Chapter 368 – God
#368.
A garden located in the heart of the Healing Church. Pope Regulias, as always, was enjoying a light walk after his meal.
The person who follows him is the 1st seat of guardian, Israel.
As long as he protects the Church’s strongest power and secret weapon, there are only a handful of people in the Union who can harm the Pope.
Even the most elite Holy Knights were waiting all over the garden, so it was safe to say that there was virtually no threat of assassination.
The Pope looked at the petals with a benevolent face and opened his mouth.
“Sir Israel. How is the saintess’ condition?”
“… I stopped resisting. I think we can move on to the transplant stage now.”
“Heh heh! As expected, the saintess also made a choice for the church. She will make Martina happy too.”
For their purposes, complete control is fundamental. It was natural to finish the brainwashing before the transplant.
The saintess has now lost her original self and become her complete puppet.
After taking office as Pope, it was only after 70 years had passed that I finally had the goal I had dreamed of in front of me.
‘The moment the plan succeeds, I will gain absolute power that even the emperor can’t control.’
It was at that time when the Pope could not bear the rising joy and twitched the corners of his mouth.
“His Holiness the Pope!!”
In such haste, the cardinal ran from afar, panting, and howled at the pope.
The pope, who had frowned at the lack of dignity, calmed him down by acting again as usual benevolent and benevolent.
“Heh heh, Cardinal. What is it that you are in such a hurry? Please speak slowly.”
“Omg! Heo-eok… His Holiness the Pope. Currently, the imperial family is preparing for the church’s audit.”
“Thanks? Even if it’s the imperial family, you can’t insinuate the church. What cause did you say?”
Although the church had lost much of its power over the past few years, it was still exerting great influence over the imperial family.
This means that if you conduct an audit without justification and fail to find any problems, you should be prepared for a considerable headwind.
The pope caressed the petals and asked a question, and the cardinal bit his lip.
“It is said that there was a report that the church conducted human experiments.”
“Her? No way. Security is perfect. Do you know who the informant is?”
“… The archangel dispatched from Halo is called Urariel. They said that they discovered human experimentation through wisdom.”
“Such absurdity! Does the emperor really believe that!?”
Pasasasak!
The tendons of the pope’s hands swelled and the petals crumpled mercilessly.
The pope was enraged that the plan was disrupted by someone’s negligence, not betrayal, but barely a premonition.
The problem lies in the fact that you can’t just ignore the archangel’s claim, even if it’s someone else.
Even in the case of Halo, isn’t it a group that has been reluctant to contact with the outside world for the past tens of thousands of years and has implemented an extremely closed policy.
It’s hard to think that someone who becomes an archangel in such a place would talk nonsense.
It was all the more so because when Acrich appeared in the capital right away, the damage was reduced thanks to the foreknowledge that was notified in advance.
Urariel’s foreknowledge was a kind that could not be dismissed as a mere illusion.
Suddenly faced with the pope’s wrath, the cardinal trembled and said nothing. He just prays he can somehow make it through now unharmed.
Unfortunately for him, however, the situation continued to deteriorate.
“His Holiness the Pope! Excuse me!”
From the direction the cardinal came from, Levan Martini, the 8th patron saint, hurriedly ran up and knelt down in front of the pope.
For reference, Levan Martini has a history of attacking the Savior Guild and getting hit in the stomach by Gaon.
The Pope asked, wanting to do something else, as he opened his fist and tossed the broken petals on the floor.
“What is going on?”
“… Guardian 6, Alexander Balderk, has revealed that the church is conducting human experiments. They are even claiming that the subject is a saint.”
“How dare he!”
No matter how much he was, he gnashed his teeth quietly, revealing his anger as if he had failed to keep his cool at this news.
I was going to secretly deal with it sooner or later, but if I had known it would be like this, I would have rushed a little more.
I left him alone wondering what he could do, and ended up in a mess.
Realizing that he could no longer sit idle, the pope immediately instructed the cardinal.
“Prepare to move the location of the test subject and deity fragment right now. I will attach guardians.”
“Yes. His Holiness the Pope.”
“Israel. I will give you a special order. Help the cardinal to complete his plan safely. Got it?”
If Israel, who doesn’t leave the pope’s side unless it’s a very serious problem, is away, it’s like admitting that he’s suspicious, but it’s uneasy to proceed without him.
If there is no clear evidence anyway, it can be caught somehow, so there was no big problem.
Even if they are caught, it will be after the plan has already been successfully completed.
“… I obey orders.”
Israel bowed his head, expressionless, like a robot without emotions.
The Pope left them behind and quickly left the garden. For now, the royal family’s thanks had to be put off as much as possible.
The next day, a wagon pulled out of the church.
***
A forest covered in lush greenery located approximately two hours from the capital. Gaon and his party lay low and wait there.
Gaon said.
“Lugiana. Where is the wagon?”
