Game of Divine Thrones

Chapter 203: Iscariot's Descendants 5

“It should be here,” Woohyuk said to himself while looking at the magnificent gothic-style architecture from a distance.

Currently, he was in the Pope’s territory.

He was at the God of Light’s Church, the official state religion of the Empire.

“Are you really going to do it? Failure means we’d become a target for the Imperial Clergy,” Hildegard asked Woohyuk with an anxious expression.

To avoid tragedy in the foreseeable future, it was best to get rid of Rosenkreuz, but she felt they were going about things in a reckless manner.

“It can’t be helped. Currently, I don’t see any other method. We can’t afford to wait anymore,” answered Helena.

Thanks to Altair’s help, the last skirmish was safely concealed from the world.

However, it took a little while to clean up the mess they made, and it took a few days to come to this territory without being noticed.

Considering that the Fallen Angel Cruella would come sooner or later, even if there was some risk, they would have had to come to this area and resolved the matter one way or another.

Maria nodded in agreement with Helena’s explanation and added on,

“For us, this is the best option. If Rosenkreuz isn’t removed beforehand, countless innocent people will be killed.”

She had several visionary dreams of what would happen if they let events progress without taking action, so she knew what kind of person Rosenkreuz was and the utter destruction he would bring onto the world.

When the other party members showed similar reactions, Hildegard lowered her head as if resigned to her fate.

“… If it can’t be helped… then I’ll start,” she answered with a sigh.

The core role of this infiltration plan was to be played by her and Roan, who was to be disguised as Maria.

When the two left for the Pope’s quarters, Helena used camouflage magic, making the party members invisible.

“But lord, are you sure Roan really won’t say anything? That guy, even if we scold him a few times, his way of speaking doesn’t change.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve spoken with him personally,” answered Woohyuk while lifting up a torture tool he had in his hand.

It was a pair of crocodile scissors used to make prisoners of war into sexless, ball-less creatures.

“… I’m sure he’ll be scared beyond imagination. He definitely values his precious ‘things’ highly.”

Sieg sweated as he imagined malleable pieces of flesh being cut into several pieces with the crocodile scissors.

When she saw the scissors and Sieg’s rapidly changing expression, Brynhildr laughed and joked,

“Why are you so nervous? Did you do something wrong?”

“Oh, no… it’s just terrible to imagine…” Sieg answered in a quivering voice.

Sieg turned his gaze towards Helena.

This was because Helena had the experience of making Alejandro, a member of the Golden Rose Society, a ball-less, sexless being.

Helena made an unpleasant expression as Sieg stared at her.

“Don’t look at me like that. I was just taking revenge.”

“… Yeah, okay.”

Sieg didn’t want to set off Helena’s fiery personality, so he answered as submissively as possible. He knew she was a dangerous person.

As the atmosphere became strange, Maria, who had been sleeping, opened her mouth to speak,

“Can we talk about that later? We have to focus on dealing with Rosenkreuz right now.”

“Mary is right. We have work to do here,” said Woohyuk with a nod while pulling out Lemegeton.

Now was the time to prepare for one lengthy, situational play.

***

The conference room inside the Holy Pope’s Office was decorated with ornate stained glass and frescoes.

Rosenkreuz welcomed Hildegard and Roan with Castineon’s clergymen.

“You worked hard to get here. Saint Mary of Miletus.”

“…”

Roan was currently disguised as Maria with a comical disguise.

As Woohyuk commanded, he didn’t open his mouth. Hildegard soon took over the conversation.

“Mary is currently suffering from aphasia. During the battle with Amon, she received quite the mental shock.”

“… I guess that’s the reason for her dark complexion. Please sit,” Rosenkreuz politely suggested as he guided Roan towards the senior seat.

Roan was about to say something out of habit, but he quickly caught himself and sat down. He imagined the sharp alligator scissors and thought better of his actions.

“We don’t have much time to spare, so can I go straight to the main point? Instead of Maria, I will tell you what’s needed,” Hildegard quickly stated.

