Night walked to a piece of floorboards, and with a gentle flick of its paw, the ground instantly cracked open, revealing a stone staircase.
"There seems to be someone inside."
The darkness pointed downwards.
Phil Gray and it went down the steps and came to a circular altar covered with runes.
The stench of blood filled their nostrils. They discovered that the circular altar was filled with blood, whether from animals or humans, and Elder Nancy's lower body was submerged in it.
She struggled and weakly whimpered, but her hands and feet were bound by chains, and her efforts were in vain.
Phil Gray rushed forward to save Elder Nancy, who fainted upon seeing him. Night said in a deep voice, "This is a sacrifice to Eris Ned. I estimate that this Pope of Dawn has sacrificed a lot of Divine Descent Elders in an attempt to summon Him to Were."
Just as it finished speaking, it remembered something and slapped its head with its little paw. "We're doomed! Those three evil gods must have started making their move as well. If they also offer sacrifices and summon, and this happens on top of that, once Eris has enough offerings, he might really descend upon Weir!"
"Then what should we do?"
"We can't delay any longer. Once you've dealt with things here at Dawn, we'll take care of them!" A ruthless glint flashed in Night's eyes.
"Your divine powers have been restored?"
Hei Ye lowered his head and slowly said, "No, I can only use roughly the power of a god at the moment, but they are in a possessed state and are severely restricted. With you by my side, we should be able to deal with them, right? In any case, we have to go and see. If they succeed and send the gods of the Abyss to the mortal world, I'm afraid few humans will survive."
“Okay.” Phil Gray was also very worried. He helped Elder Nancy out of the Dawn Cathedral and then had the guards at the door summon all the high-ranking clergy of the Dawn Church to tell them that His Holiness the Pope was in trouble!
Chaos erupted throughout Dawn, with panic gripping the people. The patriarchs of various families in Dawn and the bishops of the major districts of the City of Light gathered at the cathedral.
In the past, when His Holiness the Pope was not present, the elders would take charge of the situation. But now, only Elder Nancy, who was unconscious, and a Holy Son remained, and this Holy Son was the Pope of the Church of Destiny.
For a moment, everyone had their own thoughts.
"The priests of the Church of Life have arrived," a Dawn Knight said breathlessly, bringing over a Life priest dressed in green robes.
This is a high-ranking life-giver who resides in the City of Light. Whenever any of the high-ranking members of Dawn are injured, they ask him for treatment.
The pastor went over to check on Elder Nancy's condition and fed her some colorful leaves.
"Don't worry, Elder, she has only had some of her blood and divine power drained. She will recover soon. I gave her some medicine, and she will wake up in a little while."
Phil Gray was relieved. They waited for Elder Nancy to wake up. During this time, he told everyone present about the Dawn Pope being corrupted by the gods of the Abyss, and also had the Pope's body properly disposed of.
The altar was destroyed by the power of the night to prevent others from being corrupted later.
Finally, Elder Nancy opened her eyes and found herself lying back in a comfortable chair, with the familiar faces of the Vatican in front of her.
“Elder Nancy, are you feeling better?” Phil Gray asked worriedly.
Elder Nancy turned her gaze to him, and tears welled up in her eyes, streaming down her aged face. She grasped Phil Gray's hand tightly: "Thank goodness for you, child, you are Dawn's only luck!"
"Elder, did our Pope really kill the other elders?" someone couldn't help but ask.
Even after hearing the Holy Son's explanation, they still found it hard to believe.
"Yes, by the time I realized something was wrong, all the other elders had already perished at His Majesty's hands. I feared I would not escape my fate either, so I sent someone to plead with Fate for help," Elder Nancy said with a heavy heart.
"But wasn't Elder Memphis sent to the Crimson Calamity to keep an eye on their movements? When did he return?"
"Yes, they were all secretly recalled by His Majesty. Who could have imagined that His Majesty would turn out like that?"
Phil Gray fell silent, thinking of the old man who longed for his granddaughter, and felt a pang of sadness.
And Elder Gelan, their voices and faces are still there, but they have all become sacrifices.
If they defeat the gods of the Abyss, will they be able to return?
"Besides the elders, where is our leader, the Knights of Dawn? Without a god to resist on the Dream Front, relying on some ordinary followers is probably..." someone said worriedly.
