I Became The Pope, Now What?

Surrounded by demon-possessed people on all sides, Sylvester had all but one option to employ. He took a deep breath and activated the Supreme Void, taking everyone inside it, but no one could see any change. 

Every single thing in the Supreme Void came under his influence. He felt every particle there, visible or not, no matter how many. Bolstered with his Elder Magic, he swept the entire area with his senses and felt the demonic souls taking over the human souls, some having completed it already. The change was occurring too fast. 

However, he saw the arm straps on every single one that was possessed. The Bright Mothers and the Priests near him who had the arm straps were quickly healed by him by placing an exorcism rune. 

Woosh!

Out of nowhere, invisible blades appeared inside the Supreme Void, right beside each Demon-possessed. The blades cut the arm straps away with ease, following which the light magic burned the Keys that were used to possess the human bodies. 

"Feel the charm of gravity," Sylvester removed the protective light shield around them and watched as the demon-possessed growled and stared at him while being immobilized, some falling to their knees due to the heightened gravity. 

"Heeee… arrrh!" 

"Haaaaassss!"

The Demons began to growl differently all of a sudden. Unlike before, it was devoid of any struggle. The way they seemed fixated on him showed a purpose in their existence, something they were trying to convey. 

"Quick, kill them, Godfather!" 

Sylvester didn't want to, not unless he knew why this was even happening. This was perhaps the biggest demonic possession ever. In that single town, there were more demonic possessions than in the entire recorded history. 

"Faa…"

"Aaassst…!"

The Demons growled in groups, each group making a different sound as if they were being instructed. But Sylvester noticed their bodies were mutating too fast, turning demonic. Their faces began to turn devilish, red with cracks on their skin, and their eyes almost coming out of their skulls. 

'There are children as well,' he noticed and realized he had to make a choice. 'I want to know what they're saying, but… if I let them die, the Pope's name would be tarnished.' 

"Speak quick!"

"Jaaaaaa…"

"Aaaamph…"

"Hiiiin…"

'Jump in?" Sylvester concluded and decided not to wait anymore. Using light magic, he created a glowing rune circle on the land covered by the Supreme Void. Following that, his lips began to chant a hymn while the other Priests shouted exorcism chants. 

"Wraaaa!" 

The runes began to shine, and the bodies of all the possessed gave off a red, steamy mist as the demonic souls within their bodies began to be exorcized. 

"You stand before the servant of Solis, 

Your own doom you failed to notice. 

Wretched demons of the sinful realm, 

In this world, as protector, I'm at the helm."

Bzzzz!

The exorcism runes began to blaze. However, right then, the effects of the demonic possession intensified, and many of the possessed began bleeding from their eyes, nose, ears, and mouths.

"Tyeee…"

"Grrrr…" 

"Hymmmm…"

'This is bad. They're fighting back too much.' 

Sylvester joined the rest of the Priests to chant. Exorcizing a thousand people at the same time wasn't easy. 

Poof!

"Your Holiness!" A Priest suddenly shouted. "The head exploded!" 

Sylvester gritted his teeth as he saw one of the possessed die. This wasn't something that could simply be decided with his strength. Exorcism was dependent on the ritual of exorcizing, and there was no way to make it faster since the human soul was involved. 

With his fluent elemental control, he attempted to freeze their bodies with ice to restrict their movements. However, he still saw blood splattering inside the frozen cubes of ice. 

The heads kept exploding, and the people kept dying beyond healing. 

"Sylvester!"

Just then, one of the demon-possessed bellowed and exploded. But following that, the one beside it roared and exploded the same way. A chain reaction seemingly started, and they kept dying. 

"Enter!"

"World!"

"Fast!"

"End!"

"Nears!"

'They will all die at this rate!' Sylvester jumped towards the massive crowd and tried to suppress the bodies from exploding any further. His halo radiant, his hands showering the holy light all over the bodies, he tried to hasten the purification in any way possible. 

Poof!

However, the bodies kept exploding until the Demons had said what they wanted to. There was nothing Sylvester could do despite being a Supreme Wizard. All his light and power felt useless in that field of blood and death. Even if he were to force the heads to remain intact, the explosions still occurred and destroyed the brain matter inside. 

'The Demons use all the brain power they had left to say a word and die.' He figured and continued his useless attempts. 

A few minutes passed, and eventually, the carnage subsided on its own. Out of almost eight thousand people in town, nearly one-fourth of them died with their heads splattered on the ground. Women, men, and children, it was all random. 

Sylvester sighed, seeing the field of unconscious bodies. 'Even if the demons turn out to be good folks, it will be much harder to make the world accept them now… What have you fools done?'

"Start healing the victims," he ordered the Priests and Bright Mothers around him. "Use the healing potions I have." 

He handed them a sack of supplies from Chonky's belly. With his mind occupied with a myriad of thoughts, he went around healing people as well. Some had severed veins, paralyzed bodies, broken limbs, and blinded eyes. The people had gone through absolute torture.

