The pope placed the puppy on the ground.
A silent and invisible blade darted through the air, speeding towards the theatre as if it was an arrow. It raised up past the walls of the theatre before finally appearing within the open-aired theatre.
At this moment, the larger half of the pope’s attention was on Martha at the floating platform, and the smaller half was on Anna in the private room. Although Anna had just reached deacon, he knew that the girl certainly possessed countless life-saving artifacts that even bishops would salivate at. Furthermore, Anna must possess some strange qualities that had managed to attract Julia, she may possess secrets she herself isn’t even aware of.
An unseen blade of swift annihilation streaked past.
The pope of the stool let out a clear humph and shot into the sky. He had deflected the blow, say for the small tear at the corner of his cassock.
It was like the end of times for the little stood at the audience seat, it was pulled by countless forces in all directions. In a split second, it broke into millions of pieces. A deep imprint appeared on the stand as a figure clad in many layers of fur coats appeared in the spot the pope stood at and followed through the sky in the direction the pope had taken to avoid the blow.
At the same time, Martha slapped the armrest on the throne she sat on, sending waves through the Straton confluence. She too raced upwards and tailed the escaping pope in her ceremonial armour.
It was fortunate that most of the spectators had moved to the plain after Catherine had appeared. There were only traces of broken pieces of marble that laid broken on the ground. Among the broken pieces was a mutt commonly seen in the farms in the north. It seemed to be growling at Anna, giving a show of protest.
The theatre was big, it occupied much of the land in the city. Yet it was far too small for saints to fight in. For that, only the vast span of the Straton confluence was enough.
Anna stood on the uppermost floor of the theatre. She placed her palm above her eyes and watched the area above the lake through the linen curtain.
She saw three shadowings darting quickly across the centre of the lake. They occasionally scattered the clouds, sending a ray of sunlight onto the surface of the water before stepping on a small hill and sweeping past. They moved at astonishing speeds, much like flashes of lighting charging one another.
Sometimes they struggled back and forth beneath the surface of the confluence. Their techniques creating vacuums in the water, then they would soar through in the skies. Their poses were beautiful but carried a sense of danger that made the soul tremble in fear.
Suddenly, the sound of tearing cloth and a metal’s clink developed, before the three separated once more, gliding like eagles.
The scene that appeared was worthy of a painting, but no one would dare paint it.
---
Anna’s eyes were exceptionally good. They saw far yet could not see they disappear into the hills across the river. Looking at the direction they went, she suspects they are heading towards the Aeon forest.
She furrowed her brows. The pope was at the last stretch of his life, yet managed to hold up till now. He was indeed deserving of such an illustrious title and reputation.
In the scene that seemed like asteroids colliding, the pope had not used his iconic holy light. He instead used an unseen spear technique, so the attacks of he and Martha seemed similar. Although most were unable to catch the broken images on the lake, to Anna and Catherine, they were eye-catching and awe-inspiring.
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Given how the two saints had joined against him, the aging pope seemed to have only death awaiting him. So why did he head straight to the Aeon forest? Did the Pope ally himself with the Cal matriarch in the south? Anna reminded herself to visit Aegis in her minor realm a little later on.
With a soft motion, she closed the linen curtain. Anna left the side of the railing. She glanced at the servant guarding the door to the room and instructed her to pass a note to Catherine on the plains.
---
Before the platform on the plain, Catherine stood beside the clergywomen and watched the three exceptional saints who had vanished into the distance. Her face was full of benevolence and did not reveal any of her thoughts.
Meanwhile, the clergywomen and spectators in the theatre had swarmed before the side of the lake. They were in such awe that the surface of the river was completely still.
Although they could not see the scene clearly, they could clearly see the deep cut made into the marble of the theatre and the water flooding to fill in the holes left by the three saints. Even an idiot could tell those fighting were unfathomably powerful. Considering that the strategos Martha had joined in, they must have passed the boundary and entered sainthood.
