Although the hierarchical system within the Holy Ether Church is not as strict as that of the Lords and Nobles, it is still different from top to bottom.
As the Holy See of Saint Ether grew and grew, its internal structure began to move closer to the clear hierarchy of lords and nobility, especially the target, Cardinal St. George, who was famous for paying attention to this.
"There is no conflict between abiding by the oath and participating in the celebration held for His Majesty the Pope. Your Excellency, Bishop Enoch, have you not overcome the barriers and come here in person?" Cardinal St. George did not directly fight back, but said with a deeper meaning.
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We are all thousand-year-old foxes, so don’t play with us anymore.
Everyone knows exactly why they came.
His Majesty Delt has been in power for a full century, which means that he is old enough. Even as a double peak player, he has passed the most glorious period of his life and his physical strength has entered a serious decline.
Both champion knights and warlocks have longer lives than ordinary people, but they are far from immortal.
According to historical data, the longest-lived warlock only lived to be 172 years old, and this year, His Majesty Delt turned 157, having already entered the ranks of old people.
There is a common phenomenon in this situation where life expectancy is extended due to cultivation.
That is, when the body is at its peak, the body will age very slowly. Many champion knights and master warlocks will maintain the same appearance for decades.
Nydia, the great elder of the Crocodile tribe, is over 130 years old, but she looks younger than an average woman in her fifties or sixties.
But once they enter the decline period, their internal and external aging rate will be much faster than that of ordinary people, usually no more than twenty years.
Although Pope Delt has created many unprecedented brilliance, it seems that there is no way to continue to create brilliance on this. His body has begun to show signs of aging, and the time for the call of the true god is getting closer and closer.
In the past decade or so, Pope Delt has decentralized power greatly, and most of the affairs of each diocese have been handed over to the cardinals.
There is no need to say more about what this means, right?
That's right.
It's a change of rights.
And it’s a very special change of rights.
Whether it is those royal families, grand dukes, or ordinary lords and nobles, the change of rights follows the rules of blood inheritance. There are strict and strict laws as the basis for the first and second heirs. Anyway, it is the inheritance from the father.
Sons, descendants and descendants, even if there is a problem in the middle link, it is mostly a power struggle within the family, and there is rarely a situation where power is transferred to the outside world.
The Holy See of Saint Ether is different. Its power is not hereditary, but elected from among the cardinals.
There are many reasons why this happens.
There are two main points.
The first point is naturally because it is a faith organization, and the God of Truth is its real master. Even the Pope exists to serve God. He is just one of many servants, shepherding sheep on behalf of the True God, at least in name.
in this way.
Whether you can sit in this position depends not on whether your bloodline is noble or not, but whether your faith is pious or not.
However, it is difficult to quantify something like faith, so it is generally reflected in how much contribution one has made to the true God, to the Holy Ether Church, and how much support and recognition it has received from believers.
The second point is that although the Holy Ether Church does not prohibit marriage, many devout believers will take a vow of purity and dedicate their lives completely to their gods. This situation is more common the higher the level, the more common it is.
Although His Majesty Pope Delta did not take a vow of chastity, his son did.
What's even more regrettable is that his son was not able to awaken as a God's Favorite, nor could he enter the realm of champion knight. He died half a century ago.
In this case, the electoral system is more reliable than the hereditary system and is less prone to interruptions and chaos.
When Pope Delt had just entered his aging period, no one from the top to the bottom of the Holy Ether Church seemed to realize this.
Because he has been in office for so long that many people have forgotten that there is a change in the pope, until he began to actively delegate power.
The cardinals suddenly realized this, and one can imagine their initial panic.
As time went by, Pope Delt's body declined day by day, the competition became more and more fierce, and the entire Holy Ether Church was in a state of turmoil.
The land liquidation of the Regent Princess Sophilia against the Saint Ether Church was carried out under this political background. Pope Delt acquiesced in this matter at the time, which involved very complex interest considerations.
Since the main body of the Saint Ether Church is highly overlapping with the Lancelot royal family, and the core is in the plains of Asia Minor, in the past half century, due to land issues, the conflict between the two parties has been severe. Because of this, it was only a matter of time before they broke up.
