The Vatican.
The newly established Holy Eye system center.
Of course, this thing could also be described in modern terms as a research center.
At this moment within the research center, the newly appointed Pope: His Holiness Adam, stood wearing golden robes outside an observation room. Peering through the gaps of a cage made from the bones of a deep-sea leviathan called Moen, he watched the small figure inside and uttered heartfelt admiration.
"Truly a magnificent creation of the divine!"
Through his line of sight into the cage, a figure resembling an infant was currently sleeping inside.
Its appearance was no different from an ordinary child, but its body hair was exceptionally thick. However, it wasn't as extreme as a hairy child condition—one could say this hair length would be quite normal on these white-skinned people, though appearing on an infant made it somewhat peculiar.
The infant in this cage was something the Church had acquired from Holy Lord City during this period.
A werewolf.
Or rather, a werewolf cub that looked like a human child.A werewolf cub that looked like a human child? Anyone who had read previous introductions about werewolves knew this was complete nonsense.
The werewolves of this world were born from mother wolves—essentially just deformed wolves. Throughout history, there had never been any stories or possibilities of werewolves turning into humans.
Even werewolf cubs themselves didn't have human appearances; at birth they resembled wolves more, like puppies. Through frog-like metamorphic development, they gradually grew into werewolf form.
So a werewolf cub taking on human infant appearance—this was utterly shocking!
What exactly had these werewolves been doing in Holy Lord City? How could they produce this never-before-seen mutant variant among werewolves?
Members of the Holy Eye were conducting a series of studies on the werewolf cub surrounding it.
Every mutation in this world followed traceable patterns. Because everything in this world was created by God, all species changes had logical foundations. They could gradually evolve to adapt to environments, but couldn't transform from one species into another.
Unless there was some mutagenic factor that could cause such mutation.
And now that the werewolf population had produced such a mutant werewolf, clearly these werewolves must have obtained something that could cause their mutation.
His Holiness Adam watched the experimental process with great interest.
Before becoming Pope, he thought the current Pope had lost all fighting spirit due to old age and frailty. The Papal States were internally corrupt while surrounding nations developed robustly. Though the Papal States had the powerful weapon of Holy Knights, this still didn't justify the Pope's reckless negligence. So before becoming Pope, His Holiness Adam vowed to expand territories, conquer all directions, promote divine ideals, and restore the Church's glory after assuming the papacy!
But all these thoughts underwent catastrophic change after he saw the divine corpse that day.
He became obsessed with these damned mysteries, developed pursuing desires, wanted to become part of these mysterious series, even... he wanted to become a true deity!
And now this werewolf before him, apparently born because its parents consumed some mysterious substance, clearly served as an excellent starting point.
His Holiness Adam didn't want to become a mindless machine, so he placed extraordinary importance on this werewolf. He wanted to obtain any mutagenic substance that could trigger transformation, thereby allowing himself to ascend the divine staircase!
Ruling through all ages—just thinking about it excited him tremendously.
"Your Holiness!" His Holiness Adam's intoxicated thoughts were interrupted by his trusted aide from behind.
"What is it?" His Holiness Adam withdrew his gaze from the werewolf, resuming his imposing demeanor that commanded authority without anger.
"Werewolf movements within Papal States territory—all werewolves seem to be gathering toward Holy Lord City. Also, werewolf traces have appeared outside Rino City, and Bishop Rosen has requested Church reinforcement. Additionally, numerous Boar Empire spies have appeared nationwide and are currently under our surveillance."
Before becoming Pope, he thought the current Pope had lost all fighting spirit due to old age and frailty. The Papal States were internally corrupt while surrounding nations developed robustly. Though the Papal States had the powerful weapon of Holy Knights, this still didn't justify the Pope's reckless negligence. So before becoming Pope, His Holiness Adam vowed to expand territories, conquer all directions, promote divine ideals, and restore the Church's glory after assuming the papacy!
"Hmph, this is their entire race's chance for advancement—of course they'll go mad!
Relay my orders: deploy the Holy Inquisition Tribunal to Holy Lord City to eliminate werewolves. Promote Bishop Rosen to High Bishop, granting him authority over the Hadley District. As for Boar Empire spies, all fronts should temporarily pretend ignorance.
These years the Boar Empire gained some development and now eyes the Vatican covetously, yet they occupy easily defensible terrain. Since they remain relentlessly ambitious, we'll feign weakness while preparing joint annihilation!"
The Boar Empire could be considered one of the Western Continent's powerful nations. It originated from the ancient Sacred Noah Empire split by the Papal States a millennium ago.
Or rather, both the Papal States and Boar Empire originated from the ancient Sacred Noah Empire. However, the Papal States' establishment came from slaughtering the ancient Sacred Noah Empire's royal family and starting anew, while the Boar Empire was the external branch of the ancient Sacred Noah Empire's royal lineage, establishing legitimacy and succeeding the empire.
As the saying goes: when legitimacy dies, everyone competes to claim legitimacy. The Papal States, as the legitimate new empire born from the ancient Sacred Noah Empire, should naturally represent the Noah Empire. But the Boar Empire, bearing the ancient Sacred Noah Empire's royal bloodline, also considers itself the Noah Empire's legitimate successor. Thus neither accepts the other's claim, each wanting to annex the other, resulting in strained relations.
However, the highest mountain range of the Western Continent separates them, creating a natural barrier that makes large-scale campaigns difficult to expand across. Besides mountain climbing, they can only strike each other through sea routes, other nations' territories, or desert crossings.
When the old Pope assumed papacy, he wanted to achieve great feats to earn the 'Sagacious' title. So within thirty years, he launched three expeditions against the Boar Empire.
He defeated the Boar Empire utterly.
But due to the great distance preventing effective control, he had no choice but to withdraw troops. However, for future aggression, he still signed proselytization and other treaties with the Boar Empire royal family.
But because of the excessive distance and difficult control, missionary results proved unsatisfactory, and other treaty aspects were selectively forgotten over time.
Now, a full century has passed.
The Boar Empire remains relentlessly ambitious, still stirring restlessly.
Little do they know, this very moment marks the Papal States' peak prosperity period!