The Pope's Dragon Heart Bargain
Creak.
"This is really something. You people are incredibly hard to meet. And late for the appointment, no less."
Someone seated in a chair sneered as he watched the person open the door and step inside.
It had already been two hours past the agreed meeting time.
Scrape.
"Cut the idle chatter and get to the point."
The old man with purple eyes sat down and spoke.
"Huh? This… I think I need to teach you some manners before we even start talking. If you're two hours late, isn't the proper order to apologize first?"
"I bow my head to no one except our god."
The old man stared at his counterpart. From Asmoden, Pope of the Demon God Cult and the one called the god's proxy, a demonic energy flowed that seemed capable of intoxicating anyone nearby.
"Ha, this is why dealing with fanatic bastards is so damn annoying."
"What?! You bastard, how dare you!"
Swoosh.
Pope Asmoden raised his arm and stopped the archbishop who had accompanied him.
"We didn't arrange this meeting just for a war of words, after all."
"Ah, right. I suggested we meet to claim some damages."
"Damages?"
"Because your cult members tried to poach our New Age members."
The man sitting opposite Asmoden was Alteir, leader of New Age and the one known by the moniker Heaven Smasher. He looked at Asmoden with a sly smile.
The leaders of two massive organizations now faced each other in the same room.
"Even if we operate in the shadows, there's still such a thing as underworld ethics… You can't just go around snatching other people's members like that."
Shurike had originally been a New Age member. Yet according to the reports, he had also been involved with the Demon God Cult.
"We never forced him to become our believer. Him coming over was solely his own choice."
"Hahahaha, see? I told you he'd say something like that. I win. Hand over the ten dollars."
"…Tsk."
Hearing the Pope's words, Alteir burst into laughter and held out his hand to the man standing behind him. That was Durandoer, second-in-command of New Age and the co-founder of the organization alongside Alteir.
"Hey, Mr. Pope. Why are your lines so cliché?"
Alteir pocketed the ten dollars and laughed. They had bet on what answer the Pope would give when Alteir said something like that, and as everyone could see, he had won.
"Enough with the jokes… Get every last Demon God Cult member out of our territory."
Just as Baek Do-ha had predicted, the two groups had been locked in continuous conflict ever since Shurike's dual affiliation was exposed. In the process, countless cult members and New Age operatives had died or been captured. Baek Do-ha's plan had succeeded spectacularly. In the end the leaders of both organizations had proposed a meeting to stem further losses, and that was how they had arrived here.
"Then shouldn't you also cancel the operation you were planning to raid us with?"
"Operation?"
"Are you pretending not to know? You planned an operation to attack five of our cult branches, didn't you?"
"…"
At Asmoden's words, Alteir's eyebrows twitched. How the hell did that damn fanatic know about that? Could there be a spy among the elders? Just how far had these bastards infiltrated?
"Hehehe, our leader seems quite surprised."
"Well, it is surprising. How many rats have you planted… So, your answer?"
"If you cancel the operation, we will also withdraw from your territory."
"Good. Kuh. Unlike the others, our head fanatic is easy to talk to."
"…"
Ssssss.
At last, killing intent began to pour from the archbishop who had been holding himself in check. He had endured only because the Pope remained still, but he could take no more. This had gone beyond blasphemy; it was open humiliation of the Pope.
"Hmm… It seems the gentleman over there doesn't care for our conversation."
"You've been calling us fanatics, fanatics this whole time… I'll tear that filthy mouth of yours apart!"
"Tsk."
Whoosh!
Crack!
The moment the archbishop charged, Durandoer—standing behind Alteir—snapped the man's neck at tremendous speed. It was so fast that even though the archbishop had moved first, he never even registered the counter.
Thud.
"Hey, Mr. Pope. No matter how pressed for time you are, you shouldn't bring such low-grade trash with you."
As the archbishop collapsed, Alteir shook his head. He had expected something of the man simply because he had come along, yet the fellow had died far too pathetically.
"In my view, you seem to make far too hasty judgments."
Ssssss.
As Asmoden smiled, the fallen archbishop slowly rose from the floor. His neck had been completely twisted, yet he was not dead.
Crunch.
"Heh. Is that all?"
With his neck restored, the archbishop smiled coldly.
"Interesting."
Zzzzzzz.
When Durandoer's and the archbishop's auras collided, cracks spider-webbed across the building walls.
"Stop. Let's end the aura contest here."
"Stand down, Durandoer."
Sssss.
No sooner had the words left their mouths than both men stepped back.
"By the way, how about we get to the main point soon?"
"The main point, you say…"
At Alteir's words the Pope stroked his chin.
"You must have something in mind. That's why you answered my request for a meeting."
"Have you not considered that I came all the way here simply to attack the cult?"
"You think I wouldn't know? Even if cult members die by the thousands, even if dozens of branches are destroyed, you don't particularly care, do you? And someone like that came out here just because he's worried about being attacked? Nonsense. The cult members would be deeply moved that you moved personally for their sake. But that's just an act, isn't it?"
"…"
At those words the Pope narrowed his eyes. Just as Alteir said, he truly did not care if thousands of cult members perished. They were beings who served the god; their sacrifice was for the glory of the Demon God. And even if a branch was destroyed, he could simply establish another elsewhere.
"So stop wasting time and get to the point. Why did you meet me?"
"I heard that New Age will do anything as long as they're paid."
