When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 100



Only Noblemtl

◈100. Surprise Sub Trust Completed

At that moment, I couldn’t argue with the Mongma siblings who called themselves heroes.

That’s understandable, he appeared like a hero just when it was needed.

They rushed at Micheln, clasping both hands together at the same time.

Then, he struck down Micheln’s head with his clenched fist as he flew up to escape.

puck-!!

A loud bang rang out.

Immediately after that, Michelin―

bang!!

Unable to overcome the shock of being hit, he fell to the ground.

The figure of the bastard was visible through the dust that rose immediately after it fell.

The wings that had been spread out beautifully were crumpled like pieces of paper, and the limbs were also twisted in a bizarre way.

The Mongma siblings who had made him like that landed on the ground in a leisurely manner(?).

【【How was it?】】

“I’ll admit it. It was cool.”

They smiled as if they were pleased to hear my compliments.

It wasn’t a very cute smile, though, because it was in the shape of a giant cow.

Anyway, since I had prevented Micheln from escaping, it was now my turn.

I smiled brightly at the Mongma siblings.

“Yeah, you guys were cool too. But I think I’ll be the one who does the best job.”

【【What?! What kind of skill are you going to use! We’ve already caught them all, so don’t come out!】】

“No, you guys should step back. This isn’t a joke. That guy, even though he looks like that, he’s an L-rank Awakener who uses very dangerous skills.”

Hearing that, the Mongma siblings grumbled a little, but eventually backed away hesitantly.

The same goes for Bliss and Luciana.

Little by little, I stepped back until there was nothing left between me and Michelin.

Meanwhile, Michelin was slowly getting up.

As expected of a L-class Awakened, it was impossible to defeat him with that level of attack.

I opened my mouth before the bastard could fully wake up.

“Come together.”

A technique that couldn’t be properly activated earlier because of the chameleon’s interference.

The true function of skill deification that has not been properly used until now.

This time, the sword of judgment has finally begun to take shape in my hands.

‘This is what it looks like when implemented properly.’

The sword, which had finally come into its perfect form in my hands, was free in its shape.

Because it is not made of a single substance, but is made up of many stars.

It was also dazzlingly bright.

Because the stars that God had scattered across the Milky Way on Earth were still shining.

【Don’t make the same mistake this time.】

Doria, who had been quietly observing the situation until now, added this.

I nodded.

“There’s no way I could make a mistake. Everyone worked hard to clean up the area. So now all that’s left is… … .”

I stopped talking and grabbed my sword with both hands.

At the same time, Michelin also moved and swung his whip at me.

It wasn’t a simple whipping.

The guy’s whip was shining brightly, as if he had activated the skill “Flesh-Rending Whip (S)”.

Since he is an L-class guy, even his normal attack skills are S-class.

‘If you don’t stop it, you die.’

I felt it so intuitively and observed the trajectory of the whip.

WHEEW-, thud!

The whip, swung at a speed too fast for the unawakened to see, bounced off the ground once.

An attack that flies in at an unstoppable angle, twisting like a snake.

I swung my sword, following the path with my eyes as best I could.

Whoosh!

The black sword of the formless stars did not simply cut down what came before me.

It was long and stretched out like molten iron―

Crunch.

I neatly cut in half the whip of Micheln that was flying towards me.

“… … !!”

A look of confusion crossed Michelin’s eyes as the whip he had swung with skill broke in two.

Without missing the gap, I leapt forward.

Then he swung his sword a second time from an appropriate distance.

Whee!

This time too, the black one grew longer according to my will.

Seeing the attack flying towards me, Michelin quickly pulled back to try to dodge.

But the Black Star eventually took blood from the guy.

“Ah …

Both of Micheln’s arms were cut off in one blow.

The right forearm was cut diagonally, slightly longer, and the left forearm was cut diagonally, slightly shorter.

The guy seemed to not believe what had happened to me.

He looked back and forth between my severed arm and myself.

“Now… my arm… … .”

“You don’t think it’s a shame that you lost two arms while playing around with people turning them into animals, do you?”

He laughed at my question.

He laughed like he was crazy.

Whatever it was, I shouted at my colleagues.

“Now that my arm is cut off, I can’t use dangerous skills! Feel free to attack as much as you want!”

The guy’s skill, Re-creation, is a skill that can only be activated by ‘touching’ the target.

Now that both arms have been cut off, it will no longer be able to activate.

Upon hearing my scream, Luciana, Bliss, and the dream demons each activated their skills and attacked Micheln.

At that moment, Michelin shouted urgently.

“Neti!!”

That was the moment.

Clearly, it was Netelon who had fallen at the hands of Bliss and Luciana earlier… Neti opened her eyes with a start upon hearing Micheln’s call.

Then, in an instant, he kicked the ground and ran towards Michelin.

‘Were you pretending to be dead… …?!’

It seemed that Micheln had deliberately instructed Netelon to wait in order to use it in an emergency.

The beast, running quickly as if it had never fallen, stood in front of Michelin as if guarding him―

Pubberbuck!

We blocked the skills we used with our whole body.

A short gap that was created like that.

Michelin did not miss the opportunity and used the “Beast Transformation” skill again.

This time, instead of wings, the creature grew two strong legs like a kangaroo.

The creature leaped with all its might on its hind legs, tore through the barracks and escaped.

“Run away!”

As soon as I shouted, Luciana and Bliss started to walk after the guy.

I also tried to chase after him with the Sword of Judgement in hand.

That was when.

“Everyone stop! Stop chasing me!!”

Elodie, who had somehow transformed from a bull to a human, shouted like this.

