The Church of Destiny is not worried for the time being that the Pope of the Disease Cult will seek revenge, as the Pope is busy building a new sect and has not made any statement regarding the destruction of the Disease Cult.
Phil Gray even doubted whether this was part of his plan.
How can a new sect be born without complete destruction?
But these things are irrelevant to them for the time being.
After entrusting the development of the disease-stricken area entirely to Bishop Joshua, Ernest returned to North City with his order of knights, as his primary duty was still to protect His Holiness the Pope.
This winter has been exceptionally cold; five days after the trade fair ended, heavy snow blanketed the northern part of Fate.
Phil Gray finally found time to travel to Kao City, carrying a box containing some ashes.
This is the ashes left after Barry and those insects burned.
He wanted to bury Barry next to the old woman's grave.
A mother and child were forced to separate during their lifetime; may they be together forever after death.
The cemetery in Kao was covered with a layer of cold snow. Phil Gray walked by, leaving a row of shallow footprints.
There were many empty spaces around the old woman's grave, and he buried Barry to her left.
Then, using divine power, the tombstone was carved, with the same inscription: "Here rests a pure soul; may his kindness and innocence be eternal in the kingdom of God."
Phil Gray bowed deeply to Barry's tombstone.
"goodbye."
Before leaving, he unconsciously glanced at the tombstones of the original owner in the last row.
But that one glance made him realize something was unusual.
The snow in front of the original owner's tombstone seemed to be pushed up by something, as if something was placed on it.
He strode forward and swept the snow away with his sleeve.
A crown was revealed underneath!
This is the crown that belongs exclusively to the Pope of Fate, the very one that Victor tricked out of the drunkard!
Phil Gray looked around but didn't see anyone.
There were only his footprints on the surrounding snow.
He put the crown into his storage space and frowned.
What exactly does Victor mean?
He was almost certain that Victor knew his identity, and even that the tombstone was erected for the original owner of the body.
So Victor was speaking out for the original owner, feeling that he had taken over the original owner's life?
Is this crown a provocation?
Or did he know he would come and deliberately leave the crown here, returning it to acknowledge his contributions to the Church of Destiny these past few days?
These two completely different interpretations gave Phil Gray a headache; he really hated riddle-makers.
Regardless of the meaning, just come out and confront them.
The crown wasn't deeply covered by snow, so it was clear he had only arrived a short time before him.
Thinking of this, he immediately circled the cemetery several times, searching for any suspicious traces, but the cemetery was empty, and there was no trace of any living person except for him.
Phil Gray walked to the hut at the entrance of the cemetery and knocked on the door.
The gravedigger immediately ran out. The old man was wearing a large straw hat and a thick woolen scarf around his neck and face to protect him from the wind and snow, leaving only a pair of cloudy brown eyes visible.
"It's His Holiness the Pope. Have you finished your business? Please come in and sit for a while in this snowy weather."
He turned to the side, revealing the warm little house with burning white stones.
"No need. Is anyone else coming today besides me?"
"No, who would come here in this snowy weather? Even normally, very few people come." The gravedigger coughed, seemingly from inhaling a blast of cold air.
"Has anyone visited the last row of tombstones since I left?"
"No, no, I remember all your instructions. As the most loyal believer in fate, I will never disobey your will. Even if it means death, I will not let anyone go to the last row." The gravedigger barely managed to finish these words before coughing violently again.
"Alright, alright, it's not that serious. You should rest now. I'm leaving."
Phil Gray quickly helped him into the cabin, then left the cemetery with a sullen face.
After he left, amidst the crackling sound of burning white stones, the gravedigger removed his scarf and straw hat, revealing light gray hair.
His brown eyes slowly turned into sapphire blue.
...
"With the intervention of the Bishop of the Dream God Cult, believers in several cities in southern Dawn have been plagued by nightmares all night!"
"A large number of war cavalry from the Cult of War crossed the coast and reached the western coast of Dawn, opening a second front in Numas City!"
"The allied forces of our Church and the Church of Creation arrived at the border of the Church of War a day ago."
"Pope Harris Simmons of the Church of the Dead may not live much longer. After this leader of the peace faction returns to the Kingdom of God, will the Church of the Dead completely join the war?"
