A ray of holy light from Talos not only affected the Sunburnt Tower in the secular world, but its light also penetrated the chaotic vortex in the center of the world of Kolo, appearing in the eyes of the Sanctuary people.
For many days, the sanctuary has been shrouded in a tense and depressive atmosphere. The continuous weakening of Asuman's light has approached the final limit, and the order shield covering the floating continent is so thin that it is almost indistinguishable to the naked eye. , the dark and chaotic power in the endless nothingness is constantly surging outside the barrier, like an upside-down sea, ready to cover the entire continent at any time—such a terrifying scene weighs heavily on the hearts of every Sanctuary. A proud race is now dominated by feelings of despondency and despair.
But suddenly, a strong light shone from the other side of the drowsy chaos. The strong light tore through the boundary between space and time, as if dividing the sky into two, illuminating the space outside the barrier. This scene shocked everyone. In addition to the consternation, there was an unfounded hope out of thin air.
In the eyes of Sanctuary people who devoutly believe in the Goddess of Creation, this ray of light is almost a miracle. It seems to herald the end of the dark hour—although the ray of light gradually dissipated after more than ten minutes, it has already inspired the people on this continent. of many people.
However, most of the people who are encouraged are ordinary people, and the real upper managers dare not be rashly optimistic.
Pope August VII summoned all the cardinals and inner court bachelors in the pure white hall of the Icon Palace. Under the eternal holy light of the pure white hall, these most wise and authoritative theology and erudition Everyone was discussing the impact of the previous light. August VII sat on the high Pope's throne and listened to the report of one of the cardinals.
"Your Majesty, we have confirmed that the ray of light came from Ansu Continent, but we can't determine the specific location. Chaos and fog have shrouded the trajectory of each continent. Now we can't observe any specific land. We can only roughly estimate it based on the world model." Calculate the current position of other continents, but as the chaos becomes more and more rampant, the accuracy of this position calculation is also declining."
A group of exquisite models carved out of magic gemstones floated beside the cardinal who spoke. These models restored the details of the five floating continents and dozens of larger floating islands in Kolo World with amazing craftsmanship. Running slowly in the air, it simulated the approximate position of each piece of land in the Sea of Karnos at the moment based on certain ancient data.
However, due to the influence of chaotic tides, the accuracy of this model is actually not very high.
"Ansu Continent...very good," August VII rubbed his forehead, "Asuman's revelation has been confirmed once again, and there is a miracle descended by the Goddess of Creation on that continent."
"The beam of light caused a great stir among commoners and lowly priests," another bishop stood up, "the good news is that our morale is recovering, and the explanation about that beam of light has gone out, and it is now recognized as inspirational Miracle. But there is also bad news: after the beam of light disappeared, everything returned to normal. Asuman's light was still weakening, and the barrier over the sanctuary had not been strengthened. The effectiveness of this miracle may fade over time— If no new miracle happens."
"The light is just a sign, it is a sign from the kingdom of God in order for us to persevere in this dark age. We should fight bravely in the dark to respond to the will of the goddess," August said angrily. Slowly said, "Sanctuary people never give up hope, this has been the case throughout the ages."
Another bishop stood up: "The output power of the holy mountain Asuman has dropped by 1% again, and its weakening speed has stabilized. It is estimated that there will be no sudden fluctuations, but if this trend continues, at most there will be more In half a month, we will completely lose our barrier, and at that time, the sanctuary will be plunged into darkness like the mortal world, and we will fight on this sacred land—the blood of chaos will defile the holy land."
"Then we will fight against them, just like those secular kingdoms," another bishop said loudly, "secular kingdoms can fight bravely, and of course people in the sanctuary will not retreat. We built the Tower of Fire and the Tower of Sunburn, and with the remaining strength of Asumen, these towers will allow us to survive this tide of chaos."
"The key is the next century - if Asuman cannot be restored, it is useless for us to survive this tide, and we cannot throw the burden on our descendants. I still insist on restoring Asuman as the first priority. I have a plan... "
The bishops once again fell into a debate on this topic. Various immature or unconstrained plans were brought up, and then rejected by themselves one by one. Each of them is a sincere and good person—doing their best for the future of this world and the safety of the sanctuary, but with mortal wisdom, it is difficult to solve the ultimate problem after all.
