Chapter 95

Uninvited Guest (2)

To rewind the clock slightly, Aiden had dealt with a Pope suddenly appearing at the Imperial Administration Building before.

Back then, however, Abigail had entered the country in disguise as someone else.

Having her openly reveal everything and request an official visit was completely different. The pressure alone was on another level.

The sight of the Pope striding proudly through the corridors of the Imperial Administration Building with her black clerical robes billowing behind her made the difference obvious. Last time, she had felt like someone who had come merely to test him. This time, she radiated the attitude of someone who had come to drag him away for work and did not intend to accept interference.

The person walking beside her only intensified that impression.

Aiden had never seen him before, yet he felt as though he knew immediately who the man had to be.

The holy knight was so enormous that an adult woman of ordinary height would have looked like a dwarf beside him. Heavy armor covered even his face, making his presence overwhelmingly intimidating.

‘The Perfected One.’

The man beside her was the Pope’s personal guard, Magnus, the ‘Perfected One,’ and the greatest holy knight in history.

Of course, the strongest divine power user was still the Pope. That fundamental truth did not change, especially when Abigail III herself had never fallen outside the very highest ranks even when compared against every Pope in history.

Calling someone else the strongest while a person like that existed might sound absurd, but Magnus had earned the title for a reason.

‘…In close combat, he’s basically invincible.’

If the Pope’s abilities were evenly distributed at ten across everything divine power could accomplish, Magnus felt like someone whose other abilities hovered around four or five while his single ‘combat’ stat had been pushed to eleven.

In close combat, he was the strongest, surpassing even the Pope herself. There was a reason he had earned an outrageous description like ‘the greatest in history.’

“Hey, pretty boy.”

The Pope who had brought that monster with her casually waved in greeting.

Just that sight was enough to make cold sweat gather on Aiden’s back.

“You remember the promise you made last time?”

“…”

“You said you’d help if something troublesome happened in our country.”

“…I did say that.”

“Pack your things.”

“…”

“You’re coming with me tomorrow.”

The subject that followed only made the pressure worse.

This woman needed to learn that other people had circumstances of their own.

Kings truly did not understand the hearts of ordinary people.

Aiden rubbed his throbbing temple before addressing the Pope.

“…I am going, Your Holiness. But shouldn’t you at least give me some time to prepare?”

“We don’t have that kind of time.”

The Pope folded her arms while maintaining the same smile.

“I’m stepping down as Pope soon. You know that, right?”

Aiden already knew that much, of course.

That was exactly why the succession conflict would begin. She was stating the obvious.

Aiden looked at her with that thought written across his face, and Abigail III chuckled before continuing.

“Anyone who doesn’t attend the abdication ceremony loses the right to participate in the succession contest.”

“…I see.”

Aiden had not known such a rule existed, but he still did not understand what it had to do with him.

“So you need to come too.”

“What?”

“Otherwise you can’t participate in the contest.”

“…”

Aiden blinked at her in complete disbelief.

✦ ✦ ✦

“…What exactly are you talking about?”

Aiden answered in a voice filled with disbelief.

Actually, disbelief was not strong enough. He was beginning to wonder whether the woman had genuinely gone senile.

He had certainly made a promise to the Pope before. If a succession problem arose inside the Holy Kingdom, he would help and support her.

But that promise had meant helping the contest end in the direction the Pope wanted.

Aiden himself had never agreed to become an official participant.

“…Your Holiness, do you understand what it means to formally insert me into a succession dispute?”

“Do I look like a senile old woman to you?”

“If I win that contest, I become the Pope of the Holy Kingdom.”

“That’s some impressive overconfidence. Did somebody promise you’d win?”

“Your Holiness…”

But that was not the real issue at all.

The problem was the very idea of Aiden entering the contest.

Would even one citizen of the Holy Kingdom accept his participation?

“Anyone who can wield divine power can be recognized as royalty of the Holy Kingdom, and anyone recognized as royalty can enter the succession contest. Isn’t that right?”

Technically, she was correct, but only in the narrowest possible sense.

“I don’t have any support base there, and I’m not even a citizen of the Holy Kingdom.”

“That isn’t something you need to worry about.”

The Pope rested her chin on one hand and curled the corner of her mouth upward.

It was the savage smile she often wore.

“Your promise. Are you breaking it?”

In the current situation, it looked almost like the smile of a predator certain it had caught its prey.

“…”

Aiden’s face twisted as hard as it possibly could.

‘…This woman is plotting something again.’

Her hidden intention was painfully obvious to him.

No matter how unreasonable a ruler appeared on the surface, anyone governing a nation had a nest of snakes living inside their head.

If Abigail had suddenly made an offer like this, then she clearly wanted to achieve something through him.

She refused to explain her intent. She refused to explain her objective. She simply shoved the proposal at him and demanded compliance.

That did not make her plan look particularly clean.

Aiden was clearly not the only person who felt it.

“…Your Holiness.”

Katia, who had been present the entire time without speaking, finally opened her mouth.

Her voice was polite and subdued.

It was the exact opposite of her usual lively, impulsive demeanor.

