Adrian is now at the marbled steps of the giant church. If one was asked if it was a castle then others would approve. The gigantic structure was big in Adrian’s eyes but it became bigger when he went near it. Thankfully, anyone was allowed to go inside the main hall of the church where prayers are made or else Adrian would have to find a way to sneak inside.
Adrian went inside the church and was blinded. He really was blinded because it was much brighter inside the church than the outside. They really are not kidding when the named it the Church of Light. Adrian observed the surroundings not only because he was amazed but to find a potential target.
The walls were white and it bounced of the natural sunlight peeping from the glass ceiling. There were ornaments and sigils of the Goddess of Light. The altar even had a sculpture of her with a golden halo on her. The sculpture was made of white marble with the image of the goddess resembling a woman in her mid-twenties. Since the sculpture was all marble, Adrian could not distinguish the real image.
Adrian then looked at the wall paintings on the church walls and frowned. It depicted a ray of golden light piercing the clouds and vanquishing monsters upon it. The most disturbing thing was that there was no other depictions of gods who helped her. It was if the Church of Light was soaking up all the glory for itself despite others contributing for the peace they have now.
Although the Goddess of Light Gaea and the God of Death Abaddon does not need worshippers for power, it did not mean they should not be recognized. Adrian could only sigh as he knew that some gods needs followers to exert some powers unto the mortal plane. Dark Gods are the same since they are still gods but on the lower end of the spectrum due to them needing faith to grant and receive power.
Adrian then remembered the words of the twin gods to not cause enmity to other beliefs. Adrian was a bit sorry but what else could he do. It is not like if he asked nicely then the churches would easily hand out crown fragments. Anyway, the big hurdle for Adrian was the Church of Light. Since he was the Champion of the Twin Gods, he could probably gain a bit of respect from the Church of Life.
Adrian looked around and saw long chairs with some people offering prayers with their head bowed. There were even some apprentice priests cleaning the floor. It seemed that they were cleaning for the afternoon mass. Adrian was still looking for a place he could perform the switcheroo but the place was so well lit that it would always go noticed.
He then saw something like a confession room or what is close to it. It was a small wooden room interconnected by a translucent screen. The small room on the right was where the priest sits down while the room on the left was where the people who wanted to confess their wrongdoings go.
He currently saw that the doors were open which means that there was no priest currently there. Adrian decided to ask the apprentice priest that was sweeping the floor.
“Excuse me, Sir Priest” Adrian called to the apprentice priest.
The apprentice priest stopped the sweeping and immediately replied.
“Yes, how can I help you?” the apprentice priest replied.
“I was wondering when will the confessions be done?” Adrian asked.
“Oh. We just had a great ceremony a few minutes ago so the priests are still resting. When the bell rings later on is when the confessions will return.” The apprentice priest inspected Adrian and saw that he was just in his teens. He began wondering what sins the youth in front of him would confess but he should not judge. It might just be something minor like being disobedient to his parents and the like.
“Thank you very much then I will look around until I hear the bell rings.” Adrian bowed as he was thankful to the apprentice priest.
“May the glory of the light shine through you.” The apprentice priest said with a smile as he continued on his task.
Adrian wandered inside the main hall which was huge and looked at all the paintings, carvings and even the design of the walls. It was really a grandeur megastructure. He was really impressed on how they designed this whole church. Adrian wanted to explore more but there were paladins blocking some doors which means only church personnel were allowed to go inside.
Adrian remembered all the doors being blocked and chose the most heavily guarded one. He would go inside that one as it would be the most likely location where the crown fragments are being kept. It did not take long before a clear sound of a bell was heard throughout the church.
Adrian immediately went inside the left confession room and closed the door. He waited patiently for the priest to go inside. He then heard some useful information that put his mind at ease.
“I heard that the pope is now returning from the capital. She will arrive in about an hour and she would hold a ceremony. Once she return, we must welcome her and be ready for her reception.” An old sounding priest said.
“Yes, Bishop Lu.” Numerous voices replied.
Adrian then heard the door being closed and a figure sitting down in front of him. Adrian’s mouth curved into a devious smile as it was now time to initiate his plan.
“Tell me, Bright Soul. Why have you come to the room of illumination? Did you come here for your sins to be forgiven and washed away by the bright light of the Goddess Luminaria?” the bishop asked the person in front of him with the same statement he always does.
“Forgive me Father for I will sin.” Adrian said with a stoic face.
When the bishop heard Adrian’s response, he did not immediately realize what was wrong with it. The bishop was about to respond his usual phrase but then he realized what was wrong with other person’s reply.
“Dear repenting one, what do you mean by for you will sin?” the bishop asked the other person.
Adrian did not even reply. The bishop then started to sweat because he suddenly started becoming nervous. A few moments later, Adrian finally replied to the bishop’s question.
“You did not need to worry as you would not be there to witness it. Let me rephrase that. You will be there but not in the way that you it will be.” Adrian said with a smile on his face.
The bishop wanted to open the door and call for help but he suddenly could not move. The Bishop could feel his body sinking to the floor. At first the bishop was in disbelief since the floor should be hard and made of the finest marble. The bishop was too late to realize that he was sinking inside his own shadow.
“Do not worry, Father. You will not be harmed after this. I will just borrow your face for a limited time before the Pope comes back.” Adrian said in a calm tone as the bishop was locked inside Sirius’ domain.
Sirius could now hold an individual as long as the level was not too high from him. The bishop was only about level 80 and he could be trapped a total of two hours as long as Sirius concentrates. Adrian took off the faceless mask and reverted back to his demon form. It seems that using the mask also disables his Glamour.
Using his claws, he cut open the transparent cloth separating the two compartments and looked for fallen hair. Adrian order Sirius to pluck a few hair from the bishop before he completely sank. Adrian picked up those fallen hair and wondered how he could use that to transform into the bishop. Adrian summoned Kanlaon in his human form and ordered him to transform into Adrian’s human avatar.
Kanlaon immediately told what he was ordered to while Adrian was still finding out what to do with the strand of hair. Adrian even tried saying transform but nothing happened. He then put the stands of hair closer to the mask and a system notification arrived.
[Would you like to use these to produce a temporary template? Yes or No]
Adrian said yes. The faceless mask’s skin wriggled and formed tendrils to collect the hair stands. Adrian immediately let go because that looked gross and he did not want to touch it. Yet, he could put the mask on his face. A few seconds later, a new system notification popped up.
[You can now transform in Bishop Lu of the Church of Light one time.]
Adrian smiled and immediately put the faceless mask to his face and selected Bishop Lu. He experienced all the thing he has previously experience when he first tried out the mask.
“I will not get comfortable with this mask’s transformation process.” An old voice said as Adrian now looked completely identical to the bishop he is currently taking hostage.𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝑚
𝘦𝑎.𝒸ℴ