thefictionvixens Page 197
Page 197
With Archbishop Hope and the Holy Church protecting the West Wing, the city's civilians should have already been evacuated and taken refuge. Archbishop Hope reactivating the resonance of the myriad artifacts beneath the Holy Church should be able to barely hold back this great demon's advance.
"This is getting tricky..."
Without much calculation, Swell had already figured out Tonk's idea.
There were two unexpected twists in this plan targeting Shana and Lac.
One was that their feint attacks on the three city gates were all anticipated and prevented in advance, forcing them to engage these human powerhouses at the very beginning of the protection.
The second was an infiltration accomplished through the Realm of Time, yet it was still detected by humans, who reacted so quickly.
Right now, they've become the ones in a passive position...
If these powerful humans reach the Round Tower, Lady Kletina will be in danger.
"What exactly did I overlook... Hmm, I think I understand..."
The pages turned silently, and Swell vaguely made a calculation: "It's the Holy Round Table. This artifact of the kingdom is indeed troublesome; and who is 'that person' that Tonk mentioned? Apart from Chief Lark, there's no one in any of the human records who could be this troublesome..."
Swell had a premonition that the strategist Tom mentioned was definitely not Lark, but a rising star among humans who had emerged within the kingdom!
"When did the Kingdom of Kur acquire such a troublesome fellow? I really need to investigate him carefully when I have time—" Svir collected his thoughts and gradually made a decision.
Regardless, the change has already occurred.
The nature of the battles in the three locations outside the capital has changed: it is no longer about delaying, but about truly leaving these human combat forces behind, or even severely damaging them!
This is much, much more difficult...
"But there is no other choice."
The book itself shimmered with obsidian light, and Svir immediately issued this order to the greater demons on the other two battlefields!
As for now.
Swell looked at Tunk, who was preparing to retreat to the city wall, and knew that with its injuries not yet fully healed, it would not be able to stop the human pope with its strength alone.
It seems... we have no choice but to take a gamble.
"The game of 'knowledge'."
Tang Ke's steps faltered as he realized that the power within his body was firmly imprisoned. An invisible shackle suddenly emerged from his body, connecting to the other side—the location of the Book Demon. The Demon seemed to be in the same predicament.
"The power of authority..." Tang Ke narrowed his eyes slightly, recalling the most troublesome power among the great demons mentioned by the kingdom.
"Demon, what do you want to do?"
“It’s simple, a one-time bet.” Swell said casually in mid-air:
"Don't worry, Your Holiness, I also took a great risk. Soon, the battle of knowledge will be over in a very short time."
"The losing side will suffer a severe backlash; this is the price of power, and it applies to both you and me."
"Game theory? What kind of game theory?" Tang Ke's mood darkened, and he did not feel relieved at all. He asked seriously.
"Knowledge, pure knowledge."
As the pages of the book turned, they coalesced into solid radiance, as if emerging from the sedimentation of history, carrying an ancient and profound aura. It smiled down at Tonk on the other side of the chains, sweeping over him with a sense of despair and helplessness:
"Admit defeat, Pope Tonks."
"Unless you come up with knowledge that doesn't belong to this world, you have absolutely no chance of winning against me."
Chapter 284 What?! Knowledge is real! Mino's great ideas!!!
"Knowledge that doesn't belong to this world?" Tang Ke's brow twitched.
As the illusory chains connected, he sensed a kind of non-narrative knowledge flowing into his mind along the chains.
In the void, the phantom of a scale slowly emerged.
This is the power of authority derived from Svir's "knowledge," but it also has certain limitations; it can only be used on beings whose aura is weaker than its own.
Clearly, Swirl cleverly exploited a loophole in the rules; although he was severely injured, his strength was only slightly higher than that of Tang Ke in his current state.
However, on a spiritual level, Swell, who had lived for a thousand years, steadily surpassed Tangk in terms of aura, whose power was not yet as refined. Thus, the battle of knowledge came into play.
Tonk quickly learned the rules of this contract-like technique: it was an exchange of knowledge. Tonk and Swell had to input a piece of "knowledge" that was beneficial to each other onto the knowledge scales in the void, and both of them would receive the knowledge that the other had input.
The key to victory or defeat lies in the "weight"!
Whoever possesses more knowledge will inflict the consequences of the rules on the other.
"I think you've already figured it out, Pope Tonks." In the void, Swell chuckled softly.
"The key point is that the knowledge input must be new knowledge that is valuable to the other party and that they do not know."
Tang Ke's heart sank to the bottom.
The second demon official before them was none other than the most learned member of the Book Demon Clan.
From birth, they continuously absorb all the knowledge circulating on paper, even the inherited knowledge of their race, and contain nearly 90% of the information on the continent within their knowledge framework.
The knowledge one has acquired since birth is probably like a tiny speck of dust in the eyes of the other party... let alone winning against it in a game.
