Raphaella Holy Nation – 4

“……You said you wanted to meet me?”

I wondered what kind of messed up situation this was. What in the world did I do for not just the Emperor, but even the Pope of the Sun to say they wanted to meet me, or cared about me?

Floretta, not minding my question, smiled brightly and kept touching various parts of my hand.

With the backs of their hands pressed together, she slowly stroked them, massaged my fingers, or gently clasped them. Perhaps because she was the Pope of the Sun, her body temperature felt incredibly high.

After fiddling with my hand for a long time, Floretta opened her mouth.

“Because God gave me a revelation. A revelation that light would come soon.”

‘Huh?’

As soon as I heard Floretta’s words, something came to mind.

It was that very line that signaled the start of the DLC story, which could be progressed by purchasing the first DLC of The Brightest Darkness 4, ‘Awakening Evil’.

‘……But why is that line appearing now?’

After realizing the true nature of what the Pope said, I was even more dumbfounded.

If one were to play the game normally, that DLC’s entry trigger only activates after finishing a certain amount of the main story of the base game.

In a situation where I hadn’t even defeated all the essential bosses yet and hadn’t properly progressed the main story, it doesn’t suddenly invite the player to the Holy Nation and start the story by saying God gave a revelation.

Furthermore, the story of that DLC, if compared to the base game, corresponded to a latter half region, and with my current specs, it was far too difficult to touch.

Minor mobs didn’t matter. The reason I was concerned about specs was purely because of the final boss of that DLC, ‘The God-Forsaken Creature’.

In the boss room, wearing a specific rune was mandatorily required, and the boss itself only took proper damage from divine-type attacks, so equipment was practically half-fixed.

However, whether the player was ready or not, the biggest problem was that the moment the story began, the game virtually turned into a time attack.

From the moment I heard those words from the Pope, if I cleared a total of 25 quests, regardless of main or sub-quests, or subjugated 5 bosses, the final boss would awaken, tearing up the crust beneath the Holy Nation.

If the final boss awakened, the Holy Nation would be destroyed, all quests related to the Holy Nation in that playthrough would become unplayable, and the Empire would also suffer immense damage, causing the story to twist significantly.

If I left him in that state any longer, the ending would even be fixed to a conclusion with no dreams or hope whatsoever.

‘Absolutely not, fuck.’

A shiver ran down my spine. To just sit alone in a world where everything but me had disappeared and wait for the day I starved to death was an absolute no-go.

“Are you alright? You don’t look well.”

Suffering from a headache due to the negative thoughts piling up one after another, I snapped out of it at Floretta’s voice and returned to reality. Her green eyes, full of concern, were staring intently at me.

“……I’m fine. I was just thinking about something else for a moment. I apologize.”

“No. You don’t need to apologize at all.”

Floretta said that, covering her mouth with her right hand, and chuckled.

“But you are truly a unique person. To be able to think of other things even with me in front of you. It seems you have a truly strong heart.”

Only after hearing those words did I realize my mistake. Thinking about other things while the Pope of the Sun was in front of me? It was an act so rude that I would have no right to complain even if my head were immediately crushed by a mace right now.

For reasons unknown, Floretta showed a positive reaction, so I got away with it; otherwise, I certainly wouldn’t have left unharmed.

“Since it seems your thoughts are all finished, I will ask again. Have your doubts been somewhat resolved now?”

“……”

There was no way they were resolved. If anything, they had deepened.

Suddenly, there was an enormous amount of work to do. I had to clear rune dungeons in preparation for boss battles, find divine weapons or buffs, and earn experience to raise my strength stat.

‘First of all, the DLC story is the top priority.’

The condition for the final boss to awaken was 25 quests or 5 bosses, but just progressing the DLC story would inevitably involve 13 quests and 3 bosses, so the actual limit was much lower than that.

Moreover, unlike in the game where time didn’t flow unless you touched quests or bosses, now, time would continue to flow even if I just breathed.

It was definitely right to handle the DLC story first.

“……Your Holiness, Pope, a revelation, you say? About Delta?”

Perhaps finally recovering from the shock, Rije asked in a trembling voice. Her blue eyes were shaking incessantly. Her eyes, filled with anxiety, looked back and forth between me and the Pope.

“I, too, do not know the details. How could a mere human body dare to understand God’s will?”

Floretta, who had let go of my hand, smiled gently with soft eyes. It was a smile that made even the hearts of those who saw it feel at ease, a truly benevolent smile.

But it seemed to be of little use to Rije. Her head was bowed low, and her tightly clenched fists were faintly trembling.

“Can you not tell me the content of the revelation, Your Holiness, Pope?”

