As a villain, he could do whatever he wanted.

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"This power... is indeed similar to, but not the same as, the blessing of the Most High God that I had previously experienced in the church."

"Is it the same as what you just said, Your Excellency?" Hearing the conclusion from Lius's mouth, Ershu also pondered and pursed his lips, taking the initiative to reach out and touch his chest, once again feeling the burning sensation flowing from within.

Under Lius's touch, the heat was even more intense than before, like a burning flame, causing Ershu's body to tremble uncontrollably, as if he were about to lose control.

"With the surge of power, Ershu had to take several deep breaths and bite his lip hard to suppress the surging force."

Hmph. Your Excellency, this blessing from the Supreme God… From the first time I encountered it as a child, this power has remained unchanged. When I use it, it does indeed manifest the power of the Supreme God. If that's the case, then does the magic mixed within it… truly exist?

"Oh? No difference from when you were a child? Really no difference?"

Hearing the black-robed girl's words, tinged with a hint of relief, Lius asked her in a serious tone. Ershu nodded vigorously, suppressing the energy in his chest, and replied, panting heavily:

"Hoo... Of course, Your Excellency. I can guarantee that. From the very first mission, His Excellency the Bishop has been channeling the power of the Supreme God into our bodies. From childhood to adulthood, it has been the same energy, the same feeling, and the same ability. There will absolutely be no mistakes. Please believe me."

The girl's voice sounded very serious, yet carried an undeniable firmness. Lius shook his head slightly, gathering some of the energy that had been within Ershu's body into his palm, and continued:

“I know you, Ershu, are trying to deny this fact, but sometimes even if the appearance is exactly the same, the inner workings are still different. For example, the power in your body, Ershu, is indeed somewhat similar to the blessing I experienced in the church, but I can also feel that there is a roughness in it that is hard to ignore, and... it is very familiar, too familiar.”

“It’s very familiar… Could it be that when I was with Ms. Irina at the church, I touched some of her magic and it left a mark on my body?” Ershu asked with a sliver of hope.

"That might be part of the reason, but more... I think it's because of other things." As he said this, Lius gently closed his hands, feeling the warmth in his palms in his mind. Finally, he made up his mind and, following that feeling, slowly gathered magic power in his palms, condensing his own magic power and transforming it into an energy with the same texture as the one in Ershu's chest.

"Hmm? What is this, Your Excellency?"

"Don't say much, just watch carefully and see what changes these magical powers are undergoing." Hearing Lius's words, Ershu glanced at him, seemingly not quite understanding for a moment. Then he looked at Lius's palm, watching the two energies gradually merging together. He glanced at them again, and then a look of shock appeared in his eyes.

"Under the light, one could see that the 'divine power' originally drawn from Ershu's body was slowly merging together in Lius's palm, enveloped by Lius's own magic power."

Like a blood test to confirm kinship, the colors of the two energies continuously merged, flowing together in a harmonious manner, and together transformed into a golden light that enveloped the two people in the tent.

"See... Ershu, this is what I was talking about. These energies are very crude, and so crude that they are very unstable. With just a little magic power, they can be absorbed and altered at will, and these powers can be fused together."

"This...this is impossible. Even if the leader is the representative of the supreme god, the magic power in his body should not be mixed with these divine powers. What is going on...Could it be that the leader, you do have such divine power flowing in your body? Is it really no different from the supreme god?"

Looking at Lius, Ershu's eyes widened slightly, and he murmured in surprise. He asked the blond boy beside him with a hint of urgency, while Lius shook his head slightly, offering his own answer:

"It's not that I possess these divine powers, but rather that these divine powers belong to me, or rather, the magic within them... is a part of me." "A part of the leader" That's right, these divine powers are formed by mixing with the magic within me, which is why they can merge with my own magic, because they are essentially no different, only their creators are different.

Touching this incredibly familiar energy, Leus took a deep breath, drawing it all into his body, letting the heat dissipate within him, thus turning Leus's conjecture into reality.

Meanwhile, Ershu, witnessing everything that was happening before her, showed a shocked expression, staring at the scene that filled her with astonishment.

Chapter 242: The Beginning of the Operation (Part 9)

Why... why is this divine power coming from you, Leader? Wasn't it given to me by the Bishop? Why am I facing this strange phenomenon? Ershu trembled and asked the boy beside him with unease.

As she spoke, Ershu's little hand couldn't help but gently touch the energy, further feeling its active warmth.

Like touching a small fire, it still had that warmth and a burning sensation, no different from usual. But now, after entering the girl's heart, it caused waves of emotion within her. This meant that what Lius said was not false. These powers... were indeed mixed with Lius's own magic, which was why they could exist so stably in front of her.

