QT: LAC Chapter 76: Fifth World (17)

Chapter 76: Fifth World (17)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Since he decided to cling to Samuel for his whole life, Bai Duan’s stubborn and hard spoken character became more gentle. It seemed that he had returned to the gentle and smart little cotton padded jacket state that Samuel was familiar with. Even in bed, he became honest and frank a lot. He often indulged and cooperated with Samuel and provided him with full benefits.

In addition to their love ‘play,’ Samuel and Bai Duan had nothing to do. Samuel was willing to tell Bai Duan about his coveting and plan for the position of Pope, and Bai Duan naturally supported it very much. He had always felt guilty about Samuel losing the papal title for him, even if the other side repeatedly said that the position of Pope was not more important than him, but if he could have both, why not?

After all, because he liked Samuel and cared about him, Bai Duan was concerned about the gains and losses of the other side, and was reluctant to bear a little grievance and loss.

After leaving the Holy Church, Samuel’s plan was very simple, that is, he had to continue to brush up his prestige, brush away his sense of existence, and let all the people in the mainland know that the Son of God left the Holy Church because he fell in love with a man.

They went deep into the forest, expelled the demons who still were rampaging, and also used the holy light to treat diseases and injuries for the common people. Although Bai Duan couldn’t help much, compared with his Highness the Son of God, who was noble, elegant and fair, Bai Duan, who also came from a commoner background and had a smooth and sophisticated personality, shouldered the responsibility of communicating with others, instead of Samuel to convey his kindness and love to the people. Of course, he couldn’t help but influence the people’s hearts imperceptibly.

Obviously, the Son of God, who was by his side and reached out to help him, was more likely to be appreciated and loved by the people than the Holy Church, which was high and noble but far away.

Oh, by the way, Samuel couldn’t be called ‘the Son of God’ any longer.

Wherever they went, Samuel and Bai Duan were warmly welcomed by the people. Some of them could not understand or even accept Samuel falling in love and violating the doctrines for one person. However, when they came into contact with the lovers, they could not resist.

The Son of God, who was immersed in love, seemed to have lost the veil of remoteness and mystery, and became more amiable and approachable. More importantly, anyone could see that Samuel was really happy with Bai Duan. When he saw Bai Duan, his eyes seemed to shine, and his whole body released an aura as warm as spring.

Although Bai Duan was born to a commoner family, he didn’t form any bad habits. He was well raised in every way. If someone said that he was a little prince born from a noble family, no one would think there was something wrong with him.

With Samuel’s carefulness and love, Bai Duan’s face was more radiant and colorful. When he looked at someone with his pure and beautiful eyes and smiled with his white and tender face, no one could feel he was bad. It seemed that it was not too strange for the Son of God to fall in love with such a cute, young man. It was said that there was also a saving grace.

As time went on, the people gradually accepted the lover chosen by the noble Highness the Son of God, and felt that the two standing together were perfect and they were really a pair of excellent people.

There were even many people who had changed their views about Samuel for this reason. They believed that he really treated people equally, which was quite different from the bishops in the Holy Church who regarded themselves as noble and despised the common people. Only in this way, those who did were regarded as nobles and the commoners should only be the servants chosen by the God of Light. As for love…as long as they did not affect the integrity and purity of the nature of the believers, and did not change their conduct, why abandon such a good couple?

After accepting the love between Samuel and Bai Duan, the people even launched their own willingness, hoping that Samuel’s love against the doctrine could be accepted by the Holy Church. At the same time, the secular monarchy also inserted a bar, and warmly invited Samuel to their court, whether temporarily or permanently, they welcomed him.

For a while, the Holy Church had been meddling in the royal power, which aroused great dissatisfaction and vigilance of the royal family. It was true that they respected the Holy Church and appreciated its contribution to expelling demons and protecting the people, but this did not mean that they were willing to give up their power.

However, even if they were dissatisfied with the Holy Church, the royal families of all countries dare not cause a stir. Instead, they had to hold a confession and compromise under the pressure of the Holy Church step by step. If Samuel did not change this situation, the royal family did not know how long they could persist.