Just like that, hours passed, and people began to regain their consciousness. Healers, Priests, and Bright Mothers from nearby monasteries also arrived by that time. Some villagers also came to help, but seeing the bloodied town square left many with weak stomachs. 

"Your Holiness," Bishop Lancel came to see Sylvester in the monastery's office. "Everyone is awake—five people couldn't be saved. Their hearts had been punctured by the broken ribs. The city's population now rests at six thousand and forty-two." 

"Such a loss," Sylvester sighed. "Then I'll be on my way, Bishop. A team of healers, exorcists, and ritual experts will soon arrive to purify the town. They'll also arrest the Baron and investigate what occurred here. Keep doing God's work, my brother in faith." 

Sylvester placed a pouch filled with Gold Graces on the table and got up. He could have stayed to investigate the Baron but chose not to since doing everything with his own hands would take too much of his time. Besides, he expected the Baron to be dead by now.

"Use the money to aid the families. If any child is orphaned, send them to Wailing City's monastery orphanage." 

The old Bishop bowed his head deeply, grateful that his life was saved because of Sylvester. His heart was now even more firmly devoted to his duty, and he saluted with pride. 

"May the Holy Light enlighten us." 

Sylvester quickly returned outside and got on the carriage. This time, there was no commoner there to bid farewell as they were all scared, injured, or dead. Silently, he whipped the horse gently and continued the journey. 

'I hope these demon possessions don't increase too much. It'll put me in a tough position.' 

"Godfather, why did the Demons say your name?" Rex asked something that was on everyone's mind. 

He sighed and indulged, "Who is the strongest being in this world? I am. Who is the unofficial ruler of this world? I am. So, who will the Demons go to if they wish to make a threat?"

"You!" The boy exclaimed. 

"Indeed. Now, let us continue with the lessons. Tell me what is a Step-up and Step-down Transformer. I wrote about it in the latest Intermediary Physics book." 

He didn't want to worry his students with too much tension about the hidden events of the world. The fear of the Primordial Gods wasn't theirs to bear since there was nothing they or anybody else could do. Knowing about them would only cause panic and anxiety in one's own helplessness. 

In time, they passed by the second-largest castle in the Blackhart Kingdom, the place where the Grand Duke used to live once before. Now, it remained as the Queen's second residence. Then, they crossed the bridge on the Tame River and traveled through a small patch of the Highland Kingdom. 

As soon as they entered Riveria, the roads instantly became much better. Many more vibrant towns and villages sprawled all across the roadside, and there were plenty of horses, carriages, and walking travelers there.

Then, the massive Trade Corridor began, and they traversed through endless huge cities, each with specialized crafts. The money generated from it was what made Riveria the wealthiest. 

Without anything special occurring, they continued and crossed the massive Gift River to finally enter Gracia Kingdom. Less industrialized than Southern Riveria, Southern Gracia had its own charm of farmlands, nature, and beautifully planted trees on the side of the smooth road. 

"Woah! Is that Ranthburg?!" shouted Rex from his seat beside Sylvester. "Isn't that where you first went for a mission and initiated Article Sixty-Six and erased the Ranthburg bloodline?" 

"Which was a trick by Saint Seer of the past, who made me commit that sin so the Shadow Knight would hunt me down," Sylvester revealed a massive secret, as they had to know it. "I shouldn't have killed the young ones that day. But my orders forced me to erase everyone." 

"May their souls rest in peace," prayed the big Elephantkin. 

"Wasn't it this Duchy of Ironstone where many noble lords died abruptly for no reason some time ago? Their heads exploded just like the demon-possessed we saw," Noah asked, staring at the passing scenery. 

Sylvester didn't add anything to it since he was the one behind those deaths.

Another day passed, and they eventually crossed by the high walls of the Yggdrasil School of Magic, getting closer and closer to the Holy Land. But, right when they thought nothing could go wrong, they found the Holy Road leading to the bridge to cross the Gold River being blocked by countless people. 

His carriage, bearing the church flag, moved past the traffic and reached the front of the line, finally seeing what was the reason for the huge crowd. 

"Follow me," Sylvester got down and walked to the front of the crowd with his students.

Eventually, he reached the center of the crowd from where a woman's wailing was echoing. She was sitting on the ground, holding a man's body and crying. Then, on the side, there were four armored knights beaten and subdued. 

'The battle against sin is never-ending, it seems.' Sylvester sighed and looked at Noah, giving him a nod to start shouting. 

"Move! Move back!" Noah roared at the crowd to make some space. "His Holiness, Pope Sylvester Maximilian is here to oversee!" 

Sylvester noticed the woman didn't react to Noah's shouts. So he knelt down beside the dead body and checked it. 

'Marks from a rope?' He quickly deduced they were marks from suicide, not murder. 

"What happened, my sister in faith?" Sylvester tried to ask the woman. Yet, she kept crying in a daze, not reacting to him. 

Sighing, he looked behind at the people. "Who caused this?" 

"Count Folksire!" 

"Aye! It was him!"

"That arrogant bastard!"

"That thief!"

'And so it begins,' Sylvester already expected it. 'Another mess, another noble at the helm.'

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