A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 319 Stone Wall
At noon, when the sun should have been shining brightly, dark clouds gradually gathered in the sky, and the air was filled with the damp smell unique to before a heavy rain. Crickets were chirping in the grass.

Quinn knew a hurricane was coming; the city was in an uproar, with squads of law enforcement officers carrying riot shields heading to checkpoints to prevent Westville residents from storming Eastville. Asville was a mountain, and no matter how strong the wind and rain, the mountaintop town was not at risk of flooding. The only concern was that some might take advantage of the chaos to steal and loot; such incidents were common during past storms, even if it blocked more people coming up for refuge or help. This was the city hall's usual approach to disaster situations.

As a modern man, Quinn wasn't particularly afraid of windstorms or snowstorms, since he had reinforced concrete buildings to shelter him from the wind and rain. He had no idea what the "hurricane" in the newspapers actually was—was it a gale, a typhoon, or a tornado? The damage photos in the newspapers mostly indicated typhoon strength, and even rare large typhoons at that. But for him, this was actually a good thing, providing natural cover for the demons' prayers tomorrow.

Swish, swish.
Quinn, wielding a switchblade, cut through the weeds blocking his path. It was hard to imagine that such a wild, forest-like area existed in the bustling city of Eastwell.

In his other hand, he held a map from 1415 in Eswell. It had taken some effort to find this map, which was thirty years ago. Apart from the unfinished octagonal airport, there was a prominent landmark on the map—the Church of Light in Eswell.

To accommodate the followers of Westwell, most other cults chose to locate their churches at the border of East and Westwell, in the hillside area. However, the Vatican's church is located on the mountaintop. This is perhaps the oldest church in Westwell, dating back 1,400 years. At that time, Westwell was just a crater mountain devoid of human inhabitants. Perhaps the location of the church storing the sacred fire was chosen to defend against demonic attacks.

The Church of Light is located opposite the White Church's St. Mary's Private College. To reach it, one must walk along the lakeside promenade to the easternmost part of the city, which is also the direction in which the sun travels.

The church site was extremely large, and before it was demolished, it probably had a square like the Guishu Church. But now it has become a wasteland overgrown with weeds, and even the paving stones have probably been pried off.

Quinn had only come to the church ruins to try his luck, fully aware of the danger of what he was about to do tomorrow. He didn't know what other means the Demon Lord had to interfere with Temuran besides Command Spells. The system's solutions were always perplexing, but based on past experience, they would surely be able to trigger causes and effects that he couldn't fathom.

Once the demonic prayer is performed, even if Quinn makes every effort to prepare using the knowledge he has acquired during this period, he dares not gamble that the academy will not notice. In the worst-case scenario, he, the demonic spy, will be sent directly to the stake.

But he had no choice but to do it.

Whether it was for Celia or for the girl who showed him pity before she died, Quinn coldly swung his knife and chopped at the grass. He didn't want to see the memories of the dead reappear in another world in such an ugly way as "contamination".

For this, he needs to do everything in his power, including advancing to the shrouded Sequence Six of the Warriors.

These weeds generally grew to the height of a person, and were plants that did not exist on Earth, and were extremely rare even in the forests that Temuran Quinn had walked through. He had seen this kind of grass in the ancient books of the Academy, mostly in the prehistoric era known as the "Lost Era," and such grass appeared in the forest paintings depicting that era.

Towering ancient trees, rampant wild grass, poisonous flowers and swamps, and almost endless forests cover the mountains. This is the homeland of the elves in the so-called post-mythological era.

Quinn took the photograph out of his inner pocket. The resin cover that preserved the photograph was already a bit yellowed. The photograph showed a magnificent church building, in which he could find the familiar Baroque and Gothic styles with their intricate artistry, which reminded him of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris that had been burned down.

Above the church, there is a blurry, out-of-focus spot of light. That is probably the sacred flame that has been burning for 1,400 years and which even the demon army that stormed the mountaintop could not extinguish. For some reason, the camera that took the picture could not capture its original appearance, probably just like sunlight, which cannot be captured.

In modern Western countries, such a building would take years to construct. In ancient Europe, a similarly sized cathedral like Notre Dame in Paris would have taken two or three hundred years. The conflict between the college and the Vatican was so deep that they demolished it without warning. No trace of the building remains in the overgrown wasteland, only a few scattered mosaic bricks buried in the ground.

