The bishops froze when they heard that. They knew that if the emperor wanted to kill them, a snap of his fingers would be more than enough.
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The emperor saw the fear in their eyes and smiled. “No need to be afraid. Everything that I’m telling you now is information I can give without worrying about your lives.
But let’s talk a little about the hero candidate issue. After that, I’ll take you to see the final stages of the demon blood experiment. We have come a long way since I got it, and this final phase can make or break it all,” the emperor said.
The bishops felt unsettled by the emperor’s mood and willingness to show them all these things, but they didn’t speak. They were getting results, and that was all that really mattered.
“So you said that Silva killed hero candidate Leah?” the emperor asked. His expression went serious as he asked about it.
“Yes, like we said already,” the bishops responded.
“Then why has none of my men told me about this? Why did it have to be the Holy Kingdom that came to tell me about it?” he asked.
“I believe that is because all the people you sent died,” one of the bishops revealed. His words shocked the emperor.
“What?” the emperor asked with a loud shout.
“The one who can see the hero candidates told us about the death of the hero candidate, so we immediately sent one of our best priests, one that was capable of hiding even in plain sight.
He was able to get close to the captain of the Dark Dragon, but he could only watch from a distance to avoid getting caught, and he saw it all. He saw that your entire army had been destroyed,” the bishop said.
“A few questions are in my mind right now, and I hope you will answer. The first is, how did you make it to the kingdom so fast?” the emperor asked.
“Emperor, even the empire is capable of long-distance teleportation,” the second bishop said.
“To a fixed location. We can’t randomly teleport somewhere as far as that unless a waypoint or node has been set up beforehand. Not only does it require a massive amount of mana, but it is also very risky for us humans.
So unless the Holy Kingdom has somehow gotten a major breakthrough in teleportation, explain how you did that,” the emperor said.
“You are pulling off track, Emperor. Your focus should be on the fact that your entire army was wiped out in such a small kingdom,” the bishop said.
“You seem to not understand something, Bishop. I understand very well what is happening. The fact that a dead hero candidate, killed by the demon king candidate, means the beginning of a war.
The fact that they somehow managed to kill my army… But you need to understand that me knowing how you teleported to that kingdom is important.
Right now, we are already at war, a losing battle at that because we just lost one of our next generation of heroes. One important thing that we need to stand a chance is movement.
If there is anything those demons have over us, it’s that they have the ability to move. The dragons and wyverns have the sky, and they do it better than we ever could.
The fairies and spirits are so good at teleportation and portals that it makes what we do look useless. Our ability to adapt and find solutions is what helps us.
So right now, I need to know—how did you teleport to the kingdom?” the emperor explained, and from his tone, the bishops knew he was no longer asking.
“Alright, Emperor, we will tell you. When we use the one that has eyes on all the hero candidates, she can access places that the hero candidate has seen before, creating an image so perfect that it allows our teleportation team to create a portal there easily.
So that was the method used. We extracted an image that hero candidate Leah had seen near the kingdom and teleported the priest there,” the bishop explained.
“Will you all cut the crap already?” the emperor suddenly roared. He rose from his seat, and the bishops jumped in fright.
“I have sat here listening to you two spew stupid bullshit. I know that the Holy Kingdom is in charge of watching the candidates until they become heroes, but there is no such thing as ‘the one that sees the hero candidates.’
You found out that Leah was dead through another means, and you are lying to me. You have been ever since you walked in. The only things you have said that are true are the fact that my army got killed and that Leah died.
Everything else that you both have said is not true, so I wonder why you came here. What did you seek to gain with these lies?” the emperor asked.
The bishops looked at the emperor in shock, not knowing how he saw through their lies.
“Well, no need for you to tell me at all. I already know the reason, you conniving bastards. Tell me, how much credit were you promised if you managed to lie to me?” the emperor asked.
Suddenly, the doors swung open, and a man walked in.
He had a black bishop robe on him and a red cap on his head.
“Archbishop Millan.”
Both bishops fell to the ground, bowing to the bishop.
“They would get no credits. These two bishops acted on their own. They took information that was not yet ready to be released and came to tell you.
The reason they had to lie is because of the holy oath that refuses to allow them to tell anything we at the Holy Kingdom consider a secret, so they had to make a workaround.
What they really sought after was to gain favor from you. Now that war is near, they believe you are the safer option, and they ran to you.
Or is my thinking flawed?” Millan asked the bishops.