Chapter 617 Destiny

  Different from the city where candles are wafting, the deeper the inside of the Saint Nalo Cathedral, the less the light. The candles that were placed have already been extinguished, leaving only the solidified wax oil coating the ground.

  Anthony walked slowly toward the depths of darkness. The walls full of angels and demons slowly opened. After the gate of heaven, the elevator took Anthony to the deepest depths of darkness.

  That is the border between heaven and hell, and rotten dust rolls in the deep darkness.

There is no defense in the Silent Temple, not even the Demon Hunter. Only the new Pope stays alone here. Since a certain day, he has been sitting on his knees by the Well of Ascension, under the cold iron surface. , No one knew what he was thinking.

  Everything is slowly falling, probably because of the conversation with Samuel, the long past is still repeated in front of my eyes.

   Anthony recalled.

  He has always believed that he is shrouded in the radiance of faith, and as long as he completely dedicate everything he has, God will sweep away his powerful enemies.

  The fact is indeed the case. In that nightmare night, he was the only person who was not timid. He held a spear and pierced and nailed the burning witcher.

  Anthony did it, and God did it, but for some reason, Anthony’s faith has not been firm since then.

  He began to doubt.

  "What is faith..."

  He whispered.

  Even after so long, the face of the Demon Hunter before his death continued to flash in front of his eyes. He didn't have any last words, and probably he didn't bother to say anything, but Anthony read the last question in his gloomy eyes.

【Why? 】

  After that, Anthony often had insomnia, and in the deepest part of the night, he seemed to have returned to that bad night.

For example, to measure beliefs, Anthony doesn't think he can compare to the demon hunters. They are God's most loyal sharp edge against the dark front line. Only the most pious belief can make them survive the difficult trials, but the last such people , But died in his own hands.

  Or...in the hands of God.

  So, what exactly is faith?

  Is it a real unknown? Or is it just a tool for manipulating people's minds?

  Until that moment, Anthony realized that he never seemed to understand what faith is.

  Everyone is a lost lamb, waiting for the day when the farmer harvests, a new kingdom of heaven is piled up in the blood and corpses.

  Anthony couldn't understand it. After so many years, he still didn't understand it.

He once asked the highly respected cardinal and pursued the most devout pastor. Even the teachers of the seminary visited him, but Anthony still couldn't find the answer until one day, he met a man at the end of the alley. …

  The sound of metal friction awakened Anthony and recovered him from his absence. The elevator had arrived at the Temple of Silence. He did not hesitate to abandon the messy thoughts and walked forward.

  The sound of footsteps is particularly clear in this empty hall. It is obviously deep underground, but there is a breeze, as if there are countless dead souls wandering in it, venting breath to the living.

  Anthony can see the end of his field of vision, the figure kneeling by the abyss. He doesn't know how long he has kept this action. The white robe is covered with dust, like a sculpture that is still placed.

  If he hadn't heard the faint gasp, Anthony might have mistakenly thought that the new pope was dead.

  After all, he is indeed not far from death.

   "Under the crown, how are you?"

   Anthony looked at him like this, worried.

  He didn’t know exactly when all these changes happened. In short, when he discovered the new pope, he had been down in blood for a long time, and most of the blood had dried up.

  The violent erosion remained beside the well of sublimation, as if some kind of evil demon crawled out of the well and inflicted heavy damage on him.

  Fortunately, the new pope did not die, but this raging erosion undoubtedly aggravated the corruption of his will. This time, the new pope did not know how long he could support.

   "I'm okay... at least temporarily can't die."

  The figure of the new pope is hoarse, and his eyes from under the iron face look directly at the dark well, never leaving.

Anthony stood beside him. From a high position, he could clearly see the armor worn by the new pope. They were very thin, so they were easily covered by the robe, and the craftsmanship was not fine, on the contrary, they were very rough. It's like trying to create a prototype and then put it into use.

  This is the armor of the holy silver, which can help the new pope insulate from erosion. Similarly, it also isolates himself from the outside world. It is both an umbrella and a corresponding cage.

  "I was just remembering the past, and when I remembered, I got stuck in it..."

  The new pope may have sensed the end of fate. He has always been indifferent, and he rarely expressed a little emotion, but this weak emotion is still so cold, as if he lost his temperature a long time ago.

  "They always say that when a person dies, he will look back on his life and relive all the memories, just like living again in a short moment.

  This is the time God has given you. God will review your good deeds, count your sins, and make a final judgment on you in the review. "

  The new pope paused, thinking of the guy named Lorenzo Holmos, the fuzzy face of 047 in his memory, he continued.

   "Unfortunately, from his intelligence, there is no **** in this world, and what we have adhered to for thousands of years is nothing more than a white lie."

   "Your faith... collapsed?"

   Anthony said tentatively that he knew the offense of his words, but he was still curious when he heard the new pope talk about it.

   "No, this kind of thing collapsed as early as the night of Holy Prophet, you should know."

  The new pope hesitated, he was thinking about how to express it.

"I just feel a bit regretful. My consciousness is no longer sharp, my memory has become blurred, and those familiar faces have been forgotten one by one... I didn't care about this. After all, we will meet again in the retrospect of a lifetime, but now I I can't see them anymore."

   "So I'm trying to review all this. Since there is no God to judge me, then let me judge myself by myself."

  The new pope let out a hoarse laugh, then raised his head and looked up at Anthony.

   "I just remembered when I met you."

   Anthony’s expression was a little surprised, and then those memories appeared in his mind, "I remember it was a thunderstorm night."

   "Yes, on a thunderstorm night, I blocked you in a dark alley. According to my expectation, I will avenge everyone, and you are on the list."

   "Because I killed Michael?"

