The Pope was willing to obey. Nick Fury found that deeply ironic.
The devout were willing to kneel, and halos appeared above their heads as well. It did not matter if the bearer of that halo was an atheist. He did not know whether this obedience was the piety of flagellating one's own back until blood stained one's linen undergarments, or the trembling worship of kneeling down. He was a standard atheist.
Not a nonbeliever, but an atheist. Even though the Emperor of Latveria had told him that Mental Energy entities existed in this world—entities that could be called fairies, angels, demons, and other terms humanity had invented in its age of ignorance—Nick Fury remained an atheist. He did not believe such things could be called gods. Perhaps that was why the Emperor of Latveria appreciated him: he would not search for omens in cracks in the wall.
But whatever form that obedience took, Nick Fury did not care. He only wanted to complete his mission.
"When the will of a god conflicts with the will of its believers, the god will be abandoned. People create gods; gods do not create people. If the Messiah walked through the streets of Israel and demanded that civilians change their beliefs, then he would no longer be the Messiah. The same principle applies elsewhere."
That was how the Emperor of Latveria had evaluated religious faith after taking a stroll through the streets of Israel.
Nick Fury imagined black venomous snakes rolling out from behind the mural-covered walls that praised Jesus' great sacrifice, frightening the priests and archivists behind him into lifting their robes and fleeing in all directions. When he realized how childish his imagination was, Nick Fury merely shook his head and continued waiting for the cardinal.
"Study the history of Canaan,