From God of Lies to Lord of All Worlds

Chapter 205: The Church's Resolution

Milan, home to the second-largest church in the world, the Milan Cathedral.

This grand cathedral was renowned, for it was here that Napoleon once held his coronation ceremony.

The driving force behind this cathedral, the Visconti family—who were also a leading family of the Renaissance—spent over six hundred years bringing this monumental structure to completion.

This imbued the entire cathedral with an aura of classical luxury. That sacred atmosphere could practically burn anyone present, naturally including the current visitor, Charlie Lu'ao.

"I am very glad you brought this information to the Church, Mr. Charlie! Your family will feel honored by this!" Rasinger Leo said with a smile.

"Of... of course, it is my honor!" Charlie stammered. "I just want to know, they won't come looking for me again, will they?"

"Do not worry. Our monks will escort you to the Vatican. We will only send you back to Milan after ensuring your complete safety!" Rasinger replied easily.

Those words allowed Charlie to let out a long breath of relief. Only then did he slowly depart from the cathedral, supported by a deacon at his side.

"Did you detect any severe dark energy on him?" Once Charlie had completely left, Rasinger finally turned his head to ask the man beside him, a clean-shaven Andrea Julius, who was now wearing a clerical robe.

This young man from an exorcist family had seamlessly transitioned from a shop owner to an exorcist, even taking up an important role by Rasinger's side.Andrea touched the cross on his chest. Gripping the revolver his grandfather had given him, with a silver-plated knife hanging at his waist, he shook his head and said, "I did not sense any dark energy, Your Eminence. It is as if the vampire controlling him paid him no attention at all! This is far too unusual!"

Upon learning that his family was an exorcist family, Andrea reclaimed the memories of his youth and his family's exorcism tools. He also received a blessing from Pope Mario, staying by Rasinger's side as his exorcist advisor.

But even within the records of a demon hunter family, a vampire contact lacking any traces of darkness was exceedingly unusual.

"Vampires are dark creatures. As long as they focus on a human, they will inevitably leave behind their dark energy. Unless, of course, their attention was never truly on this man named Charlie in the first place!"

Andrea's words immediately caught Rasinger's attention.

He recalled his previous conversation with Leon, who was already on his way from Sicily to Milan. They had exchanged information while Leon was on the plane, and Rasinger had learned about the so-called neutral Giovanni clan. Thus, he spoke slowly.

"What if the person controlling Charlie belongs to the Giovanni clan? Is that a possibility?"

"Giovanni?" Hearing this, Andrea paused for a moment, then opened the ancient book left by his family, searching for clues within its pages.

This was a tome passed down through the generations of the Julius family. It recorded their wars against various supernatural monsters, naturally including the thirteen clans of vampires, so he quickly found the information.

"The Giovanni clan is an independent faction, remaining neutral between the Camarilla and the Sabbat. They are mostly comprised of a group of sorcerers and merchants thirsting for immortality. They are actually one of the few relatively normal clans!" Andrea explained. "The previous generations of our family seemingly even had contact with them. These people established blood-trafficking channels centuries ago!"

"In every sense, they are a clan with a relatively low threat level. They are much more interested in having humans sell them blood rather than resorting to robbery!"

"Merchants?" Rasinger seemed to come to a realization. "That is indeed exactly what merchants love to do: to incite conflict and to craft a situation..."

Right at that moment, a voice called out from outside the door, "Cardinal Leo, the Archbishop of Milan has arrived!"

Hearing this, Rasinger hurriedly stood up and walked to the door to welcome him.

The Archbishop of Milan was the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Milan Diocese. In the nation of Italy, he was a regional bishop whose prestige was second only to the Pope, which naturally also made him a Cardinal.

The current Archbishop of Milan was Nikki Dio, a loyal supporter of Pope Mario. After the Pope's orders were issued, he was the first regional bishop to step forward and agree to all his demands.

Rasinger also trusted him deeply. He was a devout person, a high-level official who had actively volunteered to go to America to accept the Precept when most bishops had refused.

He proactively stepped forward to greet him. "Cardinal Dio, I hope you have brought us good news!"

