The Lich of Glory Knight Spirit: Moving towards Krimasha!
Chapter 168 - 04: Funeral (Second Update)

Chapter 168: Chapter 04: Funeral (Second Update)

Under the guidance of Anthony III, Gray stepped into the Azlan Mountain Cathedral.

The whole world seemed to turn grey, all the exquisite and magnificent hidden in the shadows. Only in the center, where a beam of sunlight shone, lay Pope Augustus III’s open casket quietly.

The surroundings were full of people, yet all were silent, each submerged in the shadows of the light.

Nineteen statues of various forms stood against the cathedral’s four walls, the sunlight from the dome quietly illuminating their faces.

Gray stepped forward, one step at a time.

The figures blocking Gray’s way stepped aside, bowing, and saluted.

Gray stopped in front of the casket, knelt on one knee, and bowed his head. *He prayed silently for Pope Augustus III in his heart.*

Everything was quiet, no one spoke.

When the prayer was over, Gray was led aside to stand with the others.

"Saint, according to the regulations, the Pope’s body will be buried the day after tomorrow. In the meantime, it will remain here for mourners to view. During this period, all cardinals and Holy Knights must take turns guarding the body. Of course, the saint also needs to guard the body. Before this, you were absent, and that was unavoidable. Now that you are here, you will be here with a few other cardinals this afternoon. Others will take over for you tonight. Also, you need to be here tomorrow afternoon as well," the cleric in charge of the funeral arrangements said to Gray.

"What exactly do I need to do when guarding the body?" Gray asked.

"You don’t need to do anything. Others will handle tasks, you just need to be present. Of course, if they need your cooperation for something, we hope you can assist them."

"Alright, may the Holy Spirit bless you." Gray crossed his chest.

"May the Holy Spirit bless you."

Like everyone else, Gray stood silently, *gazing at Augustus III lying in the casket*. The sunlight from above shone on his face, but it could never enlighten the ravages of time.

Every now and then, people were led in, knelt, prayed, viewed the remains, and then left. Various people continuously repeated the same actions. The entire cathedral remained silent.

There were six other cardinals on watch with Gray. They each stood in a corner, maintaining a certain distance from Gray. Behind them was a large group of clergy. Everyone just stayed quietly.

"Is this the Pope’s funeral? So boring." The Black Cat complained inside the armor, "It’s been more than a month, aren’t they afraid the body will rot?"

"There is ice under the casket," Gray responded softly.

Yes, there was ice under the casket, and small trenches. The melting ice turned into water and flowed through these trenches. Occasionally, clergy would come and drop chipped ice from small holes at the side.

"Well, after all, it’s the church. They have the money and the time to consider everything thoroughly. By the way, Gray, what do you think of Augustus III?"

"I actually quite liked him. Though our philosophies differed and we often debated in our letters, I thought he was a good person. He was just trying his best to maintain everything he deemed important, and I caused him quite some trouble."

"That wasn’t causing trouble, you were right, and he was the Pope, how could it be causing trouble?"

Gray remained silent, *gazing at Augustus III’s face quietly.*

After a long time, he whispered, "He asked me a question. When justice in process and justice in result can only be chosen as one, what would I choose."

"What did you choose?" the Black Cat asked.

"I chose process justice."

"Uh...why did you choose process justice? I think most people would choose result justice."

"That is on the assumption that you know the result is just. But, in reality, we usually don’t know whether the result is just or not. So, if it were up to me, I’d choose process justice. At least, that way we’d have a just process."

"And then?"

"He said he would choose result justice. Though he might not always guess the result correctly, he would try his best to guess. Result justice is what he needed to protect the most. Compromise, compromise, and more compromise. Though he was often wrong about my matters, that didn’t prevent him from sticking to this belief."

"What else did he say?"

