Lanqi: I'm a Cardinal Bishop?

"Good news and bad news?" Lanqi couldn't help a slight tremor in his throat. This time, Sigrid did not look like she was joking. "By the way, Sigrid, why don't you get off me first? Don't you think squeezing onto one chair is a bit cramped? Besides, sitting like this is rather improper." He realized she was leaning far too close, leaving him with nowhere to retreat. He pointed toward the sofa in the lounge area on the other side of the Headmaster's Office. That would be much more suitable for discussing important matters. Right now, he was feeling a bit nervous. "What, are you saying I'm heavy?" Sigrid leaned in a fraction of an inch closer and asked. "No, certainly not. Your Eminence is very light, and a woman full of charm." At this moment, Lanqi's vision was entirely filled with her breathtaking face. Her eyes were like violets blooming in spring—imperious, yielding not a single inch. "Heh heh, at least you know how to talk. Then I'll start with the good news." Sigrid let out a light laugh, but she still playfully squeezed into the desk chair with Lanqi, pressing down against him without the slightest hesitation. "Look at this, what is it?" As her voice rang out again, Lanqi's gaze was drawn to her hand. A Holy Sigil resting on her right thumb was flipped into the air like a coin. It left a brief trail of silver radiance in the air before dropping back into her palm. Even though it had flashed past for only an instant, Lanqi saw it clearly. He was all too familiar with this style of Holy Sigil. He had seen far too many of them on members of the Domination branch in the Protos Empire. "Huh?" Lanqi stared at the bishop's Holy Sigil in Sigrid's hand, which was glowing with an orange luster, and let out a confused sound. He had seen Sigrid's bishop's Holy Sigil before. It was supposed to be the Silver Moon Crown, with the stars scattered along its edge being shattered fragments of weapons, as though presaging the defeat of rebels and their pitiful, sorrowful fate. Now, the newly added other half of the Holy Sigil was a dazzling sun radiating scorching light. Golden flames stretched outward to form a solar corona, and the tip of every ray was inlaid with a brilliant gemstone shimmering with diverse colors under the sunlight, like the myriad emotions and powers stirred up by love within human hearts. These arcs of light intertwined, seeming both finite and infinite. The brilliant radiance of the solar corona and the icy chill of the Silver Moon Crown had visibly distinct hues at a glance, yet they were embedded together with extraordinary harmony, sun and moon shining as one, as if preordained by fate. *Snap.* With a gentle pry from Sigrid, the new Holy Sigil split into two. "Whoa." Lanqi hurriedly reached out to catch Sigrid's Holy Sigil. He knew how important this bishop's Holy Sigil was to her; it represented years of her painstaking effort. "..." Seeing Lanqi's panicked reaction, Sigrid laughed despite herself. "Let me show you a magic trick." She brought the Holy Sigils in her left and right hands together, and the sigil seamlessly returned to its original form. Lanqi's eyebrow twitched. Since when could a Proof of Bishop be played with like magnets? Lanqi breathed a sigh of relief. Just now, he had thought Sigrid's strength had grown so vastly compared to a year ago that she could snap even a bishop's Holy Sigil in half. "It's merely a bishop's Holy Sigil. If I really wanted to snap it, I probably could," Sigrid said proudly, seeing right through Lanqi's thoughts. "This divine strength of yours is truly... What did you grow up eating?" Lanqi voiced the exact same doubt Talia had once possessed. He hadn't expected Sigrid to genuinely be capable of doing so. "Don't worry, I'm easy to keep fed. I won't eat your family into poverty. It's not like you've never gone on a date with me before," Sigrid teased with a smile. Not only had they gone on dates, but they had also traveled together and were well acquainted with each other's living habits. "My family used to have some modest wealth, but business hasn't been great lately," Lanqi sighed. Quieting his thoughts, he looked closer and realized that Sigrid's Holy Sigil was like a pair of keys—they could fit together as one, or separate into two distinct Holy Sigils. [Proof of Bishop - Domination and Fanatical Love] [Type: Equipment Card] [Rarity: Orange Epic] [Affinity: Link / Base] [Tier: 0] [Effect: Identification credential of the Bishop of Domination. Capable of crafting Proofs of Resurrection of various ranks for both the Domination and Fanatical Love branches. Possesses special-effectiveness and intimidation properties against holders of lower-rank Proofs of Resurrection. Capable of locating the approximate position of clergy members within the same branch, and discerning the authenticity of Proofs of Resurrection presented by other branches. Unlocks the Bishop Council Chamber, Death Arena, and Bishop Election Ritual.] [Note: Bearer - Sigrid Novia.] After Lanqi appraised it, the Proof of Bishop indeed differed from the one Sigrid had shown him on the eve of the decisive battle in the Empire. "Is this a Dual Proof of Bishop?" He was certain that Sigrid's authority within the Resurrection Church had risen significantly. A single person now wielded the power of two bishops. It was just somewhat different from what he had imagined, and also different from what Sigrid had initially told him. How could a sub-branch