I really only stop

"[Disaster] ah..."

Gently repeated the key words mentioned by Shengguang, the old man with his back to him seemed to be slightly nodded:

"Thank you, I finally understand."

【? 】

Shengguang's figure suddenly paused slightly, not because of the old man's words, but because he found that the Pope's body seemed to have been exuding specious brilliance.

Like a ray of candlelight in the eternal night, it is obviously small, but it shows an unparalleled sense of existence.

What exactly is this?

"I didn't even notice this. Sure enough, although you are the Holy Light, you are by no means our [faith]."

Feeling that the holy light behind him seemed to have noticed something strange, His Majesty's mouth curved slightly.

Afterwards, he stretched out his hand to the reality of the world presented by the authority of the Holy Light in front of him. Just such a simple action plunged the entire sky into darkness again.

The aurora-like holy light spread out in an instant, and as people looked up anxiously, the face of the Pope appeared above the aurora again.

Different from the seriousness just now, this time the smile on the crown is extremely relaxed and easy-going.

"Stop for now, all clergymen."

Gazing at the whole world before him, he said:

"Not with the power of the pope, but only in the name of Berendo, please listen to my next words."

"About the church...and our [faith]."

----------------

Thanks to the prestige of [The Morning Star of the Holy Light], the moment he spoke, the clergymen who were walking towards the Spire of Light stopped at the same time and looked up at the face of the old man in the sky.

"In the past two days, a lot of things have really happened in one breath."

Talking about the big truth without opening the chapter, His Majesty is like chatting with friends, and his tone is extremely easy-going:

"The Holy Light descended suddenly, and then declared that some disaster was coming, and all of us priests were required to follow its footsteps - this unfolded too suddenly. Obviously we were still living a peaceful and free life the day before. Who can react to such a big incident."

"..."

The crowd was still silent, and many priests lowered their heads slightly.

The Pope spoke exactly what they felt.In the eye of the storm of this incident, the clergy were undoubtedly under the greatest pressure.Not only the panic of losing the holy art, but also——

"—Yes, the biggest problem is still on the side of the scriptures."

Having said that, the pope's expression became serious:

"All scriptures start with this sentence - 'in the name of the Holy Light'. Everyone knows that the Holy Light has never shown up, and everything in the scriptures was written by the former priests. But The phrase still exists and sets the stage for the bewildering situation we are in today."

"【Holy Light himself descended, denying the correctness of the holy scriptures.】"

"We believe in the Holy Light, but the Holy Light has never shown up before, so we can only use the holy scriptures written in the name of the Holy Light as a substitute belief. Now that the Holy Light has come, it has clearly expressed its will, but This will has an irreconcilable conflict with the holy scriptures. This is the source of our inner confusion. There are people who want to believe in the holy light, and there are also people who are skeptical about it, but whether or not to touch the light The Spire, we all say goodbye to everything we have known in the past."

The conflict of faith and belief is irreconcilable.The church is originally a group of people who believe in the Holy Light. Previously, they chose to believe in the holy scriptures because the Holy Light did not express their will, but now the Holy Light suddenly descended, and the clergy among them naturally became the most stressed existence.

No one can resolve this contradiction, and even at this moment, the priests have not come up with a convincing answer in their hearts.They just handed over the right to choose to their most trusted church.

However, what happened next was far beyond everyone's expectations——

"My clergymen, it is true that the Church believes in the Holy Light."

As if seeing what the priests were thinking, the pope suddenly showed an old urchin smile:

"So, let's disband the church."

Chapter 839 The Name of Faith

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.

With the tone of 'Let's hold a lively New Year's Eve event', the Pope announced to the world the dissolution of the church.

Don't talk about people of other professions. At this time, the clergy have completely ignored the confusion and pain of being immersed in tears. Looking at the extremely relaxed smiling face under the crown of the aurora, everyone's emotions are only One.

Your Majesty, are you serious?

"Of course it's serious, I'm not joking at this time."

