The Ultimate Gamble

As Bairu's gaze swept across the Eye of Heaven Temple, everyone present, including the Pontiff and Zigurd, turned their attention to Du Chen, who occupied the last seat to the Pontiff's right.

Zigurd vaguely understood the Pontiff's intent, yet he believed that resisting the Dragon Clan was an inescapable duty for both the Holy Church and the Academy. If the Pontiff truly intended to leverage Francis's power, and if Francis genuinely possessed such capability, then he ought to support His Holiness the Pontiff Sama. After all, Francis was a member of the Academy and thus obligated to fight the Dragon Clan.

Zigurd remained silent.

The Pontiff stared at Du Chen, utterly silent. The atmosphere was terrifyingly still.

Du Chen lowered his head, rubbing his nose, a wry smile playing on his lips.

The Eye of Heaven Temple was eerily quiet.

"Hey, why has everyone gone silent?" Mas's booming voice shattered the deathly stillness. "Speak up! Why are you all staring at Francis?! We still haven't discussed who will take on the Dragon God!"

Everyone's reaction was uniform—they glanced at Mas, then their eyes returned to Du Chen.

"Your Holiness, Venerable Teachers, and all Godfathers..."

Knowing he could no longer evade the issue, Du Chen rose and declared, "Francis has only recently joined the Holy Church and still requires guidance from Your Holiness and the esteemed Godfathers on many matters. Therefore, regarding this Fifth Battle, Francis would not dare to rashly offer his own opinion. However, the Fifth Battle is of immense importance, and should Your Holiness have any directives, Francis would face a thousand deaths without hesitation!"

He paused, seizing the opportunity to observe the Pontiff's reaction, then added, "We cannot, and will not, lose this Fifth Battle. Otherwise, wouldn't it prove that those winged reptiles are more noble and powerful than us humans!?"

Mas guffawed upon hearing this, but apart from him, no one else considered Du Chen's remark a jest.

The Pontiff's true intention was to have Du Chen, the Divine, who stood behind Francis, fight this Fifth Battle.

Du Chen's first statement informed the Pontiff, 'Very well, Du Chen, the Divine, will fight the Fifth Battle!' His second statement assured the Pontiff that even if Du Chen, the Divine, could not win, he would not be defeated.

Indeed, after Du Chen's declaration, the Pontiff nodded slightly, his expression kind and amiable. "That Father Francis possesses such breadth of spirit is truly a blessing for our Holy Church, and for all humanity! Now, could you please invite your friend to participate in this Fifth Battle?"

"Francis would not shrink from this duty!" Du Chen proclaimed loudly.

The Pontiff then asked, "The Gods in this world collectively thank Du Chen, the Divine, for his contributions to humanity and the Holy Church! Francis, the Fifth Battle is imminent. Please bring Du Chen, the Divine, to the Eye of Heaven Forest as soon as possible so our Holy Church can make preparations for him!"

'Come now? That won't do!'

'Du Chen, the Divine' is stiff-bodied and vacant-eyed, like a zombie, and cannot speak. If he were to appear, wouldn't my masquerade as Francis quickly be exposed!?'

'Your Holiness, you can catch a fleeting glimpse of Du Chen, the Divine, but certainly not spend days with him!'

Du Chen chuckled, "Your Holiness, my friend is naturally reclusive and dislikes meeting people. Moreover, he often says, 'A true warrior fights by instinct, requiring no elaborate preparations.' Therefore, it would be unnecessary to trouble the Holy Church with preparations. However, rest assured, Your Holiness, Francis pledges his life that on the day of the Fifth Battle, my friend will certainly confront the Dragon God!"

The Pontiff immediately pressed, "Francis, we are currently in a state of war! Any words spoken within the Eye of Heaven Temple are to be considered a Military Edict!"

Du Chen looked the Pontiff directly in the eye and proclaimed, "What Francis says is a Military Edict!"

The Pontiff nodded slightly, no longer questioning him.

Mas exclaimed anxiously, "Brother, is your friend reliable? What if he proves unreliable and doesn't show up for the Fifth Battle? His Holiness would have your head!"

"My friend will certainly come!" Du Chen answered with conviction.

But then he chuckled, "Your Holiness, my friend requires no pre-battle preparations, but for his sake, and to ease His Holiness's burdens, there are a few matters I need to report. Furthermore, might I request Battle God Mas's assistance with a few tasks over the next few days..."

"Granted!" The Pontiff uttered a single word indifferently before Du Chen could finish.

...

The Holy Church's highest-level meeting in the Eye of Heaven Temple concluded in less than fifteen minutes.

Du Chen, smiling, was the first to leave the chamber. The others also dispersed. Just as Mas was about to pursue Du Chen, Bairu called out to him at the temple entrance and pulled him aside into a secluded spot.

"What do you want? Didn't you hear His Holiness say I'm to assist Francis for the next few days?" Mas glared at Bairu.

"Are you rushing off to drink? In the current Eye of Heaven Forest, only Francis's place still has good wine!" Bairu exposed Mas's thoughts, chuckling. "His Holiness had a few words for me to relay to you! Remember them well!"

"Is it an order?" Mas immediately sobered.

"Consider it an order!" Bairu explained. "His Holiness granted your assistance to Francis just now, but I fear you don't fully understand his true meaning, so he asked me to explain it to you."

Mas's old face flushed, and he quickly listened intently. "Heh, Brother Bairu, you know, I, Mas, am just a simple man... Hurry up and tell me, don't delay His Holiness's affairs!"

