I changed the world.

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Sure enough... the decline of the Church was not without reason... Clement III grasped something almost instantly. In fact, he had always wondered why the Church, if it was once so powerful, would decline without a special reason.

Is it really because of the Black Death and the rise of nation-states, as some historians have suggested? Ten years ago, Clement III would have said so without a doubt, but now he would not.

At the same time, the report on Bishop Wells's trip to the East that he had read before came to mind. A considerable portion of it recorded that three members of the mission had secretly gone to explore Ochre Peak without notifying the Easterners. Among them was Father Simon, and even a guy who was likely connected to the Holstein intelligence agency.

However, in Clement III's view, the greatest gain from that trip to the East was not Cardinal Wells, who met the Great Master himself, but rather the seemingly mythical information brought back by the three men.

According to them, and based on some of the videos they filmed, there is no doubt that there is a place known as the "Forbidden Land" in the Zhebifeng area of ​​the Danding Mountains.

It was protected by powerful spirits and deities. Judging from the situation at the time, those church members who mistakenly entered the forbidden area almost perished there.

However, it was precisely because of their exploration that the church gained a lot of information.

Most importantly, they deduced some facts from the few words spoken by the ghost, one of which was that the church had once fought a war with the mysterious forces of the East!

Secondly, there should be a place within the forbidden area called the "Demon-Locking Tower," but due to a lack of further clues, they cannot guess its purpose. However, based solely on the translation of the text, one can roughly guess that it is a prison-like structure used to restrain some powerful demon or otherworldly being. If this is true, it fits its status as a "forbidden area." However, given the solemnity and heavy security surrounding it, it's likely that what is restrained within is an extremely dangerous being…

Clement III had seen video recordings of the Beacon Tower incident obtained by the Church through certain channels. In his view, if the strange beings that appeared in the Beacon Tower could be directly suppressed by the immortals from the East, then what kind of terrifying demons could be so tightly guarded and restrained by those powerful beings?

After today's experiences and observations, he suddenly had a new guess... Perhaps, it wasn't a demon at all. But rather... a legendary evil god?!

In addition, there are two other names: "Anthony" and "Vita Winnie".

The name Anthony is a common name in the West, just like the name "Dazhuang" in the East. Because it is unclear whether it is a surname or a given name, the church has searched for many clergy and non-clergy people with church connections named Anthony, which makes it even more difficult to determine.

However, the Church seems to have found someone who can confirm the name "Vita Winnie"!

That's the name of a witch from the Western Continent! In some apocryphal histories, she's even hailed as one of the ten greatest witches in Western history.

Legend has it that Zhongling was originally a nun, but she was tempted by the devil and betrayed the teachings of the Holy Son Micah, then committed a series of evil deeds…

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Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History: Chapter 865 Vita Winya

In folklore, the birth and death dates of this witch have always been controversial. Some say she existed in the 11th or 12th century, while others believe she lived in the 14th century. Some even believe that she was a fictional character, a figure created by later generations piecing together rumors from the witch hunt era and embellishing them through artistic embellishment and oral transmission.

The most definitive evidence against her is an ancient stone mound on a desolate seaside plateau in northern Rune. The mound is made of local granite, each stone the size of two or three human heads, and on top of the mound is a black obelisk painted with a crown pattern. The obelisk bears the inscription: "The witch Winnia was burned alive here."

According to local legend, this is the tomb of the legendary witch Vita Winnia. Whether the witch here is truly the legendary Vita Winnia, why she was burned alive, and who built this massive stele—no one knows.

The church sent people to carefully photograph the stone mound, but that was all they could find. Besides confirming it belonged to the 12th-14th century burial style, they couldn't glean any further clues. The church did consider opening the tomb, but firstly, they worried about unforeseen circumstances—after all, it was the legendary tomb of a witch, and who knew what might happen? Secondly, it was a popular tourist attraction, frequently visited by visitors, so it was guarded, and the church didn't want to publicize it excessively.

Apart from this, although there are many folk legends, the church has not found any other materials with sufficient evidence to prove their existence so far.

Of course, this situation also suggests several possibilities, one of which is that this person is entirely fabricated. However, Clement III instinctively believed that this possibility was extremely low.

Secondly, the time period is too long and the historical materials involved are too numerous, so it would take the church a long time to review all these documents. In particular, the church at that time did not have a strict document preservation system like the court historian system in the East, so the historical materials it possessed were extremely scattered, and a large part of them were based on the letters and documents left by priests and clergy at that time. This also made the lack of historical records quite normal.

Another possibility is that someone intentionally erased her traces in history... However, apart from the church at the time, no other power in the Western Continent could accomplish such a comprehensive task of erasing a person from history.

In fact, the Pope himself is most inclined to believe the third theory. This precisely explains the contradictory situation where there are almost no historical records, yet legends circulate among the people.

