Vol 4. Chapter 102: Mokaluo’s Proposal

At this moment,

a handsome man dressed in white-and-gold archbishop’s robes, his long golden hair tied into a braid, had somehow appeared at the entrance of the forbidden palace without anyone noticing. With an elegant bearing, he was already walking gracefully into the palace.

The blond man’s deep blue eyes were profound and beautiful. His features were sharply defined: a straight nose, thin lips, and sword-like brows extending toward his temples beneath a few loose strands of dark hair. His handsome profile was flawless to the point of being almost impossible to criticize.

Judging purely by appearance, among all the men Vinarola had ever known, no one could compare to him except the Child of Destiny she had briefly encountered before.

“Archbishop Mokaluo, why are you here?!”

That was right.

The man before her was none other than Mokaluo-Bafia, one of the three archbishops who held the highest authority within the Asumos Church. He was also the Church envoy who had specifically come to Yexinlian Royal Academy this time to present her with a proposal.

Mokaluo should have been waiting in the guest room.

And yet now he had directly appeared inside the forbidden grounds?

What were those guards outside doing? Eating for free?

Or...

Had this archbishop simply forced his way in?!

Out of trust in her subordinates, Vinarola instinctively believed the second possibility.

In an instant, a vast and powerful aura of magic began to swirl around the academy head, and the formidable strength of a High Seventh-Tier powerhouse gradually began to unseal.

She no longer treated him with the courtesy reserved for an honored guest. Instead, she openly revealed her hostility.

Naturally, Vinarola had no reason to be polite toward someone who had intruded into the forbidden grounds and offended Lord Holy Dragon King.

“Archbishop Mokaluo! Stop immediately! This is our academy’s forbidden area! You cannot take another step forward! Otherwise, you will be violating the agreement between the Asumos Church and the Crimson Leaf Empire!”

As she spoke,

Vinarola raised the staff in her hand. Scorching flame magic immediately gathered at its tip, serving as a direct warning to Mokaluo.

However,

faced with Vinarola’s threat, Mokaluo merely smiled faintly, completely unconcerned.

“And if I do not stop, what exactly are you going to do, Headmistress?”

“You!”

Hearing those provocative words, Vinarola’s eyes narrowed.

She no longer hesitated.

The magic gathered within her staff was immediately released as she prepared to teach this arrogant archbishop a lesson through force.

Do not think that just because you are an archbishop of the Asumos Church, you can act however you please inside my Yexinlian Royal Academy!

“High-Tier Magic — Radiant Flame Chains!”

As the incantation was chanted at high speed, blazing flames rapidly spread outward, instantly transforming into countless fiery chains that surged toward Mokaluo from every direction.

Clearly, Vinarola intended to directly restrain this insolent archbishop.

Although both the Church and the Crimson Leaf Empire were tremendously powerful forces, there was an agreement between their upper leadership.

As long as they were inside the neutral territory of Yexinlian Royal Academy, she did not need to fear the other side.

However,

the very instant the magic activated, something unexpected happened.

?!!

“What?!”

In the next moment, a graceful brown figure carrying a dense scent of blood suddenly entered Vinarola’s field of vision and directly blocked Mokaluo from the incoming attack.

“Shua~”

A silver-soul-colored cold gleam flashed.

The dozens of fiercely advancing chains of flame were suddenly struck by the silver-soul-colored light and shattered apart in every direction, disintegrating into the most basic particles of magical energy before dissipating into the air...

At the same time,

a slightly eerie and teasing laugh drifted faintly into Vinarola’s ears along with the flickering silver-soul-colored light.

“My, my. Calm down, Headmistress~ Why are you in such a hurry?”

?!

“Who?!”

Seeing her attack neutralized, Vinarola hurriedly drew back her staff and assumed a guarded stance.

Unfortunately,

compared with the speed of this suddenly appearing figure, Vinarola was simply too slow.

Amid flashes of blades and the crisp sound of metal colliding, a young woman dressed in a sharp black military uniform, with beautiful long brown hair, abruptly appeared before Vinarola.

In an instant, she drew the silver curved saber at her waist, mercilessly knocked the staff from Vinarola’s hand, and pressed the blade directly against the headmistress’s neck to prevent her from chanting another spell.

“Please stay quiet, Headmistress.”

“You... It’s you?!”

After clearly seeing the figure before her, Vinarola gritted her teeth.

The brown-haired girl was slender, with coffee-colored hair falling over both shoulders, the ends gently tied with two dark green ribbons.

She was in the bloom of youth and looked no older than seventeen or eighteen.

Her skin was whiter than snow, her features clear and lustrous like jade. She was like a new moon surrounded by a halo, or a flowering tree covered in snow, graceful and strikingly beautiful.

Paired with the smile on her face, which carried an eerie and cruel gleam, she was quite literally the embodiment of beauty intertwined with danger.

Ignoring the silver military saber pressed against her neck, Vinarola stared unwillingly into the girl’s silver-soul-colored diamond-shaped pupils.

“Moran, you bastard!”

That was right.

The girl who had suddenly appeared inside the forbidden grounds, protected Mokaluo, and effortlessly subdued Vinarola was none other than Moran, one of the Asumos Church’s three Heavenly Apostles.

She was also the strongest combat force directly subordinate to Mokaluo.

Upon seeing a Heavenly Apostle appear, Vinarola was furious inside, but when faced with an Eighth-Tier Heavenly Apostle, there was ultimately nothing she could do.

