“Summer! Are you coming to your senses?”
Summer lifted her flickering eyes to gaze at Russell. She had returned. Back into the book.
“Ugh, huh….”
Summer let out a chuckle. Tears streamed down her cheeks, yet laughter escaped her lips.
This is madness, she thought.
It was unbearably funny.
“Summer….”
“Has the witch arrived?”
“……Witch?”
When Russell asked back, Summer burst into a silly laugh and said,
“I have to go back. Huh, huh….”
“Summer, what on earth….”
Russell quickly pulled Summer into an embrace, his body radiating warmth.
As Summer surrendered to the sensation of Russell gently patting her back, her laughter gradually turned into sobs.
“Summer. It’s okay. Nothing happened. You’re safe.”
“Not at all, not at all safe….”
“Summer. Look at me. You swallowed a bit of water, but you’ll be fine after some rest. Let’s talk after you’ve rested enough.”
“Russell, what about the Pope?”
At Summer’s question, the Pope, who had been standing behind, hurriedly approached and knelt beside her.
“Summer. What did you see?”
The Pope’s demeanor was gentle, as if asking when Russell had been in a scuffle. However, Summer’s next words cracked his expression.
“Your Holiness. God has abandoned us.”
“What do you mean, Summer?”
“Huh….”
The more she thought about it, the more absurd it seemed, and Summer let out a giggle again. How arrogant she had been.
Something that could happen to anyone, she thought it would never happen to her. It would be fine.
“Answer me, Summer! Answer me right now! You saw something, didn’t you? That damn God said something to you, right?”
Hearing the Pope’s excited words, Russell furrowed his brow.
Damn God? Was this the same person who had just spoken of God’s will? What was the Pope’s true intention?
“I’m sorry, Your Holiness. There was something I didn’t say.”
“Speak. Tell me what that damn God said.”
The Pope spat out his words as if gnashing his teeth. Russell tightened his hold on Summer, feeling the threat in the Pope’s attitude.
“It wasn’t God. What I saw was a scene.”
“A scene?”
“There was wind, and the grass was lush.”
“…….”
“It was a grave, Your Holiness. What I saw was not Selena, but a grave.”
“Shut up. Last time, you clearly…!”
Unable to contain himself, the Pope reached out to grab Summer’s shoulder, but Russell’s intervention thwarted him.
The Pope swept his beautiful long hair back, his face twisted in frustration. Anger dripped from his fierce expression.
He believed in God. He hated God, but he believed. That God loved the world. That the Pope would grant his last wish.
On the day Selena left, the Pope prayed in the prayer room until his priestly robe was soaked with sweat, without eating or drinking anything.
May Selena return safely. May she be happy. May she be healthy.
And God answered.
‘It’s a waste to end Selena like this. Everyone will be angry if she dies.’
“……Oh God.”
‘Hmm, I should keep her out for now. The ending should always be happy. I must avoid sad events that cannot be overcome.’
But then.
“She returned. The witch said her soul was shattered and couldn’t return completely.”
“Do you want to die? How dare you deceive me?”
In truth, the Pope’s anger was directed not at Summer, but at God. The God who betrayed him. The world that created such a result after he had given everything.
“Are you going to harm me, Your Holiness?”
“…….”
The Pope couldn’t readily answer. Perhaps even if Summer thrust a knife at him, the Pope wouldn’t be able to harm her.
“Your Holiness. You’re seeing that woman through me, aren’t you?”
“……I am.”
The Pope calmed his excitement with a splash of cold water on his face at Summer’s words.
Summer was right. The Pope had never been able to harm Summer from the beginning. She was in the same position as Selena.
It was natural for Selena to come to mind. The benefactor who had given him a new life. His feelings were closer to worship than affection.
To the Pope, Selena was like a second mother.
The townspeople burned down their house because she was a wicked child using evil powers, and her mother died trying to protect Damian.
It was Selena who took in the motherless Damian wandering the streets.
As if it were fate. As if she already knew Damian would be there. Selena reached out her hand to him.
But God took her away.
“……I was waiting.”
If she ever returned, wouldn’t she come to find me?
If she were alive in any world, wouldn’t she flow back into this world through another chance encounter?
But Selena never returned. She would never return.
“That woman almost became the protagonist, but in the end, she failed to become one.”
“…….”
“I never had a chance to be the protagonist from the beginning. Why does the world stop me from wanting to die?”
“Summer. Just rest for a bit. I need to go somewhere for a moment.”
The Pope stood up. His beautiful, pure violet eyes gradually turned red.
The divine power was dissipating.