“If you wish, I will. However, the revelations given by God are not complete. Depending on the interpretation of a single word or sentence, dozens of conclusions can be drawn. Is that still alright?”

“Yes. It’s alright.”

I nodded.

I had roughly memorized the interpretation. Just as the Pope said, the content of the revelation indeed pointed to the player’s actions.

In the human-friendly route, the scene of fighting the World Eater is depicted; in the human-hostile route, the scene of fighting the Emperor or the Pope is depicted; and in the life-annihilation route, the scene of becoming a monster itself is depicted.

Of course, except for the human-friendly route, it couldn’t be heard in such a mild atmosphere. After fighting the Pope of the Sun as a boss, it was only barely heard from the dying Pope.

“In a place covered in darkness, a single bright light is walking. Wherever the light touches, darkness disappears, and countless humans follow it, finding peace. Many monsters are attacking in the darkness, but they all melt and vanish in the light.”

“……”

Oh.

If it were the Silver Dawn Knights route, that description shouldn’t appear.

“At the end of the path the light walks, an existence that humans cannot even dare to imagine awaits. However, the light never gets scared, retreats, or hesitates, but advances towards that existence. The revelation ended at this scene.”

“Then…… Your Holiness, Pope. That light…… means Delta, are you saying?”

“Interpretation is up to humans, so there is no fixed answer. However, I think so. The day I first came to know that person, God gave me a revelation.”

As soon as Floretta finished speaking, the Knight Commanders’ gazes turned back to me. Eyes of various colors were looking at me, filled with all sorts of complex emotions. It seemed I would be interrogated later about what this all meant.

‘Light, huh……’

The interpretation itself was simple. What Floretta referred to as ‘an existence that humans cannot even dare to imagine’ was the term for the World Eater, the final boss of Brightest Darkness 4.

Unless one took the human-hostile route or the life-annihilation route, one would inevitably face the World Eater as the final boss, so up to this point, it was as I expected.

However, referring to the player as light was vastly different from my expectations. At the very least, it was an expression one had no chance of hearing in the Silver Dawn Knights route.

“Did you say your name was Delta? You are-“

-Click.

The words were cut off. It was because of the click-clack sound of high heels echoing through the hall.

It wasn’t anyone’s here. Floretta was standing still in her place, the Knight Commanders wore ordinary sneakers, and there was no way I had made the high heel sound.

Floretta’s face gradually began to harden. She looked somewhat sad, and somewhat on the verge of tears. In any case, it was definitely not a good expression.

As the atmosphere became unusual, we also turned our heads and looked behind us.

And we were astonished.

“You are doing something useless, Pope of the Sun.”

Darkness drove out light. More precisely, white light drove out yellow light. To the click-clack sound of high heels, the surroundings were covered in moonlight. The blazing sun faded weakly.

Silver light spread through the gold. It felt as if a full moon that had risen in the middle of the night had descended directly and manifested before us.

It was a face I had never seen before, but I instinctively knew who it was.

“……Pope of the Moon. For what reason have you graced this humble place with your presence?”

Pope of the Moon.

As soon as that name flowed from Floretta’s lips, the atmosphere instantly froze. Nothing could be heard except the click-clack of high heels.

“Are you truly asking because you don’t know?”

A moon rose within the grand cathedral. A woman with dark silver hair, with her hands clasped in front of her lower abdomen, was walking towards the Pope of the Sun.

“Do you believe that clinging to meaningless hope instead of abandoning it will grant you what you desire? Do you truly think so?”

The Pope of the Moon slowly took one step after another, heading towards Floretta. The Pope of the Moon and the Pope of the Sun. Caught between the Holy Nation’s highest authorities, we couldn’t move an inch.

Her steps only stopped after moving to a spot just a few steps away from Floretta.

“Fate cannot be changed. Nor should you turn away from the truth. Even if it is the Sun and the Moon, it means there is no other way than to walk the path already set.”

“If it cannot be changed, I will find a way. I will, no matter what.”

Floretta said with a resolute expression.

“I will never give up on my sister-“

-Smack!

Silence fell. It took a moment to comprehend what had unfolded before my eyes.

The Pope of the Moon swung her right hand, and her palm connected with Floretta’s cheek, a smacking sound echoed, and Floretta’s head snapped to the right……

As soon as the Knight Commanders understood the situation, they gasped and froze. I was the same.

The Pope of the Moon had slapped the Pope of the Sun. And it was strong enough that the slapped area turned bright red and swelled slightly.

But something was strange. The one who was slapped was clearly Floretta, but her green eyes were filled with pity and sorrow. She even looked somewhat sad.

“I told you not to call me that, Pope of the Sun.”