The Pope Selection Begins
The temporary Pope of the Goddess Department cried out in panic. “O God! Please have mercy! These people know nothing!”
“God’s mercy? I’ve never received any, so I wouldn’t know. Hahahahaha—!”
The black mage’s dry, emotionless voice echoed across the square and throughout the entire Middle World. Even the eyes of the former heroes began to tremble violently.
‘Something has gone wrong.’
‘After confirming that divine magic had been cast over the War God’s square, we incited the superhumans into countless revivals and regenerations, draining their mana.’
‘No matter how powerful an 11th Circle black mage he may be, he shouldn’t be able to withstand this.’
‘We’ve already made arrangements with the majority of the superhumans here, and the rest will join in once we attack and the mood shifts.’
In the former heroes’ calculations, the enormous mana expenditure and public condemnation should have dealt a serious blow to his divinity. Yet the black mage showed no signs of strain and remained far too composed.
“Come at me already. This kind of pope selection is rather interesting too. Whoever survives until the end by my hand shall become the Pope of the War God. Kha ha ha ha!”
It was utterly bizarre. The black mage offered no rebuttal to his own impeachment and instead only provoked them further. In the end, the former hero could not hold back his question.
“Why do you offer no defense against your impeachment?”
“Defense? Why should I, who have become the War God, seek understanding from mere sentient beings?”
The black mage let out a sudden exclamation as if he had realized something. “Ah? You need a justification for war? Very well, I acknowledge it all. Everything you say is correct.”
“!!!”
“!!!”
His tone was light and cheerful, yet the content was utterly chilling. The black mage enlarged his face on the screen projected into the sky and looked down upon the entire Middle World as he spoke.
“Listen well, everyone. I killed the Demon Kings and massacred the high-ranking black mages. I threatened kingdoms and holy nations and took hostages. It was indeed I who slaughtered the elves of the High Elf Empire.”
The Demon Kings and high-ranking black mages had tried to kill him first, so he had merely responded in kind. The kingdoms and holy nations had attempted to cooperate in his subjugation, so he had dealt with them preemptively. The High Elf Empire that dared challenge a newly ascended racial god had simply paid the natural price. All of it had reasons, yet he cleanly ignored them and admitted to every sin.
“There—! The justification should be sufficient now, yes? So come at me already.”
Only then could the former hero no longer hide the thought that something was fundamentally wrong with his perfect plan.
“Do you feel no regret? No desire to beg forgiveness from your victims?”
“Regret? Forgiveness? How weak. You’re killing my excitement.”
Goooooo—!
Ooooooo—!
Gugugugugung—!
The black mage’s robe began to coil around his body. As he lightly circulated mana throughout his entire being, the grand square itself started to shake.
“If you won’t come, then I shall go to you. It seems fine to reduce the numbers a little.”
The former hero was struck by the prediction that fighting like this would lead to total annihilation.
“Do you truly feel nothing after killing so many lives? Are you not the God of Light?”
As the former hero’s voice rose in bewilderment at his opponent’s emotionless response, the atmosphere of the battlefield shifted once again. The complexions of the superhumans—especially those who had experienced many brutal wars—began turning deathly pale.
‘He feels no emotion in a situation where he should be enraged.’
‘He only prepares to kill and responds with complete detachment.’
‘This only points to one kind of combat situation.’
‘A merciless massacre.’
‘If we stay here, we die.’
Some mages tried to secretly cast spatial teleportation as they sensed the crisis, while other superhumans began cautiously slipping away from the square.
‘Damn those former heroes! There was a completely different opponent to mess with.’
‘Of all people, they impeached the Root School practitioner who became the War God?’
‘We need to get out of here fast.’
But the moment those quick-witted superhumans tried to escape, their faces hardened. At some point, spatial teleportation magic had been forbidden, and the perimeter of the square was now sealed by a colossal sphere of light.
‘We’re trapped!’
‘Already?!’
As everyone turned to stare at the black mage in shock, their mouths fell open endlessly. A magnificent golden dragon was descending from the sky.
“I am Erendra, the Platinum Divine Dragon, the first examiner. Survive well.”
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaang—!