Pope Delt is not only a devout believer, but also a qualified politician. He knows this very well and can use the power he has built up over the past century to forcefully suppress this matter.
But what about after being called by the true God?
Even if the change of power goes smoothly, it will still be inevitable that the Holy Ether Church will fall into chaos.
At that time, the Princess Regent will be in her prime, her political skills will have become more mature, and her ambitions will have become greater. At that time, it will no longer be a question of getting back her own part from the Holy See, but she will most likely take the opportunity to tear her flesh apart.
Instead of doing this, it is better to solve this problem while he is in power. The young princess will not go too far. Even if there is a problem, she will be able to deal with it.
This is also true. The land liquidation of the Holy Ether Holy See by the Lancelot royal family was mostly a loss of future profits and did not have a big impact on the Holy Ether Holy See as a whole.
The anger of the believers because of their damaged interests was all directed towards the Lancelot royal family by the sophisticated Pope Delt, who made the Holy See into an innocent victim like them.
The success of any political maneuver will not be due to unilateral reasons.
The first glorious thing the Princess Regent did that year was no exception. Did she not know that she was just a newborn calf and not afraid of tigers? Or did she see this clearly and know that Pope Delt would compromise out of this concern?
If it's the former, it can only be said that she was unlucky and did the right thing at the right time, thus achieving ultimate success.
If it's the latter, that's a bit outrageous.
Since then, the relationship between these cardinals has become very tense, especially those who are recognized as the strongest contenders for the next pope.
Right now, these two cardinals, whose mouths are full of gunpowder, are among the strongest competitors.
Cardinal Inoko's qualifications are old enough. Although there are no glorious things worthy of praise in his life, he has not made any big mistakes. He is known for his stability. The diocese he is responsible for is a core area like the royal capital of Valesta, so he has a natural number of supporters.
Quite a few.
St. George is a well-known genius. He was born in the Holy See and raised in the Holy See. He has a lot of experience at a young age. His life path is similar to that of Pope Delte in many places, except for the title of the son of prophecy.
Even so, within the Holy See, there is still a saying of the second Delte. This can be seen from the fact that he can put the word "sacred" in front of his name just after he turned fifty.
If you have not made corresponding achievements and have consistent words and deeds for decades, you will not have this qualification.
His only shortcomings compared to Cardinal Inoko are probably in diocese management and qualifications.
Therefore, he found another shortcut, hoping to solve the consular dispute with the Manyu Army and allow the Holy See forces to move in on a large scale as a qualification to help him reach the top.
Who would have thought that there were too many forces eyeing the leader of the Manyu Army, and now it has turned into a rotten swamp, dragging him there unable to get up or down.
"Your Excellency Bishop George, His Majesty the Pope has invited you." A valet of the Pope trotted over and said.
Cardinal Inoko initially felt nothing, but St. George glanced at him intentionally or unintentionally, arousing his anger. He couldn't help but ask: "I came first, why did His Majesty the Pope summon him first?"
"I'm sorry, I don't know. Your Majesty, Bishop, I'm just carrying out His Majesty's order." The Pope's servant said apologetically, "If His Majesty the Pope summons you, I will notify you as soon as possible."
"Humph!" Cardinal Enoko snorted, turned away, and did not continue to talk. When he asked the question, he already regretted it, because it did not change anything, but made him more embarrassed.
"Your Majesty is waiting for you in the Oracle Hall. Your Excellency, the Bishop, please go in on your own." The Pope's aide led St. George to a quaint door.
This door is not big, but its shape is simple and full of history, with various mysterious divine patterns engraved on it.
If the current head of the Kingsley family, Duke Buck, were here, he would find that this door is similar to the battle artifact storage room in the catacombs of the Kingsley family. What flashes above is the fluctuation of magic energy.
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It's just that the gate spell energy of the Kingsley family's catacombs is biased toward the earth element, while the one in front of you is purely light. Standing in front of it, there is an illusion that there is nothing to hide, as if all the secrets in your heart are illuminated.
This door is also famous in the Holy See, called the Eye of the True God.
As the name suggests, in front of it, no one can hide, especially those sinners, many of whom confess their sins directly in front of it.
What made him famous far and wide was that he uncovered many people with ulterior motives for the Holy See.
The shadow of the famous tree.
