Chapter 288 Great Hall of Light

Cathedral of Holy Light, Great Hall of Light.

Pope St. Ivan III sat on his large and gorgeous chair. The holy light emerged from mid-air, illuminating the space with a radius of several meters around the old man. Many bishops of the Church of Light were arranged in an arc in front of St. Ivan III. Apart from this, there was no clergy below the bishop in the Great Hall of Light - this was obviously a high-level gathering.

Veronica opened the door at this moment, and walked to her own position under the gaze of the bishops - on the right hand side of the Pope, that extremely respected position.

The bishops nodded to Veronica, and no one showed any dissatisfaction with her "lateness", at least on the surface. Veronica greeted everyone with a smile, and she exuded a warm and welcoming atmosphere, just like every day in the past.

"Gentlemen, ladies - everyone is here," St. Ivan III spoke, his voice old and hoarse, but it could be heard throughout the hall, "Let's get started. ."

Veronica glanced at the Pope - the old man was a bit older than before. After the last day of the stars, Saint Ivan III's aging rate had increased significantly. Speeding up, almost every day he becomes older than the day before. Now he is an extremely shriveled old man hunched in his seat. From the outside, he looks as if he will die at any time. Only his eyes that still flash the light of wisdom from time to time are still there. Only with the sacred aura that is constantly exuding can people realize the old man's still powerful power and the majesty at the top of the Holy Light Sect.

The Holy Light appeared out of thin air and shone on the Pope. Veronica knew that this was actually a sign that life was about to come to an end. The bridge of the kingdom of God, when the pope is completely enveloped in the holy light, it is the day that the old man returns to the embrace of the Lord forever.

However, no one will feel sad about this, including the Pope himself: This is a symbol of the highest glory. It can be said that every believer of the Holy Light can appear a "miracle" shrouded in holy light while alive. The most glorious and fortunate thing in my heart not only requires an extremely pious heart, but also a very rare spiritual talent that can resonate with the source of the Holy Light. Therefore, Pope St. Ivan III smiled while surrounded by the Holy Light. With an emotion of peace and joy, he glanced at Veronica with a smile, and said in a voice that was not very high but could be heard by everyone: "First of all, let us congratulate the birth of a new living saint, Veronika. Nika has passed the test of the Lord, witnessed the glory of the Kingdom of God and returned to this world. She is already the incarnation of the Holy Light and the Lord’s closest child.”

This matter happened a few days ago. It has already reached the ears of the bishops, but today the Pope personally confirmed this, so the bishops who had been prepared applauded and paid respect and congratulations to Veronica, who smiled in return. , said calmly: "The Holy Light is with each of us."

"The formal celebration will be held todayHeld at night. "Then what we want to discuss is the recent raging of cultists everywhere." The Pope quickly changed to the next topic, "Those evil people are intruding on the believers of the Lord, and their actions are the greatest blasphemy against the Holy Light." ”

One of the bishops stood up. He wore a high golden crown, and his face was old and majestic - but in Veronica’s eyes, he was just the same holy light as everyone else. Just a torch: "Your Majesty, the activities of cultists are becoming more and more rampant. At present, in addition to the four borders, there are also traces of them in the Holy Spirit Plain and even near the Royal Capital, especially the Eternal Sleepers. Those who create dreams are elusive and mysterious. They have caused several sensational terrorist incidents in the western part of the Holy Spirit Plains, and each time they were not discovered until the victims appeared in large numbers. "

"The Eternal Sleeper uses illusions and lies to confuse people's hearts, but the cunning of the heretics can only make the warriors of the Holy Light more determined." Another bishop took a step forward, "Your Majesty, we are in the Western Territory and The North has hanged and burned thousands of cultists, and thrown more heretical fools into the Inquisition. Our actions are inspiring - more and more unbelievers are realizing The God of Holy Light is so great that some heretics even come to seek shelter from the Church of Holy Light, especially in the Western Region. This situation is increasing. "

"Pagans can also become the Lord's people," the pope opened his eyes slightly with a smile on his face. "We welcome anyone's conversion. "

"It is a good thing that our power is growing day by day, but the Lord's warriors also need secular money support to be well-equipped to fight against evil," the third bishop stood up with a solemn expression. The expression said, "Your Majesty, the cost of the new Crusader Army is huge. The weapons of the Paladins and the magic weapon reserves of the Battle Priests are insufficient. We need to find ways to increase sources of income. "