"Aha, so you personally came all this way to commission us?"
"How about it? If you accept my commission, I'll give you the damages I mentioned earlier along with a considerable sum of money."
"Kuh. As expected. Have you thought about joining our New Age? We get along far too well."
"I cannot, since I am a man who serves a god, but I appreciate the sentiment."
"What's the commission?"
"An escort… I suppose you could call it that."
"Escort?"
At the unexpected words Alteir tilted his head. He had personally moved just for a mere escort job?
"In the world of Belhart there exists the elves' kingdom of Alfheim. I would like you to secretly escort four of our cult members as far as the World Tree. They are not combatants. After arriving at the World Tree, simply protect them for about ten minutes. Once ten minutes have passed, you may leave the cult members behind and withdraw."
"Did I just mishear something?"
At the Pope's words Alteir let out a hollow laugh. Go to another dimension? And to the elves' kingdom at that? Judging by the man's expression he was serious, and if so he was truly insane. Even the weakest elves were on par with A-rank Awakened. And this was a kingdom. There would be countless beings of S-rank and higher, not merely A-rank. How were they supposed to break through a place like that?
"Hey, Mr. Pope. Since you only give orders from that seat, everything in the world must seem easy to you… But the commission you're talking about right now is impossible no matter how much money you throw at it. How are we supposed to sneak in there?"
"I will tell you a secret passage. There is a path the elves do not know."
"Do you take us for fools?"
"?"
"We have informants of our own. To enter Alfheim you need the purifying energy the elves possess, don't you? That's why even you people can't get in."
A hidden path was not the issue. Even if one followed the path, one could not cross into the elves' domain.
"Hmm. You seem to be mistaken about something. First, it is not that we cannot enter. We simply had no reason to go, so we did not. Second…"
Swoosh.
Thud.
As the Pope lightly moved his hand, something dropped onto the table.
"We can extract enough purifying energy to cross the domain."
"…This is."
Alteir's eyes widened as he stared at the object on the table—the head of Priscilla, an elder of the elves.
"The head of the elves' elder, Priscilla. I killed her yesterday and cut it off."
Beneath the queen, the elves had four elders known as the Four Element Elders—Fire, Water, Grass, and Wind. The one the Pope had slain was the Wind Elder, reputed to be the strongest of the four.
"Ha… Hahahaha. This man is truly insane, isn't he?"
The stunned Alteir burst into hollow laughter. He had pulled out a head, and it turned out to belong to an elf elder. As mentioned earlier, the elves' combat power was considerable. To kill one of their elders… Since an important figure had been slain, the elves' side would be furious beyond measure.
"Above all, their vigilance will have heightened."
"The secret passage I mentioned is hidden, so you can enter without being detected."
"If you know the path and can extract the energy, why commission us instead of sending your own cult members?"
"I cannot tell you the details, but… the strong ones within the cult must guard a certain place. Because of that, there is no one available to protect the cult members infiltrating Alfheim. That is why I am commissioning you. Since you fight on the front lines yourselves, you understand combat power well, do you not?"
"Then what will you pay the commission fee with? This will require an extraordinarily high price, or else…"
"Dragon Heart."
Alteir's words died in his throat.
"I looked into it. You have been continuously searching for Dragon Hearts on the black market because you cannot enter the gates where dragons appear."
"…"
"If you accept the commission, I will give you a Dragon Heart."
"Well… it's true that I want a Dragon Heart, but even so, entering Alfheim just for one…"
"I'll give you two."
"…What?"
"I will give you two Dragon Hearts. Moreover, I will pay one as an advance, and hand over the remaining one the moment the mission begins."
Swoosh.
Eyes wide, Alteir turned his head toward Durandoer.
Zzzzz.
Using a magic artifact he possessed, Alteir sent a telepathic message.
What should we do?
Something feels off. He's offering two whole Dragon Hearts just for an escort job?
If they try anything shady, we just kill the cult bastards and get out.
The reason Alteir had been hunting Dragon Hearts all this time was to become a Dragonkin. If he could become a Dragonkin—or Draconian, as they were also called—half-human and half-dragon, there would be nothing left in the world to fear.
I already have one, right? The one hidden in Korea.
The transplant success rate for Dragon Hearts was extremely low. Because of that, three were needed to reliably become a Dragonkin. If he possessed only one and the transplant failed, he would have to implant another immediately.
Once I absorb that, I won't have to care about the Pope or anyone else.
You said you hid it in the branch with the strongest member in Korea, right? Gwangmyeong Branch or something? But every one of our Korean branches got wiped out. They must have taken the Dragon Heart too.
Nonsense. Did you forget the magic on that vault? It's under the 8-Circle magic Veil. How would they find it? Even you and I couldn't detect it if we searched. Unless there's someone who can use 8-Circle magic—and there are no such mages in Korea.
However, the two of them did not know that there were two beings who had already reached the level of 8-Circle.
"Alright. We'll escort them. After we reach the World Tree, once ten minutes pass, the two of us will pull out."
In the end Alteir smiled. Now that he would have three Dragon Hearts, he could become a Dragonkin. Just in case, he had also stored a dragon egg, but that was no longer necessary.
I was going to hatch the dragon egg and extract just the Dragon Heart if needed, but this worked out well.
Swoosh.
Hummmm.
Thud-thud.
"This is the promised item."
The Pope withdrew one Dragon Heart from his subspace and held it out.