Episode 400

Was this guy bluffing?

In any case, the Dark Pope was in a position where he could just say anything. Based on the way he spoke, he seemed to have a rough grasp of the situation in the punishment building. It was highly unlikely that he didn't know that this building was cut off from the outside world. In other words, he probably knew that I had no means of communicating beyond these walls and was just bluffing for no reason.

"If you don't believe it, go to the communication room. Even though there are restrictions, the contact function is still working, right? You will be able to figure out what is going on outside."

This wasn't a bluff. He couldn't bluff because I could check right away.

I looked at the Dark Pope with a frown. Then, I left the cell without responding.

I immediately headed to the communication room. There were several guards, including Jisal, waiting there. Their expressions didn't look very good.

In particular, Jisal was cursing and shouting at the communication crystal, "Headquarters! Answer me! Did something happen? Headquarters! Answer!"

Jisal was shouting with bloodshot eyes, obviously not in the mood to talk to anyone.

I grabbed a guard who was a bit further away and asked, "What is going on?"

"T-that... He was suddenly cut off in the middle of contacting headquarters."

Something about this guy confused me. Why was he talking to me so politely?

The moment I wondered why this was happening, a voice came from the communication crystal. "This is the headquarters of the labor camp speaking. Go ahead and speak."

Jisal's voice suddenly became louder. "Headquarters! What happened during the communication? What was that damn scream?"

"We... understand the current situation. However, the communication officer who just made contact with you has died."

"What?" Jisal exclaimed.

"In addition, it is believed that many people died at the same time in various places in the labor camp. This is a confusing situation for us as well. We will contact you again after we comprehend the situation. Communication over."

"What? You son of a bitch! Headquarters? Headquarters! Answer me!" Jisal shouted wildly, but there was no reply.

He gritted his teeth and slammed his fist into the table as though he was going to smash it. "You sons of a bitches! What happened to the reinforcements?"

Several guards grabbed Jisal, who looked stiff. It was because it seemed like all the communication crystals in the communication room would be destroyed if he was left alone.

I left the communication room while recalling a faint memory.

On the 7th floor... Was it Room 3?

Remembering the prison cell, I quickly climbed the stairs and reached my destination. Then, I opened the door of the unusually quiet prison cell and entered.

In Room 3 on the 7th floor was the corpse of a man who had died with a bright smile. It was a prisoner who had been identified as a church member.

Of course, there were no means to end one's life in such a prison cell. There were no sharp objects, and even towels and strings were made of loose and soft materials so that one couldn't hang them around one's neck.

How such an individual had died in this closed room remained to be seen.

His cause of death is suffocation. Crazy... I had seen cases like this before in Snowville Village in the north. Two church members who had been detained there had taken their lives using the same method. Without hanging themselves from any objects, they had simply squeezed their throats and suffocated.

This was a suicide method only church members could employ. Even a priest couldn't order a church member to die. Even if an order was given, this didn't mean they would die smiling. As a being with absolute strength, power, and charisma in the Dark Church, only the Dark Pope could exert such influence.

The Dark Pope greeted me with a smile. "Is the confirmation over?"

I spoke while holding the hilt of the Black Dragon Fang, ready to draw it at any time. "I am warning you. From now on, don't say anything other than to answer my questions. If you interrupt me more than twice, I won't continue the conversation."

"So serious... Aren't you being too harsh to someone who wants to help?"

"First interruption," I warned.

The Dark Pope chuckled, his shoulders shaking. "Okay, okay. This is the first time I've been threatened like this. It is refreshing."

"First of all, tell me the name of the demon king who is imprisoned on the top floor," I said.

"Tantata, the Green-Tongued Demon King," he replied.

"What is the current state of the demon king?"

"He has parasitized a human through the demon possession ritual. He is in an imperfect state in many ways. This will be the core of your strategy."

Now, let's get to the point. I took a deep breath and asked, "How do I attack Tantata?"

The Dark Pope's lips curved up in a smile. "The best strategy to attack the Green-Tongued Demon King... First of all, you should basically have a conversation alone with him."

"Alone?" I echoed.

He nodded. "Yes. Don't rush in to talk. Start with a conversation. If too many people show up at once, you will only end up provoking Tantata's appetite."

The word appetite sounded quite fitting. The first thing Tantata did when he came to the punishment building was eat the guards. However, it was difficult to believe the words of the Dark Pope based just on this.

The Dark Pope continued, "Second strategy. The declaration of a game."

"What now?"

"After you meet Tantata, say that you came to play with him. If you are lucky, you may even get to choose the game you will play. If not, that is still better than fighting for your life. Despite his imperfect state, a demon king is still a demon king. There will be no chance of winning a head-on fight," the Dark Pope explained.

His words were so relentless that I felt like I was being slapped in the face with them.

Swept away by the torrent of the Dark Pope's words, I said urgently, "A game... The games I know?"

"Anything that is called a game. If you persuade him, you can even play chess. However, I don't recommend games that require intense use of your brain. An angry Tantata may knock over the chessboard. Then, the game will be over, and the gate of the punishment building will be destroyed," the Dark Pope cautioned.

I remained silent.

"What? Do I sound like I am talking nonsense?"

If only it was nonsense. If this hadn't been the Dark Pope, I would've let out a very deep sigh now. The crazy nonsense coming from this bastard's mouth was far too convincing.

Am I crazy? They said that when one dealt with lunatics long enough, one would become a lunatic as well. This was how the world worked.

I had only dealt with the Dark Church since I had returned, so I didn't know what had happened to my mind. However, based on the image of Demon King Tantata that I had personally encountered and the impression I had gotten from him, he was undeniably a monster.

