Yes, Madam Prime Minister

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But Ronan was fast and got away, and instead of heading towards Dinia, he led them further and further away.

"damn it."

"He can't hold on much longer."

“That’s right. He couldn’t hold on for long if he had to deal with so many of us at the same time.”

"Don't worry, the people who went to deal with the Pope will be back soon. Once they're back, we'll be able to take care of Ronan right away."

"That's what the mages who were chasing Ronan said."

Use this self-motivation to soothe inner tension.

Because they knew that this was actually a conspiracy by the Pope.

The Pope, this heretic and apostate, feigned a desire to join them in eliminating Ronan and capturing Dinia, but his true intention was to eliminate these potential opponents as well, thus fulfilling his personal ambitions. Their plan, however, was to turn the tables, cooperate with the Pope, and make the feigned death a reality, killing the Pope as well and pinning the blame on Ronan and Dinia.

But something feels off about the current situation.

Ronan should have been poisoned, but his bodily functions showed no signs of weakening.

Meanwhile, the two fifth-rank officials who were tasked with dealing with the Pope, as well as the people who had been lying in ambush along the way, had yet to arrive.

The reason is actually quite simple: they guessed wrong.

From beginning to end, the Pope never intended to eliminate Ronan or capture Dinia alive; he only wanted to eliminate them. The Grand Master had already fled to the Pope's side the moment Dinia was surrounded.

five minutes later.

Ronan's magic was starting to wane, and he had sustained many injuries. Just as the group was preparing to unleash their power...

With a soft thud, one of their fourth-tier elemental mages died, a black longsword piercing through the back of his neck and exiting through his mouth. Immediately following was another scream, as five flying swords pierced the chest of another fourth-tier elemental mage while they were distracted, killing him instantly.

What followed was a pincer attack from Ronan, the Grand Master, and the Pope.

It took the three of them ten minutes to finally take down the remaining five people.

The fourth-tier ones were alright, but that fifth-tier mutated magic user was ridiculously tanky. If it weren't for the Grand Master, Ronan felt that even if he fought him one-on-one, he wouldn't be able to kill him even if he ran out of mana. Perhaps only someone like Dinia, with her boundless vitality, could fight the Grand Master. If it were any of the seventh-tier ones, they might easily be in trouble, since the Grand Master's attacks escalate in a ruthless manner. The first powerful strike might only leave a scratch, but after a dozen or so, a light poke could be fatal.

After the battle, Ronan, panting heavily, looked at the Grand Master and the Pope and said, "Ha, ha, if you had come any slower, I'm afraid I would have died here."

"Really? Marquis Rhine, apart from your left hand, your other injuries aren't serious," the Grand Master said with a grin.

"Stop talking nonsense, go to Egis." The Pope looked serious. The clothes on his left leg and right hand were completely torn, and blood was still flowing down his bare left leg and right hand.

The Pope knew that the other side intended to use a trap to kill him, but he did not expect that his ability to adapt to combat had deteriorated significantly due to his long absence from battle. In addition, the enemy's prepared forces were greater than he had anticipated, and he almost suffered a defeat.

On the other side, after Dinia hid herself, she did not launch an attack. She knew very well that if she attacked any point, everyone would immediately surround her.

Despite the relentless pursuit of the bees, Dinia had already extended and spread her fungal carpet underground when she was initially trapped, forming a network of roots within the barrier space. She then teleported directly between these roots.

How do you lock onto a teleporter?

Ultimately, this forced a group of mages to launch a massive, relentless bombardment within the barrier.

So what if we use carpet bombing? We can't hit her at all.

After wave of attacks, the mages surrounding Dinia abandoned their ineffective offensive and decided to remain in a stalemate, waiting for reinforcements to arrive and for someone else to maintain the barrier. Although fourth-tier elemental mages couldn't create such a barrier, they could maintain it, freeing up the three fifth-tier elemental mages on the periphery to participate in the battle.

Instead of reinforcements, the enemy arrived.

The moment they sensed the approaching magical fluctuations of Ronan, the Grand Master, and the Pope, the mindset of all the mages within the barrier underwent a dramatic change.

Chapter 579 Running Away, Surrendering, He's Here

The three elemental mages in charge of the barrier ran away immediately. They were originally outside help, and now that the situation was not right, why would they stay and wait to die?

Within the barrier, several summoning mages and elemental mages also wavered and considered surrendering. After all, they were an important force in the church. Even if they hadn't made any great contributions, they had still worked hard. At worst, they could be sent away from the center of power and exiled abroad to become missionaries.

The four leaders remained completely unmoved. One was the one who initially clamored to reclaim the power belonging to the church and was also the one who first trapped Dinia with the strange tree. Another was the one who used an attack that ignored magic defense and directly affected the body to take Dinia's life.

