CH 117 Hall Of Truth

The moonlight slanted and fell at an odd angle on the mahogany desk in the King's chamber, or more precisely, on a bronze mirror that stood on top of the desk.

The Devil wiped the mirror slowly with a black silk cloth, and the King watched his movements with slight interest. The King was no stranger to dark creatures, and even angels he had witnessed with his own eyes, but what the Devil would show the King tonight was closer to people's fantasy of dark creatures in this era——the kind involving wizards, crystal balls, illusions, and dreams.

It started when the King received a letter from General Johan.

When learning of the debate of truth held by the Holy Court, the King couldn't help but sneer and said, this was simply a farce covered in black cloth. What do they plan to use to discuss the truth? Did they plan to use the logic of a woman falling into the water and sinking to make their point?

"Would you like to see for yourself how this farce begins?" The Devil asked graciously.

The graciousness in his words also carried the most obvious malice of wanting to make trouble. The King glanced at him, thought about it, and agreed happily. As soon as he nodded, the Devil laughed. He and His Majesty had a good understanding in making trouble for the Holy Court.

Not counting other things, sometimes, the Devil and the King do work hand in hand and cooperate happily.

"Your Majesty, well, it is almost time."

The Devil put down the silk he used to wipe the mirror, and he curved the corners of his mouth slightly.

"Allow me to have a drop of your blood."

The King’s pirate godfather, Charles, once advised the King that when dealing with hell creatures, it was best not to easily agree to their requests, and of course it was best not to give them anything that could be used to conclude a contract…..Hell’s bad reputation for so many years was not a lie.

However, now the King directly extended his hand.

The smile on the Devil's lips widened a bit, and he touched the King's hand wearing the rose ring, and the King, not even noticing the pain, saw as the other took a drop of blood and dropped it on the surface of the bronze mirror.

"Let me perform a trick for you," said the Devil briskly, and he put his hand over the King's eyes.

The King only felt that his vision suddenly went dark, and then it seemed that there was a cold river flowing in front of his eyes. Then, he heard the Devil say "alright", and moved his hand away.

The King opened his eyes and saw white, the silvery moonlight had gathered on the desk like a river and was flowing into the bronze mirror. And the dim yellow copper mirror surface became as smooth as mercury, and then blurred outlines of buildings appeared on the mirror surface. After a while, the picture became clear, and the King saw the Holy Court's "Hall of Truth".

It seemed that the Holy See intended to elevate this debate to a similar status to the famous "Blessed Sacrament Debate", held at the "Art Capital" Weber University in Will.

The Devil explained softly to the King that Weber University did not have a hall that could accommodate enough audiences, so Duke Georgeson, who was in charge of this debate, vacated his private banquet hall.

At the head table in the banquet hall, the Pope's special envoy held the holy book in one hand and held the balance in the other, sitting solemnly and dignifiedly, symbolizing his status as an arbiter and "justice". On the left and right sides of the cathedral hall, scholars from the secular world and scholars from the school of classics stood together on both sides, which symbolized that there was only truth in this debate, regardless of status. On the surface alone, this was indeed an unprecedented debate on the truth. Enthusiastic scholars attacked and refuted each other, and made generous statements——if it weren’t for the fact that in the script all “heresy” talk was defeated while the theological priests triumphed with the holy book in their hands.

"Excellent," said the King. "After the Holy Empire is destroyed, the priests will not have nowhere to go——the best actors in Metzl will have to bow down before them."

It was true that the Holy Court had polemicists who were well-known on both sides of the Abyss Strait, but most of them were experts in theology and law. In terms of astronomy, mathematics and medicine, their talents were not enough. But in the current debate, the clergymen were all knowledgeable and erudite whereas their opponents repeatedly asked stupid questions, which was extremely inconsistent with their reputation in the scholarly field.

The Devil laughed approvingly at the King's acrid comment.

——With the skull of the hell skeletons as a betting chip, those eloquent theologians might not even have memorized the entire holy book. He could imagine that for today's performance, some people must have suffered a lot when reciting their lines.