A colossal platinum dragon large enough to occupy half the grand square descended behind the black mage.
“Uwaaaaaack—!”
“Uwaaaaaaaa—!”
As the platinum dragon—its head seemingly touching the sky—landed in the War God’s square, the earth shook as if in an earthquake, and mages with slower reflexes tumbled to the ground. The swordsmen and martial artists barely managed to steady themselves and tried to look up at the dragon’s head, but its peak was nowhere in sight.
Superhumans who had experience fighting dragons screamed in terror.
“That’s a dragon? How is it this huge?”
“Weren’t they supposed to be around a hundred meters at most?”
The dragon the black mage had summoned as the pope examiner was, even at a conservative estimate, taller than an eight-kilometer mountain range. The superhumans’ entire field of vision was filled with platinum scales reflecting sunlight so brightly it hurt their eyes.
Gogogogogo—!
The platinum dragon’s head, larger than a temple, slowly lowered in a bow toward the black mage.
“Has the molting finished? How is your physical condition?”
“More perfect than I could have imagined, O noble and great Black Mage.”
The platinum dragon, whose size far surpassed the norms of the dragon race, was the evolved form of the dragon females offered to him. They had transformed into this colossal, overwhelmingly powerful dragon god thanks to the black mage’s blessing and support. Satisfied with the sight, he commanded,
“This is the entertainment for the festival. Test the qualifications of the papal candidates.”
“I shall obey your divine will.”
When the platinum dragon’s head turned toward them, the former heroes and superhumans broke into cold sweat, their bodies stiffening under the overwhelming size and presence.
“She is still young and weak—only at the level of an upper god equivalent to a lesser Demon King. Still, she is quite strong in her own right, so face her well.”
‘Who the hell is young and weak—!’
Kukukukung!
Urrrrrrrng!
Silent screams echoed through the superhumans as the merciless giant dragon’s attack began.
“Those who would become the Pope of the great War God—! I, Erendra the Platinum Divine Dragon, a subordinate upper god, shall now test you!”
Jwaaaaa—!
Goooooo—!
Tuhahahahahak—!
An intangible breath of compressed air shot from the platinum dragon’s widely opened maw, slamming into the superhumans’ formation at terrifying speed.
“Kwaaaaaaaaack—!”
“Uwaaaaaaaaaa—!”
Over several hundred superhumans struck directly by the formless air breath were pulverized into dust. The massive whirlwind created by the aftershock swept across the entire square.
“The God called this the entertainment of the festival. Prepare yourselves as much as possible and come at me. Otherwise, you won’t last even a moment.”
Erendra the Platinum Divine Dragon was furious that the black mage—who had evolved her into a dragon god—had been impeached.
Drdrdrdr!
Gogogogogo—!
Overflowing with mana from her rage, her colossal body distorted the very space around her.
“How dare mere sentient beings impeach the War God? I shall see if your skills match your arrogant tongues.”
Even the former heroes could not keep their minds straight before the overwhelming scale of the divine dragon’s power. The shock was especially devastating for the former hero who had spoken so confidently. The arrogance he had built from subjugating descended Demon Kings in the past was completely shattered.
“This is the level of a lesser Demon King? Then were the Demon Kings I defeated nothing more than lesser demons?”
“The power calculations were wrong,” the Mage King spat out the dirt that had flown into his mouth and continued with a deeply furrowed brow. “In the Middle World, Demon Kings can only use one-tenth of their power. But that restriction apparently doesn’t apply to the black mage who ascended to godhood as a human of the Middle World. Given the nature of black magic summoning spells, I have no idea how many more of these monsters might appear.”
“What? How can you say something so irresponsible now—!”
“No one knew the main bodies of the summoned Demon Kings would be this strong! Besides, we had no data. Even if I am the King of Mages, I can’t predict everything without information!”
“Stop making excuses and give us a plan! A plan!”
As the impeachment of the War God was halted and forced combat began, several superhumans shouted desperately toward the god.
“We have no intention of opposing you! We only came to become a faithful Pope!”
The god’s reply to the earnest plea of superhumans who had nothing to do with the former heroes was absurd.
