Chapter 286: Holy War
“Come in, Father Batali.”
“Yes.”
Creak.
Father Batali, who informs the Pope of the outside news, opened the door to the Pope’s private room and entered.
At first glance, it looks like an ordinary office space.
It could be considered a bit ordinary for the Pope’s private room.
The giant cross mosaic hanging on the wall, the thick red carpet leading from the door to the desk, and the bundle of old-looking parchment on the desk seemed to show that this was a religious person’s room.
The Pope, still seated, leaned back against the backrest and looked at Batali, holding the Bible he was reading.
“Your Holiness, I have urgent news to deliver.”
“Tell me.”
Father Batali had heard various news from outside.
His mission was to inform the Pope of only the most important few.
Variant monsters are rampant everywhere outside.
The Holy See, which is helping with the disposal and disinfection, is currently dealing with much more and serious news than in previous years, and recently, there has been an overflow of important things to report to the Pope.
But just now.
News that was more important than anything else, news that would make all this news seem as insignificant as tonight’s dinner menu, came in urgently.
“The Dragonian-Elven Alliance of Canton has declared the Half-and-Half Dragon to be a friend of the otherworlder Kyung-joon and has even awarded him the Hero’s Mark.”
Thud.
The Pope’s hand, turning the pages of the Bible, suddenly stopped.
Rustle.
Then it started moving again.
“Your Holiness, to uphold the dignity of the Holy Cross right now…”
As Father Batali tried to continue speaking in a more urgent voice.
Swish.
The Pope raised his hand as if to stop him.
“Just a moment, Father Batali. I haven’t finished reading my quota for today before dinner. If you’re not busy, could you wait a moment?”
Rustle. Rustle.
Saying so, the Pope continued to read the Bible for about 10 more minutes.
But his eyes didn’t seem to be looking at the Bible.
He was looking with his eyes, but he wasn’t reading.
Thud.
The Pope closed the Bible and finally acknowledged Father Batali’s words.
“Huh huh, things have become difficult.”
“Yes, that’s right, Your Holiness. Right now…”
Father Batali made various suggestions to the Pope, bringing up all the words he had cut off earlier.
There were many things, but they all boiled down to one thing.
Let’s restore the dignity of the Holy Cross.
The Holy Cross, which left a great legacy in a different way from the 7 Heroes during the Demon War 700 years ago, which they call the Holy War.
But to neglect the Holy Cross, which was a party to the same Holy War and may have done something even more important than the 7 Heroes, and arbitrarily award the Hero’s Mark.
And to an otherworlder who has no faith whatsoever.
In other words, to an otherworlder who might be hostile to the Holy Cross and hasn’t even been baptized!
This was roughly the content.
After listening to all of Batali’s opinions, the Pope showed a surprisingly calm reaction.
“I have received Father Batali’s intentions well.”
He was calm, even holy.
“As it is a serious matter, I, the Unique representative of God, must hear the will of the Lord directly. I will ask in the confession room at dawn and talk to you briefly during the official mass tomorrow.”
“Yes, I understand and will inform those around me.”
“Yes. Then please do as I said.”
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
Father Batali showed his intention to leave after showing the utmost respect he could to the Pope.
As he opened the door to the private room again and was about to go outside.
“Ah, right. Father Batali.”
The Pope stopped him with words.
Immediately following.
“Have you read today’s verse?”
“I’m sorry, but I haven’t read it yet. My mind was so unsettled with the thought of delivering urgent news to you…”
“Hahaha. We are still imperfect and lacking. It’s okay to skip it if you’re busy.”
“I will definitely read it after evening prayer. I apologize.”
“I, and certainly God, wouldn’t want an apology. He wouldn’t be as narrow-minded as us.”
The Pope smiled gently with a kind face.
It was definitely that kind of smile.
But for some reason, Father Batali gulped and tensed up even more.
“Then, Father Batali.”
The Pope continued, still with a kind face.
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
“Since you’re here, how about reading an interesting shelf that’s only available in the Vatican Library? During your evening prayer, as you mentioned.”
It was definitely a suggestion.
But it felt like a strong compulsion, as if he couldn’t refuse.
“By interesting shelf, you mean…?”
“It’s called the Sainte scriptures. Sainte scriptures, Chapter 7, Verse 18. It’s my favorite passage.”
“Your Holiness… I’m sorry, but with my limited knowledge, I believe that’s considered apocrypha.”
“As you know, the Vatican holds all scriptures. Canonical and apocryphal. And as your inadequate Pope, let me teach you something.”
The Pope’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“There is truth even in apocrypha.”
“……..”
Father Batali couldn’t answer.
He just stood still, nervously paying his respects.
“It’s getting late. Go in and rest.”
“…Yes, Your Holiness. As you said, I will rest well after evening prayer.”
The Pope nodded, and there was no further response.
Creak, slam.
The door to the private room closed, and Father Batali was back in the dazzling hallway of the Vatican.
‘Sainte scriptures… Author unknown, date of writing unknown, praising the Holy War with apocalyptic content, deemed apocryphal at the Third Council and leading to numerous inquisitions… No, if the Pope said so, I will just follow and read. It’s just a word… just a word…’
Curious, Father Batali headed straight to the library.
“The Sainte scriptures? Follow me.”
With the librarian’s help, he was able to stand before the scriptures in a short amount of time.
Old and dusty.
First, he blew on it and dusted it off.
“Cough, cough.”
‘Oh…… How does the Pope remember a book that hasn’t been read in so long…… He’s truly amazing.’
Praise for the Pope, after all.
Father Batali, with the best virtues of a Holy Cross priest.
