When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 74



Only Noblemtl

◈74. Shinsoo, Cheonggwang

Rubin was the first to shout that the dragon’s tail had been cut off.

As the dust settled, it soon became visible to my eyes.

The dragon’s tail, which seemed as if it would never be cut, was cut off and its cross-section was exposed.

The water dragon screamed, swinging its tail, its white bones visible, as if it was glowing.

―Kurrrrrr… … !!

It was more of a dying cry than a threatening cry.

That’s why the knights also started talking in slightly looser voices.

“What, what… It’s weaker than I thought?”

“That’s right. I thought I was going to die like this.”

“Quiet. It worked because it was Your Majesty’s attack. It’s not over yet, so focus on building a shield.”

When the vice-captain told them to be quiet, the knights who had been excited for a moment focused on the shield again.

And that one blow ended up saving the knights’ lives.

bang!!

The swung tail struck the knights’ shield.

They couldn’t even scream in the face of the sudden, enormous shock.

If they hadn’t been concentrating, the shield would have been broken and their breath would have stopped.

Rubin, who had been watching the situation, shouted in surprise.

“Tail, already recovered… …!!”

It was Rubin’s outhouse.

The tail that had clearly just been cut off by my sword had already recovered in the moment I glanced away.

So perfectly that you can’t even find a trace of it being cut.

I squinted my eyes as I stared at the dragon’s scaled tail, without a single blemish.

‘It’s become a hassle… … .’

The recovery is shockingly fast.

It seemed impossible to beat it with just one or two hits.

‘One more time… … !’

I gathered divine power into my sword again.

Although it recovered quickly, the effect of the sword itself wasn’t bad, so he planned to use it to cut the water dragon’s body to pieces.

Fortunately, the knights seemed to have completed the long-range attack skills they had been preparing inside the shield.

“Your Majesty, step aside!”

With the vice-captain’s shout, flames shot out towards the dragon.

Phew! The flame shot by the knights flew like an arrow and hit the dragon’s head.

And while they were dragging their feet―

‘Okay… …!’

I too was able to gather divine power into my sword.

Much stronger than before.

I focused and focused my divine power on the tip of my sword and this time I hit the water dragon’s torso with precision.

Kwakwang-! A loud noise was heard twice in succession.

Both hits went in well.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

【【If we hit it hard, we can get the gold box too, right?】】

The demons who had been preparing something in the corner for a while approached the water dragon while saying this.

Above their beast-like heads, a pitch-black sphere was floating, and although I wasn’t sure, it seemed to be an attack skill.

They immediately threw the black, dark mass of energy towards the water dragon.

Kwakwakwang-!!

A loud noise like I had never heard before struck my eardrums for the third time.

The skill used by the Mongma siblings was the Downpour of Punishment we saw earlier… It was a skill that seemed to condense its power into one point again and again.

It didn’t have as wide a range as the raining punishment, but its destructive power was much more powerful.

It could literally be said to be a skill for the last blow.

Up until then, the Water Dragon had been hit a total of 3 times.

The water dragon couldn’t get up, perhaps because it was hit by three consecutive attacks.

The corpse of that thing, which I slowly circled around and examined, was… … .

‘… … It’s been solidified.’

It was so badly damaged that it couldn’t be explained any other way.

At this point, I wouldn’t be able to recover any further. Judging so, Rubin and I went down to the ground.

The Mongma siblings who had been floating in the air also landed, and I immediately asked them.

“What was that skill just now? If you had that skill, why didn’t you use it until now?”

【【We wanted to use it too.】】

The giant minotaur-shaped sleepwalkers smiled cutely and scratched their noses.

【【But as you saw earlier, this takes a long time to use once. In other words, it’s a skill that can only be used in group battles.】】

“iced coffee.”

I kind of understand it.

In fact, the reason I haven’t been able to use my sword until now is for the same reason.

It takes a long time to gather divine power into the sword, so in order to use that skill, the party had to be nearby to distract the monsters.

That way, you can perfect your skills and shoot them out in the meantime.

‘After all, hunting is easier with a group than alone.’

However, the golden box that came out this time was likely to go to the Mongma siblings.

Because the ultimate attack that these siblings used at the last minute contributed the most to catching the water dragon.

Well, it didn’t matter.

Thanks to that, I was able to use skills I couldn’t use before, and I was able to catch an L-class divine monster that I wouldn’t have been able to catch alone, so in the end, it was a gain.

“Okay, now let’s grab the box—”

“Your Majesty!! Look over there!!”

The moment I was about to suggest that we pack the boxes, one of the knights shouted in an urgent voice.

I looked in the direction he was pointing… that is, in the direction where the monster’s corpse lay.

‘no way……?’

That can’t be true. Surely not.

Even though I had tried to calm my anxiety, the monster was still lurking and taking shape on the road.

It’s not dead yet.

“Damn it! Attack again!”

I gave a short order and climbed back onto Rubin’s back.

The Mongma siblings also took flight again, and the knights activated their Nerebloka shields.

Almost simultaneously, a system message appeared.

[The water dragon “Qingguang” reveals its true form!]

