Long-term salvation

"Calm down! Your Majesty, calm down!"

"Don't be impulsive! We can't defeat her—how dare that damn demon spit on the statue of Archangel Michael?!"

"Your Majesty, think about the hundreds of millions of Christians, and the future and life and death of the Holy See!"

"Your Majesty!!!"

Dawn has arrived, but Satan is faster.

Chapter 417: The Coming of the Son (3.5K)

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Afterward, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. - 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

"…Putting everything on a vague and illusory 'God' is foolish in itself, even if this 'God' may actually exist."

Rhodes was not in a good mood. He hated coming to this place, but it was not just the system's prompts. Even Alona had been persuading him all the way and seemed to have prepared some little surprises.

For the girls' sake, Rhodes reluctantly agreed to meet the Pope and others in St. Peter's Basilica. Otherwise, he just planned to meet them in any church - instead of dealing with these old men, he might as well take the two beautiful girls to stroll around Rome and visit the Colosseum.

After rejecting Bishop Raphael and several priests' suggestion to wear a light white linen robe, Rhodes still wore a neat black suit and a crimson tie, looking more like a business elite than a messiah.

Walking down the corridor, Rhode's arm was held by Mika, while Makoto strode at the front, occasionally testing the limits of the priests' tolerance. However, Makoto soon lost interest in commenting on the various artworks in the corridor and disappeared at the end of the corridor.

When Rhodes, who was two minutes late because he was admiring the murals in the corridor, walked into the hall, he saw an old man in a white robe being held by a group of old men in red robes, and opposite them was the triumphant Makoto Hanuma.

Rhodes: “…”

This guy starts messing with me the moment I'm not watching him, right? What if I go back to Hill Villa and end up hanging out with Nyako? My head hurts.

After knocking the girl, who was standing with her hands on her hips, to the ground with a single blow, Rhode glanced at the embarrassed Pope and the cardinals. He remained silent, simply nodding to the old men to straighten their clothes while he began to explore the various statues and murals in the hall.

A few minutes later, the door of St. Peter's Basilica was blocked by the Knights of the Covenant, and the Pope and the cardinals returned to their seats.

"..."

Everyone was waiting for Rhode to finish his tour. He even wanted to take out the [Box of Shiting] and let Alona inside take a look.

"Look, Alona! This gold decoration was forged with money from fifty years of indulgences. Oh, and this statue was forged with money from sixty years of indulgences... Hmm? You ask if indulgences still exist these days?"

Rhodes smiled at the blue-haired girl with a sullen face on the screen, ignoring the Pope and the cardinals who were almost kneeling behind him, and continued:

"Of course. Even more than 30 years later, they can still be subject to import tariffs."

A cardinal gasped as if his neck was being strangled, and his colleagues next to him quickly pried open his mouth and stuffed a fast-acting heart pill into it.

The others lowered their heads, fearing that the holy being before them would point out some evil deeds to them again - didn't they see Satan rolling on the ground laughing, and the Archangel Michael with a gloomy face beside him?

Anyone who dared to speak out in defense would undoubtedly be beaten in heaven or hell... Although the Son of God had already said there was no heaven or hell, only a chaotic underworld, angels and demons had already descended. Even if there weren't any now, would there be none in the future?

The cardinals kept all their thoughts in their hearts and followed Rhodes' steps, following the Pope's lead.

After touring the area and commenting on the interior decoration, Rhodes put the [Box of Shiting] back into the storage space to prevent Alona from smashing the screen with a punch and jumping out of it, pulling the heads of the old men in front of her out of their bodies.

Finally, Rhodes stood before the throne of St. Peter and said with emotion:

"If Peter were here, he would certainly melt the gold and exchange it for food to feed the hungry and cloth to warm the naked—what do you think, [Pope]?"

The Pope took a few deep breaths, and then he tried to straighten his weakened legs, saying in a panic:

"The Holy See will carefully sort out those meaningless things and focus on providing relief and assisting you in completing your mission of saving the world."

"hope so."

As Rhodes spoke, he lowered his eyes slightly. St. Peter's throne was then engulfed in golden flames amid the screams of the Pope and the cardinals. Gold and other metals were instantly melted, turning into a blazing torrent.

