Episode 391

There was one thing a person could convey most strongly through their voice. It could be perceived more clearly by people with keen senses, as well as those with greater strength. Still, it could even be perceived by those who were naturally dull and had difficulty noticing the emotions of others.

It was the intent to kill.

For example, a person who could perfectly control their emotions could use a sincere voice to deceive someone. Such deception could only be detected by those who were highly vigilant and accustomed to being deceived.

Even though emotions could be disguised that way, however, it was impossible to disguise murderous intent that had been honed for a long time. All sorts of corrupt emotions, such as anger, hatred, and resentment toward the other person, had to be thoroughly mixed together and solidified before it manifested.

That meant Obi's murderous intent toward the Dark Pope was sincere.

I asked, "Why are you trying to kill the Dark Pope?"

Obi replied, "I have a grudge."

"What is that grudge?"

"I can't say that either. It is for the same reason that I can't reveal my identity."

I said nothing, and Obi continued, "You have doubts. It makes sense. Judging from your reaction, it seems you know that the Dark Pope is in the punishment building."

"Who knows?"

"Don't play dumb. That will make the conversation unnecessarily long. There is no other reason why a nobleman's child with the bloodline of the Badnikers would infiltrate a place like the labor camp and even come to the punishment building."

Well, that was true. I inwardly clicked my tongue. This whole conversation had made it clear Obi's preparations were more thorough than I expected. This sinister man had probably researched everything he could find about Luzard during my week in the punishment building.

This was why it was dangerous to infiltrate a place that was cut off from the outside world. One's past actions would be easily exposed. Any movement that even slightly violated the closed-off rules of that place would immediately stand out.

Obi continued, "I won't ask you about everything. I won't ask you how you know that the Dark Pope is here. There might be some differences between us, but don't you think that we can cooperate while still being wary of each other?"

I asked, "Do you know my goal?"

"Isn't it to stop the demon king's descent? In addition, deal a devastating blow to the church if possible. I can help with that."

"How?"

Obi looked at me and said simply, "Let's kill the Dark Pope. I will use everything I have to help you."

I burst out laughing and said, "If it were so easy to kill the Dark Pope, the church wouldn't have lasted for hundreds of years—"

"I know that the Dark Pope uses puppets. However, the one here can be thought of as the main body."

I suddenly stopped mid-sentence. What this man had just mentioned was one of the church's top secrets known only to Leone and myself.

"I have been planning it very carefully. I stayed in this tower that is on the verge of collapse in order to wait for even one collaborator. If you follow my plan, you can kill the Dark Pope. The probability is more than fifty percent." Obi looked at me and continued desperately, "Let's kill the Dark Pope together. Please help me, Luan Badniker."

***

It wasn't easy to answer such a thing, so I said I needed more time to think.

Obi said, "Come back here tomorrow."

"It won't take that long. Just give me around ten minutes."

"That would be difficult. The supply room is the only place in the punishment building where safety is guaranteed. It is the only place where you can avoid the eyes of the Dark Pope. It took several years to secure this place, and it will be suspicious if we stay here for a long time. So let's just leave. We will continue this conversation at around two in the morning. I'll teach you a route to avoid the communication crystals."

I nodded and returned to my room. I suppressed the urge to lie flat on the bed. Instead, I sat cross-legged on the ground.

If my mind was cluttered, practicing internal energy circulation was the best solution. I couldn't use the First Fire Technique in Luzard's body, so I just meditated. Sitting cross-legged with a lizardman's body was more uncomfortable than with a human body, and it brought back old memories.

I thought of when I was first taken to Spirit Mountain and assumed my first cross-legged posture under Bai Luguang's orders.

"Ack! I can't do it, I can't do it any longer! How is this training? Isn't it just torture?"

"Add two more hours."

"Is this old man senile again?"

"Add another two hours. If you fail, you will be punished with an iron fist."

"Kuaack!"

Bai Luguang had once said that fundamentally, training was the act of setting a purpose and willingly suffering. The human mind and body were instinctively drawn to pleasure and comfort. Once a person sank into that laziness, they would spend their whole lives standing still or regressing. It was human nature to want to sit when standing, to want to lie down when sitting, and to want to sleep when lying down.

"Therefore, progress is a series of suffering. In other words, you can make progress if you experience continuous pain."

"What crazy nonsense..."

"Shut up."

"Kyack!"

Back then, Bai Luguang's flick to the head had sent a jolt of pain through my head, down my spine, and all the way to my tailbone. It felt like a fist-shaped lightning bolt piercing the top of my head.

In any case, every moment of misaligned posture earned me an iron fist or punishment, so I was forced to focus. I had come to the conclusion that it was better to sit cross-legged, no matter how difficult, than to take a hit from that fist. It was the lesser of two evils.

I kind of miss it a bit, but I don't want to go back.

For some reason, Bai Luguang's face felt blurry. I wasn't sure why. It was a face that I'd thought I would never forget, not even if years or decades passed, or even until the day I died.

