Talos's sky-reaching holy light not only affected the Sunburn Tower in the secular country, but its light also penetrated the chaotic vortex in the center of the world of Koro and appeared in the eyes of the people in the holy realm.
For many days, the sanctuary has been shrouded in a tense and depressing atmosphere. The continuous weakening of Asuman's light has approached the final limit. The order shield covering the floating continent has become so thin that it is almost difficult to distinguish with the naked eye.
, the power of darkness and chaos in the endless void is constantly surging outside the barrier, like an upside-down sea, ready to cover the entire continent at any time. Such a terrifying scene weighs heavily on the hearts of every person in the Sanctuary, this once glorious and proud place.
The race is now gripped by depression and despair.
But suddenly, a bright light lit up from the other side of the dim chaos. The strong light tore through the boundary between space and time, and illuminated the space outside the barrier as if dividing the sky into two. This scene made everyone
In addition to the shock, groundless hope arose out of thin air.
In the eyes of the people in the sanctuary who devoutly believe in the goddess of creation, this! Unmistakable! The light is almost a miracle. It seems to indicate the end of the dark moment. Although the light gradually dissipated after more than ten minutes, it has already inspired people.
Many people on this continent.
However, most of the people who were inspired were ordinary people, and the real upper-level managers did not dare to be optimistic rashly.
Pope August VII convened all the cardinals and bachelors in the pure white hall of the Icon Palace. Under the eternal holy light of the pure white hall, these wisest and most authoritative theologists and erudite men in the world of Colo
The family was discussing the impact of the previous light. August VII was sitting on the high papal throne, listening to the report of one of the cardinals.
"Under the crown, we have determined that the light comes from the Ansu continent, but we cannot determine the specific location. The fog of chaos has shrouded the trajectory of each continent. Now we cannot observe any specific land. We can only roughly estimate it based on the world model.
The current positions of other continents are estimated, but as chaos becomes more and more rampant, the accuracy of this position estimation is also declining."
Floating next to the cardinal who spoke was a set of exquisite models carved with magic gems. These models used amazing craftsmanship to restore the details of the five floating continents and dozens of larger floating islands in the world of Koro.
Running slowly in the air, the approximate position of each piece of land in the Sea of Karnos is simulated based on some ancient data.
However, due to the influence of chaotic tides, the accuracy of this model is actually not very high.
"The continent of Ansu... is very good," August VII rubbed his forehead, "Asuman's revelation has once again been confirmed. There is a miracle descended by the goddess of creation on that continent."
"The pillar of light caused a great stir among the common people and the lower clergy," another bishop stood up. "The good news is that our morale is recovering. The explanation of the pillar of light has been spread, and it is now recognized as inspirational."
Miracle. But there is also bad news: after the light pillar disappeared, everything returned to normal, Asuman's light is still weakening, and the barrier over the sanctuary has not been strengthened. The effectiveness of this miracle may diminish over time. If
If no new miracle happens."
"That light is just a sign. It is a message from the Kingdom of God in order for us to persevere in this dark age. We should fight bravely in the darkness to respond to the will of the goddess," August said slowly
Said slowly, "People in the Holy Land never give up hope. This has been true throughout the ages."
Another bishop stood up: "The output power of the Holy Mountain Asuman has dropped by one percent again. Its weakening speed has stabilized. It is estimated that there will be no more sudden fluctuations. However, if this trend continues, there will be at most another
In half a month, we will completely lose the barrier. At that time, the Holy Land will be plunged into darkness like the mortal world, and we will fight on this sacred land. The blood of Chaos will stain the Holy Land."
"Then we will fight against them, just like those secular kingdoms," another bishop said loudly. "The secular kingdoms can fight bravely, and the people of the Holy Land will certainly not retreat. We have been in emergency situations all over the mainland.
We built the Tower of Fire and the Tower of Sunburn, and with the help of Asuman's remaining power, these towers can allow us to survive this tide of chaos."
"The key is that if Asuman cannot be restored in the next century, it will be useless for us to survive this tide. We cannot leave the burden to our descendants. I still insist on repairing Asuman as the first priority. I have a plan...
"
The bishops once again fell into a debate on this topic. Various immature or fanciful plans were put forward, and then rejected by themselves one by one. The inner court bachelors also argued hard in such arguments, and faced the bishop tit for tat with red ears.
