Ch.17157. At the Vatican (3)

At my shout, everyone in the party backed away from the Pope.

“KYAAAAAAAH!”

It seemed the Pope was not in his right mind.

After confirming my companions were safe, I looked around.

The office was so spacious it should be called a hall instead. There were corpses of monsters and villains scattered about.

‘Fortunately, those two are safe.’

It appeared Soso and Arini had already engaged in battle. But for the Pope’s office, the traces of combat seemed too minimal.

‘Of course, those two are strong, but… still, the villains who occupied the Vatican wouldn’t leave the Pope this poorly guarded…’

I quickly pieced together the situation in my mind, considering all possibilities.

At the same time, Yuri, who stood beside us, hurried to check the Pope’s face. An elderly man sat in front of an antique table placed at the front of the office.

“His Holiness is…”

A man wearing priestly robes embroidered with gold thread that ordinary priests couldn’t wear. It was undoubtedly the face of the Pope as known to the public.

But something was wrong with the Pope’s condition. His face, which should have been filled with holy power as the Pope, was distorted in a strangely grotesque way.

‘So it was a trap after all. This place. There might be an ambush.’

Arini seemed to sense it too, just as I did.

“Everyone be careful! His Holiness… no, that person is emanating magical energy, not holy power!”

Arini was right. I quickly shouted again.

“Yuri! Shield, quickly! This is a trap!”

KWAKWAKWAKWAKWABOOM-

Simultaneously, the Pope’s body exploded.

It was a sudden, violent explosion that left no time to react.

Crack- Crack-

But the party was safe. The area around the three people cooled. The wall of eternal ice created by Yuri had blocked the impact of the explosion.

At the same time, the entire office was filled with smoke from the explosion, blocking our vision.

“Damn it. I can’t see anything around us…”

Soso spoke as if irritated. Although high-level awakeners had senses sharp enough to keep their five senses alive even in the dead of night.

This wasn’t an ordinary explosion but an attack mixed with magical energy, causing momentary sensory confusion.

“I think villains have entered in the meantime. Three of them. No, maybe four…”

Soso said urgently. But I was calmer than Soso.

“Don’t panic and stick together, back-to-back!”

Perhaps my senses, having unsealed all four seals of the Red Jade, were the most sensitive among us.

‘There are 8 enemies.’

The villains moved stealthily through the smoke, so well that even Soso couldn’t detect them immediately. They were definitely high-level villains.

“It’s useless.”

But I targeted all the villains who were hiding their presence at once.

KWAKWAKWAKWABOOM-

Four blue flames burst the villains’ heads. At the same time, I blew away all the smoke with a wind cutter.

This revealed the four villains Soso had detected.

The remaining villains shouted in confusion.

“Damn it! What happened? Did they get hit by a randomly cast spell?”

“Random? Is it possible for four hidden people to be hit simultaneously by chance?”

But they quickly regained their composure.

They created bright red aura swords and rushed at our party all at once. Those guys shouted again.

“You insects interfering with the Grand Cardinal’s great will! We’ll violate all of you women too!”

“What nonsense.”

I could sense strong magical energy from them, like the SS-class villain we faced in Sumidagawa.

“Huh? What’s this… Kheuk-“

“Wh… how? No! Stop that woman! KYAK!”

Soso swung her Soul-Splitting Sword and instantly beheaded all four of them.

‘It’s chilling. That skill.’

Soso flicked the blood from her sword into the air. The brief commotion was over. The entire incident took only 10 seconds.

Even Yuri, our ally, looked at what Soso and I had accomplished with astonishment, but there was no time to dwell on it.

“As I thought, this isn’t the Pope.”

Since the explosion was around the abdomen, the priest’s face remained intact.

He was wearing the Pope’s mitre, but the face was different. It seemed they had disguised someone else’s corpse as the Pope.

“I can feel it! Ayel is sending me a message!”

At that moment, Arini seemed to receive divine guidance about where our party should go.

The party left the office and hurried toward the lower floors of the Papal Palace.

