Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 921 What if the fire is not hot enough?

After reducing the number of entourage, Aiwass's mobility was significantly improved.

Although Cardinal Galatea is very heavy, in stark contrast to its slender appearance...but for the Pegasus that Helechin has transformed into, even if it is twice as heavy, it can easily carry it.

"Thank you for your hard work, Galatea."

Aiwass sighed: "I know you want to retire... or a long enough vacation. But given the current situation, I still need you for a while.

"I'm afraid I can't let you go home until the Fallen Angels are defeated and annihilated."

He had asked Cardinal Galatea to come alone, partly because he had something he wanted to say to her alone.

Otherwise, in fact, Aiwass and Helechin are enough.

"It doesn't matter to me, Your Holiness."

Galatea spoke softly, her voice as clear and cool as a spring: "I have waited for thousands of years, so a few months won't make a difference. Besides, I can't let go of things here anyway... No matter how tired I am, I can't let others suffer and leave like this."

She sat behind Aiwass with her arms around his waist.

“Uh…”

But at this moment, Aiwass suddenly felt a huge force coming from his waist - Galatea tightened his arms slightly, and Aiwass felt like he was squeezed by a hydraulic press.

"I have something to say first, Your Holiness - there is something I need to make clear right now."

Galatea asked seriously, "How many people do you plan to take with you?"

Aiwass raised his eyebrows and said casually, "Take as many as possible, at least take all the things from the Spiritual Tower - this was agreed upon in advance. They were going to come to Avalon anyway, but they were stopped now."

"Besides the Ziggurat?"

Galatea asked, "What about the other civilians?"

"I am going to make a call, and I have already laid the groundwork for this when I was pope."

Aiwass said immediately, and it was obvious that he had already thought of a solution: "The Narcissus Principality is short of people, and the Theocracy can also accommodate a lot of people. If I call on the Theocracy, both Black Eagle and Iris should be willing to take in some refugees... Regarding this, I have already contacted the people who need to be contacted.

"Plus, Avalon can also accommodate a group of refugees... If that's not enough, I'm still in contact with the troll tribe in the southern continent. It just so happens that Avalon is planning to reclaim the southern continent recently and needs manpower. We can also hire some Star Antimony Transcendents at high salaries to go to the southern continent to build infrastructure - this is exactly what Avalon can't afford."

"…It seems like you've been prepared for this for a long time."

"Of course," Aiwass's voice was clear and full of energy, "Because even without the Fallen Angels, Star Kingdom has already fallen into an economic crisis. At the same time, there is also the undead disaster caused by Valentine VII who turned into a ghost... Now the Star Kingdom's army is divided, the queen is in power, and even the security forces can't pay their salaries. The Star Kingdom is now in name only.

"There is another detail here - many Star Antimony people have hatred with goblins. And the goblins have hatred with the trolls. Now the largest troll tribe has come to me, and I pushed them to Avalon... In other words, the goblins and I are now on opposite sides.

"Although the Avalon Railway is also sponsored by the Goblin Chamber of Commerce, the money has already been obtained. And the original goal of the Goblin Chamber of Commerce has long been achieved... that is, to completely destroy the economy of Xingti.

"The investment they gave to Avalon was to bribe the Minister without a Ministry. Now that I am the Pope, this price is far from enough - it is a price they cannot and could not give.

"I took the money and had to do the job. But after I did the job, I had to finish it - send those people who hated the goblins to the goblins' hometown, and then give them the support of the church - originally Avalon - to give them the opportunity to seek revenge and restore their country... This was my original arrangement for them.

"...In other words, I am partly responsible for the current situation of Xingtan. So the escape route I prepared for the people of Xingtan was also partly to put an end to my own plan... But now that the Fallen Angels have arrived, this evacuation plan has been used elsewhere."

Aiwass tilted his head slightly, looked at Galatea who remained silent, and asked humbly: "How is it, Cardinal Galatea? Do I seem a little too evil?"

"—On the contrary, Your Holiness."

Galatea's voice was cold: "I think you are too merciful."

"...Don't play tricks on me," Aiwass said helplessly, "I know this isn't a good idea..."

"No, I meant it literally - you are too merciful. That's not a good thing."

Galatea said solemnly: "If you were wearing the Holy Crown now, I would never have any opinion on your decision. Even if all the spirits were burned to ashes, they would eventually illuminate the direction you pointed to. However, you are not an official pope now, so I dare to explain to you...

"Just like the rules you just mentioned - the demons didn't care about their evacuation because the person you took away was a difficult person that they had to risk their lives to defeat. And their appearance rules are different from usual. If you die here, you are really dead. So they chose to stand by and watch.

"——But if you try to take the civilians away, will the demons really stand by and watch? I'm afraid not. That will only lead to a more intense conflict.

