Please Stop The Pope

Chapter 84

5.

The demon graciously resolved my curiosity.

“Lizards just drop their tails, but with you, a little strength adjustment is enough to tear off the backside along with it. Learned something new today.”

【Kaaaarghhh—!】

It wasn’t even worthy of being called a fight.

Considering the difficulty or strength of the opponent, the avatar of the Demon King I faced at the Department of Ability Management headquarters last time might have been more troublesome.

I gave the now-limbless, nameless plague demon a long, deliberate smile.

The fact that it oozes pus and fluids made it clear that this creature was a plague demon.

Still, it was one of the stronger ones among its kind.

Although I don’t know the exact method, it has obtained a faint trace of the Demon King’s magic.

“Personally, I think you’re slightly better than undead. You know why? Because undead feel only weak pain—or none at all—but you guys feel pain very well.”

This was a useful tip I picked up during my long battles against demons in Eden.

In particular, the Sacred Flame was exceptionally torturous for demons.

Compared to knights’ auras or magicians’ spells, demons went absolutely berserk when touched by holy power, especially the Sacred Flame.

The Sacred Flame was like poison to them.

While demons typically have regenerative abilities that can heal severed limbs, the Sacred Flame had a unique effect on that ability.

For instance:

“How does it feel to go from having 16 limbs to having none?”

By perfectly cauterizing wounds with the Sacred Flame, I could prevent regeneration entirely.

I grinned slyly at the 17 burn marks etched into its body.

For the record, the extra burn mark was where its tail had been severed.

“At least the lich from last time recognized who I was. I guess that makes sense, though. If you came from Eden, you’d have to know me. Do you know how I killed the Demon King of Gluttony, Baal, whom you plague demons served?”

The Demon King of Gluttony, Baal.

He was the fourth Demon King I killed in Eden, boasting a colossal body that could rival a fortress—fitting for a gluttonous pig.

The Legion of Gluttony included countless demons, including plague demons.

Wherever they passed, only desolation and disease were left behind.

Baal’s end?

“I bound him with a holy barrier and burned him alive. That fat pig had so much grease in his body, it burned for four days straight. Didn’t even need a torchlight.”

Burning him alive with the Sacred Flame.

That was how I eliminated the Gluttony magic Baal possessed.

Of course, Baal screamed for four days as he burned, and when the flames finally subsided, all that remained was a heap of black ash that had once been Baal.

“It’s been a week since I eradicated that lich. And you knew about it, yet you still pulled this stunt, didn’t you?”

I walked toward the plague demon with an easy, taunting tone.

The limbless demon twisted its body, trying to retreat, but it couldn’t get far.

The sticky fluid oozing from the Sacred Flame-melted tumor was holding it down like a trap.

【Why is this happening? Everything was perfect before you came along!】

“There’s this game called Plague Inc.. Maybe you should’ve tried it. A middle schooler from my neighborhood could’ve spread the plague better than you.”

Plague Inc.—a game where the goal is to infect and eradicate humanity with a global pandemic.

Players evolve the pathogen in various ways to achieve their goal, employing strategic thinking.

If you’ve played it, you’d get my point.

“You should’ve picked your starting point better. Knowing I was here and starting in South Korea? Were you planning to commit suicide from the start?”

Even those unfamiliar with games understand the importance of a starting point.

As the old saying goes, “Well begun is half done.”

Of course, it wasn’t meant for situations like this, but with such a terrible start, what good outcome could they have expected?

Whoosh—!

The Sacred Flame, which had spread across the area, began converging toward me.

There was only one source of contamination left here now.

“Well, thanks to you, I’ve learned something useful. If you don’t know who I am, it means not all demons on Earth came from Eden, doesn’t it? Am I right?”

Limen once told me:

Demons weren’t native to Eden. They had simply invaded Eden from another world.

If that was true, I might be up against demons who fled from Eden and others I had never encountered before.

Enemies I didn’t know. New adversaries could appear anytime.

But would my question even register with a demon drowning in fear of death?

【Why must I die? Not yet. Not yet! I cannot die here!】

Perhaps a last-ditch effort—the demon’s oozing fluids surrounded its body, forming a cocoon. Its fighting spirit had long since vanished.

From the start, this demon posed no threat to me whatsoever.

In fact, any demon below the rank of Demon King could never threaten me.

“Demons these days lack persistence. Back in my day, they charged in knowing they’d die.”

There was no reason to drag this out any longer.

The refugee camp was still full of patients exposed to the plague. It was time to kill this demon and purify the infected.

“Well, since you gave me good intel, I’ll grant you the same end as Baal. Consider it an honor.”

Whoosh—!

【Screeeeech! Screeeaaaaaach—!】

The waiting Sacred Flame completely consumed the demon’s cocoon, and its screams were buried within the fire.

