"Your Holiness."
Cardinal Adam stood slightly bowed before the golden bed, dressed in his purple cardinal robes.
The Pope lying on the bedding—whether resting with closed eyes or in deep slumber—slowly opened his aged eyelids, his cloudy eyes gazing at the gaunt Cardinal Adam before him.
"Excellent... cough cough... Adam."
His Holiness coughed twice, took a deep wheezing breath, and only then did his breathing steady.
His aged, murky gaze rested upon Cardinal Adam before him, and seeing the profound desire in the man's eyes, he grew even more satisfied.
"Cough cough... Ruthless and determined, stopping at nothing to achieve your goals. Excellent, you have passed the trial."
Hearing the Pope's words, Adam's desire-filled face showed a trace of confusion for the first time.
"Trial?"
"The trial to become Pope. Cough cough... You didn't actually think capturing a single vampire could grant immortality, did you? For a thousand years, the Church has exhausted all means studying vampires without any success. Why would this capture suddenly yield results?"His Holiness seemed to be in unusually good spirits today, speaking this much without showing signs of exhaustion.
Since then, elections have become merely ceremonial."
"Then why single me out for this trial?" Cardinal Adam's heart pounded fiercely.
Learning he had been pre-selected as the next Pope, he found it somewhat difficult to accept.
For so many years, he had worked tirelessly in secret, laying groundwork, enduring countless moments of fear and anxiety along the way. If he had struggled through all this and finally achieved his goal through sheer effort, it would have been the journey of a true champion.
But now, at the final moment, he was suddenly told the papal position was already his—what did all those years of effort even mean?
"Bishop Doxia has excessive desires, Bishop Ethan is stubborn and arrogant, Bishop Milio lacks courage... They each have their own flaws, making them unfit for the papal throne. Only you—accumulating power consistently for decades, ambitious yet capable of patience. Ruthless and cunning enough to slaughter the entire Holy Lord City for your goals, willing to pay any price to achieve your aims—this is why I chose to test you.
You also possess broader strategic vision than any of them.
I am dying, Adam. It's time you learned the Church's true secrets.
I hope after learning the Church's hidden truths, you can maintain your original intentions, because humanity's fate will rest in your hands."
His Holiness lay in his bedding, his gaze shifting to the beautiful nun waiting beside him.
With just one look from the Pope, the specially trained nun understood his thoughts.
Two nuns immediately stepped forward and gently lifted His Holiness—who lay wrapped in bedding like a dried-up old branch—placing him softly into a golden wheelchair nearby.
For so many years, he had worked tirelessly in secret, laying groundwork, enduring countless moments of fear and anxiety along the way. If he had struggled through all this and finally achieved his goal through sheer effort, it would have been the journey of a true champion.
His Holiness could no longer move at all, only his lips capable of forming some words.
Cardinal Adam took over the wheelchair from the two nuns and respectfully pushed His Holiness outward.
"Where to, Your Holiness?"
"The rear mountain of the Vatican."
Cardinal Adam slowly pushed the Pope's golden wheelchair forward. As they emerged from the completely sealed luxurious palace, the lingering sunlight at the horizon fell upon both men.
His Holiness's aged face tilted slightly upward, his murky eyes filled with infinite nostalgia as he gazed at the crimson sunset in the distant sky.
"It's good to be alive, Adam."
Adam remained silent—there was no proper response to such words from a dying old man.
The Pope didn't mind his silence.
He seemed not to have seen sunlight or the outside scenery for a very long time.
His eyes, filled with infinite longing, almost greedily absorbed every sight around them.
"Life is truly magnificent, isn't it?"
This required a response, even though it was rhetorical.
"Yes, Your Holiness."
"And God who can create life! What immense power must He possess?"
This needed no response.
"Do you remember the Church's various scriptures?" His Holiness's eyes returned from the distant scenery.
"I study them daily," Cardinal Adam replied respectfully.
This wasn't a lie—he truly read various Church texts every day.
Although the books were written by the Church, not everyone actually believed their contents.
While this world had vampires, werewolves, and various monsters, no one had seen God, no one had seen Heaven, no one had seen Hell, no one had witnessed the God, Divine Cause, Jonah, or Kuba described in Church texts.
Thus, some upper-level personnel tended to believe these beings were merely fabrications created by The Church based on reality to deceive the masses.
The purpose was to keep the populace obedient.
Because the era was so distant, they viewed The Church's scriptures like modern people reading the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
Those with less knowledge and limited worldly experience like Norton might see vampires, werewolves, and various monsters and believe them real.
Like most Papal States citizens who had never even left their own villages.
The higher-ups, those who knew more, mostly viewed these scriptures through conspiracy theories, believing these stories were merely Church inventions to manipulate the masses.
The ignorant live in constant fear while the knowledgeable stubbornly trust their own analysis—this is society's normal state.
As one of the higher-ups, Adam held different views from most.
He was more convinced that the contents recorded in these books were true.
Because while fabrication might achieve verisimilitude, when everything recorded in the books corresponded with reality, even if originally invented, they became truth.
Besides, he wanted to become Pope, so these books had to be true. This was most important.
Hearing Adam's response, a rare look of approval appeared on the Pope's aged face.
"Excellent, Adam, you are excellent. Since you always study, then presumably this news will be acceptable to you.
Go behind that artificial mountain."
The Pope looked toward the massive artificial mountain behind the Vatican.
Though called artificial, its height and size surpassed real mountains.
As headquarters of the Church and palace of the Papal States, the Vatican's scale was enormous, containing two lakes and one mountain, housing two hundred thousand people.
These were all the Pope's servants, demonstrating the immense power of the Papal States.
The rear mountain of the Vatican could be considered the most remote area within the compound.
This place served as the Church hunting grounds, where His Holiness could hunt for amusement, but as the Pope grew older, the area hadn't been used for decades.
Being hunting grounds, the area was naturally vast.
Cardinal Adam pushed the Pope until his legs nearly gave out, finally following the paved path around half the artificial mountain's circumference to reach its rear.
Looking at His Holiness who had already taken another nap in his wheelchair, Adam suddenly felt this old man might be using his final days to mess with him!