Chapter 146: Schemes And Offers
Though the existence of the god of sea had the churches cooperating with one another, that didn't mean they worked in harmony or liked being in each other's presence.
Nothing irked a church like having members of another parading in their territory and worst of all their base, the worst being when it was a pope who didn't come from their church.
Though the church of Light enjoyed monopolies of producing a pope, they had lost the last competition and so now had to happily tolerate the pope on their soil whenever she came around.
The current pope was from the church of Fire and she was a feisty and fearless woman and unlike the other previous foreign popes who were respectful when they entered Gharacterol, she moved within the continent like she owned it, the church having to beckon the champion of light to limit her sometimes.
If the news that a demon invasion was happening on Gharacterol was to reach the other continents, the church of Light could bet that, unlike other times when the pope came with just her entourage, this time she would bring with her an army and that was something the prideful church absolutely abhorred, it would be a nightmare to them and their control over this continent.
For all the neutrality that the pope was supposed to embody, it was common practice for a pope to at least once in their tenure march a large number of people into another content or country under the guise of preaching peace, settling a dispute, raining down blessings or any viable reason they could think of.
To the common people, it might look like the pope was taking his work seriously and caring for the world, but to those who were knowledgeable, they knew it was just a guise for the pope to bring in spies and sweep through the territories unhindered.
This dynamic had happened in every continent in the world except Gharactarol and the reason for this was the boundary which existed around the continent.
The boundary wasn't a physical wall that locked away the continent but more of a combination of the extremely turbulent sea and the scrambled space which existed around the continent.
Unlike other continents which had several entry points, Ghratarol had just one and this one entry point was also the exit point and it was called the boundary gate.
The boundary gate was a spatial teleportation chamber which was used to teleport in and out of the continent.
With just one boundary gate, the flow of traffic in and out of the continent could be said to be perfectly controlled, the church and country able to limit even the pope, but with a worldwide emergency like a demon invasion, they could bet that unconventional means to enter Gharactarol would be used and the church of light would lose the tight monopoly it had on the continent.
With this, Hannah easily understood that the church would go along with the country's suggestion.
"Hell, they've probably already had discussions for this when my army was being sent into battle."
"Surely you don't expect the pope to let the continent be just because we've sealed the boundary gate, she would get over here even if by force."
"Without a probable cause backed by evidence, she'll be delayed and restricted and when she finally comes over, we'll be ready for her," Ciara replied without worry.
"We? Is the country planning to cooperate with you demons permanently" Hannah asked, Ciara's smile being all the reply she needed.
"Only a champion can defeat a champion," Hannah said
"I know"
"I see"
After her last words, Hannah went silent her head bowed for a while.
"Bernald, you knew the truth about where I was going that day, you knew about the war I would be fighting."
Enamoured with the breast he was feeding on, Bernald had no intention of replying to Hannah's question, but then Ciara gave him a hard gaze and he had to default, the man pushing himself up from her lap and then getting off the bed he walked over to Hannah.
"Yes I knew," Bernald said looking Hannah in the eyes and then he continued talking.
"Hannah your current situation now is the reality you are in, I might not love, you but the days I spent living with you have made me develop feelings of care and concern for you.
I know this is not the dream fantasy that you wanted but I want you to use the positivity within you to see the positives of your current situation."
"What positive is there to see? You don't love me and never did, you were never the man I thought you were.
I have been getting raped for most of my life. I just knelt down here and watched my daughter be raped by the same man who has been raping me and might also be her father.
Where are the positives Bernald." Hannah asked tears streaming down her eyes.
"What has happened cannot be changed, the only thing you can affect now is the future, are you with us or not."
After Bernald spoke these words, more tears flowed down Hannah's eyes, her head falling. Read exclusive content at m_v-l'-NovelBin.net
"This can't be real, this can't be real, Bernald please tell me it's not, I'm trying so hard to hang on to my senses right now.
There has to be a falsehood to this, maybe you're fake, tell me it's a joke…"
As Hannah broke down, seeming to finally accept reality, she leaned forward and rested her head on Bernald's chest, crying more deeply as he raised his hand and patted her head.
"It would be alright Hannah, you still have Mia and Ryan"
Bernald pulled Hannah closer, hugging her as she sobbed, thinking he was consoling the broken woman, not knowing that he had just offered himself up as dinner.
"You were always a sucker for my tears" Hannah suddenly whispered in Bernald's ears and the next moment she bit down on his neck hard, digging her fangs into him as much as she could and sucking on his blood.
"Raghhhhhh"
Bernald's scream rattled, everyone, having them go on alert as they were in shock at what Hannah had done to him, but while everyone was still in disbelief, Ciara who had been watching the both of them and sensed something was wrong, went into action.
Ciara arrived beside them in a single stride and then she swung her left leg forward, a powerful kick being sent Hannah's way.