I sat cross-legged, lost in my memories of my days at Spirit Mountain. Then I quietly left my room before 2 o'clock. I remembered the path Obi had told me and walked around the punishment building. Due to its location, the place wasn't dark even at this hour. Old lights flickered and occasional traces of movement came from the guards patrolling until sunrise.

Occasionally, the prisoners would talk nonsense.

"Give me food! It is morning! Give me food!"

"I'm pretty. You're pretty. We are all pretty. Kihi, kihihit."

"The end is coming! Get me out of here quickly! O-only I can stand up to the coming destruction!"

There were few prisoners in the punishment building who were sane. I had sensed it while repeatedly delivering the meals and doing interviews, coming into contact with various prisoners. After being confined for a long time, being subjected to interviews, interrogation, occasional torture, and one tasteless meal a day, it was only natural for one's sanity to deteriorate.

Seeing such people, I couldn't help admiring Luan Badniker, who had spent ten years locked up and beaten on Spirit Mountain yet remained sane.

In any case, I followed Obi's advice and moved carefully to avoid the communication crystals. I reached the supply room without encountering any patrolling guards.

Obi was already there. This time, he was drinking something instead of organizing documents. He asked, "Would you like to have a drink?"

I asked, "What is it?"

"It is Darjeeling," he replied. The way he spoke had changed a bit.

"It's fine," I said. I preferred to smell tea rather than drink it myself. I was satisfied with the aroma of tea that had already filled the supply room.

I got to the point without beating around the bush. "First of all, please tell me the identity of the Dark Pope. I have nothing to say to you if you don't reveal it. In that case, I would have to move on my own, even if it meant leaving the labor camp."

"Okay." Obi asked with a nod, "How much do you know about the prisoners on the top floor?"

I replied, "I've heard that their entire bodies are bound and they can't do anything on their own."

"Is that all?"

"They are only given one meal a day."

"Then you barely know anything."

I nodded and said, "Well, I guess that's true."

Obi explained, "There are four prisoners on the top floor. From now on, I will describe each of them one by one. First of all, there is Lairin. She is a female fairy, aged 316 years old, with a sentence of 117 years. Of that, she has currently served thirty-seven years."

"What did she do that got her sentenced to 117 years?"

"Killing and eating her own kind. The official number is that she ate more than fifty fairies. Her own children were even among them."

"Mm."

"There is no end to the crimes she has committed, so I'll give you the documents later. You will roughly understand when you read it."

It meant he didn't want to be interrupted. I nodded and continued listening to the explanation.

To sum it up, it was like this: The four prisoners on the top floor were a man, an old man, a boy, and a woman. Their names were Nebellik, Kiremal, Verdan, and Lairin respectively. All four of them had been imprisoned in the labor camp for committing terrible crimes. It seemed that they had been detained here from the beginning rather than causing an incident while performing daily activities.

Obi asked me, "Why do you think I described the identities of all four?"

I paused for a moment to think. Then I expressed the most unpleasant possibility. "It is because all four of them are the Dark Pope."

Obi confirmed, "That's right."

"Are you certain? I've heard that the Dark Pope's ability is special. Isn't it more likely that all four of them are puppets?"

"That isn't the case."

"What is your rationale?"

My words seemed a bit picky, but Obi didn't care about that. He said, "I don't know how much you know about the Dark Pope, but there are decisive characteristics that only the main body has."

"What are they?"

"Unlike puppets, the main body needs sleep. I checked and all four of the prisoners on the top floor sleep. There is a difference in the frequency and time, however."

It seemed like an absurd statement, but it felt strangely convincing. The main reason why I couldn't dismiss it as nonsense was that I heard the Dark Pope ruled dreams. So in order to meet someone in a dream, wouldn't they have to first enter a dream?

Obi continued, "The important thing is that these four have never fallen asleep at the same time. If one person is sleeping, the other three are always awake as if they are taking shifts."

I asked, "Then how can we kill the Dark Pope? Should we kill all four people at the same time?"

"That would be difficult. If all four are approached at the same time, the Dark Pope will immediately be suspicious. In addition, it isn't necessary. The only thing we have to kill is the body that contains the consciousness."

"What do you mean?"

"Among the many seeds that the Dark Pope has scattered in the world, there is one that can be called a prototype or core. The Dark Pope can transfer the core to any body they want. If we kill the being who possesses the core, it will mean the complete death of the Dark Pope."

"Ah!"

If this statement was true, it meant that the Dark Pope had a fairly fatal weakness, whereas previously it had seemed like there was no answer.

Obi continued, "I have observed the four prisoners and learned the series of processes through which the main body cycles. The goal is to kill the most physically weak old man when he is sleeping. It will be enough if you succeed in killing him. If you fail, however..."

"Do you intend to kill the body that the consciousness moves to?"

Obi nodded in surprise, saying, "You catch on quickly. That's right. Usually, after the old man, the young man falls asleep. We can set the right time and slit the throats of the old man and young man at the same time."

I finally understood why Obi had been waiting so long for a collaborator. To be certain in killing the Dark Pope, at least one accomplice, ideally three, would be absolutely necessary.