“As you please. If you’re uncomfortable with this gallery of clergymen, I can send them all out,” Rosenkreuz said as he glanced at the clergy behind him and asked Hildegard.

As Hildegard nodded silently, the clergy and priests retreated outside.

“That’s better,” responded Hildegard.

“This is a sacred place where demons cannot access, so please feel free and at ease. Then, can I hear what troubles you?”

Rosenkreuz had been aware of and interested in Maria’s foresight ability long before this incident.

If she could help him, he could not only take control of the Empire, but could become more powerful than a Pope.

Since childhood, as the descendant of Judith Iscariot, Solomon’s twelfth disciple, Rosenkreuz had lived with a sense of inferiority all his life, so his ambition was greater than anyone else’s.

“The fact is that, besides Amon, there are various other Demon Kings who are chasing Mary. As you may know, Maria has the ability to predict the future. The Demon Kings are coveting her abilities,” Hildegard explained.

“In other words, you’re saying they’re coming here to attack and kidnap Mary?” he asked.

“Yes. A few days ago, Mary saw the Pope’s territories turn into a sea of fire by the Demons through her foresight. She saw the lifeless bodies of Pope Ignatius and yourself.”

All of Hildegard’s words were false. Her conjured story was purely to perplex Rosenkreuz and cause internal chaos in the Holy Pope’s Office.

As she intended, Rosenkreuz reacted with quite a bit of surprise.

“… No way. What kind of demons are we facing to meet such a miserable end?”

“High-level Demon Kings, ranked 1st to 6th, will lead their demonic armies and invade the Pope’s territories tonight. Are you able to stop them?”

“…”

Rosenkreuz couldn’t answer Hildegard’s question.

Currently, the Holy Aperia Empire concentrated its forces on the Northern Front.

High-ranking castle knights as well as imperial Paladins were all situated in those areas.

Since many of the high-ranking officials and forces left for the Northern Front recently, the Holy Pope’s Office and surrounding territories were not as well guarded as usual.

‘For the Demon King ranks from 1st to 6th to come all at once…’

He didn’t doubt Mary’s ability of foresight, but he thought this sudden action was a little strange.

When Rosenkreuz tilted his head, Hildegard spoke again,

“There is only one way to avoid a tragic end. We must defeat and destroy each of the Demon Kings, one by one, before the sun goes down.”

“Defeating each Demon King? With what means…?”

“On the way here, I met one of the vassals of King Rhine by chance. Through him, I was able to ask King Rhine for help. Their forces have probably arrived here by now.”

“King Rhine?”

With an expression of disbelief, Rosenkreuz brought out the Informant’s Disclosure item.

Currently, Woohyuk’s location was just outside the Pope’s territories.

It was as Hildegard said.

‘Just an hour ago, he was in Dane’s territory…’

Aris was able to manipulate the location information displayed on the Informant’s Disclosure in real time using Enotia’s advanced technology and equipment.

However, because Rosenkreuz had no idea of such a fact, he had no choice but to make an instantaneous look of surprise.

“Is something wrong? I heard that King Rhine is a minister of the God of Light, certified by the Holy Pope.”

“… Ah, no, nothing’s wrong. Your news was just so sudden that I was surprised for a moment.”

“Then contact him right now. We don’t have much time. Isn’t that right, Maria?”

Hildegard looked at Roan who was disguised as Mary.

Roan nodded, struggling to endure his now sore mouth.

‘He looks like he has a high status, so why isn’t he bringing out alcohol and meat as a dutiful host?’

However, Roan kept his anger in his heart.

Without knowing Roan’s thoughts, Rosenkreuz interpreted her (Roan disguised as Mary) dark expression to mean that the situation was urgent.

“Okay. As it is, I have to report to the Pope first and also listen to the opinions of the Cardinals, but I’ll take measures with my own authority first.”

Rosenkreuz was the head of the Castineon Clergy Division, a special agency of the Holy Pope’s Office.

As soon as he manipulated the Informant’s Disclosure, Woohyuk’s voice could immediately be heard.

[I was trying to contact you, but you sent me a message first. Did you hear the story from Hildegard?]