When he opened the door to the prayer room and stepped outside, his black hair flowed down to his waist.
Red eyes and black hair. He looked like the embodiment of a demon.
Damian Cheshire.
The name of the one killed by the crowd.
As Damian passed by, the believers screamed and fled in terror.
It was only natural to be shocked, as the Pope, who had just been the very embodiment of holiness, had suddenly changed.
Damian headed toward the massive statue in the temple.
“Was this truly your intention?”
“…….”
“Can you hear me? Say something before I destroy this temple completely.”
There was still no response from God.
Selena was dead. Selena. Selena… was dead. Completely. To a place where she could never be seen again. She had completely left.
Damian burst into a fierce laugh. Soon, fully armed paladins surrounded him.
“Who are you!”
“Not recognizing me just because I’ve changed a bit. You lack training, my young believers.”
“Y-Your Holiness?”
“Yes.”
Damian raised his hand. No one would know. This ability, called divine power, was, in fact, too much to be called divine power.
“It’s collapsing!”
“AAAH!”
It gave more power when harming than when protecting.
Ivory shards fell like rain, and the massive statue was completely destroyed. As if someone had grabbed it and smashed it.
The paladins and believers were in disarray.
They had only seen the beautiful sight of healing the sick with divine power, so it was likely the first time they realized that divine power had such strength.
“Stop the Pope!”
“Demon! A demon disguised as the Pope!”
Someone shouted, but no one dared to touch Damian.
He was the one with the strongest power. And that power had never been revealed to what extent it could go.
Damian was literally on the verge of smashing every statue in the temple. The believers began to flee outside the temple, crying out to God.
“Everyone was deceived… that the Creator would surely be good, that He would love us… haha, ha…”
Damian muttered as if he had lost his mind, lightly destroying another statue.
The words of that unlucky duke were all correct. The will of God. That was something no one could know. But was there any reason to know?
Damian resented God. While resenting the God who took Selena away, he also relied on Him.
He believed that the only way to resolve all of this lay solely in God’s hands, so he endured in the temple, pretending to be the Pope.
As a symbol of holiness healing those who tried to kill him. As an object of worship.
“I should have killed them.”
At that moment, he should have killed all those who had deemed him ominous. He shouldn’t have let those who burned his mother to death go. By now, they would all have lived comfortably and died.
It felt as if someone was whispering in his head.
Do not forgive.
“Your Holiness! Get a grip!”
One young believer who had particularly followed the Pope approached Damian, crying.
Damian stared blankly at the believer coming toward him.
“God has abandoned us.”
“Your Holiness….”
“If God truly loved us, He would not have been unable to protect this one wish of mine, the most faithful servant.”
“Your Holiness, people are getting hurt… Please, stop!”
The believer had now come close enough to reach out. Everyone held their breath, staring at the believer.
Should I kill that believer or save them? The calculating gazes were quite disgusting.
“Everyone, find your own way to survive. There is no salvation.”
“But Your Holiness saved my mother. That was definitely salvation.”
The believer said, trembling in fear. You are my salvation, so how can you say there is no salvation?
“…….”
“What I believed in was not God, but you, Your Holiness.”
“…….”
“You saved my family, and you gave me a place to stay and food.”
“I have nothing more to give you. As you can see, I have now been abandoned by God.”
Damian raised his arms slightly, as if to show that he truly had nothing left.
“I will stay by your side.”
“Who do you think you are? Do you know where I’m going?”
“Huh, but….”
“Will you follow me to the afterlife?”
“Y-Your Holiness!”
“……Just kidding. Step aside. I will destroy all the statues.”
Damian slowly began to walk again. This time, no one shouted or drew their swords.
They simply watched with blank faces as Damian destroyed the temple.
In the midst of this, a small girl jumped in.
“What’s wrong with him?”
Pey, who had brought Summer’s soul with her, frowned at the rampaging Damian.
Since Summer came first, Pey closed her eyes and tilted her head toward the sky, quietly concentrating her energy.
“……It’s in the prayer room.”
Pey murmured as she slowly opened her eyes.
It was a place both unfamiliar and familiar. As Pey took a step, raindrops began to fall heavily from the dark night sky.
It was a downpour, as if the sky had opened up. Each time Pey moved, the rain splashed around her.
Arriving safely in front of the prayer room, Pey opened the door without hesitation. The weather and atmosphere were already gloomy, as if a funeral were being held.
It was unpleasant. And when the door opened, the atmosphere was even more dismal.
Summer, who looked like she was about to take her last breath, and Russell, who was holding her.