I changed the world.

Page 437

Father Depolinac was now completely engulfed in flames, yet his chanting continued unabated. Father Simon, however, had a strange feeling that something was changing within Father Depolinac, beyond the flames and smoke…

At that moment, the burning sensation returned to the spot on his arm where the crown-shaped mark had been...

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In Father Simon's bedroom in his apartment on Rue Saint-Baudron in Bergopelli, a brown-covered old book had silently appeared on his desk by the window—the very same book that should have been on his office bookshelf, "The Grey Book"!

A faint, almost imperceptible wisp of black smoke emanated from the Grey Book that Father Simon had placed on his desk. Then, as if an invisible person were turning the pages, the leather cover of the Grey Book turned automatically. Subsequently, the pages began to turn on their own without any wind, and at this moment, a series of rustling sounds of turning pages filled Father Simon's bedroom.

At the same time, increasingly thick black smoke began to emanate from the Grey Book. In the dimly lit bedroom, the light seemed to have been filtered, becoming extremely dim, and even the hazy dawn outside the window seemed to be blocked out.

The mark on Father Simon's arm began to emit heat and light, growing hotter and hotter until it became scalding.

Under these circumstances, Father Simon groggily opened his eyes. In a half-awake state, he was in what seemed to be a state of sleep paralysis, wanting to wake up but seemingly prevented from truly becoming conscious by some force.

He instinctively felt that the scene before him was somewhat familiar, as if he had just encountered it not long ago. He half-opened his eyes in a daze, trying his best to wake up, but his mind was foggy, which made him feel as if he was in a nightmare. He could see what was happening in the room, but he was as if he was being controlled by something and could not move at all.

To his horror, he discovered that a figure dragging shackles was approaching his bedside. Father Simon could even see the rusty shackles on his hands and smell the increasingly strong acrid odor emanating from him. The hands he stretched out were not normal palms, but a pair of charred, skull-like "hands," as if they had been completely burned...

He remembered—wasn't this the exact same scene he'd encountered yesterday morning? Only, last time, the figure dragging shackles walked in step by step from the living room, but this time, it was clearly a direct continuation of the previous scene; the figure was already right in front of him!

Father Simon's nostrils were filled with the pungent, acrid smell of burning flesh. Furthermore, he noticed that the priest's robe worn by this strange man seemed vaguely familiar.

It seems... this is Father Depoliniac, whom I just saw burning at the stake?!

But...didn't I leave that "Gray Book" in my office? Why is this strange person showing up in my bedroom?!

And... Father, I have no grudge against you, why are you coming to find me?!

Father Simon was terrified and tried desperately to regain his composure...

Hurry... I need to wake up!!! Hurry up!!!

He could feel his hands getting hotter and hotter, even burning hot, but he just couldn't wake up!

Right... I have a mark on myself... If it gets a little warmer... if it gets a little warmer, I'll wake up!!

However, just as he was thinking this, he felt the mark suddenly stop being hot and gradually cool down...

What's going on?! What's happening?! Could it be...? Father Simon considered a terrifying possibility: the imprint has been completely exhausted...

He remembered that the mark had already faded quite a bit before; could it have finally been completely used up this time?!

However, the eerie figure was still approaching. It had now reached Father Simon's bedside. Finally, it raised its head, and under the hood was a charred face, burned beyond recognition. The skin and flesh of its face were completely burned, and parts such as the nose and lips had disappeared. Some pale white teeth and bones were exposed. Just by looking at this appearance, it was clear that it could not possibly be a living person. Yet, it was still moving!

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 915 We Meet Again

"Wake up!!!" Father Simon cried out in his heart. He tried to open his mouth, but he couldn't utter a single word!

However, the strange man continued, and with his charred, carbonized hands, he touched Father Simon's face. Father Simon felt a rough and cold sensation that sent shivers down his spine.

"The scent of a knight..." The strange man in front of him had already walked up to Father Simon. He stroked Father Simon's face, and his lipless mouth opened and closed, emitting an extremely hoarse voice.

Father Simon was filled with fear. He kept shouting and trying to get up, but the imprint on his hand no longer reacted and there was no warmth coming from it.

Lord, save me... protect me from danger, deliver me from evil, Lord... save me, let me wake up quickly...

When he prayed to the Holy Lord, the Holy Lord did not respond at all, and he remained in that eerie state of sleep paralysis...

Father Simon watched in horror as the strange, ugly, and anxious face drew closer to his own; he could even see the dark, empty eye sockets...

“No… not a knight, but the seed of a knight…” The strange man seemed to be sniffing his own scent, and Father Simon could hear his hoarse, unpleasant voice, like a file scraping against a hard object.

