Kaiser Tsar Vulture
(whose actual name is Cesarian btw, as he's named for Cesarian births)
in council with a pontiff.

The Kaisar is busy reviewing some list of people he has to meet while discussing the appropriateness of the Malum cult.

The Tsar specifically making him discuss it in front of Malum, who is at all times more less just slacking off in the Tsar's palace now. since he is the deity the Tsar claims the right to rule from so it's more convenient to just have him present since he's willing.

The Pontiff meanwhile is making the case that having a pagan giant as the divine authority of the vulture tsardom is a mistake because all deities are false before The Great Law. and that even Malum himself should acknowledge this.

The Great Law being one of the Triune sects, or the "Trinitarian Cathars."

Being divided into the Logoids, the Deltists, and Antitriangules.

This Pontiff being from Logoids, the School of Metaphysicians, who hold that Logic is absolute. and that faith in logic is justified because of that. even if people don't fully understand the reasons why. as properly critical education can correct that. and if it can't then it's better to have those who are not capable of logic to humble themselves in contrition to those capable of it in spite of the inability of the irrational to do so.
(The Sin of Irrationality can be cleansed by humility before the Logos, communion with the idea of the absolute, and abnegation of the instinct of itself, and offering one's shame before the high church, which, though not a person, embodies the collective body of us all.)

Malum meanwhile actually supports the Cathars, but they still abjure his cult of personality as heresy. because their logic isn't absolute enough for their tastes. and if not for the Tsar's blessings they would lead a holy crusade to purge his followers at this point in the empire's history.

All of this the Tsar is indifferent to, as he doesn't really care about the source of his authority so long as his authority remains relatively absolute. - as unlike most vultures he is literally incapable of being aroused by anything but power. thus why he prefers the robust hypermasculinity of Malum to some ineffectual pope with a compensatory penis hat in either case.
(it is only out of respect for the hypnotic effect the church's rhetoric has on the masses that he even entertains this brat's speeches in his halls.)

if it seems abnormal to allow a pseudo-religious leader that openly promotes purging heretics in his circle, remember that he also allows a psychotic accelerationist squid to run his navy. this is normal for Caesar vulture. and he's fully accepted that.