Even sixth-grade students were unaware of this past event, and teachers rarely discussed it; these atheistic genius arcanists simply didn't take the Papacy seriously. Strangely, Amamiya Nene was also unaware, despite having a young stepmother who should have held a relatively high position within the Papacy—

Speaking of the blonde girl in the photo being clung to her fellow villager's leg, Quinn had also researched a lot of information on current clergy members of the Vatican. As the world's largest church, the Vatican has numerous newspaper articles about its various bishops and high-ranking officials, and even the so-called "saints" who guard the human world. Even the president of the Inquisition, whom Ankuya speculated was the Vatican's top expert, had been photographed. However, Quinn couldn't find any photos related to that blonde girl.

Ortiz Pepe shares the same surname as a grand duke in the Bavarian Kingdom of the Southern Continent, but their blond hair and blue eyes don't match. The current Pope, on the other hand, seems to have been seen with blond hair under his crown, but he always appears in bright sunlight, so bright it's blinding. To say he's a burly man of about 1.9 meters tall is probably not accurate.

Every time this matter is mentioned, Amamiya Nene's expression becomes somewhat subtle, like a child caught between arguing parents. Quinn also asked Ankuya and Jacob, but they didn't seem to know much either, only saying that it was a conflict between higher-ups, and the reason was unknown.

D'Aguilera, the vice dean of Grindelwald's research department, is like a vampire in a coffin, and it's said he hasn't left the school for centuries; Stephens in the administration department focuses on teaching affairs, and perhaps influenced by the movies, Quinn always felt that powerful figures dressed as the Ancient One were somewhat ruthless, but he had never seen her have any conflicts with anyone; Hermes, the vice dean of the administration department, was the most suspicious, but the more Quinn learned, the more he felt that the pragmatic old man was unlikely to clash with the Holy See, because it wouldn't be in the academy's interest.

Dean Fofmark doesn't spend much time at the academy. This big leader travels all over the world, representing the academy at various Arcane Association or Arcane Department meetings. In Quinn's eyes, he is essentially a kind person. He has been the dean for decades, and in the early years, the academy's relationship with the Holy See was even considered harmonious. For example, these photos were taken by Grindelwald's students.

The so-called "high-level" probably refers to the headmaster who has only been in office for a little over ten years and has inherited the title of "Dumbledore".

Coincidentally, the current Pope has only been in office for a little over ten years, and the conflict could very well be between them. The Principal and the towering Pope, standing at 1.9 meters tall... Quinn couldn't imagine it. After all, nothing major had happened in the world at this time—the Misty Sea, the opening of the airship teleportation tower, the Western Continent war—none of it seemed likely. It could only be a private matter.

Thinking about all this, Quinn compared the square's structure in the photograph and deduced that he had arrived at the front of the square. Unfortunately, his view was obscured by weeds all around him, and the light from the sky became even dimmer in the grass. He took out his pocket watch—a gift from Ankuya during the Arcane Festival, used to set the time. The exquisite watch cover had an old-fashioned smell. Behind the other side of the pocket watch were a compass and a magnetic compass. Quinn intended to use the compass to confirm his direction, but then frowned slightly in surprise.

In this patch of grass taller than a person, the hands of the watch spun erratically. Although the watch was not some magical artifact, its quality was certainly not bad. This could only mean that the ruins of the Church of Light were influenced by some strange force.

Quinn closed his eyes, then opened them again after a long while. The Thief's Intuition was among the higher tiers for combat classes, yet he felt nothing. Could it be that the eternally burning Holy Flame still lingered here? Quinn crouched slightly, choosing the simplest method to search. He leaped up, his wide field of vision unobstructed with the help of his glasses. He immediately found an area where the grass was significantly lower than the other weeds.

Quinn, impressed by the accuracy of the method used in Japanese anime to peek at girls swimming, followed the direction to the ruins of the Church of Light. A few lonely pillars stood in the ground, and judging from the irregular gaps in the pillars, Quinn could almost guess how the church was demolished. It must have been assigned as homework to students, treating the Church brothers like demons.

This place must be regularly maintained, as there are traces of weeding around, and sun symbols painted on the ground. Next to the damaged pillars are crosses of varying ages, some portraits of elderly people, and extreme messages such as "Grindelwald will be punished by God!" It is estimated that many sun worshippers still come here to pray when the weather is nice.

