Doomsday Pillars

"That really is the Holy Grail!!"

"Even this bracelet can't identify it… It must be a high-level artifact. Could it possibly be higher than Tier 3? ...Hahahah… Jackpot! Jackpot!"

The Holy Grail, which was the most sacred treasure of the Christians, actually looked just like an ordinary clay cup. This was the most mysterious artifact in the entire world. History told that this object was one of the main causes of the crusades that lasted for more than two hundred years and took up to nine million lives.

Taken over by his glee, Marshal Louis lost his patience. He simply couldn't wait to lay his hands on the mysterious artifact.

"Cardinal! Now, open the case for me... Let me touch it..." His voice was trembling in joy. 

But Cardinal Strauss was silent and didn't move an inch.

"I order you to open it right this instant!!" Marshal Louis became even more impatient. 

The mayor of Rome, who was beside him, talked back and said, "Stop it! Let me take care of it."

The major walked over to the pope and then knelt down, respectfully saying, "Your Holiness, I'm sorry, but I am very concerned about the condition of the world today. I will make sure that this cup will be properly taken care of and used wisely, for the sake of our world."

Around them in the room were the president of Greece, the ambassador of Spain, and also the ambassador of Germany. They were all waiting to see the reaction of the pope.

After a brief moment of silence, the pope finally spoke:

"Dear all, it's not that I don't want to lend you the grail. To tell you all the truth, it really is not my decision to make. It's the grail's... "

"!!!"

The president of Greece questioned, his heart bewildered, "The grail? Do you mean God?"

The pope explained that ever since he was made cardinal preferiti, he had been privy to this room. But it was only after the Doomsday Pillars came did the artifacts stored in this vault begin to show some kind of reactions.

When Cardinal Strauss returned from visiting the Doomsday Pillar and succeeded in strengthening himself from the Mortal Realm to the Earth Realm, everything changed.

"What do you mean, Cardinal?"

"The grail has its own consciousness and is able to choose its master. You won't be able to use it if it doesn't let you," said the pope, his voice as tranquil as how it was when they first gathered.

"Bullshit!" screamed the marshal. To him, this was absurd! 

He quickly took out his gun and shot the glass that separated the holy artifacts from them.

BANG! CRASH!!

He then quickly reached out for the Holy Grail. However, just an inch before his hand was able to touch it, a powerful force came from the grail and pushed him back a few steps.

"!!!"

The pope continued, "Don't waste your breath, my child, the grail doesn't wish to be used by you."

"Putain !! Are you freaking kidding me!" The marshal can't accept it. The world's greatest treasure was right in front of him, and yet, he had zero chance of obtaining it.

"This must be a trick!"

The marshal then glanced at his bodyguards. Promptly, they all raised their guns at all the VIPs in the room.

"You better hand over the grail to me right this instant, or I swear to God…"

Not waiting for the man to finish his words, the pope suddenly raised his finger. On the pope's finger was a famous gold ring handed over by the previous popes to the next. It was called the Ring of the Fisherman.

Suddenly, light came out of the ring and an engraving of light appeared at the bottom of the marshal's feet, as well as all the other four soldiers around him.

A strong force suddenly wrapped the five men just like an invisible net. They were forced to drop all their guns.

"Aargh! What did you do!!"

[The Ring of the Fisherman]

[Tier 3 Accessory]

[Weighs 0.6 kilograms]

[Special skill - Bind: The stronger the ring wielder is, the stronger the binding power will be.]

It turned out that even this ring, which was the symbol of the pope's power, was also a powerful artifact. Who knew how many other secrets the Vatican was hiding.

"Aargh! Let go of me! Stop it! If I die, I guarantee you, you won't be able to live either! The entire army outside is ready to kill you!"

Marshal Louis and his four guards struggled to break out of the binding. And indeed, these four high-level Earth Realm soldiers were truly stronger than what the pope had estimated. They began to move their fingers. If this were to go on, this would drain his energy, and they would definitely release themselves.

But before those people could cause trouble, Seth, the pope's bodyguard, took out a sword from his storage ring, and swiftly...

Swoosh! Swoosh! 

In less than a second, Seth was able to cut down the four bodyguards with ease.

"!!!"

Seeing his four proud bodyguards die just like that, Marshal Louis looked at Seth with anger burning in his eyes. It seemed as though he was going to devour Seth alive. 

"How insolent!! If it weren't for that strange ring, you wouldn't have been able to kill my bodyguards so easily!"

The mysterious man from Germany suddenly clapped his hands.

"Bravo, bravo... Marshal, let alone four, even with ten people guarding you, you might not necessarily win against him."

"....Impossible!!"

The German man looked back at the pope.

"So, I bet he's one of your templar knights."

"Yes. Sir Heinrich, you are indeed always resourceful."

"Very good, very good."

[Seth]

[Male - 25 years old]

[Earth Realm - Level 15 medium stage]

[Spirit Energy - Lightning - Middle stage]

[Spirit Talent - A]

Everyone else in the room, especially the mayor of Rome, was so shocked that they didn't know what to do. The mysterious man asked again:

"What do you plan to do now, Strauss?"

"Actually, I purposely invited all of you here because I want you all to witness this."

The pope then gave a signal to his guards, and Seth immediately drew his sword and pointed it at the marshal.

"No!! Are you crazy!! Killing me is equivalent to waging war... France is already able to enter five Doomsday Pillars. We've also acquired dozens of artifacts. Our army of hundreds of thousands will crush your little Vatican City!"

But Seth emotionlessly slashed his sword to Marshal Louis's neck.

"Aaaaargghhhh!"

Blood splattered on the floor, and as soon as the pope released the effect of the ring, the marshal fell on his back, no longer breathing... A pool of blood covered the floor.

The mayor of Rome immediately shivered and knelt in fear.

"Please, please… I'm sorry, Holy Father… I meant no harm… please..."

Still with a kind and merciful smile on his face, the pope replied:

"Don't worry, my child, our merciful God will forgive you..."

Hearing those words, the mayor was just about to smile when he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his neck.

Swish— splatter! The mayor dropped to the floor, motionless. His eyes were still open, full of regret and confusion.

The Spain ambassador quickly ran to the hallway, but he only managed to run three steps before the sword pierced through his chest from the back.

The Greek president, however, found all of this unsurprising. He still stood calmly, put his hand on his chest, and said, "The path to the illumination has shone bright."

Hearing the words of the Greek president, the ambassador from Germany smiled wide.

"Impressive, Strauss! Even the Greek president is part of the Illuminati."

"Still not as mysterious as your Ahnenerbe organization, Sir Heinrich."

"All right now, show me what you plan to do."

The pope walked closer to the Holy Grail. He slowly took the cup and raised it up in the air and began to chant.

A bright light splashed into the dust of lights and went into the body of the dead people. Slowly, all of the bodies which were initially dead on the floor started to rise up. The Spain ambassador, the mayor of Rome, the marshal, and even his four bodyguards all rose. They woke up as if nothing happened.

[Special Skill - Re-animation: Raises a fallen warrior for three days. The period and power will depend on the wielder's power.]

"That's quite the handy skill you have there, Strauss. I'm impressed. This proves that we can work together this time."

"Thank you for your trust in us, Sir Heinrich. I never thought that I will be able to see the day the Ahnenerbe and the Illuminati work together."

"I guess we have to thank our young friend from Indonesia. He was the ones who warned us about this doomsday, after all."

"Yes, I also think so."

A few days later, news about the assassination of the Spanish, French, and Italian leaders arrived. It was said that they were all killed by their own trusted subordinates.