Please Stop The Pope

   Episode 19

3.

   It was an unexpected appearance.

Leo, who had planted the S-class hunter that Korea was so proud of on the athletic field, brushed the dirt off his priestly robes, his face still expressionless.

Then he began to walk slowly toward me.

“Unit 2, go straight to Mr. Choi…… and check his status.”

   “Stop him! If we don’t, this place will be a mess! Jung, wake up!”

   The players of the Demon Guild formed an encirclement in the midst of the chaos.

   Although they were proving themselves to be a prestigious guild, the players who had formed the encirclement were already filled with fear.

   In a way, it could be said that it was natural.

It was a monster that could plant an S-Ranked player in the ground in one fell swoop, so how easy would it be for those weaker than him?

   However, their encircling net couldn’t affect Leo in any way.

Leo continued to walk forward, his face still expressionless, and soon reached the encirclement formed by the players.

   And a moment later.

   He spoke in a bland voice.

   “Brothers. Stop this pointless battle. I don’t want to fight with you, Limen will be saddened.”

   That was coming from the mouth of the guy who had just planted the Guild Leader in the ground a moment ago.

   The brazenness was enough to make me shudder, but what was even more shocking was the reaction of the Goblin Guild members to Leo.

   They lowered their weapons and made way for Leo, despite his nonsense. It wasn’t because they were so moved by Leo’s words that they suddenly became non-violent.

   Every single one of them was looking at me with a pleading look.

In other words, they were turning the bomb on me.

   I laughed bitterly as I watched this whole mess unfold, which was all I could do.

   And after a while.

   Leo, who had by now arrived in front of me, dropped to one knee and spoke to me.

   “Leo Lumen, faithful servant of Limen, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and vicar of the Second Diocese, greet His Holiness, the First Apostle and sole Representative of Limen.”

I couldn’t help but feel extremely alienated.

Not that Leo was foreign to me, but rather the language he was using.

   I waved lightly at him in greeting, then furrowed my brow and asked.

   “Where did you learn Korean?”

   His words to the goblin guild members earlier, and his greeting to me now.

   The language Leo spoke was none other than Korean.

   It was the standard language of Seoul, the language of a native.

   In response to my question, Leo bowed his head.

“It is a gift given to me by the great Limen. She told me to tell beautiful stories in this beautiful language.”

   “You can even read?”

“I need to translate the Bible, so she took care of that too.”

   This time, Limen had taken care of an unexpected detail.

That’s right. A successful religion must have a scripture.

Yeah, that’s good.

   I’m glad you took care of that detail, and I’m glad you got the language pack patched.

   “Why do you plant humans in the ground as soon as you show up? What kind of farmer are you?”

   I don’t know why you have to make a big deal out of it right off the bat.

   I kept quiet because I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but why is the party doing this?

   Leo stood up when I pointed this out.

He then answered in a confident voice.

   “The author exuded vitriol next to His Holiness the Pope. I judged it to be an act bordering on blasphemy, and I was only acting within my authority and principles.”

   “Didn’t ……Limen tell you anything about how society works on Earth?”

   “I was not told anything.”

   “You’re crazy.”

   So they just patched up the language pack and sent it off?

   For some reason, I could hear Limen’s voice in my ear, saying, “Hehe, Shi Yu, this is on you!

   I let out a deep sigh, then looked at Leo and said.

   “As of this moment, I am confiscating the punishment powers given to Archbishop Leo Lumen, and you are never to punish anyone on Earth, or at least not in the Republic of Korea. It’s a slap in the face to Limen, do you understand?”

   “Speaking of the Republic of Korea…….”

   “The country that was founded on the land where we are now, and where I was born.”

   “I understand, Holy Father.”

Surprisingly, Leo nodded obediently to my words.

   There were a million things I wanted to say to him right now, but something else took precedence.

   I let out a long sigh and pointed my finger at the spot where Mr. Choi was stuck.

“What did you do to make him like that?”

   Even if he looked like that, Mr. Choi was an S-class hunter, the kind of hunter that South Korea prides itself on.

For a man like that to be stuck in the ground and unable to get out, Leo must have done something.

In response to my question, Leo still had a blunt expression on his face.

   “He was emitting energy and killing intent, so I had him sealed for a while with a divine seal. He was too much of a threat to leave alone.”

   Divine Seal is a binding that unfolds with divine power, originally used to bind beings with magic. However, it is also quite useful for those who have not experienced divine power.

   I could understand why Mr. Choi didn’t react much.

   “Release him. It’s because I didn’t explain it properly.”

   “Okay.”

   What do we do from here, anyway?

   I’ve not just poked the nose of a sleeping lion, I’ve poked the nose of a raging lion…….

   Uh-oh.

   I had no choice but to use my secret weapon.

I made a quick judgment call, then picked up my cell phone and dialed.

   Touwu-.

After a brief connection sound, a gravelly voice came from the other end of the phone.

   -……Yes, I got your call.

“Team Leader Kim.”

   -Yes.

   “I think something’s wrong.”

   -What’s that……No, we’ll be on our way to the gate right away. We’ve been waiting nearby anyway. Just give us five minutes and we’ll be…….

   That was it.

Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

   Mr. Choi, who had been released from his bonds, rose from the ground, and soon walked towards us with red magic power wrapped around his body.

   I looked at him and said in a bitter voice.

   “I’ll try my best.”

   4.

   Not all the archbishops of the sect were powerful combatants.

   The position of archbishop is not for those who fight and excel better than others.

   It is a noble character that is able to thoroughly defend the doctrine and sacrifice for others.

