When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 73



Only Noblemtl

◈73. Clear the 1st floor of the dungeon

When you clear each floor of the dungeon, something like a box appears.

It was a box containing a reward item for clearing the level.

The number of boxes is 13, exactly the number of people.

That’s why everyone was approaching the box as if they were possessed.

Luciana, who was the first to approach the box, tapped it with the tip of her sword as if to check its safety.

“There’s no particular reaction when I touch it. And… there’s a name written on the box.”

“Whose name is written on that golden box?”

In response to my question, Luciana looked closely at the gold box and then answered.

“Nickelus Van Lucidmiller… His Holiness’ name.”

“Yeah?” I nodded my head sheepishly.

In fact, the gold, silver, and bronze boxes among those boxes were given to the three people who contributed the most to clearing the dungeon.

I thought the golden box would go to the Mongma siblings, but the system seemed to have decided that I was the primary donor since I was the one who came up with the idea to weave the net in the first place.

“Each of you take a box with your name on it. As far as I know, it’s not a trap or anything, so don’t worry.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

As I listened to the answer, I also approached the golden box.

‘By the way, it’s amazing. I didn’t know the game system was implemented like this.’

Even though this world is a game world, I never thought that reward items would appear like in a game.

I wondered if perhaps Lucid Miller or some other so-called god had intervened and implemented the system.

No matter how much I thought about it, it just seemed unnatural that things like game information windows and reward items existed in a world where people moved around as if they were real.

Still, there was nothing I could figure out right now, so I decided to focus on the golden box in front of me.

Crunch.

I pushed the heavy latch aside and opened the box.

What came out after that was… … .

[Warm Feather Cushion (L)]

-It’s warm. Even if you place it on a snow field, it maintains a constant temperature.

– It’s a good item for hatching something. If you put a fertilized egg on it, it might hatch into a chick.

I was speechless for a moment.

Is this… this is the reward for hunting that school of fish earlier?

Just in case, I picked up the white cushion and shook it back and forth, but nothing happened.

It’s really just a slightly warm cushion.

‘What is this? Wasn’t the reward supposed to only give items that the user needed? Why the cushions…?’

Dungeon rewards tend to only contain items that the user needs.

If not, at least some related items will come out.

For example, a user who chose an archer as his/her profession would receive arrows as a reward, and a user who chose a swordsman as his/her profession would receive a sword as a reward.

So now this cushion was ridiculous.

As for my reward… I didn’t need the cushion at all right now.

‘No, but why is it an L-class for something that doesn’t even have any function…? Who are you kidding…?’

Meanwhile, the sleepwalkers opened the two silver boxes and happily examined the rewards.

“Mine is a whip. I like it.”

Elodie said in a sharp tone―

“Oh, I have a weapon too! Black gloves with blades!”

Dionik looked delighted as he put the claws from my box on both hands.

He was very proud of the blades on each finger, which looked like cat’s claws.

It wasn’t just them.

Luciana, who opened the box of the same color, was able to obtain a special gem that could be equipped on her sword.

Of course, all the other articles also got something worth writing about.

I was the only one who got something like a cushion.

Rubin, who had come over before I knew it, looked at the cushion and patted my shoulder.

“Cheer up, Nike. That warm cushion, how comfortable it would be to sleep with it hugged while you sleep. I’m jealous!”

On Rubin’s tail, as he spoke, was a ring-shaped ornament made of gold.

It seemed like an item I had just gotten from a box, but upon checking the information window, I found out that it was a B-grade item with a polydroid battery function enhancement effect.

“… … .”

I looked around my companions’ items in silence and loneliness, then quietly put my cushion in my inventory.

* * *

Before going up to the second floor, I took a good rest first.

This was because I needed to take some rest before I could use the skill again after using it once.

In order to use the Mongma’s ‘Soul Combination’ skill and Luciana’s ‘Persistent Thorn’ skill on the second floor, a rest of about 20 minutes was needed.

So after taking a break, I tried to go up to the second floor―

“Your Majesty, we have a problem. Several of our knights have been lightly brushed by the fish spears, and are showing signs of poisoning.”

Luciana, who had been looking at the articles, suddenly said this.

I asked, trying to swallow my complicated feelings.

“… … Really? Is it really that serious?”

“Potions don’t work. I might be able to heal him with the help of an Awakened person with high-level healing skills outside the dungeon… but it doesn’t look like I can continue fighting right now.”

“hmm…….”

It was time to make a big decision.

After much deliberation, I finally told Luciana the conclusion I had reached.

“Those who are showing symptoms of addiction should stay on the first floor. And you should stay with the injured.”

“… … That’s difficult. I have to continue climbing the dungeon and protect the Holy See.”

“What if everyone rushes up to the second floor and suddenly another monster appears on the first floor and attacks the injured?”

“Ah.” A silent sigh escaped Luciana’s slightly parted lips.

He continued speaking quickly before she could retort.

“Usually, after you receive the reward item, no more monsters will appear… but who knows. An abnormal phenomenon might occur.”

If this place were just a game world, I would have brought all my combat personnel up there without much worry, but to me, this wasn’t a game.

Those injured people weren’t NPCs in the game either.

It was difficult to abandon these people, who felt like real, living, breathing people, into danger.

“They will need your help more than I will. Please help me.”

“… … .”