Each of them is a sincere and good person who works hard for the future of the world and the safety of the sanctuary. However, with mortal wisdom, it is difficult to solve the ultimate problem.
Holy Mountain Asuman.
The second half of the meeting was almost fruitless. August VII had to shout to stop everyone from arguing. After the bishops and scholars left the pure white hall, the Pope stood up tiredly.
His body, which was no longer youthful, made a sound of joints. He felt that the crown on his head was so heavy that it seemed to break his neck, and the robes he wore were like shackles binding his hands and feet.
The attendant immediately stepped forward. This middle-aged man, who had followed August VII for thirty years, saw the deep tiredness on the pope's face. He helped the latter take off the heavy golden crown and took the crown.
Scepter: "Your Majesty, do you want to go back to the palace to rest?"
"No," the Pope waved his hand, "let's go to the icon hall."
The waiter blinked, as if he was a little surprised by the answer, but the habit he had developed over the years made him swallow his doubts and just nodded slightly.
From the name, you can tell that the Icon Hall has a special significance in the Palace of Icons. This hall is almost the most magnificent space in the Palace of Icons, and it is also the most sacred place. Starting from the pure white hall,
You need to go through three corridors, two inner courtyards, and two long halls to reach its entrance. The Pope is no longer young, and he is not willing to use convenient magic when going to the sanctuary, so he walked for almost a full hour.
I arrived in front of the icon hall just a few hours ago.
The attendant pushed open the golden-red door, the Pope straightened his clothes and walked into the hall.
The hall is vast and empty, without any tables or chairs. There are only two rows of tall columns arranged in parallel, extending from one end of the hall to the other. Bright light shines from a series of circular holes above the hall, filling the entire space.
There seemed to be a layer of pure white holy light floating in it.
On both sides of the hall, behind the two rows of columns, huge lifelike statues are sitting quietly, majestic and sacred.
August VII walked forward along the central axis of the hall, bathed in the gaze of the two rows of icons, as if accepting the review of the ancient kings, full of piety and abandoning distracting thoughts.
This is the Hall of Icons. Its name comes from the sacred statues in the hall, and even the name of the entire Icon Palace is named after it.
No one knows who shaped these statues, not even the founder of the Order has left a word. This room existed long before the founding of the Order. The twenty-one icons seem to come from a time before mortals, and
The entire Palace of Icons is just a building shell expanded on the original basis of the "Icon Hall". As time goes by, the popes have changed from generation to generation, and the secular kingdoms have changed from generation to generation. Only
The mysterious giant statue in this icon hall has not changed since ancient times.
If these giant statues stood up, they would be ten meters high, but their size is far from their most eye-catching feature. What really makes people marvel and even awe is the lifelike appearance of these giant statues: even though they are made of stone, they look like real people.
Generally speaking, their eyebrows are clear and their beards and hair are neat, as if a group of real living rock giants are sitting here. They are not like sculptures, but like sleeping living creatures.
This makes everyone tremble when they step into the Hall of Icons for the first time. Even August VII still remembers the fear and uneasiness he felt when he first stepped into this place.
But that is all in the past. Now he has become the pope, stepping into the hall of icons and accepting the gaze of each colossus. This is no longer a daunting challenge, but a baptism for the soul and heart.
The Pope walked all the way to the end of the hall and was about to come to the icon known as the "King of Kings". However, at this moment, he suddenly stopped and stared in the direction he came from with wide eyes.
The two rows of giant statues were silent as always, with no expression on their cold stone faces, and their eyes were staring straight at the center of the hall, seemingly unchanged.
But August VII had a creepy feeling coming from his heart.
He shook his head. He hadn't felt this way for many years. He was surprised why he was so out of control.
At that moment, he felt that what was staring at him was no longer the glorious ancient kings, but something indescribable and terrifying. Those empty eyes fell on him, making him panic and feel like he was falling into the abyss.
illusion.
The old pope calmed down and shook the weird illusion out of his mind. He turned around and bowed down devoutly in front of the icon of the "King of Kings".
"Ancient wardens, please give me clear instructions..."
The deep voice of the old pope echoed in front of the icon of the King of Kings.
Then the sound suddenly stopped. (To be continued.)