After the shocked passed, the crowd began to guess the identity of the other two people. After a long debate including the clergy, they could only attain Irene’s identity but had no idea of the other ones. A few of the priests saw the spear technique was similar to those of the clergy yet withdraw that from the conversation. They thought; it would be detrimental to let out rumours that the clergy was opposing the strategos.
Only the vassals of Martha had serious expressions on their face. They did not expect that someone would have planned an assassination on their lord before her retirement, and what’s more, actually break off a piece of her armour.
The crowd of spectators was shocked and satisfied. Although the play was of excellent quality, they had already seen it many times over. To see the missing bishop Catherine reappear, and then the three saints fight against each other was a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
The servant originally guarding Anna’s room took this opportunity to navigate through the dense crowd to Catherine on the plains. “Lady Catherine, the madame at the upmost room have invited you.”
“Who may that be?” Catherine had long forgone her arrogant tone. Even towards the servant, she asked politely and casually. Perhaps her mind was still on the pope who was currently being hunted down like a dog.
With her sudden disappearance, the vassal who had been challenged by her finally let out a breath.
“Responding to lady, I am not certain, but she said the two of you have met on the road.”
The clergywomen, although many miles away from Catherine’s base of operation in the north, still have heard of her arrogant personalities. Many of them were shocked that her character was completely different from they have heard. It was widely known that Catherine was a person as arrogant as a lion, yet here she seems to be as graceful as a sparrow.
Eventually, they concluded it must have been some other faction in the clergy throwing dirt on the beautiful woman. It seemed that even the best and most talented people would receive resentment from others.
---
Catherine had met many people she had encountered on the street, most of them she had insulted or beaten. She had essentially offended all the big names in the empire, including the princess. If it was someone that holds a grudge against her, she was not certain if she should meet the person face to face.
She signed and thought to herself; those days I had really been too immature, if the young lady in the private room wants to yell and slap my face, I should just bare it and present her my other cheek.
With that in mind, she kicked the banks of the Straton confluence with her leather shoes. Leaving behind a small imprint, she appeared at the viewing windows of the private room. Lifting up the linen curtains, she entered with the apple basket in hand. Seeing the figure, she lowered her gaze immediately.
Anna was standing by the door waiting for the girl to come through. She choked when Catherine entered through the window. Eventually, she coughed out, “Please come through the door the next time.”
Catherine nodded. She gave Anna a gesture of courtesy and sat down at the table closest to Anna. She said, “I forgot.”
Anna sighed and sat down also. “You don’t need to feel guilty. I bear no ill will toward you from the beginning, most of what you did didn’t end in much anyway. Just think of me as an old acquaintance.”
Catherine looked up and stared innocently at Anna. She said regretfully, “I had insulted madame Ovid and obscured you two many times. In fact, I would have killed her (him) if not for me being afraid of alerting you. You should at least loath me after what I’ve done.”
Anna rebutted, “Why would keep a grudge such as that? In the end, we managed to meet the immortal and no real harm came to us in the end. Just as I wouldn’t want a thorn to stick in my skin and fester, why would I let hatred fester inside me?”
“My thinking isn’t as complex as Martha who arranged the vassal to say those rumours to force you, and consequently, the pope out before he is prepared. Fortunately, things did not go as she wanted, and I was here to borrow Irene’s strength as a deterrence. If not, the entire crowd may have gotten into the crossroad between their fighting and perished. I rather not use my brain for schemes and smear some black everywhere I go. ”
Catherine was shocked, she shook her head and said, “I doubt anyone is as forgiving as you. But couldn’t you have influenced Martha and prevent such a possibility in the first place?”
“I came here to celebrate. Even if I knew in the first place, I don’t have any sway over her. She’s lived for so long and definitely has time to plan other arrangements in case the first one fails. I’m willing to bet twenty hyperpyrons that those clergywomen weren’t invited by her just to show off.”
Anna then added, “Compare to her, both of us are really too naive.”