Chapter 57

As if responding to her initial applause, sporadic claps gradually began… then grew louder and louder, soon accompanied by cheers. Unknowingly, Qi Xing was surrounded by the cheering crowd. Everyone kept thanking him, touching him, and asking for handshakes.

Thank you, Rep-Man!

In an instant, an incredible sense of solidarity brewed among the crowd.

Qi Xing, of course, wasn't so foolish as to misunderstand the meaning of Elaine's actions. For a moment, he found it a bit amusing—no matter what, the Holy See would definitely be wary of these Silver Coin Messengers, these human demon kings.

After all, Qi Xing himself knew that he held a power that was almost uncontrollable and could be tempted by devils. Whether he acted heroically or not, it would be abnormal for the Holy See not to guard against him.

However, with Elaine taking the lead and stirring things up, the matter was settled. The Papal Privy Council could only accept it later with a shrug.

The hero who saved Rome, Rep-Man.

Actually, Qi Xing himself wasn't too concerned about how the Holy See would react. He also wasn't interested in celebration banquets or anything of the sort.

Smiling, he shook hands with everyone and told the other nuns that Rene was a rescued victim, asking them to take her to clean up first.

After that, he found Knight Commander Gwendolyn, Lady Remina, Elaine, Father Amos… and took them to the lounge next to the auditorium. He had more important matters to discuss with them than a celebration banquet.

"I defeated Romani Domingo and obtained my second silver coin. As far as I know, very few people throughout history have obtained multiple silver coins."

First, Qi Xing began by saying this,

"A demon king with one silver coin already makes you shudder, let alone me with two? Of course, I don't intend to surrender the silver coins, nor do I intend to be driven mad by them—so how does the Holy See intend to deal with me?"

These words made Remina and Gwendolyn exchange glances. As for Father Amos… well, he probably wasn't suitable for this topic.

"As a representative of Vlad and the Dragon Knights, I do not believe Qi Xing is currently insane or has fallen."

Then Remina spoke first, not to Qi Xing but to the others present,

"This is my judgment based on observations over the past day. Until I believe Qi Xing has fallen, the Dragon Knights will not change their current attitude towards him."

After speaking, she glanced at the others again and continued, "This kid, Qi Xing, no matter what he says, if he truly sees someone suffering before his eyes, he will definitely still step in to save and fight. A person with empathy, who cannot bear to witness suffering without stopping it, is clearly far from falling."

Qi Xing bowed his head slightly, expressing his gratitude to this older friend—though perhaps not an elder.

However, Lady Remina could only represent herself and Duke Dracula, representing the dragon worshipers of the Roman Church. Her family's relationship with the Holy See's high-ranking officials was not that deep after all.

The person who could relatively represent the Holy See's high-ranking officials… well, it should have been Father Amos, the Pope's confidant. But he had already caused a huge mess, so he could only stand awkwardly to the side.

Finally, Commander Gwendolyn spoke, "The Roman Church will do nothing to you, Master Leipu."

"Do nothing?"

These words finally made Qi Xing pause.

"I'm afraid the Vice Pope insists on it."

Gwendolyn nodded,

"Since ancient times, Silver Coin Messengers have been regarded as a natural disaster—unless the situation is truly severe to a certain extent, the Holy See will not be so idle as to reason with a tornado or an earthquake."

Qi Xing was speechless.

You guys… although he could understand that this was a last-resort survival strategy… but this was too much… you are, after all, the leaders of the righteous path in this world…

"It is precisely because we are the greatest representatives of the righteous path that we cannot clash with you and suffer heavy losses. Moreover, this year has truly been a tumultuous one."

Gwendolyn sighed,

"Let's not even mention the global pandemic of the past three years. This year, the war in Eastern Europe is becoming increasingly unclear, conflicts in Near Eastern countries are constant, the civil war in Congo is escalating, riots have broken out in Colombia, the situation in Haiti is worsening… plus the return of that all-knowing president to the White House… I hope he has forgotten the Pope's impertinence during his first term, otherwise, it will be another host of problems…"

"Coupled with the severe damage caused to Rome by the Silver Coin Messenger Romani Domingo this time. The Roman Church's financial and human resources will now bear unprecedented pressure. We lack both the ability and, more importantly, the willingness to intervene in your actions, Master Leipu."

"If you have needs, the Church will assist you as always. But please, for the sake of our friendship over the past three years, do not bring too much suffering to this world. Because there are already too many suffering people in this world."

