"The green line might collapse!"
"!!!" The pope raised his eyebrows while Aisha widened her eyes.
"What? The green line might collapse, you say? How?" Aisha asked out loud.
"According to them, there are a lot of casualties in the green line. There is also a sudden influx of injured people that are sent here. We are going to organize them and transport them a bit further away from the green line.
"Although there are some soldiers stationed here, it won't be enough to stop the monsters. So, we have to move our camp a bit further away."
Aisha gritted her teeth. "An influx of injured people? How many?"
"Approximately fifteen thousand people."
"…" The mood suddenly turned heavy. All of them knew what this number meant.
Even if all the healers tended to the injured, they could only help two thousand people per three minutes. But now that they had worked too hard in the past thirty minutes, many of them had gone to recover their Magic Power. Even Aisha and Erica were supposed to leave their post for a moment.
If there was a sudden influx of injured people, especially at this number, it would be impossible for them to take care of them. Also, that number was very important to the frontline. It was no wonder that they declared the demons might come to this place.
Erica and Aisha, who were about to recover their Magic Power, immediately stood up, planning to help them again. This time, they might push themselves.
However, the pope suddenly stepped forward while raising his hand, stopping the two. "Wait. You two go back and recover your power immediately."
"But…" Aisha gritted her teeth. This time, she didn't plan to back down.
Knowing Aisha's emotion from her voice, the pope added, "This is an order from the head of the healer division. You two are to recover your Magic Power. I will be the one taking care of them."
The pope turned to the guy who brought the message and said, "Told them that we are not going to move our camp."
"But, Sir—"
"I'm going to heal everyone. If they can return to fight, we should be fine, right?"
"That's… true. But…" The guy doubted the pope's ability. Even though he could heal faster than anyone else in this place, it didn't change the fact that fifteen thousand people were a huge number.
However, Erica was the only person to notice his intention. "Wait a minute—"
"Erica!" The pope raised his voice while taking out his necklace that turned out to be a key. He took it off and handed it to Erica. "You should know where this key will lead you. Right now, I declare that you are qualified to read that book. I know that the future will be harsh, but I'll leave everything to you."
"But you…" Erica looked pained and filled with worry. Aisha didn't know what the pope was planning to do, but it seemed that this was going to be dangerous.
The pope smiled and walked with the messenger, ignoring her plea.
"What is he planning to do?" Aisha asked Erica with a frown.
"He…" Erica gritted her teeth. Before answering Aisha's question, she chased after the pope.
Of course, the pope could easily sense her presence and understand her intention.
"Erica…" The pope took a deep breath. "You don't have to follow me anymore. You can take off your blindfold and see the world."
Erica's body shook. She still remembered the reason why she put on the blindfold. Back then, the pope had asked her to do it to train her Awareness. But after a long time, she felt there was a hidden intention behind it. She never knew about it, but it seemed that the pope was finally willing to talk.
The pope even took off his own blindfold but hadn't opened his eyes yet.
"Training my Awareness, that's the reason why I put on a blindfold. However, that is not all the reason. I am nothing but a coward…
"I am afraid that my faith will be shaken when I see this world with my own eyes… When I witness all the world's darkness… When I watch how my own cowardice makes me fall into depravity. That's why I put on that blindfold and convinced myself that the blindfold was for my own training.
"I have always thought I want to be stronger, even now. Unfortunately, there is no pill for regret. I have forced you to take on the same path despite knowing you are braver than me.
"But at this point, I don't know why…" The pope gradually opened his eyes. His eyes shone in golden color as if they were divine eyes blessed by God. "He won't stop believing in me. He still gives me a chance, even after I run away for so long. I can see that he is opening the door to home and even preparing for a huge party to celebrate my return."
"That's why…" As he said it, they had reached the place where there was a huge influx of people. The pope suddenly fell to his knees and his hands joined together as if he was about to pray.
Suddenly, a spherical translucent barrier appeared around him and gradually expanded, engulfing more than a thousand people at once. Every person inside the barrier witnessed a miracle.
Their wounds were closing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Their strength gradually recovered and they felt like there was a warm embrace as if trying to encourage them.
Erica was completely terrified. "Divine Blessing… Teacher's Divine Technique. By encompassing the people with the Sense of Touch, he sacrifices everything in exchange for people's recovery. First, it will burn the Magic Power. Then, it will continue to his body parts… his eyes, his limbs, and eventually his own lifespan… He… is planning to heal those fifteen thousand people even if it costs him his life."
Erica knew that the pope was ready to sacrifice his own life in exchange for all these people's lives.
He could hear her words. That was why he suddenly turned around with a smile on his face. He looked at them with a gentle expression, but it was visible that the glow on his eyes gradually disappeared, turning the bright eyes into lifeless and pale eyes.
Even then, he said, "I am not God, I can't replicate his feat. Moreover, I am just a coward. But if this coward can at least help a lot of people, then I am satisfied. That's why you two… go recover your Magic Power so that you can help people in my stead."