"He said... Unresolvable process justice is scarier than evil. We can sacrifice ourselves for justice, but we cannot sacrifice others. To promote holiness, our biggest enemy isn’t hell, but human selfishness and superficiality. For most people, justice isn’t what’s important. What’s important is living well, without war, famine, or innocent suffering. This world is constantly making exchanges. People must constantly pay prices. When some refuse to pay, justice turns grey. As the Pope, keeping peace, like a weighing scale, making nonstop decisions...that was his work. It wasn’t really holy; it was even a bit worldly. But this was how he found a bit of comfort in occasional moments of light."

"Did he mention anything about what you should do after his death?"

"A few months ago, he wrote in his letter, ’I feel the call of the Holy Spirit.’ He said that after his passing, I should be careful. There were many opposing me in the church. He didn’t want to see division nor me struggling, but he couldn’t prevent either."

"Can you summon his spirit for a chat? I mean his ghost."

"No, souls accepted by Heaven or Hell do not become ghosts."

"I see... Although he couldn’t prevent it, I think you can. After all, you have the power of the Demon Lord, don’t you? No one can stand against the Demon Lord’s power. Everyone just has to obey."

Gray did not respond, just stood quietly, *gazing at Augustus III’s face.*

"I have searched the entire Azlan Mountain, nothing unusual!" Vivian’s voice echoed in Gray’s mind. "Except for some restricted areas. I must say, there are many restricted areas here, many places I couldn’t enter. This cathedral is the only exception, quite odd."

Time ticked by, moment by moment.

Soon, it was dusk. The cleric in charge of the funeral arrangements approached Gray, saying quietly, "Saint, the time has come, you can change shifts now."

"I would like to stand a bit longer, is that alright?"

"Certainly."

The other six cardinals had already changed shifts. Gray continued standing in his place, motionless. The White-bearded Knight was to take over for him.

When he saw Gray, he seemed a bit surprised, then quietly stood in the corner, saying nothing.

Gray stood for another hour until Anthony III arrived, standing at the gate, signaling to Gray before Gray finally left his position.

"Holy Knight."

"Lord Bishop."

The two exchanged salutes. Anthony III stepped aside, making a "please" gesture.

Levi stood afar, observing them silently.

"Does Anthony intend to stand by him?"

"Who knows?" the Little Mustache Knight next to him answered.

...

Soon, under Anthony III’s guidance, Gray arrived at a residence halfway up Azlan Mountain. He walked straight into a room with all windows sealed shut.

Three cardinals were already gathered there.

After Gray sat, Anthony III and the three cardinals surrounded Gray, watching curiously.

Anthony III cautiously asked, "Are you really...a Lich?"

Gray did not answer, just looked at them quietly.

"Actually, the matter of you being a Lich is no longer a secret in the Cardinal Court. The Pope should have told you. We all knew, just never confirmed with our own eyes. We are just a bit curious. Can you lift your visor and let us have a look?"

Gray simply took off his entire helmet.

In the dim red firelight, a white skull with a distinctive pull ring on top showed.

One of the cardinals almost screamed in fright, quickly covering his mouth. The others were somewhat startled, but not as dramatically.

"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. Please forgive me," the cardinal who almost screamed quickly said.

"No, it’s alright," Gray said calmly. "My wife had a much bigger reaction the first time she saw it. I even thought she might leave me."

"How is your life after marriage...sorry, I am just curious."

"You have children, are those children really yours?"

Anthony III coughed heavily, stopping the other three cardinals’ gossipy questions, softly saying, "Alright, you may put it back on. Thank you for trusting us."

Gray silently put his helmet back on.

"What are these four trying to do? What does it matter to them if Gray has kids?" Vivian said angrily.

"They’re probably allies," the Black Cat said.

Taking a letter from his robe, Anthony III handed it to Gray with both hands, gently saying, "The four of us were entrusted by Pope Augustus to mediate your relationship with the church after his passing. Of course, we know it won’t be very effective. Given the current situation, we will do our best."