be derived separately like this? "You could say it mutated a bit," Sigrid explained to him. "Back in the Protos Empire's Snowfield Province, you temporarily returned your [Proof of Saint - Domination] to me, and I fused it back into the Proof of Bishop. But later, in the Death Arena at the Imperial Parliament Building, I used your power to defeat Askesan." She shared her deductions. It was likely because in that Death Arena, the outcome was judged as her and the Holy Son defeating Askesan together, which ultimately caused her Proof of Bishop to end up like this. Normally, a duel between bishops in the Death Arena completely conflicted with the standard ascension path of slaying a bishop. Yet because of the series of maneuvers by her and the Holy Son, it had resulted in a bizarre, unprecedented ruling by the Proof of Bishop. "Huh?" Lanqi knitted his brows. He still didn't quite grasp what Sigrid meant, but he began to sense a bad omen. "Here." Sigrid separated the Holy Sigils once more, placing the one shaped like the radiant solar corona into his palm. Instantly, as if finding its true master, the bishop's Holy Sigil began to blaze with tens of thousands of rays of brilliance, illuminating Lanqi's incredulous face. [Proof of Bishop - Fanatical Love] [Type: Equipment Card] [Rarity: Orange Epic] [Affinity: Link / Seal] [Tier: 0] [Effect: Identification credential of the Bishop of Fanatical Love; may also be used by the Bishop of Domination. Capable of crafting Proofs of Resurrection of various ranks for the Fanatical Love branch. Possesses special-effectiveness and intimidation properties against holders of lower-rank Proofs of Resurrection. Capable of locating the approximate position of clergy members within the same branch, and discerning the authenticity of Proofs of Resurrection presented by other branches. Unlocks the Bishop Council Chamber, Death Arena, and Bishop Election Ritual.] [Note: Bearer - Lanqi Wilfort.] "Wh-what?!" Lanqi's eyes widened as he held the Holy Sigil in one hand. "I'm a Cardinal Bishop?!" In an instant, Lanqi also understood why that mysterious northern Cardinal Bishop's whereabouts always seemed somewhat similar to his own. And why, ever since returning from the Northern Continent, he had been able to sense Resurrection Church cultists ranked lower than a bishop. Turns out *I* was the Cardinal Bishop all along?! Now he truly had no way to clear his name. "My, young man, becoming a Cardinal Bishop at such a tender age—you have a limitless future ahead of you," Sigrid said, adopting the air of a senior as she patted Lanqi on the shoulder. "At the next bishop council, the two of us can sit together." She sighed with admiration, even secretly wishing the other Cardinal Bishops could see the two of them as a pair. "Shouldn't you... take this Proof of Bishop back?" Lanqi asked tentatively. "Do you think that would change the fact that you're a bishop?" Sigrid countered. Even though Lanqi didn't carry the Proof of Bishop on him previously, he was genuinely recognized as a bishop. The astrological compass of the Southern Continent United Kingdom Council, which could detect the general movements of the Resurrection Church's Cardinal Bishops, had been divining Lanqi the entire time. As a result, he had become a new Cardinal Bishop without even knowing it, while the people of the Southern Continent discovered an utterly baffling bishop had moved right into the Hutton Kingdom, flaunting his presence right in the United Council's face. Only now had Lanqi become the second person to know the identity of that bishop. "I'm an upstanding citizen, not a cult leader!" Lanqi clutched his head. He had never once felt happy about joining the Resurrection Church. If he had to name any, his only fond memories were of being alone with the Bishop of Domination. All the rest of the time, he had been an anti-cult fighter helping the Bishop of Domination dismantle the Resurrection Church. As a vanguard against evil cults, his state of mind was on the verge of shattering! "On another note, congratulations. You now have your breakthrough token. Once you return to the real world, you'll soon reach Tier 7 and obtain an epic-tier class." Sigrid's gaze held a touch of schadenfreude. Tokens used for engraving a class typically bore the [Machine] or [Link] affinity, signifying they were products of artificers or special tools possessing inheritance effects or passed down from ancient divine relics. At the same time, these two affinities occupied the far left of the third row of the affinity periodic table, ranked twenty-first and twenty-second, and were the affinities most closely connected to magic artificers and the Shadow World. The inherent affinity of the Resurrection Church's Proof of Bishop was Link. In an unsealed state, every Proof of Bishop possessed only the Link affinity. However, upon coming into contact with its true bearer, it would reveal the bishop's characteristic trait affinity. A Proof of Bishop was an epic item defined alongside its bishop, granting it extraordinarily high compatibility, and it was frequently used as a token for class engraving. "This Holy Sigil won't just allow you to engrave the Sealer class; the allocation ratio of mana and spirit bonuses will also match your own attribute proportions. You won't need to waste energy worrying about mixing and balancing materials. Since I don't really know how to teach a caster how to engrave their class, this gets