"—I'm resurrected!"
Faced with the miracle of the former pope's resurrection from the dead and his impassioned declaration, Ludovic remained expressionless and looked at his smile coldly.
resurrection
Nonsense.
As a member of the Cardinal Church and the president of the Order of the Holy Ones who holds many secrets, he knows better than anyone else that the resurrection mentioned in the holy scriptures is nothing but nonsense.
If he could be resurrected, why would he choose the Red King from generation to generation? Wouldn't it be better to let the oldest Red King rule this world forever
If it was just to make a dead person stand in front of others again, Ludovic knew countless ways.
The "human body refining" of the school of change puts a series of elements such as iron, calcium, sodium, potassium... into water and replaces them into a complete human body.
The Psalm School of Flesh Multiplication can collect a small piece of human flesh and then cultivate it completely.
Not to mention the school of illusion materializing illusions, and the school of summoning using animal nature to simulate human nature and creating humanoid monsters out of thin air...
But this is far from resurrection.
In other words, the most perfect resurrection cannot be achieved...
Then, there is only one possibility left.
"I see, is it a substitute who died?"
Ludovic nodded slowly: "From this point of view, it was a miscalculation."
But in front of him, the old guard slowly shook his head: "If you want to talk about the Pope, the substitute should be me. Or, let's use a more accurate term, let's call it... the predecessor. I am the Pope's substitute. Predecessor, but I am not the Pope, and neither are you..."
Ludovic sneered: "If you want to regain the position of Pope, don't pretend to be a fool. We have been old friends for so many years. Perhaps, I should try your skills to experience the power of the Red King."
Facing the piercing killing intent emanating from Ludovic, the watcher couldn't help but sigh:
"No need, I'm not the Red King, why would I fight with the human incarnation of the Hundred-Eyed One? Just be nice and don't kill me, okay? I won't steal it from you."
He asked without dignity, his eyes widened to show his sincerity: "Look, you passed the selection of the Sistine Council, you put on the crown in public, and held the papal scepter. Now the whole world knows that you are It’s the Pope, isn’t it?”
He paused and murmured meaningfully: "Although the so-called Pope is just a new coat. And you still need the last step... "
Before he finished speaking, the ground in the hall shook violently.
Cracks emerged from the steel ground, then rapidly expanded and increased in value, and finally fell apart amidst the operation of the machinery below.
Countless steel collided, and amid the roar of hammers, the light of hot lava emerged from under the steel floor. In the hot lava, countless mechanisms absorb the heat of the lava and operate, bursting out with great power.
The hammer struck, the lathe ran, and in the lava, the huge winch slowly rotated, pulling the iron coffin brewing in the flames to slowly rise.
The iron coffin absorbing the high heat had turned scorching red and fell to the ground, but it did not emit any hot air. All the heat was greedily absorbed by the things inside the iron coffin.
In the sacred cauldron, the handful of crystal blood disappeared without knowing when.
As the iron coffin fell apart, a boiling sound sounded.
In the iron coffin, a steel skeleton floated in a huge petri dish.
In the low roar, the sacred blood was injected into it, turning into countless red crystals and attaching to the skeleton, plating the steel skeleton with a layer of red.
Soon, the red crystal turned into a thin layer of fascia and flesh.
In the dazzling electric light and roar, countless blood-colored crystals proliferated from the iron bones. Sometimes they showed an iron-like color, sometimes they turned into pale green or pure white. In the end, they gradually became fixed and turned into A material like flesh and blood.
Even if it is completely different from flesh and blood.
A brand new body slowly emerged from it, neither more nor less, neither weak nor strong, just like an ordinary person's body. First comes the muscles and fascia, then the internal organs and organs, and finally the skin and hair.
As the petri dish burst and the sticky liquid splashed, the thing that relied on the iron bones to transform into a human finally opened its eyes, reached out, and pulled out the tube on the back of its head.
The slender and sharp pipe pierced his head and fell to the ground with a crackling electric light on it.
Immediately afterwards, the look of humanity lit up in the hollow eyes of the body.
But that face... it looked like Ludovic!
The guardian of the altar cracked nuts and asked calmly: "Have you changed into new clothes?"
The new "Ludovic" nodded and looked at his palms:
"It's much easier than before..."
When he first started speaking, his voice was a little stiff, but soon it became smooth. It changed from a hoarse and strange electric sound to a deep and powerful voice that was indistinguishable from Ludovic.
He glanced at the guardian and said calmly: "Your body template is too bad."
"You wouldn't say that in front of me, would you?"
The caretaker sighed helplessly, "Although the clothes are not as good as new, although the old clothes are not good-looking, they still have feelings. I let you hang around outside in my skin for so many years, and I didn't even say a word of thanks. Isn't that too much? My old arms and legs are no longer as useful as others! Do you have any conscience?"
“…”
"Ludovic" was silent.
The watcher shook his head and sighed: "Hasn't the new personality been loaded yet? You can't even joke."