Honestly, Qi Xing really couldn't handle the Holy See's current attitude.

He knew that the Knight Commander spoke the truth, especially in recent years, the Roman Church's economic situation might indeed be more strained than ever. But… how to put it… you are the Holy See, aren't you?

In urban fantasy works, isn't the Holy See usually a mid-to-late game BOSS? Why are they now lying flat and letting me do whatever I want with teary eyes, and the only condition is for the sake of the common people, please don't be too rough?

But indeed, Qi Xing also knew that if the Holy See lost its mind and came to fight him to the death—even if the Holy See truly had some super secret weapon or trump card that miraculously killed Qi Xing—then what? The result would be that at least most of the Holy See's experts would be killed by Qi Xing in a desperate struggle, and then the righteous forces of the entire world would be in jeopardy.

"The Vice Pope insists on it… then what about the Pope, the Holy Father?"

Pope and Holy Father mean the same thing. Qi Xing asked casually out of curiosity.

"His Holiness is 88 this year. He hasn't undergone ascetic training like exorcists, and recently he's had pneumonia, so his health is not optimistic."

At this point, Gwendolyn actually glared fiercely at Father Amos, making Amos look down guiltily.

Qi Xing didn't understand the internal politics of the Holy See, nor was he interested. So he didn't know that the current Pope had always been Father Amos's biggest supporter. Many Archbishops had complained during previous meetings that Amos was just a Priest, not even a bishop, yet he was constantly jumping around in the Holy See's political arena, vigorously promoting reforms, naturally making many enemies.

Originally, it was hard to say who was right or wrong, as reforms aren't necessarily all correct, and conservatism isn't necessarily all wrong. But this time, Amos caused a huge mess with the Silver Coin Messenger incident, and the Pope was so angered that he was directly bedridden.

Pierced by the Knight Commander's sharp gaze like a sword, Father Amos was silent for a moment, then finally sighed slowly.

"I'm old."

His voice was low and hoarse, carrying deep fatigue and helplessness,

"I've fought my whole life, wanting to change the world, to make it better." He gave a bitter smile, "But I never succeeded. Darkness still lingers, people still suffer, evil still breeds in the shadows… I spent my entire life fighting, but in the end…"

His hand trembled slightly, as if after countless times of gripping weapons and resisting darkness, he had finally reached his limit of exhaustion.

"So, I made a mistake."

The morning light pierced through the stained-glass window of the lounge, casting its reflection on the floor. It was as if even this radiance was unwilling to shelter Amos's wavering soul.

"I shouldn't have used you… shouldn't have used my disciple, shouldn't have used my friend."

He closed his eyes, letting out a low, bitter laugh,

"But I wavered in the end, still thinking that since miracles were slow to descend, perhaps—perhaps, as Spina said, one could try one's luck with the power of devils."

"Yet when darkness surged, when I fought those stillborn spirits, I seemed to hear the sigh of God…"

With that, Father Amos finally slowly bowed his head in apology to Qi Xing and Elaine, as if he had finally let go of all stubbornness, leaving only an old, weary man on the verge of collapse.

It was as if he was repenting to Heaven and atoning to them.

"My faith has wavered, my glorious days are gone…"

He spoke again, his voice even more weary,

"So, it's time for me to step down."

Looking up, Amos's gaze lingered on his disciple Elaine for a moment, finally revealing a slight smile—a smile of resignation, yet also with a hint of relief.

"The position of President of the International Exorcism Association, from now on, Sister Elaine, is yours."

"Only when humanity itself does not give up hope will God continue to protect us—don't forget this, Elaine, unlike me."

—

Just like that, Remina, Gwendolyn, and Amos all left.

Only Qi Xing and Elaine remained in the lounge.

"Qi Xing, you must be quite tired today. Get some good rest first."

With that, Elaine also prepared to leave the room.

But Qi Xing reached out and pulled her back.

"Miss Elaine, before I left to kill Romani, didn't you say some very interesting things?"

He asked directly,

"Do you like me, or do you like me, or do you like me?"

In an instant, Elaine's face turned red. Her fair cheeks quietly flushed a deep crimson, as if the morning light had touched the first snow of winter, and even the tips of her ears subtly warmed with a blush.

This was an expression Elaine had never shown Qi Xing before, in her usual role as an exorcist's assistant.

"Yes."

But Elaine didn't shy away from Qi Xing's question.

