Holding the case covered in Holy Light runes, the adjutant walked into the conference hall.
There was a stone pedestal raised in the center of the conference hall. The adjutant took a glance at the four archbishops on the judgement seat. Even though he was feeling great reluctance, the pressure ultimately got to him and he placed the case in his hand onto the stone pedestal in the center of the conference hall.
“Child, go ahead and seat yourself in the listeners’ corner,” said Archbishop Meyerger.
The adjutant walked over to the listeners’ corner and found a seat several rows toward the back. The priest that came with him was also seated in the listeners’ corner waiting for the instructions from the four archbishops.
A small door located at the other side of the conference hall was pushed open. Five clergies dressed in white robes walked in.
“Saintess Herolia, we are not certain whether or not this thing created by that demon is capable of causing harm. To prevent accidents, please distance yourself from that place.”
Even though the adjutant had already explained to the Holy Church what the use of the originium crystal was, the Holy Church did not believe him at all.
Things created by demons have always been dangerous. To the four archbishops, the thing inside the case could very well be a Molten Core capable of destroying the entire conference hall.
They were extremely cautious. It was not only in how they sealed the originum crystal in multiple layers of Holy Light runes when transporting it, they’ve even gathered forth five defensive Holy Light magic expert clegies to construct a barrier before opening the case.
“I do not believe whatever might be in that case will cause me any harm.”
The Saintess Herolia moved her fingers in midair and created a faint golden rune. After the rune disappeared, a transparent wall appeared before her.
“In that case, please be careful. After all, that is something created by a wicked Chaos Demon.”
After Archbishop Meyerger said those words, he stopped trying to persuade Herolia any further.
The stone case in the center of the conference hall has been surrounded by a barrier of Holy Light. The runes on the surface of the stone case also began to flicker.
Through the utilization of magic runes, another archbishop removed the seal on the stone case. When the surface seal disappeared, the stone case began to fall apart. In the end, a faint white originium crystal appeared before the crowd’s eyes.
“This is that demon’s special... enticement method?”
Seated in the front, Herolia stood up and looked at the originium crystal that emerged from the shattered stone case. She was truly unable to determine how it was different from other originium crystals. Furthermore, it was an originium crystal of not particularly high quality too.
Archbishop Meyerger also couldn’t understand how an originium crystal could make one of his inquisitors defect.
Because of that, Archbishop Meyerger turned his gaze to the adjutant seated toward the back of the listeners’ corner. The young man was extremely nervous. He was worried that they would destroy the originium crystal after confirming what it was for.
“Does this originium crystal needed magic power to activate?”
Archbishop Meyerger asked the adjutant. The adjutant nodded his head in response.
The adjutant’s response immediately caused the five clergies great difficulty... One among them must enter the barrier to touch that demon’s creation.
“Have no fear, the Holy Light will protect you all.”
One of the archbishops decided to place a defensive magic around one of the five clergies.
Because of that, that clergy entered the barrier like a hero that was about to be sacrificed. With great fear and anxiety, he touched the originium crystal.
When he slowly filled the originium crystal with his Holy Light system’s magic power with the intention of eliminating the remaining wickedness left behind by the demon, he discovered that he did not receive any corrosion from any vicious magic power at all.
Having received magic power, the originium crystal was immediately activated.
The motion pictures for ‘Beauty and the Demon’ were projected to the rear of the listeners’ corner. Herolia immediately turned around. The pictures that had suddenly appeared alerted her.
The four archbishops were also prepared for a battle. But, the danger they were expecting did not arrive.
A very tranquil and peaceful little village appeared in the projected image. The villagers and the female lead Belle were singing together. It was a beautiful scene, something that couldn’t possibly be created by a demon.
“What is this?”
After Belle and the villagers finished their singing, Herolia’s alertness was replaced with curiosity. She turned to ask the adjutant who brought back the originium crystal.
“It’s a movie... Lady Saintess.”
The adjutant didn’t know how to explain this miraculous creation to Herolia. Spending three seconds, he thought of an exceptionally good explanation.
“That originium crystal is able to record the images from the past...” he said.
“Images from the past? Recorded using what? A human’s perspective would not be able to change so irregularly.” The sharp Herolia noticed that the projected images were not set in place.
When Belle was singing with the villagers, the viewpoints had changed multiple times. It was precisely those different viewpoints of the same scene that allowed this extremely ordinary chorus to capture Herolia’s attention.
“About that... I have no way to know.”
The adjutant shook his head. He was completely ignorant about the details as to how a movie was created. All he knew was that ‘Beauty and the Demon’ was a movie that he could watch multiple times in repetition. The female lead of the movie Belle also constantly attracts him.
“That’s very possibly the ability of a demon. Or it might be through the use of those rotten specters.”
Herolia’s questions called to Archbishop Meyerger’s attention.
If those different scenes were to be changed to some sort of creature’s vision, then only the specters would be able to hide beside the villagers without them knowing and record images from up in the sky.
“This is truly lamentable. The villagers of that village must’ve received an unimaginable amount of torture,” another archbishop sighed.
“Lord Archbishops, could you all quiet down and finish watching this... movie? There might be clues as to why Cheryl decided to defect or clues about that demon.”
Herolia spoke to tell the archbishops to quiet down. The sound coming from the originium crystal wasn’t loud to begin with. Furthermore, it was being projected into the air, thus the image clarity was not very high either.
This could not be considered as a delightful viewing experience.
But, the four archbishops were persuaded by Herolia. They hoped to be able to find clues in this ‘demon’s creation.’
‘Beauty and the Demon’ continued playing. When Zenarth appeared on the stage playing the Demon Prince, the archbishop from the Holy Church Army was finally unable to maintain his silence anymore.
“Pitiful little girl... she’s actually captured by a Sin Demon. I’ve met those vicious creatures in the battlefield before. Those vicious creatures feed on humans. Please stop the magic output...”
If it was the real world, the Sin Demon could very possibly place Belle on the grill and sprinkle peppers and cumin as seasoning before eating her. That archbishop did not wish for the Saintess Herolia to witness such a cruel scene.
“I’m not an underage girl. Archbishops, continue.”
Herolia said to the clergy providing magic power to the originium crystal.