The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　The thoughts of the holder of the "God Card" must be concealed.

　Half past two in the afternoon.

　Dark and Hannah, who was also disguised as an ordinary adventurer, arrived at the Adventurers' Guild.

　According to the latest intelligence, Sloan entered the adventurers' guild two minutes ago.

　Although he disguised himself as an adventurer in full armor, using his striking appearance to indirectly conceal his true identity, the maids tasked with tracking him still managed to identify him through crowd analysis.

　Simply put, if we eliminate all other impossible candidates, then the only person left is Sloan.

　If you can thoroughly grasp the flow of people in an area, you can track their whereabouts even without approaching or observing them.

　Dark leaned against a pillar outside the Adventurers' Guild, casually looking at the paper in his hand.

　The paper contained a map showing all the routes Sloan had taken since leaving the vicinity of the Temple of Nix.

　"Why are we wandering around like this, without any rhyme or reason, from the temple to the guild?"

　“Perhaps they’re just touring the famous spots in the City of Liberty,” Hannah said, glancing at the paper.

　She dressed up as a mixed-race cat-person with cat ears and a cat tail... well, she didn't even need to dress up.

　Dark flicked her ear, then folded up the map and put it away. Hannah was right; Sloan looked like she was on vacation.

　He showed great curiosity about the changes in human society within the Free City.

　But does this mean that Sloan has only recently emerged from the Underworld—"The Underworld... If he hid his life box in the Underworld, or even in the hands of some Underworld god, wouldn't his life be completely safe?"

　Suddenly, a thought flashed through Dak's mind. He then realized that his previous judgment of Sloan's behavior had been greatly inaccurate.

　Sloan knew the Holy Church was hunting him down.

　Sloan captured 122 elite members of the Holy Order, including McCarthy.

　Sloan is still wandering around the Free City.

　...

　He will participate in the World Cup qualifiers as scheduled!

　Dak suddenly looked up, a glint of light in his eyes.

　"That's right. Sloan has no reason to run away at all."

　"He is not afraid of death at all, and he has a large number of hostages in his hands."

　"The Holy Church is completely helpless against him."

　"Even if he appears on the stage of the qualifiers, the Holy Church can't do anything except boo from the audience."

　"That's why they need to summon Edmund Lori, the artifact guardian elder who knows Sloan best, to the City of Freedom."

　"This is an incident that cannot be resolved by force alone." "The Holy Church, are you still trying to play the emotional card?"

　"Kakakaka."

　An adventurer clad in full armor stepped across the threshold and emerged from inside the Adventurers' Guild.

　Dak pretended to be attracted by it, looked up at him, and then muttered, "Iron lump."

　The adventurer paused for a moment, but didn't turn around, and continued walking forward in less than half a second.

　He quickly moved out of the area visible from the guild entrance. But Dark knew perfectly well that he had fallen into the Holy Church's encirclement. "How many people?" Dark asked.

　Hannah sniffed, puzzled, "Wait, how come there's only one?"

　"A one-man encirclement?" Dark couldn't help but laugh. "Let's go see who the Holy Church sent as their persuader."

　Since force is not an option, the only solution is to resolve the issue through verbal communication.

　However, his purpose in coming here was not to gossip, but to test Sloan's reaction to the Dark Eye.

　The conclusion is that there is a reaction, but it's not significant. A reaction at all is normal.

　If there is no reaction at all, then that's a big problem.

　Since it is a "lich" that has returned from the underworld, it is impossible for it not to sense the dark divinity emanating from the dark eye.

　Dark did not use (mind reading) when Sloan passed in front of him.

　First, they felt it would cause unnecessary disputes; second, they felt that "mind reading" might not be useful.

　But even without using "mind reading", he can see a person's emotional changes, even if the person is wearing thick armor.

　“Sloan is not ‘that person’.” Quite regrettable.

　This means that the number of extremely dangerous individuals requiring vigilance has increased from one to two.

　"feed--"

　In a hutong that is neither dark nor narrow.

　A little black cat climbed onto the roof, and then, as if attracted by the humans below, it reached the edge of the eaves and lay down to look down.

　In another alley less than 100 meters away, Hannah handed a cat's-eye shaped crystal ball to Dark.

　Acting cautiously is the key to longevity. Dark looked at the crystal ball.

　An adventurer in full armor is confronting a clergyman. The clergyman, also wearing a mask, is tall and thin, with a top hat and priest's robes. His demeanor is not somber, but rather somewhat luminous.

　"Lansgascor".

　Dak whispered his name.

　Lance Gascogne became archbishop even earlier than Sabrina. He is arguably one of the most prominent figures among the younger generation of the Holy Church. Lance is just over thirty years old and is considered Sabrina's most direct rival.

　Darko clearly remembers that he also participated in the World Cup and made it to the qualifiers.

　"Do you remember this person?" Dark asked.

