When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 144



Only Noblemtl

144. The Second Power Borrowed from God
2024.03.23.

My voice did not reach Nadia this time either.

The cold air in my lungs made it impossible for me to raise my voice any louder.

And perhaps, even if I had told her to run away loud enough for Nadia to hear, she probably would not have run away.

It seemed as if she firmly believed that she could persuade Dennis, who had become a chimera.

“Dennis, please come to your senses… Please… … . Then His Majesty will return you to your original form… … .”

Nadia continued to persuade Dennis in a tone close to pleading.

In response, the chimera slowly opened its mouth.

“Nadia… … .”

This time, the chimera called Nadia’s name again.

It seemed to recognize her.

‘Do you still have some sense of self? Then maybe persuasion could work?’

I watched Nadia and the chimera with a little hope.

I hoped that Nadia’s persuasion would work.

Nadia spoke to the chimera with a much more hopeful face than before.

“Yes, it’s me! Nadia! Do you recognize me!?”

“… … .”

“Your Majesty is badly injured, so let’s give you a potion first and then find a way to lift your curse together.”

“… … .”

“Stay still until then. Okay?”

“… … .”

The chimera didn’t answer.

Nadia looked at the chimera with some concern, then moved her steps as if she was going to come closer to me.

The chimera… seemed to be certain that Dennis wouldn’t attack her.

And when she was certain, the chimera raised her fist as high as it could.

“Nadia!! Get out of the way!!”

I shouted, gathering all my strength.

However, the chimera’s fist was already raised as high as it could go.

The chimera’s fist, hardened by its ice armor, fell on Nadia’s head.

If it hit her, Nadia would be crushed beyond recognition.

I couldn’t bear to look, so I tightly shut my eyes.

Bang!!

The entire ground shook violently as Chimera’s fist slammed into the ground.

Did Nadia get crushed under it and die instantly? I slowly opened my eyes, hoping that some kind of miracle would happen.

Fortunately, what I saw before my eyes was not Nadia covered in blood.

“Rubin?!”

Rubin, who appeared at some unknown time, was flying up, biting Nadia’s nape.

It seemed that Rubin, who appeared just before she was crushed by Chimera’s fist, had hurriedly saved Nadia.

Cheong-gwang, who had come with me, then helped me up.

“Are you okay, benefactor?”

“I think you’ll get better if you drink the potion. But you came quickly.”

“Yes, I flew here as soon as I saw a suspicious ice pillar rising from afar.”

Cheong-gwang said and handed me an advanced potion.

When I drank it, my frozen body felt like it was melting a little.

After confirming that my limbs were moving somewhat freely, I summoned the Sword of Judgement again.

“Gather.”

Meanwhile, Luciana, Bliss, and Elodie arrived here one after another.

I immediately shouted,

“Luciana! Bliss! Bind up that chimera with those tenacious thorns and the everlasting snow shackles! That’s not a normal chimera, it’s ‘Dennis’, so absolutely do not attack him!”

After hearing me, Bliss and Luciana activated their skills one after another.

Soon, thorns sprouted from the ground and entangled the chimera’s two fists, and the frozen ground restrained the chimera’s two legs.

After briefly sealing the chimera, Rubin slowly landed on the ground with Nadia.

I said to Nadia,

“There’s no way to return Dennis to his original state… for now.”

“… … !!”

“I tried returning Dennis to his original state with my skill earlier, but it didn’t work.”

I tried to use the Sacred Pact to return Dennis to his original state, but it was in vain.

It seemed like another way was needed to return Dennis, who had already been fused with animals, to his original state.

I continued speaking to Nadia, who was despairing after hearing my words.

“But I will find a way somehow. But I need your permission first.”

“… … .”

“Can I seal Dennis until I find a way?”

“Seal… … .”

Nadia quietly repeated my words.

Sealing usually meant temporarily imprisoning a powerful monster that could not be defeated in an item or something.

I also knew very well how violent it was to seal away someone who was once a human, not just a normal monster.

That was why I wanted to ask for Nadia’s permission.

“… … .”

Nadia couldn’t readily answer the question of sealing her fiancé.

Even so, the chimera was slowly releasing its restraints.

With a crack, the persistent thorns snapped.

The eternal snow shackles that had bound her legs were also cracking little by little.

Nadia bit her lips once as she watched the scene and continued.

“… … I understand. Please, Your Majesty.”

“Is it okay?”

“Yes, Your Majesty promised that he would somehow find a way to bring Dennis back.”

Nadia continued.

“It’s only been a few days since we met, but I think you have a warm heart. So I will trust you.”

I nodded.

Then, I asked Doria, who had appeared next to me at the same time as I had activated my Deification skill.

“Lucid Miller’s first power was the ‘Power of Judgement’. With it, I could use the Sword of Judgement when I used the Deification skill.”

【That’s right. Do you want to ask about the second power?】

“Yes, tell me about the second power, the ‘Power of Sealing’.”

The Power of Sealing. That was the second power that Lucid Miller possessed.

When I use the Deification skill, I can also borrow Lucid Miller’s power.

So, if I were using the skill now, I should be able to use the second power, the Power of Sealing.

