“Soul Decay.”

“Dirty Whispers.”

“Mel-Pia’s Land.”

“Rising Desire.”

Pope Damian was greeted with a harsh reception by the black magicians. All types of black magic tried to neutralize Damian’s body, mind, and soul, but it was wishful thinking.

[The pope can’t be corrupted by darkness.]

[The ‘decay’ state has been resisted.]

[The ‘confused’ state has been...]

[The ‘hunger’ state has been...]

[The 'berserk’ state has been...]

The pope had the power to block black magic at its source! Damian’s 80% dark resistance and 100% black magic CC resistance amazed the thousands of black magicians. Their magic didn’t go through at all? The black magicians were overwhelmed by Damian who denied their existence, and this had a profound effect on the battlefield.

[The emergence of the Rebecca Church’s pope has reduced the morale of the Yatan Church members.]

[The defense and magic resistance of the Yatan Church members have been reduced by 60%.]

[Yatan’s Servants have a duty to lead the members. The morale of Yatan’s Servants isn’t affected.]

“What...?”

Damian weakened thousands of black magicians with just his existence? Rose’s defense declined dramatically, and she witnessed the black magicians failing to withstand the onslaught of the knights. She knew that the pope’s strength was beginning to come through now!

‘They were fighting in such a difficult situation.’ Damian kept being bombarded with black magic and realized how hard the church members and knights of other kingdoms had been struggling while he had been trapped. They fought the enemies in front of them while enduring the curses on their bodies, minds, and souls...

Feeling in awe of them, Damian blessed the church members and the knights with the skill, Light Rain, that he had gotten during his second term as the pope.

[Light Rain Lv. 1]

[You have begged Goddess Rebecca for rain.

A divine golden rain will fall in a 300-meter radius around you.

Those who aren’t evil will have a 50% chance of overcoming their current abnormal status and will regain 10% of their health.

If those hit by the rain are evil, the duration of their current abnormal status has a 50% chance of doubling and they will lose 10% of their health.

Skill Mana Cost: 5,000

Skill Cooldown Time: 50 minutes.]

It wasn’t a definite cleanse, but it was a skill with many advantages. There was no doubt that it was a healing and offensive spell which even Saintess Ruby would admire. Moreover, it was a ranged skill that targeted all beings within 300 meters. A gold rain defeated the darkness of the night.

“Kuaaaack!” The black magicians struggled with the pain.

“Ahh...”

“I feel a bit better now!”

“Praise His Holiness!”

The Rebecca members, the royal family, and the knights enjoyed the peaceful moment. They recovered their lost physical strength, and their decreased morale started rising again. The situation was reversing. Rose was filled with questions while she shook from the pain. ‘How did he escape from the barrier in the first place?’

The Yatan Church viewed the Yatan Essence as an all-purpose item. From simple curses to summoning a great demon… there was nothing worse than the combination of Yatan Essence and black magic. With it, it had been possible to corrupt one of the strongest knights of the empire in the past. It could even be said that Pope Drevigo’s desires had been fueled by the essence and that it was possible to damage the world tree with the Yatan Essence.

The power of the Yatan Essence was absolute. The barrier created with the combination of the Yatan Essence and black magic should’ve contained Pope Damian to the end. Then how the hell had Damian escaped? Rose was questioning it when Aliburn shouted, “Rebecca’s dog! Stop this nasty rain right now!”

Yatan’s Third Servant threatened Pope Damian blatantly. While gesturing to the sword stuck in the rock, Aliburn shouted, “If you don’t stop resisting, your symbol will disappear.

“...!” The relieved Rebecca members were once again shaken. They belatedly recalled that the symbol of the church was in the hands of the enemy. “What should we do...?”

The older the group, the more attached they were to symbols. People felt proud of their organization through the presence of their historical symbols. It was why countries around the world named national treasures. The elders were fidgeting, but Damian replied with a casual attitude, “Get rid of that sword.”

“...?” Yatan’s Servants and members of the Yatan Church, as well as the Rebecca elders and members, doubted their ears.

The battle paused for a moment. They were at a loss because they hadn’t expected Pope Damian to give up the symbol of the church so easily. Damian was aware of this. “I mean it. It is a worthless antique. What? A symbol? Isn’t Goddess Rebecca the symbol of the Rebecca Church? Will the pope not be a pope? History? The history of the Rebecca Church has already been described in countless books. There is no reason to be obsessed with antiques.”

“That is absurd logic! Your claim denies the value of all artifacts throughout the continent!”

“Do you recognize the value of those artifacts?”

“...?”

“You are someone who devotes yourself to the great demons and wants to turn humanity into cattle. What type of sophistry is this that you would discuss the value of artifacts?”