Strangely enough, there was a naive, almost foolish side to him. Other demon kings thought of humans as bugs or even lesser beings. Meanwhile, I thought that Tantata genuinely loved humans and likely wanted to know more about them. Of course, love wasn't the right method.

In summary, the Dark Pope's idea to use a game as a means to confront Tantata strangely sounded like a clever move.

The Dark Pope added, "Of course, this is the location, so there will be restrictions to the game. Games like chess, poker, marbles, or tug-of-war would be a bit difficult to play. A game that can be played with a bare body would be better."

I asked, half out of my mind, "Do you recommend any games?"

"Yes."

"Which ones?"

"Chicken fight."

What is a chicken fight? I glance at him with a bewildered gaze.

The Dark Pope smiled at me. "So, you raise one leg, hold it with both hands, and run around on the other leg, bumping into the opponent like a human spinning top."

"Like hopping on one foot?"

"That's right! That is accurate. If you knock down the opponent like this, you will win. Of course, you will lose if the raised leg touches the ground or the hand holding the raised leg loses its grip."

I also liked to talk nonsense, but it was hard for me to keep up with the flow of this conversation.

"Why do you recommend a chicken fight?" I asked.

"Are you really asking that? You have a tail! Isn't it much more advantageous when it comes to maintaining your balance? Your toes are practically like hooks. Besides, think about Tantata's physique. Can he stand on one foot with that size? It'd be hard for him to even grab his legs! Puhahat!" He burst into laughter, like a clown laughing at his own joke, snickering for a long time.

For a moment, I pictured Tantata hopping on one foot and couldn't help finding it a bit funny. However, I was still a lizardman, so I swallowed down my amusement.

"Then what game should I avoid the most?"

"Hmm. Let's see. Considering the location, the time you have left, and Tantata's inclinations..." The Dark Pope chuckled. "Hide and seek. It would be dangerous to play that. Once all the survivors in the punishment building are forced to participate, those who are caught will die on the spot."

"You too?"

"Perhaps? Well, if we play hide and seek, I will struggle to survive, but I will somehow," he admitted. "I have no intention of dying at the hands of a demon king."

"That would be a bit of a problem."

"Huh?"

The next moment, I drew the dagger I had been keeping in my pocket and lunged at the Dark Pope like lightning.

As he flinched slightly, I drove the dagger into his heart. It felt like I had stabbed his heart, but strangely enough, there was no sensation. Normally, a heart pierced by a blade would tear or burst immediately, dealing an unrecoverable, fatal blow. However, this dagger felt like nothing more than a nail. It was fixed in place, lodged in the Dark Pope's heart. Naturally, there was no feeling of blood gushing from the stab site.

"Ah... The Soul Origin Dagger." The Dark Pope snorted. "That... You were hiding it. Is Leone also hiding in the labor camp? Is that right...? The soul barrier I felt from you... It wasn't a blessing... She must've used some type of trick."

"You have understood correctly."

"Then... Are you the Colorless priest?" he asked.

This wasn't a question worth answering.

I looked at the dagger stuck in the heart of the Dark Pope.

The Soul Origin Dagger was the divine relic of the church I had received from Leone. If I stabbed it into the heart of the Dark Pope, his consciousness wouldn't be able to flee from the doll. I didn't know if that ability could be applied to the main body of consciousness as well. Therefore, this blow was quite a gamble for me. However, given his attitude, it hadn't been the wrong choice.

I will have to check the other main bodies of the Dark Pope next.

I looked at the Dark Pope. "You said you wanted to die anyway. Then stay this way for the time being."

"Haha. This type of death is a bit... It isn't fun..." The Dark Pope let out an empty laugh and looked at me. "Well... This is why life is... fun, right? It is an unexpected development... That is why it is more fun... Now, all that is left is... I have no choice but to pray to God..."

The bastard had started talking about a god again, just like last time.

I suddenly felt curious about what the Dark Pope believed in. What kind of god did someone who was planning to kill the demon king even believe in?

Behemoth?Or someone else? I was curious, but I didn't expect the bastard I had just stabbed to answer, so I kept my mouth shut.

In any case, I was about to leave the cell, filing away the information I had obtained, when he stopped me.

"Ah... One last thing..."

I waited.

"When you face Tantata... you had better choose... your first words wisely... They say that first impressions win half the battle, right...?"

I said nothing.

"If you pick the wrong words... forget about the game... You may even get torn apart during your first meeting... Well, normally, I would give you advice on this too, but..." The Dark Pope chuckled. "There is no reason to show such favor... to the fellow who stabbed me in the heart..."

Then, the Dark Pope's head dropped forward. I didn't know if he had fainted or if he was just pretending. It was clear he had no intention of talking to me any longer, so I clicked my tongue and left the cell.

***

As I had said many times, there wasn't much time left. The massacre that was about to happen in the labor camp aside, the punishment building couldn't be called safe either. If left alone, the people there would crawl into Tantata's mouth on their own accord.

After finishing my conversation with the Dark Pope, I briefly spoke to Verita, updated the guards on the general situation, completed my final check of the rooms, and stood in front of Gustav's cell.

"Hmm..."

The first thing that came to mind was how to summon Tantata. More precisely, I questioned whether this was truly the right method. I knew the words would not be proper words, yet what Verita had said lingered in my mind. Perhaps it was a priest's intuition, but that same instinct kept insisting this was the correct answer.

I would summon the demon king here. In a way, I'd be summoning the demon king directly in front of me. This could be called a descent ceremony, so what I was going to do now was a demon summoning.

It was my first and last time doing the work of a priest. I took a deep breath with a solemn expression. Then, I recited a spell that couldn't be found even in the Evil Scripture.

"Tan-ta-ta— Come play with me—"

Bang!

The iron door was shattered.