Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 599 Meeting
When Stuart saw the two figures walking towards him, he turned his head away and stopped talking to Luo Xiu.

His expression also became solemn until the two figures—the commanders of the expeditionary forces of Kuma Territory and Winston Territory, the two "Knights of Heaven"—came before them.

“I just received your report, Stuart.”

The fatter—or rather, the more physically robust Sky Knight—spoke to Stuart.

On the other side, the even thinner—like a bamboo pole encased in steel—with a gloomy expression, was the Sky Knight. His gaze was fixed directly on Luo Xiu, and he said:

"Is he the archbishop, the 'Ancient Dragon Bishop' Rosh Carlos?"

"..."

Luo Xiu looked at them.

The slightly thinner "Knight of the Sky," Gillan Winston, is the current commander of the Winston Expeditionary Force. He is the younger brother of the Marquis of Winston and also an earl granted a title by the Emperor.

He wore a pure black body armor, the surface of which was not even carved with any patterns. His skin was also a deep bronze color, as if forged from bronze and iron.

He was hunched over, but he didn't appear weak; instead, he exuded a taut, ready-to-strike a bowstring. A curved blade was tucked into his waistband, and his right hand never left the hilt, poised to draw the sword at any moment.

Compared to [Supreme]—to be honest, this Commander Gilan Winston is more like an assassin from [Bitter Tea]. If it weren't for the deep red glint in his eyes and the occasional crimson glow on the surface of his curved blade, he could easily be mistaken for someone else.

Although he appeared thin, his strength was considerable. In Luo Xiu's immediate panel scan, his level was lv.76, making him second only to Stuart among the [Supreme] "Sixfold Fate" Saints Luo Xiu had ever seen.

“It’s an honor to meet you. I am Rosh Carlos.”

Looking at the Sky Knight before him, Luo Xiu extended his right hand to Gilan Winston.

"..." Jilan seemed to hesitate for a moment, his gaze towards Luo Xiu became more profound, and he also extended his right hand to Luo Xiu.

“...Gillian Winston.”

As they gently clasped hands, Luo Xiu felt a slight stinging sensation in his palms, but this strange feeling quickly disappeared, and a look of surprise appeared on the face of Gillan Winston in front of him.

"……Well."

Jilan took the initiative to let go of his hand.

“You’re quite good… Rosh Carlos, right? I’ll remember you.”

"..."

Luo Xiu returned the smile to the Sky Knight in front of him, and then shifted his gaze from Gilan Winston's face to the robust Sky Knight.

Oc Zewell, the "Knight of the Sky," is the commander of the Kumar Expeditionary Force.

Upon seeing him for the first time, Luo Xiu was reminded of the sumo wrestler from the island nation in his previous life—October Xavier, who had a physique that was no less impressive. In fact, his seemingly dizzying body was not just piled with fat, but rather full of muscle.

He wore heavy plate armor, like a vest, while his two massive, beast-like arms were completely exposed. It is said that blacksmiths had forged arm armor for him, but Ork ultimately rejected it—he said that the arm armor restricted his movement and prevented him from swinging his battle axe, which weighed thousands of pounds.

This information about Oak Xavier was mainly what Stuart had outlined to Luo Xiu during the journey—while Luo Xiu actually knew much more.

Oak Xavier is more famous than Gillan Winston because Oak, as deputy commander, quelled the "Bloody Declaration."

That was at the beginning of the "Judgment War," when an independent rebellion broke out in Kuma territory. At that time, Emperor Augustusville sent the Divine Seal Knights to Kuma territory to quell the rebellion. Oak Xavier was the deputy commander of the suppression army and the vanguard in retaking the territory.

He beheaded the "Order Killer" who had usurped the lord's position, and also the executioner behind the "Bloody Declaration." He was credited with suppressing the "Bloody Declaration" rebellion, and therefore, Emperor Augustusville exceptionally granted him the position of acting lord of Kuma.

If the trial war ends in victory, Oak Xavier will truly become the new lord of Kuma. He will also be promoted to "Marquis," possessing the hereditary right to govern and tax Kuma.

"..."

“I am Oak Xavier, and currently, I am the commander of the Kuma Expeditionary Force.”

Before Luo Xiu greeted the Heavenly Knight before him, Oak Xavier greeted Luo Xiu first—

“I have heard of you, Rosh Carlos. I have heard of your many achievements in the war. Ah, if those are true, perhaps the Imperial Court will summon you to the Emperor and bestow upon you a title.”

"..."

Oak Xavier seemed friendly. After saying this, he raised his right hand and patted Luo Xiu's shoulder somewhat heavily.

