I Obtained Sword God Level Talent

90 – 090. The Papal State (1)

“Huh?”

After spending a day in the cave, we quickly moved north. Thanks to the two mages acting as scouts, there were no major battles other than encountering a small number of monsters.

“Something… the surrounding scenery feels strange…?”

“What the hell happened?”

It was Ariel, with an uneasy expression, who spoke first. Behind her, Lancelot was also surveying the surroundings with a hardened face.

“……”

Without a word, I nodded my head and scanned the surroundings with a serious gaze.

Arriving at the Vatican was certainly encouraging. Not encountering the predicted monstrous horde was also definitely meaningful.

But.

‘Red energy.’

The unbelievable was the first thing to hit my sight. The hellish rift I’d descended into to retrieve the ‘Holy Grail of Life’ in the past, the scenery around the Vatican now was strikingly similar.

“I don’t sense any life force.”

Maria also relayed her thoughts to me in an ominous voice.

She, also an 8th-Circle mage like me, probably intuitively realized it. That beyond the white walls of the Vatican, there were no living beings.

“Um, um… Frey, Oppa. Something, the situation’s weird.”

They say human emotions are highly contagious, right?

Chun Hwa-young spoke in a fear-filled voice. Already, she and most of the others were acting as if they were spaced out after witnessing the unbelievable sight.

‘…Has the clock tower’s seal been broken?’

That would make sense.

From the start, the general information about this expedition to the Vatican was that a ‘dimensional rift’ had occurred, and an enormous number of monsters had appeared.

‘So the information was wrong from the beginning.’

I gripped the hilt of my sword tighter, and slowly moved forward.

The shimmering air of hell, the demonic energy flowing through the Vatican, exuded a sinister atmosphere at a glance.

“Frey-nim, what do you intend to do?”

“Well, the initial goal was to close the rift…”

Looking at it now, it seemed like we should be more worried about the appearance of ‘Demonkind’ rather than the rift.

As if sensing my thoughts, Maria, who had spoken, quietly turned her head. At the end of her gaze was the Vatican’s tall clock tower.

“…An unknown energy is flowing out from there.”

“Yes, I see it.”

“W-wait a minute! Are you planning to go inside like this? No matter how you look at it, this situation seems extremely dangerous!”

Perhaps sensing a strange thirst growing from the silence. The guide mage, Hert, shouted in an aghast tone.

As everyone’s attention turned to him, he continued as if it were obvious.

“N-naturally, isn’t it obvious! Of course, I know Frey-nim and Maria-nim next to him are amazing individuals, and that the other party members are also very capable. But fighting while not even knowing who we’re up against… isn’t that basically suicide!”

“…Really, I’ve noticed before but he’s got a real talent for talking.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at Hert’s display of his opinion so fluently.

Swish.

Turning my gaze back to beyond the walls, I fell into thought.

The atmosphere around the Papal Palace is quiet. No massive hordes of monsters, as foretold, just a damp, encroaching miasma.

So… should our party search inside the Papal Palace, or should we inform Friedrich, the commander of the subjugation force, about this situation?

“How about splitting the party in two?”

As if she noticed my concerns, Geum Harin, who had been quiet, asked tentatively.

“No, that’s impossible. We’d be picked off one by one if something happened.”

“Hmm, I suppose that’s true.”

“……M-maybe…”

…?

Once again, everyone’s gaze turned to one person. It was Ariel, looking uneasy. Even with her shoulders trembling, she managed to speak.

“W-what about entering the Papal Palace together? Thinking about it, that might be the safest way.”

“Well, she’s not wrong.”

“U-huh… and this energy floating in the air… it feels so, so ominous.”

Still inexperienced, but is she truly a Saint?

Ariel had accurately discerned the malice contained within the miasma. Not only did the erudite mages only express wariness, even the great Maria, but she pinpointed it clearly.

“……Right.”

After a little more time, I made a decision.

“We go in. Inside the Papal Palace.”

“……!”

“Understood.”

And that was the obvious answer. Turning back from here, or splitting the group, each had significant risks. It was better to pool our strength and investigate what happened inside the Papal Palace.

‘Besides, delaying further could cost people their lives.’

In a way, it was obvious.

The place we’ve visited is the Papal Palace. Now the miasma has created a desolate mood, but this place used to be packed with priests, holy knights, high-ranking nobles, and influential people who came to worship.

However… according to my enhanced senses, there are no survivors inside the Papal Palace. Which means the priests and holy knights might have descended below the clock tower in order to survive.

“Everyone, move in.”

After the lengthy meeting, we moved with heavy steps.

Thump-thump!

The exterior of the Papal Palace, with its distinctive white walls, was mostly unchanged. It was just that a thick miasma had spread like fog.

