Anthony's expression turned somewhat strange.
What kind of question was that?
What did "Why attack the person who killed you?" even mean?
"Who are you? Which faction do you belong to?"
Taking Jakes's spirit, Anthony quickly transformed it from a cluster of light into the vague and illusory figure of an elderly man and calmly asked.
"Jakes, Saint of the Rose School."
"The Rose School..."
A trace of surprise flashed across Anthony's face before he continued:
"Why did you attack the person who killed you?"
"The demigod behind him impersonated my god and delivered a false divine revelation. I had to kill him with my own hands!"
Jakes's spirit suddenly trembled violently, his face becoming twisted and ferocious.
But under Anthony's "Soothing," his spirit quickly calmed again.
Anthony, however, felt a chill run down his spine.
A demigod impersonating a deity and issuing fake revelations was rare, but not impossible.
However, that was limited to low and mid-sequence Beyonders.
There had indeed been cases where demigods pretended to be gods, making low and mid-sequence Beyonders believe they had received divine revelations and become favored by a deity, all to achieve certain hidden objectives.
But transmitting a false revelation to another demigod-level Beyonder?
That was simply impossible.
Not just for demigods. Even angels couldn't do it.
After all, once someone reached the demigod level, they should at least be capable of recognizing their own god.
The only beings capable of delivering false revelations would have to be gods of the same level.
But why?
Why establish a connection with Ashes through a false revelation sent to the Rose School?
And why would Jakes believe a demigod was responsible for the fake revelation?
He was a Sequence 3 demigod. Surely he couldn't be that foolish.
Anthony was filled with questions, but he did not pursue them. Instead, he looked toward Ashes.
"Blessed one, shall we continue?"
"Continue."
Ashes nodded lightly, seemingly unconcerned that Anthony now knew the contents of the revelation.
"What was the revelation?"
"Find the divine envoy wearing ten rings and have him collect as many of the twenty-two Blasphemy Cards as possible, especially the Moon Card."
"And there was a second revelation: 'Also the Mother Card.'"
"A second revelation?"
Anthony's expression changed slightly.
"Why do you call it a second revelation?"
"There was a clear interruption during the transmission. Several minutes passed before it arrived."
Jakes's spirit twisted with rage once more. This was clearly one of the greatest humiliations of his life.
Yet after Anthony soothed him, he regained his calm and continued:
"It was precisely because of the gap between the two revelations that I noticed something was wrong. I prayed to my god and obtained verification in time. Otherwise, I wouldn't have discovered the deception."
"Blessed one."
Archbishop Anthony's expression became extremely serious.
"The Chained God is an incarnation of the Mother Tree of Desire, a genuine evil deity. Anyone capable of impersonating the Mother Tree of Desire and issuing false revelations cannot merely be an ordinary demigod. At the very least, it would have to be an evil god of the same level."
"Although we don't yet know this evil god's objective, it most likely intends to use you, Blessed One, to accomplish some hidden purpose. It would be best not to take this so-called revelation to heart."
Ashes silently nodded.
He had long known that the Rose School worshipped the Chained God.
However, this was the first time he had heard that the Chained God was actually an incarnation of the Mother Tree of Desire.
Yet compared to the evil god who had impersonated the Mother Tree of Desire, there was another matter that interested him more.
"Why were there several minutes between them?"
Confusion filled Ashes's eyes.
Earlier, the Blood Admiral's first mate had also mentioned interruptions during the revelation's transmission.
But why split one revelation into two?
It was obviously the same message.
It couldn't be because the signal was bad, could it?
And the Mother Tree of Desire had apparently failed to notice another evil god transmitting revelations in its name until one of its followers became suspicious and prayed for confirmation.
Had that not happened, it might still be unaware that another evil god had impersonated it.
Was this evil deity really that incompetent?
Of course, it was also possible that the impostor god was stronger than the Mother Tree of Desire.
Perhaps it had concealed the entire process from the Mother Tree while transmitting the revelation.
But...
Why send information through the Rose School?
And why target him?
Or was it possible...
That evil god actually knew him?
"Who do you think was impersonating the Chained God to deliver the revelation?"
Meanwhile, Anthony continued his questioning.
"The Moon!"
Jakes's spirit answered without hesitation.
"When I prayed to my god for a response, the true revelation descended."
"'Purge all Moon pathway Beyonders from within the Rose School.' Therefore, it must have been a Moon pathway demigod within the Rose School who forged the revelation!"
"It couldn't have been a demigod. It could only have been a deity of the same level."
Drawing the crimson moon symbol over his chest, Anthony said solemnly:
"However, judging from your description, the evil god was very likely the Primordial Moon."
"The Primordial Moon may have used those Moon pathway Beyonders infiltrated into the Rose School to secretly erode part of the Mother Tree of Desire's authority."
"That would explain how It could use that portion of authority to send Jakes a false revelation while successfully concealing the act from the Mother Tree of Desire."
After a brief pause, Anthony added:
"The Primordial Moon and the Mother Tree of Desire appear to be mortal enemies."
With that, Anthony handed Jakes's soul back to Ashes.
"There's one more."
Taking Jakes's soul, Ashes retrieved another cluster of light and handed it to Anthony.
Anthony accepted it with some confusion. A blurry phantom emerged from within the glowing sphere.
His expression changed almost instantly.
Because he recognized the owner of that spirit.
Deputy Director and Major General of MI9, Qonas Kilgor.
Lady Arianna had received instructions from the Goddess and sent the Blessed One out to sea.
The purpose had been to keep him temporarily away from matters concerning the Black Emperor.
Yet despite already leaving Backlund, members of the royal family had somehow delivered themselves right to his doorstep.
After a moment of hesitation, Anthony decided to proceed with questioning.
"What is your name?"
"Qonas Kilgor."
Anthony fell silent and then looked toward Ashes.
Ashes reminded him:
"Ask where they transported the slaves."
After a pause, Anthony repeated the question.
"Ruin Number One. Anti-divination and anti-prophecy measures have been set up there."
"Where is this ruin located?"
Without needing further prompting, Anthony immediately followed up.
"It's... it's..."
Qonas Kilgor's spirit suddenly began trembling violently.
The sphere of light rapidly expanded as though it were about to explode.
Anthony's face changed slightly as he immediately soothed the spirit.
After all, if the soul exploded while in his hands, that would be difficult to explain.
"I'm sorry, Blessed One."
Returning the spirit to Ashes, Anthony apologized.
"A powerful Beyonder has placed a restriction on his soul. I cannot extract any more valuable information."
"I'm afraid only a Sequence 2 angel could obtain the answer you want from him."
"I suggest asking Lady Arianna for assistance when she returns to Backlund. Until then, you should avoid letting others attempt it casually."
"His soul is already extremely unstable. The next interrogation will likely cause it to dissipate because of the restriction."
As he spoke, a trace of doubt flashed through Anthony's eyes.
Normally, a soul would explode the first time it was questioned about restricted information.
Yet the Blessed One appeared to have performed some special treatment that made the soul significantly more stable.
However, repeated attempts would still ultimately cause the soul to perish due to the restriction.
"Thank you."
Ashes accepted the soul and expressed his gratitude.
No matter what, his investigation had finally made progress.
Ruin Number One.
(End of Chapter)
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