Eli read from the Church of Life's newspaper, his expression growing serious.
“Vell is getting more and more chaotic. Not only is the war between the various religions becoming increasingly severe, but there are also those three gods who are eyeing us covetously, attempting to summon the gods of the Abyss. It’s a real headache,” Phil Gray sighed.
"Has the matter with the Second Knights of Destiny been settled?"
"Well, it's fortunate that my uncle lent me that family knight from the Gray family, otherwise I really wouldn't have been able to find a divinely inspired one to serve as the captain of the Second Knights. We have far too few high-ranking knights, but fate has to give me my share in this war. This is the promise I made to Elder Glen."
When shall we depart?
"They will set off tomorrow."
He and Ernest selected a group of outstanding knights of destiny to form the Second Order of Destiny, equipped with weapons purchased from the Cult of Creation, and led by Edmund, they joined the Dawn's allied forces.
"The newspapers say that the leader of the peace faction of the Church of the Dead is about to die, and the leader of the war faction—the Knight Commander and the Grand Elder of the Church of the Dead—is very likely to involve the entire Church of the Dead in the war after the Pope's death. At that time, the chances of Dawn winning will be greatly reduced."
Eli handed the newspaper article to Phil Gray.
"The Church of the Dead is currently divided into two factions. Their Knight Commander and Grand Elder support the war and stand on the side of the Church of Dreams and the Church of War, while their Pope and Archbishops oppose the war and demand neutrality. While the Pope was alive, the pro-peace faction could contend with the pro-war faction, so the Church of the Dead did not make any significant moves. Now that the Pope has passed away, the Church of the Dead's attitude is likely to change!"
After hearing Eli's explanation, Phil Gray also became somewhat worried.
If the Church of the Dead is added to the mix, can the Dawn Alliance still gain the upper hand?
The Dawn Alliance is already struggling to cope with the war and the dream world, and it also has to keep an eye on the progress of the Crimson Catastrophe. With the involvement of the Church of the Dead, it will probably be even more difficult to deal with.
But what can they do?
Although fate is currently moving in a positive direction, its power is still very weak and cannot provide much more help.
He is only at the level of divine revelation.
Just then, he suddenly felt a chill envelop his entire body, followed by the long-unheard whispers of the gods: "Wear the crown of death, and reign supreme upon the throne of bones—"
Phil Gray was taken aback. Was this the prophecy of the god of death?
To don the crown of death?
Does Death mean he wants to become the Pope of the Church of the Dead?
Seriously? I just cleaned up the mess left by the Cult of Destiny, and I got this mission!
However, if he becomes the Pope of the Church of the Dead, it seems that he could indeed force the Church of the Dead to withdraw from the war.
That's one way to do it, isn't it?
He snapped out of his daze and looked at Eli, intending to bring up this outrageous idea, when he saw Eli staring blankly at the ground.
"Hey! What's wrong?"
Eli jumped to his senses. "Boss, I think I just heard the words of the god of death!"
"He also made you the Pope of the Church of the Dead?"
"No, wait, also? Did you just hear the Proverbs? That the God of Death wants you to be the Pope of the Church of the Dead?"
"More or less, what's your motto?"
"It's probably about getting me to end the factional infighting within the Church of the Dead and unify it." Eli tilted his head, muttering to himself in bewilderment, "Really? It varies from person to person? Why isn't I the Pope?"
"Maybe they think I already have experience."
"Hmph, I'm now the Holy Son of the God of Death, so I should be more qualified than you, the Holy Son of the Prophet of the Day, right?" Eli rolled his eyes. "Unify the Church, and of course you can unify it by becoming Pope. Just wait and see who gets crowned. Even a worker can one day become the boss."
“Okay.” Phil Gray smiled.
"The sooner the better, shall we set off tomorrow? Before the next Pope of the Dead ascends the throne, shall we strive for that position? In any case, we haven't made any progress with fate for the time being."
“Alright, tonight I’ll be handing over some business with Patrick and Ernest. They’re not chosen by the God of Death, so it would be more conspicuous for them to come with us to the Church of the Dead.”
"Yes, don't worry, I've got the boss's safety covered."
"So you're still planning to take my seat?"
"Except for the papacy."
The two exchanged a smile and decided to go to the Church of the Dead.
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