When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 182



Only Noblemtl

182. The Pope Invades the Palace
2024.04.30.

I was momentarily shocked after hearing Jan’s words.

Jan’s son was not simply kidnapped by Romun.

Romun had kidnapped Jan’s son ‘to use him as a tool to capture me.’

While I was still in shock, Jan continued to explain.

“Romun sent his men to the Finite World to capture you. You must have already met them, Apostle.”

“… … Yes.”

As he said, I had met the Erased Ones who had come to capture me.

Nethelon, Micheln, and even Julian.

They were all killed by me .

While I was thinking about their faces, Jan continued.

“My son almost became one of them. He was almost sent to the Finite World to capture you.”

“But you refused?”

“Yes. He didn’t want to do something so dangerous. He was too young. That’s why he was retaliated against by Romun.”

After hearing that, I just sipped my drink for a while.

There was something I absolutely had to ask, but I couldn’t bring myself to say

it. If I said it, Jan would think I distrusted him.

But—

“Now that I hear that, I suddenly become curious.”

I slowly began to move my stiff lips.

And I managed to spit out the question that had been lingering in my mouth.

“If Romun… were to capture me and hand me over to him, what would you do?”

“… … .”

“If he said that if I handed me over, he would return your kidnapped child… would you betray me?”

I had to confirm.

Would Jan want to sell me to Romun to save my son?

If he showed even the slightest sign of that, I had to cut ties with Jan and get out of here right away.

That’s why I waited quietly for an answer, and Jan finally said after a long time.

“Apostle. I’m not that naive.”

“What?”

“If the child was alive, I might have handed you over to Romun. But… I don’t expect my child to still be alive.”

Jan continued, his voice sounding even sadder because it was so calm.

“Romun never lets anyone who defied him live. I had no way of confirming the child’s life or death since he was kidnapped, but… I can be sure he’s dead.”

“… … .”

“That’s why I’m going to use all my strength to take revenge on Romun. How could I hand you over to Romun with my own hands, who would become the blade of that revenge?”

At that moment, I could sense a fierce murderous intent from Jan.

Thanks to that, I could tell. How much he wanted to kill Romun.

‘Yes, if my son was already dead, he wouldn’t have betrayed me. Besides, if he had even the slightest intention of betraying me, he wouldn’t have let me meet the giants. However, there’s something a little strange… … .’

I thought as I looked around.

As expected, I couldn’t find ‘that’ anywhere around me.

‘It’s a little strange that he didn’t have a single portrait in his room, considering he cherished his son so much.’

Did he throw them all away because his heart ached just by looking at his son’s portrait?

I stopped doubting him after thinking that far.

If Yan had intended to offer me up instead of confronting Romun, he wouldn’t have been leading the revolutionary army like this.

He wouldn’t have even attempted negotiations with the giants, who could deal a major blow to the palace.

“How many days are left until the operation begins?”

“Three days. I’ll make sure everything is perfectly ready by then.”

“Okay. I’ll leave it to you.”

After hearing what I said, Yan bowed his head deeply as if greeting me. Thanks to that, I never got to see

what expression he had on his face at the last moment—

what look he had in his eyes . * * * Three days passed by so quickly that I didn’t even know how they had passed. Finally, midnight on the day of the operation began. I was being seen off by the group in front of the warp gate. Rubin was the first to wag his tail and whine. “I feel uneasy about sending Nike alone… Is there no way I can go with you?” “You can’t get through the palace barrier. “After passing through the barrier, I am the only one who can release it from within the palace.” “That’s true, but… … .” As Rubin’s ears drooped, it was Luciana who started to express her worries.

“If you get caught and it seems like the operation will be difficult, just give up and come out. You can always make another chance to infiltrate, but your safety is more important.”

Elodie and Dionique continued.

“I agree with Luciana. Remember that your safety is more important than the success of the operation.”

“Yes, hyung. I’m telling you not to fight against the many at your disadvantage.”

Finally, Cheong-gwang also added his concerns.

“I’ve always thought that I should repay my benefactor… but this time, all I can do is cheer you on. I’m ashamed.”

“I’ve survived so far thanks to you. I’ve already repaid your kindness more than enough.”

“Thank you. If you destroy the barrier, I’ll run straight to your benefactor.”

That’s how our greetings with Cheong-gwang ended.

Yan, who had been waiting for us to finish greeting, immediately approached us. Yan

approached and nodded at the flat stone slab-shaped item next to him, the “Warp Gate.”

“Using this warp gate, you can go straight to the forest west of the palace. From there, carefully move towards the palace without being detected—”

“I also memorized the strategy. You don’t have to tell me more.”

I cut off Yan’s words and climbed onto the warp gate. I

already knew how to use the warp gate because I had used it before when I visited the giants’ village.