　Hannah said, “Lance Gascoyle, the adopted son of the Patricis family. But it is said that Gascoyle is not his real surname. He was born posthumously and grew up with his mother in a very ordinary small town. Later, he was discovered and recruited into the church because of his talent, and then he was taken in by the Patricis family and adopted. That is all the information about him in the Holy Church.”

　Dark asked, "What about the classified information?"

　Hannah said, "His father was the eldest son of another church family and died in the war."

　After a moment's thought, Darke suddenly laughed and said, "Could it be the St. John family?"

　Hannah nodded and said, "Exactly."

　"Oh, what a coincidence!" Dark couldn't help but chuckle.

　The family of St. John is also a holy family that has produced popes, and its status in the Church is similar to that of the Patrice family.

　However, two tigers cannot share one mountain, and the rivalry between the St. John family and the Patrice family has become increasingly prominent in recent years.

　However, the Patricis family had long held power in the Holy See, and three of the three leaders of the Holy See were biased towards the Patricis, so the St. John family was no match for them.

　Lance Gascoyle's appearance was a coincidence, but also an opportunity.

　It all depends on what he thinks.

　"Who are you"

　"Lansgascor".

　"do not know."

　"We know each other now."

　"Ridiculous. Next time, call the Pope himself."

　"His Holiness the Pope has already been there, but you are not here."

　"Then do it again."

　The conversation between Lancegascor and Sloan was rather uninformative.

　Dark had initially thought the Holy Church had sent him to use his persuasive skills, but it seemed that wasn't the case at all.

　Sloan strode forward with heavy steps due to his armor, passing by Lambeth without the latter reacting at all.

　Both sides seem to be testing each other.

　But if everyone is just testing the waters, it's the same as not testing at all.

　They really didn't reveal any information.

　It was incredibly boring.

　"Should we continue?" Hannah asked in a low voice.

　Dark shook his head and said, "Let's go back."

　Sloan left just like that, while Lance Gascoyle stood in the alley for a couple more minutes, seemingly lost in thought.

　After he left, Dak also left with Hannah. The alley fell silent.

　Half past three in the afternoon.

　Dark returned to the Alliance Hotel, with Hannah still by his side. The matter was far from over; he needed to keep a close eye on intelligence. But at the same time, he had to return to his student identity.

　The students privately decided to have a dinner party tonight and then hold a "pledge rally".

　As one of the main figures in this "rallying ceremony," he naturally had to attend. Furthermore, it's said they also planned to invite Ergany.

　Although Ergane was only a "student" in name, she looked like a "peer" to the students, and since the students didn't want to be "exclusive," they discussed inviting her along as well.

　After returning to the hotel, Dak began organizing the documents.

　The maids collected information on all the preliminary contestants, and after statistical analysis and organization, they finally produced this concise yet detailed report.

　Today should have been a day for him to rest and review materials, but it's not too late to start now.

　Considering that the participants need to get plenty of rest, the dinner tonight will be held at 5 p.m.

　We'll meet at 5:00, and lunch will be served at 5:30, around that time. Dak plans to distribute the photocopied materials to the senior students around that time.

　Then, share the information obtained from Sabrina with Pandora.

　Four p.m.

　The maid brought new information.

　The Holy Church has proven that the God of the Underworld is indeed backing Sloan.

Chapter 1535 Darkdemon and the Holy See Map (5k)

　It's exactly five o'clock.

　Dak arrived at the reserved private room on time, and before he even entered, he could hear cheerful laughter coming from inside.

　The door wasn't locked, so he pushed it open and went inside. He saw that the private room was already full of students.

　Aurora was in charge of coordinating this dinner party, and she booked a first-class private room that combined the living room and dining room.

　There was also a magic-themed TV hanging in the living room.

　The students sat in the living room, chatting happily in a very comfortable atmosphere. It was a gathering of students, without professors, so everyone spoke and chatted without restraint, naturally relaxed and at ease.

　Dak glanced around and, seeing that most people had arrived, closed the door behind him and walked toward the living room sofa.

　Of the students who qualified for this World Cup, besides him and Ergani, there were only five others.

　Their original goal was mostly to qualify for the primaries.

　But now that we've made it to the qualifiers, it's inevitable that we'll look forward to the main tournament.

　If you're lucky enough to break into the ranks of "Duel Kings," then you've truly soared to new heights.

　These sixteen "Kings of Duel" are not only the sixteen strongest people in the world, but also among the sixteen most promising candidates to become the God of Magic in the future.

　Since we have the opportunity, we should definitely give it a shot.

　One side of the living room.

　Diana and Rose sandwiched Sophia and Alice in the middle, clearly taking great care of the two girls who were not students of St. Marian's Academy.

　On Rose's other side sat Eudora, whom she hadn't seen for a while. Upon seeing him, she gave a very shy smile.

　Dark greeted everyone in the living room and then walked into the dining room. The dining room and living room were separated only by a glass door, through which one could see the "preliminary team" sitting around the dining table discussing something.

　There is a clear barrier inside the door, so that laughter from the living room will not affect the interior.

　Dak knocked on the door, but when there was no response, he simply opened it and went in, which drew the attention of the others.