock-ins and clock-ins that have been in place every 100 years are finally over, and I'm such an evil lich. ”

As a result, the lich's soul fell into a deep sleep in Lancelot's treasure vault, waiting to be awakened next time.

In this way, I explain why the more part-time priests there are, the higher the level of mages. How's that, not bad, right? Of course, in the game, it is the upper limit of level 20, and if you work part-time, the priest and mage level stream will definitely not be high.

This mustache setting also explains why Ilminster is only a third-level priest

(End of chapter)