This Archbishop was quite young, having just turned sixty, so he appeared full of vitality. He declared loudly, "Yes, I bring excellent news! Through this morning's assembly, I notified nearly all the congregation, instructing them to evacuate Milan in an orderly fashion! They all trust us, so they are leaving rapidly!"

"Now, according to official news from the Roman Government, over seventy percent of the congregation has already left the city. They will be heading to neighboring cities. I hope the surrounding dioceses can execute our orders and properly settle these people!"

The number of believers in the Milan Diocese accounted for ninety-eight percent of the region's entire population. In this area, the words of Cardinal Nikki carried far more weight than those of Roman officials.

"Only seventy percent have left?" Rasinger's voice lowered slightly. "Can the remaining people evacuate before nightfall? If they cannot, they might not be able to avoid the upcoming battle!"

Archbishop Nikki nodded vigorously. "Of course they can. I have mobilized all the clergy in the entire diocese. They are all working hard to encourage the congregation to leave. They will definitely be gone before dark!"

"I will not leave until they are safely out of the city!"

This Cardinal had been in his position for five years. He had done many admirable things and was deeply loved by the people of the diocese. His words alone were proof of his dedication.

"Fortunately, I still have some face in this region. Many believers heard that I would be the last to leave, so they took the initiative to leave the city early! This has brought a very positive image to our evacuation efforts!"

Nikki said with a chuckle, casually asking, "And what about you, Cardinal Rasinger? When will you be leaving?"

"If you are not leaving, then as a papal envoy, I certainly cannot leave either!" Rasinger said softly. "The Crown wished to come in person, but I persuaded him otherwise. That is why I am here!"

"For so many years, the Church's reputation has actually been quite poor—hoarding wealth, pedophilia scandals, severe corruption, and the scattering of believers. But from the moment the Crown returned and the Precept was established, the Catholic Church has become completely different!"

"We are the guardian of believers, the watcher of the world, and above all, the sworn enemy of darkness!"

"If Bishop Angus can protect the people in Florida, then we can certainly protect the believers here in Milan!"

Hearing this, Archbishop Nikki sighed deeply with emotion. "Yes. If not for the Crown's autocratic decision-making, I would have felt that the Church was just suffering a slow decline..."

His expression gradually brightened. "But now, things are different. We have ushered in the Lord's return, and welcomed the dawn of our own era!"

Just as they were standing in the cathedral, chatting with calm expressions, Rasinger received a phone call. "It is a call from our Prime Minister," he announced.

"Cardinal Rasinger, I heard your church has not yet evacuated?" Lomeini's voice came through the phone, laced with anxiety and unease. "The Ministry of Security has sent word. Your intelligence was correct. Corpses have been found all over Milan—homeless people and gang members—all completely drained of blood!"

"Those dark creatures might actually be in this city! You need to leave immediately. We are about to send the military in to thoroughly purge this city!"

"The military? There is no need for that, Prime Minister. Just help us get the believers out of here as quickly as possible!" Rasinger said with a gentle smile. "As for purging this city, leave that to us!"

"You? Purge the city?" Lomeini was utterly shocked. "That pack of dark creatures completely massacred the Mafia. All those guns and bullets couldn't even put up a fight against them. And you—a group of old men with an average age well over sixty—want to purge the city?"

"Yes!" Rasinger declared, his face grave and his expression solemn. "This is Milan, the Holy Land of Catholicism. It was here that Constantine the Great issued the Edict of Milan. This is the home of multiple Popes and countless Cardinals. Everyone else can leave, but we cannot!"

"We must ensure the safety of the people, and we must ensure the integrity of the Holy Land! I, Cardinal Rasinger Leo, shall live or die with this city!"

"Anyone who causes destruction in this city, every single dark creature that invades this city, is our mortal enemy!"

"The Lord's Radiance shines upon us. The Church shall live or die with this city!"

Lomeini couldn't help but laugh out of sheer exasperation. "Cardinal Rasinger, you are treating the lives of the clergy in this city as a joke!"

"No, Prime Minister. Deploying the military would be treating the lives of those young soldiers as a joke!" Rasinger remained entirely unmoved, turning around to walk toward the main doors of the cathedral.

"Let us go, shepherds of the Lord. This time, we shall recreate the Lord's Radiance!"