After a cursory stroll around the ruins of the church, nothing was found except for the items left behind by the believers. Anything of value had probably been taken away when the church left, and there was no way anything was left behind. But when Quinn picked up the pocket watch, the compass was still spinning non-stop, even faster than when it was in the grass.

After thinking for a long time, Quinn couldn't recall finding any wild grass in Axwell that could grow so tall. Its color and texture exuded a primal and ancient vitality. The Holy See's scriptures didn't contain any specific descriptions of grass. He grabbed a handful of soil, held it to his forehead, and carefully felt its texture.
Ordinary soil.

After thinking for a long time, Quinn took off his glasses, no longer pondering what was strange, but instead amplifying his thief's intuition to the extreme.

Searching for valuables, picking locks and digging tunnels, searching for tombs.
He wandered aimlessly through the wasteland, opening and closing his eyes intermittently, removing one souvenir after another placed by believers, including a small box of gold pounds buried deep inside—gold is highly valued by the Vatican, and using gold pounds for blessings is a practice that believers have had since ancient times.

Finally, he stopped behind the original Vatican prayer room, opened his eyes, and saw nothing but dirt and grass on the ground, but his intuition told him that this was the most "valuable" place.

Quinn picked up the stopwatch, his eyes narrowing slightly. Sure enough, the compass was spinning the fastest.

He found a few unrusted crosses nearby, held them in his hands as tools, and bent down to dig.

Quinn's strength was comparable to that of a machine. The solid ground and stones were like sand to him. Before long, a "clang" was heard, and a corner of the cross in his hand was knocked off, revealing a neat and clean stone slab on the ground. Quinn showed a "as expected" look and cleared away the soil covering the side. Gradually, a stone slab the size of a door was revealed.

In the center of the stone slab is engraved a symbol of the sun.

Quinn reached out and tapped it. The sound was dull, indicating how thick the stone slab was. However, he still keenly sensed from the changes in the sound that there was space underneath the slab. After careful observation, he figured that the slab must have been placed directly on the ground, so he reached in and inserted his hand into the edge, trying to lift it up.

A moment later, he frowned, placed his other hand on the stone slab, took a deep breath, and the veins on his arms under his sleeves bulged instantly. With a tremor, the stone slab was finally lifted by one corner, but Quinn's neck and face were already red. He hadn't expected the thing to be so heavy. With no other choice, he used a freezing spell with a shout of "Freeze!" to make the stone slab float in the state of being lifted by one corner. He then took out a katana from his ring and used it as a lever to pry it open.

A pitch-black hole appeared before him.

Quinn shook his sword, and there was only a shallow mark where the katana had previously pointed. Below the cave entrance was a long staircase. After hesitating for a moment, he went down the staircase, while holding onto the wall with one hand. The entire wall had the same feel as the stone slabs from before.

Quinn seemed to understand why there was still a hole here. If it was all made of stone, then this underground space probably couldn't be destroyed by demolition. When he thought of "underground space", Quinn had a guess about where this place was.

It is said that every major church of any religion has a space specifically reserved for containment objects. For example, the Church of Light would send an escort team corresponding to the containment object's level to the local church's containment area for safekeeping when certain missions required the use of specific containment objects. The Gates of Heaven should have done the same. If the Church of Axwell had not been demolished, Quinn would have had no chance of succeeding.

So, is the primordial fire inside?

It turns out Quinn was overthinking things.

The space wasn't large; the stairs led to the top after a short distance. The light streaming in from above barely illuminated the interior, and sun symbols and religious inscriptions were carved into the stone walls everywhere. The containment area appeared to be no more than a hundred square meters in size, and it was completely empty, as if even the shelves for storing containment items had been removed.

Quinn hadn't held out much hope, so he wasn't discouraged. Going to the nearest Church of Light to seek the Holy Flame for ascension was obviously unrealistic; he was just trying his luck.

His steps suddenly stopped.

At the end of the containment area, he saw a door, a wooden door that had been sealed off and smashed.

On the stone wall beside the door, he saw several lines of familiar text. It was Chinese, seemingly a thousand years old, and the handwriting was exactly the same as the Merlin script he had seen at Merlin's Tomb. It read—

"The path of the hero is wrong."

(End of this chapter)