Volume 6, Chapter 75 – Floating to the Surface

Anger almost overflowed from her chest. With a stern face, Evelyn walked quickly down the temple corridor. Even when she bumped into a nun or a priest, she did not stop to apologize. Anyone could see that the current Evelyn was not to be trifled with. The guards and nuns all retreated to the sides, letting her charge through.

A cardinal stepped forward, his arms spread, trying to block Evelyn.

“Your Holiness the Pope, the central temple—”

“Get out of the way!”

Not giving the cardinal a chance to speak, Evelyn switched the divine staff to her left hand, and with her free right hand, she pushed aside the cardinal who was trying to block her. Completely taken by surprise that Evelyn would treat him so violently, the cardinal fell to the side of the corridor, his wrinkled face instantly flushing red.

“Evelyn! Don’t you go too far! Don’t think you can ignore us just because you’ve become the Pope!”

But the cardinal soon found himself in a very awkward situation.

Evelyn paid no mind to his threat, not even turning her head, and quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor. And in this cardinal’s eyes, this was a clear sign that Evelyn did not take him seriously.

As for Evelyn’s side.

Her breathing was erratic due to anger and rapid running. Evelyn stood in front of the door to Julius’s room—during the day, Julius would stay in the Pope’s room on the fifth floor. Although Evelyn was now the real Pope, a series of handovers had not been completed, and Julius had not had time to move out.

Without giving Julius any face, under the dumbfounded gazes of the passing priests, Evelyn infused the Staff of Divine Retribution with magic power. After it emitted a golden light, she swung it over her shoulder and then slammed it hard against the wooden door.

Boom!

Even a hard wooden door was shattered into pieces under the bombardment of magic power. The pulverized sawdust cloud exploded outwards, and the door panel flew unceremoniously into the room. Before the sawdust had even landed on the ground, Evelyn had already stepped inside.

“Julius, get out here!”

“E… Eve… Her Holiness the Pope has gone mad…”

“Quick, quick, go and inform the Lord Cardinals and the Inquisitor Generals. Only they can stop Her Holiness!”

“Yes!”

Ignoring the shouts of the priests, Evelyn’s gaze locked onto Julius at the end of the room, who was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window. Although Evelyn had just broken through the door with an unusually violent action, there was no surprise or anger on Julius’s face. On the contrary, Julius, who was holding a book in both hands, turned around calmly.

Rеaԁ оո КatRеaԁіnɡСаfe

“Is there something you need, Your Holiness Evelyn?”

If Yisi hadn’t said those words to her before, Evelyn would surely have been secretly pleased to hear Julius call her ‘Your Holiness’ now. But now, she only found it jarring, as if she were being mocked by him.

Skipping the opening pleasantries, Evelyn went straight to the point, a dangerous glint flickering in her slightly narrowed, deep green eyes.

“Making me the Pope was just part of your plan, wasn’t it?”

“Your Holiness Evelyn.”

“Shut up! The words ‘Your Holiness’ coming out of your mouth only make me feel disgusted!”

It wasn’t that Evelyn dared to speak to Julius like this only after becoming the Pope, but the feeling of being used, and even becoming a pawn for others, made her burn with anger. Until a quarter of an hour ago, she had still been naively thinking that she had become the Pope through her divine-era magic, Julius’s loyal faith in the Goddess, and a little bit of her own luck. But when Yisi had confessed that she had a magic medicine that could cure the Fallen, Evelyn had finally understood everything.

The reason she had been able to become the Pope was neither because of the divine-era magic she had used to annihilate the monsters, nor because of a change in Julius’s temperament, but to become a link between Yisi and Julius, to become a spokesperson for the church. It would not be an exaggeration to say she was a sacrifice.

Julius’s various abnormal behaviors—hiding in the Tower of Ymir, letting the monsters run rampant in Mitters Bayer, and suddenly announcing her as the next Pope—were all to pave the way for her and Yisi to get closer.

