Chapter 1955: I Have Been Defeated

Amidst these ruins, an old man slowly stood up.

His body was hunched, and he stood up with great difficulty.

The man he was now had long since lost his earlier imposing and awe-inspiring air; he was now just an old man in the twilight of his years.

His body was even more hunched than before, and his trembling appearance left no doubt that a gust of wind could blow him over.

His Holy Staff had been dropped to the side, the radiance upon it long since vanished; the Ivan of now was merely a frail old man nearing the end of his life.

"I have been defeated." Ivan let out a soft sigh, found a slightly more comfortable spot, and sat down.

He gasped violently, taking a long time to recover even a little.

He raised his eyes to look at Chen Yu, revealing a trace of a smile.

"Why can you still smile? You have been defeated, which means everything you had is now gone; your power, your Divine Power, no longer belong to you." Chen Yu looked at him with some confusion, not understanding what he meant.

"The reason I smile is because I feel my mission has ended, and the burden upon me is gone." Ivan shook his head: "Chen Yu, you do not understand."

"Since I took the Holy Staff from the hands of the previous Pope, it meant I had to be responsible for the Pope; I could not watch the Pope perish in my hands, do you understand?"

"I understand what you say, but the decline of the Pope has nothing to do with you; the cause of everything is the slumber of your True God." Chen Yu said: "Even gods can decline, let alone you?"

"I understand the logic, but you do not understand how heavy the responsibility I carry on my shoulders truly is." The Pope shook his head slowly: "You do not know that for these years, I have barely been able to sleep at night."

"Because I knew everything I did was wrong, but I had no other way, because for all of this, someone had to come out and take responsibility, and I was that person who took the responsibility."

"I understand." Chen Yu sighed: "From now on, you should have a good rest."

"Yes, I should have a good rest." Ivan muttered to himself, watching Xueli walk over from the side, holding the Holy Staff in her hands, a look of relief appearing on his face.

"Xueli, you are good; you did not let responsibility make you strictly adhere to the duties in your heart, and you saved many people."

"Old Ivan... I am sorry." Xueli murmured to herself: "I did not keep the oath I made, I... helped others."

"You were right." Ivan smiled slightly, looking at Xueli with a compassionate expression as he said: "You saved many people; from now on... when I am gone, the Pope shall be left to you and Dewen."

"Old Ivan..." Just at this moment, a figure slowly walked over; it was none other than Dewen.

"Heh, you have finally come." Ivan said with a smile: "Old friend, are you here to see me off on my final journey?"

"We actually did not need to reach this point at all." Dewen sighed slightly and said: "But I know that persuasion is ineffective on you."

"Yes, persuading me is useless." Ivan nodded: "Because there are some responsibilities I must bear, for the continuation of the Pope."

"But you really did not need to make yourself like this." Dewen sighed and said: "The two of us have had our grievances."

"However, I truly do not wish to see you like this, do you understand?"

"I understand, I know you have no ill intent." Ivan coughed lightly a few times.

Judging by the sound from his lungs, his organs were already slowly aging and degenerating; this time, he feared he would not survive.

"Do you... have anything else to say?" Dewen looked at him, even though the two had always disagreed.

But seeing him like this, Dewen's heart was also filled with helplessness.

Originally, Ivan should have been an excellent leader of the Pope, but his obsession harmed him.

"Nothing to say." Ivan slowly shook his head and said: "Having reached this point, there is really nothing to say."

"Every path was chosen by myself; having fallen to this state, I blame no one."

"It is just, Dewen, without the feedback of the True God, where should we of the Pope go from here?"

Dewen smiled and said: "Without the feedback of Faith Power, our strength will indeed be greatly reduced, but Ivan, does the existence of our Pope really rely only on those powers?"

"What do you mean?" Ivan looked at him with some confusion.

"I feel that our Pope does not necessarily have to possess special powers." Dewen shook his head and said: "By comparison, I feel we are more like a heritage, a symbol on a spiritual level."

"So whether the True God slumbers or not is actually not important to us; even if our powers vanish completely, our spirit remains, does it not?"

"What you say seems to make quite a bit of sense." Ivan nodded slowly, muttering: "So, I had fallen into a misconception from the very beginning."

"If I had not been so obsessed with power, perhaps I would not have made such mistakes? Haha, as expected, I thought too much."

"It is a pity; now that I want to return, it is already too late. I can no longer turn back." Ivan muttered.

"Xueli, please do not hold back the power on the Holy Staff; after I die, the Holy War and all the authority of the Pope shall belong to Dewen."

"Ivan, I know, I will." Xueli nodded slowly.

"You must remember, the heritage of the Pope is not power, but a spiritual faith. In this world, if it were not deliberately manufactured, where would so many Dark Creatures come from?" Ivan sighed: "Ultimately, it is because I was too obsessed."

"Ivan..." Xueli looked at him, her expression complex; she truly did not know what else to say.

"Alright, this matter ends here; I should also go to our True God."

Ivan closed his eyes, and a moment later, he opened them.

His murky eyes were now filled with wisdom; he slowly stood up and walked forward.

With every step he took, the scenery before him changed; after a few steps, he was already a thousand feet away.

And at the edge of his vision, a layer of pure white Holy Light appeared, and he walked directly into the Holy Light, then vanished from sight.

A generation of leaders of the Pope thus ceased to exist.

Dewen watched the direction he left in silence, then lowered his head, silently reciting the Bible, and then made the sign of the cross on his chest.

All the believers of the Pope slowly gathered around; they knelt on the ground one after another, each with a sorrowful expression.

Dewen grasped the Holy Staff in his hand, feeling the immense power upon it; his expression was somewhat complex.

For so many years, no one knew how many people within the Pope had hoped to obtain this Holy Staff.

And every time the position changed, because of this Holy Staff, no one knew how much blood would be shed or how many colleagues would die.