It felt like a boulder falling from a thousand-foot cliff, crashing heavily onto his shoulder—but Luo Xiu didn't bend down because of this, he just raised his head slightly and looked into Oak Xavier's dark red eyes.

However, Oak felt a violent push from his right hand. It made his hand, which had just patted Luo Xiu's shoulder, bounce back like a spring, and he felt a faint throbbing pain in his palm.

"……Um?"

Oak Xavier and another "Knight of the Sky," Gillan Winston, both showed the same astonishment.

They were all astonished by the bishop before them—astonished by his seemingly inexplicably strong physique. Although they had heard rumors before, this was the first time they had witnessed it firsthand.

“Gilan, he is indeed very good.”

Oak tilted his head and looked at the other knight who was traveling with him, while Gilan closed his eyes.

Oak looked at Luo Xiu again and said:

“I will remember you too, Lord Rosh Carlos.”

“Stuart, you have indeed brought us a good friend. Hmm, Lord Rosh. Gilan and I will take you on a tour of the Kuma and Winston garrisons.”

After saying that, Oak turned around and walked towards the cluster of military tents behind him.

Gillan glanced at Luo Xiu sideways, said nothing, and then turned around to follow Oak Xavier.

“…You did that to them,” Stuart said from behind Rosh:
"Commander Winston, Gillan Winston, and Commander of the Kumar Army, Oak Xavier, what are your impressions of them?"

"They are very strong, Lord Stuart," Luo Xiu replied with a forced smile.
“I can sense that they are all very strong and reliable allies. It’s just… they seem a little unapproachable.”

"..."

“Difficult to approach…” Stuart murmured.

This is a very common and standard assessment of the "supreme".

As one journeys further and deeper into destiny, humanity diminishes while divinity increases. The highest form of divinity is to regard all others as pawns, as those who can be controlled, rather than as companions on the same path.

Stuart knew this, because he was like that himself—so he said nothing, only speaking to Rosius:

"Let's go."

"Let's go with Lord Gillan and Lord Oak to their military tents."

"With the decisive battle imminent, we do need to understand each other better. Also, they have intelligence to share with you."

“Okay.” Luo Xiu nodded. He and Stuart then walked into the military camp in front of them to observe the encampments of the Kumar and Winston expeditionary forces and learn more from the two commanders.

……

We traveled until the afternoon.

Luo Xiu and Stuart finished inspecting the two expeditionary force encampments.

Luo Xiu has learned about the configuration of the expeditionary forces from Kuma Territory and Winston Territory, as well as the roles they will play in the decisive battle.

The Kumar Expeditionary Force, under the vanguard of Oak Xavier, comprises an elite heavy cavalry regiment. It will charge at the forefront, dividing the enemy into several dispersed forces and creating firepower advantages for the main forces behind them.

Meanwhile, the Winston Expeditionary Force—led by Gillan Winston—was a "decapitation squad." The Winston Expeditionary Force was small in number, actually only three thousand men, but all of them were extraordinary individuals.

They were tasked with carrying out various decapitation missions, as well as supervising the army, investigating, and hunting down spies. Their operations didn't just begin during the final battle; in fact, they started even before it started. In the few days he had been stationed on the outskirts of Dark City, Gillan Winston had successfully carried out six decapitation missions, beheading six executioners of the Dark Army.

Luo Xiu had learned these things from them, and then he returned to the Songyuan Expeditionary Force's camp with Stuart to continue organizing the existing intelligence and wait for Pope Lorend's arrival and to meet with the paladins of the "Godhunter" Templar Order.

……

The next day.

In the bishop's tent, Luo Xiu, who had arrived early to handle matters concerning the expeditionary church, received a message from his "guiding priest," Koren—

The "Holy Crown" Pope Laurent has arrived.

He had just arrived, indeed delayed by some matter en route, arriving a day late. Pope Laurent, upon his arrival, immediately summoned all the saints from the various expeditionary forces to the central headquarters, the "Holy Court" headquarters, for a meeting.

Luo Xiu was also among those summoned—Koren brought Luo Xiu an envoy from the "Holy Court," another archbishop from the Holy Court, who extended an invitation to Luo Xiu.

Luo Xiu then stopped what he was doing and went with the archbishop to the "Holy Court" headquarters.

……

This was Rothschild's first visit to Pope Lord Laurent.

Even he couldn't help feeling a little uneasy—he was about to have his first audience with a "demigod"!
He had previously told Daveld and Monigne, the "Sword of the Holy Land," that once the Judgment War ended, he would go to the Imperial Capital and the "Holy Court" to pay homage to the Pope.