As if hearing the voices of everyone, His Majesty the Pope smiled and nodded:

"Since we are all so entangled with the issue of belief, it would be good to simply dissolve the church. After the church is dissolved, we naturally don't have to believe in the Holy Light. Who would be troubled by it?"

Although, your tone is too casual, isn't it? !

This is a huge organization that has remained intact for thousands of years!As its supreme leader, you actually announced the dissolution of the church so easily? !

"Why not, I just chose the most correct path."

Suddenly putting away the smile on his face, the old man showed a great aura worthy of the name of Pope:

"Before explaining the reason behind it, all priests, I want to ask you a question first."

"[What we have always believed in, is it really the Holy Light?]"

------------

Facing such a bold question with an obvious answer, surprisingly, none of the clergymen in the world responded.

Do we believe in the Holy Light?

The answer is of course.

The first lesson learned by the clergy is the scriptures, and the first sentence in the scriptures is 'We are those who believe in the Holy Light'.No matter from which angle, we cannot say that we 'do not believe in the Holy Light'.

Seeing the expressions on the faces of the priests, Berendo sighed softly:

"If this is the case, then why didn't any of you contact the Spire of Light immediately when the Holy Light itself descended?"

"!"

Subconsciously looking at the people around them, the priests found the same confusion in the eyes of their companions.

Yes, confused.

We shouldn't have doubts when true faith is present.

"Well, people say that the truth can only be found through comparison, so let me tell you something that happened in the past."

Seeing the clergymen lost in thought, the Pope nodded and smiled:

"About three years ago, a maze near a certain village, which was originally peaceful, suddenly collapsed, and a large number of undead monsters escaped from it. With the help of a large amount of miasma emitted when the maze collapsed, the undead grew rapidly. The force guarding the village is no match for them—however, it so happens that three priests who came here to treat patients are also here."

"People in the village naturally gathered around the three priests, begging them to protect themselves. But what people don't know is that the three priests who came here to treat patients are just trainees. Don't Speaking of fighting ghosts, they have only mastered basic holy arts and have never even participated in real battles."

"Once you fight, the only outcome is death. And if the three of you escape together before the encirclement of monsters is formed, there is a high chance of you surviving—the priests also have a choice, facing these two extremes. Given the options, how would you act?"

Perhaps because the pope's temperament is too friendly, everyone who heard these words began to think about this issue in their hearts.

To save one's own life or to save others is a choice that even the bravest adventurers dare not make lightly.Death is certainly not enough to make them fear, but the adventurers are not the legendary heroes after all.Only after analyzing and judging the current situation of the battle and the rewards they can get, will they decide whether to draw their swords.

However, this seemingly difficult choice does not seem to be difficult for the clergy to make:

"Of course it is to help the people!"

"At that time, what kind of priests are you leaving the people behind?"

"This is not a choice, there is only one answer!"

"—Okay, okay, there are too many answers in my ears, and I, an old man, can't even respond."

Not surprised by the answers given by the priests, the Pope stroked his beard and smiled:

"I won't mention the end of the story for the time being. I would like to ask you a question here, which is also [choice]. Why can you answer without hesitation when faced with this life-threatening choice?"

"that is because……"

Some clerics wanted to blurt out this answer that did not require thinking, but when the words came to their lips, their voices became quieter for some reason:

"...this is what we... [believe]..."

Yes, believe it.

In the face of life-or-death choices, we can make choices without thinking about what we believe in.

But when the Holy Light came and made a declaration of obedience to Him, we hesitated.

……what does this mean?

"There is no need to doubt yourself, all priests, the answer is already very obvious."

With the tone of an elder telling the truth, His Majesty the Pope easily said the answer he already knew well:

"What we believe in is never the holy light, but the persistence and kindness from the heart."

[——Bullshit! 】

With a shocking roar, the calm aurora in the sky suddenly fluctuated:

【Humanity, I don't know how you usurped my authority, but I will never allow you to spread rumors here!See the situation clearly, clergymen!Without me, let alone resisting disasters, you are not even qualified to use the most basic holy arts! 】

Seeing the performance of the so-called [Holy Light], the clergy became more convinced of the teachings of the Pope just now.