The newly born Ludovic ignored him, but stared at the gloomy "body" holding the papal scepter, and stretched out his hand:
"Now, you can return the scepter that belongs to me to me."
"I see."
Ludovic looked at the ghost in front of him coldly, with a clear expression: "... Is it a dead thing? You are not a human being, not even a living thing, you just look exactly like a human being. Through the ages The Pope is actually such a puppet?"
He stared at the watcher mockingly and laughed: "The Sistine Councils of all ages are actually looking for a new dress for this ghost? Where is the self-will that you are so proud of? It is embodied in this dead puppet. What?"
"Dead thing? Doesn't it seem like you recognized me?"
The person called the ghost opened his mouth and made a familiar sound, but this time it sounded like dozens of voices overlapping together:
"It's disappointing, Ludovic. Didn't you just laugh at me for being a 'fool on the wall' who doesn't choose a side for himself?"
At that moment, Ludovic was stunned and his expression changed.
"... Nibelungen?"
"No."
The guard shook his head indifferently:
"This is the 'Red King'."
On the altar, the ethereal light suddenly expanded and lit up, illuminating the dim hall and the wall behind the altar.
Sixteen crystal boxes filled with sticky liquid are inlaid on the plain wall.
In those boxes, brains were soaked one after another in the strange-colored liquid, a total of sixteen.
The brains that were taken out of the skull were soaked in the body and were still functioning. Although some had shrunk and shriveled after a long period of time, they still looked fresh.
Strands of strains are wrapped around those brains and rooted in their consciousness, looking like weeds growing on the brains.
They extended from the crystal box, entangled with each other, and finally submerged into the huge alchemical matrix. Following the alchemical matrix, it sank into the deepest layer of the underground palace, connecting countless brains.
Every other month, a group of dead people's brains are taken out, connected to this huge network, and become a part of it... Those dead people are reborn in this "kingdom of the dead"!
"See? This is the real Nibelungen."
The guardian stroked the boxes and whispered softly:
"—The Kingdom of the Dead under the Holy City!"
"… you… "
Ludovic's face was livid and he gritted his teeth: "You dedicated yourselves to the Nibelungs?"
"It's just coexistence."
The puppet who looked exactly like Ludovic spoke, staring at the thin strains of spider silk, "Among the three sages, the body of Nibelung is just a parasite like this strain - its consciousness is too high. It was so weak that it could not exist on its own, and it could only survive with the help of humans. So, the first generation of the Red King signed a contract with it, and starting from him, he became a part of it... "
Since then, successive popes have integrated their brains into it like the Red King.
The Nibelung strain parasitizes in those brains, maintaining their consciousness and connecting their thoughts together.
In this strange community-like situation, mankind is able to inherit the terrible secrets from the ancient dark ages and contend with natural disasters.
Up to now, with the efforts of successive popes, the consciousness of Nibelungen has become a behemoth that is incomparable to mankind, and has become the foundation of the holy city and the human world.
The cardinal selected by the Sistine Council to succeed the pope came here, walked into the greatest secret of this holy city, served as its "guardian", and could never leave again.
It is not until a new successor emerges that the old Watchers follow in the footsteps of their predecessors and integrate themselves into the realm of the dead, joining the popes of the past.
All this time, what people have seen is only its surface consciousness - the artificial intelligence unified by the "Catastrophe Nibelung" itself - which supports the huge internal affairs of the sect and builds a " "Green Gold" is a balanced financial system that allows money to flow smoothly between the countries and the Holy City like blood.
The "lighthouse" is its eyes, helping it monitor all activities in the world all the time, and the huge wisdom composed of countless brains assists the Cardinals, using the Order as a carrier, to maintain the safety of the human world. Stable and balanced.
Just as it said to Ludovic, the Nibelungs record everything and witness everything, but this is just one of the purposes that the "Nibelungs" bring to this "group".
And the leader of its true core consciousness is the brains of the sixteen former popes in the crystal box...
In this way, with the Nibelung as an intermediary, the dead and the living, the dead and the saints, humans and natural disasters merged into one.
In front of the altar, the puppet, no, it should be said to be the "Pope", spread out his hands, and declared to Ludovic in the tone and face of past popes:
"What you see now is the unified consciousness of sixteen generations of popes from ancient times to the present, the real... 'Red King'!"
Next to the Pope, the watcher sighed helplessly and glanced at Ludovic: "Thanks to you, I was supposed to be the seventeenth... It seems I have to wait another thirty years."
“…”
Ludovic was silent.
In the deathly silence, he stared indifferently at the Pope and the Guardian in front of him, but his eyes were still arrogant and disdainful, and he just sneered:
“The tricks humans can play never cease to amaze me.”
"Why are you still holding it now?"
The watcher looked at him and couldn't help but shake his head: "After being overturned, you have to say 'This is impossible' twice before it counts!"
"Comeback?"
Ludovic sneered and threw down the papal scepter in his hand: "No, you got one thing wrong, and that is... you have already lost since I walked in here!"
boom!
