Volume 6, Chapter 19 – The Beginning of Negotiations

This was a study no more than twenty square meters in area, with ample light. The bookshelves against the wall were neatly lined with all sorts of thick, heavy books. In another world where paper was a luxury item, this was a symbol of status. Although there was no carpet on the floor, it was the first time Yisi had seen polished, smooth wooden flooring in this other world. Everything from the low cabinets and desk to the chandelier on the ceiling was decorated with unique religious carvings and white paint. Except for the lack of windows, Yisi would have believed it if she were told this was a king’s room.

“Who?”

The moment Yisi appeared in the room, the Pope, who was poring over a book at his desk, sensed her presence. However, he did not look up because of Yisi’s sudden visit. On the contrary, he continued with what he was doing.

“If you have something to say, say it directly. I don’t like to be disturbed when I’m reading.”

“Eh.”

Making a questioning sound on purpose, Yisi grew vigilant as she approached the Pope, who was over two hundred years old, step by step. Who knew what kind of resources the church possessed? If the Pope were to suddenly pull out something called a holy relic and use it on her, not to mention any serious consequences, even just the pain was something Yisi would rather do without.

Placing her fingers, which looked as if they could be broken with a slight force, on the Pope’s desk, Yisi continued.

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“Do you know who I am?”

“I do not.”

“You’re not afraid of me?”

“Everything I have done is with a clear conscience. Why should I be afraid? Although I don’t know how you broke through the guards and the magical barriers, if you were an assassin, my head should already be on the floor instead of sitting here talking to you.” Closing the book, the Pope looked up for the first time. The bright eyes hidden behind the heavy wrinkles gave Yisi the feeling that she was being seen through. “You’d better finish what you have to say before the nuns come in.”

If she didn’t know the Pope’s own strength, Yisi would have admired his courage. But in fact, the Pope was the most dangerous person in the entire underground facility. His level exceeded Boris’s, reaching a terrifying 58. Moreover, the Pope was not actually fully focused on his reading, but had been on guard all along. Otherwise, he would not have noticed that there was an extra person in the room the moment Yisi appeared. This level of aura perception was absolutely impossible without special training.

The Pope’s seemingly affable gesture saved Yisi a lot of time. Yisi, who had already been prepared to seal the room, took a small step back and took out a glass bottle of pale yellow liquid from her inventory, placing it on the table with a pop.

“This is?”

A trace of confusion entered the Pope’s voice.

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“You can take a look.” So that the Pope would not worry that it was poison, Yisi uncorked the stopper, poured about half the bottle into her mouth, and then put it back on the table. “This is a type of medicine I possess. It can allow a dying person to quickly recover their health, and even limbs that have been severed for a long time can grow back. As long as the user has one breath left, it can save them.”

“If you are here to recommend a drug for immortality to me, I advise you to leave this place as soon as possible.”

After speaking, the Pope prepared to open his book again.

But Yisi’s next words directly made the Pope’s hand freeze in mid-air.

“I haven’t finished. Besides its life-saving effects, it can also make the marks on a Fallen’s body disappear. However, it is only limited to making the marks disappear. It will not turn a Fallen back into a normal human. The abilities a Fallen possesses will not be annihilated by drinking this bottle of magic medicine.”

“What did you say!?”

The book in his hand fell to the floor with a clatter. The Pope bent down to pick it up, but no matter how much he pretended to be calm, his gaffe just now could not be undone. Yisi could see from the Pope’s constantly darting eyes that it would be impossible for him to calm down for a while.

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The church had always been troubled by the Fallen. This was a fact known to the core members of the church, and even the royal families of the Hels Kingdom and the Norta Empire. The omniscient Goddess Ymir should be omnipotent. She would save people in distress, not only healing physical wounds but also soothing all kinds of negative emotions. These were all things that the Goddess’s representatives, the Ymir Church, could do.

But the exception lay with the Fallen. The church, which could even resurrect the dead, was helpless against the Fallen. The dark red marks on their bodies could neither be purified by holy magic nor removed by physical means. Even if the entire piece of skin, along with the flesh and blood, was gouged out and then restored with healing magic, the Fallen Mark would still remain.

If it were only that, the Fallen would just be a little uglier, and might even become a superior class of human due to their special magic, like the purebloods versus ordinary members of the Blood Clan. Unfortunately, all Fallen have a limit. When the marks cover their entire body, the Fallen will go berserk. Their power will far exceed their usual level, and their reason will disappear along with it. To ordinary people, the existence of the Fallen is equivalent to a disaster.

Putting it all together, the Fallen Mark was a terminal illness, but the church could not cure it. Thus, the Fallen became a thorn in the church’s side. To justify their position, the church could only proclaim the Fallen as people who had sold their souls to the devil and betrayed the Goddess in their hearts.

For the vast majority of ignorant people, this was an acceptable explanation that they took as truth. However, the human world was not a monolith. They, occupying a quarter of the continent’s territory, were divided into two large countries and one medium-sized theocracy, with some remaining vassal states with extremely small territories. If the church truly created an omniscient and omnipotent god, it would undoubtedly be a challenge to the monarchy.

Therefore, the two major monarchies, the Hels Kingdom and the Norta Empire, secretly used the examples of those Fallen who had good intentions and had made great contributions to humanity, along with the reason that ‘although they have sold their souls to the devil, they cannot be purified with holy water that should restrain devils’, to plant seeds of distrust in the church among their people. This greatly hindered the church’s development in the human world, so the church urgently needed an item or magic that could change the status quo.

The Fallen medicine Yisi offered was undoubtedly something that could shake the church to its core.

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Just as Head Priest Daniel had said to Yisi back in Celtic City.

As long as there was a holy art that could cure the Fallen, the church could justify it as a holy decree from the Goddess and clear the name of the Fallen. The Fallen would be accepted by the world again and would no longer have to suffer cruel treatment.

Thus, further on, the Goddess in the church’s words would truly become an omniscient and omnipotent existence. The church’s biggest problem would be swept away along with it, and at the same time, the church’s position in the human world would become irreplaceable, truly becoming a divine authority above the royal power.

Yisi repeated what she had just said, her deliberately cold tone making one think she was not a person who would easily compromise.

“I said, this is a medicine that can eliminate the Fallen Mark. For this, I want to know your true thoughts as the Pope, Julius Fafnir Ymir Harry.”

As her words fell, Yisi took a deep breath.

She knew that the main event was about to begin.