We walked around the walls and reached the main gate.

“……S-someone, it’s people! There are people!”

Chun Hwa-young’s eyes widened, and she cried out sharply.

Just as she said, the form of a man, etched in memory, came into view.

“Cleo… the bishop?”

I gritted my teeth, confirming his identity. It was the middle-aged priest I’d seen at the main gate of the Papal Palace before. If I remembered correctly, he was the one who managed the visitor logs.

“He’s gone… too late.”

Chun Hwa-young, clutching his body strewn on the floor, slowly shook her head. It meant he was no longer of this world.

“Something’s strange.”

I frowned, silently observing the scene.

“Strange? What is?”

“It’s been quite some time since the incident at the Papal Palace. But looking at the bishop’s face…”

*Swish!*

Approaching the fallen Bishop Cleo, I brushed aside the front of his cassock. There was nothing unusual about his skin.

“……Huh?”

Only then did everyone flinch, their bodies trembling.

“It’s like… he just died.”

Bishop Cleo, no longer of this world, wore a peaceful expression. His body was also in surprisingly good condition, which told me his death wasn’t due to a monster or demonic corruption.

“It’s like… his soul was cleanly plucked out, leaving him dead.”

“What in the world… what happened here?”

Tristan, his face pale, spoke with a trembling jaw.

And, after a short while, we came face-to-face with someone exuding a massive presence.

Yes. It was something that had shed its human guise, a colossal ‘evil’ incarnate.

* * *

“Damn it. At this rate, I can’t even rush to my brother’s side.”

Friedrich, sitting inside the commander’s tent at the subjugation army camp, let out a heavy, uncharacteristic sigh.

“Most of this is hardly worthy of being called information.”

He clicked his tongue, muttering to himself, and carelessly scattered the documents on the table.

Instead of vital information for the subjugation, he had received local folklore and myths; how they even reached him was a mystery.

*Flap!*

“……Huh?”

[ Papal Palace Internal Affairs Report ]

The next document to appear was written on very neat, clean paper.

An internal affairs report, out of the blue. I’d guess it was something a Royal informant, who’d infiltrated the Papal Court before whatever happened, had written.

“Hmm.”

Friedrich, leaning back deep in his chair, began to read the report with a serious expression. Despite being titled a report, it was more like a diary, or a memo.

[ XX Year XX Month 01 Day ]

[ Pope Sullivan has received a divine oracle from the Goddess! My god, I could hardly believe my eyes and ears. She was always watching over us! ]

“What the hell is this…”

Friedrich gave a bitter laugh and shook his head.

That the divine always looked upon humans with favor?

That’s just utter bullshit. Despite his title as Crown Prince, he had once roamed every corner of the Empire. Naturally, he knew the dark side of the human world better than anyone.

[ XX Year XX Month 04 Day ]

[ The Pope has begun working to fulfill the Goddess’s mission. The highest priority seems to be a massive civil engineering project starting in the clock tower’s basement. ]

[ XX Year XX Month 09 Day ]

[ I’ve discovered something odd. The workforce being hired from among the free folk outside to work in the clock tower basement, they don’t return to the surface even as time passes. It’s a little strange… ]

“They don’t return?”

Friedrich, jumping up from his chair, read on with a frown. The atmosphere was such that it felt like something completely out of the ordinary was about to pop out.

[ XX Year XX Month 15 Day ]

[ I haven’t been able to sleep recently. This symptom is a common issue among all the priests, holy knights, and attendants of the Papal Court. Could it be related to the work happening underground? ]

[ XX Year XX Month 17 Day ]

[ My head, my head hurts. My head feels like it’s going to break. Sounds, I keep hearing sounds. Madness-inducing sounds. No, am I already mad? ]

[ XX Year XX Month 30 Day ]

[ return to god let us return to god let us return to god let us return to god let us return to god let us return to god let us return to god let us return to god let us return to god let us return to god let us return to god let us ]

*Thump!*

“Ugh!”

Friedrich, suddenly gripped by an unexplainable chill, hastily threw the paper away.

*Flap!*

The paper, fluttering due to air resistance, slowly descended to the ground.

“…Damn it!”

A feeling of goosebumps all over his body.

“Just what, what the hell is happening?”

Friedrich, gripped by an unknown terror, forced his mouth open and babbled anything that came to mind. Otherwise, he felt like his soul would be sucked away by that final phrase.

“Hoo!”

After what felt like an eternity, he struggled to his feet.

What in the world was happening? His legs trembled violently, his mind in a haze. What’s worse, his entire body was drenched in cold sweat.

Managing to pull himself together, Friedrich opened his mouth to call for the attendant outside the tent.

“…God, to God. To God.”

Unfortunately, the voice that came out of his mouth was not his own.