Meanwhile, Lius, watching the black-robed girl who kept asking him questions, shook his head slightly, not directly answering Ershu's questions. He simply withdrew his hand to his side and looked at the black-robed girl again. "Regarding this matter, I don't have much of a conclusion, nor can I give Ershu a definite answer. Right now, there are other more important things I want to tell you. Can we put this matter aside for now? Perhaps one day in the future, I will answer you." Faced with Lius's words, Ershu was slightly taken aback. Although she still had some hesitation in her heart, she ultimately nodded gently, trusting Lius.

"Hmm... If that's what you think, Leader, then I have no objection. Speaking of which, if the power within me truly contains a portion of your magic, then in a sense it's a blessing from you. Thinking about it that way, I feel quite honored."

Muttering to himself, Ershu's face flushed slightly, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up. Lius leaned closer and continued speaking to him:

"Then I'll continue my inquiry. I want to ask about your next move. All that preparation you've made, drawing our attention here, was for that next step, wasn't it? Your primary objective is undoubtedly Lilith, and from a macro perspective, your plan is only missing this crucial target to succeed."

"Yes, Your Excellency is right. Judging from the timeline, some people have already infiltrated the town you govern and are looking for opportunities to contact Lilith at the mansion. What do you think, Your Excellency? Would you like to contact those people you sent out and bring them back? I can contact them immediately." Ershu asked, looking towards Lius.

"Hmm... okay, we can let them slow down their movements for now, but don't strictly forbid everyone from doing anything. If we really want to resolve everything, we must follow the bishop's ideas until the very last moment, and then completely thwart her plan. Therefore, we also need Lilith as that key 'condition'."

"So, Your Excellency, do you mean to let Miss Lilith be taken away by us?" Earl asked, his eyes narrowing.

"You don't need to take her away. After all, she's in the manor right now. Even if you want to break through, it won't be easy for you in a short time. I'll take care of Lilith. You don't need to get too involved."

"Hmm... So we don't need to get too involved? If that's the case, then I roughly understand what the leader means."

After a brief moment of surprise upon hearing Lius's words, Ershu snapped out of his daze, nodded slightly to the blond boy before him, and then, as if remembering something, continued speaking to Lius:

"By the way, Your Excellency, besides the capture of Miss Lilith, our church actually has other targets within the city, all of which are attacks on towns to further divert your attention."

"Huh? An attack on the town?"

Hearing Ershu's words, Lius quickly led him to a nearby table and gestured for him to point out the church's intended targets. Ershu nodded slightly and obediently marked the targets on the map, ensuring Lius fully understood the church's next plan.

“Your Excellency, this is it… We plan to travel from the north to the south. We will pass through several towns like this. After the last one is marked on the map, Ershue looked up and gave the boy in front of him a serious look. Lius also took the map and nodded to Ershue.

"Hmm, can these teams sent to attack be recalled?" Lius asked.

“My Lord Leader, these people are a team sent out by the Bishop alone. Although they are under the management of the Church, they are only in contact with the Bishop for the time being, and we have not been able to fully gather them yet. If you want to stop them, you will have to use force to stop them one by one.”

"The only option is to use force, is that right? I understand."

Touching the locations on the map and comparing them with the magic circles previously drawn on it, Leus nodded slightly, roughly determining the attack routes of these attackers.

At the same time, as he looked at the map again, another thought came to mind, which suddenly made his eyes, which had been pondering, light up. His gaze then drifted back and forth across the map, as if he was thinking about something.

"Here...and here...it perfectly matches the original deduction, that should be enough. Hmm? Leader, what's wrong? Is there a problem?"

As Ershu glanced at Lius, she seemed momentarily puzzled by his reaction. Lius, however, ignored her question and, while staring at the map, asked the black-robed girl beside him without looking up:

"Ershu, what position do you think the Church will hold in the Lord's Kingdom after this incident is over, if the matter of your bishop can really be resolved?"

Faced with Lius's question, Ershu paused slightly, then pondered for a moment before replying to Lius, "If my calculations are correct... once this is over, the Church will be completely exposed to the world, and the Queen of the Main Kingdom will relentlessly hunt down the Church, determined to annihilate us all."

"Do you have a solution?" Lius asked further.

"With the power of the Most High God, we can ensure that most of the church members are preserved and hidden in the shadows again, ready to strike again in the next operation. However, some will still be sacrificed as a result. This is necessary, and we have already made preparations for the consequences. Please do not worry about it, Your Excellency."

With a serious and solemn expression, Ershu spoke these words, and Lius nodded slightly, uttering the same earnest words in return:

"What if I could allow you to retain the maximum number of people, so that even if the bishop's actions are thwarted, you wouldn't be exposed?" "Hmm? Leader, do you have a plan?"

