Andoain had lived for many years and had seen many strange things, but he was certain he had never seen anything as peculiar as this.
Numerous metallic rings rotated incessantly around something in the center, while other components orbited a large central sphere. It was clearly an instrument of extreme precision—so precise that Andoain, who had taught himself mechanical engineering, could not understand a single part of it.
But he was certain of one thing: this was absolutely not something built by the people of Laterano. One could even say that all of Terra combined could not construct something so sophisticated.
He could feel it; the fluctuations emitted by this massive apparatus resonated perfectly with the halo atop his head! This sensation... it was just like Empathy! Through this machine, he could even perceive the blurry thoughts of other Sankta.
Although these thoughts weren't precise enough to pinpoint a specific individual, they allowed Andoain to sense the general emotions of the Sankta at this moment. Even at close range, the emotions perceived through Empathy weren't clear enough to know every thought—that wouldn't be Empathy, that would be mind-reading.
However, its existence allowed the Pope to have a comprehensive understanding of everyone's reaction whenever new policies were promulgated. For instance, right now, Andoain could feel a torrent of joy surging into his heart; those were the many Sankta currently celebrating the festival.
"Is this... the truth of Laterano? Every Law is formulated by this?"
Andoain looked at the Pope in disbelief. He truly hadn't expected that the Law connecting so many Sankta was merely a cold machine. Did the miracles of the Sankta not truly exist? Were they all just individual units linked together while this cold machine operated?
In his original imagination, he thought he might meet an all-knowing Saint, or an avatar of a great deity—someone who formulated everything for Laterano. If that were the case, perhaps he could have obtained what he desired through debate! But his target was merely a soulless piece of machinery.
"Yes. All Sankta are connected because of it. And as for its construction or deeper mysteries, we remain in a state of total ignorance."
Since the founding of Laterano, countless Sankta had devoted themselves to studying this grand machine, attempting to uncover the ultimate secret of their race. They grew from children to middle age, and from middle age continued their research until they were too old to walk, yet they still hadn't found the secret.
Why could it connect every Sankta? How were the Patron Firearms bestowed by it? Could other races become like them? To these various questions, a multitude of sages had tried every possible method, yet they couldn't find even a sliver of inspiration.
"You asked me before why only Sankta can be saved. What I want to say is: it is precisely because we became Sankta that we are saved."
Andoain was certainly not the first person in these thousand years to pity the weak! This city never lacked kind-hearted individuals who grieved for the world.
There were even more radical Sankta in the past who planned to violently study this apparatus, determined to uncover Laterano's secrets. They hoped to turn everyone on Terra into Sankta; toward this end, they didn't even hesitate to take radical actions against the machine, which ultimately ended in failure.
At that time, they even clashed with other Sankta. This eventually led to a large number of Fallen Sankta and the irreparable destruction of a mobile district. The leader of those people was named Azazel. He was the same fellow who established that clinic in Ursus.
"In other words... the so-called saving, the so-called redemption, it doesn't exist? The reason a Sankta is a Sankta is simply because of its choice?"
Then what was the point of his struggle? If those people could not be recognized by this machine, then attaining so-called salvation was naturally impossible. Was everything he had fought for a mistake? The answer he sought—even at the cost of betraying his teammates and damaging the city—was actually just this cold machine?
At this moment, Andoain felt the illusions in his heart shatter. He sat powerlessly on the cold floor, staring blankly at the operating instrument.
"If that's how it is, then why... when I violated the Law, did it ignore my crimes?"
Andoain looked at the Pope. He didn't understand why this cold machine would ignore his own transgressive behavior. If the one in charge of the Law were a person, this would be easy to explain—it would be highly likely the other party secretly agreed with his ideology. But this thing... does it even have that function?
Could a device without wisdom, operating only on pre-set functions, truly possess such high intelligence? It wasn't that he doubted the machine that had protected the Sankta for a millennium, but placing one's future in such a machine just felt wrong no matter how he looked at it.
"Perhaps it believes your path is beneficial to the continuation of Laterano. Perhaps that value outweighs the crime of firing at your own kind. After all, it is just a machine."
The Pope answered Andoain while watching Jeanne, who was carefully observing the apparatus from the side.
Actually, according to a normal person's perspective, based on Andoain's current behavior, the things he had done were even worse than Falling! He had ruined the life of a fellow Sankta who had a bright future; for that alone, the Pope felt it wouldn't be too much even if he became a Fallen Angel.
Unfortunately, the Law was not controlled by him. Although he held high authority within the race as the Pope, he had no right to interfere with the Law. After all, the Law had essentially merged into the blood of every Sankta; it was likely that no one possessed the authority to modify it.
However, this didn't mean the Pope disapproved of the current Law. Although it currently didn't shift based on human thought and was even somewhat rigid, it had indeed protected them for a thousand years. Without the Law, the Pope couldn't imagine what kind of crazy things a group of gun-wielding Sankta would do. After all, killing someone with a gun was much easier than using spells that required arduous training.
No—perhaps there truly was one person here who could modify the Law. The Pope looked at Jeanne, who was standing to the side observing the machinery. Perhaps she could create a new miracle.
For a time, the room fell into a deep silence. Aside from the mechanical roar, no other sound could be heard. The Pope sat calmly, watching Andoain, who was dazed by the impact of this massive revelation. At this moment, he recalled the scene when he succeeded the previous Pope and was brought here for the first time. Back then, he had worn an expression very similar to Andoain's, unwilling to believe that everything in Laterano was built upon this cold machine.
But what was Jeanne doing? Looking at Jeanne, who hadn't said a word since they entered, the Pope was curious about her actions.
Jeanne was currently observing the massive instrument with great care. She was certain the "calling" was coming from inside this machine. However, perhaps because she was too close now, she couldn't quite figure out exactly where the sensation of being called was originating from.
As for her habit of many years—just charging straight in? Please, this was clearly a precision instrument at a glance; what if she broke it?
Fortunately, she had a way to handle this. In this state of extreme hesitation, she chose to use the all-purpose Revelation to deal with the problem.
Sure enough, with the help of the Revelation, Jeanne "saw" a door appear in the center of those rotating rings! She was certain that she hadn't seen that door earlier. It seemed that under the blessing of some power, it could only be found through the Revelation.
Jeanne followed the guidance of the Revelation. With a sudden stride, she dashed toward the rings, which gave the Pope a fright. He thought the child had been overstimulated and intended to kill herself by slamming into the equipment. The distribution of those rings didn't look like a person could pass through.
As for the machine being damaged—the fact that it had held out for so many years naturally proved it was quite sturdy.
"I found a door here! Old man, do you know what's going on?"
The moment Jeanne passed the first ring, the entire apparatus suddenly stopped rotating. The gaps between the components aligned to form a passage leading to a secret chamber.
"I don't know. We have never discovered such a thing."
The Pope's expression was one of total bewilderment. They had studied this for a thousand years and never even found a door?
The moment Jeanne placed her hand on the door, it was as if she had passed some form of verification, and the door opened on its own.