I let out a soft sigh as I watched.

And with a wry smile, I concluded:

“My grandma used to say, ‘Play with fire at night, and you’ll wet the bed.’”

I’d better empty my bladder before sleeping tonight.

With that, I briefly watched the raging flames consume the tumors before swiftly turning away.

[You have successfully eradicated the ]

[Quest completed.]

[Reward: <10,000 Holy Points> and <1 Relic Point>]

Though I had eliminated the source, there was still much work to do.

Time to get moving.

6.

I made sure to completely burn the area where the tumors had spread, and then I returned directly to Pastor Seo’s container church.

The time it took to return: exactly 17 minutes.

When I arrived at the container church, a scene very different from when I had departed unfolded before my eyes.

Patients lay sprawled on the ground.

Among them were creatures whose skulls were shattered beyond recognition.

At the center of it all stood Luna, clad in her pristine white armor, as expected.

“You’re back quickly. I saw the holy flame from afar—it seemed like there was quite a bit to burn?”

“Nothing much. It just reminded me of camping back in the day, so I lit a little fire.”

“Speaking of camping, it reminds me of that time when Your Holiness almost burned down an elf forest trying to light a campfire. You were practically a full-blown arsonist back then.”

“…Enough about that. How’s the situation here?”

“Exactly as you see it.”

Though black blood from the plague demons splattered the area around Luna, her own body remained entirely untainted.

The divine energy radiating from her body like shimmering heat waves seemed to have completely vaporized the demons’ blood.

“The ones with their heads smashed in are plague demons, and the rest are corrupted humans. There were more corrupted humans than I expected.”

“Easily over 500, I’d say.”

“The actual number is much higher. But the plague demons were so pitifully weak that they couldn’t mobilize properly.”

Even corrupted humans whose brains had been invaded by demonic energy could be treated as patients.

While there would likely be some damage left behind, once the demonic energy was removed, they should gradually return to normal.

Unlike Eden, which relied solely on divine power, Earth has advanced medicine. Once the demonic energy that’s infiltrated the brain is removed, treatment shouldn’t be too difficult.

If we also provide them with the lowest-grade holy water that we’ve been stockpiling for sale, their prognosis would be even better.

“By the way, Luna.”

“Yes?”

“You didn’t swing that mace at the people lying on the ground, did you?”

At my question, Luna frowned, clearly offended.

“I may be crazy, but I’m not that crazy. I just gave their brains a little shake, like you told me to, and knocked them out.”

Of course, our Luna, no matter how reckless, wouldn’t go as far as beating innocent victims.

Grinning, I patted Luna on the back.

“Well done.”

“Just words?”

“Then what?”

“I’ve been playing this mobile game recently. Can you buy me just 50 of the game packages?”

“We agreed to give bonuses last time, remember?”

“C’mon, that was then, and this is now. You’ll do it, right?”

When on Earth did Luna manage to delve into K-mobile games, of all things?

In moments like this, it’s best to evade answering altogether.

“Wait, Luna. I haven’t completed the purification yet, have I? Let me handle that first, and we’ll talk after.”

Though the root cause of the plague had been eliminated, there were still infected patients in the area.

Purifying them was the priority.

Since I had already eliminated all sources of infection, there was no need to hesitate any further.

Taking a deep breath, I drew upon my divine power.

“Wings of Purification.”

[Active Skill has been activated.]

Although the effect was unnecessarily flashy, there was no better skill for purifying demonic contamination on a large scale.

It felt like I’d been using this skill quite often since returning to Earth. I even used it occasionally in the outskirts of Ground Zero when I had the time.

Whooooom–!

Good, the purification should be done soon…

[Warning! You are directly interfering with the lives of numerous humans. This action may disrupt the system.]

[’s system is conducting a !]

Ah, causality—the ever-present thorn that shows up just when you’ve almost forgotten about it.

But this warning message seemed very different from the ones I’d received before.

I had used Wings of Purification several times in the past. Though warnings always appeared, no real restrictions had ever been imposed.

But this time, something was different.

Though the purification process wasn’t canceled, red-bordered warning messages began popping up endlessly in front of me.

[Causality Assessment Result: ]

[Reason: Direct interference with the fates of numerous mortals. The miracle in question is deemed unsuitable for your current rank. Your actions have significantly exceeded the causality allowed to you. Accordingly, the system has determined that your actions are incompatible with causality.]

[A penalty will be imposed on you!]

[Your system will be partially restricted for 168 hours.]

I stared blankly at the flood of message windows before me.

Then, with a deliberately calm voice, I issued a command.

“Status window.”

[This function has been disabled. Time remaining until restriction is lifted: 167 hours, 59 minutes, 55 seconds.]

“What in the world is this…?”

…Looks like I’m thoroughly screwed this time.