Upon hearing Lius's words, Ershu's eyes flashed, and a look of unexpected hope appeared on her face. Lius nodded slightly and told her his thoughts:

"If we can't contact these attackers, then... let them contact us first, let them know what kind of attack they are about to face, and then they can take appropriate actions."

"Hmm? Let them... come to us on their own?"

Sensing the meaningful expression on Lius's face, Ershu glanced at him slightly. The surprise on his face did not dissipate much. Instead, under the influence of the boy's words, his expression became more puzzled and curious.

Chapter 243: The Beginning of the Operation (Part 10)

"Your Excellency, you want them to contact you on their own initiative, but how do you do that? How can you make those people aware of your orders?"

With these questions in mind, Ershu moved closer to the boy, asking him questions with a curious gaze. Lius nodded slightly, gesturing for Ershu to lean closer, and whispered in his ear:

“For those attackers who can’t be contacted, Ershu, you should do this… go ahead and set up those routes, and send people to set up routes in more distant places as well… then they will be able to make contact.”

"Ok?"

Listening to Lius's plan to "mobilize troops" for the church, Ershu narrowed his eyes slightly and asked with some doubt:

"Your Excellency, do you mean we should deploy people along the route in advance, and then you will send people there to make contact with us believers? But... why do this? Won't such an operation be detected by the kingdom's army?"

"I want them to create the biggest commotion, preferably spreading throughout the country. If it doesn't spread, it will only make me more distressed. My goal is to disrupt the current situation and make sure that the kingdom and the church are in my hands alone, so that I can protect the maximum number of people."

As he said this, Leus patted Ershu on the shoulder and spoke to him earnestly in a solemn tone and expression:

"So, Ershu, what are your thoughts? Are you willing to assist me in this plan?" "This is a question for Lius," Ershu said with a serious expression, nodding vigorously to the boy in front of him.

"Although I don't understand why you want to do this, as long as you trust me, I am willing to go through fire and water for you. Please feel free to entrust the matter to me."

"That's good. From now on, use this communication stone to keep in touch. If anything unexpected happens, please contact me as soon as possible, and we can talk about it privately."

Leus placed a private communication stone into the black-robed girl's arms, nodded to her, and looked at Ershu with a trusting gaze. Ershu, with a slightly flushed face, leaned against his chest and rubbed against him like a cat.

"My Lord, now that we've finished discussing the important matters, let's move on to what I've been longing for. Although it's only been a few days, it feels like a long time to me. I've been yearning to see you for so long."

"Oh? You're so interested in enemy territory, Ershu?" In a way, you're quite "mischievous."

Stroking the black-robed girl before him, Lius gently stroked Ershu's hair with his fingers and smiled as he spoke to her. Ershu, in turn, became even more "aggressive," grabbing Lius's shoulders with both hands and pressing her voluptuous body completely against her lover.

"After everything is over... if there's still a chance, I want to announce to the church the love between my leader and me... after everything is over..." Hey, don't make so many promises! These things are best kept to yourself. Besides, Ms. Leon and the others are outside. If Fang Yi and the others enter the tent now and see us interrogating them like this, wouldn't that be incredibly awkward?

After Ershu breathed a few breaths into her ear, the black-robed girl seemed to wake from a dream. After pausing for a few seconds, she reluctantly separated from the boy in front of her, stretched her body, and stood on the chair next to her. Just like before, she wrapped her body back into the iron chains.

"So, Your Excellency, how do you intend for me to leave? Do you want me to use my divine power now to make me disappear from this place immediately, or do you want me to disappear in front of the soldiers when they come in?"

"Well... I've already made up my mind."

As he spoke, Leus looked at the girl in black robes before him, leaned closer to her, and whispered his next plan. Meanwhile, outside the tent...

A female general, holding a sharp blade, sat upright on a tree stump, wiping the blade of her sword. Every now and then, she would glance at a tightly sealed tent in front of her, waiting for the various orders to come from inside.

"General, the forests of Zhou have been thoroughly searched, and there are no traces of any cultists. For the time being, this place is still very safe, so there is no need to worry."

The messenger emerged from a nearby grove of trees and, along with several attendants, reported to Leon. Leon nodded slightly and waved for them to return to their posts, while he remained seated on the tree stump, watching the silent magical tent and waiting for the boy inside to come and go as he pleased.

Seeing Leon's serious and focused demeanor, the soldiers who had been guarding nearby began to whisper amongst themselves during their break:

"General, you've been in this state for the past few days, looking extremely tired day and night. Are you really alright?"

