Demon Bible

Chapter 217: The Saint and Fate

In that instant, Lilian immediately flew behind Zoven, pressing her back against his and gasping heavily for air.

She then quietly turned around, tentatively poking her head over Zoven's shoulder to peer in Nemus's direction.

Yet, she only saw Nemus acting completely normal, showing no signs of having noticed her at all.

'Was it an illusion?' Lilian had no idea why she felt so afraid.

As a special lifeform, her life tier was equivalent to the Golden Rank.

Although her ability to interfere with the outside world was minimal and her combat prowess was far weaker than a normal Golden Rank entity, her lifespan was dozens of times longer than theirs.

As long as she did not wish to die, it was practically impossible for her to perish.

That being the case, why was she so terrified of a mere human?

Emboldened by this thought, Lilian crawled out from behind Zoven's back and carefully observed Nemus's movements.

Nemus did not display any further anomalies. Instead, he calmly disclosed a few pieces of information to the other clerics.For instance, the existence of the Book of Ages.

At this moment, many finally understood. No wonder Nemus was so often seen flipping through an odd, mysterious book.

With this revelation, most of the people's suspicions toward Nemus were put to rest.

Since Nemus was willing to share such deep secrets as the Legend Rank and the Historical Number with them at a time like this, it was highly probable that he had no other hidden motives.

This was actually a psychological trick. By throwing out a significant piece of information, people would instinctively associate the revealer with that specific matter and subconsciously assume they had no other underlying issues.

It was like acting strange for a while right when a psychotic serial killer appeared in the area. Just as people began to suspect you were the killer, you announced that you had just gone through a breakup.

The majority of people would then shift their doubts and attribute your odd behavior entirely to the breakup.

At the same time, they would instinctively feel that someone dealing with a breakup would not be in the mood to become a serial killer.

Through this misdirection, all anomalies could be explained away by a single cause.

The same applied to Nemus. All of his current anomalies would now be explained by the Historical Number.

Why Nemus was so powerful, why his whereabouts were sometimes so secretive, why he spent so much effort establishing a smuggling system to benefit the Church, and so on.

Previously, Nemus had shown no interest in pleasure or luxury, displaying zero desire for worldly things. The vast majority of profits from smuggling whale products had also been invested back into the Church.

This extreme selflessness had actually left quite a few people harboring deep doubts about him.

Did such a true saint actually exist in this world?

When a person's moral virtue was too perfect, it created an immense sense of pressure for ordinary people.

That very pressure would inadvertently twist into psychological suspicion.

But now things were different. Nemus acted this way because he coveted the Historical Number and desired to ascend to the Legend Rank.

Because Nemus had disclosed this information, the trial finally reached a conclusion.

For his involvement in smuggling, colluding with cults, and other offenses, Opper was sentenced to ten years in prison.

His subordinate Arlo and the Desperate Duo were also sentenced to varying years of imprisonment.

On the other hand, Zoven's suspicions were not entirely cleared. He was still a potential suspect in the murder of his own family, so he was temporarily detained.

Originally, there might have been a chance for an acquittal and release, but after the revelations of the Historical Number and the Fae Bloodline, it was impossible for the Church to let him out of their sight.

As the interrogation concluded, all sorts of news began to spread outward.

"The Historical Number, the Historical Transition Period, all sorts of problems surfacing... I see, so that is how it is!" Inside the Dartmenerly family estate, Dartmenerly's eyes gleamed brightly. His body trembled slightly as if he had just unearthed a massive treasure. Dartmenerly possessed a certain level of understanding regarding the Historical Number.

"Quick, quick, bring me that book... Forget it, I will go myself!" Dartmenerly barked orders, but upon seeing Dalos's bewildered gaze, he lost his patience and hurriedly made his way to the family's secret Archive Library.

Housed within were all sorts of arcane lore, rare Breathing Techniques, Meditation Methods, precious Sword Arts, Spells, and a substantial amount of content related to Alchemy.

Dartmenerly rushed inside and dug out a specific book.

His heart pounded with excitement as he flipped it open.

Staring at the contents on that page, Dartmenerly finally saw the hope for his family's resurgence.

"The lifespan of a Saint is infinite. The existence of Divine Power makes it virtually impossible for a Saint to die of natural causes." Dartmenerly read through the text line by line.

The Dartmenerly family was a Saint Family. The problem, however, was that their family's Saint had only existed for a few decades before dying.

This was one of the primary reasons why the Dartmenerly family had fallen into their current state.

In this book of family secrets, several methods of a Saint's death were recorded.

"For a divine being, a single drop of blood equates to a Golden Rank." Even a Golden Rank entity could, at best, only breach a Saint's outer skin, causing them to bleed a little golden blood and suffer minor injuries.

"Some meet their end by Divine Punishment,"

"Some are severed by Fate,"

"And some fall to Calamity."

The arcane text documented a few distinct cases of a Saint's death.

The first case: One thousand seven hundred years ago, Saint Joe angered the gods. He was stripped of his Divine Power and struck down by Divine Punishment.

The second case: One thousand two hundred years ago, an unknown Saint defied Fate. In that instant, all of his Divine Power mutated, transforming him entirely into a monster. He was subsequently slain by the combined efforts of other Saints. Or rather, the moment his Divine Power mutated, that Saint was already dead.

The third case, or more accurately, the third category of cases, also occurred one thousand two hundred years ago. At that time, the Great Calamity of the Earth emerged. In order to suppress the disaster, many Saints perished during that era, leaving behind numerous cases.

These three categories of Saint deaths were accounts that had been passed down since antiquity.

Following these three categories, the Dartmenerly family had collected many more cases, some true and some false.

"Six hundred years ago, Dartmenerly walked upon the Great Earth, pursuing the path of the divine. He ultimately obtained a Miracle and became a Saint."

"Five hundred and sixty years ago, Saint Dartmenerly ventured to the Great Earth once more, never to return. The Saint Road wailed in sorrow, and from then on, it was riddled with obstacles."

For so many years, the Dartmenerly family had been searching for the true cause of Saint Dartmenerly's death.

Because while this ancestor had simply died, he had left behind a monumental problem for the family.

The family's holy artifact could no longer be activated normally. Instead, it actively hindered the aptitude of family members and interfered with their advancement to the Golden Rank.

Over the years, the only person in the family to successfully advance was Saint Dartmenerly's grandson, who achieved the feat before the obstacles appeared over five hundred and sixty years ago.

More than two hundred years ago, the Dartmenerly family's sole Golden Rank expert claimed to have found a way to resolve the family's predicament and subsequently activated the Saint Road.

Unfortunately, he too never returned.

The accumulated assistance of the Saint Road over the years was depleted, plunging the family back into their predicament once more.

Up until now.