Volume 6, Chapter 21 – The Breakdown

Unable to answer Yisi immediately, the Pope began to pace slowly. This was something that required a long time to think about, and Yisi did not rush him.

As if a whole century had passed, the Pope finally stopped pacing. His aged voice did not feel like he was speaking to Yisi, but rather narrating history.

“This entire continent once belonged to us humans. To this day, we still consider ourselves the former masters of the continent. Historical records excavated from the ruins can prove that humanity developed civilization as far back as ten thousand years ago, and at that time, the vampires were still living a life no different from beasts in the forests of the eastern continent.”

“It’s a pity that humanity lost the war a thousand years ago.”

“Yes, because they were a scattered mess, still suspecting each other for their own interests at a time of racial crisis. It wasn’t until they had lost half of the continent’s territory that they finally realized the Blood Clan were no longer barbarians. But by then, it was too late to unite. The Blood Clan had already established a firm foothold on the continent.”

“Originally, many species lived on the continent: beastmen, orcs, elves, dragons, dwarves, goblins, dryads. Although they had their own racial advantages, either being physically stronger than humans or superior in magic, they were content with their own small piece of land, or engrossed in internal struggles between their various tribes. As long as humans did not try to conquer them, they could reach a consensus with them, form alliances, and even dismantle them by secretly sowing discord. At that time, ruling the continent relied on wisdom, on advanced ideological theories. When all of humanity had already identified themselves as the species ‘human’, these individually powerful races still only identified themselves by their tribes.”

“But the Blood Clan was different. They established a centralized power under the leadership of the first Blood Clan Queen. Long-term stability made humans lose their greatest strength; they were no longer united. So the Blood Clan used the same tactics that humans had used against the beastmen and elves, and applied them to humans themselves. This led to the ridiculous scene in the early stages of the war where humans allied with the Blood Clan to fight against other humans.”

“This situation continued until the middle of the war, when humans finally discovered the Blood Clan’s conspiracy. But the Blood Clan possessed wisdom equal to that of humans, and their reproductive ability was not inferior. In the same harsh environment, the Blood Clan’s survivability was much stronger than that of humans. They were superior to humans in both strength and magical talent, and even their lifespan was several times that of humans. If it were not for the Goddess’s mercy, sending down the Tower of Alexia at a time of human crisis, humans would have now completely become slaves to the Blood Clan, a subordinate race, existing merely to supplement their blood.”

After saying everything, the Pope leaned on his divine staff, raised his head slightly, and his gaze drifted to a very distant place.

This was the first time Yisi had heard a detailed account of the war a thousand years ago. Compared to the descriptions in history books, what the Pope said was more detailed and more vivid. But she was in the middle of a negotiation and couldn’t forget her business because of the Pope’s words.

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“So what are you trying to say?”

“Humanity needs to reclaim its former homeland,” the Pope turned slightly to the side, his hawk-like gaze staring straight into Yisi’s eyes, “The new Blood Clan Queen has already eradicated the chronic diseases of the Blood Clan. The longer this drags on, the more disadvantageous it will be for humanity.”

“So you want to reunite humanity and launch a counter-attack against the Blood Clan? That’s a dangerous idea. As far as I know, humanity can currently only rely on the Tower of Alexia to release the sunlight curtain to defend against the Blood Clan. Isn’t it better to maintain the status quo?”

And from her own standpoint, she did not want humanity and the Blood Clan to restart the war. That would increase Andrea’s burden.

“No, we no longer have the protection of a demon. Once the Blood Clan has accumulated its strength, humanity will not have a chance to survive.”

No, no, no. Even if Andrea accumulates her strength, she would never launch an army to attack you.

While complaining internally, Yisi paid attention to another key point in the Pope’s words.

“The protection of a demon?”

“That has nothing to do with you. If you want to know, after you give me the medicine, I can, on behalf of the church, accept you as a core member of the church and tell you everything about humans, the Blood Clan, and demons.”

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“You still haven’t answered my question. You must promise not to use the Blessing of Mistilteinn you give me in war.”

“Impossible. For the greater good of humanity, I will never let this opportunity go. The Fallen are one of the few bargaining chips humanity has in its hands. You are a gift from the Goddess to humanity. The Goddess has made you stand on our side, so that humanity is no longer at a disadvantage. We will use the power of the Fallen to unify humanity and challenge the shameless invaders. This is the will of God.”

He’s using identity politics to make me nod again. It’s the same method Daniel used to tie me to humanity back then. But if I wasn’t persuaded by Daniel back then because I had no sense of racial identity, now I will never stand on the opposite side of the Blood Clan, no matter what. If the Blood Clan faces war, Andrea and Edith will be the first to bear the brunt. This is something I don’t want to see. The Pope has played the wrong card.

“And if I say no? You seem to have misunderstood one thing. I am not human. The ears you see are not decorations. I can also show you something else.”

Yisi took off her cloak, revealing the red wings behind her that were twice the size of a vampire’s wings. As Edith had described, they were wings whose shape was infinitely close to that of a dragon.

To make the Pope understand that she was not human, Yisi lightly flapped her wings, and the cat ears on top of her head also moved—this was an ability Yisi had discovered by accident. Besides being able to twitch, the cat ears could also turn in a limited range of directions.

“I can give you the second-in-command position in the church. Although the church rejects other races besides humans, we are very welcoming to the wise of all races.”

“Do you think I can be tempted by power? If I coveted power, I would be better off sending the Blessing of Mistilteinn to the Norta Empire. That would at least get me a large piece of territory of my own.”

“Is there no room for negotiation?”

“As long as you use the medicine in war, there is nothing for us to talk about.”

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“Huu—”

The Pope let out a long sigh. The divine staff hitting the ground made a thudding sound, which in the quiet environment felt as if it had synchronized with one’s heartbeat.

A bad feeling.

The negotiations have broken down.

As the Pope turned his back to her and walked towards the wooden door, Yisi warned in a low voice.

“Since I dared to come here alone, it means I am confident I can walk out of here. I advise you not to do anything foolish.”

“Sigh.”

Only a sigh answered Yisi. Immediately after, the moment the Pope closed the door, the surrounding walls made a creaking, groaning sound, as if there were an earthquake. The chandelier on the ceiling swayed violently, and dust that was not there before began to fall.

“Tsk.”

The church won’t yield to me without the use of violence, will it? Of course, I have no intention of threatening them, like destroying the church if they don’t agree to use the Fallen medicine properly. It’s just that Julius’s act of ignoring my warning has made me a little angry. Since Julius dares to use violence to make me hand over the magic medicine, I should use the same means to warn him. Level 58 is not yet at a level that would make one back down.

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Creeaaak—

The white walls began to twist, as if something was about to break through. A bulge appeared on each of the two side walls.

Immediately after.

Boom!

As if a giant had pressed down on a table and then forcibly gouged out a piece from it, neat holes appeared on both sides of the walls. The bookshelves collapsed with a crash, and the magic lamps flickered on and off. Accompanied by the sound of huge stones scraping against the floor, two gray-white stone puppets, over three meters tall, walked into the room. Their paladin-like appearance and the large magic crystals embedded in all their joints gave them a very intimidating look.

“Level 60 puppets. They must be something dug up from the ruins. But… too weak.”

The two puppet paladins swung their stone swords at Yisi, aiming for her legs. Yisi merely snapped her fingers.

『 Dust of Annihilation 』

Like a giant rock rapidly weathering in the desert, under the witness of countless paladins who had just rushed into the room, the two stone puppets instantly turned to dust.