When Viktor and his entourage were leaving to the North to start an expedition, in the other side of the hemisphere a small event occurred.

After traveling for two months, Captain Landin and Elena along with the rest of the Templars finally arrived at the city they called home–the Vatican.

Medieval European-style buildings seem to stand firmly even though they have been under the current of time. The ringing of church bells rang throughout the city.

On the way, the Templars passed by a busy building with young people going in and out. Some appeared to be wearing armor, some only wore long white robes, and some were carrying classical metal weapons; such as swords and shields.

The building was the Templar Academy, where the Knights Templar was born.

After walking for thirty minutes, they arrived at the center of the Vatican government. Apostolic Palace.

“You may all rest, let me and Elena report,” said Captain Landin to his men.

Without talking any further, they separated from each other.

“Before I go, Pope, I have a little business I need to finish. I’ll meet you at the church later,” said Landin.

Elena just nodded. She had been wandering in the wild for months, she was longing to pray at the church

The church hall looked spacious and majestic. The floor was made of gleaming white marble, while the roof was decorated with gold swirls and patterns. Despite the luxurious decor, however, the room seemed desolate, there were only ornaments and statues standing on the altar.

Elena walked past the row of oak chairs. He sat in the front row, then lowered his face and held his hands together.

After closing her eyes, Elena’s lips started muttering. “Oh, Father, forgive my sins for all the blood that I have spilled.”

Nothing but a persistent quiet atmosphere. There was no sound other than the beating of her heart in the eerily quiet room. Then. moments later, she heard footsteps approaching from behind.

Elena then finished her prayer and quickly stood up, only to see Captain Landin was already standing next to her.

“Let us meet the Pope now.”

…

White pillars stretching tall to support a majestic buulding lined up the Apostolic Palace. Above it, there were statues of angels lined up, as if they were welcoming any guests from high on the sky.

Inside the Palace, in a large hall with marble floors and walls decorated with various kinds of renaissance paintings, a man in a white robe was surrounded by a man in a red robe. The Pope and the Swiss soldiers.

Not long after, a soldier came and knelt in front of him.

“Your Holiness, the Templars who had been on an expedition in Northern Russia had returned. They came bearing a report”

The man called Pope replied, “Tell them to come.”

They knelt down, then did a bit of formality.

“Let me hear what you find, child” The pope said in such a gentle manner

The captain lowered his face and his expression darkened.

“Please forgive me, we failed in our task of finding the witch.”

The Pope took a deep breath, after which he just nodded hearing the detail. He already knew how it would turn out when he saw the look on Captain Landin’s face.

But the Pope didn’t immediately tell them to rest. There was another important thing they needed to know.

“You guys rest for three days. After that, you will return to Russia for another task.”

After hearing Pope’s words, the expressions of the two Templars looked surprised. Captain Landin immediately asked what mission they would receive next.

“You guys will be looking for someone called Metal Guardian.”

The name sounded foreign to Captain Landin’s ears as The news of Metal Guardian’s existence was only known to the elites and local residents of Perm City.

Rumors of the existence of the Metal Guardian attracted the Vatican’s attention. Of course they were interested after they heard of his achievements; Conquering the Quest Challenge with an A and defeating the criminal gangs in Perm City by himself, Pope felt the need to get him to the Vaticans’ side.

After that, Pope asked one of his right-hand men, named Bishop Sergio, to explain the details of the mission.

“The background information about the person you are looking for is still a mystery. Your goal in looking for him is not to exterminate him, but to invite him to a tournament that we will be holding in the near future.”

Then Bishop Sergio brought up a large map. After that he started to talk about Metal Guardian; Rumors had said that he appeared in Arkhangelsk, faced one-on-one fights against 200 people.

All the information they knew was spelled out in detail. But there is only one piece of information that triggers Elena’s memory.

Bishop Sergio stretched out the map before the Templars. There were dotted markers on the map that show the rumored locations of Metal Guardians.

“Of the many rumors circulating about his whereabouts, only two are really valid. That is, his appearance at Pillar number 888 and the Metal Guardian battle against the gangsters in Perm City”

Elena’s eyebrows shot up when she heard Pillar number 888. Pillar’s location was close to the Abyss Pit where they were hunting for the Witch, and they were hunting two weeks away from meeting Jessie’s group.

Previously, the Templars had scoured the area around the Abyss Pit, including Pillar, which was a few miles from the site. At that time Pillar was still unfinished. It will take at least two more weeks to complete the 30 levels in Pillar.

The Templars has never met anyone else other than Jessie and her entourage.

“No way,” she muttered. Her hands that were on the floor seemed to be clenched into fists.

Just as Elena was deep in thought, Bishop Sergio finished explaining the details of the mission. Captain Landin accepted the mission, after which he saluted Bishop and left the hall.

As he walked down the halls, Captain Landin made a sour face. After months of returning to the Vatican, he had to return to Russia.

“Sigh… We’re going to do some detective work again. who the is this mysterious person really”

Elena gave a confident smile and patted Captain Landin’s shoulder. “I think i know who”