When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 189



Only Noblemtl

189. The final method to seal Romun
2024.05.07.

We all remained silent after hearing Rubin’s words.

It was because Rubin had accurately pointed out the fact that everyone had forgotten because they were so busy dealing with Romun.

My grip on the ship also tightened.

‘Come to think of it, Romun was an out-of-spec grade. But the deification skill used to seal that Romun was only an L-grade… … . Did the seal work properly?’

That was the moment when an ominous question occurred to me.

Wooooow—

The ship that Romun was sealed in began to vibrate strangely.

I felt a chill and stared at the ship in my hand.

When I looked, the ship stopped vibrating and became quiet again.

Did I hear wrong?

The moment I thought that.

Wooooow—

The ship began to vibrate again.

Longer and stronger than before.

This time, even Luciana seemed to feel the ship’s vibration and looked at me.

“Your Majesty, just now… … .”

“Yeah, I heard it too. It’s coming from this ship. It’s been vibrating since a while ago.”

I held onto the ship tightly in my hands, looked around me, and shouted, even in the midst of the eerieness.

“Doria! Are you next to me?”

Doria would be summoned when I used the Deification skill.

Since she usually hid quietly nearby so as not to interfere with my battles, Doria was probably somewhere.

As expected, Doria heard my voice and appeared from behind the nearby debris.

“Did you find me, Apostle?”

Doria, who appeared, was much smaller than before.

It was because the moment to leave had really come.

I wanted to ask if she was okay, but since that wasn’t the situation, I abruptly held out the ship that Romun was sealed in.

“This… It’s been vibrating since a while ago. Is it properly sealed?”

“I’d like to tell you that it’s properly sealed—”

Doria sighed bitterly and relayed the unfortunate news after saying that.

“Unfortunately, that can’t be happening.”

“… … It’s not sealed?”

【Yes, since Romun’s power has weakened significantly, the seal will not last long even if it is maintained. The seal will be released soon and Romun will reveal itself again.】

“… … .”

I bit my lip and asked Doria.

“What should I do?”

【We have to use an item or skill of an out-of-spec grade to reseal Romun as quickly as possible.】

“But the only out-of-spec seal item is… … .”

My gaze glanced at the broken dimensional prison item.

The only out-of-spec seal item we had.

It was currently broken.

It would probably be difficult to find an item or skill to replace it right away.

I tried to swallow my despair and asked Doria another question.

“Do you know how much time is left until the seal is released?”

【From the current state… It looks like it will be released in 10 minutes.】

“What?!”

If I were given at least a day, I might be able to find something else to replace the dimensional prison.

But 10 minutes?

‘Wrong. There’s no way we’ll be able to find sealed items or skills with out-of-spec grades within 10 minutes… … .’ It

seemed like everyone in the group had the same thoughts as me, so no one opened their mouths.

As time passed like that, Dionik spoke hastily as if he’d just remembered something.

“Wait a minute, this is the palace. If we search around, there should be a lot of valuable items stored there. There might be sealed items with out-of-spec grades among them.”

It made sense.

Most of the palace soldiers had also been dealt with.

The palace’s valuable items would have been left unattended without even a single guard to protect them.

Then Luciana spoke up.

“I think I know where the sealed items are hidden.”

“Huh? How do you know?”

“When we cornered the soldiers earlier, we ended up going all the way to a warehouse deep inside the palace, and I think I saw some valuable items piled up there. If the sealed items are hidden, they should be there.”

“Really?!”

It was a pleasant surprise to hear, so I immediately told Luciana.

“Then quickly lead me there.”

“Understood. Follow me.”

We started to follow Luciana.

On the way, we saw that the once clean palace was now a mess with traces of a fierce battle.

Luciana continued to guide us through the ruined first floor hall of the main palace and deep into the palace.

Luciana’s steps, which had continued to move like that, stopped in front of a secluded room inside the palace.

Luciana opened the door wide and showed us.

“Here it is.”

“This is… a maze made of mirrors… ?”

Just as I said, the room was filled with large mirrors arranged in a chaotic manner like a maze.

It was a place where you would most likely get lost if you entered without a plan.

Luciana showed us the place and continued.

“The items were hidden here. I don’t remember exactly,

so let’s spread out and look for them. Before that—” Luciana trailed off and suddenly looked straight at me.

I could feel an ominous feeling at that moment.

Perhaps it was because Luciana’s eyes, looking at me, were trembling with a strange expression unlike usual.

“… … Luciana?”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

“What?”

Things happened in an instant before I had time to grasp the situation.

In an instant, Luciana stretched out her arm and snatched the box from my hand, then turned around and ran away.

Into the messy mirror maze.

“Wait! Stop!”

Startled, I and the others all started chasing after Luciana.

I thought I could catch her right away, but I was mistaken.

Luciana, who had escaped into the mirror maze, turned around and disappeared deeper into the maze.

