Chapter 267 High Priest Donal’s Request

Captain Gerald sat on the edge of the wooden bed, his head lowered as his blood-stained hands rested heavily on his knees.

His mind was a turbulent storm of irreconcilable paradoxes.

He remembered his childhood in the holy city, his grueling years of training within the Paladin Corps, his rapid ascent through the ranks, and the sacred vows he had sworn under the towering golden statues of the Sky God.

By all logic and doctrine, his soul should have burned with holy fury against all who opposed the divine light.

Yet, as he probed the depths of his mind, he felt absolutely nothing for his former master—no devotion, no reverence, no warmth.

Instead, a profound, unshakable allegiance to an entirely different entity dominated his consciousness.

The name ‘God of Beast’ resounded in his soul not as a foreign concept, but as an absolute, unquestionable truth.

It was an overwhelming compulsion woven directly into his spiritual foundation, commanding his complete submission and unyielding loyalty.

What unsettled Gerald most, however, was the glaring void in his memory immediately preceding his loss of consciousness.

He could recall marching toward the border with his squad, but everything between that moment and waking up in this modest recovery room was completely blank.

No matter how hard he pushed his mental sea, he hit a wall of absolute darkness.

What exactly had occurred before he became unconscious?

Where was his team?

He had too many unanswered questions.

He reached up, dragging his fingers through his matted hair with a heavy, frustrated groan.

“I need… to be alone,” Gerald muttered, his voice cold and raspy as he looked up at the trembling maid still huddled near the doorframe.

“Leave.”

The maid did not dare hesitate.

“Thank you” she whispered.

Scrambling to her feet, she bowed frantically, her hands clutching her bruised neck as she backed away toward the exit.

But just as her hand touched the brass handle of the door, she paused, her body shuddering as she gathered the courage to deliver her message.

“P-paladin…” the maid stammered, her voice shaking.

“The Sect Leader and the cabinet elders have summoned you to the grand hall. They… they are waiting for you. They wish to have a word with an envoy from the Church.”

Without waiting for Gerald’s response, she pulled the heavy wooden door open and hurriedly slipped out, her nervous footsteps quickly fading down the stone corridor.

Left in the quiet solitude of the room, Gerald stared blankly at the closed door, his mind continuing to trace the silent, invisible threads binding his fate to a god he had never explicitly worshipped—until now.

Unbeknownst to him, an emerald scaled wall gecko had its eyes fixed on him the entire time.

***

Meanwhile, in the Northern Hashian Mountains…

High above the clouds, within the vast, white-marble courtyard of the newly seized Glorious Mythical Sect headquarters, Cardinal Ryoger paced back and forth across the pristine stone floor.

His long, golden-embroidered ceremonial robes swept across the ground with sharp, agitated motions.

Every minute that passed without word from the south caused his brow to furrow deeper, his sharp features twisting into an expression of mounting frustration.

It had been days since he secretly dispatched Captain Gerald and his specialized vanguard into the Southern Hashian Mountains.

Under the divine strategic plan, Gerald’s squad was supposed to ignite a localized conflict, providing the Church of the God of the Sky with the perfect, undeniable pretense to launch a full-scale holy crusade against the Crimson Key Sect under the guise of purging demonic supporters and heretics.

Yet, there was nothing.

No divine revelation from his God, no messenger hawk, no scout reports—only a suffocating, unnatural silence from the southern front.

Lord Mauresis is slowly losing his patience, Ryoger thought bitterly, his fists clenching inside his voluminous sleeves.

“The servant of God does not tolerate delay. If we do not secure the southern footholds soon, his divine wrath will fall upon my head.

“Cardinal Ryoger.”

A calm, deep voice broke through the Cardinal’s spiraling thoughts.

Ryoger stopped in his tracks, instantly smoothing his facial expression into a serene, composed facade as he turned around.

Walking toward him across the courtyard was a tall, stern-faced High Priest clad in intricate silver-and-white plate armor.

The man radiated the terrifying, dense mana pressure of a Martial Lord, his hand resting casually on the hilt of a holy longsword.

“High Priest Donald,” Cardinal Ryoger greeted smoothly, inclined his head slightly.

“What brings you out to the courtyard?”

The High Priest stopped a few paces away, his sharp, perceptive eyes scanning the Cardinal’s face.

“I have observed your presence here for the past hour, Cardinal. Your spirit-sea is restless, and your steps are hurried. Tell me… what troubles your mind?”

Ryoger let out a slow, controlled breath, offering a tight, subtle lie.

“It is nothing grave, High Priest,” Ryoger replied, his tone laced with well-practiced, righteous indignance.

“I am merely angered by the fact that our grand vanguard remains stalled here while the enemies of our God continue to breathe divine air in the lower valleys. I suspect… something odd is transpiring within the Southern Hashian Mountains. The mysterious ley lines in that region have grown unusually volatile over the past forty-eight hours.”

“It’s like someone is preventing us from knowing what is happening down there”

High Priest Donald rested his hand more firmly on his sword pommel, his expression hardening as he digested the Cardinal’s words.

“Oddities in the south?” Donald mused, his eyes narrowing toward the distant southern horizon shrouded in heavy mountain mists.

“If the regional sects are plotting in secret or mobilizing behind our backs, we cannot afford to remain blind.”

The Martial Lord High Priest looked back at Ryoger, his gaze filled with resolute determination.

“Cardinal, grant me permission,” Donald requested firmly.

“Allow me to personally lead a scouting detachment into the Southern Hashian Mountains. I shall investigate the region, peel back whatever veil is hiding the truth, and report back to you immediately.”