The bishops started talking in low voices, and then a man stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I propose to increase the amount of offerings collected by churches in various places, and urge local lords and rich farmers to donate more of their property - they accepted You should pay more for the protection of the Holy Light. ”

“This year there has been a bumper harvest in the Holy Spirit Plains and the Western Territory, and the common people also have extra money in their hands. Before they are corrupted by these sudden wealth, we can persuade them to donate these extra money to the church in exchange for Peace of mind. They need the church's holy water and blessings to cure diseases and expel nightmares, and they will not dare to reject the church. ”

The bishops put forward their opinions one by one, and these opinions had sufficient reasons and truths. St. Ivan III did not interrupt, but listened carefully until everyone’s speeches were almost the same. After it was over, he glanced at Veronica standing next to him: "What do our new living saints think? "

"Increasing offerings is not a long-term solution, nor is it a stable solution," Veronica nodded and looked at the bishops. Her voice was soft but penetrating, as if she could directly Echoing in everyone's heart, "Worldly people will inevitably be addicted to money. SuddenlyLet them increase their offerings, and they will not be grateful for the protection of the Holy Light. They will only hate someone taking away their belongings first. ”

Some of the bishops echoed Veronica’s view: “It is not appropriate to collect additional money from people who have already converted to the Lord. "Indeed." ""We should think of other ways..."

"We can ask those who were attacked by cultists, abandoned by alien gods, and converted to our Lord after receiving the protection of the Holy Light to pay an additional atonement fee. ," the third bishop just now spoke again, "Because they believed in the wrong god, they were powerless to resist when threatened by the cultists, and they only remembered to revere the Holy Light when they needed the Holy Light, so 'Atonement' is also a matter of course. ”

Veronica couldn’t help but frowned: “Will the atonement become a threshold, shutting out those who originally wanted to convert to our Lord? "

"We can set the amount of atonement according to the convert's family property, such as one-third or one-half of the family property," the bishop said seriously, "This is also a test - -Everyone can afford the atonement. If they still persist in this situation, it only means that they are too stingy and stupid, or their heart to convert to our Lord is not firm enough. Such converts should be rejected. There are good things outside the door. "

The bishops all expressed their approval of this brilliant plan, while Veronica just watched all of this quietly and whispered to herself: "Atonement for sins... "

After a while, the discussion among the bishops ended, and the Pope concluded: "Then the matter is settled, and the specific amount and execution method of the atonement will be handed over to Bishop Talendis. to draw up. Next, what about our missionary work in various places? ”

“Our missionary situation in various countries other than Anzu has not changed much - Typhon’s belief in the God of War has a deep foundation, and all races in the Ogure Tribal State believe in its original gods. The Ling Kingdom is the most receptive to the Holy Light, but due to the influence of elven culture, most of them are light believers. As for Ansu, affected by the recent activities of cultists, our missionary work is progressing smoothly. The number of believers in the southern, western and central regions is increasing rapidly..."

"What about the northern and eastern regions? ”

“The missionary operations in the northern region are also much smoother than before. Although the Wilder family has always been unwilling to openly convert family members, in view of the situation where cultists are raging, Duchess Victoria Wilder has relaxed The restrictions on the activities of Holy Light Priests within the territory have been lifted. As for the East... things are still not good. "

St. Ivan III closed his eyes slightly and whispered to himself: "Is it the land of Duke Silas..."

"Silas Ro Duke Lun is a staunch royalist, and is quite opposed to missionary behavior in his land. Not only the preachers of the Holy Light, but also the missionaries of other sects are also very restricted in his land. We are trying to find ways to get it from him. Looking for a breakthrough point in the family members... but with little success. ”

"Duke Silas Loren has a strong control over the family. As long as his attitude does not change, the entire Loren family will not be shaken." The Pope shook his head, "There is no need to be impatient and let nature take its course. That’s it, they will eventually understand that the Holy Light is the only salvation for mankind.”

The bishops lowered their heads and looked at each other subconsciously, but there was no commotion.

"The Holy Light is the only salvation for mankind" - this is a very sensitive statement in public. It directly challenges the "Holy Covenant" jointly entered into by various sects seven hundred years ago. However, after all, this is the interior of the Holy Light Church, the Great Hall of Light where there are no outsiders, so why bother talking about it?

What’s more, everyone here thinks so too.

After most of the issues were discussed, Veronica looked at a bishop: "Bishop Melev, is there any new news recently about the southernmost pioneer territory?"

The named bishop replied: "The church has not invested much energy there, but a missionary has recently established a church there, and the progress seems to be going well."