“As far as I know, the Power of Sealing is a power that curses and seals anything that blocks Lucid Miller’s path. Tell me how to use that power right now.”

【As you know, I can’t tell you how to use it directly. The moment I intervene, causality collapses. Instead, I’ll give you a hint indirectly this time as well.】

Doria said that and continued to give a simple hint.

【Think about when Lucid Miller put the giant to sleep.】

I remembered reading the story of Lucid Miller putting the giant to sleep in the Bible.

Long ago, there lived a giant on this land.

He enjoyed eating animals and humans smaller than himself, so he often harmed Lucid Miller’s small creatures.

Lucid Miller, unable to stand it any longer, came down to the finite world and touched the giant’s head, saying

, “Sleep.”

Then, the giant gradually shrank.

Lucid Miller sealed the giant, which had become so small, in a rosewood box the size of his palm, forever.

‘Yes, that’s right. Lucid Miller’s second power, the power of sealing, was the power to seal and put an object to sleep.’

Thinking back to the contents of the Bible, I felt like I knew how to use the power.

I immediately faced the chimera.

The chimera had already released most of the restraints that Luciana and Bliss had placed on it.

Just then, with a crack, even the shackles of the eternal snow broke.

Krrrrrr!!

The Chimera, finally free, stretched out its arms toward me.

Dodging it, it shouted to its companions.

“To seal it, we must first seal the Chimera’s movements!”

“I’ll do it!”

It was Nadia who shouted.

She seemed to have completely decided to cooperate with me, and she answered with a determined face.

“I’ll tie it up. In the meantime… please seal it.”

“Yes!”

After hearing my answer, Nadia activated her Ice Chain skill.

It was a skill that had been activated once before, but fortunately, the skill’s cooldown time had passed sufficiently, so it activated successfully this time as well.

Soon, ice chains rose from the ground and wrapped around the Chimera’s entire body.

I jumped along the chains and climbed to the top of the Chimera’s head.

Then I touched the top of its head and said,

“Go to sleep.”

When I used the power of judgment, I was able to summon the Sword of Judgement by repeating the exact words Lucid Miller had said.

So I thought that when I used the power of sealing, I could just repeat her words exactly the same way.

And that prediction was right on target.

Krrrr!!

The chimera howled in surprise at the bright light bursting out of my hand.

Meanwhile, the golden light flowing out of my hand enveloped the chimera’s entire body.

Little by little, the chimera’s form shrank. Just like the giants in the Bible.

The chimera continued to shrink and shrink, and soon became the size of a palm, and was placed in a small wooden box that had been created from somewhere.

Thud.

The wooden box containing the chimera fell to the floor.

I picked it up and examined it curiously.

The box was tightly locked with a golden lock, and a golden lily was engraved on its surface.

Using Lucid Miller’s second power, I had successfully sealed the Chimera.

When the situation was over, Nadia cautiously approached me.

“Is it over?”

I looked at Dionik, who was trapped in the ice pillar, after hearing that question.

The Chimera seemed to have been properly sealed, as the ice pillar created by the Chimera’s skill gradually disappeared.

After confirming that Dionik, who had been trapped, had safely come out, I nodded to Nadia.

“Yeah. I think it’s over. And this—”

I said as I handed Nadia the box in which Dennis was sealed.

“Take good care of it. Don’t ever damage it.”

“… … Yes.”

“I’ll somehow find a way to return Dennis to his original state. Just keep it safe until then.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Nadia looked sad, as expected.

But I didn’t say anything because I knew there was no way to bring Dennis back right away.

As she accepted the ship, the other party members began to gather around me one by one.

Bliss approached me and asked me,

“What was that skill just now?”

He seemed interested in the sealing power I had just shown him.

I explained it briefly to him.

“It’s one of the effects of my deification skill. It’s a skill that borrows the power of a god.”

“The power of a god… … .”

He muttered quietly and continued,

“It’s beyond surprising, it’s astonishing. That a human could dare borrow the power of a god.”

“Well, since I’m an apostle of a god, I could borrow some.”

“… … .”

Bliss seemed speechless at my words, “I could borrow some. ”

She just stared at me silently.

Rubin and Cheonggwang then approached me as well.

“Nike… Are you really a human? How can you surprise me like this every time?”

“I’m surprised, my benefactor. The gods of foreign countries are truly amazing.”

Elodie and Dionique also spoke to me one by one.

“It’s not bad. If I didn’t have that skill, I would have had to kill Dennis.”

“Hyung, it’s getting scary at this point.”

The group chattered with me like that, but strangely, Luciana didn’t say anything.

She just quietly looked in one direction of the forest.

I called out to Luciana because it felt a little strange.

“What’s wrong? Is there something there?”

“It’s nothing… I just thought I heard someone moving over there.”

I didn’t think I heard anything, but Luciana had good ears, so she must have heard something.

Did she hear a hare?

I thought about it until then, and then something suddenly came to mind.

“You heard a movement…? Everyone, wait here. I’ll check and come back.”

After saying that to the group, I walked into the forest alone.

And soon I was able to find human footprints near the place Luciana had mentioned.