When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 164



Only Noblemtl

164. Finding the Hidden Weakness in the Labyrinth
2024.04.12.

I thought I knew exactly where Julian’s magical power core was hidden somewhere in this labyrinth.

I barely moved my right arm and tightly grabbed the necklace hanging around my neck.

[Would you like to use the item, “Necklace that Communicates with Souls”?]

―Yes

―No

Item, “Necklace that Communicates with Souls”

This was an item obtained from the pirates’ treasure chest buried in this labyrinth.

It was originally an item obtained to contact those who remained in the cathedral, but I was thinking of using it differently now.

[You chose Yes. You can talk to whoever you want for 5 minutes.]

Fortunately, I knew how to use it well because I had read the detailed explanation in advance.

Following the instructions on how to use the item, I thought of Luciana in my head.

Then I quietly thought to myself.

‘Luciana, can you hear me?’

『Your Majesty?! Right now, I can hear His Majesty’s voice in my head!』

As soon as I conveyed my intentions with an item, Luciana’s voice immediately echoed in my head.

I briefly explained the situation to Luciana, who seemed a bit surprised.

‘I contacted you with an item.’

‘Where are you?!’

‘I’ll explain later. Rather, go to the place I tell you right now and destroy the magic core of this labyrinth.’

After saying that, I quickly told her where the core was likely hidden.

That was when.

“Have you given up on your rebellion?”

Julian, who had been quietly watching me from afar as I fell, asked.

He didn’t seem to notice that I had just used an item to contact Luciana.

I barely managed to get up with my cracked body and glared at him.

“Who would give up? Don’t hide around like a coward and charge straight at me.”

The guy was strong, and if I kept fighting, I would probably lose.

However, even if the outcome was obvious, I had to buy time for now.

Julian burst into laughter as if he thought I was bluffing.

And then―

‘… … disappeared again.’

The bastard used the Reflection Room skill again and hid himself in the subspace he had created.

While the Sacred Pact skill was activated, his curse skill, Battered Child, would not work on me.

Even so, it was still difficult to prepare for an attack that could come at any time.

Whoosh―

“… … !”

An attack came from the 4 o’clock direction, and I quickly raised my sword to block the attack.

When I blocked the attack, I heard the bastard clicking his tongue.

Julian, who had briefly appeared in front of me to attack, disappeared into his subspace again this time. He

didn’t even give me a chance to counterattack.

‘If this continues, I’ll get hit soon. I have to think of a way to buy as much time as possible.’

The current situation was absolutely advantageous to the bastard.

If this continued, he wouldn’t be able to hold out for more than a few minutes.

I opened my mouth.

“Stop hiding and come out in front of me. “Let’s talk.”

I was going to buy time with conversation.

There was nothing better than that for buying time.

However.

Whoosh—

Instead of answering, an attack flew towards me.

I barely blocked it by swinging my sword, then gritted my teeth.

‘Damn, I can’t communicate.’

The Netelon I had faced before had fallen for me when I tried to buy time by inducing conversation.

However, Julian was attacking me as if he was rejecting the conversation itself.

It seemed like he was going to drain my strength as much as possible and then immediately use the brainwashing skill.

‘I’m starting to feel like I’m going to lose my strength… … .’

After being hit several times, I couldn’t hold out any longer and fell to the floor.

My whole body was filled with pain. My

consciousness was blurry as if I was going to lose consciousness, and my vision also became hazy.

Only when I became like that did Julian finally appear in front of me again.

“… … .”

He stared at me with his pitch-black eyes without saying a word.

As if he was trying to gauge whether I had really fallen.

Then, with footsteps making a thumping sound, he came towards me.

“I have a skill that brainwashes people. It’s called ‘guidance.’”

“… … .”

“I’m going to use that skill on you right now. You’ve given us quite a bit of trouble so far, but once you get caught up in my skill, you won’t be able to run away anymore.”

While the bastard continued talking, I secretly grabbed the necklace tightly.

Then I called out to Luciana.

‘Luciana, did you find the core?’

“That’s… I found the core.”

“Then destroy it right now! There’s no time now!” ”

There’s a small problem. There are too many monsters near the core-”

The connection suddenly disconnected while Luciana was talking.

What happened? I worried and kept calling her name in my head.

‘Luciana?! What’s going on! Monsters are guarding the core?’

No matter how much I called, Luciana didn’t answer. I

had no choice but to contact Dionik this time.

“Ugh… …!”

Julian approached me, grabbed my hair, and forced me to raise my head.

Then he looked me in the eye.

“Raise your head. Don’t talk nonsense.”

It seemed like he was trying to use his brainwashing skill on me, but judging from the fact that he made me raise my head, it seemed like it was a skill that could only be used if I looked straight into his eyes.

I tried my best to avoid him and resist him, but it was no use.

Since I was already badly injured, I couldn’t resist him for a few times before I

finally made eye contact with him. Then, a dangerous message came to my mind.

