I Obtained Sword God Level Talent

91 – 091. The Papal Palace (2)

“This is insane.”

The atmosphere inside the Papal Palace was even more desolate.

“So that’s why we didn’t hear any signs of life.”

“Frey, do you have any leads? Everyone here looks like they didn’t even try to resist.”

“……”

I didn’t have any answers either.

Slowly, I turned my head, taking in the scene within the Papal Palace.

Here, there, everywhere was littered with the dead. The commonality was that, as Lancelot had mentioned, every single fallen person had lost their life without seemingly resisting the killer.

‘Bizarre. Most of them closed their eyes smiling.’

It was a scene straight out of an apocalyptic movie. Or, how else would you describe it… like they already expected they were going to heaven?

“The Pope, where is the Pope?”

“……Ah!”

“Certainly, if he’s dead, it’s definitely not an ordinary occurrence.”

At my quiet words, everyone finally seemed to snap out of their daze.

The true owner of the Papal Palace was none other than ‘Pope’ Sullivan. Finding the wielder of the ＜Divinity＞, whose limits of power were impossible to even gauge, was the top priority.

“Let’s split up and search. Thankfully, there doesn’t seem to be any sign of demons or monsters appearing.”

“Understood. Tristan, let’s go.”

“Yes, brother!”

With Tristan’s brisk reply, several of the group dispersed with serious expressions.

“…But, Frey.”

“Yeah? What’s the matter, Ariel.”

“I, somehow… I think I know where Sullivan-nim went.”

“……? What’s that?”

It was Ariel who spoke suddenly. She’d felt an unshakeable unease the moment they’d entered the Vatican. Her face, paler and more haggard than usual, proved it.

“Be precise,”

Maria said, watching her quietly. Perhaps it was the colder tone than usual, but Ariel nodded wordlessly before speaking.

“I don’t know. But I instinctively feel where His Holiness is.”

“Instinct, huh.”

Ariel, a fellow owner of ＜Divinity＞. Yet, unlike me, who felt nothing, she seemed to sense something.

“You’re saying it’s hard to explain? But your instinct is telling you where the Pope is.”

“Y-yes. Well, I’m not sure but…”

Ariel looked distressed, her long eyelashes fluttering. She looked so tense ever since entering the Vatican, it was now bordering on pitiful.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on such changes in mood. The most important mission, retaking the Vatican, had now morphed into a search mission for the Pope. We had to find Pope Sullivan first.

“So, where is it?”

“Uh, there.”

*Swish*

“……?”

Ariel lifted a long, pale finger, pointing at the clock tower, inexplicably standing in the middle of the Vatican’s central, wide-open square. It was a facility with a chasm to hell beneath it, one whose existence normal people wouldn’t even know about.

“……No way.”

The rapid shift in thought. A sense of unease washed over me, and I furrowed my brow.

“Did he go in there? On his own?”

“We don’t know that. However, we must consider the possibility, as Lady Ariel suggests.”

“……”

It didn’t seem like Pope Sullivan, in his will to survive, would go into a chasm to hell himself.

That place was literally the gate to hell. A place filled with ‘magi’, something a priest of faith would avoid…

“Ugh!”

“Ariel?”

But then it happened. Ariel, with her palpable anxiety, suddenly clutched her head and groaned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ugh! M-my head hurts suddenly.”

“A headache? Out of the blue?”

Half surprised, half bewildered, I rushed to check on Ariel.

She was as lovely as always, yet seemed a bit more mature since the Western Border incident. The situation had put her in a tight spot, filled with tension and fear, but at least outwardly she looked alright.

“A voice, a voice…! I hear a voice!”

“Calm down. A voice, you say? Whose voice, what kind of voice?”

“It, it’s…! Wait! Just wait!”

Ariel stumbled back a couple of steps at Maria’s urging. Her sudden reaction startled Maria and I, who remained in place.

“A voice… it’s talking to me. Can’t Frey hear it? A voice is telling me to offer everything to God!”

Ariel, completely out of it, shouted with a gaunt face.

“Shit.”

As I silently watched the scene, a chill ran down my entire body.

This bizarre behavior of Ariel’s… I’d seen similar patterns during the ＜Silvering＞.

But the problem was…

‘How can this be? Not a single proper event has even happened yet? A sudden drift here?’

That’s right. The cause of Ariel’s sudden suffering must be the ‘Voice of God.’

The Voice of God, as it is, is a hidden event that occurs with very low probability when following the ＜Divine Order＞ route, guiding the player to an unknown, terrifying path unlike any they’ve experienced before.

＜Corruption＞.

There isn’t an exact name for it. It’s a route that only a handful of players have experienced, with hardly any information or stories available… It was truly worthy of being called ‘hidden.’

