<516 - Calling>
People gather with their own kind.
Whether it’s due to differing hobbies, expensive tastes that develop, or simply not wanting to hear favors while having fun.
As one climbs the ranks, they distance themselves from old acquaintances and manage new connections.
The Pope of the Church of Fullness of Dish, serving the God of Harmony, Belzebub of Patience.
In his eighth year as Pope, he too has distanced himself from most of his connections from his days as a bishop and has made new acquaintances among the Popes serving different gods.
“Wanting to know the secret to gaining faith? Are these lunatics serious? If I tell them that, they’ll just gather faith to take my seat and retire me!”
“Heh heh, that’s true. These days, the lower ranks are nothing but pure faith thieves. They could easily fit into the Twelve Main Deities of the continent. There’s not a single one worth trusting.”
The Pope Saaghan Ileum, serving the God of Thunder, Matheus of Light, was a friend who understood his troubles.
Below him were bishops keenly eyeing his position and competing against him, while above him, he dealt with the hardships of the papacy, following the command of God!
Though it was a high position to gain friends from, perhaps due to his shared hardships in obtaining the papacy from an earlier hero, they shared a strong bond.
“So, here’s the deal. Our Belzebub commanded us to restore the Mint Chocolate Family, one of the three great traitor families, to help everyone cultivate patience by eating mint chocolate! How ridiculous is that? He’s subtly supporting behind the scenes, but I’m worried about getting caught.”
“Heh heh. Compared to what Matheus of Light desires, that’s nothing. He’s telling his followers to introduce a program for virgins and maidens. Using the stress of not being able to separate purity from virginity as evidence of faith to grant power! That will fill the church with losers.”
Even while in a difficult position, they tried to align with the god’s favor, working hard to spread the church’s influence throughout the realm.
“Have you heard about our slogan to eat the overgrown ferns and get rid of them, with our hundred followers combating the fern overgrowth in the woods?”
“I’ve heard about it. With the ferns gone, the fairies are multiplying in droves, making life miserable for anyone entering the woods.”
“Some idiot brought royal jelly under the pretense of a sauce for ferns, causing a surge in fairies. It turned into a famous spot for fairies, and thankfully, we managed to get a reward from the lord for all that, but I was sweating bullets worrying a fairy would come and grab someone.”
While others would be stressed trying to appease and flatter him, Saaghan Ileum chuckled and began to share his own story.
“Heh heh. Our followers pulled a big stunt this time too. Since people aren’t buying books under the empire’s fixed price policy, they kidnapped the culture minister who announced the fixed pricing so our scripture and doctrines would sell! Kids these days really have exceptional stress relief methods.”
“That’s truly insane, isn’t it? But why is the world so quiet about it?”
“They tried to demand the ransom at a fixed price too, and then got slashed by the ‘Eungchilgeom’ the emperor sent. Heh heh heh. Those fools could have scratched a little deeper into the emperor’s nerves! It was thanks to quickly declaring heresy that they avoided completely messing up the church.”
“Haha, we’re both struggling because of the useless lower ranks.”
After the atrocities of the previous hero, Ni’alatotep, the papacy was left vacant, and though newly crowned at a similar time, Saaghan Ileum worked hard to reform and preserve the church’s survival, feeling a camaraderie as a fellow sufferer.
“Oh, Matheus! How can you treat me like this? This Saaghan Ileum could trample the masses like insects in the name of the church if I wanted, yet the stress of enduring hypocrisy feels less than that of a mere glowing dinosaur!”
One such comrade began to crumble before his very eyes.
The sacred domain created by Matheus through his power, and the realm built on belief and faith was being pulled in reverse by the wishes of a dinosaur exploitation fiend.
Saaghan Ileum stretched his arms wide and cried out to the sky, and his god answered his cries.
[Ah, my greatest and oldest evil offspring. How could I not know of your dedication and commitment and the wicked plan?]
[When your stress is released, not just the monster army on the ground but the human legions will be swept away as well. The release of stress harming a hundred thousand humans is as refreshing as clearing a clogged passage.]
“Then just give me a reason! Why bestow strength upon that wretched little brat instead of me?”
[You have endured stress for a long time in pursuit of great power. Thus, you are like a delicious sweet potato that has been carefully kept.]
[On the other hand, that small child burst out that long-cooked stress all at once and acted rashly without a hint of patience. That radical and refreshing attitude is like soda clearing a clogged throat.]
[If sweet potatoes and soda were to be compared, it is human nature to want to be rid of the dull taste with the blistering fizz of soda. How could even a god be any different?]
Nearby, Amadeus, eavesdropping on the faith amplification device installed on another non-fair flight, felt a suffocating despair.
Hearing that the efforts of Saaghan Ileum, who had devoted his life to gaining faith through the endurance of wicked deeds, had turned out to be less than a moment of the foundation’s heir, the Dark Princess Oknodie— it felt extremely cruel.
Seeing the longtime accumulation of faith crumble into nothingness, the red in Saaghan Ileum’s eyes sharpened.
It was a phenomenon known to warriors as spiritual seal, to magicians as magic overflow, and to religious individuals as faith collapse – occurring in the body of Saaghan Ileum.
“My friend, why do you let your enemies play you as they wish? This isn’t the first time gods have tested your faith!”
“You’re wrong… I no longer have the strength to endure anything, so how can I maintain the papacy?”
Saaghan Ileum, having lost even the power of prophecy, felt his words weaken.
