chsdbacks Page 125
Page 125
White strands of hair...
Something familiar.
It was almost like fiddling with a special memory, or even more than just something I had seen as a player, but something I had also witnessed in this world, although all of this came to a standstill with the next action.
—She looked over.
He revealed a pair of eyes that seemed distant from the world, like those of a god or Buddha.
It was clearly silver, yet it lacked any of the verdant purity of the snowfields and sky. Instead, it resembled the dim and distant view one would see while in the deep sea. To describe it more precisely, its silvery-white pupils were tinged with a touch of gorgeous lavender, perfectly showcasing the nobility that Basilius had once possessed.
"Please restrain yourself, Mr. Jiangcheng."
"Even those who have awakened their Holy Mark have their limits."
That captivating voice, both ghostly and divine, was no longer bound by any other constraints, flowing directly and clearly into the listener's ears.
She appeared distant and aloof, much like a graceful saintess far removed from the world, yet she seemed to possess a certain magic that inexplicably excited people.
I could feel myself being watched intently and closely, the gaze was so intense and intense.
The boy, however, was not moved in the slightest.
It's not that he's the epitome of a virtuous person.
It's not that it was ruined somewhere during the exploitation process.
Merely, thoughts, ideas, will, vision... everything has already been preemptively captured.
Memories that weren't exactly long ago were instantly stirred up.
Cecilia, Feathered Rabbit...
Kiana!
“The Second Herrscher, the one most suitable to fill that role in this era, is still out there. Mistelin, quickly notify Gray Serpent to find Kiana,” Jiang Cheng emphasized. “Remember, just find her, and I’ll take care of the rest. Don’t presumptuously try to contact her.”
The first thing she did upon waking was to give orders—but Mistelin just stood there, and even when she was called by her name, she simply lowered her head slightly as expected, stopping Mei's actions—she subconsciously wanted to transform into lightning to search for the gray snake on the floating island.
“Mr. Jiang Cheng, perhaps you should do the work of finding Kiana yourself.”
"What do you mean? World Serpent can't even muster this many people? Even at this stage... are they really that useless?"
Even now, Kevin hasn't come out yet, the Night Owl hasn't become an officer, and the Jackal has been killed by him...
Ahhh...
It seems there really is no one left.
Mistelin simply shook her head slightly. "No, matters concerning the Kaslana family should be left to the current Bishop of Destiny."
"Who?" he asked instinctively.
"you."
The elegant Miss Feather Rabbit responded with a gentle smile.
For a moment, Jiang Cheng couldn't even understand that simple word—he unconsciously turned his head to look at Mei beside him. All he saw in her deep purple eyes was seriousness, and the genuine joy on her face, a joy that seemed to be for her own sake.
"That's right."
"You are now the new bishop of Destiny."
……
……
"what?"
"I?!"
"Me, a bishop?"
For the first time in three hours since Mei had maintained a superior position, the boy's face broke down.
It wasn't that he didn't want to, but rather that he was simply shocked—simply shocked that someone who had only been here for less than a year had become a bishop.
"Why is it that there's no need to talk about something like this?"—Miss Yuto wasn't one to talk in long, drawn-out sentences, and followed behind Mei with a smile.
“Besides you, the World Serpent can’t find any suitable members. I’m obviously not good enough. Even if I appeared in my own form, it might cause a huge mess. At least Raven is just an assassin, and Gray Serpent, as a mechanical creation, is even less likely to participate. The only one qualified to become a member of the Bishop of Destiny is you, Jiang Cheng, who hasn’t even named himself yet.”
Why is it necessary to have a bishop?
Such questions were rejected before they could even be asked.
Because of the light clapping of her hands, the unconscious gesture that Mistelin displayed resembled that of a mother, she had already provided an explanation for the seventy-five matters concerning the seal of Leng Ying.
"The system of destiny and bishops has been operating for so many years that it is already very difficult to change bishops temporarily. It is only because we attributed the credit for the end of the Third Honkai to you, and because you, as a male, have a stigmata, and because you relied on the merit of Jizo Mitama to create the illusion that Otto spoke, that the turmoil among people was not too serious."
