Dimensional Descent

"Esteemed Imperza. is this really okay?"

Not long after Leonel and the others had left, the clergymen of the Zoltene Faith couldn't help but say something; While the lower ranking members didn't dare to speak, those who had been beneath Zoltene's statue alongside the Imperza couldn't hold it in any longer;

"We must have patience," the Imperza said lightly, his hands still pressed together; "The Faith of his Gloriousness will be spread regardless of its obstacles; We will make a comeback in due time, but for now, it is best to take a step back;

"We can only say that we were unlucky. but this tribulation will be weathered by us; When we come out the other side. we will be stronger than ever;"

Although the Imperza didn't say it in so many; those that were intelligent understood; Soon; the Ascension Empire would be experiencing more pressure than they knew how to handle; When that time came and they chose to come back; they wouldn't even have the time to deal with them; After they reaffirmed their position in Earth's territory; there would be nothing the Ascension Empire could do; The seeds had already been sown;

"Imperza! Imperza!"

It had only been several minutes. but an attendant had already run into the prayer hall. rushing forward with information;

"One must maintain a calm mind beneath the presence of His Gloriousness. mind yourself." the Imperza said lightly.

"Yes, yes…!" The young clergymen took deep breaths, but eventually wasn't patient enough to wait until they had calmed down completely; "… Shrine, the shrines; The branch shrines… destroyed…"

The Imperza's pupils constricted. "How many—?"

Before the Imperza could finish his question. another attendant rushed in with the same news. then another;

The Imperza's fists clenched beneath his robes; Many of those shrines were exceptionally well hidden; He had expected to lose some in the worst case scenario. but by the time the fifth attendant rushed in. he realized that they had all been destroyed with a speed that didn't even feel like it made sense; It was as though Leonel could cover the whole Ascension Empire with a single hand;

With their shrines destroyed. even if they came back. it would take decades to build their network back up again; If that was the case. their comeback would be almost meaningless; They would have little to no momentum. and by the time they gathered some up again. whatever troubles the Ascension Empire might be facing just might be over. and in the worst case. even if the Ascension Empire fell. Earth's territory would be gobbled up by others and have nothing to do with them;

At that point, even the Imperza couldn't quite keep his calm.

Years ago, the Evergreen Faith lost their main shrine under mysterious circumstances; Due to this, the Zoltene Faith was able to overtake them in a lot of ways; But now, the situation had been reversed once again and the Evergreen Faith once more had a chance at claiming a monopoly on Earth's territory;

Just as the Imperza was about to lose his cool entirely, the planet-sized temple suddenly trembled; Many were immediately thrown off their feet;

The sound of battle reached their ears, and the Imperza's ugly expression finally set in; No matter how cool-headed he normally was, it was impossible for him to maintain it; His immediate assumption was that Leonel had made them begin a retreat sequence so that they couldn't react to the destruction of their shrines, then he doubled back to finish off the job for good;

This was a devious plot, one that was impossible to execute unless one had the ability to travel across Earth's territory in just a handful of seconds. Unless… Unless Leonel had already set up a team at each location, but if he had done that, then what would have been the point of allowing them to begin their escape sequence?

The Imperza couldn't quite understand what was happening until there was suddenly a burst at the doors of the prayer hall once again, doors that had only just been fixed.

But to the Imperza's shock, rather than it being Leonel's team, it was a group he had never expected to see at all.

They all wore brown robes and had golden lotuses etched onto the backs formed out of human hands. These weren't Leonel's men, nor were they people of Earth… This was the Evergreen religion!

The Head Clergyman of the Evergreen led the charge, her strides long and her brownish-gold hair fluttering beneath her speed.

"Priestess Irotha, what is the meaning of this?!" The Imperza's voice boomed.

Priestess Irotha's expression didn't change, her gorgeous features radiating with a holy light. However, deep within her brown eyes there was a hint of disgust and disdain that came from the depths of her soul.

"30 years ago, when you all destroyed the main shrine of our Evergreen Faith, did you think that such a day would come? This is nothing more than the cycle of karma," Priestess Irotha said lightly. "The Faith of Evergreen may not be the most powerful, but we are the most resilient. So long as there is but a single bud remaining within a ravaged land, we will grow once more. Her Everlasting is Immortal, and so shall we be."

The Imperza's expression changed once again.

Destroyed their main shrine? They had never done such a thing!

"Slander!" The Imperza's fury threatened to bubble over, but he could already feel his power slipping away. With the destruction of so many Shrines, how could he match up to Priestess Irotha.

Irotha sneered, clearly not believing the Imperza.

She waved her hand. "Erase them."

…

"You're evil, cap. I like it."

Raj rolled in laughter, slapping Leonel's shoulder a few times.

Leonel smiled. "We have Raylion and the others to thank. These things are almost too easy to handle so long as we have enough information in our hands. Let's go and see what the Viola family is up to."

In this regard, the Imperza was quite pitiful. It wasn't the Zoltene Faith that had destroyed the main shrine of the Evergreen Faith, but rather the Three Finger Cult. But it was all too easy to frame them when it was the Zoltene Faith that had gained the most from their fall.

Of course, this would put the Evergreen Faith in line to become a problem of its own, but Leonel would focus on one problem at a time. At the very least, after being destroyed once, the Evergreen Faith was far more reserved and cautious.

Now, Leonel was entirely focused on the return of the Viola family.

Years ago, Leonel's mother had told him that Rychard had something in his possession that he would be very interested in, but so many things had happened that Leonel never got the chance to enquire about what exactly that meant.

Now, it seems that his neglect had allowed a rebirth of a family that had already been dealt with. Of all the problems he had caused, this was probably the one that was the most directly his fault.

But that was fine, he had destroyed them once, and he would do it again.

Leonel alone was dangerous enough. Leonel with a vast net of information might not even need to raise a finger to destroy someone.