“Not bad… very lucky… with the power of my Lord, I will return to this world… I will become you… I will replace you…” The strange man made a cacophony of sounds, seemingly laughing: “Church… you will pay the price for what happened back then…”

Father Simon felt a chill run through him; in his heart, he cried out, "I want to wake up!!!" Yet, the truth was, he couldn't utter a single word…

He watched as the strange man before him, who resembled Father Depoliniac and looked like a charred corpse, stretched out his hands and spread them in front of his chest. Immediately afterwards, several wisps of black smoke-like mist spread out from his dark, hollow eyes, his vanished nose, ears, and even his lips.

The black energy began to gather on his outstretched palm, gradually coalescing into a swirling black cloud that resembled a black hole, constantly rotating on his hand.

Immediately afterwards, he held the black, hole-like mass of gas and pressed it down on Father Simon's head, as if he wanted to force the mass of gas into his brain!

Father Simon felt a chilling aura seep into him from the top of his head, as if needles made of ice crystals were being pierced into his skull. The pain was so intense that he almost screamed. But what made him even more desperate than the pain was that he still couldn't wake up!

What is he going to do?! Is he going to take my body?!

No...no!!! Someone please save me!!!

Holy Lord!

In that moment of utter panic and despair, suddenly, a burst of fire erupted from the strange man's body. Amidst the flying sparks, the strange man let out a bloodcurdling scream, and then he was blasted away, turning into a cloud of black smoke in mid-air...

Just as the strange man was blown away, Father Simon suddenly felt the sleep paralysis-like sensation disappear! He sat up abruptly, breathing heavily, his eyes scanning the room with fear, searching for the figure that had frightened him and resembled Father Depoliniac.

Almost immediately, he spotted an elderly man wearing a black woolen suit with a silver crown brooch on his chest, and with neatly groomed gray hair and a short beard. At that moment, the man was pressing his hand down on an ancient book on the desk that looked very familiar to him. That book was the "Grey Book" that Father Simon remembered should have placed in his office!

But then the old man slowly pressed his hand down toward the gray book. His movements were slow, and it seemed as if there was a powerful repulsive force between his hand and the book, even perceptible to the naked eye. Father Simon even had the illusion that the air around the old man was being distorted by some kind of force field! It was as if the heat generated by the high temperature of a steamer was disturbing the air. In the blink of an eye, the old man's palm had already touched the cover of the gray book, and then a blinding white light shone. The dazzling light made Father Simon subconsciously raise his hand to shield his face.

However, even though the blinding light blocked his view, he could still feel the powerful shockwave coming towards him, almost throwing him off the bed. Father Simon awkwardly reached out to grab his bedding, and at the same time, he heard a shrill sound that seemed to come from hell.

"No...no...I don't want to go back...don't seal me away!!!! No..."

Afterward, all the shockwaves disappeared, and the dazzling light vanished without a trace. Father Simon lowered his hands from his eyes and glanced at the messy bedroom. However, his focus was clearly not on the messy items, but on the old man who was picking up the "Gray Book" from the table. The "Gray Book" in the old man's hands no longer had the exaggerated momentum it had shown before.

Even without anyone else telling him, Father Simon knew that the Grey Book was definitely strange, even extremely dangerous. If it weren't for the old man in front of him, he would have surely been doomed!

He hurriedly got out of bed, looking rather disheveled, wearing only boxer shorts and a t-shirt. He bowed respectfully to the old man before him, saying, "Master, I am extremely grateful for your help..."

"Father Pierre Simon, we meet again." The old man smiled and looked up at Father Simon, calling him by name immediately.

Father Simon was startled. He looked up and examined the old man before him again, then exclaimed, "You...you're the old gentleman from Xidai Airport that day?!"

He immediately recalled the terrifying incident earlier this month when he was flying from Cidés International Airport in Grande to Bergopelli, and in the chaos, he lost his "sacred relic," the crown pendant. Just as he was bewildered after discovering it, this mysterious old man returned the pendant to him. However, he hadn't even had a chance to ask the old man's name before he mysteriously disappeared, and he hadn't even noticed how he left…

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 916 Protestant Pastor

"I'm glad you still remember me." The old man nodded gently. For some reason, Father Simon felt a strange sense of familiarity when facing this old man, which naturally made him less wary of him.

“I didn’t have a chance to thank you properly when you returned my lost pendant last time,” Father Simon said respectfully. “I never expected you to save me again today…”

"I don't know how to address you yet?" Father Simon asked cautiously, unsure if the old man before him might suddenly disappear again.

“Jean Plantard, a devout servant of the Lord.” As he spoke, the old man drew the shape of a crown on his chest with his hand.

Father Simon, who had been watching him intently, noticed that his gestures seemed different from the usual six clockwise taps to form a crown; his gestures appeared to be only four taps…

He subconsciously recalled the two mysterious figures he had seen at Viscount Delvo's funeral, a pair consisting of an elder and a young man, who seemed to have done the same when they drew the holy sign on their chests.

