Archbishop Vicma immediately turned around, only to find nothing in sight; there was nothing behind him.

Everything remained so quiet.

"...Have the demons already managed to influence this place?" Archbishop Vicma hesitated for a moment.

By all accounts, no one should be able to infiltrate the underground of the Holy Relic Hall, not to mention the powerful Divine Power suppressing the hall; the mere presence of hundreds of guards outside makes it impossible for anyone to intrude silently.

Yet, when he thought about what happened today, that within the Justice Church's Holy Relic Hall, there were cultists who infiltrated and audaciously whispered in his ear, calling him a heretic.

Some have reached a point of reckless disregard and brazen conduct! 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Archbishop Vicma carefully searched the room, finding indeed no one inside. He hesitated for a while, thinking he might be hallucinating, considering today's sudden discovery of Chaos Cultists within the cathedral could naturally heighten his body's vigilance.

The Archbishop continued to peruse the tomes.

Vicma had always had significant reservations about the performance of many priests and regional bishops within the Justice Church.

For many priests and bishops, instead of guiding faith and expelling the threats of Chaos and vampires like regular clergy, they preferred to engage in noble court politics and solicit large donations.

The doctrines of the God of Justice are "Justice knows no rank" and "Justice requires sacrifice."

These are excellent doctrines, yet throughout human history, there has never been a shortage of clergy who maliciously twist divine teachings for personal gain.

Many priests always liked to separate believers from the deities, advocating that "faith must have a channel," meaning mortals should not simply believe in deities directly but should do so through the church, then enjoy the monetary offerings and esteemed status granted by believers.

Vicma had been committed to cracking down on these corrupt clergy, but he also understood that everyone has their demands; besides faith, people also need to fill their stomachs. True Living Saints are rare, and even Holy Grail Knights need good food and wine. Hence, what Vicma had to do was punish and suppress, rather than eliminate entirely. As for the slight transport losses and occasional discrepancies of three to five per mille in regional bishops' offerings, the Archbishop could only turn a blind eye.

Luther Huse was a young and devout Combat Priest. This priest discovered many shortcomings within the Justice Church and directly made numerous suggestions to the Church Council. Archbishop Vicma took these seriously and wanted to transfer this priest to Brunswick for a face-to-face discussion and to rectify some malfunctioning policies.

In a corner two rooms away, Laine shook his head indifferently: "An ambush is unlikely. The two of us could not quickly take down Archbishop Vicma; we neither can assault and kill him nor engage in a drawn-out fight. Either scenario would corner us!"

While Vicma was flipping through books, Laine and Tygris originally planned to knock the Archbishop out with an ambush. There's a Holy Spirit Carriage in the Holy Relic Hall, and Vicma's Command Staff and his ring can release Divine Art to activate the carriage and take them out.

Holy Sanctuary Powerhouses are indeed that; he was exceedingly vigilant. Even when Laine was thirty meters away, revealing just a hint of murderous intent, the Archbishop was instinctively on guard.

"Ambushing won't work, we need to change our approach." Laine thought for a while, then whispered: "Lord Vicma wouldn't peruse those tomes for too long; he should know that prolonged exposure to such chaos-tainted forbidden texts is unwise."

"Humans, at most one and a half hours. If this Archbishop isn't stupid, he won't linger too long." Tygris was readying a highly powerful spell, carefully letting its power dissipate to avoid detection.

The Elf Great Curse Technique, Demon Net Seal, this magic can completely imprison some powerful beings and stop their time entirely. No spells of the Eighth Ring or below could be used inside the Holy Relic Hall. Their original plan was for Laine to ambush, Tygris to imprison, and then Laine to knock Vicma out.

The plan failed; Vicma was too vigilant.

"In that case... Tygris, let's go." Laine's eyes darted around, revealing a beast-like grin: "We'll head to Vicma's bedroom."

The two meticulously made their way to Archbishop Vicma's bedroom, which was very simple, with a cold cup of coffee, Luther Huse's transfer order, and a half-eaten piece of black bread on the wooden table.

Tygris leaned on Lilith's Moon Staff, surveying the environment: "Impossible to hide in the closet, nor under the bed. Do you think Lord Vicma would be foolish enough to fall asleep when someone's lurking in his room?"

Laine extended an index finger, shaking it side to side, pointing at the coffee: "The God of Justice deeply despises wastefulness of food."

"Poison?" Tygris maintained a stoic expression.

"Not poison, something to drug him." Laine retrieved a small paper packet from his Space Ring, containing some white powdery crystals: "This isn't poisonous, it'll just make someone drowsy, undetectable by silver needles."

Laine folded a corner of the small packet and poured some powder into the coffee.

"Rustle, rustle~"

A faint smile finally appeared on Tygris's face: "Did Ollica give you this?"