Kingdom of Asethelan, royal capital Gedaria.
Deep within the temple of the Church of the Goddess of Fate at the center of the lake, the Ice Snow Witch watched the footage from the Protos Empire's Parliament Building on the projection screen.
This bishop election, broadcast by the Herrom Broadcasting Corporation, was completely open to the entire Northern Continent.
Or rather, the election itself was a spectacle the Protos Empire wanted the Northern Continent to witness—today, the Protos Empire would select the most suitable Cardinal to forge a genuine, deep partnership with the Resurrection Church.
The Ice Snow Witch's brow furrowed.
Although she thought she might be mistaken,
she inexplicably felt that among the seats for the Domination high clerics,
one of the Bishop of Domination's confidants bore a striking resemblance in demeanor to Hyperion.
Beneath that high-ponytail girl's impassive expression, she seemed to be masking an overwhelming sense of guilt and remorse, glancing toward the camera with an inexplicable air of a guilty conscience.
It looked almost identical to what the Ice Snow Witch imagined Hyperion would look like after defecting to the enemy.
"Sigh, I must just miss that child Hyperion too much."
The Ice Snow Witch sighed.
Then again,
Count Milford, the Church of the Goddess of Fate's collaborator in the Protos Empire and Hyperion's nominal uncle, was actually sitting so close to Luoqi McCarthy, the prominent figure currently causing such a stir in the Protos Empire. They were even seated side by side like uncle and nephew—something the Ice Snow Witch had never anticipated.
Yet she inexplicably sensed that Count Milford's attitude toward Luoqi McCarthy was rather subtle.
It felt a bit like a prospective father-in-law who had encountered a capable candidate for a son-in-law, striving to secure him for his daughter...
It couldn't be that Luoqi McCarthy had taken a fancy to Hyperion...
That would be terrible.
Recent intelligence from the Kingdom of Asethelan's informants stationed in the Protos Empire had already made the kingdom's upper echelons aware of Luoqi McCarthy, and rumors even said that if he ran in the imperial presidential election next year, he stood a great chance of winning.
Hyperion had gone to the Protos Empire earlier; that upright child was striving with all her might to complete her arduous mission there. Even without Luoqi McCarthy taking a liking to her, if given such a godsent opportunity, she might even seduce Luoqi McCarthy herself—after all, the conveniences he could afford her within the empire were simply immense.
If a spy ended up becoming the First Lady, the Ice Snow Witch couldn't begin to imagine how the Kingdom of Asethelan's high brass would evaluate this infiltration operation devised by their Church of the Goddess of Fate...
However, none of this was the point. The Ice Snow Witch still believed in Hyperion; that girl was kind and honest by nature, unlikely to take the initiative to seduce Luoqi McCarthy, let alone become part of the same household as a terrifying woman like the Bishop of Domination.
Her train of thought had clearly wandered too far.
The key issue right now was—
The Bishop of Domination had actually declared war on Duke Morotian Berenhard?
The Ice Snow Witch had no idea what had transpired within the Protos Empire during this period. Was there an issue with her intelligence network?
"No matter. One must remain calm in the face of change at all times."
Sitting on the sofa at the center of the hall, the Ice Snow Witch shook her head.
Whatever happened today, she was confident she wouldn't be overly surprised. Over hundreds of years, she had weathered countless storms; it was only recently that she had worried herself sick over Hyperion, and grown somewhat suspicious of Loren.
***
On the screen.
Protos Empire, top floor of the Parliament Building.
As Sigrid's voice fell, everyone's gaze turned to her.
Sigrid's sudden and direct accusation leveled at Duke Berenhard in his seat caused an uproar across the parliamentary hall.
Duke Morotian Berenhard was not only a high-ranking, powerful figure at the very heart of the Protos Empire, but also a once-in-a-century genius who had become the empire's guardian hero in just a few short decades.
In fact, Duke Morotian's ceiling might even exceed that of Great Sage Isis; one day, he might even break through to tier nine, becoming the second tier-nine powerhouse in modern Protos history after Emperor Franklin.
