Free Web NovelChapter 332: Full picture
Liam knew more about the topic than most. The part about him and Lancelot being the Church’s targets couldn’t surprise him after what he had seen in the Mutated Battlefield.
The other part was new, but Liam found it odd rather than shocking. He could somewhat accept the theory behind it. He didn’t know the specifics, but it could make sense for the creation of an ancestral bloodline to require other ancestral bloodlines.
The issue was with the reason behind such a goal.
Sure, the lineage of the Ancestral Beasts carried massive advantages, from upper limits, greater talent, to sheer superiority. However, the approach sounded overkill. After all, for all those benefits, sheer numbers could defeat both Liam and Lancelot.
It just didn’t make sense for such a widespread, influential, and powerful force to have that as its main goal. The way Liam saw it, either that wasn’t the Church’s core reason for being, or the ancestral bloodlines possessed more power than he had initially guessed, enough to justify the approach.
The bickering and mental chaos from the previous revelation took the backseat. Both Liam and Lancelot focused on the spirit, who continued speaking.
"There was a time when the Church was pure," The spirit announced. "A time before the Kingdom, when the Church only sought to do good, to help people and remind them that they were more than the otherworldly lineages they had been tainted with."
Liam couldn’t conceive such a distant and long period of time. He wasn’t even eighteen after all, but the picture in his mind still grew clearer.
In a world where everyone was a descendant of the Ancestral Beasts, the Church wanted to bring back the focus to men, to how things were before the rain of blood that had tainted humans forever.
"But then," The spirit sighed, "The son of the Dragon was born."
Liam kept the pipe in his mouth while his hand went on his forearm, scratching his dragon-shaped burn.
"It happened before my time," The spirit revealed, "And pieces of that history are forever lost. Just know that he was mighty, he was wise, he was perfect. He was the best of us in ways far beyond men."
There was no interrupting that history lesson. Even the hyperactive Lancelot was solemn, engrossed in the spirit’s words.
"The sons and daughters from other ancestral bloodlines were the first to fall or bend the knee," The spirit exclaimed. "Humans came next. The Dragon Kingdom came to be, and more Dragons were born, all carrying a shard of Perfection."
Liam glanced at Lancelot from behind the black smoke. The latter showed no reaction at all. Due to his Sect’s proximity to the Inner Circles, he had probably learned about the existence of more Dragons. Chances were that he saw it as normal.
"And throughout all this," The spirit said, his white face turning stern, "The Church reached a conclusion that would change its nature forever. It realized that men were hopelessly inferior."
Liam had reached similar conclusions on his own, but his perspective had simply been too narrow. Instead, the Church had seen the Dragon take over the literal world, reinforcing that idea of inferiority in ways Liam couldn’t fathom.
"How could humans side with men when a being so perfect existed in the world?" The spirit shook his head. "How could men take pride in their standing when true Pride shone in their eyes?"
It was easy to disregard greatness in stories, but not when it walked among the world. A being from legends had descended upon humankind, showing them their place in the food chain by simply existing.
"I believed in Men," The spirit stated, "Most of the Church didn’t. It was its idea that only elevating Men could bring them back to the center of the world. That was how the Church started experimenting on the creation of an eighth ancestral bloodline, one that could rival them all."
The spirit sighed again. "The Church didn’t care if Men had to stop being Men to achieve that."
"Young Phoenix, Young Snake," The spirit addressed the two directly now. "Your birthright put you in danger, and claiming my inheritance will give the Church reason to pursue you. I’m sorry I failed to stop it in my time. It’s shameful, but I can only prepare you for what will be."
Lancelot crossed his arms, his eyes darting left and right, as if depicting the calculations in his mind.
Realistically, Lancelot was safe. Fame was on his side, and he had a Sect ready to bend over backward to protect him. At worst, it would just compensate the Church for whatever he had stolen.
Instead, Liam was the problem, and Lancelot didn’t hesitate to inspect him when his reasoning reached that point.
But Liam had yet to start pondering because the spirit still hadn’t answered everything.
"Why is the Dragon King letting it happen?" Liam questioned.
That was the only flaw in the entire explanation. Liam could accept everything, even if his mindset were too narrow to picture something so big, but the Dragon King’s unawareness or unresponsiveness was just impossible. freёwebnovel.com
"Pride that twisted into arrogance, Young Snake," The spirit responded. "Since Perfection has descended into the world, the son of the Dragon believes other bloodlines are unnecessary, impurities in his perfect Kingdom."
There seemed to be another flaw there, but the spirit quickly addressed it.
"For Men are inferior to Ancestral Beasts," The spirit continued, "So the son of the Dragon believes Men will never be Ancestral. And if they do, he will take them out, too."
The full picture finally became clear, even that last part, since Liam’s team was guilty of the same approach.
’They are helping each other,’ Liam realized. ’The Church is taking out other lineages while the Dragons get to remain the sole owners of ancestral bloodlines.’
It was a collusion at a level that could only be described as worldwide, no different than the Bloodline Screening, just in a subtler way.
And if it weren’t decided already, Liam settled the matter for good now. The Church of the Man was working with the Dragon King, so he would swallow it, too.