Normally, any saint who advances to the sixth level of the [Radiant] destiny must meet with that Pope. However, because it is a special period of the Judgment War, Luo Xiu, as an archbishop who was promoted during the war, has the authority to make special arrangements.

And now—he will first pay homage to the Pope before the final battle. This is earlier than Luo Xiu had expected, and he is not quite sure whether the Pope will be able to see the aura of the [Abyss] within him.

"..."

Luo Xiu had such concerns.

He recently accumulated over 300 free attribute points, which he then added to the "Resistance" attribute, bringing its value to 5,500. Saints of the "Sevenfold Fate" can no longer see themselves clearly with such a high "Resistance" attribute, and even demigods would find it difficult to see the whole picture.

Since demigods of [Radiance] are not particularly skilled at detection, Luo Xiu knew that the Pope's "Perception" attribute shouldn't be too high; as one of his lower attributes, five thousand points would be about right.

Luo Xiu thought to himself.

He was still on his way to the central headquarters, with the Holy Archbishop, "Holy Bishop of Fire" Levins, guiding him. Levins was a man who looked kind and gentle.

He held a sacred text in his hands, a rubbing of the Holy Relic of the Holy Court, the "Radiant Holy Relic." Like the "Abyss Holy Relic" held by Luo Xiu, the "Radiant Holy Relic" was a sacred relic that recorded all the divine arts and knowledge of the [Radiant] destiny.

However, the original text of the Radiant Scripture has long been lost, and even the Radiant Scripture held by the current Pope of Lorend is only a fragment of its original rubbing.

The Holy Scripture of Radiance currently held by the saints of the Holy Court is a copy of the scripture held by Pope Lorend, and compared with the original, it retains only a very weak effect.

"Lord Rosh Carlos,"

"Holy Bishop Levins of the Fire Worship" slowed his pace and said to Luo Xiu:
"It seems you have never had an audience with the Pope. I have been instructed by His Holiness the Pope to invite you to come and hear the sacred teachings."

“I am honored,” Luo Xiu replied respectfully.

Levins spoke to him first. Luo Xiu then followed up by asking:

What should I be careful about?

"..."

"Listen more, talk less," Levins said calmly.
“We rarely have the opportunity to see the Pope. Every time he appears and preaches, it is of great benefit to us. Lord Rosius Carlos, you are a young saint, so just remember this one piece of advice.”

"His Holiness the Pope sent me to invite you, which shows how highly he values ​​you. Lord Rosius Carlos, we look forward to your performance."

"..."

“I’ve got it.” Luo Xiu nodded.

……

Luo Xiu and "Holy Bishop of Fire" Levins have arrived at the Holy Court's residence.

The first thing Luo Xiu saw was a cluster of pure white tents with pure white "holy rings" floating above them. The holy white rings exuded a reassuring and sacred aura, and the clergy were moving among them, carrying out various tasks assigned by the Holy Cardinal Bishops.

Above the heads of all the clergy, a celestial halo radiating pure white light appeared—the effect of the divine domain that had unfolded here, providing various buffs to the clergy.

When Luo Xiu entered the Holy Court's residence, entered the territory of this sacred domain.

The pure white holy halo also appeared above his head, and a corresponding notification was clearly displayed in his status panel—

【圣冕的神恩（高阶增益）：处于“圣冕”的神圣领域中，领受与沐浴来自于祂的恩赐——你的“神性”属性提升30％；“生命值”、“法力值”每秒回复1％基础数值，基础恢复效果提升30％；造成的“圣光”属性伤害提升30％；受到的全属性伤害降低30％……】

【…】

That was the specific effect of the divine realm unfolded by "Pope Laurent" (the Holy One).

As a demigod, the "Holy Crown" domain is the domain permanently occupied by the Pope of Lorend—all clergy within a vast area can receive buffs provided by the Pope, making the Holy Court's residence virtually invincible at this time.

Luo Xiu walked deeper into the Holy Court's territory.

He saw a towering tower in the very center, which had not been there from the beginning—it was a symbol of Pope Laurent's presence and a manifestation of the authority he held.

"The Tower of Saint Laurent,"

Standing before Luo Xiu, "Holy Bishop of Fire" Levins gazed at the tower radiating pure white holy light, a reverent and devout expression on his face, and said to Luo Xiu:

“That is the Holy Tower of His Holiness the Pope, his Holy Throne, and the sanctuary where we worship and venerate.”

"We will go there to meet the Pope and hear his holy pronouncements and teachings."

……

(End of this chapter)