‘But one thing is certain. The global divine magic used by the corrupted order, that’s it.’

The ‘divine magic’ Ariel used on me once, it was like a miracle cast upon this world. But the divine magic that appears in the ＜Corruption＞ route, despite the name, is closer to a curse…

“Ah.”

As I continued to ponder, my mind grew cold and settled down.

Divine magic, and the God that the priests who use it serve.

“I finally understand.”

“Frey, understand? What are you talking about?”

“I get it now. This area around the Papal Palace isn’t just some remote place with a sudden monster surge.”

“What is that supposed to…?”

I slowly approached Ariel and instead of answering, helped her up. Then, with a fixed gaze, I looked at Maria and said.

“Get everyone here, please. I’ll explain everything then.”

“…!”

Perhaps it was my resolute will shining through my eyes.

Maria didn’t ask any further questions and rushed off. About five minutes later, Lancelot, Tristan, Geum Harin, and Cheon Hwa-young reappeared.

“Bust. The Holy Father’s nowhere to be seen, just a high priest’s corpse with a smile on its face.”

“Same here. Just a body, no sign of external damage, or even internal for that matter.”

At the brief search reports, I nodded and took a step forward.

Then, amidst the heavy atmosphere, I spoke.

“This isn’t an ordinary place.”

“……What are you suddenly talking about, Frey?”

“You might not believe it, but ‘magic’ is unfolding right now in this Vatican’s basement. Powerful holy magic, at that.”

“Holy…magic? I haven’t felt any such thing?”

“Look at Ariel.”

At Cheon Hwa-young’s question, I pointed to Ariel, who was in obvious pain.

“W-wait, what? Why is Ariel suddenly…!”

Since when did she become ‘sister’?

Anyway, I didn’t have time to worry about that now. Under everyone’s questioning gaze, I slowly continued.

“What Ariel’s experiencing now is a symptom of one of the forgotten ＜Holy Magics＞.”

“Huh? Isn’t holy magic supposed to have powerful abilities for healing and curing status ailments?”

“Half right, half wrong. The terrifying aspect of holy power isn’t just those holy magics.”

“We need a detailed explanation. If that holy magic is the cause, what does it have to do with Ariel suffering?”

Hoo…

I let out a long, deep sigh to break the tension, and continued.

“The highest level holy magic, the technique of Predation.”

“Pre-Predation…?”

“Frey! What in the world are you saying? What does it predate on!”

Everyone’s pupils began to dilate.

Predation, predation. Just hearing it made it sound ominous, and without needing to explain its purpose and use, everyone sensed its danger.

“What does it predate on?…”

*Sch.*

I turned, sweeping my arm to point at the priests collapsed in the vast Vatican courtyard.

Women, men, old, young. All of them had met death with the same faint smile. The entity that led them here must have whispered ‘martyrdom’ and promised their passage to heaven.

“Souls.”

“S-Souls?!”

“Suddenly, the scale is going fucking crazy.”

“Sir Frey! You mean to say, the people dedicated those souls to someone?”

I nodded quietly, then added immediately,

“A god.”

“……!”

“Hh, huh……”

Is it that they don’t even have the energy to be surprised anymore? The group just gaped, unable to say a word.

“The devourer is trying to collect souls from all over the world. Right now, only Ariel, with her high divine energy sensitivity, is affected, but soon everyone will be suffering from madness.”

“W-Wait, hold on. This is moving way too fast!”

Despite Cheon Hwa-yeong’s cry, I didn’t stop talking.

“Already, all over the world, the devourer’s ‘agents’ are rampant, spreading the symptoms like poison in a well.”

“P-Poison… No, more importantly, why are they devouring souls? That god?!”

The guide mage, Hert, who’d only been sputtering exclamations like “Huh, crazy!” until now, finally asked a question.

“It’s a descent.”

“D-De-De-Descent……”

“We must find and eliminate the likely devourer…Sullivan, and destroy the divine body before the descent.”

Staggering!

Hert, perhaps overwhelmed by the sheer scale of it all, seemed to lose his mind, waving his arms around, his mouth agape.

And then.

*Thud!*

He sprawled on the floor, and then, he asked me another question.

“B-But, Sir Frey… aren’t you… aren’t you a Holy Grail Knight who serves a god?”

“……”

Holy Grail Knight?

“I am…”

I felt a bitter laugh rising in my throat. I’d never hoped to be a Holy Grail Knight, never volunteered. I’d only made a deal with the goddess Ceres to restore Ariel’s innate true qi.

“I’m Frey.”

Not a black sword, not a Holy Grail Knight. Not any of that extraneous garbage.

That’s who I am.