When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 98



Only Noblemtl

◈98. Gather the stars on Earth

Doria nodded as she heard my answer, shaking her body up and down.

【You’re getting close to the answer. I can only help you here. From here on out, you have to figure it out yourself.】

That was when.

Michelin, who had been watching the situation, muttered from below.

“You’re going to climb up high and dodge? Then my dogs won’t be able to do anything.”

As he spoke, he lifted his whip―

-Bam! Bam!

I roughly whipped the giant chameleon that had been standing next to me as an escort.

The two animals that had been waiting under the pillar to catch me so far were a kangaroo and a leopard.

Both of them could be said to be beasts that could not climb trees.

But the guy that Micheln had just moved was literally a chameleon… a guy who could easily follow me up the pillar.

-Keeeeeek

A reptile with green skin approached the pillar, making a strange noise.

Then he grabbed it and started to slowly climb up.

The entire pillar swayed precariously as it hung from a huge body that seemed several times larger than a human’s.

My heart, which had been on top, also became anxious.

‘I have to think of something before all that comes up. How to use the Deification skill more efficiently… … .’

It took an overwhelming force to get out of this rather burdensome situation.

Just like when I made full use of the Deification skill’s function and cut down the Elcapist in the banquet hall.

So I racked my brain, and just like my heart was beating fast, my head also started spinning fast.

Then at some point, it occurred to me.

A line of text that I read in passing from the Bible when I was studying theology.

-When the creator god Lucid Miller said, “Gather together,” the stars that illuminated the earth gathered at his fingertips and became a sword.

Could this be it?

I slowly raised my hand to check if the guess that suddenly occurred to me was correct.

And said.

“Come together… and listen?”

I thought something like a sword of light would appear.

When Lucid Miller spoke these words, a sword appeared in her hand, as it is written in the Bible.

But nothing happened.

“… … .”

It was at that moment that I was about to put my hand down awkwardly.

Something unusual has happened.

‘……light?!’

Little stars at the tip of my fingers… little lights gathered together.

The small lights that gathered around my hand began to swirl and gradually took on a pointed shape.

A sharp point of the sword emerged, and a sharp blade formed beneath it.

Before I knew it, a sword of judgment made up of stars from the earth had materialized in my hand.

I held it and shouted happily towards Doria.

“Okay! Is this how I should write it!?”

【Apostle! Look behind you!!】

“… … ?”

When I heard Doria’s urgent cries and looked back, it was already too late.

puck-!

Something heavy hit me from behind.

It was as I fell down the pillar that I realized it was ‘the long, outstretched tongue of a chameleon climbing up the pillar’.

‘Damn, I was so focused on making the sword that I let my guard down―’

Before my thoughts could continue, my body collided with the floor.

thud-!

A heavy impact was felt from my back along with a heavy sound.

Fortunately, the sturdy S-class body was not broken by the fall from that height.

but-

Krrrrrr!!

Kiek-!!

The leopard and neti, who had been waiting for me to fall down below, ran straight towards me.

Then he started biting me as if he was going to tear my whole body apart.

‘… … Damn, my body doesn’t move well… and most importantly, I can’t use my skills.’

My body froze because of the shock that went down my spine right after I fell.

Additionally, all skills that were being used, such as Deification Skill and Inviolability Pact Skill, were turned off.

Of course, Doria has also disappeared.

I need to drink the elixir again to get out of this situation… but I drank it all earlier.

Even if there was a bottle left, I wouldn’t have been able to drink it because my body wasn’t moving properly.

In other words, I had no choice but to wait for my body to return to normal on its own.

Crunch!

The leopard that ran at me bit my leg and threw me down.

puck-!

The shock of being thrown and then falling spread throughout my body again.

I tried to get up, barely able to keep my wits about me.

But things weren’t going well.

“Wow, you didn’t faint even after being attacked so much? The last apostle is definitely different.”

Before I could even try to get up, Michelin approached me.

Shit. I cursed under my breath.

I shouldn’t just lie there like this, but I found it difficult to move even a single finger of my own free will.