Silently took up the weapon.They are all waiting, as long as the old man in the sky gives an order, an army composed of adventurers from all walks of life will immediately gather to crusade against the so-called [Holy Light] by force.

However, the old man did not do so.

"You are indeed the Holy Light, but at the same time, you are also something else."

Calmly looking at the [seemingly] crumbling Holy Light version of himself behind him, Berendo said calmly:

"Your every move is full of logic beyond the realm of common sense. Even now, it is impossible for you to have any [panic] and [anxiety] in your heart. From the beginning, you have set the flow of the two things. , whether we choose to attack or obey you, your [purpose] can be achieved."

【…】

Eerie silence.

"...Only with an overall perspective can we escape your control. Therefore, I chose [the third path]."

Feeling the real astonishment coming from [Holy Light], the Pope just shook his head indifferently:

"Let's continue with the previous story. Without any accidents, the three trainee priests chose to protect the village. One was responsible for protecting the people, the other was responsible for fighting the monsters head-on, and the last one took the news of the attack on the village and resolutely charged into the village. Surrounded by monsters, with his last breath, he told the nearest church of the village's crisis."

"When the other colleagues of the church came to the village and wiped out the monsters, they found the remaining two apprentice priests. One of them died standing under the siege of the monsters, and the last one died after seeing the reinforcements coming. Finally let out a sigh of relief, and cast the last [Elementary Healing Technique] in my life to the villagers who were injured by the monster."

"It's not an apocalypse that can only be given by the gods, nor is it a miracle that can only be obtained by praying. The last glimmer of light flickering in the hands of the novice priest is the best expression of what we believe in. "

"In the name of the current Pope Berendo, I hereby declare that the church that has existed for thousands of years is officially disbanded. A new [Priest Guild] will be established immediately. We don't believe in gods, we don't believe in the Holy Light, we only believe in ourselves and goodwill."

Facing the world connected by the authority of the Holy Light in front of him, the supreme crown smiled and stretched out his right hand calmly:

"—Now, let me, the last pope, lead everyone to review the simplest holy art."

blaze.

As soon as the words fell, flames without warning suddenly ignited on the old man's body. At the moment when human beings were deprived of their holy magic ability by [Holy Light], the scorching flames seemed so dazzling.

With the momentum of starting a prairie fire, the burning flame instantly rushed to the aurora like a veil in the sky.Under this purest violence, in just a few breaths, the beautiful and illusory aurora in the sky was swallowed up.

Instead, there is a magnanimous and warm sea of ​​holy light.

[This is the relief motto that symbolizes the ultimate goodwill and ambition, as opposed to the ultimate destructive motto [Destroy it]. 】

[Insignificant people, powerless people, sad people, desperate people.Carrying all their entrustments and wishes, without relying on any external objects, the power to shine in the world only with the light in their hearts—this is the Holy Light.Not for the apex of King's Landing, but an intellectual gift that exists for [relief]. 】

【Its name is Sacrifice. 】

In the world where the holy light should have completely disappeared, a ray of light rekindled.It is not relying on the [Gift] bestowed by any existence, but the light from the bottom of my heart.

... Grandfather Pope ... he ...

From the familiarity brought by the flames, I instantly thought of the mysterious woman I met in the holy land of the elves that day, and the saint, whose eyes were blurred, lowered her head deeply.With tears in his eyes, he found that his heart was slightly lit up with a familiar light.

Faint, soothing.

Just looking at the effect, this ray of light is not even as big as the breath of the saintly lady, but at this moment, it brought her great comfort and support.

Such warmth, but can bring such strength to people.

It wasn't the most advanced holy art used by the holy light to declare its power before. What appeared in everyone's heart was just the most basic [primary healing art] that any priest could easily use.

However, it was this faint light that caused every priest to fall into a long silence.