Because the pope is still under house arrest in the prison specially made for him by the royal family of Teresa for investigation, it is obvious that the coming-of-age ceremony of the Son of Light cannot be presided over by the pope himself as before.
Although the reputation of the Bright Holy See fell to the freezing point with the Pope's imprisonment, the history of the Bright Holy See in the Deland continent can be traced back to nine hundred years ago. It fought with the Deland Empire, but they also relied on each other. It has become an integral part of the Teresa Empire.
If the Holy See of Light, which has a large number of clergy, is really completely down, the overall strength of the Teresa Empire will inevitably be weakened.
The royal family of Teresa obviously understands this too. Although this time, taking advantage of the opportunity of the Pope being infected by the demonic energy, he teamed up with the Holy Knights to severely damage the Holy See of Light, but obviously did not intend to destroy it completely, so the coming-of-age ceremony of the Son of Light is still To be held normally.
To be precise, not only must it be held, but it must also be held as grandly as possible, using this as an opportunity to appease the current turbulent situation.
So this time, the coming-of-age ceremony of the Holy Son of Light was finally decided to be presided over by King Teresa himself in the absence of the Pope.
During the first three days before the coming-of-age ceremony, He Yan, in accordance with the practice of the Holy See of Light, apart from eating, bathing and sleeping, prayed devoutly in front of the statue of the Goddess of Light.
Of course, he was just pretending. In fact, he was just sitting in a daze quietly in front of the statue of the Goddess of Light whose face could not be seen clearly.
Anyway, the Goddess of Light is currently busy retreating to expel the darkness and filth in the godhead, and it is impossible to have the energy to pay attention to the small question of whether one of the thousands of believers in the lower world is praying piously.
Since the Paladins took over the management of the Holy See, all the eyeliners left by the Pope around him have been replaced.
—In turn, they were all replaced by the eyeliner of the head of the Holy Knight Order.
But these eyeliners are much more intelligent than the previous batch, and I don't know what the head of the Paladin ordered them. Except when necessary, these attendants can't wait to stay ten meters away from him.
That's why he was able to be in a daze in the temple without any scruples.
Three days passed in a flash, and time soon came to his eighteenth birthday.
After being served by countless attendants, He Yan packed up and dressed in an extremely tedious manner. He Yan once again boarded the carriage of the Holy See of Guangming, and arrived at Guangming Square under the escort of a group of paladins.
The attendant opened the curtain for him and greeted him from the carriage.
He Yan stood in front of the carriage and looked around, feeling a little emotional in his heart.
The pope, who once stood here with infinite glory, has been imprisoned, and the reputation of the Holy See has also plummeted because of the Pope. However, this Guangming Square still maintains its glorious image, showing its grandeur under today's particularly warm sunlight. momentum.
And because the coming-of-age ceremony of the Holy Son of Light is about to be held here, it has been well repaired, and many exquisite decorations have been made with gold belts and flowers, so it looks more glorious and solemn.
Today's wind was a bit strong, and it blew his wide sleeves into a mess. He stretched out his hands to straighten his robe, and under the guidance of his attendants, he walked along the road like he did on the first day he came to this world. A series of winding steps went up to the high platform.
Only this time, it wasn't the Pope waiting on top, but King Teresa.
The most honorable man in the entire Teresan Empire had an obvious joy on his face, presumably because he felt comfortable physically and mentally for bringing down his deadly enemy this time.
Seeing him approaching, the chubby His Majesty the King greeted him with a loud voice, with a kind light on his face: "Oh, my dear His Majesty the Holy Son, happy coming-of-age ceremony."
He Yan replied in Cecil's usual calm voice: "Thank you for your blessing, Your Majesty."
Although the Pope is probably completely cold this time, but fortunately, Cecil's love of the Goddess of Light is deeply rooted in his body and mind, and the royal family of Teresa does not intend to do anything to the clergy other than the Pope's faction, so he basically did not because of this incident. What is the material effect on the matter.
In the long run, there may even be some benefits.
After all, as long as the Pope is still in power in the Holy See of Light for a day, he will not be able to get rid of the old life of being watched every move, and even his own life will be difficult to save in the end.
—The original Cecil was just a victim in the deal between the Pope and the orcs.