"Oh, it's alright. Isn't this always the general's condition? The longest he was on duty in the North was a whole month. This is nothing."

"Speaking of which, the general's expression doesn't just seem like the usual one when she's on guard duty. Compared to usual, there seems to be a strange emotion on her face now."

"Strange feelings?"

The other soldiers all looked at the soldier who had spoken, their eyes filled with a sense of gossip.

"That's right. Think about it, aren't we guarding Prince Lius right now? And doesn't the general really like Prince Lius?"

As soon as the words were spoken, the soldiers exchanged a knowing glance, then exchanged knowing looks, smiling as they looked at their comrades beside them.

"Hehe... Didn't we already know about this? It's just that Prince Lius hasn't come to the Northern Territory much, so we rarely see him. But a few times when the general and I went to other territories, we saw Prince Lius and the general together. Her expression then... was even funnier than now. Her face was as red as an apple, hehe."

"Shh... Keep your voice down, don't let the general hear us, otherwise we'll probably be punished with several months of duty again. That's what happened last time, and I don't want to be dragged down by you again this time."

The group chatted amongst themselves, completely oblivious to Leon approaching them from a distance. Despite his considerable distance, Leon seemed to have heard them perfectly clearly.

Surprisingly, Leon didn't get angry or rush to reprimand his subordinates who were gossiping about him. Instead, he remained seated on a tree stump beside the tent, wiping the blade of his sword. His gaze drifted into the distance, and as he listened to their conversation about the general and Prince Lius, a slight smile crept onto his previously stiff lips.

"Fighting each other on the battlefield is bad for morale. Considering that their words are true this time, we'll let them off the hook."

As he pondered this in his heart, Leon suddenly opened his eyes, instantly sensing a murderous aura emanating from the tent flaps. He abruptly drew his sword into a fighting stance and shouted to the surrounding soldiers:

"Prepare for defense!"

The moment Leon gave the order, a sudden burst of air rippled out of the tent, blowing it apart. At the same time, a figure dressed in black robes was blasted out, tumbling through the air before crashing heavily into a tree outside.

"Ok?"

Witnessing this scene, Leon's eyes sharpened even more as he peered into the tent flap, finally spotting the person he had been longing for.

"Lius, are you alright?!"

Seeing the blond boy slowly emerge from the tent, clutching his bleeding arm, Leon frowned and greeted him. Lius turned and nodded slightly, his eyes still showing signs of shock...

Chapter 244: Life is Like a Play (Part 1)

"Lius, are you alright? What just happened? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Looking at Leus, who had been blasted out of the tent, and seeing the blood flowing from his arm, Leon's eyes widened slightly. For a moment, his pupils were filled with a strong killing intent. Although he immediately suppressed it with reason, a sharp and dangerous atmosphere still lingered.

Meanwhile, Leon, sensing the sharp radiance emanating from Leon, immediately turned around and gently waved to him, saying:

“It’s nothing, Leon, don’t worry. It was just a minor cut during the fight. Don’t be angry.” Lius said, taking a bandage from the side and wrapping it around the wound on his arm. Leon immediately leaned closer and carefully examined the boy’s body. Only after confirming that the boy was indeed alright did he slowly exhale and relax his furrowed brows.

"It's good that you're alright, but what exactly happened before? Why did she suddenly run out from inside? Could it be... that she attacked you?"

"I guess so. I don't know what happened, but Ershu suddenly broke free of her chains and attacked me. Luckily, I was more skilled and managed to retaliate while she was attacking me."

As he said this, Leus slowly exhaled, pointed his wand at Ershu, and gathered his magic power at the tip of the wand.

Meanwhile, Leon gripped her sword tightly again, assuming a defensive stance, pressing it against Lius to prevent the black-robed girl from launching another attack. She then stepped forward and shouted sharply in Ershu's direction:

“You despicable cultists… you actually dared to launch a sneak attack on Lius. As expected, all of you cultists should be executed. Now prepare yourself. You dared to attack me in front of me, so you must have been prepared to die.”

"Hehe, in response to Leon's battle cry, Ershu maintained a meaningful smile, just like when they first met. The staff he held slowly rose into the air, floating around him, automatically drawing one exquisite rune after another, constructing the most solid transparent barrier for himself."

"Ms. Leon, is your tone too serious? I was just having a peaceful and fair match with Young Master Lius. I informed him beforehand before the attack. How can Wen be considered to have launched a sneak attack?"

With an air of self-righteousness, Ershu slowly floated up from the distant tree, hovering in mid-air. She gently stretched out her arms, brushed the dust off her collar, and smiled and shook her head at the female knight and the blond boy opposite her with an elegant and composed demeanor.