Chapter 353: Eight Knights of the Faith
The cleric servant elaborated his point to the Dragon, telling him that St. Peter’s Basilica was both the largest church in the Vatican and one of the five great churches in the world.
The church had an area of over two square kilometers. As spirit qi became increasingly restored, however, part of the Vatican started to change, including St. Peter’s Basilica. The area of the church was expanded ten times over from its original size, making it some kind of building told in legends.
“Understood. We shall get there right away,” the Dragon said.
Ming Yueyao only spoke her mind after the cleric excused himself. “The Roman Curia is indeed the largest cultivation force in the world. If we were just to exclude the Big Five, people would think that the Roman Curia would truly be the top organization among all cultivation forces in the world.”
The Dragon nodded and said, “That servant back there was of Invincible Vajra level of powers himself. I’d say that is quite a splurge in the Roman Curia’s part.”
While Invincible Vajras were no longer as precious as they had been in the past, they were nonetheless the main fighting force in various cultivation forces, and having cultivators of such a level to fill the role of a servant would have been deemed absurd by many.
Ming Yueyao flashed a grin and said, “I’d say they’re just showing off.”
“I sensed several powerful presences back there, and they were all of at least the Celestial Realm level. It’s hard to say if there were any Airborne Realm ones around, but I’m certain that they would have more than enough Celestial Realm people to spare. The Roman Curia is definitely among the best in terms of human resources in this regard, given how it has been around for over 1,000 years.”
The Dragon nodded and said, “The Roman Curia is different from us. They have been able to maintain combat prowess even when the world became devoid of spirit qi by using the power of faith. These people sure can fight as well as they had been 1,000 years ago. It’s just that they no longer seem as mighty as they once were.”
“Makes sense, I’d say. There are all kinds of top-notch fighters coming from all over the world, after all.” Ming Yueyao grinned and continued, “Aside from the Celestial Realm ones, the number of Airborne Realm ones would easily be over 100 alone throughout the world, that is, including those who have yet to make themselves known from the shadows.”
The Dragon nodded with a serious expression. On their way to the church, he was able to sense several Airborne Realm ones who were on par with him in terms of combat prowess.
One could say that almost half of the top-notch fighters from all over the world came to the Vatican at the moment. That wasn’t even taking into consideration the ones still lurking in the dark due to various reasons.
It was just like the case with the Vampiric Empire. While all three of the elders died by Lu Xuan’s hand, there were nonetheless numerous formidable fighters remaining in the empire. There had been several of them making a breakthrough into Airborne Realm about half a year ago.
The werewolves saw new Airborne Realm beings emerging in their midst back in the northern glaciers as well. Common folks had no idea if any of those events happening; they would have simply a.s.sumed that the Covenant of Darkness had been thoroughly terminated.
Due to the Dragon’s access to the Special Task Force’s intelligence network, however, he naturally knew more than a lot of people would.
It was true that the Covenant of Darkness was thoroughly crippled after losing so many formidable ones over half a year ago.
Despite that, they had also spent the past few months secretly recovering.
There was no doubt that the new Airborne Realm beings in their midst would apparently pale in comparison to the three former elders of the empire, who were beings capable of taking on the world.
Still, it was unwise to underestimate those people as they currently were.
All of those people would still become formidable adversaries to the Special Task Force in the future.
Regardless, the Dragon was still able to understand why the Roman Curia bothered causing such a huge commotion.
If there were to actually be several top-notch fighters gathering from all over the world at the Imperial Capital back home, the Special Task Force would have reacted more aggressively than the Roman Curia would as they were now.
“Sir, do you think Lu Xuan would show up this time?” Ming Yueyao asked.
The Dragon looked at Ming Yueyao, who was now his girlfriend. He paused for some time before saying, “I don’t know. I don’t think I want to ask, anyway.”
Apparently, it was a question that many people wanted an answer to.
The Vatican was filled with crowds everywhere. It was especially so with St. Peter’s Basilica at the time, given that it was the place where the advent of angels would take place. There was just no telling how many people were currently at the church. A great many prestigious devotees were invited to that huge church as well.
Everything was brightly shining, making the place seem like heaven on Earth. The display impressed many people who were watching the event live from all corners of the world.
As the Dragon walked into the church, he sensed numerous powerful presences nearby. Even though they weren’t all renowned figures, the Dragon thought there were only a few who he did not already know.
The intelligence network that the Special Task Force had built over decades was very comprehensive, after all.
He saw not only cultivators from the west but also cultivators from the east. There were a great many from j.a.pan, Korea, and even Huaxia at the venue. Those from Huaxia were grandmasters and privileged elders from the many sects and clans all over Huaxia. There were even sect masters among them.
It was almost time for the angels to advent.
The pope finally showed up, but the man whom the crowd all saw at the moment was not the current pope. Instead, it was the one who was extremely renowned in history for bringing the Roman Curia to extreme heights in terms of combat prowess—Pope Innocent.
Back when he still had the throne, he was so powerful that he could even dethrone the kings of European countries.
His appearance shocked devotees from all over the world. It was obvious that the devotees knew about the pope very well.
What was even more shocking was that the pope before their eyes was someone from almost a millennium ago, yet he was still somehow alive.
There was no doubt that he had been able to prolong his life using secret arts, enabling him to survive in the present day.
Standing directly behind Pope Innocent were eight knights who donned medieval armor and glowed with a faint sheen of light.
Every single knight was very formidable, so much so that they were all more powerful than Arthur, who made his stunning mark back in Washington quite a while ago.
The knights were all among the best even when compared with fellow Airborne Realm cultivators. They were all at the peak of their current realm.
Ming Yueyao was unable to help but exclaim in shock, “So the Eight Knights of the Faith do actually exist!”
Those eight formidable knights were none other than the legendary Eight Knights of the Faith; every single one of them was representative of the Roman Curia’s best fighting forces. Each of them was a representation of the eight virtues—humility, honesty, valor, justice, sacrifice, compa.s.sion, honor, and spirituality.
According to ancient texts, the positions of the eight were pa.s.sed on throughout the generations. They served as the Roman Curia’s core fighting force for taking on the world.
They had been repelling countless forces of darkness, thus beating several nations who refused to yield throughout the ages.
However, that one crusade to the east at Huaxia saw the entire corps’ demise at the hands of Huaxian cultivators. There had never been any word about the knights’ existence ever since that crusade.
That was the exact reason why everyone thought that the eight no longer existed. Even if they did, many people believed that it was simply impossible for them to maintain the might and prestige they once wielded.
From the looks of things at the moment, however, it became obvious that the Roman Curia secretly rebuilt the Eight Knights of the Faith. They had been present the whole time without anyone in the world knowing.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Vatican,” Pope Innocent said. Everyone standing at the plaza before St. Peter’s Basilica became dead silent.
“It is our Lord who gathered all of us here today to bear witness to the advent of angels, who will cleanse the world of darkness.”