Ch.102102. The Cry of the Sheep

As Amon had promised, it took less than 3 minutes to deal with the attackers.

They charged with no rationality, no different from beasts.

However, while facing them, Amon felt something familiar.

It took some time to define the nature of that familiarity.

“This… isn’t this Cyberpsycho?”

From the deep sea of his memories, Amon dredged up the mad gorilla after a long time.

Of course, during his mercenary work, he had encountered other Cyberpsycho patients besides the gorilla. But none were as distinctively insane as that gorilla.

And now, after more than 10 years, there was only one reason why that gorilla came to mind.

“Heinrich!! Why are you abandoning me!!! Heinrich!!!”

In the Cardinal’s desperate screams, Amon saw the image of that gorilla.

The Cardinal reached out pitifully toward his nephew.

“Please understand me… if you abandon me… I have no choice but to do this…”

The Cardinal sobbed as he spoke to the Archbishop.

Neither Amon nor anyone else could understand why the Cardinal was acting this way.

Trying to understand a madman was far from wise to begin with.

Amon looked at the Cardinal, who was being restrained by the Holy Knights, not with compassion but with suspicion.

“Why now of all times?”

While much remains unknown about Cyberpsycho, there are theories that somewhat explain this phenomenon.

Cyberpsycho was a kind of Ship of Theseus.

A mental illness that occurs when an enhanced body—through cyber implants, magical engravings, or gene modification—becomes too distant from one’s self-definition.

Accordingly, academics have identified three causes for its onset.

First, mental strength erodes under extreme situations.

Second, receiving too many enhancements for the body to handle.

And most importantly, the third.

“Why did you give up?”

Self-abandonment.

“I don’t understand. What made you give up?”

“Laplace… Heinrich… why did you…”

Amon posed questions to the Cardinal who was pinned down by Holy Knights, spouting nonsense.

But all that came back was the sad wailing of a madman.

No productive conversation followed, and the Cardinal was pathetically dragged away.

Amon stroked his chin as he watched the Cardinal being taken away.

‘It feels familiar…’

Why did he sense traces of that mad gorilla in the Cardinal?

The lingering discomfort suggested there was more to it than just the Cardinal’s obsession with his blood relative.

“Isn’t something strange about this?”

The Archbishop’s question pulled Amon from his thoughts.

“My uncle did genuinely care for me. But not to that extent.”

“You must have been close.”

“He was the reason I decided to become a priest.”

Heinrich called the middle-aged man, no longer a Cardinal, his uncle.

“He wasn’t like this when I first became a priest. He was my mentor who instilled faith in me.”

“Then how did he…”

“One holy war corrupted him.”

“Holy war?”

Amon turned his head toward the Archbishop.

“I’ve never seen records of a holy war since the Crusades.”

Even after gaining access to Vatican secrets, he had never seen records of a holy war.

The Archbishop lightly hit his lips with an “oops.”

“I apologize. You wouldn’t understand because it’s a term priests use. Shall we move somewhere else?”

Nod.

The two moved to a shaded area and deployed a silence barrier.

The Archbishop continued.

“The event we call a holy war is something you know well, Amon. It’s closely related to Sonia.”

“To Sonia?”

“Yes. More precisely, to Sonia’s mother.”

Amon’s eyebrow twitched.

The Archbishop opened his mouth with a look of guilt.

“The holy war to reclaim the Archangels… does that make sense to you?”

“I understand. So the Cardinal… no, Trimond participated in that war?”

“Yes. He was an Archbishop at the time. He wasn’t like this when he was appointed to command the operation to reclaim the Archangels. But after seeing Holy Knights and Archangels violate demons under his command, he became intoxicated with power.”

After hearing the background of the Cardinal’s corruption, Amon let out a sincere sigh.

“Ah… The Saint performed the miracle of five loaves and two fish, walked on water, and the people praised her signs.”

“The Saint admonished those who followed her for the signs. My uncle abandoned the Goddess and began to worship her power instead.”

Amon was genuinely saddened.

If such a devout Archbishop respected him, then the Cardinal’s faith must have been beyond question.

“You must be heartbroken.”

“It’s alright. A corrupted priest must ultimately be treated as a heretic.”

“…”

“So, what were we talking about?”

“Why was Trimond so obsessed with you, brother? And before that, what made him give up?”

At least the Cardinal knew that Heinrich was preparing a purge.

Making a slightly excessive guess, he could have been deeply hurt by the sense of betrayal from his nephew.

But that wasn’t reason enough to go mad.

Above all…

“Not just Trimond, but the other Holy Knights and attackers were similar.”

They were all manifesting Cyberpsycho, just without showing obsession toward the Archbishop.

While group manifestations of Cyberpsycho aren’t unheard of, they’re rare enough to be reported as case studies.

And such a case appeared on the day of the canonization ceremony.

It was too contrived to be dismissed as coincidence.

The Archbishop nodded.

“We should investigate Trimond’s activities. His enhancements, people he met, and so on.”

“Do you have any suspects in mind?”

“… I’ll tell you in advance that this is merely speculation. Please don’t take it too seriously.”

“I understand. But intuition can’t be ignored.”

After taking a deep breath, the Archbishop spoke.

