In Benjamin Wright’s heart, he always harbored a deep prejudice against knights who relied on bloodline and physical strength, considering them crude and lowly, utterly inferior to the noble spellcasters who sought the mysteries of the world—even if the latter were evil sorcerers. Therefore, he instinctively handed the Holy Emblem of Truth to Logan Bennett, whose mental power surpassed that of ordinary people.

This attitude stemmed from Benjamin Wright’s background and his lifelong experiences.

As a member of the Lafati family, one of the most powerful families in the Principality of Vaolite, although they too relied on the power of the “divine grace” bloodline, they differed from the knights: they used their bloodline to cast spells and were true spellcasters. Even though Benjamin Wright’s bloodline was thin and he could not awaken its power, after entering the monastery as a child, he quickly stood out, smoothly became a priest, and firmly walked the path of a spellcaster.

But now, as a full priest, such a small matter had resulted in a major oversight, and his status within the church would inevitably be affected. That was why Benjamin Wright hurried down in such a rush.

Paul Baker was equally surprised: “With the Holy Emblem of Truth, there was still an accident? Could there be another official spellcaster?”

※※※

Logan Bennett had recovered some strength and was about to lean against the stone wall to leave the secret chamber when he suddenly heard footsteps approaching. His heart immediately leapt, and he tensed up. If it was a magical creature left behind by the witch or one of her friends, he would likely not escape alive.

When he saw the white, holy robe of Benjamin Wright, Logan Bennett breathed a partial sigh of relief, but still dared not relax. After all, a secret chamber was a perfect place for murder and silencing witnesses.

“Laplan Bloodvine?” Benjamin Wright glanced at the situation inside the chamber. Drawing on his knowledge of magic and botany, he quickly deduced the general course of events and understood why Logan Bennett, who was moving slowly along the wall, and Gary Miller, who was on the verge of death on the ground, had ended up in such a state. “Fortunately, none of them died.”

“This kid is lucky—his mental power has actually increased a bit, reaching the level of a low-level apprentice priest. It seems the shock of his breakthrough triggered my mental imprint. Unfortunately, this is no longer the era, over three hundred years ago, when the church was overwhelmingly powerful and one could learn divine arts purely by talent. Without a solid foundation and systematic study of divine arts from childhood, one can never become a full priest. It must be said, it was that ‘Arcane Emperor’ who ushered in the golden age of explosive development in divine arts and magic nearly four centuries ago.”

As a member of the Lafati family, Benjamin Wright knew more about the world situation than most priests, and his faith did not seem so devout. To be precise, as a noble, Benjamin Wright’s position was somewhat at odds with his role as a member of the church.

More importantly, after the “Supreme Theological Council” more than three hundred years ago, the church split into north and south, each accusing the other of heresy. Yet, even so, neither side’s access to divine arts was affected in any way. This led many bishops and cardinals to silently question in their hearts whether God truly existed, and whether this was a test for the faithful.

This attitude directly influenced every young person who became a priest over the past centuries, including Benjamin Wright.

Moreover, to adapt to the rapidly changing times, several popes introduced some of the knowledge discovered by grand arcanists to reform the foundations of theology. While this also accelerated the development of divine arts and produced many powerful individuals, allowing the southern church to maintain its dominant position and stand firm against the covetous eyes of heretics, evil sorcerers, and dark creatures, it also created even more cracks in the already unstable internal faith.

Benjamin Wright relaxed, fine white powder slipping from his hand as he uttered strange syllables. A gust of wind blew through, dispersing the faint red blood mist without a trace.

Then, without chanting an incantation or throwing spell components, he simply pointed at Gary Miller, and a pale white light fell upon him, causing the charred flesh to fall away, wounds to heal, and pulling him back from the brink of death to a state of serious injury.

With intervals of one to two seconds between each casting of healing divine arts, Benjamin Wright revived Corey Allen and Hudson Grant as well, and also healed Logan Bennett’s injuries.

After asking Logan Bennett, Corey Allen, Hudson Grant, and Gary Miller about what had happened, Benjamin Wright glanced at the desk. Confirming they had not lied, he instructed, “Move all the items from the secret chamber to the church. Yes, including the corpses of these rats.”

At the same time, he took back the holy emblem from Logan Bennett: “Your sins have been cleansed. Go back and rest. May the Lord bless you.”

Originally, if Logan Bennett had succeeded smoothly this time, Benjamin Wright would not have been stingy with monetary rewards, and if possible, might have secretly considered whether he could be cultivated. But since things had turned so dangerous, Benjamin Wright naturally had no desire to encourage Logan Bennett further. After confirming he was not hiding anything, he sent him away early. After all, while Corey Allen and Hudson Grant were fine, the situation with Gary Miller, who had lost his right hand, was much more troublesome—regenerating a severed limb was not a divine art he could perform.