On the central avenue of Silvermoon City, a bustling crowd gathers together.

On both sides of the street, the ever-bright magic lamps illuminate the long street at night, and there is a long queue with no end in sight as far as the eye can see. Nearly half of the city's residents stepped out of their homes today to bid farewell to the last of those 'city builders'.

After all, except for Nuo, those who fled the flood with him have long since died. Some of them have achieved some things on an extraordinary path, but they don't have the kind of real talent. So in the face of hundreds of years of time, they have naturally been buried in the soil long ago, and only live in people's memories.

In accordance with traditions that are said to have been handed down from the Golden Age, the inhabitants of Silvermoon City erected a stone monument for each deceased and engraved some deeds about their lives. They were buried in a cemetery near Starfall Lake, where a shrine was built with the three angels who presided over the dead as the main sacrifice.

People commemorate the existence of these ancestors, after all, everyone in Silvermoon City today is their descendants. And today, it's their turn to be the last member.

An era is coming to an end, and from now on, the city will turn a new page. As a normal member of the city, Conios looked at the crowd and couldn't help but pout.

Tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands—forgive him for not knowing arithmetic, after all, in this day and age, even wizards rarely know this.

Experience, tradition, and sparkle are the mainstream, and computing is just an aid. Besides, even if he did, Conios didn't think he could count with his eyes how many people there were.

This is the largest human city in the world, and although the people of Silvermoon City have not seen any other city, they all believe it.

"I told you a long time ago, Deo, the city is going to be crowded today—even on Central Avenue. Even if we squeeze all the way through, we will not be able to see the Great Prophet. ”

Walking under the tall Silver Gate, Conios couldn't help but grumble.

There are currently three portals running through the central avenue of Silvermoon City, each named after three eras of humans, but according to the prior plan, a total of seven floors can be built.

The remaining four will be used in the future to commemorate some major events, such as the fourth gateway that is now under construction, the Gate of Enoch. To put it simply, it means 'a portal named after the Great Prophet'.

"At this time, the people around the Great Prophet are all big people, De O, do you know what big people are? It is those who can decide the laws of Silvermoon City, or who can call the wind and rain on their own. Obviously, we're not those people. ”

"I know, but at least we can see the body of the Great Prophet being taken out of the temple and into the cemetery. If you're a little luckier, you might even see the legendary angel. ”

Ignoring Conios's complaints, the girl known as Deo continues to navigate the crowd. However, her figure obviously couldn't squeeze others, so in desperation, the young man had no choice but to follow.

He actually didn't understand that no matter what kind of person he was in life, he was just a corpse after death. It's boring to spend a night just looking at a dead body.

With this time, he would rather practice his swordsmanship twice more, hoping that in the future he would be recognized by the priests of the temple as having a 'will to meet the standard', and at that time he would be able to fuse the 'cursed trait' and become a prepared temple guard.

The priests of the temple often said that only faith in the gods could strengthen their will and survive the onslaught of the 'cursed trait', but Conios knew otherwise. Faith may be useful, but sharpening swordsmanship can also temper the spirit as much as the physique, and he still prefers what he can see and touch to ethereal piety.

Of course, that doesn't mean he's an unbeliever. No matter who they are, there are basically no unbelievers among the residents of Silvermoon City.

"Deo, who do you say will be the next pope after the death of the Great Prophet?"

"It's been a long time coming, and it's time for a result."

Reaching out to protect the girl who was a little hazy, Conios asked casually as he squeezed forward.

Compared to him, Deok was a standard devout who not only memorized the scriptures by heart, but also kept an eye on the big people who had nothing to do with them. After going back and forth, he became familiar with it a lot.

This is not a common occurrence in Silvermoon City—in fact, even in later human societies, not a majority of the people who could name more than ten of their own leaders and positions, especially in this classical era.

"I know what you're thinking, Connie."

Glancing at Conios in front of him, Deo stroked his long brown hair. She could see the other person's idea at a glance, but she didn't think it could be realized.

"His Excellency Damian has always advocated external expansion to allow Silvermoon City to occupy a wider area, and if he becomes the next Pope, it will definitely relax the number of seats for Temple Guardians. But there is no point in being opportunistic, and if you pass the selection in this way, you will only be at the bottom of the list even if you succeed. ”

"And to be honest, there's not much support for that Excellency's claim, you know why."

Yes, Conios knew why, because this was Silvermoon City, a city protected by a maze set up by the Lord of the Nets himself. With spring all year round, a natural bay as a harbour, and no shortage of food and resources, there's no better place to live.

In contrast, the inhabitants of Silvermoon City had heard of the outside world to some extent. It is said to be wild and dangerous, with a very different climate - the former is not seen yet, but the latter is still reflected today. Just compare the snow that hasn't melted to the outside world and the warm city, and everyone knows what to choose.

In this case, Lord Damian's claim was not widely accepted, after all, the residents of Silvermoon City could not figure out why they had left the god-given city and chosen to face the wind and snow and tribulation.