“Oh, it’s Mr. Plantard. Thank you so much. I really don’t know how to express my gratitude.” Father Simon keenly caught the special words in his words, and while expressing his gratitude, he asked curiously, “Excuse me, are you a member of the clergy?”

“I am a priest,” the old man, who called himself Jean Plantard, said with a smile to Father Simon.

"Ah? Are you a pastor?" Father Simon was somewhat surprised. To the average person without religious knowledge, the terms "pastor" and "priest" seem almost identical. However, in the religious context of the Protestant Churches, "priest" specifically refers to a clergy member of the Orthodox denomination of the Protestant Church, while "pastor" specifically refers to a clergy member of the Protestant Church's "original Orthodox" denomination, which is what many people call "Protestantism." In other words, the old man before him was actually a Protestant clergyman.

Although it is no longer the time of religious wars in history, when the old and new churches killed each other, Father Simon was still somewhat surprised to meet a Protestant pastor in Bergopelli, the stronghold of the Orthodox Church.

However, before he could figure out how to answer, the old man in front of him took out another necklace. It was a string of simple black glass beads with a copper crown pendant hanging from the end. It was a typical early artifact of the Holy Enlightenment Church.

He recognized the necklace, which had been haunting his dreams lately, almost instantly, especially the familiar crown-shaped bronze pendant. It was the very necklace that had been taken away by the Pope's attendant!

Shouldn't this necklace be in a safe in some classified department? How did it end up in the hands of Mr. Jean Plantard?

“I think this item should be returned to its rightful owner.” Jean Plantard handed the necklace to Father Simon.

Regardless of his inner thoughts, Father Simon instinctively reached out and took the necklace. He had been preoccupied with it, especially recently, due to the Gray Book incident, he had been feeling insecure, and the stolen necklace made him feel as if he had lost something important. Over the past few days, this thought had been reinforced in his mind countless times, almost like a psychological suggestion.

“Thank you…thank you so much…but…but…” Father Simon accepted the necklace, expressing his gratitude while examining it with delight. His heart was filled with a mixture of joy at finding something lost and a forbidden contradiction. He instinctively knew that the old man before him had probably not obtained the necklace through any “normal” means.

“I think, through these past few days, you should understand how important this necklace is to you,” said Mr. Jean Plantard, looking at his expression with a kind face.

Just as Mr. Jean Plantard was speaking, Father Simon suddenly felt a burning sensation in his arm, followed by a sensation that seemed to be heating up the necklace in his hand. He instinctively stopped speaking, raised his arm to check, and found that it was where the crown-shaped mark had been on his arm before, but now it was completely gone. The crown-shaped mark had vanished without a trace.

This immediately reminded him of why the mark on his arm had stopped getting hot during that sleep paralysis-like "dream" not long ago. It seemed that some kind of energy contained within it had indeed been exhausted! However, at this very moment, the same spot on his arm was getting hot!

Under his gaze, in just a few breaths, faint marks appeared on his previously bare arm. The faint mark pattern reappeared where the crown had been!

It was as if the necklace in his hand was charging him up!

“Mr. Plantard… what… what is this?” Father Simon suddenly looked at the old man who was still smiling and watching him. He instinctively realized that the old man in front of him should be able to give him the answer.

“This is the mark of an apostle.” Jean Plantard glanced at the deepening mark on Father Simon’s hand. “He can bring you some benefits, and you should have already sensed that.”

“Yes…yes!” Father Simon recalled that whenever he encountered strange events a few days ago, this mark would always heat up to remind him, or awaken him in danger. He even guessed that…this mark might have also helped him resist some dangers unknown to him.

“It seems… to be able to help me avoid those dangerous things.” Father Simon looked at the old man in front of him with some uncertainty.

“Yes, but the protection of the Holy Mark is only one of his functions.” Jean Plantard nodded. “More importantly, his existence proves that you are the true holder of the Apostle's Crown.”

“Apostle’s Crown?!” The word sounded familiar to Father Simon. He then remembered hearing the same word before. It was in the East, in that forbidden Xuanmen land called Zhebifeng, where he had encountered a ghost who had said the same thing.

"The Apostle's Crown...is that...this necklace?" Father Simon glanced at the necklace in his hand and asked uncertainly, "I heard it was once worn by a saint in the 8th century..."

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History: Chapter 917 The Crown of St. Andrew

Father Simon acquired the necklace at a small auction. Shortly after acquiring the pendant, he was promoted to assistant to Cardinal Wells.

“It has had many owners, most of whom became prominent figures. Now, it is in your hands. The Crown of St. Andrew, it is a true holy relic.” Jean Plantard looked at the necklace in Father Simon’s hand and sighed, “Child, wear it carefully, and don’t lose it again.”

“St. Andrew’s crown? You mean… this was left by St. Andrew?” Upon hearing this, Father Simon subconsciously put the necklace back on around his neck, then tightly gripped the bronze pendant as he asked.