If any thing is spread too much, it will put great psychological pressure on people if it is false. Not to mention that the divine pattern engraved on this gate is related to the energy of magic and has more mysterious uses.
In addition, if there is something wrong in my heart, if I suddenly do it, I may not be asking for it.
This was not the first time that Saint George stood in front of the Eye of the True God, but this was the first time that he had a strange feeling. Although it was fleeting, he was still keenly caught by him. He couldn't help but ask himself, could he be selfish?
Already?
Everything he does is for the Holy See, and he has nothing to fear.
Saint George once again strengthened his resolve and told himself silently.
Including competing for the position of the Pope, it is not for his own selfishness, but to ensure that the Holy See remains prosperous.
If power falls to someone like Enoch who is entangled with the Lancelot royal family and is more of a politician than a believer, it will be a disaster for the Holy See.
St. George believed that his belief in the true God and his affection for the Holy See were unparalleled among his contemporaries.
While others were indulging in vanity, he was learning everything there was to know about the Holy See.
While they were sinking into the sea of power, he was working hard for the expansion of the Holy See.
St. George did not reveal the strangeness in his heart and tried to hide it by adjusting his clothes.
In the eyes of the Pope's attendant, this was the importance attached to His Majesty the Pope's summons.
Saint George knocked on the door gently.
Just as the knock on the door rang, a response came from inside, "The door is open, come in." There was an age that could not be concealed in the voice.
St. George pushed the door open, and a stronger spell energy hit his face. The pure light energy gave people the illusion that they could not open their eyes. However, this feeling did not last long, and he quickly got used to it.
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It is indeed the place closest to God, the power of God is so strong.
No wonder it is easier to hear the voice of the true God here than elsewhere.
Seeing the surrounding situation clearly, Saint George couldn't help being shocked and said in a voice: "His Majesty the Pope, what are you..."
When we last met, Pope Delt had already shown his age, but it was not particularly obvious that he had gone from a prime man of forty or fifty to an old man of seventy or eighty.
But at this time, Pope Delt's hair and beard were all white, his skin was loose, and he was covered with age spots. He exuded an aura of decay from the inside out. In St. George's memory, his waist, which had always been straight, also had a curve. This was for a man.
A double peak is simply unimaginable.
"Don't be sad, my child, you should be happy for me. I am one step closer to the true God. This is what I have dreamed of for many years. I will be reunited with my family beside the true God. They must be waiting impatiently.
"Pope Delte's voice has a kindness that cannot be described in words, and it feels like a familiar family member.
His voice is very recognizable. Just hearing the voice, the image of a kind-hearted elder will pop into your mind.
There are usually certain differences in voice and appearance.
Most of the appearances are far inferior to the imagination brought about by the sound, which will cause a feeling of great disappointment.
Pope Delt belongs to that small group. It can be seen from the outline of his appearance that he must have been very handsome when he was young.
The current old prime minister not only did not deduct points for him, but also added points. It was very consistent with the kindness in his voice, and it felt like it was how it should be, coming out of imagination.
Pope Delta obviously knew why Saint George was surprised, but he was not angry. Instead, he came back to comfort him with a calm expression.
"But...but it's too fast." St. George still couldn't accept the kind pope who was like a father and wanted to leave him forever.
"Everything requires a price, including listening to the voice of God. I have already lived a long life." Pope Delt did not dwell on this issue. Instead, he asked an unrelated question, "What do you think of Yongye Army Leader and Xiao
How much does Baron En know?”
"Leader Yongye and Baron Sean?" St. George was startled, and it took him a few seconds to react.
Why did Pope Delt suddenly pay attention to that alien barbarian?
Although the Eternal Night Army is named after the Champions, it still cannot change its identity as a barbarian.
He is still an outright joke in the Byron League.
Although they were always present behind the complex political structure of Manyu's military leadership, Saint George did not take them to heart.
Just like most people, Saint George's eyes did not jump out when he looked at the leader of the Yongye Army.
In the Manyu military leadership, the ones he regarded as his biggest competitors were Viscount Philip and Countess Angelberna, and behind them would be the Royal Family of Lancelot and the Conclave of Witches.
However, given that Pope Delt asked the question in person, the matter must not be simple. It would be too stupid to answer it like this.