Quentin himself was a descendant of the Landon Family, which had served the church for a thousand years, yet this only earned him the status of a Book Servant, not even a reserve Knight. So, how could Emil, a weak, poor "ordinary person" who grew up in Hell's Kitchen, become a full member?
The Guardian grew surprisingly furious, looking like a powder keg ready to explode at any moment.
"Quentin Landon!" He forgot his duties and roared, disregarding everything!
Quentin was scared pale by the Guardian's rage. The Guardian glared at him furiously: "You dare to say Mr. Emil is a descendant of commoners? I swear, his bloodline is a million times more sacred than your Landon Family!"
He looked at Emil respectfully and asked humbly: "Esteemed Mr. Emil, may I ask your name? I mean, your full name!"
Emil was also curious about the Guardian's unusual behavior. He searched through his body's memories. There was no mistake; he was just a Columbia University Divinity School student from a poor, ordinary family in Hell's Kitchen.
Besides that, he had no other identity. Could there be some secret hidden in his name? Emil closed the book he was holding, gently placed it aside, stood up, smiled slightly, and said: "My name is Emil Freddy Longinus!"
"Long… Longinus…" Quentin was thrown to the ground by the Guardian, muttering something under his breath.
He finally mustered the courage to ask: "What is Longinus?"
Quentin had learned the history of the church from his father, but he seemed to have never heard of a Longinus Family under the church.
Moreover, it wasn't that Quentin doubted the Guardian's words, but it was hard for him to believe that a descendant of a thousand-year-old family could live so miserably, and even harder to believe that any bloodline could be a million times more sacred than the Landon Family!
"Shut up! You are blaspheming the Holy Spirit!" The Guardian commanded: "I know your Landon Family has made some insignificant achievements in the field of new genetic science, and I know your Landon Family has served the church for over a thousand years. However, none of this means you are qualified to be presumptuous in front of a descendant of Longinus!"
Even Quentin, who had bullied Emil countless times before, would obediently shut his mouth when the furious Guardian glared at him.
The Guardian raised his voice, every word he spoke loud and clear: "Mr. Emil, perhaps you yourself don't know it yet, but you are a God-descendant; the blood of God flows within you."
"The blood of God?" Emil raised an eyebrow; he felt a sense of temporal displacement.
Since when was there such a thing as a "God-descendant" in the church?
All the readers on the eighteen floors around them were equally shocked by the Guardian's outburst. For a moment, only "thud thud thud" could be heard, as countless magic tomes, usually cherished, slipped from their hands and fell onto the carpet.
The Guardian was so enraged that he didn't even notice everyone's gaze was fixed on him. His eyes only held the esteemed Mr. Emil. He respectfully said: "Mr. Emil, do you know how excited Father Terence was when he received your request to join the Knights?"
Everyone who could clearly hear the Guardian unconsciously rubbed their ears, wondering if their English proficiency had declined, causing them to misunderstand the Guardian's words.
What a joke, how great an honor was it to apply to join the Knights of St. John?
It was always the Templar Order that meticulously selected applicants; how could the situation the Guardian described possibly occur?
In fact, the Guardian's status was too low; he was only a senior reserve Knight in the Knights of St. John. He only had a general understanding of some matters within the Knights. Since receiving Emil's application, not only Father Terence but even the Grand Master of the Templar Order was ecstatic.
He quickly gathered the other eleven Templar Knights of the church and, overnight, issued a certificate with the joint signatures of twelve Templar Knights. All required assessments were waived, and Emil's application was immediately approved.
Every Templar Knight was the church's top combat force, not inferior even to Magneto or Professor X among the Mutants, or Black Bolt, the leader of the Inhumans, or the Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange, or even Doctor Doom.
However, even they would not think that a descendant of Longinus was unqualified to join the Knights of St. John.
This goes back to the origin of the "Templar Knight." The original word for Templar Knight is Paladin, whose root comes from Palatinus.
Palatinus means "belonging to Palatine Hill." This Latin word in ancient Roman times referred to high-ranking officials and nobles associated with Palatine Hill. Since this hill was the location of the Roman imperial palace, Palatinus was also commonly used to refer to court officials who served the Roman emperor and handled state affairs for him.
After entering the Middle Ages, the twelve most outstanding Knights under Charlemagne were called "Twelve Peers," meaning "Twelve Attendants," indicating that they were trusted confidantes who served the emperor, the highest-ranking royal courtiers in the Frankish Carolingian dynasty, and high-ranking nobles with status equal to the imperial family.
All Templar Knights knew this history, although not all of them were intimately familiar with the life stories of every recorded Templar Knight in history. But there was one person everyone knew, and that was the first Grand Master of the Templar Knights—Longinus!
The Longinus referred to here is not Emil, but the ancient Roman centurion Longinus, who ultimately killed Jesus with a Dagger.
In the story, Longinus was originally a warrior who had gone blind in battle. It was precisely because of this that the divine blood that splattered from Jesus's body when he pulled the Dagger out flew into his eyes, miraculously healing him.
It can be said that Longinus carried the only drop of divine blood left by Jesus, the Son of God, on Earth. The blood of the Son of God merged with Longinus's blood, and because of this, three days after Jesus resurrected and ascended to heaven, Longinus, instead of being scorned like Judas who betrayed Jesus, became one of the earliest and most sacred Saints of the church.
Even with the passage of time, the blood of the Son of God preserved within the Longinus Family has been passed down through generations. This has been jointly verified by the twelve Templar Knights of the church. In this World, there will be no one more sacred than Emil.
(Xue Ta's words: Next, with the help of Quentin, the Spider-Man storyline will begin, and the Son of God's blood contained within Emil is also the clue to unlock the Dracula and Blade storylines. I originally didn't want to spoil it, but the book friends are right, these chapters are indeed too slow-paced, so it's better to briefly explain the foreshadowing first.)