"Moreover, as a ruler, being a strategist should be a reassuring thing for you, right? Being a World Serpent cadre or something like that doesn't seem to be enough for you if you don't want to live in seclusion."
really……
The World Snake has enough cadres.
Choosing to become a member of the World Serpent was the initial plan.
This was entirely based on the fact that I initially had no intention of breaking the storyline.
Therefore, the position of the cadre, combined with Bronya as a tool to maintain the plot, is more than enough.
However, the current storyline has been disrupted, so simply holding a cadre position is not enough for one to manipulate the plot or even create new storylines that can bridge the gap.
The lack of ideas and strength leads to panic. The reason why a new way out was not planned immediately was simply because Otto was more dangerous to the world where the plot had been broken.
Moreover, Mistelin's reasons were sufficient: Schicksal, a large organization that has been operating for five hundred years, is not something that can be dealt with casually.
The reason he entrusted the task of preventing the world from becoming more chaotic to the World Serpent was simply because Otto had to die, and he couldn't find a better solution. In fact, the boy hadn't considered that the World Serpent could really handle destiny perfectly. He had already placed the world chaos in a place that could be used as a reference, and had even thought about how to deal with it later.
Since fate cannot be resolved, having Otto pass on the mantle is indeed the only solution. As a male with a Stigmata, he has indeed eliminated the Herrscher, preventing the Herrscher from harming people. He is indeed qualified—at least compared to the other rotten fish and shrimp in the current world snake, he is the most suitable.
Mistelin's problem is just as she said: the appearance of someone with the same appearance as Cecilia here will cause great chaos.
Raven is not qualified to be an assassin. Gray Serpent is too ruthless. He doesn't meet the minimum requirements of the Bishop of Destiny. He doesn't seem to care about the appearance of a person who doesn't care about others.
Even so, all the boy was thinking about was recruiting people who would otherwise die in the storyline, and he never considered that he himself would become the bishop.
In fact, the fact that he—Jiang Cheng—became the Bishop of Destiny is still something he can't understand. He stares wide-eyed at the two people approaching, at Mei who is genuinely happy for herself and at Yuto who is looking at him gently, her aloofness/inhumanity broken.
"Rest assured, the World Serpent has no ill intentions. For someone with prophetic abilities, being a bishop is the best choice. The foolish thing of sending you to the battlefield like this will never happen again."
"Next, Raven will join your bishop's guard along with Miss Sakura. If you need anything, you can come to me. I'm always here. After all, you should know what I've been doing."
The white-haired girl gently pressed her chest. The smile of the saintess from the past was so gentle that it almost melted your bones, giving off a motherly sense of acceptance.
This even aroused Mei's sense of crisis, causing her to mentally increase the perceived threat level of Mei.
"In short, Lord Cheng, you can rest assured now. Most things can be resolved by fate."
"The fact that you have more resources at your disposal should be very useful for your prophecy."
"Yes." Jiang Cheng didn't deny any of them.
Regardless of the fact that Mistelin did not directly propose the Stigmata Project.
As Raiden Mei said, having more pieces is more useful to her.
"Since that's the case, then I won't refuse. I do have some ideas that would allow me to live a better life in the world and probably avoid the threat of collapse."
……
……
……
Mistelin clearly recorded all of Jiang Cheng's expressions, from the initial shock and familiarity upon seeing her to her current tacit acceptance of the covert plan indirectly mentioned by her—her smile became more genuine, and the curiosity clearly gleaming in her eyes was no longer concealed.
Uh-huh……
It's true.
If they even know about the most secretive Stigmata Project, then... they should also know about me and me?
Unfortunately... this wasn't a good opportunity to meet.
The surveillance cameras and other equipment also need to be redone.
She clapped her hands gently. "Mr. Jiang Cheng, please prepare well. The ceremony for the succession of the bishop is quite complicated, after all, it hasn't happened in five hundred years. Even if the Bishop of Destiny has a position that almost monopolizes the world's power, it's best to be a little more serious at the beginning."
"In addition, the World Serpent is also being created for Miss Yae Sakura's body, as well as your right hand. After absorbing a portion of Schicksal's technology, the World Serpent is now capable of creating a perfect, complete version."