If one were to think about it from Julius’s perspective, in order to unify humanity, one must possess a weapon that is sufficient to turn the tide of a battle. So what to choose as a weapon that is both easy to realize and cheap enough?

Magic crystals and scrolls were certainly feasible, but the cost was so high that no country could provide them for a long time.

To want to change the tide of a battle with a single spell, one must choose a spell of Tier 5 or above. And any Tier 5 magic crystal would take at least a year to make. This would require a large amount of manpower and resources, as well as a magic caster who could use Tier 5 magic. And anyone with a little bit of a brain would not choose to hide a Tier 5 magic caster at home to make scrolls during wartime.

To directly deploy a Tier 5 magic caster onto the battlefield, both in terms of effect and deterrence, would be much greater than a rigid Tier 5 magic scroll.

And besides scrolls, there were only magic weapons and monster aid.

What level of magic weapon would it take to change the tide of a battle? The Staff of Divine Retribution in front of her could be one of them. Evelyn was sure that as long as she reached level 40, she would have a chance of winning against Julius. And if she reached level 50, she would surely be able to fight him on equal terms.

But what level of magic weapon was the Staff of Divine Retribution? That was a true divine-tier existence, personally crafted by the Goddess. This was not a conclusion Evelyn had gotten from legends, but the result of her own verification. After she had drunk the magic medicine and glimpsed the grand-scale magic inscribed in the staff, she had come to completely believe in the existence of gods. Only a god could create such a super-spec weapon. Even the most ingenious craftsmen among humans could not possess such skill.

Some might think that since it was too difficult to craft a weapon like the Staff of Divine Retribution, then choosing a lower-tier one would suffice. But even the Scarlet-Gold tier weapons below the divine-tier were as rare as phoenix feathers on the continent. Any Scarlet-Gold tier weapon would require a large amount of gold coins to purchase, and most of the time, they were priceless.

To give a simple number, since the death of the grandmaster-level magic weapon forger known as the ‘Divine Craftsman’, there had not been a true Scarlet-Gold tier weapon in the Alexia Continent for nearly ten years. Not to mention that different Scarlet-Gold tier weapons had different enhancement directions. Some were suitable for attacking large-scale targets, while others were only suitable for one-on-one combat.

Rеαd оո KаtRеαdіnɡСafе

As for monster aid, there was even less need to mention it. Humans could not control monsters of too high a level, and monsters of a lower level could not form an effective threat. If one wanted to form an alliance with an intelligent monster race, such as dragons, it would be impossible to cooperate without offering a treasure that could move their hearts. And this was on the premise of setting aside the ‘humanity-first’ doctrine. The very existence of the church did not allow it to cooperate with monsters.

Thus, there was only one tool left before Julius: the Fallen.

In the past, the Fallen could only be a sacrifice to unite the hearts of the people. But when Yisi brought that magical medicine—if she hadn’t realized Julius’s conspiracy, Evelyn would have surely let out a small scream of surprise at Yisi’s description at that time—before Julius, it was impossible for him to let her go, no matter what.

And combining the information she knew with what Yisi had said, Evelyn could guess what had happened from the beginning of Yisi’s negotiation with Julius until she had become the Pope now.

Julius was unwilling to let go of the opportunity to unify humanity, while Yisi did not want her good intentions to become a catalyst for the Fallen to fall into even greater suffering. With no room for negotiation between the two sides, Julius used force against Yisi, and the two began to fight. In the end, even when Julius used the power of the Tower of Ymir, he could not restrain Yisi, and instead almost caused the tower to self-destruct.

After that, Julius realized that he could not restrain her actions. But he was neither willing to give up such a good opportunity to unify humanity, nor could the church bow down to another person or organization, otherwise the church would lose its sacred status in the hearts of the believers. So Julius was in a dilemma for a while.