“Luciana! What are you doing! Where are you!”

I lost sight of Luciana in the middle of the maze and called out to her with a loud voice.

There was no answer, so I shouted again.

“Luciana!”

At that moment, Luciana’s voice was heard from somewhere in the maze.

“I’m sorry. I lied about seeing the warehouse where the imperial items were piled up.”

I immediately turned my head in the direction where Luciana’s voice had come from.

There was only a huge mirrored wall there.

Luciana’s voice was coming from somewhere beyond that wall.

“I don’t know if there is a sealing item in the palace or where it is. But… I know how to seal Romun properly.”

“You… are you planning to use that skill?”

“… … .”

Luciana agreed with my words by not answering.

It seemed like she really intended to use that skill, as I had predicted… the “Stealer of the Golden Lily” skill.

That skill had no set rank, and it was a truly special skill, so if she used it, she might be able to seal Romun.

However.

“Stop it right now. You know what will happen to you if you use it.”

“You’ll turn into a monster. That skill is a skill that seals the opponent in exchange for turning me into a monster.”

“Even knowing that, why on earth… … .”

I pretended to continue the conversation with Luciana and took out the Baekhwamyeongwoldo from my inventory. I

could hear Luciana’s voice from beyond the mirrored wall in front of me, so I was thinking of breaking the wall first.

Luciana, unaware that I had pulled out my sword to break the wall, answered me quietly.

“I’ve always waited for this moment.”

While Luciana continued speaking, I gripped my sword properly.

If I cut too deeply, I could cut Luciana on the other side of the mirror wall, so I had to control my strength well.

While I was estimating the thickness of the wall, Luciana continued speaking.

“I’ve always been a burden to you. If I can be of use to you even in the end, that would be the ending I’ve always wanted.”

The ‘ending’ I’ve always wanted.

Those words clearly sounded like a farewell.

Of course, I had no intention of accepting that farewell, so I swung the Baekhwamyeongwoldo straight at that.

Towards the thin mirror wall that separated me and her.

Clang!

The mirror wall shattered with a loud noise.

Beyond that shattered wall, as expected, was Luciana. She

was still holding the chest .

I immediately reached out and tried to snatch the chest from Luciana.

It was then that Luciana let out an ominous word.

“There’s no turning back.”

I couldn’t understand what he meant.

More precisely, I didn’t want to understand.

What on earth could I not turn back? What on earth did I do in that short period of time?

I asked myself such questions as if denying reality, but deep down I knew.

She ended up using that skill.

* * *

“Nike, come to your senses. We should say goodbye.”

I was absentmindedly recalling the past, but I was finally able to come to my senses after hearing Rubin’s words. When I

came to my senses and looked around, I saw people looking at me with concern. Their

gazes pitied me, who still hadn’t recovered from the shock of losing Luciana… … .

I tried to smile to show them that I was okay.

Then I said goodbye to the fourth moon members, including Jan.

“Everyone is doing well. The world won’t be in chaos because of some crazy guy who wants to become a god anymore, so don’t worry. The Emperor said he was just a puppet of Romun anyway, so you don’t have to worry.” Even

after hearing me say that there was no need to worry, Jan asked me with a somewhat worried expression.

“Are you going back to the finite world right away, Apostle?”

“Yes, that’s right. Since all my work here is over now. And—”

I took a deep breath and continued.

“I’m planning on going back to the cathedral and seriously looking for a way to save Luciana.”

That day, Luciana, who used the skill of the one who stole the golden lily, succeeded in sealing Romun.

And according to the penalty of that skill, she became a monster.

A monster called ‘Fallen Holy Knight Commander.’

And Luciana, who became a monster like that… disappeared into another dimension with Romun.

Due to the effect of the skill, she was sealed with Romun in a dimension I didn’t know about.

‘I couldn’t do anything back then.’

Luciana had already activated her skill, and the sealing was done so quickly that I didn’t have time to do anything.

So I planned to go straight back to the cathedral.

There, I had to use all my wealth and power to find a way to save Luciana.

“Good luck. I hope you return safely and find a way to bring Luciana back.”

Yan said as he wished me good luck.

Then Dian and Karina also said goodbye to me.

“Don’t forget us when you get back. I won’t forget you either.”

“It was a short time, but it was fun being with you. Be careful on your way.”

I nodded to them and replied.

“Yeah, I’ll be careful on my way back. And be sure to say goodbye to the other Fourth Moon members who couldn’t make it here.”

As my farewells with the Fourth Moon came to an end, Kallox approached me for the last time. As

usual, he asked with an expressionless face that made it hard to read what he was thinking.

“Are you really leaving…? Are you planning on staying here? Can’t we find a way to save that woman named Luciana here?”

I thought about what Kallox said carefully, and then answered.

“This is a foreign land to me, so there are limitations to finding a way to save Luciana here. And… there are many people I left behind in the Finite Realm.”