It was such an urgent cry that we stopped chasing Micheln for a moment and looked at her.

Her left eye appeared to have transformed into the dragon eye she had seen from Dionic before.

Blinking her changed eyes, Elodie said.

“Don’t chase after them. A trap awaits you.”

“… … Did you just check it with your future prediction skill?”

When I asked, Elodie nodded immediately.

“Yes. The eye that sees the path ahead… I used that skill to see the future 5 minutes ahead. It’s a skill that activates randomly at any time, and it just activated.”

“What kind of trap is it specifically?”

Elodie squinted her eyes as if looking at an object in the distance.

“His comrade was waiting outside. He is an Awakened being with the skill to trap his opponent in another dimension.”

“In another dimension… … .”

“He must have been waiting outside for a while. The man named Michelin has already escaped with the help of his colleague. And if we chase after Michelin, we will be trapped in another dimension. Exactly five minutes later.”

Soon after, the ‘Eyes that See the Way Forward’ skill was unlocked, and Elodie’s eyes returned to their usual lavender color.

“But the future has changed now because I just stopped it.”

Elodie sighed deeply as she said that.

I also sighed accordingly.

“That guy had colleagues too.”

When Micheln was in danger, his colleague came to save him.

Just like when I was in danger, my colleagues came to my rescue.

I suddenly had a feeling that this was going to be a much more difficult fight than I had expected.

* * *

“… … What, why aren’t you following me?”

Michelin looked back with a puzzled look on his face.

I thought that he would definitely chase after me, as it would be a shame to let him go like this.

So, I escaped by running instead of flying on purpose to make it easier to chase after… … .

Michelin continued speaking while looking at Julian, the returnee who had come to rescue him.

“Did you sense that it was a trap? Of course not… … . I didn’t even know you were here until you sent me a signal from outside.”

As he said, even Michelin himself didn’t know that Julian had come here.

Julian had first flashed a light outside to signal something, and Michelin, who had seen it inside the barracks, had expected it.

If Julian was a planned person, he would have set a trap.

So, he immediately planned to lure Nickelus into a trap and escape in a way that would make it easier for him to chase after him.

Even Michelin himself had noticed the existence of Julian and the trap just a minute ago, so it was Nickelus who noticed it… … .

“That doesn’t make sense. Unless you have the ability to foresee the future… … Oh, is there an Awakened person among them who has the skill to foresee the future? What do you think, Julian?”

Michelin, who had been chattering away, asked Julian again.

Only then did Julian finally emerge from the shadows of the forest.

Untrimmed and tangled gray hair.

Dark circles visible under black pupils.

There was a man wearing a baggy shirt.

The man, Julian, immediately smiled affectionately at Michelin.

“Michelle.”

Michelin wasn’t nervous because her smile and voice were so affectionate, like soothing a child.

however-

puck-!!

A shock that made his eardrums freeze hit the side of Michelin’s face.

Michel realized too late that Julian had hit him in the face with his fist.

When I looked up again after coming to my senses, there was still a soft smile on Julian’s face.

“His Majesty Romun deeply regrets that you approached the Pope so hastily.”

“… … .”

“I just conveyed his regret on his behalf. Do you understand?”

Still a gentle tone, as if soothing a child.

But the content of that voice was clearly condemnatory.

“You look down on the Pope because he is not a Priscilla.”

“… … .”

Michelin remained silent and gritted his teeth.

His skill, Beast Transformation, is a skill that turns one’s body into that of a beast, or causes a beast’s body to sprout somewhere on one’s body.

So, if you use it, you can even regenerate a severed arm.

However, the arm that grew back would be like that of an animal. A human arm that was once lost would never come back.

And this could have been a sign of defeat for Michelin that would never go away.

Julian stared at the spot where his missing arm had been, somewhat pitifully.

“So did Nethellon. He underestimated the Pope… the last apostle of this world. And what was his end?”

“… … .”

“Don’t be moved by emotion. We came here for our clan, on a great mission. Be careful. If you don’t—”

Julian’s voice trailed off.

He whispered secretly to Michelin in a small voice.

“I have no choice but to lock you in the ‘room of reflection.’”

Julian’s L-rank skill, the Room of Reflection.

It was a skill that trapped the opponent in a subspace room where time passed slowly.

It was said that if you were locked in that room, each second would feel like an eternity, and you would go mad, alone in the eons of time.

Their original plan was to lure Nickelus and imprison him there… … .

‘You’re using that skill on me?’

Michelin’s fingertips trembled with an eerie feeling.

Meanwhile, Julian left first, leaving Michelin behind.

Michelin, left alone, gritted his teeth in belated humiliation.

‘If only I had captured the Pope today, I would have been so humiliated… … .’

He looked with all his might in the direction of the barracks where Nickelus was.

And I promised.

I will repay you for the humiliation you suffered today, several times over, dozens of times over.

* * *

After the commotion died down, I purified all the remaining hostages.

Fortunately, there were no serious injuries.

We treated them appropriately and sent them home.

Afterwards, he returned to the cathedral and immediately collapsed and fell asleep.

There were so many things going on that I couldn’t stand it if I didn’t sleep.

And now, a day later―

[Surprise Sub Trust – Rescue the people kidnapped by the circus troupe!]

– Number of hostages purified so far (5/5) (Completed)

– Number of hostages rescued so far (5/5) (Completed)

Finally, I was sitting alone in my office, looking at the trust window.

After purifying and rescuing the hostages, a (Complete) button appeared next to the trust.

‘You said that completing this trust would unlock a new skill… …?’