   It is an honorable office, one that can only be attained by earning the favor of many people in the process.

   In reality, very few archbishops were capable of such combat.

   Except.

   Fazizi!

   “Holy Father, please step aside. You need not exert yourself in this matter.”

   This man, Leo, was one of those few.

   Two militant groups representing the Holy Office, and by extension, the Church.

The Battle Priests and the Paladins.

   Leo was a hero among them, leading the Battle Priests to victory in countless battles in the war against demons.

I sighed as I watched Leo block Mr. Choi’s right fist with his left hand.

Then I turned to Mr. Choi, who was still spewing out words while burning red magic.

   “That’s all for now, and I apologize for not telling you beforehand.”

   Mr. Choi’s momentum was almost animal-like.

   The clothes he was wearing had long since been burned away by the magic power he was emitting, revealing the muscles of his majestic upper body, scarred with numerous marks.

   Scars filled his entire upper body.

   It was a stark reminder of the life he had led up to this point.

   His scarred body and his fierce fighting spirit, even in this situation, were a testament to his history of struggle.

   I felt a certain amount of responsibility for the way things had gotten to this point, so at first I tried to talk myself out of it.

   But Choi, who was already locking fists with Leo, had other ideas.

   “Kkhkh. Mr. Shi Yu isn’t in the picture. We’re about to have some fun!”

   His tone was neither respectful nor condescending, but somewhere in between.

   Fazzy-!

   Even as he said that, the red magic power he emitted and Leo’s divine power fiercely collided.

Several large pits had already been dug into the ground of the training ground due to the repulsive force from the collision of the two energies.

   I spoke to Mr. Choi once again, trying to ignore the burning sensation in my head.

“I think there’s a big misunderstanding, so I’m going to ask you to please let me explain…….”

   But Mr. Choi cut me off and shouted.

“I know this monster is not the enemy! Hmph, if it was, it would have killed me long ago.”

   ……You’re really making my head spin.

   “No, you know that, so why are you doing this?”

   In response to my question, Mr. Choi bared his teeth and laughed out loud, followed by a punch to the chest.

   “A man’s romance is only complete when he faces the strongest.”

   “……?”

“Because romance is sometimes worth more than life.”

   Crazy.

   Really, truly, truly crazy.

   He’s surprisingly convincing when he says things like that with a red aura radiating from his body.

   Worse yet.

   “Romantic…… is a good word. I’ve never experienced the world of Earth, but seeing a warrior like you, I’m looking forward to it.”

   “Hahaha, thanks.”

   Leo realized that this guy he was agreeing with was a madman.

And then their fists were locked together.

   I wonder if there’s some sort of communication network between crazies.

   This was a development far beyond what I could have predicted.

   “Whoa.”

   I took a few deep breaths to steady myself. If I didn’t do this, I felt like I was going to go crazy with dizziness.

   A crucible of disgust and confusion, a cauldron of hell.

   Meanwhile, Leo, still expressionless, asked me.

“If the Holy Father will allow me, I would like to demonstrate the power of the great Limen to the warriors of this planet.”

   Just as I was about to answer that ridiculous question.

“We are not children, and we need permission to fight!”

Mr. Choi was quicker.

   Boom.

   Even though his fists were locked with Leo’s, Choi bizarrely transformed his other hand.

   His left arm glowed crimson with red energy, and Leo braced himself for the shock as it once again emitted pure white light.

   “Kahaha, very pleasant-”

   Mr. Choi’s booming voice never finished, because I couldn’t take it anymore.

   There was no time for Mr. Choi to protest.

   I leapt up and in one swift motion, I brought my fist down on Mr. Choi’s head.

   Kaaaaaaaaaah!

   Mr. Choi’s face turned red and he fell back into the depths of the ground once again.

“Let’s just be nice to each other. I’m trying to leave on good terms, but you’ve got to stop stirring people’s tempers. Do you both want to be kicked in the ass, huh?”

I took care of Mr. Choi in a flash, then looked straight at Leo.

   Despite the merciless violence he’d just been shown, Leo was still blunt.

“As expected of you, Holy Father.”

“∑asn’t it like that in Eden? Every time you mess up and give me that blunt look?”

“It’s just the principle…….”

   “Shut the fuck up. You’re the same, asshole.”

   Kaaaaaaaaaaaah!

   In a matter of three seconds, I had them both on the ground, then said through gritted teeth.

   “Say one more word, and I’ll just beat the hell out of you, romantically.”

I’d have to be slapped to shut up.

   What the hell, they’re not even in puberty, eh?

   “What about ……?”

   “……Mmm.”

   “Hmmm.”

   The members of the Goblin Guild who were watching the scene uncharacteristically just stood there.

   They couldn’t seem to recognize me, and were just staring at me with blank expressions.

   It was a scene that was too daunting even for veterans who had experienced countless battlefields.

I swept my gaze over the members of the Demon Guild, then sighed and looked up at the sky.

   The violet-colored sky was rapidly returning to its blue color.

   [The Chaos Gate has been completely destroyed].

   [You have completed the quest ! Please take your reward directly from ].

   Be that as it may.

   I did my best for a really quiet pickup, didn’t I?

   That’s when I was shaking my head with a dejected expression.

   “Shi Yu niiiiiiiim, we’re here…….”

Team Leader Kim, who had arrived at the scene, soon found himself at a loss for words as he looked at the deep pits in the ground.

   Perhaps the most pitiful person in this situation was this man.

“I tried,” I said, trying not to meet Team Leader Kim’s gaze as he looked at me with resentment.

“I tried.”

   Why are you looking at me like that?

   Are you serious?