Battle God Examination (Part Two)

Francis offered an apologetic smile. Looking down, he beheld the peculiar, dark-skinned creature he'd glimpsed earlier, its small head barely peeking over the human-standard desk and chair. Its features resembled a human's, yet its eyes were remarkably large, its ears mere tiny, round holes, and its entire skin a deep, unblemished black.

Beside its desk stood a Xino Dwarf attendant, not even as tall as the table itself.

"Hello, I'm Sem! Prince of the Xino Duchy!" The Xino Dwarf extended a hand, also pitch-black, with fingers like a human's, but only three of them.

Francis shook his hand. "Hello, I am Francis, Lord Lanning! It's a pleasure to meet you, esteemed Prince!"

"Oh, you're too kind. The Xino Duchy is but a small nation, and I, as prince, don't rule over many. Say, the examiner said you are a Titled Battle God Scion; which one?"

"My ancestor, Sigurd Saint-Cain!"

"Wow, the Saint-Shine Battle God!" The moment Sem heard Francis's ancestor, his large eyes immediately fixed on Francis with excitement. With a vigorous leap, he stood on his chair, allowing his chest to clear the tabletop. "Sigurd, the patron spirit of all fire-attributed Fiend Warriors! Then I should address you as a Divine Scion! During the combat trials, if I'm your opponent, please, be merciful!"

"Don't worry, my opponent certainly won't be you!" Francis glanced at Kaman.

Sem grinned, his large eyes expressive. "The exam is about to begin. We'll chat more later. Uh, could you ask your attendant to step back, in front of my attendant?"

Francis casually told Aliza to step back, but he immediately realized that Aliza, over two meters tall, standing in front of the Xino Dwarf, completely obscured Sem and his attendant. If Francis, just a step away, couldn't see the two Dwarves, the examiner certainly wouldn't.

"Gods, Sem, you're not trying to..."

"Heh heh, esteemed Divine Scion, a little help, please!" Sem's head popped out from between Aliza's arm and torso, his large eyes brimming with a pleading look. In a voice only they could hear, he explained, "My head is small; I can't remember many scriptures. This is the only way!"

Francis shrugged, turning away to pretend he didn't know them. At the same time, he wondered, *Is helping someone cheat considered a good deed?*

The examination commenced.

"Candidate Number Seven, have your attendant stand further away!" An examiner's loud rebuke echoed towards Francis.

Sem's expression instantly changed, the palpable fear and unease in his large eyes clear for all to see.

*Might as well go all the way when helping someone,* Francis thought. He chuckled, "Esteemed Examiner, I am Francis. You, coming from Saint John Cathedral, must have heard my name, and you should also know my servant, Aliza."

"So that's Aliza! Hmm, if his mind isn't sharp, then let it be!"

In truth, the examiner's inner thoughts were, *Godfather Ferdinand has already given instructions: as long as Francis doesn't brazenly copy the answers onto his desk for all to see, then just ignore it!*

Sem let out a long sigh of relief, his settling breath clearly audible to Francis in front.

The examination continued.

Francis tossed down his quill and stretched. Relying on the prodigious memory granted by the Precious Lotus Scripture, he easily completed his paper.

He was about to submit his test, causing Sem behind him to panic. In the lowest whisper, he pleaded, "Please, sit for a little longer!"

The voice trembled slightly, as if in fear of something.

*This peculiar, dark-skinned little fellow is quite interesting.* Having nothing better to do, Francis picked up his quill again, pretending to revise his answers. But just then, an itch flared on his backside—the Precious Lotus Scripture had actually advanced!

*Impossible! Helping someone cheat absolutely cannot be a good deed!* Francis was utterly bewildered. He was a thief, no saint by any means, but his basic sense of right and wrong was clear: helping someone cheat was definitely not a good deed!!

Yet the sensation on his backside was undeniable. The Scripture told Francis, *You just performed a good deed!!*

*Damn it, does the Precious Lotus Scripture not even distinguish between good and evil?* Francis wondered, perplexed.

Sem was overwhelmingly grateful to Francis. Xino Dwarves were naturally dull-witted and had small heads. While skilled in Fiend Battle Qi, their memory was truly substandard. Yet, they were a race with intense pride, unable to tolerate contempt or failure.

If Sem failed the written exam, even as a prince, he would be sent to the execution pyre—such was the custom of the Xino Dwarves!

Thus, Francis had, in a roundabout way, saved his life!

After the examination, Sem stood on his desk, repeatedly thanking Francis while holding his hand.

"You are truly a Divine Scion. I thank you on behalf of the Xino Duchy!"

"You're welcome. In truth, I did nothing at all!"