The theory of heart blood circulation was refuted by the theory of aura, and the question of air composition was criticized as absurd…..The atmosphere in the Hall of Truth was hot, and it would soon be the turn of the "heliocentric theory". The Devil smiled and alerted the King, "It's coming."

The King sat up a little bit, watching what was happening in the bronze mirror intently.

………………

The capital of art, the Great Hall of Debate of Truth.

Bishop Martin was wearing a black robe. He was the main force of the Holy Court in this debate, and he was also one of the few orators who actually possessed some real knowledge. He was a tall man, looking more like a tragedian than a theologian. He was a cunning and formidable opponent to his former opponents, for his speeches were often as much sophistry as it was credible. Today, he had cleverly misquoted his opponent's words time and time again, adding meanings to them that were not there before, thus jumping the debate from science to the trap of paradox in an unobtrusive way.

This was also not something they could help. Although the Holy Court had made perfect preparations, in front of the audience, they still had to do their best to show an overwhelming posture to refute everything.

Whenever scholars from other seminaries could not justify themselves, Bishop Martin would immediately summarize his views and understanding in a powerful voice, so as not to let them leak too many lies in front of the audience.

As the debate drew to a close, Bishop Martin's opponent——if someone who secretly colluded with them could be counted as an opponent——was the last one left.

"Gentlemen, just as the "Almagest" emphasizes." Bishop Martin concluded his debate and challenged his opponent with a confident gesture, "The eternal and sacred sky is the domain of the Holy Lord, and His Kingdom is established in that far away country. Because of this, the heavenly bodies are still, and the earth on which we stand is the center of the stars, and we are beloved children of the Lord. Shall we consider ourselves His outcasts?”

Martin looked at his opponent, waiting for his answer.

He was a medium height Weber University professor, Professor Bieber.

Bishop Martin had a good idea of what Bieber would say next. Bieber would cite some data to prove the correctness of the heliocentric theory. And he would pinpoint arithmetical and measurement errors in those data, thereby declaring Professor Bieber's conclusions invalid. Of all the scholars, Bishop Martin was the least worried about this Professor Bieber.

Because, unlike other scholars, this Professor Bieber himself was a villain who was corrupt and accepted bribes. As early as a few years ago, he eagerly defected to the Holy Court, and he was one of their own.

Professor Bieber stood up, bowed to everyone, and then glanced at Bishop Martin.

While Bishop Martin was waiting for him to speak, he took out some papers: "Dear gentlemen, I have little knowledge about whether the celestial bodies are stationary and whether the heliocentric theory is absurd. There is something I would like to show you…..the letter these esteemed men, Mr. Bishop Martin, Father Peter, Mr. Duke Georgeson, wrote to me."

In the VIP audience, Duke Georgeson's face changed suddenly, and the smile on the complacent Mr. Martin's face suddenly froze.

Before the others could react, Professor Bieber had already stepped forward, holding up the letters in his hand:

"Gentlemen! Ladies! A heartbreaking thing has happened! What you have seen today is nothing but an elaborate rehearsal. Three days ago, my wife and son were under surveillance by the Inquisition. It is not the truth that has been justly demonstrated to you all, but a well-arranged deception. I am afraid that all the gentlemen here are as burdened by their wives and children as I am, and it is difficult to speak out….."

"He's talking nonsense!"

Duke Georgeson stood up with a "squeak" of his chair and pointed at Professor Bieber in the hall.

"How dare this greedy villain tell such a lie to insult me! Quick! Take him away!"

The hall was full of people, and when some other scholars were speaking, there were always people monitoring their words and deeds, but no one expected that Professor Bieber, who was one of them, would betray them at the last moment.

"He's been possessed by a demon." Bishop Martin glanced at Professor Bieber waving the rebuttal they had strung together in advance, and immediately said loudly.

The audience was in an uproar, and a group of heavily armed guards pushed through the crowd and rushed into the hall.