"Not only will the demons' actions become more intense, but residents who would not have died otherwise will also be killed by the demons as a warning for trying to escape. And the volunteers who come to rescue will encounter more dangers. The army composed of high-level demons is an irresistible god-like existence for most countries.

"Although the Fallen Angels and the Higher Demons summoned by Him cannot leave the country bound by this ritual, they can create new Higher Demons at any time.

“If they try to rescue Star Antimony, they will only be blocked by the upper demon army and lose precious manpower. When they are attacked by demons transformed from the residents of Star Antimony, they may not even be able to save their own land.

"——Fire needs fuel to burn. If you don't want to give up anything, you may not be able to save anything."

That's not an unfounded worry.

Rather, it was the conclusion Galatea came to after calm and ruthless logical reasoning.

——I am afraid that the voter of this twin mirror is the one who least believes in romance and beauty.

"…You mean," Aiwass finally understood what she meant, "that I shouldn't save them?"

He caught a familiar trace from Galatea.

That was... controlled fire.

Derived from Cardinal Loki's philosophy, the predecessor of "necessary evil" and "premature death".

This concept is really popular in the Theocracy... It seems that there are more than one or two cardinals who agree with Cardinal Loki's philosophy.

"It's just like the rule you mentioned - as long as we secretly transport those talented, sober people who are not easily deceived by the demons, the demons will never do anything too bad to others. Instead, they will try their best to maintain a friendly attitude."

Galatea said calmly: "So we must not launch a large-scale rescue. Even if we need to rescue someone, we have to do it like we are doing now, with a small group of elites picking up a few people - a small number of times, in this way to delay the demons' action time.

"And in order to satisfy the demons, we can't even make public the fact that 'people will be rescued gradually'. It will give people hope, and the demons will take even heavier measures against these civilians in order to destroy this slim hope. This will be counterproductive -

"In other words, our goal is to save as many people as possible in the end. To achieve this goal, the sacrifice of some people and the fall of some people are necessary. By making the least sacrifice, we can win the longest peace and save the most people, while not affecting the interests and security of other countries... This is the best way to make sacrifices."

Galatea said this with some complexity: "If it was the previous Pope... I think he would think the same."

“…So he’s not me.”

Aiwass sighed: "Or at least not entirely me."

"You still intend to--?"

"Galatea," Aiwass interrupted the puppet cardinal, "of all the things that can emit light or heat, what do you think I am more like?"

"……you……"

Galatea was silent for a long time before she gave her answer: "You are like the sun, giving light and heat to all things equally. Of all the popes I have ever met, you are the one who best fits the word 'sun'."

“…That’s really a compliment.”

"That's not the case," Galatea said coldly, "The sun's light is too weak at some times, too strong at other times. Some people will freeze to death, some will die of heat... but at least the whole world has life because of it.

"But this light is so taken for granted that people even forget its existence, and even choose to avoid the sun. When someone needs help more, this light is not enough; the sun cannot cover the world. The brighter it makes the day, the more sinful the night is, just so that those sins do not appear in the eyes of the sun." But as long as it is fire, it needs fuel. Even the sun is no exception - Xi Tiansi burned himself to illuminate the earth. The same is true of the Great Day of Creation in the past... I guess it was because he burned out that he ushered in that peaceful death.

“Just like the light and heat emitted by a lit match or a candle, the farther away it is, the more it dissipates… all that heat is wasted.

"And in order to illuminate the entire world, the amount of heat wasted is infinite. The 'fire' that could have been used to change everything, create everything, and destroy everything, is now only used to make the world look prosperous..."

Galatea's voice was cold and calm, as if she had no emotion at all.

But Aiwass felt that her words were full of emotion and even a little excited.

——Those are the most sincere words from the scaly ones who have survived from the Second Sun era.

The sun cannot be seen under the sea - they were not born from the sun, so for their civilization, the sun does not represent everything that was originally there.

rather say……

——She was afraid of the sun.

Or rather, she was afraid of Aiwass's desire to become the sun.

Or maybe... she was afraid of the Fallen Angels.

For Galatea, who was once just a researcher doing odd jobs, Lucifer, who was once the master of the Tower of Babel, was so powerful that she was almost impossible to fight against.

Even though she had lost her heart and was left with only longing, the fear she felt at that time had not yet dissipated.

She couldn't defeat them, she couldn't fight them - ever since she first learned that the Fallen Angels had descended upon the material world, she had felt a sense of frustration and decadence.

"Galatea," Aiwass said suddenly, "you must have experienced it too - that dark age.

"The second sun went out, and the sun god Mithra who was supposed to be born did not. The earth was dark, and the cold and hunger made everything hopeless... I am right, right?"

"...Did you remember anything?"

"No, not really. That's just information that can be deduced."