As the story unfolds, Rigen is brought to life. Beneath the luxurious silver and purple color scheme, almost identical to the girl's, lies a full-body armor combat suit that reveals not a single inch of skin. At this moment, Rigen is holding a Jizo-myoji in both hands.
Without needing to reach out and take it directly, or receiving it from others, Jiang Cheng naturally knew how to use it.
With just a thought, or rather, a thought, the Jizo Mitama naturally floated into the air and flew to his side.
Along with it came that familiar voice.
[Hey, you're not dead, are you? Jiang Cheng.]
It would be so shameful to be exploited to death.
Bell's demeanor remained defiant... or more accurately, a timid little devil or a tsundere.
Having experienced the previous cherry blossom cycle, Jiangcheng could never again treat it as a formidable enemy or as an object of casual mockery.
Although the other party still said a few harsh words, even after she had insulted him so much, he still didn't attack her. He didn't even become the boss for the sake of plot rationalization. Before leaving, he gave Sakura a chance to make amends. In the previous battle, Rin suppressed Void Archives and all of Otto's technological creations while also suppressing Otto to a certain extent. Almost 90% of the credit goes to her.
Aside from the somewhat female ghost's voice, there was also the voice of the only person I hadn't encountered since opening my eyes.
How are you feeling?
—It's cherry blossom.
Ahhh...
My life is perfect!
Even without seeing her actual appearance, just hearing her voice was enough to convey the girl's deep worry.
Having become the Bishop of Destiny, and with these two girls who love him, plus his formidable fighting prowess, he has no regrets in life.
……
……
……
……
A few days later, under the influence of the same destiny, Theresa, the headmistress of St. Freya Academy, the Far East branch, finally broke out of her slacking-off state after being reminded by Himeko. She opened the terminal that she hadn't opened in a long time and saw the information flashing red, as well as news that would shock anyone in the world.
The former Bishop Otto Apocalypse has decided to step down and focus on his studies, and the coronation ceremony of the new Bishop Jiang Cheng is about to be held.
This is a message that almost everyone will receive, while the next step is an invitation that is only available to a very small number of people.
Head directly to the floating island of the Heavenly Mandate headquarters to participate in the coronation ceremony of the new Heavenly Mandate Bishop, Lord Jiang Cheng.
The documents above contain a lot of official jargon and are quite complicated, but the personal emails below are only available to high-ranking units such as A-rank Valkyries and above, or branch ministers and deputy ministers. So while they are formal, they also take into account that most Valkyries are mainly military and combat-oriented and don't have much time to learn these official long and complicated sentences. Anyone with a primary school education can basically understand them.
Despite being often teased as an idiot, Theresa, whose informational errors are largely due to her constant consumption of Feather Dust, is not so incomprehensible as to be unable to understand these things.
However, the problem is not whether or not one can understand it—the information itself is the biggest problem.
"What?"
"Grandpa has retired."
"This...how is this possible?!"
He has worked for five hundred years and served as the Bishop of Destiny for five hundred years. Why is he suddenly retiring now?
"But this was indeed the bishop's decision. He held three meetings for this purpose, and all the Valkyries and high-ranking officials, except for Durandal and Rita who were still away at the time, participated. Many people tried to dissuade him, but under the bishop's orders, they finally agreed to let Lord Jiang Cheng serve as the new Archbishop of Destiny."
Even though this is equally outrageous and unacceptable, I had already read it before coming here to inform you, so Himeko Murata had no choice but to accept it.
Even the only three A-rank Valkyries in the academy besides herself, Fu Hua watched the whole thing.
Surprisingly, the person whose original address was in China found it even harder to accept than she, who had been a Valkyrie for so many years.
“I know this is hard to accept, but the most important thing now is to get ready to attend the ceremony. Even if you are Otto’s granddaughter, you can’t disrespect the current bishop.”
“These things are none of our business. The right to succeed the bishop has always been in Lord Otto’s hands, and those high-ranking officials eventually voted in favor.”
Compared to the messy affairs of the headquarters' higher-ups, this is the most important thing—which is why Himeko keeps trying to pull Theresa away from her constant slacking off.
It's still meaningless.