"Don't say that, I'm actually sure to pass the test, but no one will hate it, it's safer. And seriously, don't you think we're a little too many? ”

Explaining with a smile, Conios looked at the crowd around him.

For humans in this era, it is actually difficult for them to imagine a city with a population of more than one million. After all, throughout ancient history, cities with large populations in classical antiquity were the capital of a powerful empire, or the core of a territory.

They rely on a steady stream of water or land transportation to support their operations, devouring supplies from all over the world day and night, and once they leave them, their existence is difficult to maintain, but Silvermoon City does not need these.

They have a presence of witchcraft, and they don't need anywhere else to support them. With this unbridled supernatural power, all problems are not a problem, even if there is only one city, it can still be self-sufficient.

"But our population will get bigger and bigger, and although I'm not one of those 'big guys', I don't know how many people there are in this city, but it's definitely a number I can't imagine."

"We're going to fill it all up one day and we're going to have to walk out – if it's going to happen one day, why not just a little earlier?"

"Then since you're destined to eat two meals a day, why don't you put all your daily allowance into one meal?"

With a snort, De Oh stabbed a little. In front of her, Conios just smiled indifferently.

There had been a few similar arguments between them, but at the end of the day the two of them were just a glimpse of the leopard - although Kaos did not have this idiom, he still had a similar proverb - they had no idea how many people were in the city, nor what it was like in the wilderness, so Conios did not want to quarrel with Deo over such a trivial matter.

The brief exchange was over, and the two continued to weave through the crowd. Time passed slowly, and as the silver moon hung in the middle of the sky, they finally came to a place where they could barely see the temple gate.

The sea cliff where the temple was built was also overcrowded at the moment, but about a hundred meters away from the temple, it was as if there was an invisible line, blocking the huge crowd. Conios didn't know if it was the 'big guys' in the temple who used what they did, or if the people stopped spontaneously, but he was more inclined to the latter.

None of the inhabitants of Silvermoon City would dare to come there, and it is unlikely that those who can call the wind and rain will be able to exert their power at the door of the temple.

"That's it, I can't help anything further."

Helplessly, Conios was not a powerful warrior after all, and he didn't think he could continue to squeeze forward. Seeing this, Deo nodded, she obviously knew the other party's little bit.

"Then here it is, Connie. The scriptures of the Church say that all life in the world will return to the kingdom of the Lord after death, judged by their abilities during their lifetime. I don't know what His Excellency the Great Prophet will say, but I think there must be no one to beat it. ”

With a wave of his fist, Deo looked at the temple with its doors closed.

The original meaning of 'pope' is to refer to the elderly, and in some places even to the word 'father'. Therefore, the church in Silvermoon City uses this title to describe the highest spokesperson of God in the mortal world, which is also one of the titles imposed on Zaino.

For most people, though, they prefer to be called the 'Great Prophet', because in the Church scriptures, it is he who recognizes the gods who walk on earth and then receives divine revelation all the way to the east to build a city in this starlit place. There are even rumors that Noah foresaw the Great Flood in a dream—a passage that was not included in the scriptures because he himself denied it, but he felt that one day it would be added to the new scriptures.

"In any case, may you have peace in the kingdom of the Lord."

Meditate in your heart, and close your eyes slightly.

Beside her, there were many more people who closed their eyes and prayed for the departing saint.

……

"Ahem—"

"Sit down, I don't care about this, and you don't need to pay attention to these forms in front of a dead man."

In the vast temple, as he had done many years ago, Nou sat in his wheelchair.

It is said to be in the temple, but in fact it is not a place where the gods are worshipped. The complex that envelops the entire sea cliff is not what it was hundreds of years ago, except for the core temple, a number of buildings with different uses have risen around it.

So in the middle of this hall, where the church is often discussed, the top of the church is gathering here. They looked at the man in the wheelchair with sadness on their faces, even though No's face was the same as before, and everyone in the room could feel the decay that permeated their bodies.

Although most of them were users of divine magic, their bodies also possessed certain extraordinary properties under the perennial flushing of high concentrations of holy power. No one will fail to recognize this feeling that life is coming to an end.

"You don't have to look at me like that, ahem, people are inherently dead, but sooner or later. I'm not here to see you guys sad for me, so let me hurry up and arrange the last things. ”

There was a coughing sound mixed with his voice, and Noh smiled and looked around.

One generation is not enough time for an organization to decay, not to mention that this is an era of divine manifestations. Therefore, he can proudly claim that everyone here is a devout believer and has extraordinary abilities. Even if they disagreed, it was just to make the future of Silvermoon City better and allow the Lord's faith to spread.

However, a true wise man will always look a little further, although Nuo never thinks that he is a wise man, nor does he think that he is a prophet, but he still learns a lot from the destruction of the once bronze human race. So in front of everyone's eyes, he said his first 'last words'.

"I still have a lot to say...... But one thing is most important, and that is that the Church is not allowed to have an eternal pope. ”

The sound of rubbing the armrest of the wheelchair was not hurried.

"Life belongs to men, and souls belong to my Lord. Naturally, those who do not want to return to the arms of the Lord should not be His voice on earth. ”

(End of chapter)