So the question arises: what exactly did this person do that the church must erase all traces of his existence from history?

Based on all this information, when he heard Pyotr IV's account, he immediately had a feeling that "it all makes sense!" Looking at Pyotr IV's expression, he couldn't help but ask, "What... exactly happened?"

"Although the world at that time had been saved from destruction, the followers of evil gods had not yet been eradicated, and the forces of darkness were accumulating the potential for a resurgence. The long period of peace had made the Church complacent and arrogant… Some within the Church were corrupted and fell… They turned away from the path of the Son Micah…" Pius IV lamented, "Under these circumstances, the corrupted leadership of the Church attempted to expand eastward, spreading the glory of the Lord to the eastern lands…"

As Clement III listened to Pius IV's account, a simple description sent chills down his spine. He instinctively recalled the scene outside the beacon tower he had seen in images. He could already imagine that the Easterners would never have willingly surrendered; beneath this short passage of text lay mountains of corpses and seas of blood…

"You mean...the Eastern Expedition?"

The "Eastern Expedition" mentioned by Clement III (in the Western calendar) is a specific term referring to the holy war launched by the Church from the 11th to the 13th centuries to expand into the East, which lasted for two centuries and involved calling on Christians to conquer the lands in the East.

"It was Dad! It was the Eastern Expedition Umbrella. At that time, the nine-year-old King Vitaly I of the Kingdom misjudged the situation, and his pursuit of merit outweighed his rational judgment..."

"The trigger for this whole affair was Vita Winnia's betrayal..." Björn IV sighed.

When Clement III heard the name Vita Winya, he was immediately startled. He couldn't help but tentatively ask, "There have always been legends about her. She is said to be a famous witch?"

"Yes, she is a powerful witch; however, she was also once a nun in the church, or more precisely, a powerful nun blessed by the Lord..."

Clement III's eyes widened as he realized he was hearing about an important historical secret.

“At that time, the East and the West had a certain tacit understanding and even cooperation because they had fought together against the invasion,” Björn IV explained. “And the focus of the cooperation was to protect the Demon-Sealing Tower.”

"The Demon-Sealing Tower... is that... the forbidden area of ​​the Ochre-Green Peak of Dan Ding Mountain in Zhao Kingdom?" King Clement III suddenly recalled the information he had obtained earlier.

“The papal envoys once wandered into Mount Danding by mistake…” Clement III said, looking at Pius III, “but the guardians there did not allow them in…”

“Yes, that is the forbidden area.” Pius IV nodded. “Do not approach it, as it will agitate the Xuanmen…”

Clement III wanted to say, "You left for heaven without saying anything, I really don't know anything..." But he felt it would be impolite to say that. He had actually guessed that his strong desire for reform had led the emperor to deliberately let him try some reforms and make him realize the situation, so he hadn't told him...

"In that era, that forbidden area was actually guarded jointly by both sides..." King Björn IV was unaware of Clement III's thoughts, and continued in a low voice, "The existence of evil gods is not so easy to eliminate. Humanity at that time only temporarily sealed the evil god's true form, and the Demon-Sealing Tower was the place that guarded the evil god..."

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 866 The Severing of Heavenly Connection

"Then..." Upon hearing this, a thought flashed through Clement III's mind...

“Vita Winya… was one of the guardians the church sent to the Demon-Sealing Tower…” King Björn IV sighed, “She plotted to destroy the Demon-Sealing Tower…”

King Clement III gasped. He finally understood why the guardian of the Demon-Sealing Tower had been so enraged by the papal emissary; it was truly monstrous…

"The destruction of the Demon-Sealing Tower directly led to the loss of control over the chaotic power, causing enormous losses to the Xuanmen sect at the time, and becoming the most crucial factor in breaking the trust between the East and the West..."

"So... has the war begun?" Clement III asked with a heavy heart. Even though he didn't understand supernatural powers, he could guess how serious the consequences of releasing an evil god would be.

“A brutal war…” Pius IV nodded, emphasizing the word “brutal”.

"The power of the East was beyond imagination. We later learned that they had already begun to follow in the footsteps of the mythical era, extending their reach to even more distant star systems..."

"However, the war also disrupted their plans..."

"As for the Papacy, after paying a huge price, it gained absolutely nothing..." Pius IV closed his eyes, seemingly unable to bear describing the situation at the time: "The large number of elites lost on the battlefields in the East was completely unnecessary and should not have happened..."

"In fact, the Vatican's leadership at the time already regretted it, but once a war begins, it's not so easy to end..."

Clement III finally understood why Pius IV had said that the decline of the Papacy had begun more than 700 years ago; the real reason lay here!

That war, which should never have happened, caused the Papacy to break its most important "sword."

