Floor 25: Protecting the Pope (1)

Floor 25. Just as Ha Heijeong had said, the trial was simple.

Find the Pope amid the chaos.

Fail, and the trial of Floor 25 ends right here — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and the trial of Floor 26 becomes that much harder.

The reason the next floor's trial grows more difficult is straightforward. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Even though the power of the Blue Dawn Wind cannot be used here, the Pope still holds a symbolic position. If the Pope cannot be found, the ranks of the faithful will falter, and morale will crumble.

But there was no need for me to wear myself out searching for the Pope the way the other climbers were.

Alexei definitely said he'd find the Pope.

With no idea where the Pope even was, hunting down the heretics was far more efficient than wasting time on a blind search. No need to snatch Alexei's reward out from under him, either.

My job was simply to whittle down the heretics — to carve out an escape route for when reinforcements arrived.

Heijeong would be rallying climbers elsewhere, no doubt.

Just as I was about to move, I noticed climbers milling around me.

No — it wasn't just them.

Among the crowds of climbers rushing off in search of the Pope, a surprising number were drifting toward me.

What is this? Are they thinking the same thing I am?

There were over two hundred thousand climbers. It was possible some of them had reached the same conclusion as me.

But if that were the case, there were far too many of them……?

While I was still puzzling over it, one climber party stepped forward first.

Faces I'd seen at the rest area. I couldn't recall their names, but they were high-tier climbers, ranked within the top thousand at least.

"Sir Kwon Suhyeok, what are your orders? Please, give us your command."

Ah. So that was it.

The moment I heard those words, I understood why the climbers had gathered around me.

They hadn't been thinking the same thing at all. They had simply come to receive my orders.

Posts like that showed up on the community boards from time to time, and the reactions were usually favorable.

And so the climbers around me had truly gathered for the reason that post described — to take my orders.

When had my influence grown this large?

The realization felt strangely new. But the city was already a battlefield, so I cut the sentiment short.

Instead, I raised my voice so the climbers gathered around me could all hear.

"There are at least two hundred thousand surviving climbers. Not everyone needs to go looking for the Pope."

"A fair point."

"Whoever does find the Pope will draw the heretics like flies. Better that we establish a stronghold here to protect him later on. We'll need to secure an escape route when the reinforcements arrive, too."

The climbers nodded along.

I quickly scanned our surroundings. The location wasn't bad at all.

We had been summoned into a massive plaza, and five hundred meters away stood a crumbling city gate.

It was the perfect gathering point for climbers searching for the Pope or fleeing the chaos.

"For now, let's hold this plaza until the Pope is found. The moment someone locates him, the reinforcements will come — we just have to punch through from here to the gate."

"A plaza this open is well suited for gathering climbers. A sound plan, if I may say so."

"Anyone with quick feet, please go gather the climbers nearby."

"Understood. Letrin!"

The party leaders who had clustered around me relayed the orders on my behalf to the archer-class climbers. Having heard my words just moments before, their party members sprinted out beyond the plaza without a word of complaint.

Now it was simply a matter of holding the plaza until Alexei found the Pope.

Well, like Heijeong said — it shouldn't be too hard.

The real holy war began on Floor 26. Floor 25 amounted to nothing more than finding the Pope and protecting him.

Of course, there was no telling how difficult the search itself might prove……

But Alexei would dig him out one way or another. I didn't need to worry about it.

"Waaah! Find the Pope!"

"Kill the heretics!"

Enemies were already crashing through the broken city gate.

The great avenue running between the plaza and the gate. It wouldn't be long before they reached us.

Every climber's gaze turned toward me. I tightened my grip on my axe.

"Warriors, forward!"

Thirty minutes had passed since the battle began.

By now, the heretics were pouring in not only from the avenue by the gate but from every alley around the plaza as well.

Fortunately, plenty of climbers had joined us in the meantime, and holding the plaza gave us little trouble.

The problem was that even with our numbers exceeding two hundred thousand, the enemy showed no sign of thinning out.

There's no way this many came from the heretics alone. Is it because the three kings turned apostate?

Indeed, most of the enemy looked like ordinary medieval soldiers — much like the Dayorne Imperial troops I'd seen on Floor 15.

Then a question suddenly surfaced in my mind.

Comet had said plainly that heresy had been practiced in secret. But even if the kings ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had renounced their faith, could an entire populace's religion truly change overnight?

Almost certainly not.

Speculating on my own would get me nowhere — better to glean what I could from the enemy themselves. When I sharpened my hearing, the voice of a commander ringing out in the distance confirmed my suspicion.

"Find the Pope who betrayed the Goddess! Any who stand in your way are traitors, same as him!"

Just as I'd thought. The soldiers were simply moving on their king's orders.

The apostate kings must have branded the Pope a traitor.

Well, it is a medieval world. Can't be helped.

With information traveling slowly and no easy way to verify the truth, such deception was entirely possible.

The followers of the God of Stilled Terror would be hiding their identities……

Those who had turned apostate, and those who had not. Both sides would no doubt be screaming traitor at each other.

With the continent's sole religion at stake — with the god the people had always believed in — their faith couldn't be switched in an instant. The most efficient propaganda was to tar the other side as the betrayers.

Damn it all.

Watching the soldiers collapse before the climbers' swords left a bitter taste on my tongue.

The games of the divine seats, and the choices of kings…… So many were dying who had no reason to fight at all.

What stung even more was knowing I had no power to change any of it.

Stopping the fighting and explaining the true situation to them……

That was nothing but a naive fantasy.

