I am the Pope in the Western Fantasy World

Phil Gray continued to walk down the stairs, being careful not to make any noise and trying to use every available cover, but the people here were busy with their own things and no one paid any attention to him.

Finally, we reached the center of the temple, where stood a huge stone tablet and a white-haired old man sitting under the tablet, thinking with his eyes closed.

There were densely engraved words on the stone tablet. Before he had time to take a closer look, the old man noticed his arrival.

"Outsider?" The old man opened his eyes and turned his face towards him. His face was full of wrinkles, like dry and dehydrated bark.

Phil Gray didn't know what to do for a moment, so he neither denied nor said yes.

The old man didn't look at him again, but turned his gaze to the stone tablet, scanning the words on it inch by inch. Phil Gray followed his gaze, trying to see clearly what they were, but because it was too dark, the words were blurry.

"These people sacrificed themselves for the light on the island. Sometimes I wonder whether this kind of sacrifice is justified. Is it right or wrong to let young lives die for a year or even a day of light?"

The old man seemed to be muttering to himself, but also seemed to be talking to him.

It turns out that these are the lists of people who sacrificed themselves for the light of the island.

Phil Gray answered firmly: "The value of life lies not in its length, but in its depth and meaning. Fighting for light is their wish. It is an honor to die. It is meaningless to discuss whether it is right or wrong."

No matter in which world or in which period, there are always people who are willing to sacrifice so that future generations can see the light. These people are true heroes. He looked at the stone tablet with reverence.

"In their hearts, this kind of sacrifice is necessary and is the only way to a bright future. Even if they don't succeed in the end, they still tried their best. We can't change the past, but we can learn from it and find new ways to embrace the light so that such sacrifice is no longer necessary."

He didn't know what methods the people on the island had taken to find light, but the still dark island proved that they had taken the wrong path.

After hearing his answer, the old man smiled and shook his head, saying with emotion: "You are wrong, but you are also right."

"What do you mean?" Phil Gray asked puzzledly.

The old man's voice was cold and stern:

"Some of these people sacrificed themselves voluntarily, but most of them were forced to sacrifice themselves."

"Forced?"

The old man sighed and said slowly: "Let me tell you a story. The story begins on an island far away from the mainland. The island is rich in resources and has a beautiful environment. Tourists come from time to time. The islanders live and work in peace and contentment, and their lives are happy and beautiful."

Phil Gray knew he was telling the history of the island.

"Then one day, the sky suddenly darkened, like a bottomless abyss, and there was no light on the entire island. The islanders were very panicked. After waiting for a whole month, they collapsed and wanted to escape from the island, but they found that no matter what they did, they could not leave. The wind and rain could come in, the birds could come in, and even the tourists passing by could come in, but once they came in, they could never leave again."

“Despair and fear grew on the island. When the flowers, plants and trees withered and died, the birds and animals disappeared due to lack of sunlight, and the islanders also died one after another due to lack of sunlight and food.

At this time, someone stood up. He was the first person to sacrifice for the light, a pioneer, and the hope of the entire island. He commanded everyone to build five lighthouses in the east, west, south, north, and center of the island, and then used his head and limbs as fuel to light the lighthouses. From then on, light existed on the island for another three hundred years! "

"This person should not be an ordinary person, right? Maybe he is a person favored by God?" Phil Gray frowned and speculated.

"Do you know the God's Favored One? Yes, he is a believer of the sun and an elder of the Dawn Cult. He just happened to come to the island with a few of his students, but he sacrificed himself for us."

The old man's voice was filled with sorrow.

Elder, no wonder, only those who have been descended from the gods can become elders in the Dawn Divine Sect. No wonder they have been able to bring light to the island for three hundred years.

"We will always remember his kindness to the morning light, but three hundred years later, the lighthouse went out and the light disappeared again."

Phil Gray seemed to realize something.

"The three students he brought with him took root on the island. They brought the belief in Dawn and led people to build this temple, praying that the gods could lead everyone out of darkness. Some islanders became gods' favored ones under their guidance. Then, after three hundred years of development, the number of gods' favored ones in Dawn increased, but unfortunately, the number is still very small, and no one can reach the level of the elders anymore."

"Three hundred years later, the islanders want them to light the lighthouse again?" asked Phil Gray.

"No, they volunteered and were even prepared. Unfortunately, they were far inferior to the pioneers. Even if they sacrificed themselves one after another, the longest the light would last was only one year. Some sacrificed themselves and could only keep the lighthouse lit for one day. Later, the number of followers of the Dawn became fewer and fewer, and the few who remained were unwilling to sacrifice themselves."

"But light is really addictive, even though we know it is so short-lived." The old man's voice trembled. "Those islanders who once bathed in light could never bear the fear of returning to darkness again, so they began a hunt for the followers of the Dawn. The remaining followers were forced to sacrifice themselves. Perhaps this made the gods even angrier, and no followers of the Dawn appeared on the island again."

"Why did the islanders want to kill us all? Why couldn't they leave some followers of the Dawn? Perhaps they would be at a higher level and be able to find a complete solution?"

And even if we can't find any other way, let those at the low level grow for a while. When they are demoted to gods, it shouldn't be the case that one life can only be exchanged for one day of light, right?

The old man smiled bitterly and said, "The darkness has long made the islanders lose their minds. The prey is right in front of them. How can the beast, which has been hungry for a long time, have the patience to wait for it to grow bigger? And if it grows bigger, it is not certain who will eat whom."

Indeed, a high-level god-favored one can defeat thousands of troops alone, and even if these islanders have more people, they are no match for them.

"and after?"

Phil Gray walked closer to the stone tablet, trying to make out the name on it in the dim light.

Those names were carved extremely deeply, as if every stroke contained endless pain and persistence.

His fingers gently touched the marks, as if he could feel the last breath of the victims.

"Later, the followers of the Dawn became substitutes for light. Any Dawn travelers who accidentally drifted here would be used as fuel for the lighthouse by the islanders. They believed in the sun, but they also wanted to destroy it."

Phil Gray was shocked. No wonder the islanders reacted like that when they heard that they were believers of the Dawn.

Oh no, the elder is in danger!

Wait, the elder is a downgraded god, so it’s the islanders who are in danger, right?

Phil Gray felt relieved when he thought he had a strong support.

Perhaps he should hide his identity better now, but as a favored one of three gods, it is not easy to hide his identity.

"The names behind these are all followers of the Dawn who were accidentally stranded on the island..."

The old man's voice was gradually drowned out by a sigh.

"You already have the answer to the initial question in your mind, right? It's wrong to exchange an innocent life for such a brief moment of light! It's a meaningless sacrifice! It's not the same concept as what I said about giving your life for light." Phil Gray looked at the old man sharply and said coldly.

The old man shook his head again. "But it is precisely this brief period of light that has allowed us to persist for seven hundred years. If we had not been able to bathe in light for a short period of time every few years, perhaps everyone would have long forgotten about the light and lost the motivation to pursue it. Wouldn't we be forever sinking in darkness?"

"So you are pretending to feel guilty for their sacrifice, but at the same time you don't want to put down your butcher knives?"

Phil Gray said sarcastically, looking straight into the old man's eyes, "You know what? True light does not lie in the absence of darkness, but in someone willing to light a lamp for you in the darkness. When that elder was here, you still had light, but later you destroyed it with your own hands. Even if those lighthouses light up again, what does it matter? Your hearts have already fallen into the abyss."