Seeing that the Pope had no intention of letting Iros leave, Cardinal Metternich frowned slightly again. He hesitated and had to continue:
"Your Majesty, this is by no means a trivial matter. I hope you can think about it again. Although the source of faith is collapsing, fortunately the speed is not very fast.
I think you are the only one in this plane who has the ability to prevent the collapse of the power of faith. Even if you are unable to do anything, then you can inform Heaven Mountain of the situation in the plane and let the angels in the heavens prevent the worst case scenario.
happened."
The Pope sat silently in his high-backed chair as before, seeming to have fallen asleep and not reacting at all to Cardinal Metternich's words.
Metternich waited patiently, but he did not wait for the Pope's answer. What he waited for was only a sneer from Iros.
"Dear Cardinal Armetnes, isn't it for salvation that you take so much trouble to protect the food of the gods on Mount Paradise?
It is indeed a very exciting thing to live forever in the glory of Paradise Mountain, but I never thought that a hero like you would not see through life and death and work so hard for salvation."
Iros said with a trace of sarcasm on his lips.
Metternich glared at Iros, with a slightly angry look on his face, and said:
"Eternal life is loneliness. Since salvation has no meaning to you, is it so important to me?
Iros, now you are wholeheartedly fighting against Heavenly Mountain, and for what purpose?
What you are doing is just your own temporary likes and dislikes!
The main gods of Tiantian Mountain are simply not something you and I can fight against. The source of faith has collapsed. What can we bring to this plane?
All it can bring is accelerated destruction!”
Metternich paused, his anger subsided, and turned to the Pope: "Your Majesty!"
The Pope snorted feebly. He slowly opened his cloudy eyes, looked at Iros, and then at Cardinal Metternich. Without saying anything, he looked out the window again.
Metternich strode to the window, and with a wave of his hand, the scene outside the window immediately changed. The mechanical and beautiful scene in the illusion was replaced by scenes of towns and mountains.
These staggered small towns and villages have different styles and appear to be ordinary small towns distributed in every corner of the continent and in various countries.
The people in the illusion seemed busy and simple. They were working hard for their daily livelihood and food. The Civil War that affected almost the entire continent did not seem to have much to do with them.
Metternich pointed towards the illusion and said in a deep voice:
"Your Majesty! Look, these are the people of our plane!
They don't need pride, they don't need glory, and they don't need to be destroyed for freedom!
All they need is survival, just a peaceful life!
These ordinary and ordinary people will not think about what will happen after thousands of years. For them, Heaven Mountain, the gods and us are so far away.
After the source of faith collapses, we will immediately bring about the judgment of Heaven Mountain. If you prevent the collapse of the source of faith, these ordinary people can survive for at least a few thousand years before Heaven Mountain cleanses the entire plane!
When it comes to choosing between a completely hopeless war and a thousand years of survival, I think the answer is very obvious!"
"Survival for thousands of years?"
Iros smiled coldly and said: "Existing like a pig or a dog for thousands of years? The only ending of existence is to wait for the slaughter that will come as soon as possible. Is this kind of existence called survival?"
Metternich said in a deep voice: "That's just your idea. For the vast majority of ordinary people on the plane, they don't know the final fate, and they don't know that life under the rule of Paradise Mountain is different, and maybe they can still live.
It’s better, so I believe that all sentient beings will choose Heaven Mountain.”
Iros looked at the illusion outside the window, smiled calmly, and said: "Dear Cardinal Metternich, I know what you said is correct, but it is a pity that all living beings in the plane never have the right to choose.
Major events in this plane are only determined by the likes and dislikes of a few people. Of course, you are also one of these few people.
All sentient beings are ignorant, so they don’t know what they want. It’s fine for us to decide for them. In fact, your so-called good ideas for them are just your opinions.”
Metternich's face darkened, and the five fingers of his right hand opened and closed slightly, as if he was about to grasp the hilt of the sword at his waist.
When Iros saw it, he laughed and said: "What, dear Lord Metternich, do you want to take action? If you are leading troops to fight, I'm afraid I'm not as good as you, but if you want to start a fight, I think you'd better save it.
Good.
In fact, if your name was not on the protection list, I would have killed you long ago! But this list is almost out of date now, so I advise you not to be impulsive."
Iros paused for a moment, raised his head to the sky, and after a moment said: "Dear Lord Metternich, I have wanted to kill you for a long time just for Fenglan Sword Saint Gladys."
Metternich snorted, not taking Iros' threat to heart at all, and just said to the Pope in a deep voice:
"Your Majesty, you can't hesitate any longer! There is still time now. As long as you make the last statue of the Angel of Purgatory, you can attract the angels from the heavens. They have the ability to prevent the collapse of the source of faith!"
With that said, Metternich pointed to Iros and said: "He is qualified for the requirements of the Purgatory Angel Statue."
Iros snorted coldly and was about to say something when Metternich said again:
"As long as this plane can last for thousands of years, I am willing to transform into a statue of the Angel of Purgatory!"
The Pope finally raised his hand tremblingly, and the two who were about to continue arguing immediately stopped, waiting for his instructions.
The Pope thought for a long time and then said slowly:
"I still need to think about it carefully. We'll talk about it later. If Ilos stays, I still have some things to talk to you about."
Metternich looked helpless, but had no choice but to leave the room.
"Iros, you just heard it. When the last statue of the Angel of Purgatory is formed, it will be the day of judgment for this world. I am already old, but I can still buy you some time. You still have something to do.
, just do it quickly.”
Iros nodded in agreement, but he did not leave. He just stared at the Pope bathing in the afterglow of the setting sun. After hesitating for a long time, Iros finally asked:
"Why...are you pushing north because of the war?"
The Pope said calmly: "Because the time is right."
Iros was silent for a moment, then finally turned and left.
He knew the Pope was telling the truth.
Moreover, the Pope at that time would not consider the thoughts and moods of other sentient beings in the Toriel Continent at all, just as he would not consider the moods of the sentient beings in the plane at this moment.
But no matter what, time faded away, but the mark was still engraved in his heart and could never completely disappear.
Among the twelve Purgatory Angel Halls, there are already eleven statues standing there, and only one hall is empty.
Although to this day, Iros does not fully understand the role of the statues of the Angels of Purgatory, but the Pope has just reminded that when the statues of the Angels of Purgatory gather together, it will be the day of judgment.
And he also knew that even if the Pope had the intention, he would not be able to delay time forever.
Once the gods of Heaven Mountain realize something is wrong, a simple oracle may be enough to replace the Church of Light with a new pope.
Standing on the corridor, Iros sighed, rose into the sky, and disappeared into the clouds of the secret realm in the blink of an eye.
As soon as Iros left, the loneliness of the corridor was broken again. Amidst the rapid footsteps, Heathcote's figure appeared at one end of the corridor. He hurried to the Pope's prayer room and knocked on the door.
"come in."
Heathcote opened the door. Like the scenery in the secret realm, the Pope's prayer room had never changed. It seemed that no matter when he came in, he would only see the Pope quietly bathing in the afterglow of the setting sun.
But today, for some unknown reason, Heathcote suddenly felt a chill that penetrated his bones.
For a moment, the Holy Son seemed to feel that he was a hurried traveler in thin clothes in late autumn. He didn't know where the end of the journey was, and he didn't know how long he could hold on in the cold wind.
Just a moment of trance has already made the Holy Son secretly alert. Such an illusion should not appear to him under any circumstances. What happened to him today?