"No, you have helped me greatly, Divine Scion Francis. I thank you on behalf of the Xino Duchy and invite you, at your leisure, to be a guest in my country! All Xino Dwarves will offer you a warm welcome!"

Francis paid no heed to Sem's invitation, but through Sem's explanation, he understood one thing: in the eyes of the Precious Lotus Scripture, committing a 'bad' deed to save a life also counted as a good deed!

*This…*

Francis didn't know how to reconcile this point!

After submitting his paper, Kaman smirked, raising an eyebrow at Francis as he left the examination hall, tossing out a remark before departing: "I'll be waiting for you in the combat trials!"

After the written exam, candidates were forbidden to leave the Palace of Versailles, residing instead in military tents outside the examination grounds, attended by their personal retinues.

Indeed, in the Battle God examinations of previous years, the combat trials were always the main event; after all, for a Battle God, martial prowess was paramount. From the second day after the written exam, the over four thousand candidates within the Palace of Versailles were divided into twenty groups, paired off for combat. Inside the Lanning Royal Palace of Versailles, twenty elevated platforms were erected in various spacious corners, serving as combat arenas.

Francis was assigned to Group Seven and scheduled to fight on the first day.

*How intriguing!*

This was likely arranged by the Minister of Imperial Rites, Duke Widener, the chief examiner for Lanning.

The night before the combat trials, Francis idly fiddled with a necklace in his tent, pondering his strategy for tomorrow. Beside him, Aliza was deeply asleep, snoring like thunder.

No matter how he looked at it, Francis always felt the pendant on the necklace was a teardrop. It was a peculiar sensation, or rather, an intuition, without any logical reason! He just felt it was a tear, a woman's tear!

"Francis, may I come in?" A soft call came from outside the tent.

It was Godfather Ferdinand's voice.

"Oh, dear Godfather, what brings you here?" Francis quickly concealed the necklace and welcomed the old cleric into his tent. He started to rouse Aliza, but Ferdinand stopped him.

The old man wore a very plain clerical robe, its voluminous hood concealing his head and face. Clearly, he had come in secret from everyone.

After removing his hood, his purple brows furrowed deeply. He spoke gravely, "Francis, Titled Battle God Scions must participate in a Battle God examination. This is the Sacred Code of the Holy Church, which I cannot violate, so I did not stop you from participating earlier. However, I am greatly concerned!"

"What are you concerned about, dear Godfather?"

"The Sacred Code of the Holy Church stipulates that to observe the full potential of the candidates, the death of some candidates is permitted during the combat trials." He spread his hands. "This is the Code; no one can change it! So, in the combat trials starting tomorrow, some opponents might harm you, and then..."

"And then my Guardian Battle God will intervene and flay their entire family?" Francis said.

"Yes. Although your Guardian Battle God is also a friend of the Holy Church, if he were to kill the entire family of a candidate from the Lanning Diocese during the Battle God examination, it would put our Holy Church in a very difficult position!"

Godfather Ferdinand seemed to plead, his troubled expression perplexing Francis. *Was his Guardian Battle God truly so powerful? To make even the Lanning Prelate so troubled?*

At that moment, Ferdinand, too, pondered, *By the Gods above, what secret does Francis possess, to have a Titled Battle God as his guardian!*

Yes, yesterday, the disciplinary experts of the Holy Church had rendered their judgment: from the flaying technique used, that mysterious Battle God was a Titled Battle God, an entity comparable to Sigurd, the ancestor of the Saint Sigurd Cain family!

After that great war, Titled Battle Gods across the three continents were rarer than genuine virgins in a bordello; they could be counted on one hand: the Pontiff himself, that madman in the Battle God Academy, and across from the Aethelgard Continent, on the Azure Heaven Continent, that peerless sovereign known as the 'Lionheart King'...

*Gods, which Titled Battle God has nothing better to do than guard an idiotic Divine Scion?*

Regardless, Titled Battle Gods were living gods, not to be easily offended! Thus, Ferdinand resolved to forge an alliance with this friend for the Holy Church.

And the prerequisite was to ensure Francis remained safe and sound during the examination, lest that Titled Battle God go on a flaying rampage!

Godfather Ferdinand and Francis sat cross-legged on the rug, facing each other. Ferdinand gave a wry smile, then lowered his voice, "My good child, I must do something regrettable, and I hope you will cooperate and keep it a secret!"

Francis gazed at the troubled Ferdinand and said, "Godfather, what do you need me to do?"

"It's like this, tomorrow..."

Under the night sky of the Palace of Versailles, inside a small tent, the Lanning Empire's most esteemed cleric and the Virtue of Saint John City, amidst the thunderous snores of Beastkin Warrior Aliza, conspired together on a plan that was just a *little* bit shameless...