“...”

“In the first place, no matter how great the value, it is just a remnant of the past. The lives of the people in the present are more important than such things! Do you understand, you villain?!!” Damian channeled the heroes that he had followed for decades in anime and manhwa.

Shonen manga greatly influenced Damian’s thoughts, and the relative simplicity made it hard for Aliburn to argue against. In the first place, the topic of the debate was disadvantageous to Aliburn.

The sight of the mute Aliburn served to further break down the morale of the Yatan Church. This didn’t mean that the morale of the Rebecca Church rose though. The Rebecca members were disappointed with the pope’s irresponsible words, and the situation was becoming a mess. Additionally, Damian had the Recapture the Holy Sword quest. If this quest failed, the penalty he would receive was huge. This meant he was in a position where he had to recover the sword.

Even so, there was a genuineness behind him treating the Holy Sword as a trivial antique. Think about it. What would happen if Damian clung to the Holy Sword? Aliburn would’ve aggressively exploited the weakness of the Holy Sword, and Damian’s and the Rebecca members’ situation would worsen. In the end...

“Kuoh...!” Aliburn held the sword in his arms. Seeing as the pope treated the Holy Sword as a trivial thing, Aliburn was now unable to use it as a threat.

‘Good!’ Damian maintained his calm expression while inwardly feeling delighted.

“It’s annoying, but I’ll take care of it myself! Come out! Hell’s keepers!” Aliburn summoned a large number of cerberuses.

The three-headed dogs ran to Damian, shooting fire from their mouths. Damian couldn’t withstand the heat with his divine power and stepped back. Then Yatan’s Seventh Servant Hill started to act. How could he move his round, obese body so quickly? Damian’s eyes widened as he moved to avoid the flames.

Dozens of fists poured toward him. “My stone fists fly at a rate of 12 times per second! Haaaap!”

This was the best monk of the Yatan Church! Hill’s attack of 12 fists per second was reminiscent of a cat’s paws, but unlike the cute appearance, his fists were as hard as stone. Damian’s armor was hit 12 times per second.

“Kuhahaha! How is it? Can you afford to endure Hill’s 12 punches per second?”

The pope, who overwhelmed the thousands of black magicians, started to swell up like a dog in front of Hill. Hill felt a sense of superiority and was determined to kill Damian. However, Damian had previously fought against a monster wielding a sword 30 times per second.

Hill’s fists were slow in comparison to Pagma's Sword Dance, Link. So, Damian gradually adapted.

Damian guarded himself with a shield spell and blocked the attacks, which were visible with the naked eye, with a square shield. After Hill finished the 12 attacks, he staggered back for a short interval of 0.5 seconds to breathe, and Damian stabbed out with his sword during this gap.

“Keok!” Confusion filled Hill’s eyes as he screamed.

Damian scoffed, “I’ve fought with monsters much faster than you.”

Damian’s abilities rose to the extreme due to the divine light around him. On the other hand...

[The demon, Dyulebul, has been badly damaged and run away.]

[The demon, Cao, has gotten into great trouble and run away.]

[Lich Mumud has less than 20% of his health left. Be careful.]

‘This jerk!’

Damian’s Light Rain caused serious damage to Agnus who was already seriously injured. To be honest, Agnus felt like he had been hit in the back of the head. He thought that Damian was an ally who would help him, only for Damian to immediately attack Agnus and his demons.

Agnus glared at Silvenas in front of him. Like Agnus, Silvenas was also seriously wounded by the rain.

“I will kill you first...!”

“Damn traitor...! I will tear you to death!”

“Then I will cut off the pope’s head!”

“Then curse that Rebecca dog! Huh?”

Was Agnus an enemy or ally? Why did they start fighting? Silvenas felt frustrated and unhappy about being caught by this madman. At the same time...

“This is a problem.” In a small village below the Vatican, Sticks looked confused as he appeared on the road to the Vatican. “I can’t move directly into the Vatican because of a barrier. It will take time to analyze and pull down the barrier...”

“...”

It was a barrier that only allowed the entrance and exit of evil beings. Grid stared at the barrier with some nervous paladins and immediately came up with a solution.

“Blackening.”

“Your Majesty!”

The only way was for Grid to jump in alone. Sticks tried to dissuade him from passing through the barrier alone. However, Mercedes stopped Sticks. “The king will rescue the queen and the prince.”

Was this the attitude of a knight who was only concerned about Grid’s safety? Sticks thought it was absurd, but Grid smiled with satisfaction. “That’s right. Follow as soon as you break down the barrier. I will protect Irene and Lord until then...”

Grid wasn’t able to finish speaking. Dozens of black magic spells flooded toward him at the same time.