The old kindly pope was sent on his way after he heard the plans of Debauchery. When he was returned back to the location he left from, his assistants did not bat an eyelid at the apparent abuse he suffered from, especially with the little girl who went with him, was already sleeping from exhaustion, with red cheeks and a smile on her face.
One of the assistant nuns in the office took the little girl away and only one stayed inside with the old pope, he solemnly said to her "they want to kill them all", "shame, they would have been useful, age limit?" She answered the old man without much sympathy. "All older than four, the rest of the kids must be sent into different orphanages across the continent, very troublesome indeed". "Not much of a loss though, it would have taken decades to make them into the elites we require. The council is waiting for you to pitch their old talk again, maybe you should 'enlighten' them a bit". The assistant nun left to pass on the extermination order as if she was ordering a meal, with complete emotional detachment from the horrifying order.
The kindly old pope took a moment to cast a heal on himself and left his office through the back door into a chamber that had nothing but a table and chairs as old as the faces populating the room.The pope took his own seat and gestured to the old ones beside him to talk.
"Markus what is the meaning of this, why are you leaving behind the legacy you swore to fulfill. You are allowing the next generation to die while you watch and use our own resources to destroy the foundations our forefathers built with their sweat and blood. You have gone too far this time". The old women on the opposite side of the table was almost frothing with rage.
"You sound just like them old hag, your forefathers that, they were always blinded and idiotically followed the oaths they swore, what i swore on, i am making good on, only my way is something you can only hope to grasp when told about. I love your devotion to the cause but there are times when blind devotion is a hindrance that will slow down the whole system."
Another old man spoke up. "Then why are you letting them dismantle the cult that took thousands of years to be built to its current glory…", " WHAT GLORY?!" old pope markus slammed his fist on the table making every single person in the room shudder and close their mouths.
"Do you call hiding in the shadows glory? Or maybe you think this church we use as a front is our glory? This cult we are in was never meant to be a cult, it was a bunch of elites seeking the empowerment of mankind, to elevate them from the weakness they were mired in, it is in the records that we swear by, but how did it turn into a cult? The bloody devoted fanatics kept outdoing each other and now look at it, the church that was built as a front is the most successful in fulfilling the dreams of our ancestors than the bloody organisation they built."
" I will let my daughter dismantle the very cult she was born to lead, because it no longer serves the same purpose our forefathers dreamed about, there is no need for a stuck up cult lurking in the shadows trying to cleanse a continent from something our forefathers never looked at with fear and hatred. If you want to be such fanatics then focus on the original goal and not on the shortcuts to take to reach it."
The old hag had contempt dripping from her voice "Our ancestors sought for the domination of mankind on this land, how can we do that with other races fighting us for power on it, the way you are leading us is just a dead end, why not just end it all, we have enough firepower to do so". The old pope Markus was unfazed " do you have a way to kill everything on this planet but humans? Unless you have it, then shut up and listen"
"The council always chooses the next council from the youngest generation and they choose the leader based on an interview with the council, that is why i sit here and you sit on the last chair, you are inflexible, unchanging, you listen to nothing that does not suit your own ideals, the only reason you sit on this council so that we could not forget the goal we were entrusted with the betterment of mankind and not the annihilation of every living being on this planet"
"That is why i am letting my daughter kill the body that has decayed long ago, we have a power that only humans can harness, something that all other races can generate but only humans can harness and you still think of burning the world with mana bombs, not even the hearts, deities that are worshiped can use the power of faith, but we can, we have used that power for thousands of years, we live longer, cast magic and do everything the other races need Tartarus to do, why do we need to use such a fragile thing like mana when we have a power that can overcome all its shortcomings? Forget about world domination for a moment and think about the amount of power the humans can wield just by spreading faith and healing the injured"
"This is why I sit on this chair, because i have the ability to change my path based on a point of view from an innocent child and still fulfill the oaths i took. Let the cancerous cult die. Let the church of light lead humans to ruling over the world through faith and innocence, as for the other races? They have never done harm to humans, only we mankind that hurt each other, remember that case from half a year ago? The nobles from 13 human countries including royalty have been working with goblins, the fucking goblins, to have fun and satisfy their perversion, in all of history, not even the beasts did that".
"Hear me my brethren and sisters, we are old and failing, the power of faith is no longer enough for us to survive much longer, focus on our mission, let the church of light, love and compassion lead the humans to a better future where they no longer need to feel inferior because we started the apocalypse too many times, let the light cleanse the dirty past, for only innocence is the true path to cleanse the darkness".
Pope Markus stood up and left the chamber leaving behind the council to bicker about what to do and how to do it, he felt tired today, he really hated Yunan and his friends for planting the seed of innocence in his brain, well the path was always the same, sometimes a lamp on the shoulder of a dark path is worth more than life itself.
Author note: I apologize for the irregular chapters lately, due to some overpowering circumstances, but all will be in order soon. I will also take this opportunity to announce that I will reduce the chapter output from 18 to 14 per week including the bonus chapters starting from the 3rd of September 2018. This change is in order to save up some chapters for the future just in case of something happening. I hope you understand, thanks, and continue to enjoy this novel of mine