The orcs have a fragment of a light artifact in their hands. In order to get back this precious fragment, the pope promised to make a deal with the orcs.
He planted the "Gift of Eros" in the body of the Son of Light, and used this special physique mixed with holiness and debauchery to exchange the lost fragments of the Divine Artifact of Light with the lustful new orc patriarch.
In order not to arouse suspicion, they specially reached an agreement to implement the handover of the Holy Son of Light near the elves' territory, thus bringing the focus of public opinion to the reclusive elves.
If time stops at this moment of the handover, then the transaction is undoubtedly very successful. The pope got back the fragments of the artifact of light, thereby increasing his bargaining chips.
However, neither of the two parties expected that the Holy Son of Light, whom they regarded as a trade product, would eventually take such decisive revenge.
Cecil's character is very simple and pure. He dedicated all his loyalty and love to the Goddess of Light and the Holy See of Light, and never doubted the Pope.
Although this kind of pureness made him unaware of the Pope's conspiracy and fell into danger, from another perspective, he was also tough and extreme. After being betrayed by the trusted Pope, he did not choose to compromise. Instead, at the cost of burning his life, he forcibly broke through the restriction set by the pope in his body, cast a high-level forbidden light technique in the territory of the orc clan, and took away half the lives of himself and the patriarch of the orc clan.
This accident aroused the anger of the orc patriarch, and he challenged the pope for this, asking him to return the fragments of the artifact, but the cunning pope seized the opportunity of serious injury and took away the remaining half of his life.
However, after the praying mantis catches the cicada and the oriole, the head of the paladins caught clues to the relationship between the pope and the orc patriarch. The truth about his son's disappearance, and finally using this dirty secret, gave the Pope a hard blow.
However, those are also things after Cecil's death.
From the beginning to the end, this seemingly glorious Son of Light was just an unconscious pawn in the hands of the Pope. Although he unexpectedly resisted in the end, it was at the cost of his life.
It is undoubtedly a good thing for the Pope to fall early now.
After King Teresa greeted him, he continued, "I am deeply sorry for the recent incident with the Pope, but I believe that the people still have confidence in the Holy See of Light. You should always believe in this."
He Yan pursed his lips: "Of course."
King Teresa didn't seem to care about his slightly indifferent attitude, and then talked with him for a long time with great interest.
During the conversation, a look of satisfaction appeared in his slightly narrowed eyes.
He had seen clearly a long time ago that compared with the old fox of the Pope, this holy son of light was a completely different species, and he had no mind at all.
This also means - this is a very easy to handle person.
He is very satisfied with this Holy Son of Light, and intends to make him the next Pope of the Holy See of Light. Most of the cardinals in the Central Holy See belong to the Pope's faction, and he can't worry about them.
During the conversation between the two, He Yan used his peripheral vision to search around without a trace, but what made him a little puzzled was that he didn't find the head of the Holy Knights until the ceremony officially started.
With the ringing of an ancient bell in the center of the square, the coming-of-age ceremony belonging to the Son of Light officially kicked off.
The coming-of-age ceremony of the Son of Light is actually very simple, with only three steps in total.
The first item is for the Pope to affirm and praise the past deeds of the Son of Light.
But this time the host of the ceremony changed from the Pope to King Teresa, so everyone present saw that the kind-faced King Teresa stood on the high platform and read the entire nine pages of sheepskin for the Son of Light with emotion. Paper compliments.
The people present at the scene had doubts about the Holy See because of the Pope's recent incident, and their impression of the Holy Son of Light has also declined a lot. King Lan narrated it, and the feelings of the people were gradually mobilized.
When the king stopped speaking, they couldn't hide their excitement and spontaneously cheered for His Royal Highness the Son.
The ministers and nobles who came to participate in the ceremony exchanged a tacit look, and they all saw King Teresa's undisguised appreciation for the Son of Light.
The second item of the original ceremony was that the pope used a high-level light technique to bless the Holy Son. However, because King Teresa's light power is really limited, it is already extremely difficult for him to perform a mid-level light technique that fills the scene. There is no need to struggle at all.
So the second ceremony was sympathetically changed to the king personally wearing a beautifully woven flower crown for him to express his blessing for his coming of age.
The last item is for the Holy Son to choose his own contract knight.
