Cardinal Galatea's opinion had no real practical significance, but at least it gave everyone a way out—they no longer had to crowd around Iver and marvel at the miracle he had summoned. They could continue upward instead.
With Iver transforming into the Sin Beast, the illusion Cardinal Galatea had cast on him earlier was dispelled as well.
Everyone could now clearly see the true appearance of this "Pope." In fact, they had already guessed his identity one after another, and no one else could have possessed a posture like that of the "Child of Candle Holder"... But only now had they truly laid everything out in the open.
Iver did not continue wasting mana to maintain his transformed state.
After ending the transformation, he put his clothes back on. Once he had fully recovered his mana through prayer, he once again cast the blessings of Group Protection Curse, Group Death Prevention Barrier, and Group Order Shield on everyone. Only then did they prepare to continue forward.
The Eighth Layer was still far from the Top Layer—the Tower to the Heavens had reached its peak during the Amber Era, but no one knew how many layers it had originally possessed. Yet it had been severed midway, and the Eighth Layer was not open to the sky. That meant there were certainly more spaces above them, and it was entirely possible that there would be more powerful clusters of demons.
Preparing some defenses in advance to prevent ambushes was therefore only prudent. They could not place all their trust in Rogue's warnings—after all, they could not put all their eggs in one basket. It was entirely possible that powerful enemies would appear who could not be foretold or detected.
Sinus had no clothes after being resurrected, so Professor Bard enthusiastically lent him