"However, an even greater catastrophe was yet to come. The devastation and death brought by the war provided the perfect breeding ground for the resurgence of the evil god, and the fact that the various parties, whose greatest energy was tied up in the war, were unable to devote enough power to suppress it immediately..." Björn IV continued to sigh, "Ultimately, this led to an even greater catastrophe..."

“No wonder…” Clement III finally understood why, at a certain point in history, disasters seemed to follow one after another.

"However, this also became the opportunity for the war to end. In the end, Cardinal Honorius Antony, on behalf of the Church, made an oath that from then on, the Church's extraordinary beings would not be allowed to enter the Demon-Sealing Tower."

A flicker of realization crossed Clement III's eyes, and a series of clues began to connect in his mind: "And then..."

“But by now, it’s already too late…” Pius IV slowly shook his head…

Clement III subconsciously thought of the 12th century, when countless countries and noble territories in the East and West were destroyed under the iron hooves of rising nomadic cavalry. It was indeed a catastrophe that affected the entire world. He wondered if this period of history was related to what happened...

Clement III was not too nervous at this moment. As the pope, he was still able to maintain his composure. After all, history had passed, and judging from the current situation, a solution should have been found in history.

"Ultimately, the Easterners had no choice but to propose a lose-lose solution: to seal off all supernatural powers and sever the connection between the subspace and the real world."

"The church adopted this plan."

"Therefore, the Zhou Tianyuan Lin locked up the cloth and placed it. After that, for the next few years, we called it the Three, called it the Great Silence. The East called it the Severed Heaven and Earth Connection."

"I see..." Clement III finally understood why so many myths and legends were left behind in ancient times around the world, while the closer to modern times, the fewer related myths and legends there were. It seemed that the core issue lay in this!

It must be said that humans are a pragmatic species. With the advent of photographic equipment and other instruments capable of storing images in modern times, "a picture is worth a thousand words" gradually became the mainstream of news and information dissemination. Since then, the influence of major religions worldwide has been greatly weakened, because humanity has been unable to observe any definitive evidence of the existence of deities. Furthermore, other myths and legends about demons and monsters have been repeatedly proven to be misinterpretations caused by certain explainable "scientific factors."

After the discovery of extraterrestrial life and the technological explosion, the credibility of religious myths plummeted due to technological advancements and perceived increased understanding of the outside world. However, in recent years, a series of events have begun to change things...

Because of the centuries-long debate with so-called "atheists," the Vatican possesses a vast amount of information regarding the collection of "supernatural events." Of course, the sources of much of this information are now untraceable or their authenticity uncertain. After all, the Vatican previously used this information merely to corroborate the "existence of God." Clement III had also been tasked with this work, hoping to find something. Now, it seems that their only achievement is to corroborate Pius IV's words from another perspective.

"So now... has it been lifted?" Clement asked tentatively.

"As you can see, the Zhou Tianyuan Lock has been broken." Pius IV made no attempt to conceal anything: "Baolong, you must have already seen some cases..."

“Yes, in fact, many envoys from various countries have been inquiring about this matter recently, and the Vatican is in a rather passive position…” Clement sighed as he recalled his recent situation.

"Hundreds of years of severance have severely damaged both the East and the West. However, the Church's problems are far greater than those of the Easterners..."

“Please speak frankly…” King Clement III appeared to be listening attentively.

"The problem still lies within the Church itself." Pius IV said gravely, "After the Great Silence, both the East and the West have been doing everything in their power to erase the historical memory of the evil gods..."

"In the East, they vigorously prohibited illicit rituals and witchcraft... while in the West, the Church spared no effort in cracking down on witchcraft, sorcerers, and burning or banning records related to that period of memory..."

"In fact, this process has been going on for a long time and will continue indefinitely..."

"And then it developed into the 'anti-witch movement' and the 'burning of witches'?" Clement III asked cautiously.

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History: Chapter 867 The Death of the Pope

Pius IV nodded slowly, not replying, but changing the subject instead: "Some actions, though excessive, are undeniably driven by necessity..."

“And, from the Church’s perspective… besides the evil gods from deep space, those restless wizards and old gods…” Björn IV sighed and shook his head. However, this one sentence made Clement III keenly realize that these actions themselves had a complex logic.

To put it bluntly, under the guise of righteousness, it is also a means for the church to consolidate its power.

Of course, as the Pope, he didn't find this unacceptable; after all, position dictates perspective...

"However, sometimes, too thorough a wiping can lead to forgetting, especially when a new generation that didn't experience that era becomes the protagonist of the new one," Pius IV continued. "The rapid forgetting of historical memories can sometimes further prompt changes..."

"With the arrival of the 'Great Silence,' secular forces began to exert their influence over the church; this was an inevitable event..."