Chapter 556
I Forgive You
Morning. The sky was just beginning to lighten.
Janis felt somewhat trepidatious as she headed to the Twenty-one Ring.
The higher up one went in the Church, the narrower the ground became, and the fewer people there were. The Twenty-one Ring was like a massive palace… and this was precisely the place where Candidate Saintesses were nurtured.
After her identity was verified, her credentials presented, and her blood and soul fluctuations registered, Janis put on a specially made gemstone brooch capable of full-time recording. Under the guidance of two Pope’s Guards, she followed a designated route to the appointed location.
Every Candidate Saintess underwent various forms of isolated study here until they learned to communicate with the Nine Pillar Gods, their respective abilities were fully cultivated, or they were eliminated for failing to meet any standard. Only then would they be released.
“…Because of my cowardice.”
She had already wronged Grey terribly. Now, she had to tell Grey about this.
She stood about three to four meters away from the Saintess, but for a moment, she didn’t dare to approach.
The training for Saintesses was extremely rigorous. Not a single assessment could be failed.
“Then I forgive you, Janis.”
“As a Saintess, I do have this authority.”
She slowly opened her eyes.
Janis was initially confused, but after maintaining the pose for a while, she suddenly seemed to realize something—her pupils dilated sharply.
It was likely that during her years of ascetic practice, she had already loathed the succession system for Candidate Saintesses.
Her left eye was a beautiful sky blue, while her right eye was a resplendent black, like the universe’s starry sky.
The Saintess was about to say something, but after “looking at” Janis, she finally gave up.
“…What?”
Pure White remained silent for a while before finally shaking her head, “Don’t worry too much, that’s just theory.”
Janis fell silent, speechless.
As she spoke, she took out a blue gemstone ring. “They are inside.”
Janis knelt before Grey without hesitation.
Under such circumstances, Saintesses had to maintain a highly regulated life, carefully monitoring their own condition, even their heartbeats and breathing rhythms, to remember and constantly judge the current time. Disruption of their biological clock would also lead to elimination.
The Saintess nodded, “If I were to consume them, perhaps it might heal the Amber Compaction Syndrome. However, after taking them twice, I feel the quantity is insufficient.”
Mercedes had stayed there for a long time due to her unwillingness to admit defeat. Although she didn’t have Amber Compaction Syndrome herself, she had joined the Controlled Fire.
The Pure White Saintess, clad in her wedding-gown-like white robe, knelt steadily before the nine statues.
“All Cardinals know about this. Under these circumstances, it’s rather unlikely I’d be attacked… as that would obscure the fact of my self-induced Amber Compaction and have a worse effect on the attacker.”
Pure White’s lips curved into a slight smile, “The Eighteenth Ring has confirmed that Bram’s Giant power originates from Cardinal Loki. The evidence has been secured. Regardless of whether I ultimately succeed the Pope, he’s definitely finished.”
“Apologies are meaningless, Janis. I want to hear your explanation.”
Grey extended her hands and gently caressed Janis’s face, lifting it so she could look into her eyes.
“You are my Infinite Corridor.”
And the most brutal aspect here was that even if one met all the criteria, committed no mistakes, and was the most outstanding in all assessments… if they were eventually eliminated upon reaching the age limit, they would still be dismissed on schedule.
Hearing this, Janis was stunned, “Cardinal Loki is the Wildfire Giant?”
Upon hearing this, Grey fell silent for a long time.
“Don’t flatter yourself. I can’t live without you, Janis.”
Her voice was clear and calm. There was no anger, nor anxiety.
The Saintess replied calmly.
The two Pope’s Guards stopped far away at the entrance, letting Janis walk past.
“You’ve walked for an hour like this, while I’ve walked for 195 years.”
“Oh, right.”
This time, Janis finally gave her answer, “I couldn’t face the first mistake… so I made a bigger one.”
Pure White closed her eyes again and tied the satin ribbons layer by layer. Janis immediately stood up and went behind her to help tie the straps.
The Pure White Saintess said this as she untied the white cloth band binding her eyes, “Because I can no longer succeed the Pope, and if it were revealed, the impact on the Church would be too severe.”
Hearing Freya’s name, Janis remembered another matter, “Eivass’s dates—do you still have them?”
“I don’t know how long they can be preserved, nor if they can continue to be produced. Since that’s the case, it would be better to preserve them for future generations… they might be useful to the elves later. So I prayed for the power of Amber and preserved them. They can certainly last for several hundred years.”
But Saintess Pure White didn’t even turn her head, calmly saying, “I wait for you like this every day, Janis.”
“In the infinite loop of every day, I don’t know if tomorrow will bring any changes. But I can only keep walking… I cannot be anxious, I cannot regret, I cannot give up.”
Although there was no detailed research, the color of Amber Compaction was generally related to one’s Path.
“—That kind of thing doesn’t matter!”
Controlled Fire was a faction opposed to inheritors, and the only inheritor Mercedes had contact with was the Eternal Saintess.
This in itself was a form of ascetic practice that gradually wore down the anxiety of Candidate Saintesses, but it made Janis unable to help but feel anxious.
And black was the color of the Path of Love.
At that moment, Janis felt something heavy in her heart suddenly disappear.
Her eyelids were partially damaged. Her right eye could not be fully closed or opened. It looked like an artificial glass eye.
If Gloria were still studying in the Twenty-one Ring, Janis would never have been able to see her. The atmosphere here would likely have caused Gloria to develop Amber Compaction long ago. Fortunately, she was sent down to recuperate… that was why she could live this long.