The other two are the Chief of the Inquisition, an elderly man without legs who moves by sword, and the Deputy Chief of Missions, who can teleport within a certain range; these are also divine arts.

All four of them were high-ranking members of the church and the backbone of the radical war faction. They advocated sending troops to aid the empire and restore the church's glory in the western continent, rather than sitting idly by and waiting for death as they were doing now.

"The Pope and his men don't have much fighting strength left. Are you just going to give up like this?"

The man who used the strange tree said.

Immediately, someone objected, "The barrier is about to dissipate. Even if that woman has used up most of her magic, she can still move as if she were teleporting. You will no longer be able to catch her like you did at the beginning. And your attacks won't hit her if she isn't under control."

"Are you going to become traitors too?" the man who attacked with magic resistance questioned.

“We just realized our mistake in time. You two, don’t push us too far,” said the man who could summon giants.

“That’s right, we’re all fellow believers and brothers, and we don’t want to use the two of you to gain merit,” said the man who used the poisonous bees to search for enemies.

The man with the strange tree said angrily, "Foolish! Is your Pope some kind of moderate? He's a far more radical than us. Surrendering will only mean certain death."

"Ha, staying here is the only way to truly die."

"Like I said, don't stop us." With that, the group of mages prepared to leave and surrender.

While the group was arguing, Ronan had already reunited with Dinia. As for the three magicians who had run away, they could only watch them escape. After all, the people within the barrier were the ones who were truly important.

Seeing that Ronan was alright, with only his left arm having grown back halfway, Dinia breathed a sigh of relief, but didn't say anything to show her concern. "It's grown back; you only lost one hand."

"Ha, it's you who's regressed, you didn't even manage to solve a single one," Ronan teased in return.

The Grand Master remained as nonchalant as ever, but said, "Don't get too excited, you two. The big fish hasn't arrived yet. It's up to you two now. The Pope is a bit too weak. I have to take care of him. Otherwise, he might be in heaven in a second."

"Don't waste time, deal with those two troublesome guys first," the Pope said.

Those two refer to the two who use strange trees to trap enemies and ignore magic defense. They are not very powerful when no one is restraining the opponent, because both the strange tree and the internal explosion attack that ignores magic defense are divine spells with long wind-up and slow trajectory. However, once someone helps to restrain them, they become very troublesome.

"No rush, I bet those idiots will surrender." The commander was saying this when his expression changed. "Uh, damn it, they're here so fast."

As soon as he finished speaking, a terrifying magical force pressed down from the sky.

After being hit several times, Ronan immediately knelt on one knee, and the Pope, whose leg was already injured, was directly pushed to the ground.

Only Dinia, the Grand Master, was still able to stand.

In the distance, a group of mages who were about to surrender were filled with disbelief. Under the terrifying suppression of magic, they trembled involuntarily. The four divine magic mages had complicated expressions.

The Seven Saints Church's strongest fighting force, the Deputy Director of the Relief Department, who has always been inconspicuous yet cannot be ignored, has arrived.

Dinia pulled Ronan, and the two merged. Ronan spoke, asking the Pope, "Which side is he on?"

The Pope, who was helped up by the Grand Master, managed to speak, "In his eyes, those people are radicals, and so am I, while he is a conservative, do you understand?"

War is radical, and so is reform.

“I understand. He’s just waiting for you two to kill each other so he can take care of you all at once. What are his methods?” Ronan asked, getting to the point.

"In an organization like the Vatican, what do you think?" the Grand Master retorted, his smile now gone.

"Ah, I understand." Ronan indicated that he understood.

Send them to heaven, what else can we do?

At this point, Ronan fully understood the Pope's scheme. He had devised a crude and childish plan, and a group of people who went against his lead decided to play along. Little did they know that the Pope knew they would turn the tables and eliminate them. By involving Ronan and Dinia, and even without prior consultation, by weakening Dinia and launching a surprise attack on Ronan, the Pope was not trying to give these fools enough confidence, but rather to ensure that Ronan would be lured out.

Then, World War I.

“This is your church’s internal affair, and besides, I am a devout believer,” Ronan said, spreading his hands.

The commander was taken aback. Devout? No way.

The Pope straightened up, pressing the Grand Master's shoulder, and explained, "He means we need to pay more."

"As expected of the Pope, his understanding of believers is exceptionally profound," Ronan praised.

"Don't worry, I won't let you down," the Pope said.

Just as Ronan was talking to the Pope, the Deputy Director of the Relief Department arrived in front of the four men.

There are three deputy directors of the Relief Department, and one of them must be the person who inherited that special divine magic.

Those who inherit that divine art can never be weak. Over the generations, there has been more than one of the church's strongest individuals, and this one is just one of them.