I gritted my teeth and shouted to the climbers.

"Mages! Start blasting those corpses away!"

After thirty minutes of fighting, the bodies had piled high across the avenue in front of the plaza.

They made a decent barricade against the enemy's advance, but the real problem was that they were blinding the climbers just as much.

Spears thrust out between the corpses, and arrows arced down from above — both wickedly sharp.

The moment the words left my mouth, a roaring sphere of fire sailed over the bodies.

KWA-BOOM— The corpses burst apart and hurtled into the air.

Viscous shreds of flesh came drizzling down over the heads of the climbers at the front line.

I saw more than a few of them retching.

Thankfully, the blast had kept the enemy at bay, and the climbers collected themselves quickly enough.

Twenty minutes left.

In Heijeong's first timeline, Alexei had found the Pope within fifty minutes. Not long now.

Just as I finished organizing my thoughts and swept my gaze across the battlefield, a massive explosion thundered from one corner of the plaza's alleys.

KWA-BOOM!

Black smoke billowed into the sky. Probably another climber party joining the fight.

If they were casting explosion magic, the enemy over there must have been quite numerous.

Just as I opened my mouth to order support, climbers came bursting through the fog toward us.

"Huh?"

I was so taken aback that a foolish exclamation escaped me out loud.

Faces I knew well. Alexei, Handrake……

Alexei was supposed to be finding the Pope.

Then why is he here?

I hurried over to Alexei, lightning crackling behind me into the soldiers streaming out in pursuit of his party.

Alexei broke into a grin at the sight.

"Damn, thanks. They were clinging to us the whole way — I was about to lose my mind."

"Hold on. Why did you come this way?"

"Why? Got a problem with it? Am I not allowed to be here?"

"Weren't you searching for the Pope?"

Alexei's brow furrowed. My stomach dropped. In my flustered state, the words had tumbled out before I could think them through.

Sure enough, Alexei stared at me with a puzzled look.

"What, were you secretly tailing me or something? How'd you know I was looking for the Pope?"

"Uh…… one of the climbers who joined us earlier mentioned you were searching for him."

There was a beat of silence, but I managed to salvage an excuse before it was too late. Alexei seemed to buy it, nodding along without fuss.

"That was the plan, but I heard you're rallying climbers over here? Holding the escape route."

"So?"

"That's why I came. When I thought about it, you were right. With this many climbers, I figured someone other than me can find the Pope just fine."

When I didn't answer, Alexei studied me in silence, wearing a vaguely displeased expression.

"What? Unhappy that I came?"

"No, that's not it."

"Then why the long face? You're hurting my feelings here."

Ugh, what am I supposed to say?

I couldn't very well tell him that he was the one fated to find the Pope.

There was no need to sour the mood, so I scrambled to pile up excuses.

"It's not that. Whoever finds the Pope gets some kind of reward, right? Better that a top-ranked climber takes it. And there's no one I trust more than you."

"Well, I don't see Heijeong around, so it might as well be her. Or did you mean you'd rather I find it than Heijeong?"

Alexei curled the corners of his mouth, teasing. He chuckled to himself, apparently enjoying the chance to rib me. A sigh slipped out.

"Ha… I just figured Heijeong might not be able to find him, so— never mind."

"Well, if you want, I can head out and search for the Pope right now."

"You would?"

At my eager reply, Alexei retracted the offer.

"Nah, too much hassle. I wandered around forever and found nothing. Someone'll get him eventually. Hmm — so where do you want us?"

"……Head over that way and lend a hand for now."

The enemy was concentrated along the opposite road, so I pointed in that direction.

Alexei nodded, then turned to his party members.

"Got it. See you in a bit, then. Let's go."

Watching Alexei's back as he walked away, I sank into thought.

Knowing the future had backfired — the butterfly effect had turned a good thing into a bad one.

Alexei, who was supposed to be searching for the Pope, had joined me here instead.

What do I do now?

Sending Alexei back out to search was already too late. His route had been thrown off because of me, and even if I forced him to go, he might not find the Pope at all.

That left two options.

I could go search myself — or I could sit back and pray that someone else did.

Damn it. I can't just stand here waiting.

If this went even slightly wrong and the Pope went unfound, the trial of Floor 27 would grow harder.

Now that Alexei was here ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with me, it was better that I go — with Dobby's instincts at my side — than leave it to some random climber.

Even if Heijeong stood in my place, she would have made the same choice.

The instant my mind was made up, I bolted in the direction Alexei's party had gone.

"Handrake!"

Alexei might be the party leader, but I had no intention of handing him command.

Command belonged with Handrake, whose head actually worked. Hand Alexei the reins, and he'd only pass them to Handrake anyway……

I was just streamlining the process.

"Yes? Is something the matter?"

"No — just take over command for me for a bit."

"What? Why all of a sudden?"

It was Alexei, not Handrake, who voiced the question.

I couldn't exactly say, because you're not going to find the Pope, so I'm going instead.

"There are probably other climbers gathered elsewhere too. Whoever finds the Pope will need to coordinate with the other groups afterward."

"Ah, you want to talk it over in advance?"

"Yeah. And honestly, me moving is faster than waiting on everyone else."

"Got it. Make it quick, then."

Handrake took my place at the center of the plaza.

I took Dobby with me and climbed onto the roof of one of the nearby buildings.

Taller than the structures around it, it offered a decent view over the city.

Buildings ablaze. Amid the black smoke surging toward the heavens, countless metallic shrieks rang out.

Now then — where was the Pope?