The moment he surrendered all control, the sacred realm clashed with Amadeus’s harmonious realm.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE━━
The sky cracked open, and the clash of divine powers caused the non-fair flights to sway like ships caught in a storm.
BOOM! BANG!
Supporting the surge of the Pope’s divine power, the nearby auxiliary ships plummeted toward the ground in succession.
As the core of the non-fair flights, crashing to the ground, exploded upwards, a cross-shaped eruption shot high into the sky, raining down like a cemetery full of crosses.
“How harsh.”
Amadeus realized.
At some point, Saaghan Ileum’s non-fair flight had also become invisible.
Even though a particularly large cross adorned the sky, he found more joy in discovering a new toy than in mourning his long-time follower.
In this moment, the Twelve Main Deities had lost one of their own.
The shocking news that would shake the continent’s theology caused Amadeus to feel genuine fear as the sticky evil and terror crawled up his skin.
The cruel Dark Princess who even turned the benevolent deities to evil must now be stopped by those who remained.
While he used every ounce of his power to stop the clash of divine forces, Immanuel’s non-fair flight merely stood by without batting an eye when things went awry.
“Justice is for those with the power to keep it. If you pursue only your own courage while losing the ability to prevent evil, is that goodness or hypocrisy? The old man will not become a hypocrite for the empire.”
The Pope serving Immanuel said this as he turned the non-fair flight around.
Amadeus felt that if he teamed up with him, he would have the opportunity to steal his new toy from the weakened Matheus of Light.
And he locked this opportunity into his heart as it slipped away due to the failure of that cowardly, smooth-talking coward.
“I, Pope Amadeus of the Church of Fullness of Dish, beseech Belzebub of Patience to grant me the power of revenge in response to this old follower’s long dedication.”
When everyone else turns to escape, the only thing left to trust is the path of faith.
In his fervent prayers, Belzebub of Patience responded.
[I will not allow it.]
“Why not?!”
[The teachings of the Church of Fullness of Dish are to bestow blessings upon those who harmoniously unify the disharmonious. Today, a testifier of faith emerged, harmonizing the teachings of malevolence within the benevolent deity, so awaken to true faith, free from binding old ties.]
What a betrayal from Belzebub that he did not expect!
To him, it might be a unique expression of faith, but to Amadeus, Belzebub’s declaration was no different than betrayal.
The steadfast faith guiding Belzebub had ceased to exist.
“What a shame to lose my faith in old friends and comrades today. Turn the ship around.”
Amadeus ordered a retreat.
Twelve deities.
No, eleven deities.
Perhaps reduced to ten—the alliance of divine entities.
The trust towards those walking the same path of light and the respect towards the god they served.
All that faith vanished in a single confrontation.
The moment his world, sculpted by long-standing faith, ended, the world now meant nothing to him, becoming merely a foreign one.
*
Masugaki came to realize that Oknodie was far more extraordinary than she had thought.
“Amazing…♡ They defeated all three Pope-level lackeys of the Twelve Main Deities♡”
“Ugh.”
“What’s there to be upset about~? It’s an incredible feat no one has achieved since the previous hero Ni’alatotep’s massacre of the Popes eight years ago.”
“If the other two had come at me, I could’ve gained triple experience, but I only got one! They ran away too quickly, and Glowing is still alive.”
The now mini-sized glowing dinosaur that could easily fit in her palm was trembling, curling its tail and neck.
Its seemingly pitiful appearance shaking like a wind-up toy was quite humorous.
“Even catching one made Glowing end up like this; how are you going to catch the others~?”
“There’s a Giant Mud Golem and a Monster Legion left, right? Of course, I planned to sacrifice them all. Otherwise, what was the point of gathering so many mounts?”
“Pfft. You collected them all to sacrifice them from the start~? What a terrible taste♡ So wicked♡ Dark Princess is truly your calling♡”
Passing through the Tomb of the Cross, the Monster Legion, er, Sacrifice Legion, strolled toward Jeido.
The news that even the Pope couldn’t withstand and fell swept through the path to Jeido quicker than the deployment of their sacred realm, and the residents who saw the cross of divine power indicating the loss of faith fled their villages and cities.
As they passed through the empty habitats and facilities, they seamlessly advanced towards the Imperial Palace.
[Master of Martial Arts]
[Master of the Multicolor Magic Tower]
[Three Great Sword Kings]
[Chief Court Magician]
The last mighty figures of the empire stood claiming more presence than a hundred thousand soldiers.
Despite the suffocating pressure radiated from the nineteen-member alliance, Oknodie couldn’t help but smile.
“What are you going to do~? It won’t be that easy to breach the palace.”
What kind of ridiculous plan would she use to trick the enemies and enter Jeido?
To the question filled with expectation, Oknodie answered brightly.
“Knock!”
“…Right. When you visit someone’s house, you should ring the doorbell and knock. A good child♡ So polite♡ You’re disqualified as a Dark Princess♡”
“What?! Then I won’t knock!”
It was true to her character, as the Dark Princess, she immediately began to pout.
“Kikiki. So how are you going to knock~?”
“With the kidnapped non-fair flight!”
The only non-fair flight that fell to the ground without exploding.
Pointing at the one they recovered using the monster legion, Oknodie cheerfully exclaimed.
Masugaki felt confused.
So, wait… Are you saying you’re going to fix that and crash it into Jeido?
Is that really knocking?!