Reveal your true self? Then does that mean that the appearance you saw earlier wasn’t your true self…?

While I was wondering, all my divine power gathered and I shot it towards the blue light.

Saaaaak―

Just like before, the black energy flew through the wind sharply.

but.

‘… … blocked it.’

The attack that would have worked before didn’t work this time.

An arm-like thing emerged from the clumped, blue-light body and struck out the black energy.

The black energy that bounced off hit the wall and disappeared, and in the meantime, the blue light took shape.

“Human… …? I’m human!”

As someone shouted, the newly created blue light was not a dragon.

It was a human figure with arms and legs.

A young man dressed in oriental clothing… a new form of blue light raised its head and looked at me.

Then he summoned water in his hand and shaped it into a sword.

I could intuitively tell what was going to happen next, and I shouted at Rubin.

“Damage! It’s black!”

The prediction was right.

Cheong-gwang, holding the sword, swung it just like I did before, and shot the same sword energy at me.

and-

“Ugh… …!!”

Rubin, who had not been able to avoid the sword, began to fall down carrying me.

“… … !!”

My body tilted with a dizzying sensation.

As we fell together, I hugged Rubin’s neck tightly so as not to lose him.

In conclusion, it was a good thing.

The two of us falling bodies were caught by the Mongma siblings at once.

【【Phew, got it. Be careful, Puppy, and Hyung-ah.】】

The Mongma siblings said that and carefully placed the two of us on the ground.

“Rubin! Are you okay?!”

Taking advantage of the moment when the dreamers were distracting Cheonggwang, I quickly checked on Rubin’s condition.

Thanks to my quick dodging, I wasn’t pierced, but instead my hind legs were slightly scratched by the black energy.

The fur was peeled off, revealing the damaged equipment inside.

I covered my eyes, feeling dizzy.

“Damn, I should have told you to dodge faster… … .”

“It’s not Nike’s fault. I’m fine.”

Rubin then smiled weakly.

“Help those sleepwalkers more than me.”

“… … .”

I couldn’t respond and just clenched my lips.

It was a shame that I couldn’t take better care of the injured Rubin, but Rubin was right.

There was no time to do this now.

I immediately got up and asked the knights.

“Take good care of Rubin.”

“Yes, Your Majesty! Don’t worry!”

They answered me in voices several times louder than usual.

They had the shield of Nerebloka and were all high-level knights, so there was no need to worry about Rubin.

I soon headed to where the Mongmas and Cheonggwang were fighting.

【【What did you do to not come quickly! That pudding snake guy was better than I thought―】】

While the Mongma siblings were talking, a blue light’s sword energy flew in.

The sleepwalkers who narrowly avoided the black light continued their interrupted speech.

【【It’s dirtier and stronger than I thought… … !!】】

Once again, the moment the Cheonggwang guy was about to swing his sword, I rushed in first and blocked the sword that was about to be swung.

visor-!

It was a sword made of water, and it made a metallic sound when struck.

It is strong enough that it will not break even if it touches the sword of conscience that I have.

furthermore-

‘be heavy.’

Even with the Blasphemy skill activated and his strength increased, the bastard’s sword felt heavy.

It was an attack that felt heavier than when I had withstood the attacks of Bliss and the Dream Demons.

This will only kill time. I asked the sleepwalkers urgently.

“Can I use that skill again?”

【【That’s true, but it takes time to prepare―】】

“I’ll block it, so use it during that gap!”

After confirming that the Mongma siblings were nodding, I focused on Cheong-gwang again.

After a while, the bastard gently pushed away the sword that had touched him and stabbed me with it.

I twisted my body to avoid it by a hair’s breadth and studied the guy.

‘More than that, what is this kid…? His eyes are completely gone.’

The guy’s eyes, seen up close while swords were crossed, were really strange.

The entire eye was dyed red, without any distinction between the pupil and the white of the eye.

‘Come to think of it, it was in the information window earlier. It said that he had lost his wits and was being controlled by something… ‘

What on earth did that mean?

What and how am I being controlled?

As his worries continued on and on, Cheong-Gwang’s lips moved.

【Kill… … .】

A single word that flowed out as if it had been cut off in the middle.

I smiled, wiping away the momentary feeling of embarrassment.

“What, you know how to talk. Did you have glue on your snout? Why didn’t you say anything?”

‘I was worried that he was an innocent soul who had been manipulated and lost his senses.’

In that case, I can’t just throw it away.

But from the way he spoke, he seemed to be in his right mind.

A smile escaped my lips at the thought that I had worried for nothing.

But what was the content of the information window that said that Iji had been lost? … .

It was while I was thinking about it that the guy spoke again.

【Kill… … .】

“You’re going to kill me? That must be hard, right?”

As I said that, I dodged his sword.

After that, he attacked again, but unfortunately, he only received a shallow wound on the bastard’s cheek.

The second attack was unfortunately blocked immediately.

【Death… Woman… … .】

“So, if you can, try it―”

【Dao… … .】

Just as I was about to say, “I told you to try it,” I heard Cheong-gwang’s words.

I froze in place, feeling creepy.

‘Kill me… … .’ you said?