Please Stop The Pope

Chapter 92

3.

Certainly, this guy was different from the one I faced in Busan.

Back then, that guy was so weak that calling him a god felt wrong, but this one couldn’t possibly be called weak.

A definite evil god.

A being capable of exerting this level of interference across dimensions was incomparable to that decayed divinity I had faced before.

Crackle—!
Rumble!

“I thought it’d burn easily since it looks like a lump of tar, but apparently not.”

I smashed the core of the tar golem with my fist cloaked in sacred flames and landed lightly on the ground.

It was certainly a troublesome slime.

I could push it away using divine power, but completely eradicating it, like dealing with demonic energy, wasn’t possible.

That was probably because the power composing this slime was also another god’s divine power.

If I maximized my strength to suppress it all at once, I could certainly eradicate it, but that method wasn’t efficient at all.

Moreover, given the nature of this cave, there was a high possibility the entire structure could collapse if I pushed further.

Even with the brief battle earlier, the room was on the verge of crumbling. If I used more power here, Baek Seolhwa’s assistance would be meaningless.

As a second-best option, I spread my divine power into the air and flattened the slime. Then I spoke to Baek Seolhwa, who was sweating buckets as if it were raining.

“Still holding up?”

“Don’t talk to me! I’m barely hanging on right now!”

“Judging by the fact that you can still complain, I’d say you can hold out a few more minutes. Let’s push through a bit more. Once we break that door, it’s over.”

The assessment of Baek Seolhwa by the Department of Ability Management came to mind.

Her individual combat ability is lacking, but her wide-range attacks are noteworthy—that was their evaluation of her.

However, from my perspective, her usefulness shouldn’t be limited to combat.

Constructing an entire base in this wide space through magic wasn’t something even most magicians could easily do.

It required high-level work involving spatial perception and delicate mana control.

Though her base felt like it could collapse with just a little push by my standards, not a single magician I’d met on Earth so far had managed to leave this kind of impression.

Could my brother, stationed in Japan, pull this off?

Of course, Baek Seolhwa being a magician specializing in ice magic made this possible, but this alone was an impressive talent.

“Indeed, you have to meet people in person. Honestly, when I saw you on MyTube, I thought you were just someone with a princess complex…”

“Shut up and finish this already! Damn it, I’m dying here, so why are you talking so much?!”

“Even when I compliment you, you complain. I was already planning to finish quickly.”

She hasn’t grasped the truth that humor is essential when times are tough. Tsk.

Crunch!

I stomped on the wriggling slime on the floor and moved toward the door.

The source of the slime filling this room was a distorted doorway incessantly spewing divine power.

Thanks to having already smashed the tar golem earlier, I encountered no interference as I approached the door.

The slime suppressed by my divine power struggled in vain, but in its current state, pressed under my power, it couldn’t harm me.

“Hmm.”

Finally reaching the door, I extended my hand toward it.

The door pulsed as if alive, its unpleasant texture creeping up my fingertips.

And soon after, unexpected messages began to appear before my eyes.

[?##!?!#@!$!%%??]
[Unclosed Door]

Item Type: Sacred Relic – ???

Origin Dimension: Earth

Description: A door that remains unclosed. Someone is watching you from beyond the door. It has long lost its function as a door and now serves as an observation path.

[You have discovered the target of the quest ]

The information was shocking.

Putting everything else aside, the system clearly stated the origin dimension was Earth.

The system doesn’t lie.

According to this premise, this grotesque door was an artifact from Earth.

For a moment, my mind grew tangled.

Earth was a dimension where divine power restrictions had just been lifted. How could an artifact already appear in such a dimension?

However, my thoughts didn’t last long.

Because through the purple light emanating from the door, a shape began to appear.

“An eye?”

A massive, horrifyingly grotesque eye.

An eye surrounded by teeth, embedded in the edge of the .

That eye was staring directly at me.

【It sees.】

The voice was chilling beyond comparison to Limen’s, but it was undoubtedly a divine message.

【It shall return.】

The eye, floating alone over the purple world, gazed at me. Though it was divine power, the ominous energy emanating from the door was nothing like any divine power I’d ever encountered.

【To where we once were.】

Rumble.

The black slime suppressed by my divine power shook violently.

The tremors felt as though they could engulf not only the place where Baek Seolhwa and I stood but the entire dungeon.

I could only furrow my brow deeply as I stared at the eye beyond the door. Then, gripping the pulsating purple door with both hands, I muttered:

“You damn peeping bastard.”

Pain surged through my palms as they gripped the door.

The teeth protruding from the door pierced through the surrounding my body and tore into my flesh.

It was pain I hadn’t felt in a long time. The invader’s divine power tried to enter my body through the wounds but went no further than the injury itself.

[Passive Skill ’s second feature is activated.]
[Your body rejects foreign divine power!]

A defensive mechanism dormant within me awakened.

As the first apostle serving Limen, the purity I must maintain prevented me from harboring the divine power of other gods within my body.

Unless that unnamed grotesque bastard’s true body crossed over, this level of power couldn’t invade me.

“I may look like this, but I’m loyal, you bastard.”

Rip!

The teeth-laden tendrils from the door tore at my right arm, but I ignored them and pulled the door apart with both hands.

Riiip—!

The door tore open.

The scene beyond the purple doorway distorted.

Shrieeeek!

A sound, like a beast wailing, pierced my ears.

Blood continued to pour from the wounds on my arm where teeth had sunk in, but I didn’t care much.

I simply stared into the beyond.

The ‘god’ beyond the door fixed its gaze on me until the very last moment.

【I have remembered you.】

With that final divine message…

Boom!

The door, torn in half, exploded, scattering black slime everywhere.