Aiwass shook his head and said softly: "You said...'All that heat is wasted', but I don't think so.

"The world was much colder then than it is now. Without the sun's light, everything lost its vitality.

"That 'heat' is never wasted. It just changes the most basic environment and changes the world in the most subtle way.

"Thank you, Galatea. You were able to compare me to the sun - I want to be like the sun."

Aiwass smiled and said, "Do you know why Xi Tiansi became the third sun?"

Galatea reasoned calmly: "According to the secrets we saw from the ruins of the Tower of Babel, fragments of the sun fell into the sea. That was the birth of the Beast Master - the Beast Master is the Forbidden Son. Before gaining the ability to evolve, He was a sea monster on the seabed. It is because of the power of creation that there are hundreds of beasts on earth.

"The Beast Master and Heng Wo are two sides of the same coin. Xi Tiansi, as the son of Heng Wo and Heng Wo, possesses the remnant of the second sun that Heng Wo expelled, and is also the power of creation controlled by the Beast Master..."

"No, that's not what I'm talking about."

Aiwass shook his head: "He would ignite himself and become the third sun under the persuasion of the Sand Clock - precisely because people have seen the sun.

“Although people today fear the night, they are not desperate. Because they know that the sun will rise again tomorrow… and it was the same back then.

"People know that there was a sun in this world, and they still remember the scene when the sun shone on the earth. That was beautiful and worth remembering. It was for this reason that Xi Tiansi chose to sacrifice himself... to ignite the Xihuo that would burn himself."

Aiwass thought of the visions he had seen when he read the Morning Crow Tantra.

It was painful for Xi Tiansi to set himself on fire.

He works tirelessly and sometimes even falls asleep suddenly, plunging one area into eternal day and severe drought, while forgetting to bring light to the darkness on the other side.

—But He would rather burn for it.

That is to bring light back to the world.

"Despair kills, Galatea. If we don't give people hope and make them realize that they are the abandoned side, when the demons are defeated, they will become new demons...carrying despair and anger, hating everything. If even the Holy Church has abandoned them, then what should they live for?

“Give people hope! Let them know that the sun will rise again after it sets; let them know that the light will come again after it goes away…”

Aiwass said calmly: "This is not just for the Star People to see. It is also for others to see - only through struggle can there be a way to survive. The arrival of the God of Heaven will not be the only time. The population that is preserved by means of 'compromise' is just a debt owed to the future."

Galatea was a little confused: "What if the demons take radical measures?"

"Then fight them, and I will lead the way."

Aiwass shook his head: "Galatea, if you fall into the trap of 'premature death' and 'necessary evil', you will not be able to save the world.

“When disaster strikes, it’s not just once that people are abandoned. They always abandon a few for the sake of the majority, and retreat again and again… That can’t be called salvation at all—at most it can only be regarded as stopping losses.”

"...But what if sacrifice is necessary? If one side must sacrifice... it is better to let a few sacrifice and save more people than to let more people die. This is how the [civilization] of this world has survived since ancient times."

Galatea's ideas remained strong.

Because in her understanding - that is why the concept of the source of civilization is dedication.

Sacrifice individuals to continue civilization.

Even though the main body of today's civilization is no longer the civilization of the past, just as she is no longer a scaly person...but civilization still continues.

"——You all got one thing wrong. It's not 'necessary', but 'helpless'... It's because of lack of ability that there are 'sacrifices'. It's not because of their sacrifice that civilization exists."

Aiwass said firmly - he was actually irritated by Cardinal Galatea's pessimistic remarks: "Just as some people have to endure the cold because the fire is not hot enough. It is not that some people have to endure the cold so that others can get warm. When encountering a problem, solve the problem, this should be the right way!

"Even if someone is sacrificed, it can only be at the hands of the enemy, not at the hands of our own people. Devotion should be voluntary, brave, and fearless... and should not be cold-blooded, ruthless, or rational. I think you are on the wrong path - I am the Pope, I am the son of the candlelighter, so listen to me.

“I’ll show you—we can defeat a mere Fallen Angel! If we can’t even defeat a mere Fallen Angel…”

——Then how to fight against the end of the world?
Aiwass said this and swallowed the second half of his sentence.

He sighed and asked Helechin to stop.

Aiwass turned around and looked at Galatea who had fallen completely silent. It was obvious that she still had a deep fear of the Fallen Angels.

She was not convinced by Aiwass, but simply stopped confronting Aiwass.

He reached out and touched Galatea's head.

The girl, who looked as cold as a doll, raised her head in confusion.

Perhaps only at this moment would it seem that she was just a girl who died before adulthood, rather than a powerful cardinal.

And Aiwass whispered in her ear: "If the fire is not hot enough, burn me first."

(End of this chapter)