The torrent was slowly shaped on the floor by an invisible force, and then cooled and took shape in an instant.

A golden throne appeared before everyone.

Rhodes walked forward and sat on the golden throne. On his right was the Archangel Michael, and on his left was the great red dragon Satan.

Facing the Christians in front of him whose eyes were filled with fanaticism and piety, Rhodes said calmly:

"I have descended."

This was a signal, an opened valve, enticing the stellar light to stream in from the church dome, drawing sharp swords of light in the air, nailing everyone to death here - the sunlight fell on Rhodes, bringing a little warmth, a little heat, and a little brilliance, as if the shadow of a young girl was crowning him with a golden laurel wreath.

“Holy, holy, holy! After this I heard what sounded like a voice in heaven shouting, ‘Hallelujah! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God!’ (Revelation 19:01)”

The Pope and the cardinals, with tears in their eyes, bowed deeply. They stretched out their palms, folded them on their chests, and unconsciously performed the salute like an eagle.

“Holy, holy, holy! On his garment and on his thigh he has a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Revelation 19:16)!”

At this moment, no matter how many plans and ideas he had before, they all disappeared without a trace. The Pope wanted to kneel down but stood up straight after meeting that gaze. He hated his old age and hated that he could not see the "Kingdom of God (Basileia tou Theou)" coming to the world. Then he envied the knights who could pick up swords and follow the Son of God to fight.

Fortunately, I saw his arrival and return before I died.

Oh God, do you see? Humanity is once again bathed in your glory!

“…Hold away your tears and save them for those who are suffering.”

Wearing a golden laurel crown, Rhodes turned to look at one of the cardinals. As soon as the cardinal raised his head and met Rhodes' gaze, golden flames erupted from his mouth and eyes! In just a few seconds, the cardinal who had driven Father Anderson to the audience was completely engulfed in flames, transformed into a human-shaped salt pillar that stood in its place!

This scene caught the eyes of the Pope and other cardinals, and immediately filled them with awe and... hysterical fanaticism.

If it weren't for Rhode's order, they would have rushed out of the hall and stood in the square to announce to the world:

The Son of God has come!!!

"Don't test me in the future. If you really want to ask me something, you can send a letter, ask someone to deliver it, or just call me on the satellite phone."

Rhodes spoke slowly. He was sure he had just seen "Alona," but the people in front of him obviously didn't notice - or perhaps it would be better if they didn't notice. Looking at the Pope and the cardinals, and even Father Anderson, Father Merlin, Father Gabriel and others standing further away, Rhodes continued:

"I think you should have noticed why I came this time and that I am different from 'Jesus'. I am a bit more irritable."

"Yes, my Lord," the Pope wiped away his tears again. He exhaled slowly to calm his heart, which was beating wildly with fear and fanaticism. "The Vatican will cooperate with any action you take and will never interfere in the private affairs between you and the angel!"

In the end, you managed to block out the demon next to you, right?

Rhode helplessly reached out and tapped his temple, explaining:

"Because of the existence of the other world, once an 'angel' or 'demon' appears near me, it means they are unique, and their original prototype will never appear again in the other world. Do you understand? Or do you prefer hundreds of otherworldly versions of 'Satan' to wreak havoc on the world?"

"...No, no, no, we have absolutely no such intention!"

The Pope quickly shook his head. He glanced at Makoto, who was lost in thought, and then said cautiously:

"You've worked hard, putting yourself in the game and binding those demons. But—how should we treat them?"

Treat demons like angels? The Pope said this is a bit too much to ask, not to mention that if at some point in the future the existence of the Son of God and those around him were exposed to the world, how would the Vatican and Christians deal with it then? This is a very real and big problem.

"It's up to you. I won't let Makoto and the others come to the Vatican to tell you what to do," Rhode shrugged. He patted Mika's arm and told her to look at Makoto, who seemed to be about to cause trouble. He then continued, "In the future, there will be someone dedicated to coordinating and managing Vatican affairs. Before that, I hope you can do better than before."

