"We have always been a 'community,' and the Holy Church, as a 'community,' exists for every one of its members, for all those in the world who suffer, who are unfortunate, who are lost about the future. It was founded for people, and only for people."
"This is not what the Lord demands, but the covenant between me and you. It is also the covenant that, from now until the distant future, all believers in God throughout the world must follow."
That was what he said.
Thus, in the year 55 AD, Christianity changed its name, and the Holy Church officially stepped onto the historical stage of the Roman Empire.
Its founder and first Pope was Novia.
Her full title was:
Successor of Jesus Christ, one who correctly understands the Lord's will, chief among the servants of God, leader of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, mediator of disputes, guide of the mortal world, counter of all things, one whose faith in the Lord was inexhaustible, supreme pontiff of the universal Church, servant of the Holy Land, master of the lands of the Roman provinces, writer of the New Covenant, inquisitor of Heaven's Gate.
"...I see."
After the Ecumenical Council ended, the sky gradually darkened. Everyone who had attended the council was busy preparing to return to their respective places and deal with what needed to be done. Yet among them, John, one of the eleven apostles, wore a conflicted expression, as though something weighed on his mind.
In the end, John secretly sought out Novia.
"Yes, Novia. Though it is hard to believe, last night, I saw... the end of the world."
The Place of the Holy Spirit
Novia understood the end of the world John spoke of. It was the so-called Book of Revelation, originally the true final chapter of the New Testament.
But the problem was that John's description contained an utterly inexplicable additional passage—something John called the Pre-Revelation Scripture.
The Apostle John described it to Novia like this:
I saw.
In the midst of mankind stood one clothed in a long white robe reaching down to his feet, with something blue-black bound across his chest.
His head and hair were white as wool, as snow; his eyes were like a deep blue sea, and his voice was like the voice of the sun.
He came into this world, reconnecting the Son and the Father, constantly moving hearts, guiding, teaching, and revealing, causing fruit to grow—the fruit being love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness.
What he permitted was distributed to each according to his own will, poured richly upon the earth through Jesus Christ.
Though he made Vesta's fire unable to burn ever again, he guaranteed eternal safety.
I saw again that the temple in the holy land was opened. Within the temple appeared calamity, which could shut the heavens so that no rain fell, had the authority to turn water into blood, and could strike the world with every kind of plague whenever it wished.
Calamity thereby deceived those who dwelled on the earth, saying that they should make an image for this false Messiah, and it caused all who did not worship the false image to be killed.
Calamity also made all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and otherwise, cut off a finger and receive a mark.
What he did would turn the sea into blood, like the blood of the dead, and every living thing in the sea and on land would die.
Calamity sat upon the throne, and the kingdom of men was plunged into darkness.
I saw the first man as though dead, struck down before him by calamity. Yet he bravely said, "I need not fear. I came into this world so that all goodness might attain happiness."
I heard a voice coming from the sky: "My wrath has come, and the time has come to judge irredeemable evil. The time has also come for you to destroy those things that corrupt the world. The victor shall be clothed in white. My Father shall never blot his name out of the Book of Life, and I, my Father, and all my Father's messengers shall grant him the place he deserves."
The world lost its color, and darkness covered the land. That man—this one—the words spoken by the Holy Spirit, let whoever had ears hear them. So too did the King of Antichrist.
Then came another voice, thunderous and roaring. Since mankind had existed upon the earth, the holy domain had never suffered such great and terrible devastation.
That calamity was destroyed and could never appear again.
Therefore, the words spoken by the Holy Spirit, let whoever had ears hear them.
The Holy Spirit I saw, standing upon sea and land, swore by he who lived forever and ever, who created heaven and all that was in it, the earth and all that was on it, the sea and all that was in it: "What has been spoken must be upheld until destruction. This is my covenant with you."
After John finished recounting the Pre-Revelation Scripture, he went on to speak of the Book of Revelation Novia remembered, though its contents had also undergone subtle changes.
For example, in the Book of Revelation, the cause of the Great Apocalypse was originally Christ appearing once more.
For someone claimed to be Christ; rumors of war spread; nation rose against nation, kingdom against kingdom; terrible earthquakes, famine, and plague came; many betrayed and hated one another; lawlessness increased, and the hearts of many grew cold.