"By the way, Pope Tonks, what I've staked is the knowledge of 'all the holy artifacts that have ever appeared in the world at the Holy Church.' As a newly appointed pope, you probably aren't yet fully familiar with the Holy Church's myriad holy artifacts... You should be grateful; if it weren't for the limitations of my authority, I would never have offered such a generous gift—"
Tang Ke showed no joy whatsoever; in fact, his expression became somewhat somber.
He almost forgot the most important point in this contractual game: he also had to stake on knowledge that was "valuable" to the Book Demon.
"Don't overthink it, Pope Tonks." At this, Swell chuckled.
"For us book demons, any new knowledge has unparalleled value, and in this respect, you actually have a considerable advantage."
"Stop joking!" Tang Ke shouted sternly.
"How could I possibly offer knowledge to you demons?!"
Tang Ke clenched his fists. Anything he could bring out and put on the scales of knowledge must be a crucial secret of the Holy Church.
Even if the knowledge given by the other party is extremely valuable to you, the knowledge you give will also have devastating consequences if it is used by this book demon!
However, he cannot give up: if he loses in this battle of knowledge, he will likely lose all his fighting power to support and protect the capital due to the backlash.
Tang Ke gritted his teeth, feeling resentful for his own weakness for the first time.
If, if he were any more powerful... then the power of this demon would not be able to affect him.
If he possessed power as great as the Mino Warrior, these demons wouldn't dare appear before him during this blessing ceremony.
At that moment, the image of that tall and majestic figure with incomparably dazzling radiance resurfaced in Tang Ke's mind.
"Wait, if it's knowledge related to 'him'..."
Startled, Tang Ke suddenly realized something.
The scales of knowledge began to tip.
The knowledge transmitted by Swell surged from the chains, was weighed on the scales, and fell into Tonk's mind.
In an instant, he felt that he had gained a deeper understanding of the power of the Sacred Body of the Artifact. This information was not important to the Holy Church, and much of it was already recorded in the Holy Church's records. But this was one of Svir's cunning points.
As someone who had only been pope for a month, Tonks didn't have much time to digest the depths of the Holy Church, so this knowledge was extremely important to him.
The information provided by the Book Demon is comparable to the level of knowledge contained in the National Library.
“I think it’s over,” Swell said with a smile.
"Unless the knowledge you provide is equally important to me, but as you and I both know, that's impossible... This game is a victory for the Book Demons."
"You lost fair and square, Pope Tonks."
Swell chuckled softly. In fact, when the game of knowledge successfully took effect, it knew it had won.
Right now, it wants to plant a shadow in the heart of this young pope, so that he won't have to face a terrible enemy again in the near future.
Tang Ke raised his incredibly bright eyes, but they were like a sharp blade drawn from its sheath, showing no sign of frustration or dullness.
"Who wins and who loses is still uncertain. You wicked demon, I alone may not be able to defeat you, but I know... I can always trust that person's wisdom!"
"that person?"
Swell paused slightly, and almost without thinking, a figure appeared in his mind's eye.
That hateful face lingered in his mind, causing it to tremble uneasy. Could it be...?
As if confirming that conjecture, the scales of knowledge began to shake violently in the next moment!
Swell was suddenly jolted.
This reaction only occurs when there is a significant inequality of knowledge between the two sides. While the amount of knowledge inputted is substantial, what kind of knowledge does Tang Ke need to provide to create such a disparity?
Or perhaps it's insignificant knowledge, or...
A strong sense of unease welled up within him, and Swell, no longer concerned about striking at Tangk, hurriedly began to receive the knowledge transmitted from the other end of the chains.
The next moment, countless luminous words overflowing with greatness and order suddenly appeared in Swell's mind—!
"This...this is?!" Swir's voice was utterly shocked.
It felt as if countless massive and dense characters were collapsing and exploding before its eyes. It could easily understand the individual words and their meanings, but when the words were pieced together, they formed profound knowledge that was completely incomprehensible and seemed to require a lifetime to study to its end...
No, this is no longer knowledge—it's a system!
A brand new system that the Book Demon Clan had failed to discover over the long course of time, a system that had never appeared on this continent before!
This is practically knowledge from another world!
Swell's book pages trembled slightly as these profound and complex words gradually coalesced and solidified in his mind, firmly etching the name that Tonk had given to this great system of knowledge into Swell's mind.
On the pages, large, dazzling characters, seemingly containing an infinite future, spontaneously formed:
—The Core Values of Minoism!
Chapter 285 Mino on that day, Mino, get up~
"Mino...?!"
Swell's book pages trembled violently, overwhelmed for the first time by the vast ocean of knowledge within him.
It was clear to him that it was absolutely impossible for a young pope like Tonk, who came from a ducal family, to possess such profound knowledge.
But this ordinary person awakened the once-in-a-millennium Sacred Body of a Weapon.