So… so that's what happened!
Mein stared intently at the illusion, his heart filled with indescribable shock. (Quality Goods Network)
The Divine Punishment Army Transformation Ritual was actually invented by witches! To defeat the devils, they didn't hesitate to sacrifice their own kind… How many people would stand up and accuse her of heartlessness?
The final result was beyond his expectations. After half a quarter of an hour, no one stood up. Even the witch who questioned the ritual didn't openly oppose Akalys's words. She just gritted her teeth and slammed the table. "How ironic! Killing so many witches with our own hands, but for the continuation of witches. Is there anything more ridiculous than this!"
"But she's right," an older witch said, "We ultimately originate from mortals. When all of humanity is extinct, witches will also cease to exist."
"Conversely, no matter how many witches are sacrificed in the Transformation Ritual, new witches will always appear to replace them. The more mortals there are, the more witches there are," Elaine shrugged.
"Is the Divine Punishment Army certain to defeat the devils?" someone asked.
"I don't know," Akalys said again, "No one knows the answer until we try. The failures of the previous two Battles of Divine Will have already illustrated many problems, that is, the power of the devils far surpasses ours. What restricts their actions is only the Red Mist—which means that even if we create a large number of Divine Punishment Warriors, we may not necessarily achieve the final victory." She paused, "But you should know my style."
Elaine smiled, "Even if there is only a sliver of possibility, we must do our best."
"I am willing to follow you."
"For the continuation of witches."
"I don't want to admit defeat like this either."
Everyone stood up and saluted the Witch Queen.
The witch who raised the question was the last to stand up and express her position, "I hope you're right."
"Then it's decided," Akalys nodded, evidently not surprised by the result, "Next is to persuade the other members of the Union."
"They may not listen to you," the elderly witch said, "If you want to promote the Divine Punishment Army Transformation Ritual without resistance, witches cannot exist as high and mighty privileges. The Union must be dissolved, and everything that has happened in the past must be completely buried."
"I will do my best to persuade them," Akalys's voice was firm, "If they cannot accept it, Meteor City will independently promote this plan and recast a new order."
Then the image disappeared… Darkness engulfed everything again. When the light in the secret room returned to normal, Mein found that his back was soaked with cold sweat, and his mind was dizzy.
"You seem a little tired. Do you need me to help you out?" Jieluo walked over and asked.
"No, hurry up and open the door!" He gasped for breath.
After the metal door was pushed open, Mein staggered out of the illusion room, covered his mouth, ran down the prayer platform, and knelt in front of Oberrien.
"After the magic stone is activated, the image will automatically be reflected in your mind, so it's normal to feel uncomfortable," the Pope said in a low voice, "My reaction was the same as yours the first time I came into contact with these. You can recover after a rest."
"Why doesn't anything happen to me?" Jieluo asked, holding the Pope's arm.
"Because you are a witch yourself, your body is already accustomed to the operation of magic power," Oberrien smiled kindly, "Whether it's endurance or resistance, witches are generally superior to mortals by a lot."
It took Mein a long time to calm his breathing, "Is this the… origin of the church?"
"That's right. Akalys later led the witches of Falling Star City to fight against the witches of the other two cities, and finally achieved victory, formulating a new rule—witches are no longer the chosen ones, but the evil ones seduced and corrupted by devils. This war lasted nearly a hundred years and is known in history as the War of Faith."
"Did she live that long?"
The Pope shook his head, "Akalys died together with another Transcendence shortly after establishing the church. The second Pope inherited her will and continued to lead the army in battle until the other two factions were completely subdued—Unfortunately, this battle severely damaged the vitality of the three cities, and they almost lost control over the secular world. Mortals who were unwilling to participate in the witch war began to take root on this narrow continent, leading the locals to cultivate and build, gradually forming the four kingdoms of today."
For some reason, the more Oberrien spoke, the more energetic he became. Even his voice became coherent, no longer with the previous weakness.
"Although the church has repeatedly purged those remnants afterwards, including mortals who did not belong to Falling Star City, the secular pattern has already formed. Due to insufficient follow-up efforts, the church ultimately failed to complete the unification of the continent. All of this is rooted in the Witch Queen's early death."
"Not only did Nataya, whom she regarded as a friend, not accept her plan, but she also suddenly attacked Akalys at the meeting. This scene is recorded in the complete Sacred Book," The Pope sighed, "If she were still alive, the War of Faith would have ended fifty years earlier. At that time, the church could have taken advantage of the situation to unify the continent after accepting all the witches. No one could have imagined that this would be delayed until now."
Mein wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Your Majesty, I have something I don't understand. Why were the previous popes all witches, but later they all became ordinary people?"
"Jieluo, you step back first," Oberrien said after a moment of silence.
"Yes."
After the Pure One left, he slowly opened his mouth and said, "Because of cowardice and timidity."
"What…what?" He was stunned, momentarily wondering if he had misheard.
"No, child, you heard correctly." Oberrien seemed to see through his thoughts. His eyes were shining, as if he had returned to his youth, "In order to wait until the devils were defeated and the glory of witches could be restored, Akalys once stipulated that the position of pope must be held by Transcendent. However, Transcendent witches are very rare, and suitable candidates cannot always be found. Later, some outstanding ordinary witches also served as popes—however, cowardice and timidity are like poisonous snakes in the heart, once they appear, they cannot be stopped. The archbishop, being a mortal, was afraid that he would one day be liquidated by the oppressed witches, so he directly usurped the position of pope."
Mein widened his eyes, "So the subsequent popes are all…"
"That's right, we are all cowardly people who stole the sacrificial achievements of witches," The Pope exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, "No matter what happens in the future, the church will bury this secret forever." He paused, "As for the truth about the Battle of Divine Will, it is recorded in the Secret Sanctum. Now, let you bear all of this and continue to walk down. Even giving up… is a wise choice."
After saying these words, he suddenly relaxed, as if he had taken off a heavy burden, and leaned back on the trolley.
Give up? If he gave up, who else could take over this position? But Mein didn't have time to think about it, he had already noticed something wrong with Oberrien—his physical condition deteriorated sharply, and the energetic appearance just now seemed to be just a brief flash in the pan. Now his eyes were rapidly dilating, and the light was dimming little by little.
"Your Majesty, Oberrien Your Majesty!" Mein stepped forward anxiously and shook the other person, but he just stared blankly at the ceiling, his lips slightly open, as if murmuring something.
In the last moment, Mein seemed to hear the other person say, "Child, I'm sorry."
.(。)