“Pope, are you saying we should drastically reduce the human population through war?” Moen voiced his guess.
“Correct. War is the best method.”
Altes nodded.
Aside from the slaughter on the battlefield, war would bring many other things that caused mass death. For example, disease. In times of war, if an epidemic swept across the human world, a large number of people would naturally die from it. The speed at which the population would decline would be far faster than anyone could imagine.
Angels were most likely driven by people’s faith. In peaceful times, when people were not threatened by death, their faith was not particularly devout. But once war broke out, everything would change.
“Indeed…”
Moen had to admit it.
How ironic it was. When people lived in peace and prosperity, they naturally did not crave miracles from the gods. But once war arrived and despair gripped everyone, they would frantically believe in the gods and desperately seek salvation from them.
Perhaps it was at that moment—when the devout faith of humanity gathered to a certain degree—that the angel would awaken and descend to save the human race.
“If it’s only internal conflict among humans, it won’t be enough to awaken the angel. In past history, only wars launched by demonkind against humanity had any chance of waking it,” Altes said.
After becoming Pope, he had studied many secret texts within the Holy Land and reviewed the research conclusions of previous Popes regarding the angel before reaching this conclusion.
Of course, the best way to verify this theory was to start a war.
“No wonder, Pope. That’s why you gave me that order back then—to destroy Hess Town,” Moen said with emotion.
The moment Sophie heard the words “Hess Town,” her entire body trembled. Even though she had deliberately controlled her breathing, the shock was too great.
She had grown up in the orphanage in Hess Town.
To Selina at that time, both the children in the orphanage and the teachers who cared for her had been extremely important.
Hess Town had practically been her hometown.
It was from then on that Selina and Ville had formed a blood feud and become archenemies.
However, in this life, after learning from Via that the incident in Hess Town had nothing to do with the Demon King, she had begun to suspect the events that occurred there.
There was definitely a shocking conspiracy hidden behind it.
So when she heard Moen mention the Hess Town incident, how could she possibly remain calm?
So it was all done by the Holy Land.
“…Selina still held fantasies about Ville. She believed there was a possibility of reconciliation between humanity and demonkind. If they could just sit down and communicate, perhaps peace between the two races could be achieved.”
Altes let out a cold snort.
“If demonkind does not wage war against humanity, how could the angel awaken? Only by making Selina completely despair would she abandon all her fantasies and fight the Demon King Ville to the death, devoting herself entirely to the conflict. If we want the war between the two races to continue for a long time, we must keep it in a state of balanced power. The best counterpart for Demon King Ville is naturally the Silver Sword Princess Selina.”
“But back then, Ville was someone Selina knew. Weren’t you worried that Ville and Selina would clear up the misunderstanding and join hands to end the war?” Moen asked, puzzled about where Altes’s confidence came from.
“It’s true that demonkind is hostile toward humanity, but if the Demon King truly wanted to negotiate peace with humans, a situation where the two races coexisted wouldn’t be impossible.”
“It won’t happen. In this world, only Demon King Ville would never trust humans. After all, he experienced the taste of betrayal right here with me.”
“What… do you mean by that?”
“Demon King Ville was truly too naive. He actually believed a one-sided story and came alone into the trap. He was simply unbelievably stupid.”
Altes revealed a look of utter disdain.
Sophie lowered her head. Her hands clenched into fists so tightly that her nails nearly pierced her palms.
Moen might not have understood, but she had.
In her youth, she and Ville had met and both began to change their views about the other race.
But after they grew up, Ville’s personality changed drastically and he suddenly became extremely hostile toward humans.
The reason was that his expectations of humanity had been exploited, leading to his deep disappointment in the human leadership.
Both she and Ville had been deliberately guided by Altes into becoming enemies.
“Conveniently, there were also conflicts brewing within the empire. The emperor urgently needed a war to divert attention from those issues. With his help in fanning the flames, the fuse for war between demonkind and humanity was lit, which perfectly aligned with my wishes.”
Altes sounded somewhat regretful.
“Unfortunately, I underestimated Selina’s courage. She actually defied the higher-ups’ orders and dared to go alone to the Demon King’s Castle to fight Ville to the death, ending the war prematurely.”
“Then, the reason you guided Selina’s soul back to the human world—was it also related to the angel?”
“According to my research, the angel’s actions have many restrictions. Even when awakened, it is only to end humanity’s crisis,” Altes paused. “But what if we think differently? If someone could serve as a vessel for the angel’s power, then after awakening the angel, we could transfer its power to a suitable carrier. Wouldn’t the original restrictions disappear?”
“Could the carrier you speak of be…!” Moen suddenly realized.
“According to the divine oracle, Sylvia’s children are the best carriers.”
Altes’s eyes were filled with ambition.
“We need to spark another war between demonkind and humanity. Through war, we will drastically reduce the population, ignite the people’s fear, gather massive amounts of devout faith, and awaken the angel—”
“Pope?”
“Pope?”
Moen found it strange. Altes had suddenly stopped speaking mid-sentence and narrowed his eyes.
He wanted to ask what was wrong, but then he immediately sensed something amiss.
There was another presence in the temple besides him and Altes.
“Who’s there!”