[Yes, it was quite shocking news. But why didn’t you notify me before departing? If you did, I wouldn’t have had to hurry like this.]

[Actually, the Informant’s Disclosure temporarily lost its function due to the interference of Aleister. He’s been extremely wary of me for some reason.]

Woohyuk made up an appropriate excuse.

As he finished speaking, Rosenkreuz sighed,

[For Aleister to develop such a device, that’s another headache. Still, I’m glad I’m able to contact you like this, albeit late.]

[However, there are some problems. Some Demon Kings noticed my movement and followed me. Can you provide support? I won’t be able to defeat the incoming forces with my party alone. I’m currently located in the western outskirt forests of the Pope’s territories.]

[… They’re already coming in? Alright. Reinforcements will arrive soon.]

After hearing this, there was no reason for Rosenkreuz to consider anything further.

He ended the call with Woohyuk and called Rachius, who was waiting outside the meeting room door.

“You must let the Cardinals know of what’s happening. I’ll go ahead and see how far the situation has progressed.”

“Yes, sir.”

After Rachius politely bowed his head, he used teleportation magic.

Eventually, as all the Castineon clergy members gathered, Rosenkreuz asked Hildegard and Roan for patience.

“If you feel uncomfortable, please wait here for a while. This is the safest place in the Holy Pope’s territories after the Pope’s residence.”

“Okay. But just in case, can you tell me if there’s a secret passage or a hiding place? I would like to ensure Maria’s safety first.”

“… Very well. At any other time, it would be absolutely impossible for me to disclose this information, but the situation necessitates extraordinary measures, so I will be especially considerate.”

Rosenkreuz murmured a simple chant while taking a small crystal ball out of his cloak.

As he finished his chant, the internal structure of the office transformed, and a hidden underground staircase appeared in the corner of the conference room.

“That passage connects to the heart of our Castineon meeting room. However, even with this crystal ball, additional authentication procedures are required to enter, so please stay only in the passage area.”

The fact that Mary was here was only known to the Pronoia, the secret group of high priests and the Castineon division task force.

Rosenkreuz kept Mary’s existence and location a secret because he wanted to use her abilities for his own use. Thus, he had openly offered this top-secret information to her because he didn’t want her to fall into the wrong hands in case something went awry.

After sending the two women down the stairway, Rosenkreuz hurriedly left to meet with Woohyuk.

‘I didn’t know King Rhine would be involved in my work in this way.’

The reason why Woohyuk was initially brought to his side was to counter Emperor Tiberius and his vassals.

However, as time passed, his suspicions grew. Woohyuk was much stronger and more powerful than he had originally thought, and he expanded his powers quickly. Based on current data, it seemed that Woohyuk was now completely out of Rosenkreuz’s control.

It would be difficult to contend with Woohyuk with his own stature anymore.

Rosenkreuz eyes brightened as he flew in the air with the Castineon members.

‘If this event ends safely, I’ll make a suitable pretext to take him to the Pope and brainwash him.’

While urgently going out, Rosenkreuz recalled Woohyuk mentioning that he currently only had about 10,000 elite troops.

It was probably thanks to the help of the Yellow Lady Eleonora that Woohyuk was able to safely cross the border and reach the Pope’s territories.

However, with only 10,000 troops, Woohyuk had no chance of beating the Holy Pope.

Furthermore, many of his soldiers would be killed or injured in this battle.

‘If I make King Rhine my puppet, I can easily take over the Holy Aperia Empire.’

Sooner or later, the secret of Rosa Eterna would be fully revealed.

That would be the time when he would start his coup in earnest.

After purging the enemies inside the Holy Pope’s Office, Pronoia planned to turn the Holy Aperia Empire into a new state.

King Rhine’s abilities and forces would be a tremendous help during this process.

As Rosenkreuz was organizing his thoughts, a cold male voice rang from above where he was flying with his Castineon clergymen,

“You’ve arrived a lot later than I expected, Rosenkreuz.”

Rosenkreuz, who reactively raised his head, froze as he exclaimed,

“Ki-King Rhine?!”