But a turning point soon appeared. Julius found that Yisi had appeared before him again. The upper echelon of the church had received a divine baptism and would have an impression of people they had met before. This feeling was similar to a magic fluctuation. And in just one night, Julius would not have forgotten the impression of Yisi like she had. So when Yisi brought Mary to the church to visit the Pope, Julius, who had a sense of familiarity, specially took the time to meet the two of them. At that time, Yisi thought that she would not be discovered by changing her appearance and identity, but she did not know about this extra ability of the church’s upper echelon. Julius’s plan had started from that time.

“Your Holiness! Are you alright? Ah! H-Her Holiness the Pope.”

A rush of footsteps came from the corridor. Several cardinals, along with a few seasoned knights in armor, rushed to the door. First, they confirmed Julius’s safety, and then they turned their gaze to Evelyn, who had her back to them, and lowered their heads respectfully.

Turning around, Evelyn frowned. She could ignore the thoughts of the cardinals, but she could not be dismissive of the few knights standing behind them. They were the Inquisitor Generals of the church. Even after she became the Pope, she should treat them politely.

“There’s nothing for you here. Let me and Julius talk alone.”

“But Your Holiness,” one of the Inquisitor Generals looked at the mess on the floor, his righteous face showing a troubled expression, “your actions…”

The one who answered was, unexpectedly, Julius. He waved his hand, signaling the people to retreat.

“Go. Her Holiness Evelyn will not harm me. I also have something to say to her.”

“Please at least let me stay here. As the highest member of the Inquisition Hall, I swear to the Goddess that I will forget everything I hear here and will only be responsible for the safety of the two of you.”

“The Goddess will forgive your oath. Go, and have someone seal the fifth level.”

Silently, Julius stared into the eyes of the Inquisitor General. The prestige he had built up over a long period of time was like an impenetrable wall. The pressure made the Inquisitor General quickly give up his insistence.

“…If you say so, Your Holiness. Alright, I will have someone seal this place.”

Rеaⅾ оո КαtReαԁiոɡСаfе

Bowing to the two in the room, the few who had rushed in quickly left. The entire floor was incomparably quiet.

Without letting the silence last too long, the first to speak was Julius. He patted the dust off his white and gold long robe, sat back down behind his desk, and, as if he didn’t care at all about Evelyn’s anger, leaned back in his chair in a very relaxed manner.

“Since you’ve already found out, then there’s no need for me to hide it anymore. I never thought from the beginning that you would be kept in the dark forever. In fact, the sooner you know, the more convenient it will be for the both of us. If you hadn’t noticed, I would have arranged for a ‘coincidence’ to hint at you to come and find me.”

“You—”

She only said one word before she stopped.

She had originally wanted to ask “what on earth do you want to do?”, but what Julius wanted to do was already quite obvious. To ask would only make her seem ignorant.

Then should she curse Julius?

Since Julius knew that she would come here, he must have been mentally prepared. He could even accept the door being smashed without batting an eye. What damage could mere curses do to him?

With the gaze of an elder looking at a junior, Julius nodded in satisfaction.

“I thought you would be a little more hysterical, but you’re not… it seems I should raise my evaluation of you.” Putting on a business-like posture, Julius sat up straight, a smile hidden in the eyes behind his wrinkles. “In order not to have any deviation in our understanding of each other, I will tell you everything.”

Julius stood up and began to pace by the window side of the room.

“As you said, making you the Pope was just part of my plan. My ultimate goal is to use you to get enough magic medicine, and then, through this part of the magic medicine, to research its production method. As long as we know the production method, the production of the magic medicine will no longer be a difficult matter. We can use it to form an unprecedented army of the Fallen.”

“The person named Yisi—no, she should be called a monster, possessing the characteristics of both a beastman and a dragon, and being able to switch between human and her true race. Even ‘demon’ is not enough to describe her existence. When I saw Yisi for the second time, I realized that she was the one who had trespassed into the underground the night before. To have compassion for the Fallen, yet to stand by and watch all of humanity die, that’s very strange, isn’t it? But as long as she can be of use to the church, we can ignore her thoughts. She is not a person of the church. We cannot demand too much.”