King Teresa left from the center of the high platform and sat down to the side where there were many nobles and ministers who came to participate in the ceremony, leaving the home court for the Holy Son of Light himself and the upcoming paladins.
He Yan stood on the high platform, looking very calm on the surface, but in fact, he was not prepared for the next procedure at all.
A few days after he returned to the Central Vatican from Simi, the Pope was imprisoned in an accident, and the Central Vatican fell into chaos in a very short period of time. After taking over these, he was finally able to get away from the affairs, but then he had to start preparing for his coming-of-age ceremony, and there was no time to get in touch with the three paladins chosen by the pope for him.
Well, as a matter of fact, even if he had free time, he wouldn't be in contact with three paladins who knew nothing but their names.
The contract knight is a very intimate concept. Under the constraints of the power of the sacred contract, people at both ends of the contract will not be able to betray each other. Relying on this unquestionable loyalty, the two will often establish a very close relationship.
After the contract between the paladin and the Son of Light, the paladin will no longer give priority to being loyal to the paladins, but will put his own contractor first.
And for the Holy Son, a contracted knight who will never betray will also become one of their closest and most trusted people.
However, He Yan did not intend to establish such an intimate relationship with a stranger.
If he had to choose a paladin to establish a contract, he would only choose Ambrose.
Originally, he had no doubt that the head of the Paladins would accept his contract, but in the few days before the ceremony, Ambrose never discussed it with him, and from today until now, he None of them showed up at the ceremony to find Ambrose.
He Yan's eyes fell on the slightly fat back of King Delan who turned to leave, and a trace of uncertainty suddenly appeared in his heart.
Could it be that Ambrose really intends to let him contract a paladin casually
But—according to Ambrose's narrow-minded personality who can even eat his own jealousy so sincerely, will he really watch himself make a contract with other paladins
The faint doubts in He Yan's heart didn't exist for a few seconds before they were dispelled by the unexpected figure in front of him.
The head of the Holy Knights, who mysteriously disappeared for most of the ceremony, suddenly appeared at the bottom of the steps on the side of the stand, and walked up the rough steps calmly with a pair of straight and tight long legs.
The gentle sunlight in late autumn fell on his hair, creating a light golden halo on the top of his head. The tall nose bridge cast a faint shadow on the side, and the dark blue pupils looked brighter than usual under the sunlight.
but-
He Yan's gaze stayed on his handsome and charming face for a few seconds, and he turned sideways to look behind him, but did not find any other paladins behind him.
very good.
Like King Teresa, this is another random tampering process.
In the original procedure of signing a contract with a paladin, in order to take care of the Holy See in face, the paladins often arrange several dozen paladins, including the contract knight selected by the Holy Son in advance, here In the link, we came to the Holy Son of Light together and waited for the selection.
But now it is obvious that in the process of concluding the contract this time, there is one and only one candidate knight, and that is the head of the Holy Knights himself.
Since the establishment of the Paladins, this situation has never happened.
He Yan: "..."
He originally thought that it was perfunctory enough for King Delan to replace it with a wreath because he didn't know advanced light techniques, but he didn't expect that the actions of the head of the Holy Knights were even more blatant than that of King Delan.
The moment the figure of the head of the Holy Knights appeared on the wide platform, the crowd below the platform boiled instantly, including the ministers and nobles sitting on the side, all of them showed gaffe expressions on their faces, and even a nobleman The young lady let out a scream, and the delicate and gorgeous feather fan in her hand fell to the ground.
Everyone in the noble seat glanced at King Teresa's position from the corner of their eyes, only to find that His Majesty's expression had not changed at all, and he was still approachable and kind.
Everyone present, including ordinary people under the stands, knew what it meant for Ambrose to appear alone in front of the Son of Light.
——The head of the Paladins is about to become the contract knight of the Holy Son of Light!
In retrospect, this kind of contract between the Son of Light and the head of the Holy Knights only happened a few times when the Holy Knights were just established and were still in decline.
Later, as the Paladins became semi-independent from the Holy See of Light, they became stronger because of their increased strength. Even the noble Holy Son of Light had only contracted paladins at the level of iron cavalry commanders.
After the rules of the two-way contract were enacted and implemented, the paladins who contracted with the Holy Son of Light all became ordinary knights without exception.