And for precisely that reason, everyone in the room immediately sensed where things were heading.

“Wait, Your Highness…”

Aiden opened his mouth in alarm, trying to stop Katia.

Events moved faster than he could.

“I told you before…”

Katia’s hands moved at terrifying speed.

Her fingers formed a rapid hand seal.

The fundamental movement of Sacred Flame Arts, the combat style used to manipulate divine power.

This woman was about to challenge the Pope to a fight without the slightest hesitation.

“…Not to touch my friend.”

In the next instant, flames erupted in every direction.

✦ ✦ ✦

Aiden had experienced it several times before, but battles between superhumans who had reached the very highest level were still something difficult for him to follow.

The fight between Theresa and Noel had been the same. There had been moments when his eyes could not even track which techniques were being exchanged.

Still, all the combat-form training he had accumulated had not gone to waste. He could at least follow the general structure of how these monsters were fighting now.

Being able to follow that much was already enormous progress.

There was only one problem with seeing the battle clearly.

Now that he could see more clearly, there were things he understood even less.

How was fighting in a realm like this physically possible?

‘What the hell?!’

Katia launched a surprise attack without hesitation, and the Pope countered it from where she stood without changing her expression.

Both treated the battle as something perfectly ordinary.

Yet beneath their outward calm, the exchange between Katia and Abigail unfolded in intervals shorter than fractions of a second.

BOOM!

BANG!

Attacks and defenses crossed dozens of times every second.

Flames burst throughout the previously peaceful halls of the Imperial Administration Building.

Even while exchanging attacks at that impossible speed, both women continued making strategic and tactical adjustments to every movement.

The sheer sophistication of the exchange was ridiculous.

System Message ▶ You observe an exchange of exceptionally high-level techniques. ▶ The effect of ‘Skill: Analysis’ activates. ▶ Your proficiency in Combat Forms increases!

The level was so absurd that even Aiden, who was beaten by Meyer every night, gained additional proficiency merely by watching.

Perhaps he should thank them for the educational spectacle.

Even in a battle between two people operating at this ridiculous level, however, one side would eventually gain the advantage.

Judging by Katia’s increasingly twisted expression, it was obvious who currently held the upper hand.

“Seriously, girl. What a temper.”

The Pope folded her arms and grinned.

“I’m only borrowing him for a while. I’ll use him carefully and return him.”

“…You won’t return him…!”

Katia ground her teeth and shouted with raw fury.

“You use everything however you want…! Then you throw it away…! Everything except yourself is just a toy to you…!”

Aiden stared at Katia in surprise.

This was something he had never heard from her before.

It was a mass of deeply knotted negative emotion.

Katia generally had very little interest in other people. She lived according to whatever she found personally interesting.

If something bored her, she discarded it. If something fascinated her, she kept it close.

Had a person like that ever shown this much direct hatred toward another human being?

‘…This is different.’

This was territory even Aiden did not know.

At the very least, this kind of ‘relationship’ had never appeared in the original setting he remembered.

Originally, Katia and Abigail had a remarkably dry relationship.

They treated each other with near indifference.

There should have been almost no emotional exchange between them at all.

The Pope’s reaction that followed was just as different from the original setting.

“Choose your words carefully, Katia.”

The Pope’s pupils stretched sharply sideways.

“They aren’t toys. They’re gears. Everything I do is for the sake of keeping the Holy Kingdom functioning.”

“Whether you call them toys or gears, Your Holiness.”

A stern voice cut between the two of them.

Noel had risen from her seat without anyone noticing.

“This is the Imperial Administration Building. Stop.”

The Pope looked Noel up and down before giving another short laugh.

‘She’s serious.’

If things became even slightly worse, Noel looked ready to attack the Pope herself.

Perhaps some insane man she knew had been influencing her recently.

“My daughter picked the fight first.”

“Your Holiness was the one who tried to manipulate Aiden first.”

Noel drew her sword and stared down at the Pope with eyes like frozen steel.

The movement carried an unmistakable message that she would attack even the Pope without hesitation if this disturbance continued.

What was strange was that despite everything escalating this far, the ‘Perfected One’ standing behind Abigail had done absolutely nothing.

He had merely remained upright and silent.

It was obvious he was not standing still because he lacked the ability to act.

The Pope’s next words made that perfectly clear.

“Magnus.”

“Yes, Your Holiness.”

The holy knight, who had stood as immovable as a mountain while listening to everything, answered calmly.

The Pope responded with a broad, dangerous grin.

“I’ll allow it. Go have some fun.”

“How far may I go?”

“Just don’t destroy the whole building. If you do, we might start a war.”

Magnus nodded and slowly shifted his massive body.

The pressure surrounding him was so intense that Noel’s eyes narrowed involuntarily as she tracked the movement, despite still having her sword aimed at the Pope.

“Ah.”

The Perfected One spoke in a drawn-out voice.

“I’ve finally been given permission.”

The greatsword at his back flashed free like lightning.

It swung in a streak of light.

Then the ground itself shattered beneath the force of the blow.