She opened her lips gropingly, as if searching for a rebuttal to my last statement.

“I want to protect your Majesty. But―”

She continued, putting the sword she had drawn to follow me back into her inventory.

“In order to protect Your Majesty’s safety, it would not be right for a knight to ignore and undermine Your Majesty’s decision.”

In short, it meant that he would follow my decision.

I left her with a final message to take good care of them, and gathered my fighting party.

Me, Rubin, the Mongmas, and five knights with minor injuries.

Together with those people, I entered the second floor of the dungeon.

And then we saw what was waiting for us there.

‘Monster… …? No, that’s… …!’

As soon as I saw the creature there, as soon as I saw and recognized it, I shouted urgently to my companions.

“Everyone, get out of the way! It’s not just a monster! It’s a divine beast!”

As the group scattered in all directions at my warning, the beast’s huge tail slammed down on the spot where we were.

bang-!!

A loud noise pierced my eardrums.

I looked towards where we had just been standing… the entrance to the second floor of the dungeon.

‘It’s shattered.’

The area where the tail of the god came down was completely destroyed, with no structures left.

Shinsoo retrieved his tail from between the rocks and dust.

Leisurely, as if I could crush you guys at any time.

I slowly traced its shape with my eyes, starting from its thick tail.

Of course, the information window is also included.

[Fallen Water Dragon 「Blue Light」 (L)]

―A god who, long ago, brought rain during droughts in response to the fervent prayers of humans.

Now he has fallen and become a monster.

*Special Note: Has lost his wits. Seems to be being controlled by some force.

I had roughly guessed that it was a dragon-like appearance with its entire body covered in blue scales, but it was indeed a divine beast.

Divine being… a life form of the second rank, just below God.

Among them, it seemed to be a divine beast with the ability to manipulate water, the ‘Su-ryong (水龍)’.

‘Why is such a god in the dungeon? It doesn’t make sense. And on top of that, he’s being controlled… … ?’

Those who reside in dungeons are usually demons or beasts.

I’ve never heard of a god appearing in a dungeon.

Considering that divine beasts are generally much more powerful than demon beasts, the situation was turning out to be quite unfavorable.

If I don’t get lucky, I’m going to die.

That thought occurred to me suddenly, but I couldn’t push the already trembling group further into the swamp of despair, so I swallowed it down.

The knights who had just barely escaped the tail called out to me.

“Your Majesty! That monster… …!”

“It’s a divine beast called a water dragon. Let’s use this for now.”

As I said that, I threw Nerebloka’s shield at him.

“Pour in three people’s worth of divine power to form a protective shield. You need to pour in that much divine power to barely block it—”

As I gave the order, the huge tail, shining silver-blue like armor, swung towards me again.

Since it was an attack that could not be blocked, I quickly climbed on Rubin’s back and dodged it.

Quagmirak-!

There was a loud noise as nearby pillars were smashed.

Fortunately, the dragon’s attention was focused on me.

While the water dragon attacked me, the knights safely formed a protective shield and moved within it as if they were about to activate some skill.

“Rubin, keep your distance. Let’s focus on long-range attacks.”

“huh!”

The tail swung again, but Rubin was as quick as his confident voice.

Taking advantage of the gap where the water dragon’s attack was just hitting the air, I took out my sword.

When we think of long-range attacks, the first thing that comes to mind is probably a bow and arrow―

‘Arrows won’t do. With my skill level, I’ll miss every shot.’

It was now impossible to hit through the Egg of the Immortal.

Because the 1kg of iron that was fed was only enough to hit an octopus’s leg once.

However, it was not possible to use the special effect attached to the Nerebloka arrow, ‘Summon Spirit’.

Those guys suck up so much divine power every time they’re summoned that if you’re not careful, you could run out of divine power in the middle of a battle.

Fortunately, aside from those methods, there was still one way to launch a ranged attack.

“Rubin, support me while I swing my sword.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to blow the whistle.”

“Black… …?”

First of all, the Blasphemy skill was activated.

The special effect attached to this skill… I only knew of its existence, but I had never used it before. It was to use that effect.

“It’s blasphemy! (S)”

-Attack damage increased. (Increase rate 300%)

– Increased critical hit probability. (Increase rate 300%)

-When using a skill, divine power can be released from a distance.

*Duration: 30 minutes

*Special Effect: When a skill is activated, there is a 10% chance that the faith and loyalty of those who witnessed the battle will increase.

The effect of ‘Blasphemy!’ was clearly etched in my mind as I looked at it over and over again.

Yes, it was definitely in the third line of the skill’s detailed description.

‘When using a skill, divine power can be released from a distance.’

‘I’ve never used it before so I’m a bit nervous… but there’s no other way right now.’

I gritted my teeth and poured my strength into my sword.

My sword, filled with my soaring divine power, began to emit a light so bright it was blinding.

I swung my sword at the moment when the light reached its limit.

wickedness-

My sword quietly cut through the air.

At the same time, the water dragon’s thick tail swung in my direction.

The crescent-shaped sword energy shot out from the sword and the dragon’s tail clashed in the air.

Kwakwang!

Shock waves and loud noises erupted in succession.

Everyone covered their ears and closed their eyes in the midst of the ear-numbing noise.

That’s why I also only understood what had happened after hearing Rubin’s words.

“The tail is cut off!!”