For this reason, the royal families of various countries had a strong liking for Samuel, and almost regarded him as a savior. As soon as they learned that he had left the Holy Church, they could not wait to deliver the olive branch.

As long as Samuel could be invited to the Emperor’s court, with his strength and appeal in the church, they didn’t have to worry that they couldn’t organize a team with holy light, even if it was not as powerful as the Holy Church. At least they would have a certain self-protection ability against demons. If the Holy Church had to advance as before and use this ‘protection’ as an excuse to force them, they would not resist.

It was a pity that Samuel was not there, but he politely refused the invitation from the royal family. He was not interested in the high rank and wealth provided by the royal family. Instead, he was more willing to stay with the people and serve the people under harsh conditions.

After confirming that they were unable to persuade Samuel, the royal families of various countries resolutely changed their thinking and began to put pressure on the Holy Church.

Now, the demons were defeated, at least for the near future, the Holy Church was in the post-war stage with great damage and were rarely in confrontation with the monarchy. So the royal families of all countries joined forces to make a bet. If Samuel could not be invited to his court, let him be the Pope!

When Samuel was the Son of God, he was famous for his honesty, justice, gentleness and selflessness. He not only never expressed any ambition, but also took the initiative to lead the Knights away from the front line to fight against the demons when the bishops fought for power and profit from the papacy. Even in the end, facing the Pope’s position at hand, he confessed his ‘shortcoming’ and refused the temptation to ascend the high position, but chose to work together with his lover.

Although this kind of behavior was very unreasonable in the eyes of those who indulged in the power struggle, and even some people hated it, there was no doubt that such people were the Pope candidates that the royal family liked to hope for the most. As long as Samuel became the Pope, they didn’t have to worry about the Holy Church extending its ‘claws’ to them after regaining their vitality.

Because of the holy light, the life span of those in the church were generally longer than that of ordinary people, and the Pope’s life span was longer. In this era, ordinary people could live to the age between seventy and eighty, which was already a long life unless they died by accident. The Pope rarely died before the age of one hundred, and would live to nearly two hundred years.

In such a long period of time, the secular monarchy would change every generation. In this way, Samuel, who was still very young, could at least protect the royal family for more than two generations, and his chosen successor would also have the possibility of inheriting his character of peace and fraternity, and continuing to live in peace with the secular monarchy.

Since the secular monarchy could not refuse the protection of the Holy Church, this should be the best result. After studying all the conditions and discussing them in depth, they decided to take a gamble even if they risked offending the Holy Church. On the one hand, it was the voice of the people, on the other hand, it was the pressure of the royal family. The church, which was originally in chaos and fragmented, could not bear such pressure at all.

Despite Samuel walking out, his influence on the Holy Church had not weakened at all. Most of the members of the Holy Church missed him. As long as the new Pope was compared with Samuel, no one could satisfy them. What’s more, Andre, a Knight who killed enemies bravely and made great contributions in the war of light and darkness, resolutely refused the canon and left the Holy Church with Samuel as his ‘guard Knight.’ Most of the Knights who had followed Samuel to the front line made the same choice, which made the Holy Church’s strength more weak and uneasy.

Finally, the ailing Pope no longer had the energy to sustain the crumbling Holy Church. He summoned a few high-ranking bishops to hold a secret meeting. After the meeting, he immediately sent his Knights to the small village where Samuel and Bai Duan had settled overnight. He invited back the Son of God, who had saved the Holy Church and caused numerous troubles for the Holy Church. Of course, he did not forget his lover Bai Duan.

By the Pope’s call, Samuel naturally did not dare to delay and rushed back to the Holy Church, and the Pope was extremely urgent. After talking with him alone, he officially declared Samuel as the next Pope. As for the matter that the Pope had a male lover, it was ignored by all people intentionally.

This time, Samuel did not raise any objections.

Samuel’s coronation was not extravagant because the Holy Church was destitute, but that didn’t mean it was low-key.

In fact, apart from the first Pope, this was the most grand scene and the largest number of participants for a succession ceremony, and the reason was because of ‘popular aspiration.’