"How could it be, how could you kill him? Michael was so powerful, and you were just an ordinary mortal at the time," the new pope sneered, then sighed, "He was just too tired, before he fell completely. I was stabbed by you...but people's anger always needs a catharsis, doesn't it?"

  Anthony did not respond.

  Yes, according to the trajectory of fate, he should have died in that thunderstorm night, but like a tease of fate, everything went in another direction.

   "You should have died there, but you survived," the new pope remembered something and asked, "I never seemed to ask you, why did you say that at the time?"

Strangely speaking, one is the mysterious pope who suddenly rises, and the other is the Templar knights who suddenly betrayed all the cardinals. They are the real group. It stands to reason that they should know each other thoroughly, but sometimes they seem to never understand. Passing each other, just adhering to the tacit understanding that some people can't understand, all the way to the present.

   Anthony did not answer, but there were rustling rain in his ears.

  In the night where the cold rain and the thunder were intertwined, Anthony looked at the man standing under the heavy rain, his eyes rolled with a light similar to thunder.

  At that moment, without saying more, Anthony knew who the other party was and what he was going to do, but before his death was approaching, he questioned the surviving Raphael.

   "What exactly is faith?"

  Anthony stood in the rain, like a lost lamb.

  Raphael had already mobilized the secret blood, as long as he wanted, he could make Anthony struggle to die in the most desperate hell, allowing him to enjoy the same but more painful suffering of all the demon hunters before they died.

  But when I heard Anthony's words, for some reason, Raphael did not do anything.

  Every witcher used to be a priest, this is the only way in their career, and so is Raphael.

  Looking at Anthony, he suddenly felt that he was not a madman who came for revenge, but a guide who led the lamb.

"We were united at that time. As for my reason, why did I say those words, it is actually just like what I said to you. I just want to know what faith is. Before I figure this out, I still Don't want to die."

   Anthony replied, and continued preaching along the vein of memory.

  "Since the night of the Holy Land, I have been thinking about who is truly pious, the cardinals who survived, or the demon hunters who died in battle?

  A group of mortals who pray every day, or are they monsters who have gone through battles and trials and guard the gates of hell? "

  He shook his head.

   "I once stood on the cardinal's side, but they failed to give me the answer, so this time I want to stand on the side of the demon hunter. Maybe you can give me the answer."

Anthony stared into the abyss below. In order to figure out the answer, he also implanted the secret blood himself and became a member of the Demon Hunter. It stands to reason that he should be closer to the answer, but it still seems to be hidden. In the mist, it is difficult to see.

   "I think you may never find it again. God is false and faith has never existed." The new pope laughed, and a sharp whistle came from his throat.

  Anthony was expressionless, he shook his head and rejected the words of the new pope.

   "No, I think it is real, but we haven't found it all the time. I think...I'm going to see it soon."

   "Oh? It sounds really good."

  The new pope is wearing an iron face, and no one can see his expression. After a while, he said slowly.

   "Actually, I think you are never lost. You know exactly what you want, and now the lost person should be replaced by me."

  The new pope is telling the truth. After so much, his mentality has long become unpredictable, and everything he does is for the most extreme purpose, just like Michael's incomprehension before his death.

【Why? 】

During the not-so-long period of the new pope, all he did was to pursue the truth of the past. For this reason, he used power and poison to join forces with Anthony to kill one enemy after another, threatening the cardinal, and chasing exile. By.

  He put on the crown of the pope, formed a new order, and imprisoned the old pope under the well of sublimation until all the truth was dug out from his mind.

  This is like a starting point, and since then, countless monsters have jumped onto the stage.

   Adren who descended did not kill him. It may be that he is the pope and the demon hunter. It may also be that he needs someone to take care of the well of sublimation, at least not to let it stay here without protection.

  The new pope survived by fluke, and in the mouth of Adren and the intelligence sent by Lorenzo, all the truth was perfectly constructed.

  He knows the original face of the world, and understands the reason for the Holy Night.

  It can be said that the obsession that has been supporting the new pope has been released. He knows the "why" of all this, but after that, he is deeply confused.

  The new pope finally reached the end, but after that, where should he go?

   "Has he left?"

   Anthony looked around, the cold weird feeling disappeared a lot, and it seemed that Adren had already left.

For this original watchman, Anthony was in a very strange mood. He was once the pope and the patriarch, the leader of the first Eastern Expedition. He combined brilliance and merit, but his final ending became With such an immortal monster, wandering lonely in this world, as if all this came from the curse of secret blood.

   "Well, it seems that he was moved by Holmes, at least he was very interested. I think he is now in Old Dunling, waiting for the target to appear." The new pope said.

   "You look a lot older." Anthony shifted his gaze to the new pope.

   "I'm wearing holy silver, even if Adron wants to see me clearly, he needs to break my armor..."

   "No, it's breath, it can also be said about the air and temperament, you now feel like a flame swaying in the wind, the driving force that has been supporting you has disappeared, and maybe you will be extinguished in the next second.

   is like a destiny doomed to darkness. "

   Anthony said sadly, in fact, he should be happy for the new pope, after all, he has completed all his obsessions, but he feels sad again, it seems that the ending is too bleak.

The new pope listened to him. During the time he was watching here, he also thought about these things. It seemed that it ended here, and it was not too bad, but there was still a trace of unwillingness in his heart, as if all this shouldn’t be the case. Such an ending.

  "Destiny...I hate the term destiny, just as some people say that secret blood is a destined curse. Some people always blame some mistakes on these inexplicable words, as if it can justify mistakes."

   He groaned and clenched his fists repeatedly, as if feeling the power remaining in his body.

   "If you lose a goal, you will establish a new goal," the new pope said in a deep voice, "Isn't people supported by one goal after another?"

  The nearly extinguished candlelight flickers and rises.

  (End of this chapter)