Even if the glory of the Holy See of Light is still there, it is almost impossible for the Holy Son of Light to contract with the head of the Holy Knights, not to mention that the Holy See of Light has just experienced a serious crisis not long ago, and its image in the eyes of the people has suffered a huge blow.
This is really—so puzzling!
But no matter how noisy and surprised the spectators were, the ceremony on the high platform was still going on in an orderly manner.
Although there are no other knight candidates, He Yan can only follow the normal ceremony and ask his favorite knight in the ancient language that contains the power of contract: "Your Excellency Ambrose Ed, you Are you willing to be my contractor and dedicate your loyalty and love to me forever?"
The paladin untied the saber from his waist, put it at the feet of the Holy Son of Light to express his submission, then knelt down on one knee in front of him, and in a low voice, followed the records of the contract art book word for word, Xu Take an oath of loyalty.
When the last word of the head of the Holy Knights fell, the bodies of the two were instantly enveloped in white light. He Yan felt an invisible force coming from the void, which carved an indelible mark on his spiritual sea.
In this imprint, he felt the familiar breath of spiritual power that belonged to his lover.
He Yan lowered his eyes and met the paladin's azure pupils, his light-colored lips parted slightly, but finally said nothing.
When the white light dissipated, he stretched out his right hand to the paladin in front of him. This was the last step of the contract. The paladin would salute him again to show his loyalty.
This time, the paladin took off the white gloves he had been wearing all year round, held his palm with his right hand with beautiful knuckles, and solemnly kissed the back of his hand.
…
After the whole ceremony was over, He Yan and Ambrose who followed behind him like a guard had a final exchange of greetings with King Teresa, surrounded by various inquiring eyes of noble ministers.
On the way back, he could vaguely hear the people outside the carriage talking about this matter.
After Ambrose sent him to the Central Holy See, he left soon because of unexpected events in the Holy Knight Order, but before leaving, he took a deep look at him with those charming blue eyes, which was very meaningful. Say goodbye to him: "See you tonight."
The leader of the Holy Knights really did what he said, and after nightfall, He Yan was attacked again.
It's just that this time it's not a blurred red-eyed monster, but a handsome and charming head of the Holy Knights.
"Lord Ambrose?"
He Yan sat on the bed, watching him jump out of the open window with doubts in his eyes. Because of the bending of his legs, the tight muscle lines on the paladin's legs were particularly obvious.
He let out a casual "hmm", and while approaching He Yan, he took off his coat, stretched out his long arms, and threw it on the back of the chair beside him.
Like a truly ignorant and ignorant saint, He Yan got up from the bed and asked, "You came to see me so late, what can I do?"
There was a smile on the corner of the paladin's mouth: "Of course there is something very important."
Saying this, he untied the saber at his waist with a slightly rough movement, placed it on the table, then untied his belt neatly with one hand, and threw it on the saber.
Seeing the paladin begin to untie his belt, the Son of Pure Brightness seemed to have finally realized something was wrong, and surprise appeared in his eyes.
But it was too late, the paladin stepped in front of him, stretched out his hands to pinch his upper arm, brought him to the bed covered with soft quilts, then bent down mercilessly and pressed his stiff body onto it.
He put one hand next to the son's face, and pinched his soft cheek with the other hand, forcing the pure black pupils of the son to look at himself.
In the next second, his dark blue pupils, which were as deep as top jewels, suddenly became darker, and the dark blue in the pupils was so dark that it was almost black, and was suddenly replaced by a strange dark red, and then there were thin bloodshots protruding from the pupils , like countless densely packed tiny tentacles extending towards the surroundings, and finally dyed his entire pupils into a pool of blood red.
The moonlight tonight is extremely bright, and under the reflection of the icy moonlight, those eyes seem to be filled with fresh blood that can flow, ready to choose someone to devour at any time.
He Yan was attracted by the strange-colored blood pupils, and was a little lost in his eyes for a while.
The paladin asked with a somewhat sexy hoarse voice: "Your Highness Cecil, do you think these eyes are familiar?"
He Yan: "...um."
The person on top of him saw his frightened stupefied appearance, and grinned happily, the greed in his eyes was clearly seen, he pushed his knees, and easily separated his legs, bringing Announced somewhat arrogantly: "Honey, tonight I will present you a... coming-of-age ceremony that belongs to a man."