Meanwhile, Michelin, who had come closer, bent his knees and lowered his body to examine me.

“Now, let me make a suggestion here. You’ll probably have to accept it.”

“… … .”

“Just cooperate with us. We need you.”

Their goal is to use me, Lucid Miller’s apostle, to access this world’s system.

By doing so, you gain absolute power comparable to that of God.

That’s why, instead of cutting off my neck, which had left me unable to move, that bastard Michelin was making a proposal first.

At that, I moved my lips with difficulty.

“If you don’t like it… … ?”

“… … .”

Suddenly, the guy reached out to my neck and took off the necklace he was wearing.

A necklace that appeared to be made of silver was lying on the floor.

Is it an item? I looked at the necklace’s information window with a feeling of doubt.

[Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing (L)]

-Hides the wearer’s skills and abilities.

-You can forge an Awakened person into an Unawakened person.

An item that can be forged by non-awakened people.

Now I think I know why nothing came up when I checked the guy’s information window earlier.

The information window wouldn’t open because the item forged the guy into being an unawakened being.

Only after the guy took off the item did his information window open.

[Micheln Rune Viseliq (L)]

[Skills held]

―Flesh-rending whipping (S)

-Come here (S)

―Love’s Tail (L)

-Recreation (L)

-Beastification (L)

.

.

[Karma held]

-95 points

Even though I turned people into animals, my karma level was surprisingly not that low.

I thought they had raised it by some trick because if your karma points get too low you won’t be able to use your skills.

As I continued to speculate, Michelin opened his mouth.

“I have a skill that can turn my opponent into an animal. It’s an L-rank skill.”

“… … .”

“What would happen if I wrote this to His Majesty?”

“… … .”

There was no response.

Then the guy grabbed my hair and forced me to raise my head.

“Answer me. I’m asking.”

I looked at the beasts he had created without answering.

Among the guy’s skills, there’s one called “Recreation (L)”… That’s probably it.

The skill to turn people into animals.

‘If he uses his re-creation skill on me now, I will turn into other animals like the ones he commands.’

Unfortunately, the skill couldn’t be used right now because the shock from the fall was still there.

In other words, there is no way to block the power of the curse skill that the guy casts.

As soon as you are cursed, you will lose your human reasoning.

And it was reasonable to assume that if you lose your Eiji, you would be unable to use your own purification skill to escape the curse.

The guy had a relaxed expression on his face, knowing that.

“You’re still being quiet. If I use my skill, His Holiness will turn into an animal like those kids over there. Then I can capture His Holiness alive without killing him. After that, I can use him as I please.”

“… … .”

“Now, this is our second offer, so choose carefully this time. Do you want to cooperate with us? Or do you want to become one of my cute puppies right now?”

A situation where my safety can be determined by a single word that comes out of my mouth.

But at that moment, what came to my mind was, oddly enough, the tarot shop from earlier.

‘… … The horoscope was pretty much right.’

As the fortune told by the old woman, he was not in ‘mortal danger’.

However, it could be seen as an equally dangerous situation, as it was in danger of becoming a beast.

‘If I had relied a little more on the people around me as the divination advised… would things have changed?’

If I had gone back to the cathedral and come with my other comrades instead of trying to face it alone, this situation might not have happened.

Yeah, that would definitely be the case.

Luciana, Bliss, Delsi and Argelio were all strong enough to help me.

“… … .”

I realized it anew.

How arrogant I was.

People who know how to rely on those around them are stronger than those who go it alone… … .

So I opened my mouth.

“Okay, I’ll tell you now. My answer to your proposal… … .”

“oh.”

“Before that, let me first tell you what happened to me before I met you.”

“… … ?”

I opened my mouth slowly, very slowly, towards that puzzled Micheln.

“I had my fortune told before I came here. According to the fortune-telling-”

“Are you trying to waste time?”

“… … Damn. You’re so quick-witted, for nothing.”

He had intended to buy time until his colleagues came to rescue him, but they had already figured it out.

As the horoscope said, I tried to rely on them, albeit belatedly.

As I let out a bitter smile, Micheln’s expression hardened little by little.