In reality, this was a helpless move on Rhode's part. After all, he definitely couldn't let the girls from Gehenna's department go, and Kirito Nagisa and Yurizono Seiya from the Trinity Academy tea party were not there. Mika's brain wasn't very good... and the others were even worse off.

"However, Makoto, Hinata, and the others may cooperate with the Knights of the Covenant, the Vatican's exorcists, and the priests to exorcise the demons. You must pay attention to this and complete the mission conscientiously, whether you hate it or not."

"I will obey the Holy Command, my Lord."

The Pope and the cardinals responded in unison, trying their best to ignore the human-shaped salt pillar that was still emitting heat.

"Alright, alright, we can talk later," Rhode sighed. He stood up from the hard throne, muttering to himself that sitting for too long would easily lead to hemorrhoids, while taking something out of his storage space. "I prepared some gifts for you before I came here. It's not easy to meet you, and you've done something practical... Come on, take it, everyone gets one."

"..."

The Pope looked down at the five daggers and two revolvers in his hands.

These cold weapons were all exquisitely crafted. The daggers were even engraved with the symbol of the cross, and the grips of his two pistols had full-body reliefs of St. Peter... This thing was good, and the gift was valuable, but it looked weird no matter how he looked at it.

Shouldn't it be five loaves and two fish? Why are there five daggers and two pistols?!

So it turns out that He is not the Lord of lords, but the Lord of hosts!

"Why, you don't like it?" Rhodes looked at the Pope in confusion. "If you don't like it, you can change it. Atlas has recently launched a lot of custom weapons that can be collected as works of art. I can just place an order."

"No...it's nothing, my Lord. I like it very much."

There was still a happy smile on the Pope's face, but he also had some strange thoughts - if only one day he could be of use, standing beside the Son of God or standing in St. Peter's Basilica - dying in battle, the word sounds really good.

At least it's better than dying of old age on a sickbed.

With such a vision in mind, the Pope accepted the gift from the Son of God and said respectfully to Rhodes:

"My Lord, after you revealed the inner world and its true nature to us, the Vatican also organized a review of past records and intelligence, and discovered some clues. Would you like to hear about them?"

"Oh? Tell me."

Chapter 418: The Order of the Holy Hammer (3K)

Rhodes sat on the throne made of molten gold, watching with interest as the Pope and the cardinals brought small chairs and sat down in front of him, as did several priests.

As for the girls... Mika was watching Makoto, trying to prevent her from running around or damaging any ancient relics in St. Peter's Basilica. Although the noise was still clearly audible, the others breathed a sigh of relief and turned their attention to the next task:

After reaching out to take out a few bottles of good wine from the storage space, Rhodes handed them to Father Anderson so that he could help pour them for others. Besides Rhodes, the only person present here was Father Anderson, who was the youngest, while the even younger Grand Master Constantine of the Knights of the Covenant was still standing guard outside.

After taking a sip of wine with respect and excitement, the Pope took the document bag handed to him by Bishop Raphael, took out several documents from it, coughed lightly, and said:

"My Lord, the books in the Vatican Library have long been open to the angel 'Raziel (Ancient Care)'. We have formed a team called 'Tome Keepers' to assist in interpretation and restoration. At the same time, I have asked Bishop Raphael to review the operational records and intelligence documents of the Holy Trinity Organization since 1900."

After the Pope's brief introduction, Rhodes reached out to take the document and began to read it, while the old man did not stop talking.

"What we can confirm at this point is that the Vatican had nothing to do with Mr. Nikola Tesla's death," the Pope said. He paused, genuinely pleased that the Vatican had nothing to do with the incident. "However, while reviewing records from World War II, we discovered something... that may be relevant to your current work."

“I still reply: Tell me about it.”

As Rhodes spoke, he took a sip of the dark red wine. After feeling the wonderful fragrance brought by the mellow wine, he lowered his head and saw a familiar name on the document.

"Dr. Indiana Jones," the Pope said, "During World War II, Nazi Germany, driven by the Führer's obsession, sought various occult artifacts, one of which was the Ark of the Covenant. However, the attempt to find this holy object was thwarted by this adventurer and archaeologist (the story of Raiders of the Lost Ark)."