“This is only the preliminary round, so enjoy it to the fullest. Those who survive may replenish their equipment and supplies before rejoining. Anyone who dies more than three times will be disqualified from the papal candidacy.”
“Eh—?”
At the entrance of the square, they could see the superhumans who had just been turned to dust by the intangible breath reviving once more.
“Huh…?”
“They came back to life?”
All the superhumans, including the former hero, felt their minds go blank at this ridiculous turn of events. They had come to insult and impeach the black mage in order to wage war against him, yet their opponent showed no such hostility at all. Moreover, the rewards were outrageous.
“Any superhuman who survives the preliminary round with fewer than three deaths and remains until the end may convert to my faith. I shall halt your aging and death. If you accumulate enough merit for me and the War God’s holy nation, I shall grant you a corresponding period of renewed youth.”
“Ehhh—?”
The black mage sat upon the highest seat prepared for the War God, overlooking the square, and made his declaration.
“I am a generous War God who rewards the strong and the loyal accordingly. I promise compensation so generous that, by sentient being standards, it should move you to tears.”
“…”
“…”
At this point, a subtle heat began to rekindle among the superhumans.
‘As long as we don’t die more than three times, we won’t age or die, even if we don’t become young again?’
‘Even if we fail now, we’ll have plenty of chances next time.’
‘If we just build up merit, we can temporarily enjoy youth once more.’
What god had ever bestowed such miracles upon sentient beings? None.
‘Conversion—! If the rewards are this generous, we’ll gladly welcome it.’
The superhumans’ fighting spirit reignited. Their gazes toward the colossal platinum dragon began to change. Slowly, the monster of fear transformed in their eyes into a mountain of treasure.
‘There is only one papal seat. But if we simply avoid dying more than three times in the preliminaries, we can earn the right to challenge forever.’
With so many superhumans gathered, the once-distant papal seat now seemed within reach. The impeachment speech the former hero had given earlier was wiped from their minds as desire boiled up once again.
‘What’s wrong with massacring beings who refuse to obey?’
‘If there’s anyone here who has killed fewer than a thousand of the gathered superhumans, step forward.’
Suddenly, as the situation flipped completely, a thunderbolt struck the ears of the bewildered former heroes.
“The former heroes and superhumans who impeached me will receive special compensation if they die more than three times. You may choose in advance whether to suffer Anti-Karma or become skeletons and perform permanent labor for the holy nation.”
“!!!”
“!!!”
The images of the black mages who had been brutally tortured to death just days ago—souls completely annihilated—and the sight of themselves as skeletons endlessly digging with shovels flashed vividly before the eyes of the former heroes and their accomplices. Their vision went pitch black as despair set in.
“I am extremely generous. If you die fewer than three times, simply convert. I shall temporarily appoint you as cardinals and suspend divine punishment.”
Crack—!
Crunch—!
Now that an escape route had appeared, strength surged through the bodies of the former heroes and superhumans. Veins bulged on the hands gripping their weapons.
‘There is no choice.’
‘We must survive and subjugate the evil god.’
‘Dying here like this would be the greatest humiliation imaginable.’
If they gave up now, they would not even die properly but would become skeletons forced into eternal labor. The thought of people laughing at their pathetic state for recklessly challenging such a generous god made their blood boil in reverse. Moreover, it had truly become worth challenging.
“The preliminary round will last only one hour. Fight bravely, survive, and seize life and victory—!”
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaack—! Long live the noble and great Black Mage—!”
The sight of the mountain-sized platinum dragon shining with platinum light and tens of thousands of superhumans roaring in unison was broadcast across the Middle World. The atmosphere of condemning an evil god had vanished without a trace, replaced by frenzy over the enormous rewards.
The excited cheers of brave superhumans challenging a dragon god the size of a mountain range echoed throughout the Middle World.
Goooooooo—!
Ooooooooooooo—!
The superhumans’ momentum, ignited by the generous god’s measures and the tremendous rewards granted to the strong, swelled like a wildfire. And with it, the highest-tier divine power of the War God returned to the black mage even stronger than before.
Inside his robe, the black mage smiled wickedly.
‘So this is why the Main God did it that way. It’s useful, so I should use it often.’
Thus the papal selection battle began—and concluded with overwhelming success.