The crimes Sigrid alleged were undoubtedly grave beyond measure.
Once substantiated, the Protos Empire would be thrown into utter chaos—no, it had already plunged into turmoil, only most people had yet to realize it!
Yet if it could not be proven, Sigrid would face severe felonious charges!
The nobles and ministers on both sides of the hall and in the fan-shaped central section all turned to look at Duke Berenhard.
"What on earth is she talking about..."
Duke Morotian was not moved in the slightest by Sigrid's accusation. His expression bore not a trace of guilt, displaying only an air of pure innocence.
"Bishop of Domination, do not think that defeating the Bishop of Extinction allows you to run wild in our Protos Empire's parliament! Is Duke Berenhard someone you can insult as you please?!"
Nobles in the hall swiftly lashed out in fury at the Bishop of Domination.
"Even granting that for argument's sake, do you, a suspect who skitters in the shadows away from the military and a Cardinal of the Resurrection Church, truly believe your words carry any credibility?"
In an instant, an overwhelming clamor erupted from the nobles in the House of Lords, turning Sigrid into the target of public condemnation!
"..."
Upon Great Sage Isis's expressionless face, a rare trace of bewilderment appeared.
As the Great Sage, though she usually paid no heed to the trivial affairs of the Protos Empire, she knew this matter had escalated to a level where she could no longer stand aside.
"Quiet."
She called an end to the din.
"Bishop of Domination, do you have any evidence?"
Isis's gaze slowly drifted toward Duke Berenhard before returning to Sigrid.
Sigrid tossed a duplicate projection crystal, which Great Sage Isis caught securely in her hand.
Holding the crystal gently between her fingers, Isis projected its contents into Franklin Hall using her own spell, without relying on any magic apparatus.
The perspective appeared to belong to an unknown male.
He and a young girl at his side were in a heavily fortified city-state, seemingly on the northern border of the Protos Empire, surrounded on the outside by frozen lands and snow-capped peaks.
The two were full of youthful vitality, yet the battle hymn of strings and drums played against the deserted city-state gave off a hair-raising, eerie feeling.
Many imperial dignitaries present recognized it: this was Bandera City in the northern reaches of the empire, a vital bastion along the border front lines.
In the footage, the man and the girl passed through the gateway's suspended corridor and stepped onto the upper level of the city-state, chatting from time to time on visibly friendly terms.
Evidently, the pair had not yet realized that danger was already closing in on them.
On the broad suspended bridges of the city-state's staggered upper pillar layer, snowflakes drifted down in the wind, falling for a long while before reaching the lower pillar layer tens of meters below.
At that quietest moment, the image suddenly blurred, and everything in sight accelerated instantly as the recorder was carried high into the sky by the girl beside him.
Amid the sea of clouds high above, the full view of this northern border city-state finally came into sight!
Only the entrance area they had previously traversed showed any semblance of peace; its depths had long been blanketed in an eclipse-like demonic darkness, beneath which black mist seemed to devour scattered limbs, and the corpses of children, women, and the elderly were dumped into earth pits...
At this point, every detail began to align with the video clips previously released by the Extinction Branch to accuse the Bishop of Domination.
And then followed a truly thrilling battle, as though a mythic war from the Age of the Gods were reenacted.
Under the shifting interplay of light and shadow, every dignitary in the hall swallowed unconsciously.
Setting aside Sigrid's youthful girl form, as well as the question of who the man accompanying her was,
it was blatantly clear: the Bishop of Domination, Sigrid, was not the perpetrator of the massacre, but an investigator who had gone to shatter the conspiracy of the Bishop of Extinction, Askesan!
In the lower tier on the left of the parliamentary hall, opposite the upper tier on the right, Lanqi sat with his hands clasped on his lap. Looking up, he could see Morotian perched high on the opposite side.
Though separated by distance on opposite sides, each was positioned just right to see the other clearly.
Chapter 478