Regardless of that, my doubts about this person called Obi only deepened. How did this man know about the main body of the Dark Pope and their weaknesses?

Obi continued, "The day of execution will be the moment when the Dark Pope is the most careless. At the same time, it will be a decisive moment for them."

"You mean the last day?"

Obi nodded.

That was the day of the execution of the lesser races, and the day when the competition between the church factions ended. It could even be the day when the demon king's descent would take place.

"What will you do, Luan Badniker?" Obi looked at me expectantly.

I told him, "There is still the most important thing."

"What is it?"

"There is insufficient evidence that the prisoners on the top floor are the Dark Pope."

"Mm. I expected you to say that. You have a blessing, right?"

"For now."

"Mm. However, it might seem strange for a lesser race to have a blessing. Do you have anything like a divine relic? It doesn't matter if it is a divine relic ranked 99th."

I thought for a moment before replying, "I do have Vulcanus' relic."

"I'm glad."

I didn't understand his reaction. As I was feeling puzzled, however, Obi continued, "I will let you in as the food servant for the top floor tomorrow. You can meet them face to face. Then you will know what I mean. I would like to advise you to bring Vulcanus' relic with you."

***

"H-hello?"

The man currently in charge of serving food on the top floor had a timid appearance, and his voice matched. He couldn't meet my eyes when talking, and I had trouble understanding his words. In short, he wasn't the type of person that a senior would favor. Perhaps that was why he was entrusted with the most difficult task of serving the top floor. It was like being sidelined.

"It is nice to meet you," I said.

He continued, "I-I heard you are going to give the food today."

"Things turned out that way. Is there anything I need to be careful about?"

"Umm... D-don't have unnecessary conversations and ignore what the other person says. Just remove the muzzle when giving the food. The most important thing is to maintain the correct order."

"What is the order?"

"Start from Room 2, then move to Room 1, Room 3, and finally Room 4. You must feed them in that order. There will be serious trouble if you don't follow it."

I wondered what would happen in that case. At a time like this, an oblivious, curious person would've tried to push for more information. Meanwhile, I kept muttering the numbers 2, 1, 3, 4 over and over.

I said with a nod, "I will keep that in mind."

As I passed by a guard, I heard him mutter, "It is a shame."

I asked, "What did you just say?"

"Huh?" The guard looked at me with wide eyes. "What is it?"

"Didn't you just say that it is a shame?"

"M-me? N-no...?"

Of course, I wasn't old enough to go deaf. I wasn't even nervous enough to have auditory hallucinations.

I stared at him. Then the guard disappeared as if he was running away, exclaiming, "I-I'm going now!"

His speech was halting but his movements were quick, so I didn't have time to grab him. I glanced at the spot where the guard had been standing. Then I looked away.

The order started from Room 2, as far as I remembered. I took the meal, unlocked several locks, and went into the room.

The interior was spacious, with dim lighting and no strange smell. However, I didn't see anything that looked like furniture or daily necessities.

There was someone in the middle of the empty space. It was a man who was thoroughly restrained, almost reminiscent of a mummy. White bandages were wrapped tightly over his basic restraints, etched with symbols I had never seen before. Perhaps they were a magic imprint, or the bandage itself was some kind of magic tool. Several layers of tough leather were present on top of that, and chains connected to the walls of the room were fastened around his neck and legs.

In short, he was a man for whom the phrase completely immobile fit better than anyone else.

I felt a bit uneasy. It wasn't that my mental strength was weak, but I knew I couldn't endure more than a day or two in this state.

Either way, I had to open his mouth in order to feed him. I removed only the muzzle of Nebellik, the man whose whole body was restrained. I expected him to make a sound or react somehow, but he was surprisingly calm as I put the prepared food into his mouth.

Actually, the meal was nothing more than half a piece of dry bread and cold soup. I was too lazy to give them to him separately, so I dipped the bread in the soup and put it in his mouth. Nebellik didn't say anything and just chewed the food.

Once the simple meal was finished, I poured half a bottle of water into his mouth as a finishing touch. He still hadn't spoken a word. I was just about to reseal his mouth with the muzzle I had removed when something happened.

"Hello."

Nebellik spoke for the first time. It was a voice with no trace of malice.

I stopped moving and replied in a solemn voice, "It is nice to meet you."

"You aren't Zillius. Are you a newcomer?"

I said nothing.

"You don't want to answer? Don't you prefer a conversation? Ah... Zillius must've advised you not to exchange useless words with prisoners." Nebellik laughed and whispered to me, "Still, meeting like this is fate. I have been in this state for fifteen years. It is okay to exchange a few words."

"I refuse."

Strangely, the more I heard his voice, the more my mind felt exhausted. My instincts' alarm bells sounded. I didn't know the situation and I didn't know what was going on.

In any case, I felt it would be best not to let this go on any longer. I was just about to put on the muzzle when I was interrupted.

"You..." Nebellik's voice was mixed with laughter as he asked, "Are you a Dark Church member?"