He wasn't tall, just over 1.7 meters, with an average build. His clothes were a bit old but clean, and his appearance was also ordinary—just a man in his thirties who was somewhat handsome among ordinary people, with a touch of approachability. What was special about him was his demeanor. Most people would have a contradictory feeling when they first met him; they would clearly think that this person must be an important figure, yet they would also firmly believe that he was approachable.

"You may leave. Stupidity leads to extremes, and that's all there is to it." The deputy director of the relief department finished speaking and vanished in a flash.

In the next instant, he was already in front of Ronan and the other three.

The deputy director of the Relief Department told the Pope, "The Church should not be what you envision it to be."

“If we don’t change, the Church will eventually lose its influence and become nothing more than a figurehead,” the Pope said.

"It's changed, but is it still the church?" the deputy director of the relief department asked.

“Existence is greater than everything,” the Pope said. “Moreover, I prefer to call it a correction.”

The deputy director of the Relief Department shook his head slightly. “There’s nothing wrong with becoming a mere decoration. Besides, the church will not become a mere decoration, but will return to its original and proper form: a simple place to help those in need, instead of a place filled with unscrupulous merchants, bureaucrats, swindlers, and robbers.”

"Don't I want to build the Church into a place that helps people?" the Pope asked rhetorically.

Chapter 580 Those who are unreasonable can be reasonable, and those who are reasonable can't be reasonable—let's just fight.

The deputy director of the relief department said nothing more.

The Pope also looked helpless.

To the average person, that group was more radical than the Pope, and the Deputy Director of Relief, a conservative figure passed down through generations, should target that group.

However, the Deputy Director of the Relief Department himself did not see it that way.

The Pope's approach of changing the nature of the Church is truly radical.

Of course, the Pope insists he is right: the world is changing, and things that don't change will eventually perish. Only through change can the Church remain an influential organization for a very long time to come, profoundly impacting the world and society.

The two shouldn't have had this argument. Both are elderly and know very well that, not only can such an argument not yield a right or wrong answer, but even if it could, it wouldn't change anything.

You could say it's because people get old and become stubborn, or you could say it's because decades of persistence have become a part of them. To change is to deny one's own beliefs and one's entire self.

Ultimately, the argument was pointless, and there was no room for reconciliation. The few words exchanged were merely the old man's occasional ramblings in a fit of emotion.

Ultimately, it will come down to physically eliminating the other party.

“This is none of your business. You can leave,” the deputy director of the relief department said to Ronan and Dinia.

“I also wish it had nothing to do with us,” Ronan said, “but unfortunately, that’s not the case.”

It wasn't that the Pope's somewhat idealistic plans moved Ronan, nor was it that the benefits he hadn't explicitly stated made Ronan reluctant to give them up.

It mainly revolves around what the Pope said, which can be seen as a social experiment in dealing with religious issues.

"Really? That's a shame."

The deputy commander sighed slightly, but there was no anger or worry on his face.

"I thought you were going to give this young man some advice," Ronan said with a smile.

"Are you young?" the deputy commander asked in return.

Ronan fell silent.

He had no interest in arguing with the old man.

He had already figured it out: this old man seemed to like to reason, but in reality, he had no reason and didn't reason at all; he just liked to put on an act of being reasonable.

At this moment, the Grand Master tore off his tattered armor and threw it aside. "Although I don't like to talk about these topics, you, and those before you, have never interfered in the affairs of the Church. Almost a hundred years ago, when the Church was selling indulgences at a frenzy, that was truly a departure from the Church's original purpose, yet your predecessors didn't intervene. Now, even if the Pope's reforms are for the good, or even if he makes the Church worse, it doesn't prevent people like you from continuing to help those you believe need relief and assistance."

"None of this will affect you or what you want to do, will it?"

"Yes."

The deputy director of the relief department answered.

For a magician of his extraordinary skill, and for someone with such a special position within the Papacy, neither who the Pope is nor what the Church becomes can affect him or what he wants to do.

“But they are them, and I am me. What His Holiness the Pope wants to do is to gradually make clergy no longer clergy. That is my understanding.” The Deputy Director of the Relief Department changed the subject.

"You care about such empty fame?" the commander asked rhetorically.

"It's not just an empty title, nor does it concern me personally; it represents the sacred values ​​of an organization," the Deputy Director of the Relief Department explained.

The Grand Master didn't say anything more. He was someone who neither read the scriptures nor cared about religious affairs, so he really couldn't understand what the other person meant.

"There's no point in saying all this, let's get on with it," Dinia said.

What's there to say?

What you say may not be what you think, and what you think may not be the truth deep in your heart.

The Pope had previously provided some explanation of the special divine magic and techniques of this Deputy Director of Relief, a special figure within the Church.