Thus, a brand-new world would be created.
But the reason John gave Novia for the arrival of the apocalypse was completely different—so different that it was almost unimaginable.
Though the earlier contents differed somewhat, everything after the seven angels sounded their seven trumpets had completely changed:
An angel came to me and said, "Come here, and behold the coming punishment."
A sign appeared in heaven: a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns. Seven crowns rested upon its seven heads, and its body was covered in blasphemous names. Its tail swept down one-third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth.
A woman rode upon a scarlet beast. She wore purple and scarlet garments, adorned herself with gold, precious stones, and pearls, and held a golden cup in her hand. The cup was filled with abominable things, the filth of her sins.
This was the ancient serpent, called the devil, also called Satan, who deceived the whole world.
Written upon her forehead was a name: Mystery, the mother of all abominations upon the earth.
I saw again that the woman wished to drink the blood of the Holy Spirit and eat the flesh of the Holy Spirit. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.
The angel said to me, "Why are you astonished?"
"I will tell you the mystery of this woman and of the beast that carries her."
"The beast you saw once was not, now is, and shall emerge from that bestowed by the Holy Spirit, only to go to destruction. Those dwelling on the earth whose names have not been written in the Book of Life since the creation of the world shall marvel when they see the beast that once was not, now is, and shall be again."
The angel also said to me, "The land upon which the woman sits is many peoples, many multitudes, many nations, and many tongues. It is also the great city that rules over the earth."
The Holy Spirit worked among mankind until this disguised devil revealed her true face.
For the Holy Spirit had been brought down by the wine of her desire, and he suffered in fire before the holy angels and the Lamb.
I heard a voice from heaven saying, "As she has treated others, so shall she be treated. Repay her double according to what she has done."
"Mix her drink double in the cup from which she mixed wine for others."
"As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so shall she suffer and grieve."
"Therefore, in one day, all her plagues shall come upon her: death, grief, and famine. In the end, she shall be utterly burned by fire."
"In but one hour, she became a wasteland. The blood of all who had been slain upon the earth was found in her."
Light would no longer shine upon the earth, and all nations would be slaughtered.
I saw again that the eyes of the Holy Spirit opened. His deep-blue, ocean-like eyes were like flames. Many crowns rested upon his head, and he bore a written name that no one knew except himself. He wore garments spattered with blood, and he demanded judgment from her for the blood she had shed.
Heaven opened, revealing a great white throne and the one seated upon it. Before him, heaven and earth fled away, and no place remained for them.
Fire descended from heaven and burned everything away.
That was the fierce wrath of Almighty God. The armies of heaven rode white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure, and followed him.
They cried out, "King of kings, Lord of lords!"
The one seated on the throne wiped away the Holy Spirit's sorrow. There would be no more death, no more grief, sorrow, or hesitation, for the former things had passed away. So too should the heart of man be.
Then he said, "Behold, I make all things new."
Everything impure that had occurred upon the earth would be punished. The living would die, and the dead would die once more.
Nothing unclean upon the earth could enter that place. It was a kingdom filled with God's glory. Though its gates would never close by day, there would be no night there.
For the key had already been shattered.
However, since the place of the Holy Spirit already existed, that man would inevitably ascend to it.
For You, Teacher, I Could Do Anything, Right?
Novia instructed John to compile everything he had spoken into a scroll. Once it was completed, it would serve as the final chapter of the New Testament.
But there was one condition: until it was finished, John could not tell anyone other than Novia.
"The apocalypse... what exactly is this..."
Novia, who usually wore a smile, seemed too drained to care about appearances now. He leaned beneath a tree outside his home, gazing at everything before him.
Before him lay a clear blue sky and green earth, gentle morning light shining over every inch of the land.
"...The Holy Spirit..."
Novia let out a long sigh.
He could tell perfectly well that the Holy Spirit in the Pre-Revelation Scripture John had spoken of was, without question, himself.
The silver hair and blue eyes matched, while reconnecting the Father and Son likely referred to the dual nature he had always preached.
Making Vesta's fire unable to burn again probably referred to Christianity replacing Roman polytheism. Vesta, the Roman household goddess, was the Romanized name of the Greek goddess Hestia. It was said that Vesta's eternal flame had to burn forever; otherwise, calamity would befall Rome.