“When I realized that she was deliberately getting close to you, I realized that she must have had a special purpose—to first establish a good relationship with you, and then to support you to become the Pope of the church. Yes, she has such strength. She only needs to kill me, and you can become the rightful Pope.”

“It’s just that she realized that if it were to end just like that, you, after becoming the Pope, would be in a predicament of being unable to swallow it all. With just the prestige you had in the church in the past, it would be impossible for you to become a Pope like me who can override all objections and make everyone obey. And to change the status of the Fallen, she must make you have enough power to convince the masses. So she needs a gradual process to let you grow.”

“You’re no different. I’d rather be used than be given charity.”

Evelyn narrowed her eyes.

As if he hadn’t noticed the thorns in Evelyn’s words, Julius stopped pacing.

Rеαⅾ on КatReaⅾіոgCαfе

“This is just a process of mutual maneuvering. Whether it’s me or her, whether you see it as exploitation or charity, it’s just a different way of saying it. The essence is not different.”

Ignoring the ever-present possibility of Evelyn exploding, Julius continued to pace while explaining.

“So, after a little consideration, I could only play along and let you become the Pope, and abdicate myself.”

“And then choose to give me the position of Pope when the time is not yet ripe, making me a puppet.”

“Exactly. If you were to fully grow up, the initiative would fall into her hands. Also, I must correct one point. The word ‘puppet’ is too unpleasant. I have been seeking a cooperative relationship from the beginning. You get the magic medicine for me, and I will mobilize the full power of the church to research the production method of the magic medicine. Then you will take the magic medicine and complete the task of unifying humanity for me. This is very tempting for you, isn’t it? Don’t worry, after you become the Pope, as long as you don’t give up the responsibility of quickly unifying humanity, I will not interfere with any of your decisions. What you need is power, and I, for the sake of unifying humanity, this is a win-win ending.”

“The price is deceiving Yisi.”

“So what? For all the Fallen, they have obtained the status they have dreamed of. And for those Fallen who are suitable for battle, their pain is temporary. They can obtain military ranks and medals like normal people. Isn’t this a kind of reward? The only difference is that they must fight for the status of themselves and their compatriots.”

There was no sympathy on his face. Evelyn could even feel that Julius was trembling with excitement—he was excited for the visible future of humanity.

A madman.

Even if the object was a Fallen, as a normal person, one should have a little sympathy. Two hundred years of long life had worn away Julius’s humanity.

It was only at this moment that Evelyn realized this. The problem was, she could not refute the correctness of Julius. In terms of the future of humanity alone, he was indeed correct. War must be accompanied by sacrifice. Julius’s choice would even make the sacrifice smaller. Not only that, but even the power she wanted was included in Julius’s calculations. Although this went against Yisi’s wishes, she had never promised Yisi from the beginning to save those Fallen who had been constantly hurting her. The temptation of this proposal was so great that it was hard to imagine.

To become the real Pope, to unify humanity.

This would undoubtedly be a glorious deed that would go down in history. The name of Evelyn Anna Ymir Shalu would be engraved on the most conspicuous page of the history of the church, and even of humanity.

Even though the feeling of being played by Julius made Evelyn feel countless rejections in her heart, she found it very difficult to say no. The only ones sacrificed were the Fallen, and the Fallen were an unforgivable existence to her. The only thing she felt guilty about was that she had deceived Yisi, that she had in turn used her.

“Hmm…”

Evelyn’s hesitation made Julius tilt his head in confusion.

“I can’t understand… why would a human hesitate on a great cause like unifying humanity.” Seeing that Evelyn still did not answer, Julius paused for a moment, a look of regret on his face. “Forget it. I don’t require you to give me an answer now. Go. Come and find me again tomorrow. I look forward to your answer.”