All she could do was glare toward the blond man nearby and repeatedly issue furious warnings.

“Archbishop Mokaluo! I’m warning you! What you’re doing is a serious violation of the rules! Neither the Asumos Church nor the Crimson Leaf Imperial Family is allowed to enter this place without authorization! If word of this gets out, neither your Pope nor the Crimson Leaf Imperial Family will let you off! ...”

However,

faced with Vinarola’s threats, Moran merely sneered while pinning her against the stone wall, her face filled with complete indifference.

Archbishop Mokaluo, meanwhile, simply ignored Vinarola altogether.

He walked straight toward the center of the forbidden palace, toward the golden sphere floating in midair, and without the slightest fear, met the Holy Dragon King’s vertical dragon pupil, which was filled with rage.

The instant their gazes met, the Holy Dragon King’s pupil contracted sharply, and his fury became completely obvious.

No matter what,

Vinarola was still one of his believers, a servant who had attended him for many years.

How could the Holy Dragon King remain unmoved when the headmistress was being bullied directly in front of him?

Instinctively,

the Dragon King erupted in fury.

A terrifying dragon pressure burst outward like a collapsing mountain and surging sea, crashing violently toward the two members of the Asumos Church.

The horrifying pressure once again filled the forbidden palace.

Unfortunately,

the current Holy Dragon King was no longer the peerless powerhouse who had dominated the world more than eight hundred years ago.

Although the dragon pressure he could release now was still extremely powerful, expecting to suppress a Heavenly Apostle using nothing but that pressure was ultimately little more than wishful thinking.

Faced with the crushing force, Moran grinned and looked teasingly toward the dragon pupil formed from pale golden energy.

Seeing this scene, Vinarola clenched both fists in extreme unwillingness, her eyes filled with rage.

Damn it.

“If... Lord Holy Dragon King still had a body... how could a Heavenly Apostle like you possibly dare to act this arrogantly?!”

Vinarola roared inwardly.

If Lord Holy Dragon King were still at his peak, he would have torn this vile woman who dared challenge a Dragon King into pieces long ago!

...

However, while raging inwardly, the headmistress’s eyes suddenly contracted, and an expression of complete surprise appeared within them.

“Why? Why is he fine too?”

Moran was an Eighth-Tier powerhouse.

There was nothing strange about her being able to withstand Lord Holy Dragon King’s dragon pressure.

But...

Why?!

Why could that archbishop withstand it as well?!

Vinarola stared at Mokaluo, who remained completely calm beneath the overwhelming dragon pressure and even continued walking forward against it.

Her disbelief only grew stronger.

If Moran’s blade had not been pressed against her neck, Vinarola would certainly have raised her hand and rubbed her eyes just to make sure they were still working properly.

Was...

Was this some kind of joke?

How was he... completely fine too?!

Vinarola stood there dumbfounded.

Everyone knew that archbishops of the Asumos Church were primarily responsible for administration and management, and that their personal combat abilities were not particularly powerful.

At most, they were usually only somewhere near the High Sixth Tier.

And judging from the aura Mokaluo had displayed upon entering the forbidden palace, his actual strength did indeed appear to be only around the Mid Sixth Tier.

Yet Lord Holy Dragon King’s dragon pressure was something even Vinarola, a Seventh-Tier powerhouse, found difficult to resist.

So how could Mokaluo, merely a Mid Sixth-Tier archbishop, possibly accomplish this?

Did he have some kind of protective artifact on him?!

...

No matter how much Vinarola thought about it, she could not understand.

All she could do was stare at the man approaching the Holy Dragon Heart with an extremely confused and solemn expression.

What should she do?

“Should I activate the defensive grand formation?”

Vinarola bit her lip in hesitation.

Meanwhile,

after reaching the stone pillar, Mokaluo stopped.

He gracefully bowed toward the golden energy pupil suspended in midair, performing a dignified greeting.

As Mokaluo gradually approached, Mebili himself was also somewhat stunned.

Clearly, even Mebili was quite surprised that this Sixth-Tier archbishop could so easily withstand his dragon pressure.

A solemn gleam appeared within the dragon pupil.

Under the Holy Dragon King’s serious gaze, Mokaluo revealed a gentle smile.

“My apologies for the offense, Lord Holy Dragon King. However, I truly came here today because there is something extremely important I wish to discuss with you. It concerns your new body... as well as our cooperation afterward.”

“...”

Hearing those words, the dragon pupil narrowed slightly.

The terrifying dragon pressure once again surged toward Mokaluo.

Although Mebili already knew that his dragon pressure could not suppress this strange man, he still chose to release it in order to express both his dissatisfaction and his rejection of Mokaluo’s proposal.

However,

faced with the Holy Dragon King’s displeasure, Mokaluo merely waved his hand casually.

“My apologies, Lord Holy Dragon King. Some of the conditions mentioned in the previous proposal were merely things I was forced to say in order to deal with the people around us. In reality, this proposal is not what you imagined it to be.”

?!!

Hm?

Hearing this, the dragon pupil suddenly lifted, revealing obvious confusion.

Not far away, Vinarola, who was still being restrained by Moran, was equally bewildered.

She had absolutely no idea what Mokaluo was really planning.

“Heh.”

Mokaluo gave a strangely charming smile.

“In fact, you do not need to worry. We will give you a new body. But... we do not need you to fight the Abyss Demons, nor do we need you to deal with that person... So there is really no need for you to resist the proposal so strongly.”

Holy Dragon King: ?!!