everything done for you in one step." Sigrid had laid out both the good news and the bad news; now it was up to the Holy Son to digest it all. Her original purpose in coming to the Southern Continent was to return the Proof of Bishop to the Holy Son. Although she could use it herself, it was equally of immense use to him. A while ago, the Protos Empire on the southern coast of the Northern Continent had only just stabilized and still needed her. She had to wait at least until the alliance pact with the Kingdom of Estherland was successfully finalized before she could find an opportunity to pull away. A round trip to the Southern Continent would take at least two months, and the Protos Empire back then simply could not afford her absence for so long. Now, after longing for it day and night, she had finally received leave to come to the Southern Continent—the hard days were finally over. To her pleasant surprise, before even meeting the Holy Son in the real world, she had run into him here in the Shadow World, allowing her to hand this Holy Sigil to him even earlier than planned. A long silence passed. "Sigrid, it's truly fortunate I ran into you in the Shadow World. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have figured out who this Cardinal Bishop was even after another year," Lanqi thanked her. Things having reached this point, he could only accept the bishop's Holy Sigil. With or without it, nothing changed the reality that he was a Cardinal Bishop. It just so happened he could use it to advance to Tier 7. Besides, seeing how much Sigrid wanted him to become a Cardinal Bishop to support her, he might as well take the post—as long as it made her happy. "One for each of us." Sigrid held up her own Proof of Bishop, placing it beside Lanqi's. Looking at the pair of Holy Sigils through their radiant glow, the more she looked, the happier she became, a sweet smile curving at the corners of her lips. "Then won't your Dual Proof of Bishop revert back to a single one?" Lanqi asked, looking at her. Sigrid could already use his Proof of Bishop herself. By splitting it off to him, her authority was also divided. "Isn't the Bishop of Fanatical Love one of the Bishop of Domination's people? Or are you planning to set up your own faction?" Sigrid grinned, hooking an arm around Lanqi's neck as she asked. Even with Lanqi holding this Proof of Bishop, she could still enjoy the authority of two bishops on her own—so long as Lanqi belonged to her, that was enough. "Of course not," Lanqi murmured, lowering his head to gaze at the token in his hand. What he had promised Sigrid would never change. From the moment they first began cooperating, they had made a vow: he would not betray the bishop and would work for her, while the bishop would protect him and make all her resources available to him. She was also a bishop who kept her word, never having broken a promise to Lanqi. Later, having entrusted their lives to each other through life-and-death trials multiple times, they had long come to view one another as an inseparable part of their lives. "If you're my Holy Son of Domination for one day, you're my Holy Son of Domination for a lifetime." Sigrid looked at him smugly, her gaze as if telling him that he could never hope to escape from Her Eminence's grasp. "If you need Sealing Slate slabs, I'll snatch them for you. If you need advancement tokens, I'll deliver them to you. If you need powerful enemies defeated, I'll fight them for you." She made the vow with solemn conviction. Living under her, the Bishop of Domination, would never leave him short on perks. Lanqi chuckled softly and let out a long sigh, as though a heavy burden had been lifted from his heart. "You truly are a useful big sister." He praised Sigrid with genuine admiration. Sigrid was always so reliable that he simply didn't know what to say. "Are you implying there's a useless big sister out there? Could it be that Demon Princess master of yours from the Southern Continent?" Sigrid hesitated for a moment, then pressed down a bit harder against him as she questioned him. She was not the type of person who would tolerate someone bringing up other women while spending time with her. Yet Lanqi always seemed to inexplicably make allusions to the same female figure. Over time, Sigrid had almost memorized this woman Lanqi couldn't seem to forget. She had heard from Antanas that Lanqi's [Poet of Great Love] was a natal summon modeled after a demon named Talia, and that by his side was an ancient and exceptionally beautiful great demon. In all likelihood, the so-called 'useless' one referred to this Demon Princess. "How did you know she's a Demon Princess?" Lanqi was caught completely off guard. He immediately guessed that the blabbermouth Antanas must have said something to Sigrid. Before he could organize his words, Sigrid's imposing presence grew heavier and heavier. He felt as though an enigmatic competitive drive had suddenly been ignited within Sigrid, the aggressiveness in her eyes sharpening. "Hey, Holy Son. Compared to me, she falls far short, doesn't she?" Sigrid braced both hands against the back of the chair, her eyes locked intently onto Lanqi's as she pressed for an answer. This question was practically a death sentence, but she was very keen on hearing the Holy Son give a straight answer. If she ever met the Holy Son's demon teacher, Miss Talia, in the future, she would be more than happy to inform her of the Holy Son's response.