***

“No, it’s impossible! The enemy is too strong!”

“We must stop them! We can’t let them reach where the Grand Cardinal is!”

The party finally reached the fourth basement level of the Papal Palace.

We arrived at the deepest part. It seemed their goal wasn’t simply to imprison the Pope.

Swish-

Soso swung her sword and beheaded three men. At the same time, Arini’s holy power blazed around us.

“The magical energy here is unnaturally high despite being in the Vatican! I think they’re summoning a demon in this basement!”

At Arini’s words, Yuri’s expression became grave.

“The Vatican is protected by countless holy relics. The Papal Palace itself is a sanctuary, a massive concentration of holy power… If even that holy power is being erased by magical energy…”

I nodded.

“It must be a greater demon. One comparable to Amon in strength. That’s what the villains are trying to summon.”

“But there’s no reason to choose the Vatican, a holy place, to summon a greater demon! That would only hinder their work…”

“Not necessarily.”

Arini answered instead of Yuri.

“You all must have seen the many desecrated corpses before entering the Vatican.”

She was right.

Not only the Crusader soldiers who entered first but also Vatican priests.

And even ordinary citizens’ bodies were severely mutilated.

“So it’s not just war crimes from desire incidents…”

“Yes. The acts themselves are rituals that defile Ayel’s holy power while strengthening demonic power. Especially when holy people or objects are defiled, they emit even more magical energy.”

Arini continued her explanation.

By contaminating a sanctuary like the Vatican as they were doing now.

A demon summoned there could possess far greater power than an ordinary demon, she said.

“Their ultimate goal is obviously His Holiness and this palace. If the contamination is completed, a greater demon beyond our control—even surpassing Amon—will manifest on earth.”

That wasn’t all.

The Vatican had secretly shared information with our party.

That holy power from Ayel had manifested in the deepest part of the Vatican Palace. They didn’t share the details for confidentiality reasons.

But that holy manifestation would clearly be the final gateway to Epitheus.

A holy manifestation was a miracle created by holy power officially recognized by the Pope. Like Arini’s saintly manifestation, it was a phenomenon where Ayel’s will directly manifested on earth.

‘If that immense holy power becomes contaminated…’

Arini nodded.

“Yes. Senior Minsu’s thoughts are correct. I can definitely sense enormous holy power mixed with magical energy beyond that door. The site of the holy manifestation must be beyond that door.”

Then Yuri spoke.

“Could it be that the villains who invaded the Vatican realized this…”

I nodded at Yuri’s words.

“That’s probably it. The holy contamination and desecration throughout the Vatican and Rome are evidence enough. Everyone, prepare yourselves.”

All three nodded at my words.

Finally, the party discovered a massive door in the deepest basement of the Vatican.

“Who’s there-“

Swish-

We quickly dispatched the two villains guarding the door.

“The door is firmly locked.”

It seemed like a secret place where the Vatican kept holy relics or secrets.

I couldn’t tell its exact thickness, but the material alone suggested it wouldn’t be easy to open.

“I can clearly sense extremely impure magical energy beyond that door! Surely there…”

At Arini’s words, Yuri spoke with an urgent expression.

“There doesn’t seem to be any other path in this basement besides that door. If we don’t get past it, we can’t reach the site of the holy manifestation…”

“I’ll open it!”

With those words, Soso swung her aura sword.

KAKAKAKAKANG-

Harsh sparks flew from the iron door.

“It withstood my aura sword…”

As she said, there would be almost no door in the world that could withstand her aura sword, now that her Celestial Demon Divine Technique had reached its peak.

But while the iron door was deeply cut about 10cm by her sword, it didn’t break completely.

‘Is even this door a holy relic?’

Soso frowned in frustration. But then Yuri spoke.

“That’s enough damage.”

In that moment, blue mana gathered densely in the gap of the door.

KWAJIJIJIJIJIK-

Through that gap, Yuri created a freezing spell. The rapidly expanding ice pushed the damaged gap further apart.