The calamity afterward was even more obvious. It was also called the King of Antichrist—was that not the person who had used Solomon's corpse?
Then it mentioned Novia destroying Jerusalem with a gun.
All these descriptions indicated that the Holy Spirit John spoke of was most likely none other than Novia himself.
But why? When had I become the Holy Spirit? Novia could not help but feel confused.
He understood the Holy Spirit of the Trinity quite well. Yet the reason he had only promoted the dual nature over the years was because Christianity had still been at the stage of making things easy for ordinary people to understand. As for the Holy Spirit, something that could only be discovered by deeply studying scripture, Novia had intended to leave it for later generations to debate. There was no need for him to define the nature of something so "mysterious."
At its core, the Holy Spirit was not an impersonal force or power. Within the Trinity, the Holy Spirit was neither the Father nor the Son, for the three possessed eternal distinctions. There was only one God, so the Holy Spirit was the same as the Father and Son in existence and essence, yet in personhood, he possessed irreducible distinctions from both the Father and the Son.
This relationship contained no subordination, inferiority, or temporal priority. It merely referred to an order of relationship and personhood.
"Mm. Teacher, I'm about to leave for the Greek peninsula, yet you didn't come see me off. I'm going to be angry."
Amid the beauty of lush green trees, soft sunlight filtered through gaps in the leaves onto the ground. Whenever the leaves swayed in the wind, they seemed like giggling girls.
And the golden-haired girl named Nero looked at Novia with fervent longing and infatuation.
She had originally planned to leave today, but when the farewell ceremony was about to begin, she could not find her teacher no matter where she looked. So she immediately postponed her departure until the next day, then rushed to her teacher's home without pause, wanting to know whether something had happened to Novia. He had not even sent her a message.
"My apologies, Your Majesty, I—"
"I don't want you to call me Your Majesty, Teacher. Keep calling me Nero. Domitius is fine too. Can you do that, Teacher?"
Nero sat down, wrapped her arms around Novia's waist without hesitation, covered his mouth with one hand, and pleaded with him.
"...I-I'm sorry, Teacher. I shouldn't have done that..."
Novia stared at her without moving. Thinking she had done something wrong, the girl looked at him uneasily.
Novia understood very well that the rose-like girl before him loved him deeply. Over the years, he had not done much bad to her. In every respect, he had hoped she would act from the perspective of kindness. And now, she could no longer possibly be seen as an "Enemy of God" or "666," while the chance of her turning traitor and becoming the beast of calamity, Draco, was also low...
But according to John's account, beneath Nero's lively exterior, she also wished to drink his blood and eat his flesh like Albion. In the end, he would one day be brought down by the wine overflowing with her desire and suffer... Had he led her astray somewhere?
But he had not excessively restrained her desires. He always let her vent them appropriately. Did that mean he needed to let her do even more?
"No, it's nothing. I was merely lost in thought."
Novia shook his head.
"...Really? Really? You're not angry with me...?"
Nero sounded terribly uncertain. Sensing her feelings, Novia calmly and firmly declared:
"Not at all... That is the truth, Nero."
"Teacher, I am the Emperor."
At that response, Nero's mood instantly brightened, and she smiled again. Her tone sounded both reproachful and coquettish.
"As the Emperor, even if it is you, Teacher, you must remember properly what I say, right?"
Nero's words sounded somewhat unreasonable, but when Novia heard them, he neither smiled nor became angry. He merely answered her calmly, as though it were only natural.
"Whether you say them because of that status or not, I will remember your words."
"Then, Teacher—"
There was not a trace of falsehood in the girl's gaze or words. They also carried a passion that seemed capable of devouring all things.
"If it is to stay with you, I can do anything, right?"
Her eyes burned with passion, and her words, made all the more terrifying by her beauty, hung in the air.
The next moment, Nero saw her teacher gently shake his head. Then—
Unlike the last time when she had wanted a reward, Novia took the initiative and kissed her on the lips. It lasted so long that even she felt she was about to suffocate, yet countless waves of pleasure instinctively welled up within her body.
"Nero, you do not need to do everything you just said. You only need to listen to me."
Before you continue