I tapped the gate twice with my toes according to the instructions, and the item finally worked.

Whoosh—

A strange mechanical sound began to be heard from the warp gate.

Also, a bright light flowed out from the magic circle-like pattern engraved on it, and soon my body was engulfed in that light.

The warp had begun. And

then.

‘Ah, I was moved.’

Before I knew it, I was in the forest west of the palace.

The warp gate seemed to have worked properly.

When I turned my head, I saw the palace not far away.

‘There’s a Romun over there… … .’

That guy was that close.

The one who tries to disrupt the order of this world.

The one who is the cause of all this… … .

Crack.

I gritted my teeth once and activated the invisibility item I was wearing around my neck.

It was an item Yan had prepared for me so that I could safely infiltrate the palace.

After making myself transparent, I began to walk stealthily toward the palace.

* * *

The plan was simple.

First, I would infiltrate the palace while wearing the invisibility item, and then I would destroy the barrier item hidden inside the palace.

Once the barrier was lifted, the giants and our group would ride the warp gate and move near the palace.

Then, we would all begin an all-out attack.

In other words, I could say that I was the starting point and core of this entire plan.

That was why I approached the palace walls with extremely cautious steps even after hiding with the invisibility item.

‘Alright. I haven’t been caught yet.’

Thanks to the invisibility item, none of the guards patrolling near the walls had noticed my presence yet.

But it was still too early to relax.

The really important obstacle wasn’t the guards.

‘This translucent curtain in front of me must be the palace barrier, right?’

I gulped in front of the palace barrier blocking my way.

This was a barrier set up with an L-class barrier item, so if my calculations were right, it wouldn’t be able to stop me, an L-class Awakened.

‘… … It’s okay. It’ll be fine.’

I reassured myself with that, and slowly stepped into the barrier.

“… … .”

Even though I took half a step into the barrier, nothing happened.

The barrier seemed to not even recognize my presence, and it was silent.

I passed through the barrier and finally reached the wall.

‘Success!’

It was easy after that.

After passing through the barrier, I took out the grappling hook item from my inventory.

After that, I threw it onto the wall and hung on to it, and started climbing the wall using the rope attached to the grappling hook.

‘It would be easier if I flew… but I have to be careful because the invisibility item I’m using right now is only A-grade. Awakened beings with a grade higher than A-grade might see me.’

That’s why it wasn’t a good idea to fly over the wall with those overly flashy, shiny gold wings.

I had to avoid being detected until I destroyed the barrier item, so I climbed up the wall as quietly as possible.

Fortunately, no one had spotted me until I crossed the wall.

I let out a deep sigh as I landed on the ground inside the wall.

‘That’s it. Now, if I just go into the western tower where the barrier item is… Ah, damn it.’

While looking around for the western tower, I quickly hid behind a nearby tree.

I saw two guards standing guard nearby.

‘You didn’t see them, did you?’

If one of those two was an S-class Awakened, the invisibility item I was wearing would be useless.

That’s why I quickly hid behind the tree, but fortunately, none of them seemed to be S-class.

The guards didn’t spot me and just chatted among themselves.

“The stew that was served for dinner tonight, there wasn’t much meat in it.”

“That’s right. Even if I ate it, it didn’t taste good… … .”

“I wish we could move to the Yuhan Realm quickly. The land there is fertile and there’s plenty of food.”

“Then we need to catch that disciple of the god or something, but I don’t know where he’s hiding like a rat.”

I hid behind a tree and listened to their conversation for a bit, then slowly poked my head out. As expected,

the guards didn’t notice me with my invisibility item, as if my awakened level was low.

Then there was no need to hide any longer.

It was the moment I started walking again, having stopped in my tracks to hurry to the western tower.

“Wait a minute, didn’t you hear something behind the tree?”

A soldier who had been chatting with my companion suddenly said that.

My companion asked in bewilderment, as if he hadn’t heard anything.

“Sound?”

“Shh. Listen. What rustled behind that tree?”

They still couldn’t see me, but they were quick to notice the sound of my footsteps.

I froze in place.

If I made even a small sound here, I might be caught.

The soldiers listened to me in silence while I stood there.

“… … .”

“… … .”

I could feel their nerves on edge, as if they were trying

to detect even the slightest movement. I held my breath and waited for them to clear their suspicions.

At one point, as the standoff continued, one of the soldiers shouted in a loud voice.

“Who the hell is that guy hiding there! Come out now! If you don’t come out, I’ll attack!”

As they shouted, they simultaneously raised their weapon items.

Damn. I cursed under my breath and took out my weapon from my inventory.

It was wrong to make such an unguarded sound of footsteps.

Because of that, they seemed to be convinced that a suspicious intruder was hiding behind the tree.

‘Should I just run away? Or should I deal with it quietly?’