“Everyone stand back for a moment!”

I forced my flame spell into the gap as well.

KWAKWAKWAKWABOOM-

Finally, the sturdy iron door could no longer withstand and opened.

“Hmm? What’s happening?”

As the explosion subsided, a voice was heard from beyond the door.

It was English, but mixed with a South American accent. The man who recognized us gave a sinister smile.

“Well, well. It seems your friends have arrived, Mina?”

Beyond the door was a vast space.

Under the orange light burning in that space, I saw the familiar face of a woman.

“Sister… Mina?”

Arini spoke as she saw the woman. A woman wearing a black nun’s habit.

Chae Min-a, Siwoo’s lover and the heroine of the original story, was there. She stood next to a large man, looking at our party.

Then she smiled sweetly.

“My, it’s been a while, everyone.”

And Chae Min-a was holding something in her arms.

It was Siwoo’s head.

***

Everyone in the party froze.

Everyone here was from Eins. Yuri and Soso, my classmates, couldn’t possibly fail to recognize that face.

Chae Min-a. A nun of the White Cross Society who was called a saint not only among our classmates but also among seniors and juniors.

With light green long hair and puppy-like downturned eyes.

That face with its slight smile looked so gentle that anyone would feel warmth in their heart upon seeing it.

Also, though she wasn’t wearing the white nun’s habit of the Cross Society but a black nun’s habit instead.

Someone who didn’t know the situation might have felt their heart flutter unconsciously upon seeing Chae Min-a.

“Everyone be careful! That person next to Chae Min-a seems to be… Juan Soriano!”

While everyone was frozen, Yuri quickly assessed the situation and called out to the party.

I bit my lip hard. As much as she was the saint of the original story and its heroine, she had a face as beautiful as my companions.

But the Chae Min-a before us was a demon contractor and a villain of the Red Lake. And the moment I saw that look in her eyes, I sensed it.

‘One of the 12 Apostles. And among the upper ranks in strength.’

And the Western man next to her with short blonde hair and tanned skin.

A very unpleasant feeling emanated from him. At first glance, he seemed like just a somewhat frivolous young man.

But my intuition instinctively warned me.

‘He’s as dangerous as Amon whom we met in Tokyo.’

At that moment, a voice came from behind those two.

“Th-those two are extremely dangerous beings! You all… you all carry a great mission… beware of those two… if you fall… the future of humanity will… kheuk…”

I identified the owner of that voice.

In the underground space beyond the door, there was a large cross on one wall of that gloomy space. And an elderly man was hanging on that cross.

His entire body was covered in wounds and dripping blood.

“Your Holiness!”

“Don’t… don’t worry about me… before that gate becomes contaminated… kheuk-“

The man was the Pope. And the blonde man cut the Pope’s body with a dagger.

“Shut up. Stop talking nonsense and keep quiet.”

The dagger burning with pitch-black magical energy mutilated the Pope’s body. That magical energy began to consume the Pope.

“AAAAGH!! Even so… your plans will… never succeed!! They are… the Eastern Sages… they will… Ayel’s light…”

At that moment, Soso’s body moved quickly toward the blonde man, Juan Soriano.

PAJIJIJIJIJIK-

His dagger and Soso’s Soul-Splitting Sword collided in mid-air, creating harsh sparks.

“You’re impatient. Aren’t you meeting Mina after a long time? Let friends chat slowly. Meanwhile, I’ll play more with this Pope.”

PAPAPANG-

The magical shield created by Soriano pushed Soso back. Soso twisted her expression in frustration.

“Damn villain…”

And watching this, Chae Min-a smiled sweetly.

“That’s right. There’s no need to rush. Since we’re all meeting after a long time, shouldn’t we catch up first? Right?”

As she said this, Chae Min-a stroked Siwoo’s hair—all that remained of him—as if lovingly.

“Right! Siwoo, you too! You missed Minsu a lot, didn’t you?”

At that moment, my eyes met with Siwoo’s severed head.