"As a woman, as a warrior, and as someone you saved, I like you in every way… I… adore you."

The more she spoke, the redder her face became, almost steaming from her ears, terribly shy—it seemed that even though she was a pure-blooded Frenchwoman, Elaine's skill in this area wasn't quite enough!

But Qi Xing immediately felt incredibly elated! Teasing a woman and making her say shy things was actually a huge sense of accomplishment, a great sense of dominance and sadism!

So the Loli Evil God was right, Qi Xing also had a bit of a perverse desire.

With such a beautiful, white-haired, blue-eyed girl by his side all day, taking care of him and even feeding him, to say that Qi Xing never had any desire for her, wouldn't that be nonsense? He wasn't impotent!

Qi Xing would never say insincere words like, "Because she's a comrade, I don't want to [redacted] her."

Now Qi Xing finally confronted and controlled his inner fears. So if you like me and I like you, why be so wishy-washy?

Looking at her even redder cheeks and pale pink lips, Qi Xing couldn't help but lean in. Realizing what he intended to do, Elaine's eyes widened. Although she was so nervous she froze in place, she didn't dodge.

The moment their lips touched, she stiffened, then closed her eyes, her fingertips unconsciously gripping Qi Xing's clothes.

However, as Qi Xing's hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her towards the bed, Elaine finally reacted, jumping back like a spring, her cheeks as red as ripe cherries: "N-no!"

"No [redacted]!"

060: I'm on top! And you're below!

No [redacted]?

Huh?

At this point? Miss Elaine, you're not kidding, are you?

But Qi Xing still stopped: "Why?"

He had already comprehended the principle of

"Why… no matter what, I'm still a nun…"

Although Elaine immediately retorted, her cheeks were still burning red, and her breathing was still erratic, completely lacking any momentum for a retort or resistance.

If Qi Xing were a bit more sadistic, he probably could have pushed Elaine down with some coaxing… but such a thing, after all, wasn't quite right.

And… a nun… yes, he had indeed heard before that nuns take vows of chastity and cannot [redacted]…

"Oh, I see."

He said it calmly, but Qi Xing's expression showed that he was actually a bit dejected.

They were clearly in love, you like me, I like you, but they still couldn't [redacted]! Wouldn't this be… in a hentai manga, I'd just… The moment he thought of this, the new silver coin in Qi Xing's pocket suddenly became agitated, heating up, almost flowing with power to fulfill his desire! Startled, Qi Xing immediately calmed down and steadied his mind!

He almost heard the Loli Evil God snickering in his ear: "—Pfft pfft pfft, silly boy, you don't think taming the desire for 'Domination' means taming all desires, do you?"

Ugh

"Wanting to restrain yourself while also wanting desire, wanting both, be careful or one day you'll end up like Romani with a split personality—"

The desire for [Domination] is essentially the desire for control; however, wasn't Qi Xing's fear also a fear of [Change]?

Qi Xing quickly patted his face to calm himself down.

In many stories, the temptation of demons or evil forces is like a joke, with virtually no side effects.

But the silver coin itself is truly not to be underestimated. It doesn't even tempt you with words like demons in stories; it directly senses your inner desires and starts spinning wildly.

Although Elaine couldn't hear the devil's private conversation, how well did she know Qi Xing? As soon as she saw Qi Xing's sudden change in expression, she immediately understood four or five tenths, guessing that the devil was probably up to something again.

So, even though she was so shy her ears felt like they were on fire, Elaine immediately said, "Actually, I won't be a nun forever."

It was too embarrassing! These words were practically her announcing, "Actually, I really want to [redacted] too!"

"Huh?"

Qi Xing was a bit surprised this time,

"Nuns can quit midway?"

"Of course. And the Privy Council asked me to take over the position of President of the Association, which I couldn't possibly do as a regular nun."

Elaine quickly reverted to a business-like tone, saying seriously,

"I will renounce my nun's vows and then be transferred to the ECC (Eastern Catholic Churches) to become a deaconess."

Deacon. At first glance, this word might bring to mind a butler from an anime. The attribute of a female butler also seems good, similar to what Elaine does every day, and quite alluring—but the

A deacon in Christianity is a clerical office, below the rank of Priest (Father). It's an

"A-although in the Roman Church, in most places, the clerical office of… [Deaconess (Diakonissa)] no longer exists…"

Elaine's voice grew softer and softer, the blush on her cheeks almost burning to her earlobes, as if she had mustered immense courage to continue speaking,