“I’m afraid I will also need to leave in the morning,” Sergio informed Eugene.

Tressia Cathedral was a historic building that boasted a legacy of hundreds of years. However, let alone the central chapel, which could be said to be the heart of this cathedral, even the surrounding annexes and the corridors they were currently walking through showed no signs of deterioration.

“Are you really leaving for somewhere else when you’re the one who called me here?” Eugene asked as he stared at Sergio’s back.

Sergio laughed in a low voice at these words, “My apologies. It’s because I truly wanted to meet with you at least once, Sir Eugene….”

“I would have met you at the Vatican in five days anyway,” Eugene pointed out.

“Yes, that’s true. However, it wouldn’t just be the two of us alone, Sir Eugene. Isn’t that right?” Sergio said, still laughing.

His laughter, along with the words that he had just uttered, made his intentions quite blatant.

Eugene silently raised the corner of his mouth in a smirk, “It seems that you just wanted to test me, Cardinal Rogeris.”

“I won’t deny that,” the Cardinal readily admitted, without even a moment’s silence.

Eugene looked at Sergio’s shoulders, which showed no signs of shaking, and the red cloth that hung from his left shoulder and flowed down his chest.

There was a specific meaning behind Sergio’s priestly garments. The black robe worn within, yet still visible, represented darkness. The white cross around his neck represented that light still existed in the darkness. The white mantle worn over his robes showed that the light would always overcome the darkness. The red cloth hanging from his left shoulder symbolized his determination to willingly shed his own blood and become a martyr for his faith, the God of Light, the Church of Light, the Pope, and all of the believers of the faith.

“How were you planning on testing me?” Eugene asked.

“I have already confirmed that you, Sir Eugene, are unmistakably the Hero,” Sergio assured him as he recalled the sight of Eugene drawing the Holy Sword.

The pillars of light, which usually lit up the cathedral without ever showing any movement, had been drawn to Eugene of their own volition. The Holy Sword had resonated with that light and illuminated the entire cathedral.

That brilliant storm of light was unmistakably a miracle, and Eugene, who had held the Holy Sword aloft in the center of that storm, had proved himself to be the Hero of Light.

Sergio hesitated. “Well….”

For Eugene Lionheart, as the Hero, there was no need to test him any further. Let alone the Cardinals, even if Pope Aeuryus had seen that storm of light from earlier, he would have had no choice but to recognize Eugene as the Hero.

Sergio continued, “...the Hero is the Incarnation of Light. So how could I, who is only a servant of the Light, continue to test the Hero?”

“Haha,” Eugene...