[Character “Julian” has used the brainwashing skill “Guidance (L)”! Your consciousness will begin to be controlled by character “Julian!”]

As soon as the message appeared, my mind became hazy. I

forgot what I was doing and what I was thinking. All

that came to mind was that I had to obey the words of this man in front of me.

The last remaining piece of my consciousness told me.

I was finished.

That was when.

“Your Majesty! The core has been destroyed!”

As my consciousness was gradually being devoured, I heard Luciana’s voice.

That voice made my mind clear.

In that moment, I woke up from the brainwashing and immediately pulled out all my strength to push Julian away.

Thud!

Julian, who had been pushed away, fell backwards.

The guy was holding onto my chest with a pale face.

‘Damn, I almost got in big trouble.’

It seemed that the other party members had fortunately destroyed the core right before I was completely brainwashed.

Julian seemed to finally realize what had happened to me.

“The core of space… … .”

Julian muttered as he moved as if to use the Room of Reflection skill.

“… … .”

Nothing happened.

It was understandable.

The guy had invested a considerable amount of his magic power to create this huge labyrinth, creating the magic source… the core of space.

However, that magic source had just been destroyed.

He had lost most of his magic power.

I decided to show him one last mercy, as he was unable to escape and was standing there in confusion.

“I told the party where the core was.”

After saying that, I took out the elixir from my inventory and drank it.

Julian couldn’t do anything

even as I took out the elixir leisurely and drank it. He just glared at me, panting.

“How… … .”

“How did you find out that the magic core was hidden in the fourth labyrinth?”

Since he seemed curious, I gladly explained.

“At first, I didn’t know. But when I thought about it, it seemed strange. Why did you come out now?”

After saying that, I activated my Deification skill.

The thing flailed as if trying to escape, but it seemed that the damage had already been done, so it couldn’t use any other skills.

I stepped on Julian’s back

as he tried to escape, then continued my explanation. “If you had waited until we were exhausted and then came out in the fourth or fifth labyrinth, you would have been able to deal with us more easily. But you hastily showed up in the third labyrinth. Why did you do that?”

“… … .”

“The reason was, ‘The magic source was hidden in the fourth labyrinth.’ You showed up in the third labyrinth in a hurry to block us from approaching it.”

Yes, it would have been advantageous for him to appear as slowly as possible.

It would have been easier to capture us if we had attacked when we were exhausted after going through several labyrinths.

However, the guy showed up hastily in the third labyrinth, and I thought it was strange.

Why did he show up so quickly?

Why did he show up before we even set foot in the fourth labyrinth?

Maybe there was a reason he shouldn’t have let us into the fourth labyrinth?

Having thought about it that far, I was certain that the source of the magic was in the fourth labyrinth, and I contacted Luciana and instructed her

to search there intensively.

“Then why did you jump out of the third labyrinth so obviously? If you had jumped out of the fifth labyrinth like the final boss, I wouldn’t have even thought about looking for the source of the magic in the fourth labyrinth.”

As I said that, I raised my Sword of Judgement high.

Julian was wasting a lot of time by sneaking around and attacking, but I had no intention of doing that.

The longer I stalled, the more I would create an opening for the enemy.

I immediately cut off Julian’s windpipe with the sword I had raised.

* * *

After destroying the source of the magic that formed the labyrinth and defeating Julian, Cellos Island returned to how it was.

The island that returned to how it was was ordinary. It was

an ordinary island with a forest, trees, and a few monsters swarming around.

And after wandering around that ordinary island for a while, I was able to meet my companions again.

The companions I met again told me what had happened before they destroyed the magic core.

“So, we went to the 4th labyrinth, half believing what you said, right? There, we used the magic detection item that Elodie had to find the magic core, and there really was a magic core.”

I nodded my head as I listened to Dionik.

“So?”

“The problem was that there were a lot of monsters nearby. I think Julian had released the monsters to protect the magic core. There were so many that we almost died, but we barely managed to kill them all and destroy the magic core. We also sent back the people who had been brainwashed by Julian.” After

hearing that, I finally understood.

Why the companions were in such a mess.

They were injured here and there, and it seemed like they had a hard time because they had encountered the monsters.

I told them, who were very tired,

“Everyone did well. If you hadn’t destroyed the magic core, I would have been brainwashed and dragged away by that bastard Julian today.”

Luciana asked in a slightly calmer voice after hearing me.

“So you went to deal with Julian alone? I thought so.”

“Yeah, I tried to handle him alone… but it didn’t work out well. I didn’t know he was that strong.”

“… … .”

Luciana, who heard me, made an angry face as expected and glared at me for a long time.

Then she let out a deep sigh and said,

“If Your Majesty goes into danger alone like that, there’s no reason for us to move as a team, right?”

“That’s true. I won’t

do it again.” “Of course you shouldn’t. If you do that again—”

Luciana paused for a moment as if trying to create tension before continuing with her savage words.

“Then you’ll really tie me tightly to your back and take me with you?”