Mayne stood at the top of the Tower of Babel, looking through the windows towards the snow-wrapped city of Hermes.

It’s been a while since the last large group of demonic beasts attacked the Holy City, the snow falling in the fields had time to settle down again, and the snowstorm had also weakened a lot. The residents of the city had welcomed this rare leisure.

These days should be a time to celebrate, but Mayne’s heart felt a little empty. In order to kill the monstrous giant hybrid species of demonic beasts, a team of G.o.d Punishment Army’s warriors went out of the walls and confronted these demonic beasts. In the end, 19 of those warriors were wounded and two had been killed. After the two beasts had their limbs cut off, they had been lying on the ground for a long time, and the guards at the wall had killed them with their thrown spears. However, compared to the losses of the G.o.d Punishment Army, what terrified Mayne was the magnitude of this attack of demonic beasts in a short time frame.

After being silent for a long while, he let out a heavy sigh trying to vent out his anger, and returned to his sit at the table, he opened the Holy Scripture, immersing himself in it again.

“Even if you turn it upside down, the contents will not change. Hasn’t His Excellency O’Brien agreed to see you yet?” Tayfun carried two cups of hot drinks into the circular hall, and placed one cup in front of Mayne.

“This is the third time I’ve made a request to enter the Cardinal Secret Area, but they still have not responded…   I don’t know what His Excellency is busy with, at this critical moment.” Mayne said anxiously.

“Do not worry,” Tayfun interrupted him “you said it yourself, the Holy Scripture was written by the First Pope, so it’s unavoidable that it has some mistakes, after all, over 400 years have pa.s.sed, who can guarantee that everything in it is accurate?”

“But this is different.” the Archbishop shook his head “If the date is interpreted wrong, it will be a catastrophe for us! We have already invested a great amount of power and energy for the unification of the Kingdoms, so that the strength of all the mainland can resist the Devil, but if the time left is shortened by half, we have no way to acc.u.mulate that many warriors of the G.o.d Punishment Army after these battles!”

“Quiet Sir Mayne.” The old Bishop smiled, and slowly drank the hot drink “It’s already happened, the fangs of h.e.l.l appeared before us, no one can change that fact. But perhaps this was because of two reasons.”

“What reasons?”

“Take a sip with me first.” Tayfun said, while stroking his beard.

Mayne carried the cup closer, it seems like a cup of goat’s milk, but on closer inspection, it actually has a sweet fragrance to the nose “What’s in it?”

“Winter’s bloom.” Tayfun slightly smiled “Although drinking Dream Water directly is bad, doing it like this is acceptable, it can at least help you ease the tension, and soothe the nerves to help you sleep.”

Mayne took a mouthful of the goat’s milk, feeling a burning sensation transmitting down his throat, although the goat’s milk diluted with some winter’s bloom was mellow, it’s a drink he would never be able to get used to. After coughing twice, he wiped his mouth “Even if it’s a whole gla.s.s of Dream Water, at this moment I doubt it will allow me to fall asleep, will you speak now?”

“One possibility is that the Pope made a mistake. Regarding old people, they will often be light-headed, and as their memories fade, they will interpret them wrong, of this I have deep understanding.” Tayfun shrugged.

“It’s highly unlikely,” Mayne knitted his eyebrows while saying “this is related to the layout and structure of the church, and even a deciding factor of the fate of mankind, he must have been very careful while writing these things. What about the second possibility?

“The second scenario, due to some unknown circ.u.mstance, has caused the situation to change.”

The Archbishop waited for a moment, and saw that the other had not continued to speak, so he wondered. “Such as?”

“That’s it.”

“That’s it…   What kind of joke is that? The situation has changed? Because of such a reason, all of our efforts are for nothing!? How can you be so irresponsible!?”

“Sir Mayne!” Tayfun voice suddenly was raised a few degrees “What are you demanding, a certain way to defeat the Devil? Do you really believe that by defending Hermes, the Devils will halt their advance?”

“…” Mayne was startled.

“Everyone wants to win every fight, but so far, even against the Four Kingdoms, we had not won each and every battle, and that’s not mentioning the Devils from h.e.l.l!” He exclaimed loudly “Did you forget the teaching of His Excellency the Pope? Excessive effort and fear of the results is not much different. What you should do is accept that fact that step by step the closure is drawing near, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Fear…   of the results. The heart of Mayne felt a shock, it was exactly as he said, he had fear; He was afraid of becoming the Pope, not being able to stop the Devil, and ultimately letting mankind fall to ruin by his own hands.

“I used to be like you.” Tayfun voice suddenly calmed down “But Heather’s death showed me that the results are, in many cases, unpredictable. The Months of Demons came too soon without warning, but we still tried to take Wolf Heart City, so the plans remained the same…   But Heather died, and the tide of the war changed. But even so, we must still go on.” He got up and let out a sigh, after he patted Mayne on the shoulder, he walked towards outside the hall. “Even so…   whether it’s five years, or ten years, you have to be steadfast in the end, not to find a way to win, but because it’s your duty, even if the result is contrary to what’s expected.”

The hall door closed, and Mayne was left looking at his empty cup, unable to utter a single word.

He had to admit that Tayfun had a point, but how could he not be afraid when he had to shoulder such a big responsibility.

Suddenly, a judge came in.

“Sir Mayne, His Excellency the Pope wants to see you.”

At last!

He immediately stood up, eagerly.

“Take me to the Cardinal Secret Area.”

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The Cardinal Secret Area, deeply hidden in the underground of the plateau, was just as before, cold and silent.

As he walked into the Cardinal Secret Temple’s main hall, Mayne was startled slightly, today it was not arranged like when the transformation ceremony took place, all the candles in the hall were lit, the dense and numerous flames gave an orange outline to the hall. The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling were like the kingdom of G.o.d, bringing together all the stars.

His Excellency O’Brien sat on the throne, calmly looking at him.

Mayne felt something strange with this atmosphere, but suppressed his doubts back to a corner of his heart, before arriving to the throne, he knelt down with both hands touching the floor, his forehead slightly kissing the ground.

“Get up, child.” The Pope’s voice was very faint, it was hard to hear unless he concentrated on it.

Mayne straightened up his body, and saw the Pope’s weary and tired expression on his face, as if he had not rested for a long time. “Your Excellency, please pay attention to your body.”

“That’s of no use,” He smiled, the deep wrinkles filled his cheeks immediately “I will die soon.”

“Your Excellency, you will not…”

“No, listen to me, child.”

O’Brien interrupted the words of the Archbishop strongly

“I know my own condition, and without a doubt, the time of my death is near.”

He paused for a moment and took a deep breath.

“The purpose of today’s call, is to have you inherit the position of Pope.”