Whoosh.
He opened the apocrypha, thicker than the canonical scriptures, and began to flip through the pages quickly but carefully.
‘He definitely said Chapter 7, Verse 18……’
And.
“……”
Thud! Crash!
He was so startled that he fell backward, knocking over his chair.
“A, Are you alright? Is there a problem……?”
The librarian was startled and rushed towards Father Batali.
Then.
“……Holy War! Holy War…! His Holiness the Pope desired a Holy War!!”
“Eek?!”
Tada-da-dak!
Father Batali ran past the librarian, leaving him behind.
In the opened Sainte scriptures behind him…
『Chapter 7, Verse 18
……And so there were those who defied my will. My children, lay down your plows. Take up the sword in your hands. Stain that sword red. The wine of peace Bangwool that drips from the tip of the sword shall be your salvation.』
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
Kyung-joon, flying through the sky in the form of a polymorphed dragon.
“Krrra-ra-ra! It’s so convenient not having to calculate this, Krrra-ra-ra!”
<^오^>
<Using Improved Wings of the Sylph requires complex calculations and mana control. Dragon flight, which only requires moving your wings with inertia, is more comfortable than any other type of flight.>
“Yeah. Plus, with these crazy stats, I don’t get tired.”
Kyung-joon inherited all the tremendous stats when he polymorphed into the Half-and-Half Dragon.
Of course, his cheat characteristic, the Half-and-Half characteristic, only inherits half, so he can only reduce the opponent’s HP to 50%.
However, it doesn’t apply to him, so it’s a strange debuff that makes him lose no matter who he fights.
Of course, he had so much HP that he often couldn’t even reduce it to half, let alone a quarter.
While continuing to soar through the sky, Teemo asked with a worried emoticon.
<(o´〰`o)>
<But is it okay to just fly through the airspace of the Humanity Cantons like this? Isn’t this the reason for the diplomatic issues between the Fael Alliance and the Dael Alliance this time?>
“What are you talking about, Krrra-ra! Teemo. There’s no sky a dragon can’t reach. Krrra-ra-ra! Anyway, the blue sky is ours. Krrra-ra-ra!”
<^^;;;>
Kyung-joon, who had become a dragon and even a friend of the Half-and-Half Dragon, was now siding with the Dael Alliance.
Like crabs siding with crabs, it was exactly like that.
Flap! Flap!
Whoosh!
After quickly crossing the airspace of all 7 Cantons like a highway.
Far, far away, the sky path leading to the Study Territory came into view.
Suddenly, Kyung-joon said to Teemo in an excited, mischievous voice.
“Krrra-ra! Teemo. While thinking about where to use the Hero’s Mark ability, Krrra-ra! I came up with an awesome idea. Krrra-ra-ra!”
<An interesting idea?>
“Yeah. Krrra-ra-ra! Since I can’t reduce the HP below 50% no matter how much I attack with the Half-and-Half Dragon polymorph effect, Krrra-ra-ra! How about going to the territory like this? Krrra-ra-ra! To test the players’ level and the residents’ coping abilities, Krrra-ra-ra!”
<Hmm… As a magical engineering artificial life form, this is the first time I’ve heard such a novel and crazy idea.>
<It’s a really good idea, but wouldn’t it be too much trouble to clean up afterward? Even though you can’t reduce it below half, it still means half of it will be damaged.>
“Me having a hard time? Krrra-ra-ra! Why? Probably Yoo Seol… Kim Elsa will have a hard time. Krrra-ra!”
<Then it’s a good idea. Let’s execute it right away.>
“Alright! Then I’ll speed up! Krrra-ra-ra!”
Flap! Flap!
Kyung-joon flapped his dragon wings vigorously and headed towards the Study Territory.
And a few hours later.
In the Study Territory, where the Player Jumping Event is in full swing.
An epic quest pops up, saying that a dragon has attacked.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
This is the Study Territory.
<Jumping Player 18th Generation>
“Wow, holy shit… Already level 100…”
“Yay! I succeeded in reaching level 100 in three days!”
“Sob… I… I, who am a gaming noob… I, who kept dying and had more days offline than online in a month… I… have reached level 100 in The World…! Master forest horned rabbit! Master spotted deer! Master wolf… (omitted)… and Master silva! It’s all thanks to you, Masters! Thank you so much!!”
“Thank you!!”
“Ho-ho! Congratulations! Hong!”
“Kkuruk! You worked hard! Kku!”
“Awl! Next time we meet…”
(Roughly, the scene of monsters bowing their heads and receiving greetings from the players with their arms crossed like a master.)
“Yes! I’ll keep that in mind! Really! Thank you so much! From now on, this Study Territory is our spiritual home!”
“Jumping Player 18th Generation! Fighting! Fighting!”
“Fighting!!”
The players all threw their wooden swords up into the air and hugged each other.
<Study Territory Resident: Jumping Management Team>
▼Kim Bu-ha GM
“Sob…! Team Leader! This is truly a beautiful space! For the players to cooperate and become so close……!
<Study Territory Resident: Jumping Management Team>
▼Jo Hyun-woo GM
“……Indeed. Until now, no other event has fostered cooperation, only competition……”
<Study Territory Jumping Management Team Leader>
▼Kingyear (NPC)
“Huhu. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a sight. It reminds me of the time when I used to teach and send off children in the East.”
“……Kingyear-nim, what exactly were you in your prime?”
Team Leader Jo made a tired expression, having heard Kingyear’s story about his prime for the thousandth time while working together.
“Haha. Me in my prime? Me in my prime……”
Leave a Reply