"The truth cannot be profaned. In order to prove everything I said today, I am willing to die to prove that what I said is true!"

Professor Bieber shouted, and before the guards caught him, he slammed head first into the stone pillar next to him.

Blood splattered, and the picture seemed to freeze at this moment.

………………

"How was it? Your Majesty." The Devil looked at the King with a smile, "Are you satisfied with the fun I have carefully prepared?"

"How did you do it?"

The King was a little surprised. Judging from the shocked expressions of Duke Georgeson and Bishop Martin at the end, Professor Bieber should be on their side.

"Because this Professor Bieber is also an out-and-out villain, I made a small deal with him." The Devil spread his hands, "And his only eldest son is actually the product of his beautiful wife and a bishop's foolishness. He has no love for his wife and child——he would like nothing more than to pull them to die with him."

"What kind of transaction could make people take the initiative to die on their own?"

"Oh, this," replied the Devil. "He's a half-baked wizard who secretly studies black magic——but a mishap with the sorcery left him with numbered days and he wants a place in hell. So I satisfied this small wish. It's a fair deal."

The King glanced at the Devil, and had full doubts about the "fairness" in his words.

The Devil shrugged. He promised to give that Mr. Wizard some power, but he didn't say that he wouldn't take it back after giving it? Wasn't it normal for a departed soul to be torn apart by the lords of hell soon after gaining some authority?

"You're shameless enough." The King sighed, whether it was Bishop Martin, Bieber, or the Devil, their actions were all shameless. "What a pity, it's just a farce."

Both he and the Devil knew that the last scene could only be regarded as a minor trouble for the Holy Court——they could make up for it after the fact, such as finding out the flaws of Professor Bieber, destroying his image, and then claiming that the other party was the victim of demonic seduction——well, that was not exactly untrue. In a situation in which the Holy Court had awakened faith with miracles, this debate would only end in a complete victory for the Holy Court.

However, the seeds of doubt were always slowly planted.

"The bishops and gentlemen of the Holy Court didn't pick up on your actions?"

The King asked pointedly.

He noticed that the speed and power of the Devil's actions in the world had been greatly improved compared to before. Or putting it in another way, the King suspected that even within the Holy Empire, there were some dark creatures driven by the Devil. Otherwise, how did he manage to find some fun for the Holy Court so quickly?

Although the Devil regarded himself as a loyal knight in front of the King, whoever really only treated him as an ordinary servant would have to pay a high price in the end.

The King's concerns quickly shifted to other things: "Do wizards exist in this world? Are there many of them?"

Ever since he knew the existence of Miss Witch among the Walway Pirates, the King made a note of "witches, wizards and sorcerers" in his heart. It was a pity that what happened afterwards, whether it was the Black Death or the rebellion in the Northland, the founding of the Holy Empire came too quickly and urgently, so that he was unable to free his hands for a long time to do other things.

The Devil undid the trick on the mirror, and it became an ordinary bronze mirror again. Hearing the King's words, the Devil immediately understood what he wanted to do. After thinking about it, the Devil suddenly smiled: "The number of wizards is much less than before, but…..I think, Your Majesty, they are the easiest power you can get help from."

"Malleus Maleficarum."

The King said.

Obviously, after the Holy Court promulgated this prey code, he had the same idea as the Devil.

"Yes. But it's more than that." The Devil tilted his head slightly, as if sensing something, then looked down at the King, "Your Majesty, I think we can give a surprise to the lords who will attend the banquet."

Just when the King was thinking about the meaning of his words, a crow landed in front of the King. The Devil looked at him with a smile, obviously waiting for him to read the letter before saying what kind of surprise they could prepare for the lords who were about to attend the banquet.

The crow delivering the letter was much larger than usual.

The King recognized it.

It was the pet of the witch Griselda on the ghost ship.

The King remembered that he had promised the lady witch to fulfill a request——when she was done with the preparations, he would help her bring the sacrificed Walway pirates back to the ghost ship.