"Even simple men have their advantages!" Bairu said unexpectedly, then continued, "Remember, during the meeting just now, His Holiness compelling Du Chen, the Divine, to fight carried two underlying implications..."

"Compelling Francis? What are you talking about? I distinctly heard Francis volunteer! His Holiness sounded like he was merely discussing it!" Mas scratched his head.

Bairu glared at him, "How could you not see through that? His Holiness was displeased with Francis repeatedly preventing Du Chen, the Divine, from appearing. He was playing his final hand with Francis! If Francis hadn't volunteered, His Holiness would have immediately cut off all aid to his territory, and not only deny him a single coin from then on, but also find ways to deal with him! Do you think Francis dared not volunteer?"

Seeing Mas grasp the concept, Bairu continued, "Moving on to His Holiness's intentions: First, by compelling Du Chen, the Divine, to fight, His Holiness intends to use the Dragon God as a benchmark to thoroughly gauge the true extent of Francis's hidden capabilities!"

"Damn it all, I understand that! What's the second?"

"The second is a testament to His Holiness's wisdom..." Bairu said with a subtle smile. "If Du Chen, the Divine, fights this Fifth Battle and wins, it brings glory to the Holy Church—don't forget, Du Chen, the Divine, has already joined the Holy Church! But if Du Chen loses..."

"I get it!" Mas slapped his thigh, exclaiming, "Who on the Three Continents even knows who Du Chen is? He's a nobody! If he loses, people will say the Dragon God merely defeated an unknown nobody from the Holy Church. If Du Chen could hold out for eighty or ninety moves before falling, that would be even more impressive—'See? An unknown Holy Church recruit held off the Dragon God for half a day!' Heh heh, His Holiness is truly cunning!"

"It's more than that! Shadow Godfather wasn't present at the meeting just now, do you know what he went to do?" Bairu kept Mas in suspense, chuckling, "He's currently with Constantine, at the outskirts of Mount Miglio! On the day of the Fifth Battle, the Dragon Clan will realize they have indeed wronged our Holy Church, and then... regardless of whether Du Chen, the Divine, wins or loses, Dragon God Samuel will have to bow and apologize to His Holiness the Pontiff!"

"So, the worst-case scenario for this Fifth Battle is the Holy Church losing an unknown nobody, followed by the Dragon God apologizing! And the best-case scenario is our Holy Church sending an unknown nobody to defeat the Dragon God, who then still has to apologize!"

Mas nodded repeatedly, his face beaming with delight! But would the outcome truly be as such!?

Bairu clapped his shoulder, "And your task for the next few days is to keep a close watch on Francis. If a Du Chen, the Divine, truly exists who is powerful enough to contend with the Dragon God, then you are to fulfill all of Francis's reasonable requests—after all, everyone hopes Du Chen, the Divine, can win! If he doesn't exist, or if he's merely an incompetent Du Chen, the Divine, then Francis, having made a Military Pledge, will surely try to escape. At that point, you are to deploy the full might of the Enforcement Temple, either to apprehend him, or if necessary, eliminate him. In any case, Francis must not be allowed to escape!"

Mas stroked his red beard, sighing, "I hope a truly powerful Du Chen, the Divine, exists. I truly can't quite bring myself to stain my beard with Francis's blood! That young lad is actually quite decent..."

"Go and carry out your mission!" Bairu waved goodbye to Mas, but his mind was still occupied with his own thoughts.

'Damn it, the reason His Holiness made his final ultimatum today, compelling Du Chen, the Divine, to appear, was probably because the intelligence I provided played a role!'

'His Holiness has always put immense faith in the accuracy of Divination God Bovin's astrology. Now, knowing that Bovin strongly supports Francis, he must have thought: Who is Bovin? The Divination God! If the Divination God favors someone, it means that individual's future, as predicted by his astrology, is bright and limitless!'

'Therefore, Francis will not be tripped up by this hurdle of the Dragon God! Conversely, this means Francis must have a way to defeat the Dragon God. Heh heh, since Francis has a way to defeat the Dragon God, then it's not a desperate situation. Therefore, what harm is there in pressing him!?'

...

Du Chen returned to his tent and recounted the events to his family. Deboning furrowed his brow, "This is troublesome! I didn't expect the Pontiff would use the Dragon God to gauge Du Chen, the Divine's, strength! But our Du Chen, the Divine, is merely Dus impersonating him! The true Du Chen, the Yessar God, passed away long ago. Dus is no match for the Dragon God, no matter what!"

"This trouble is truly immense. That scoundrel Laipisi can bluff all he wants, but if he truly steps into the arena, the Dragon God will pound him into paste!" Little Beibei was also distraught.

Du Chen let out a cold laugh, "The Pontiff is indeed cunning enough! I originally planned to find an opportunity for Dus to make a glorious appearance, using his divine aura to intimidate the Pontiff and pass the test! But I didn't expect the Pontiff to use the Dragon God as a pawn... Hmph!"

Shrugging, Du Chen stated decisively, "No risk, no reward! Since the Pontiff plays dirty, then I'll play even dirtier in return!"

Andy smacked his lips, muttering, "What's with the 'first and fifteenth' talk?"

Du Chen patted Snow Wolf and spread his arms, saying warmly with a smile, "It means if the Pontiff wants to play dirty, I'll play dirtier. Let's see who outmaneuvers whom in the end..."