A loud noise brewed from his body.
A sad crack stretched from his body, across his face, with fine cracks extending to all sides, and peeling fragments fell from his body.
At this moment, he no longer wanted to be an ordinary human being, but had become alienated into a non-human being. He looked more like a piece of porcelain on the verge of breaking.
But under the crack, there was no blood, but darkness, a darkness that could not be seen to the bottom.
It's like leading to an abyss.
Dark flames extended from the cracks, burning away his old face and clothes, revealing his true appearance.
Wearing a three-layered crown, the crown is inlaid with deep purple gems, reflecting the brilliance of the abyss.
Holding a six-section scepter, the scepter looked like it was carved from white bones. At the head of the scepter, the bone holy symbol was dyed red with blood.
Wearing a pitch-black robe, the robe is decorated with silver patterns, depicting a dark and terrifying hell.
After the flesh and blood were burned away, the body revealed the skeleton decorated with lapis lazuli, agate, and amber. Under the decoration of jewelry, the skeleton became solemn and solemn.
In terms of appearance, Ludovic's features have all faded away, replaced by a blur of black mist, spreading out a dark but sacred melody.
It still looked like the Pope, but no Pope had ever had such an eerie aura.
At this moment, he has given up the disguise of "Ludovic" and transformed into his true self.
The real "Original Dark Pope"!
The current Saloman Temple has been swallowed up by the breath of the abyss.
"Wait a minute? This is not a steal. Do you want to force it?"
The guard wiped the cold sweat from his forehead in astonishment and glanced at the Pope in front of him: "I'm done with my rhetoric, and I'll leave the rest to you. Hold on!"
After saying that, he rolled skillfully on the spot, grabbed the papal scepter on the ground without any care, and then fell into the crack below along with the Nibelungs and disappeared.
"Then, let's announce it!"
The original dark pope's voice sounded from between heaven and earth.
The cold and solemn hoarse voice spread in all directions, covering the entire Holy City, but it still did not stop, but swept into all directions.
From the permafrost wasteland in the north, to the endless ocean in the west, from the burning desert in the south, to the hundreds of thousands of mountains in the east. Even in the dark world, in the secret realm of ether...
At this moment, all human beings in Asgard, Angelus, Burgundy, the Caucasus Federation and even the Cathay Empire, whether awake or sleeping, old or children, men or women.
All humans and all monsters heard the voice from the original Dark Pope.
Immediately afterwards, the deepest part of the etheric world, the silent abyss, suddenly erupted into endless darkness. A loud and shrill bell sounded from the abyss.
As a result, all the musicians became excited.
They all felt it…
The entire sea of ether is boiling!
In my lifetime, there has never been such a heroic and terrifying scene. In the ethereal sea of nothingness, countless waves rise from the ground, and the ocean tide sweeps in all directions.
The storm raised from the deepest part of the etheric realm rushed into the ocean, rolling up countless whirlpools and tornadoes, causing all the musicians to temporarily lose the ability to perform music.
But what's even more terrifying is the terrifying etheric fluctuations that rise from the wilderness with the call of the bell.
That's a natural disaster!
At this moment, the central temple was filled with sirens, and unprecedented high-pitched sirens sounded from everyone's ears.
The Silver Tide, the Holy White Storm, the Rain of Destruction Fire, and the Abaddon Locust Plague... eight major phenomena appear in turn.
At that moment, the silver sea of ether was dyed blood red, and the endless waves turned into a blood tide, signaling the coming destruction.
Immediately afterwards, in the dim nebula, dozens of scorching suns suddenly appeared - it was the terrifying wave set off by the natural disaster.
They revive, they come.
At this moment, the heads of all observation institutions in various countries have a hysterical urge to draw their swords and kill themselves.
In the terrifying sound of the Bell of Destruction, in the restricted area of the dark world, those natural disasters who had been sleeping for countless years woke up at the same time.
Then, following the guidance of the bell, we headed towards the human world.
"Beast of Chaos", "Bahamut", "Eagle Winged Mother", "Son of Spider", "Setus", "Eyeless Snake"...
Just during observation, in just a few seconds, more than a dozen terrible natural disasters that were included in the list of major threats have resurrected.
Even the traces of the Dark Earth Mother appeared again.
In the abyss, the dark ministers cast their dark sights on the material world, staring at this city of steel.
But the most frightening thing is that in the deepest part of the abyss, in the violent darkness, the terrifying figure that is so huge that it is unimaginable for humans opens its eyes...
One pair, two pairs, three pairs... and finally, eyes shining like stars in the sky in the darkness. That is the true form of the Hundred-Eyed One, the essence of the Abyss!
Now the abyss stares back at you.
"Your golden age is coming to an end—"
Relying on the incarnation of the original Dark Pope, his hoarse voice rings in everyone's ears, making people excited and crazy. With the sound of the bell, everything seemed to be swallowed into the bottomless abyss.
"—From now on, eternal darkness will descend!"