“It seems to be Goetia’s doing.”

“Goetia? Are you saying there are demons in the Holy City?”

“No. They couldn’t possibly come here.”

The Holy City is home to prominent exorcist priests, Holy Knights, and Archangels.

It would be impossible to penetrate their detection.

Moreover, the remains of the Saint’s first apostle are enshrined in the center of the Holy City.

Those remains are a holy relic that repels demons by their very existence.

Therefore, even if a demon managed to infiltrate past detection, they would have to flee the Holy City within a day, barely clinging to life.

For this reason, the Archbishop asserted that demons could not have infiltrated the Holy City.

Instead, he suggested another possibility.

“But the people who attacked us today… didn’t they leave the Vatican for a while?”

Amon nodded at his reasoning.

Indeed, all the madmen today were people who had encountered Amon at the airport.

If they had been outside the Vatican, it made sense.

“That’s reasonable reasoning.”

“It’s just speculation, so please take it with a grain of salt.”

With those words, the Archbishop turned his head again.

The commotion had been settled, and Sonia’s canonization ceremony was somehow concluding.

Amon looked at Sonia and asked the Archbishop.

“What’s our plan now?”

“The atmosphere isn’t good. If we don’t mourn now, we might face backlash.”

Though they easily subdued the mad Cardinal and Holy Knights, there were casualties.

Some citizens fell victim to their blind bullets or were caught in explosions.

In this situation, declaring condemnation of The Decadents could create a negative image that Sonia doesn’t care about civilian lives.

Since they planned to use her authority to condemn The Decadents, her image was an important factor.

“Let’s wait for now. Trimond was part of The Decadents anyway.”

They could naturally begin condemning The Decadents during the process of investigating him.

This approach wouldn’t risk damaging Sonia’s image.

“I’ll let you know when the interrogation results come in. We’ll adjust our plan then.”

Amon nodded and signaled to Sonia.

She seemed to acknowledge it with a look.

[Everyone, salute Saint Sonia.]

Following the Pope’s instruction, the Archbishop bowed his head toward Sonia.

And with Sonia greeting the Pope, the canonization ceremony concluded.

*

A few days later, the results of the Cardinal’s interrogation came in.

The Archbishop informed Amon of this.

“It seems the Cardinal and his Holy Knights recently participated in a meeting of The Decadents. Nothing else special was found.”

The information was gathered using CCTV and the power of prophets, so it was undoubtedly accurate.

“And this may not be important, but I’ve been made Cardinal in recognition of my contribution in exposing Trimond’s corruption.”

“…Isn’t that important?”

To Amon’s question, the High Priest answered with a bright smile.

“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

“…Amen.”

Amon responded with a chuckle.

The Archbishop… no, now Cardinal Heinrich continued.

“The timing still seems strange. Trimond went mad on the day of the canonization, at the exact moment. The damage caused prevented Sonia from speaking out.”

“Are you saying they’re the culprits?”

“I’m not certain, but at least The Radicals believe so.”

Heinrich answered definitively on behalf of The Radicals.

It was natural for Heinrich, now a Cardinal, to become the representative of The Radicals, which consisted mostly of young, lower-ranking priests and Holy Knights.

“The Moderates seem half-convinced as well.”

“Has His Holiness the Pope made any comment on this?”

“His Holiness also suspects The Decadents.”

It was too convenient for The Decadents to be dismissed as luck.

There was reasonable evidence too.

“As you know, brother, the prophets are already under The Decadents’ control. Things always flowing in their favor is… quite common.”

Unlike Amon, the Pope and Heinrich were familiar with this situation, having witnessed their misdeeds directly in the Holy City.

“But it’s alright. We have a Saint on our side.”

Saint was an overwhelming title that transcended priestly ranks.

In terms of authority, it was comparable to the Pope.

Therefore, the Moderate-Radical-Amon alliance effectively had two Popes.

“First, we’ll prevent The Decadents from controlling the media. Once preparations are complete, we’ll proceed as planned.”

Amon nodded.

There was no reason to rush.

They had already secured evidence, and there was no concern about it being destroyed.

It was better to handle things slowly but surely than to ruin everything out of impatience.

“We’ll probably start in about a week.”

With those words, Heinrich rose from his seat.

Amon saw Heinrich off as he left the reception area.

As Amon was reviewing the operation after sending Heinrich off, Kathy approached.

“Amon. Archbishop Heinrich…”

“He’s a Cardinal now.”

She showed surprise once and then continued.

“Cardinal Heinrich… something’s strange about him.”

“Specifically?”

“He has no fixed future.”

“What?”

“You can’t see it, right? The dog-headed demon deceived the future. But this Cardinal… his future changes in real-time so I can’t read it.”

“…Could it be because of my involvement?”

“Then Sonia would be the same, wouldn’t she?”

“…”

The two looked at the departing Cardinal with meaningful eyes.

But they couldn’t properly discuss the Cardinal’s identity.

[Paul XXIV. Answer.]

[Paul XXIV. Answer.]

[Paul XXIV. Answer.]

A Cardinal in black clothes recited the baptismal name of the Pope, who had his eyes closed, three times.

There was no response, and,

“His Holiness… has passed away.”

The world was once again thrown into shock.