Several border cities have already been occupied. The methods of the Dream Realm are bizarre. If they don't have a god descend to stop them, the entire Dawn Realm will probably soon be trapped in the Dream Realm forever.
“There’s no need to worry about that. The commander escaped from His Holiness the Pope, but he’s not in good health and is hiding somewhere. Now that His Holiness has passed away, he no longer needs to hide and will return to the front lines to resume command of the Dawn Knights in a few days,” Elder Nancy said slowly.
When the topic of His Majesty's passing came up, everyone unanimously thought of the same question, or rather, the question had been lingering in their throats for a long time, but no one dared to speak first.
Finally, someone said, "Now that Dawn is without a master, what about the next pope..."
Elder Nancy shook her head and glanced at everyone present. "Does this need further explanation? Naturally, it will be done according to the rules of Dawn, with the Holy Son succeeding to the throne. Now that Holy Son Vincent is possessed by an evil god and his fate is unknown, only Holy Son Phil can take charge of the situation."
"Uh...but..."
For a moment, everyone stammered and couldn't say anything. Elder Nancy's words were correct, but this Holy Son Phil was not only their Dawn's Holy Son, but also the Pope of the Church of Destiny!
In the history of the continent of Ver, no one has ever simultaneously become the emperor of two religions. This is simply too absurd.
"No buts? Can you suggest any other better candidates?"
Indeed, no one can be mentioned. This holy son bears the mark of a prophet of the day. Who could be more favored by the gods than him? Moreover, he is already the emperor of a religion. Who could have more experience than him?
The group looked at each other, and fell silent for a moment.
Phil Gray didn't want to delay any longer. After dealing with the Dawn matter, he still had to go with Night to deal with the evil god on the Crimson Calamity side. So he said solemnly, "Since Elder Nancy has said so, I will not refuse. I am willing to become the Pope of the Dawn Cult. Now that Dawn is facing a crisis, I will do my best to help Dawn overcome the crisis."
"Very good!" Elder Nancy clapped her hands with satisfaction. "Now that I am the only elder left, I will crown you now, and we will hold another ceremony for you after the war ends."
Everyone's lips twitched slightly. Why did Elder Nancy look like she was afraid this holy son would run away?
But now, only this Holy Son can help Dawn overcome this crisis.
They knelt down and shouted in unison:
"Greetings, Your Holiness the Pope!"
Elder Nancy tremblingly took the crown from the servant and placed it on Phil Gray's head.
"Your Majesty, the Dawn is now in your hands!"
"Rest assured." Phil Gray turned and sat on the papal throne, at which moment he truly became the emperor of the three religions.
...
The funeral of the former Pope of Dawn was very simple. On the one hand, with war preceding it, everything had to be kept simple. On the other hand, although he was controlled by the gods of the Abyss, he had indeed caused irreparable damage, so it might be better for him to rest in peace sooner.
As the First Church, Dawn has formed a fairly complete system. The Pope does not have many important matters to deal with. The only thing that needs to be resolved is the current war.
Phil Gray hesitated, wondering if he should go to the front lines himself to reverse Dawn's disadvantage as soon as possible.
Two days later, just as he was about to set off, he heard some exciting news from the front lines: all three gods of the Dream Realm had been injured by one of Dawn's men!
"Was it Commander Upton's doing?" Phil Gray asked the kneeling messenger.
"No, it wasn't Commander Upton. Although that person possessed the power of Dawn, he had no contact with our legion and seemed very strange. If someone hadn't witnessed his fight with those three degraded gods and discovered that he used the power of Dawn, no one would have known that he was one of our Dawn members."
“Upton’s injuries haven’t healed yet, so it definitely wasn’t him,” Elder Nancy added from the side. Her complexion had improved considerably after two days of rest, but the worry lingered between her brows.
"Who could it be?" Phil Gray frowned in thought, but at present, apart from him and Elder Nancy, there shouldn't be any other gods who have been demoted in Dawn.
He raised his head. "No matter who it is, I'll find out once I go and see for myself."
“The current divine demotion level in the dream realm is seriously injured, which should temporarily relieve the pressure on the front line. Do you still want to go?” Elder Nancy asked worriedly.
“Yes,” Phil Gray looked up and glanced at the warm sunlight outside the window, “the war should end.”
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