The holy mountain Assuman.
The second half of the meeting was almost fruitless, and August VII had to stop everyone from arguing. After the bishop and scholars left the pure white hall, the Pope stood up exhaustedly, his body that was no longer youthful made a joint sound, and he felt that the crown on his head was so heavy that it seemed to break his neck. Huapao also bound hands and feet like shackles.
The valet at the side immediately stepped forward. The middle-aged man who had followed August VII for thirty years could see the deep tiredness on the Pope's face. He helped the latter take off the heavy gold crown and took the one again. Scepter: "Your Majesty, do you want to go back to the palace to rest?"
"No," the Pope waved his hand, "let's go to the Hall of Icons."
The valet blinked, as if he was a little surprised by the answer, but the habit he had developed over the years still made him swallow the question, and just nodded slightly.
Hall of Icons—From the name, it can be heard that it has a special meaning in this Palace of Icons. This hall is almost the most magnificent space in the Icon Palace, and it is also the most sacred place. Starting from the Pure White Hall, you need to go through three corridors, two inner courtyards, and two long halls to reach its entrance. The Pope was no longer young, and he was even more unwilling to use convenient magic when going to the sanctuary, so he walked for almost an hour before arriving in front of the hall of icons.
The valet pushed open the golden-red door, and the Pope tidied up his clothes before stepping into the hall.
The hall is wide and empty, without any tables and chairs, only two rows of tall columns arranged in parallel, extending from one end of the hall to the other. There seems to be a layer of white holy light floating in it.
On both sides of the hall, behind the two rows of columns, huge lifelike statues are sitting quietly, majestic and sacred.
August VII walked forward along the central axis of the hall, bathed in the gaze of the two rows of icons, as if accepting the review of the ancient kings, full of piety and abandoning distracting thoughts.
This is the Hall of Icons, and its name comes from the sacred statues in the hall, and even the name of the entire Icon Palace is named after it.
No one knows who made these statues, not even a word from the founder of the Order—this room existed long before the founding of the Order, and the twenty-one icons seemed to come from a time before mortals, And the entire Palace of Icons is just a building shell expanded on the basis of the original "Icon Hall". As time goes by, popes have changed from generation to generation, and secular kingdoms have changed from generation to generation. Only the mysterious colossus in the Hall of Icons has not changed since ancient times.
These giant statues would be ten meters high if they stood up, but their size is far from their most eye-catching place. What really makes people amazed and even awe-inspiring is the lifelike appearance of these giant statues: although they are made of stone, they seem to be real people. Generally, the eyebrows are clear, the beard and hair are fully visible, as if a group of real living rock giants are sitting here, they are not like sculptures, but like sleeping creatures.
This made everyone who stepped into the Hall of Icons shudder for the first time. Even August VII still remembered the fear and anxiety he felt when he first stepped into this place.
But that is all in the past, and now he has become the Pope, stepping into the Hall of Icons and accepting the gaze of every giant statue, this is no longer a daunting challenge, but a kind of baptism for the soul and heart.
The Pope walked all the way to the end of the hall, and was about to come to the holy statue known as the "King of Kings", but at this moment, he suddenly stopped, staring at the direction he came with wide eyes.
The two rows of giant statues remained silent as always, with no expression on their cold rock faces, but their eyes were fixed on the center of the hall, seemingly unchanged.
But August VII had a creepy feeling emerging from his heart.
He shook his head, he hadn't felt this way in years, he was surprised why he lost his composure.
At that moment just now, he felt that what was staring at him was no longer the glorious ancient kings, but an indescribable terrifying thing. Those empty eyes fell on him, which made him feel like he was falling into the abyss. illusion.
The old Pope collected himself, and shook the weird illusion out of his mind. He turned around and bowed reverently in front of the icon of the "King of Kings".
"Ancient wardens, please give me a clear indication..."
The deep voice of the old Pope echoed in front of the icon of the King of Kings.
Then the sound stopped abruptly. (to be continued~^~)