“Stop being so cocky. My patience is running out. And no matter how long I stall, no one will come to help me. High Priestess Delsey… she’s probably in the hands of my men by now. She wouldn’t have been able to come to me for help.”

“… … Wait, what?”

What just happened was a story that couldn’t be overlooked.

I glared at the guy to hear what he meant by ‘Delsey was caught’, and a bitter sneer formed at the corner of his mouth.

“Of course. If I let them run away, they’d obviously call people, so I had my men watch them at the entrance.”

“… … .”

“She would have been captured by now. They gave her a mental defense item, so her voice skill wouldn’t have worked either.”

Delsey and Rubin were captured?

I thought you escaped safely, but you ended up in danger because of me?

For a moment, my sense of reason completely disappeared.

I barely managed to get up and swing my fist without even thinking about the situation.

But there is still a situation where the body cannot move properly.

My slow fist was easily blocked by the guy’s defense, and he slammed me back into the ground as I barely managed to get up.

puck!

My forehead hit the floor and a cold pain surged through me.

Even though I was crushed, I didn’t stop trying to get up.

“This son of a bitch! Where did you take Delsey—!”

“stop.”

The guy grabbed my hair again and slammed my forehead against the floor.

After receiving two consecutive blows to the head, I lost consciousness.

“Who said you could bark as you pleased? You haven’t even given a proper answer as to whether or not you’ll accept our offer… Ha, that’s enough.”

The guy let out a deep sigh as if he had given up.

“Don’t answer, just do it. It’ll be quicker to turn you into a good-natured puppy.”

As he spoke, an ominous aura rose from the hand he raised.

That skill… was activated as a re-creation skill that turns people into beasts.

If I touch that hand, I will probably… … .

‘Should I regress…?’

I felt the Hidden Peace Ring, the last resort I had left, with my fingertips.

When I write this, my time goes back to the past.

I had already confirmed that I could also set the time as I pleased.

However, the reason I postponed using it until the very end was because I was considering the worst case scenario.

Because in the worst case scenario, I could end up flying to another world just like when I first wrote this.

If I were to write this like that and then immediately go to another world, I would never see the people here again.

But right now, I’d rather be turned into an animal with that guy Michelin’s power than-

“……ah.”

I might as well just use the ring. As I was thinking that far, I suddenly let out a short exclamation.

It was because I saw the silhouettes of people faintly reflected in the barracks entrance that I was casually looking at.

At first, my vision was blurry and I couldn’t see very well, but after blinking once, their appearance became clearer.

‘You came… … .’

The silhouettes that appeared at the entrance to the barracks were those of people I missed very much.

Thanks to that, I couldn’t stop smiling even though my lips were chapped and sore.

“The horoscope is―”

“what?”

“The horoscope was right.”

If you rely on those around you, you can survive. That’s the content of the second divination.

Accordingly, I relied on them in my heart, hoping to buy time until they came to my rescue.

And just as the divination said, I was able to escape the crisis with it.

bang-!

Bliss swung her blade at Micheln.

Michelin, who had been letting his guard down, was so busy dodging that he missed me.

Meanwhile, Luciana, Rubin, Argelio, and Cheonggwang ran towards me.

“Your Majesty! Are you alright?”

“Nike! You’ve been waiting! I’m here!!”

“Are you okay? Now that Argelio is here, you can rest assured!”

“Benefactor! I came running here to repay your kindness!”

One after another, I heard voices worrying about me.

I saw the faces of those who were concerned about me.

And then, over the shoulders of Luciana, Rubin, Argelio, and Cheonggwang, someone’s face appeared.

“Delsey… … . You’re safe.”

I was worried after hearing that guy Michelin’s words.

Because I was wondering if Delsey had really been caught.

But she escaped beautifully and returned with her companions.

With a big smile on her face, Delsey spoke to me.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. As You were worried, I was weak. That’s why I almost got kidnapped by bad people. But—”

Delsey approached me, grabbed my hand, and continued her interrupted conversation.

“It’s okay now. I wanted to protect His Majesty… My desire to do so became so strong that I acquired a new skill.”