Ice Vapor Goddess

Chapter 65 The Sacred Encounter
Florence, the holy city of the Messianic Church and the seat of the Apostolic Nuncio.

A city of a thousand cities, a city of pilgrimage, a city of art, a city of redemption, a city of happiness, a city of ultimate bliss.

Now, the massive golden shield is teetering on the brink of collapse, countless cannon shots are deafening, and thousands of frost giants have besieged this place.

Cardinal Agostino de la Paz stepped onto the turret, wrapped in a thick red wool shawl. His eyes were deeply sunken, his once half-white hair had turned a lifeless, pale white, and his face was incredibly aged.

He carried a basket of food, sat down next to Mrs. Dela Pass, and silently took out his portion and began to eat.

She glanced at it, a hint of reluctance flashing across her face: "Why did you come here?"

“The shift is over,” he said.

The red robe wiped the gunpowder ash off the ground, and his dirty hands held a piece of bread to his mouth, but he couldn't bite it even after a long time.

It's so cold.

“You’ll be exhausted,” she said. “Take a rest. The College of Cardinals are quite understanding.”

Agostino's fingers stiffened for a moment before he managed to squeeze out a few words from his phlegm-filled throat: "Young people's respect for the elderly... is not a reason for me to rest."

Lady Dela Pass let out a soft sigh, looked at the frost giant in the scope, and fired again.

The deafening roar of the cannons shook the turret, and the bread slipped from the old man's hand, but he picked it up again and patted off the black powder.

“It’s clean now,” he said.

So the bread was clean again, and then he chewed it carefully, biting it down little by little, and swallowing it with difficulty.

The golden crystal lit up, accompanied by the noisy sounds of drilling and gears grinding: "Fourth control console message: Turret No. 57 is overheating, repair for 25 minutes."

After a simple command, the communication was quickly shut down, as if in a hurry.

And that is indeed the case. Florence only has three difference engines, but it has to control thousands of turrets, 128 boilers, more than 100 Steel Angel bases, and a large number of facilities within the city.

People are now beginning to remember the insistence of the previous popes—it was he who insisted on introducing the Difference Engine, which the College of Cardinals vehemently opposed at the time. He secretly bought three of them, and now they are precisely controlling Florence's defense system.

Mrs. Dela Passe finally caught her breath, rubbed her sore shoulders and back from carrying heavy artillery shells, and sat down to eat.

The basket contained grilled sausages and mashed potatoes, along with a few slices of white bread, and a glass jar with a little red wine.

She glanced at Agostino—he only had bread in his hand.

"There's no shortage of food in the city, is there?" she asked.

“…There is a shortage of meat, and all the meat will be supplied to you frontline combat personnel,” Agostino said slowly.

Mrs. Dela Passe didn't stand on ceremony; she grabbed a sausage and started munching on it, wolfing down her meal.

"How are things going with the College of Cardinals?" she asked.

"What can we do? It's still the same as always..." the elderly cardinal said calmly. "We're taking turns guarding the Great Shield, and everyone's exhausted. Leonardo died last night, and Francis almost didn't wake up. He had to use Holy Healing over a hundred times to feel a little better..."

"Is there really no other way?" Lady Dela Pass asked sadly. "We're just holding on at the front. The magic field has been hanging over this place, and the frost giants disappear immediately if they're injured... Apart from killing a [Name Bearer] on the third day, we haven't achieved anything."

Agostino's chapped lips trembled slightly.

“I heard… that the Apostle is preparing to rest in the Lord’s embrace,” he said.

Lady Della Pass's eyes widened: "What's going on! Wasn't Pius II just elected? And Innocent VII was only called by the Lord three months ago..."

“For the sacred final meeting,” he said.

Both of them fell silent, an unparalleled pressure weighing on their shoulders.

Although the Messianic Church reveres and believes in God, almost no one can establish a direct connection with God, and many people who claim to have "received divine revelation" are ultimately proven to be delusional and boastful.

But there is only one exception.

As the holder of the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, the successor of St. Peter, and the leader of God's intercessors, the Pope himself represents the closest distance to the Lord and is someone who will surely return to the Kingdom of Heaven in glory after death.

The moment he came closest to God in his life was the moment before he died.

An angel descends to his side, and the Lord's grace gazes upon his soul. In that moment, his spirit establishes a direct connection with God.

In his final moments, he could ask the Lord three questions, and then leave the answers to the world.

This is the [Divine Encounter].

A sacred, dying, final meeting.

Three months ago, Pope Innocent VII had a four-day, four-night private conversation with Nostradamus, after which he chose to commit suicide, defying the teachings of the scriptures.

This "Pope of War" launched the Fourth and Fifth Crusades, completely annihilated the Mountain Kingdom, destroyed all the dwarven bloodlines and temples, created the Red Mercury Reactor, the Iron Angel Knights, the Holy Rune System, signed a cooperation agreement with the Albion Empire after a great war, introduced the Difference Engine and a large number of advanced machines, devoted himself to promoting the mechanization of the Church, frantically developed armed forces, and expanded the Messianic Church to the extreme of its authority and rule in history.

On the 1st of the month of Holiness, he convened his last cardinal council, and then, on his deathbed at the Apostolic Throne, he asked God three questions before all the people present.

The first question is—"When will the end of the world come?"

The answer remains the same prophetic poem—a great upheaval is taking place, the horror of blood and freezing, and then revenge.

The second question is—"If the end of the world is inevitable, how should we survive?"

This answer has been waiting for a long time.

Finally, King Innocent VII uttered three indistinct words—the Seventh Testament.

This answer caused a huge stir in the room. After a brief moment of disbelief, the cardinals kept talking.

The history of the Messianic Church records six covenants between God and man: the Eden Covenant, the Noah Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Moses Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and finally, the New Covenant.

This is a process of gradual revelation, starting from the beginning, through the selection of a family, the establishment of a nation, the establishment of a dynasty, and finally the New Covenant that encompasses all who trust in Him.

Each covenant is built upon the foundation of the previous one, and together they all point to God's ultimate plan of salvation.

If there truly is a "Seventh Covenant," then perhaps it refers to the prophesied era in the scriptures—the Messiah's second coming, where sinners are judged, the virtuous are rewarded, a happy thousand-year kingdom is established on earth, and all people receive ultimate salvation.

So, amidst the excited and bewildered gazes of everyone, King Innocent VII asked his final question.

Who made the covenant?

At this moment, the light on his body had dimmed, and he was spitting out mouthfuls of blood, as if the protection of the gods had been severed and he had completely departed.

An indescribable smile appeared on his aged face.

"The young bishop heading north."

Then, he died.

(End of this chapter)