The adventure notes of this legendary adventurer are still in the treasury of the Cogito Foundation, sorted by the Greek-born director Argos Panoptos, and will be taken over by director Alan Grant in the future, so Rhodes did not ask any more questions.

It was not until he heard this today that Rhodes remembered that this legendary figure was involved in a turbulent history.

"Through the ancient Egyptian Apollo Scepter, he found the Ark of the Covenant and became entangled with the Nazis," the Pope said, his words filled with regret, lamenting the Church's slow response. "Because of this, the Holy Trinity became interested... But because they intervened too late, the relic quickly disappeared."

"Completely disappeared?"

Rhodes raised an eyebrow and took out the [Box of Shiting] from the storage space. His finger slid across the screen, and the content of the Ten Commandments immediately appeared on it. Alona lifted the large stone tablet with great effort. The blush on her face, which had been originally angry because of hearing about the indulgence just now, had not yet faded, and now it was even redder.

"Then what is this in my hand?"

"!!!"

The crisp sound of chairs falling to the ground echoed in St. Peter's Basilica, attracting the attention of the two girls who were fighting on the other side, but they soon saw the Pope and the cardinals straighten the chairs and sit down again.

The Son of God has already arrived, so why should the Ark's reappearance be surprising? Could God still be inside?

At least for the current Pope and cardinals, nothing can surprise them more than God himself coming.

The Pope took a deep breath as he carefully looked at the [Box of Shiting] in Rhodes' hand. He trembled as he tried to reach out and touch it, but was immediately frightened away by Alona's breath from inside. The sacred and sublime light rejected him at this moment, and rejected everyone except Rhodes. He withdrew his hand with some sadness, but the corners of his mouth still curled up slightly, and he said with relief:

"It's a good thing that it's back in your hands. That's good, that's good... As for why I'm bringing this up now, it's because the intelligence agency of the Knights of the Covenant has discovered that someone is tracking the whereabouts of the Sun God's Scepter from back then, and the identity of that person..."

"Obviously, they're still those Nazi remnants. They're just as disgusting as that failed art student."

Rhodes shook his head and flicked his hand at the intelligence document, remembering his first encounter with Perseus - the old man came here to track down a former Nazi officer, and they had experienced the otherworldly incident together in Chicago.

Time really does fly by.

Putting the documents aside, Rhode hid his smile and reached for the wine glass, shaking it slightly, letting the wine swirl in the sunlight. After pondering for a few seconds, he frowned and said:

"I remember someone from the Perseus Organization told me before that there have been quite a few neo-Nazis active in Eastern Europe recently. It seems like they've taken advantage of the Soviet Union's collapse to re-emerge... Never mind, do you know their names?"

"Well, there are a lot of hidden names," Bishop Raphael said somewhat awkwardly. Although he was one of the former leaders of the Holy Trinity, he wasn't specifically responsible for intelligence work. After the organization split, he naturally didn't know much about the past secrets. At this moment, he could only reluctantly answer Rhode's question:

"We don't know that. We only know they are operating in South America, which requires the cooperation of the intelligence agencies of the Army Without Borders."

South America. Rhode nodded slightly. Even in another world, South America was a refuge for many Nazis. Moreover, Chiprachaca, the raw material for Anshining, also came from Central and South America.

It seems that I need to find an opportunity to visit South America in the future.

"……I see."

Rhodes was silent for a few seconds, and after organizing his thoughts, he said to Bishop Raphael:

"You should continue to track down the whereabouts of the ancient Egyptian Sun God's Scepter. If it allowed Dr. Indiana Jones to find the Ark of the Covenant, it clearly possesses some kind of supernatural power. We can't let the enemy get it. Find a clue and notify me. I have an 'expert' here who can handle ancient Egyptian matters."

If Anubis at home is not allowed to go out for a walk, she will have to join the battleship in robbing all the gangster banks in the federal states named after those Iowa-class battleships... Lately, the FBI has been arresting people like crazy, and even called guys who had robbed banks and were released from prison to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for friendly exchanges.

"One more thing, my Lord."