“Say that you have just entered the forest. Maybe wait another 30 minutes or so and you’ll see it.”
“It’s not long. You must be certain that there are saints and divinity fragments in the carriage, right?”
“Maybe. Upon checking, it seems that some guardians, including the current number 1 guardian, Israel, are not visible. It must have been that he put too much energy into this job as much as his luck depended on it. It must be.”
The movement of the wagon was so stealthy that even Lucipheon could not have noticed it if it had not been observed in advance.
At a time like this, it’s hard to think of anything else to secretly escort in such a hurry.
Gaon, convinced by Louisiana’s explanation, nodded and waited for the wagon to pass.
As expected, after about 30 minutes,
“Come.”
Through the thick trees, an ordinary carriage emerged, protected by four horseback escorts.
It was hidden, but all four escorts had extremely trained bodies.
In particular, the escort at the forefront made me shudder just by looking at it. That person is Israel, the number 1 guardian.
Gaon sent an electric note to everyone.
-I will take care of Israel. In the meantime, secure the wagon as quickly as possible.
The power that Israel uses is mutation.
Through evolution from the gene unit, it derives power that humans cannot exert. The body in which the characteristics of all kinds of races are expressed is a wonder itself.
In my previous life, people were always busy comparing Gaon and Israel.
Gaon, who gained the power of other races by monopolizing various skills through memories before returning, and Israel, who broke away from racial limitations through power.
Although the methods were different, there was a lot in common.
‘He’s a difficult person.’
While recalling information about Israel and considering countermeasures, the wagon continued to draw closer and entered the intended boundary.
Gaon immediately signaled.
– I’ll go first!
Fain!
Gaon immediately launched a huge gust of wind from his toe and flew rapidly towards the carriage through the air.
Despite being able to hide its presence well enough, it deliberately moves straight toward Israel with a loud roar to attract attention.
At the same time, it embodied the image of mentality.
Pounding!
The ordinary human heart is replaced with that of a demon dragon, and infinite mana covers the whole body. That sense of omnipotence was both familiar and unfamiliar.
Along with the rapid flow of mana around it, the compressed strong air turned into plasma and swirled around.
It looked like a planet orbiting the sun.
“It’s an assault! Everyone protect the wagon!”
Ezrael, who discovered Gaon, shouted as he tore off the hooded cloak that was draped over his head.
He immediately used his powers to mutate his body.
Awesome! Wood Deuk!
Dragon’s scales sprouted from its entire body, its ears became pointed like elves, and its eyes reconciled with those of beasts, spewing vicious flesh.
In addition, the whole body changed to that of various races and monsters, and it became like a chimera.
Ezrael, who expressed all the characteristics of each race, collided head-on with Gaon.
Kwaaaaang!
He was aided by the endurance and strength of the body strengthened by the dragon’s blood, the elven’s characteristic of being more agile in the forest, and the beastman’s ability to boast of formidable reflexes and dynamic vision.
Even in the face of Gaon’s physical strength, who had risen to the realm of transcendence, he was not easily pushed back.
“What is your true identity?”
“…”
Of course, he came wearing a specially made mask for this raid. I don’t even think that he will fail, but there is no need to openly reveal his face.
At Izrael’s question, Gaon swung his spear in silence without saying anything.
The spearhead, covered in plasma and blazing, struck him with the whole sword, pulling him away from the wagon.
Looking back, the party was entangled with the rest of the Guardians, sharing a battle.
Israel opened his mouth.
“That enormous mana. They are dragons.”
“…”
“That power. I will take it.”
After that, the two clashed again.
I don’t even know the detailed mechanism of Israel’s authority, but it seems that it is possible to follow it perfectly after going through a certain process.
He is trying to take this opportunity to steal the dragon’s heart from Gaon.
Of course, he’s not the kind of person to be trifled with.
‘Shall we try it in earnest?’
In fact, since Gaon’s goal is to secure the holy woman and the divine fragments, he doesn’t necessarily need to defeat Israel.
That’s why I planned to fit in and then drop out, but I changed my mind a bit.
Gaon focused on the dragon’s heart.
Pounding! Pounding!
The dragon’s heart was still beating violently, spreading a vast amount of mana throughout its body. That power becomes his hands and feet and unleashes his superpowers.
But that is not the original function of the heart.
Minimum functions to sustain life. Likewise, the dragon’s heart accepts blood and sends it to various places through the blood vessels.
Human blood goes through the dragon’s heart and turns into dragon blood. The power spread throughout the body and gradually changed the body accordingly.
Charrrr
Dragon scales sprout from the heart, further strengthening the body. The eyes have also changed to those of the dragon, and now they can see mana directly.
Gaon, who predicted Israel’s next move through Mana, cut off the attack and counterattacked.
“Huh!”
Quagmire and light!
A gust of wind blew away the middle of the forest along with Israel.