When she ascended to the Fifth Tier, becoming a renowned and influential figure in this World, revered as a Master, she had never experienced such a moment of vulnerability.
“Grey, how could you…”
Janis couldn’t help but feel the churning emotions within her—guilt, repentance, anxiety, and fear mingled together. The incredibly complex emotions made her suffer, wishing she could tear her heart out of her chest and carve verses of separation on it with a brush.
She reached out and casually crushed the gemstone brooch on Janis’s chest, “These conversations might bring trouble to you and Master Freya. So let’s not hand this thing in… If they ask, just say we fought and I broke it.”
—If this were to cause Freya to be held accountable, she would take responsibility—she would send her to a safe place at all costs. Janis had made up her mind.
All of this was planned.
But she couldn’t wait to breathe a sigh of relief for passing her test. Instead, she looked directly at Grey, fear flooding her eyes, “Could it be…”
The surrounding Pure White corridors had almost no decorations… no sculptures, no paintings, only identical, protruding flame reliefs and light fixtures.
To ensure purity of thought and prevent contamination by other ideas, which could lead to deviation on one’s Path… during different stages of study, the people Candidate Saintesses could interact with were restricted and investigated, and all conversations with visitors were strictly monitored. Spreading aberrant thoughts to a Candidate Saintess was considered a crime of the highest level in the Church.
“It’s good that you didn’t continue taking them…”
“…I’m sorry.”
“—I’m not afraid of that kind of thing.”
The crimson wooden floor was like dried blood. The ceiling was dark red, and the room was filled with white candles of varying heights—thousands of candles burned quietly, filling the room with a faint, sacred-smelling incense.
“…Is that alright?”
“…You have already developed Amber Compaction.”
Janis felt a lingering fear, and then explained Freya’s theory.
Janis’s expression turned grim, “Is it… because of me?”
Those who were not eliminated were considered candidates. If the current Saintess encountered an accident, the most outstanding among them would be chosen as a replacement.
Grey’s lips curved slightly.
“Yes. I only took them twice, and didn’t take any more after that.”
She turned around and said calmly, “Kneel.”
Under such a high elimination rate, any girls with aptitude would be recruited here upon reaching the required age—Saintesses recruited could be eliminated at any time.
“We are investigating, and the results are quite optimistic.”
In the utterly silent environment, even the footsteps of the two women echoed in the Pure White corridors, sounding like thousands of troops marching.
It was as if all emotions had been worn down by the infinite loop, leaving only obsession.
She ignored the anxious Janis and spoke softly, “Then why didn’t you come back?”
The Pure White candles, the Pure White flames, an infinite loop. It seemed endless, as if it would go on until the end of the world—and the slightly upward slope of the path would bring fatigue. The corridors here all had such a structure, referred to as the “Infinite Corridor.”
The reason for being exclusively female was that the ultimate inheritance of the “Eternal Saintess” required the inheritor to be a pure, indifferent, and quiet young woman. Although Saintess “Pure White” was active outside, there were at least twenty to thirty Candidate Saintesses within.
Grey replied, “Janis would never lie to me. She would definitely come back.”
“However, since Master Freya is here… it’s best to leave them to the professionals.”
Janis had been very anxious, but smelling the incense, her mood gradually calmed down. Her hurried footsteps also slowed accordingly.
When she rounded the corner and finally saw Grey, Janis shouted and rushed forward.
This place resembled a grand chapel, but there were no seats for observers.
As Janis, a temporary visitor, she was naturally not allowed to converse with any Candidate Saintesses. Therefore, she did not encounter anyone on the path she took.
She clutched the gemstone brooch on her chest and finally made up her mind to speak. She revealed the secret of the Wine of Eternity and the Tears of Time to Grey, and recounted the secret of the theft of the Tears of Time.
Janis originally wanted to ask this.
“So you care about me that much.”
The Twenty-one Ring had no road signs, no devices to mark time.
“I was just thinking… you, a deserter, wouldn’t understand.”
Pure White replied.
Her ten fingers were clasped at her chest, her eyes covered by a satin ribbon. From a distance, she looked like a blooming lily.
She even thought she had grown and would no longer be afraid.
But now, Janis realized—that was only because she hadn’t encountered anything she deeply cherished yet. It was only because she had become strong enough that she no longer lost what she held dear so easily.
…To choose a meeting place here?
Grey’s clear and calm voice echoed, “In the name of Pure White, I forgive your sin.”
“Because I believe in you.”
There were no clocks or watches, and neither the sun nor the moon was visible.
She was silent for a long time before softly saying, “I didn’t know… you would wait for me all this time.”
Janis walked through the solemn and quiet corridors of the shrine, the synchronized footsteps of the two Pope’s Guards echoing in her ears. In the vast, empty shrine, the hundreds of meters long corridor, wide enough for over twenty people to walk abreast, now only held the three of them.
A thought suddenly flashed through Janis’s mind:
Grey finding Ms. Blue Rose as a mentor for Gloria was perhaps the most correct decision.
“What about Cardinal Loki then?”
Finally, Grey rose from the ground.
The road never seemed to end, and her heart was filled with unbearable anxiety.
“So I waited here… this is my cultivation.”
She thought of Eivass going to confront Cardinal Loki alone, and became nervous, “Wait a moment, then you go with me first—”
“Eivass went to see Cardinal Loki!”
(End of Chapter)