The royal family not only gave generous gifts, but even the king of the country came to the scene in person. When the king came out, the honor guard was naturally large and full, which made the whole square full of people.

In addition to the royal family and aristocrats, Samuel, who had always been inclined to the common people, would never refuse the participation of the common people. There were ordinary people coming in from all directions and all over the world to congratulate and worship. Even though the Holy Church was full of people, they were still reluctant to leave. Even outside the high walls of the Holy Church, they were still excited and waiting. Fortunately, the people who came to see the ceremony were devout believers, and the Knights of the Templars were also waiting for them, which did not cause any trouble and affect the whole succession ceremony.

Although everything was simple, there were still procedures that should not be ignored. Dressed in the gorgeous robes that symbolized the Pope, Samuel stepped up to the platform step by step, kneeling on one knee in front of the former Pope, who already felt it quite difficult to sit upright, and took the Pope’s crown for himself.

Later, he walked slowly to the statue of the God of Light, knelt down before the statue and prayed devoutly. He vowed to be loyal to his duties, to discipline himself, to protect all living beings, and to live up to the trust and support of the people and believers.

At the end of the oath, the bells on the highest spire of the Holy Church resounded all over the world, announcing the birth of a new Pope to the people of the whole continent. Both inside and outside the Holy Church were full of cheers. Samuel stood up in the crowd’s congratulation. He first saluted the smiling and relieved Pope. Then he stepped down from the platform quickly, hugged his lover, and shared his joy and glory with him.

The new Pope’s move was not told of in advance. The audience was stunned subconsciously, and then smiled with kindness. Of course, some people couldn’t agree with Samuel’s approach, but they just looked away and pretended they didn’t see anything.

Thus, at the succession ceremony, Samuel showed his concern for his lover without any concealment, and he really practiced his promise for a lifetime, to be loyal to him, love him, and admire him. They became a couple that everyone enjoyed and admired.

Samuel, known as the ‘Son of Light,’ was the second most outstanding figure in the history of the Holy Church next to the first Pope. He not only led the army to fight against the demons, but also destroyed the long planned plan of the demons. He also re-established the Holy Church, which had suffered from catastrophe and was about to fall, and made it more brilliant, more powerful and prosperous.

His legend and ballads spread throughout the whole continent and throughout history, including the miracles of kindness and benevolence, heroic bravery and heroism, as well as romantic love that made all the young boys and girls want it for themselves.

He once gave up the papacy because of his lover. After succeeding the Pope, he tried his best to hold a grand wedding with his lover. At the same time, he opened the prelude of the religious reform presided over by him. He strongly encouraged the congregation to leave the ivory tower far away from the world, go deep into the common cities, and serve the people, so as to further enhance the prestige of the Holy Church. In this religious reform, the most praise and disparagement change was that he allowed the congregation to fall in love or even get married, which brought about a tremendous change for the entire Holy Church.

According to Samuel’s words, pure love was absolutely impossible to hinder faith and loyalty to God, and even, he would be more devout to serve God, thank him for bringing his lover to him, so that he could spend a complete and happy life together.

With the example of his holiness, many people who left the Holy Church had feelings with the common people when they were helping them, which made the Holy Church ‘close to the people’ in an unexpected way. It made the relationship with the common people closer, and gradually eliminated the pride and arrogance of the nobles who thought highly of themselves and could not see the bottom.

On the other hand, this reform also curbed the disorderly behavior in the Holy Church, because it only encouraged, recognized and protected the first feelings of believers, making them believe that this was the purest faith, while the extravagant love and the simple indulgence in flesh were still behaviors people would criticize and oppose. Once they were stable, then few believers were willing to take the risk of being judged by the canon to have a physical relationship with others.

Of course, apart from the beneficial side, this reform also has its disadvantages.

Many churches and even bishops, because of their love for non-human beings, had been deceived by their lovers and had done harmful acts to the Holy Church. Therefore, the debate on whether the church should indulge in love had been lasting for a long time. 

However, these had nothing to do with Samuel and Bai Duan, because they had already passed away, living a complete life and left the world hand in hand.