The remnants of the door and the embedded teeth wriggled on the ground for a while before finally going still.

And once everything stopped, another message window appeared before me.

[You have completed the quest !]
[The completion condition for the main quest has been updated. Absorbed relics from other dimensions: 1/3 → 2/3.]
[You have received as a reward. This item allows you to start a new quest.]
[The causality of this area is stabilizing…]

I closed the cascade of message windows for a moment and turned around.

“Oh.”

I had assumed Baek Seolhwa would have fainted, but she was still holding on. Although blood trickled from her lips, likely due to internal injuries from the earlier explosion, she continued to squeeze out her mana with fiercely determined eyes.

“You okay?”

“…Do I look okay to you?”

“With blood all over your mouth, you look like a vampire. You should cosplay one for a stream later. It’d be a hit.”

Baek Seolhwa started to retort angrily but gave up and asked in a low voice.

“It’s over, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Ha, damn. Thought I was going to get buried here.”

Thud.

With that, Baek Seolhwa collapsed, unconscious.

I couldn’t help but click my tongue at the sight. It seemed she’d been pushing herself through sheer grit despite being overworked.

The Department of Ability Management definitely underestimated her.

Although her mana reserves were lacking, she had enough potential to grow into a magician surpassing even Kang Chae-ah.

Well, that’s a thought for later.

“You did well.”

I cast a healing blessing on her and slung her over my back.

She worked hard, after all—leaving her behind here would be too cruel.

Phew.

The seal at the dungeon’s entrance should have been lifted by now, meaning the standby team outside would be entering.

Time to hurry back to the main group.

By the way, this Baek Seolhwa…

“You’re heavier than you look.”

Maybe she has more muscle mass than expected?

4.

The main group was waiting for us back at the previous location.

When the hunters from the Seolhwa Guild saw me carrying Baek Seolhwa, they sprinted toward us with mana potions in hand.

“Representative! Representative!”

“She’s experiencing mana exhaustion, so give her a mana potion and let her rest. Once she drinks it, she’ll regain consciousness quickly. When she wakes up, we move. Got it?”

“Y-Yes, understood!”

After handing Baek Seolhwa over to them, I casually brushed my arm.

Though I had removed the teeth embedded in my flesh, the wounds still left holes in my skin.

Usually, such wounds healed quickly on their own, but this time was different.

It was proof of how deadly the divine energy of that monstrous creature had been.

Even though its main body hadn’t crossed over, its power was strong enough to slow my regenerative abilities.

There had been a clear reason for the temporary collapse of causality earlier.

“Mr. In-wook! I brought you water!”

“Oh, Senior Yoon. Thanks.”

I immediately gulped down the water Yoon Tae-hwan had brought me. I’d been feeling thirsty, so his attentiveness was well-timed.

“But, Senior Yoon.”

“Yes?”

“When did I say you could relax? Didn’t I tell you to keep your head down until I said otherwise? I hate people who slack off.”

“Well, uh…”

“You know what to do, right?”

“I’m sorry! I’ll fix it and bow again right away!”

Bringing water was considerate, but rules are rules.

I grinned in satisfaction at the sight of Yoon Tae-hwan bowing his head deeply again.

“In-wook-ssi.”

“Oh! Jeong-su-ssi. You’re safe? That’s a relief.”

“What is this…? Where have you been?”

“Ah, there was a bit of a situation. I went to the boss room to fetch something, which took longer than expected. But as a porter, I’d say I did my job well.”

Since I carried Baek Seolhwa all the way here, that wasn’t an inaccurate statement.

Jeong-su seemed about to say something more but froze when his eyes landed on my arm.

“Oh my! In-wook-ssi, this wound—if you leave it untreated, it could be dangerous!”

“It’s fine…”

“Just wait a moment!”

He quickly retrieved disinfectant and bandages from a small pouch at his waist. Without hesitation, he began disinfecting my wound and said:

“This will sting a lot. Honestly, you should head to a hospital as soon as we get out of here.”

“Hospital bills sound expensive. I think I’ll skip it.”

“If money’s the issue, I’ll pay for you! You can pay me back slowly later. If you leave it untreated, you might lose the use of your arm!”

The wounds would heal on their own eventually, even if it took a little longer. But it had been a while since I’d been cared for like this, so I decided to let him fuss over me.

I quietly observed Jeong-su as he expertly disinfected and bandaged my arm.

“Jeong-su-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“You’re a believer in the Limen Order, aren’t you?”

“Hm? I don’t think I ever mentioned my religion. How did you know?”

“It’s obvious at a glance.”

Meeting him here felt like a twist of fate.

He’s a good person.

Looking at how he’s so attentive even to the injuries of someone he hasn’t known for long, it’s clear he’s a compassionate individual.

I removed the necklace enchanted with Kang Chae-ah’s magic and slipped it into my pocket.

Then, with a sly grin, I spoke to Jeong-su.

“I didn’t mean to deceive you, but it sort of ended up that way. My apologies.”

“Huh…? Uh!”

“I’ll make it up to you by inviting you to the temple soon as a gesture of my apology. Honestly, I’d invite you right now if it weren’t for the unfinished business at hand.”

I gave him a thumbs-up, then slowly turned my attention to the approaching figures.

They marched in, dressed in white coats and moving in perfect formation.

“You guys are really getting on my nerves.”

The Baegmyeong Church.

And leading them…

“Your Holiness! Are you unharmed?”

…was my secret weapon, which I’d hidden in advance.

Luna Leventon was waving her arms enthusiastically as she approached.

“You might as well put up a billboard announcing I’m here. Geez.”

I should’ve brought Leo instead.

Siiiigh.