I Became The Pope, Now What?

Exhausting all his knowledge and methods, Sylvester found himself at his wit's end. There was simply no way to reach into the realm of the Primordial Gods. Even after exploring the energy they used to make the Orb of Purity, it was impossible.

"You can't make a tear into their realm with simple comprehension."

Sylvester didn't have to look around anymore to know who the voice belonged to. The sensation he felt every time he heard it was nothing strange to him. "Then how do I confront them?"

"I shall be your guiding light, while you should only worry about fulfilling the role you were born for without fright." Said the voice.

Sylvester noticed a flickering light in front of his body that made a path between the eel-like universe-carrying creatures. The light made a tunnel, much smaller and tighter than normal. "How do you know how to enter their realm, Solis?"

Although the light was his only clue in the confusing void, he didn't forget to be vigilant. From the start till now, he still didn't know about Solis' goals. Why does he always know when to appear and help him? What was in it for the godly being?

"Because I have seen countless others try and pry their way into the realm of Primordial Gods," Solis answered and continued to pave a path for Sylvester through his light. He appeared like an orb of light and nothing else. Even his voice sounded high-pitched, but muffled.

"Who are these 'others'?" Sylvester asked but followed the guiding light nonetheless.

"You know them."

Sylvester quickly thought of the other gods that he had heard about during his travels. "Remira and the other gods?"

"Not all, but some tried," Solis clearly answered. "But it wasn't their time, nor was it in their fate to oppose them, only to weaken. They merely served a purpose that resulted in this moment. You are the final nail in the coffin, Sylvester Maximilian. You exist for that reason."

Sylvester silently followed, pondering over everything that Solis had said that whole time. Yes, he knew that his sole purpose of existing was to oppose the Primordial Gods. It was one of the reasons he still had some confidence to keep going forward.

At a rapid speed, they speared through the endless space filled with the eel creatures. How they were going to enter the realm of the Primordial Gods was beyond his understanding.

"But unlike what you believe in, they did not die," Solis continued all of a sudden. "To this day, they try, with their spirits unwavering and high. From the confines of our invisible prison, we found a purpose, a reason."

Woosh!

The flickering light in front of Sylvester picked up its speed and suddenly collided with something, vanishing slowly. Sylvester also followed behind, and shed his physical state, leaving it only a malleable body.

Woosh!

Just like Solis, Sylvester felt something ahead of him. Although it looked like darkness with the eels everywhere, physically, he felt a tight crack there, through which he could squeeze in like water.

'Where is he taking me?' Sylvester wondered, 'Is this the door to the realm of Primordial Gods?'

Little by little, he eased into the gap that seemed like a tear in space. The further he went ahead, the more he felt warm, almost the opposite of the cold darkness of the void. After a while, he found light on the other side, as if it were an entirely different world.

Then like a flicker, there was light all around. Sylvester's body started to take back its humanoid shape as he felt the area was far more open. Just too bright, almost as if the entire space was white, and the ground was a lighter shade of gray.

"Where are we?"

"Our invisible prison," Solis repeated, and his golden form continued to move, "Those who dared to oppose and grew too ambitious eventually found their way here."

"What do you mean?" Sylvester questioned, creating a complete body once again. "Where is the way into their realm? Are we already in it?"

"No, this is the middle ground." Solis finally stopped moving, "Greet him, warriors forgotten, yet worshiped. The fateful moment is upon us."

Sylvester carefully kept a watch at all sides around him. "Who are you tal—"

He didn't have to ask that question. In the distance in front of him, he noticed multiple figures coming out of the flickering white light of the space. There were more than two dozen silhouettes, varying in size and shape.

The closer they got, the more Sylvester felt a surging magical presence before him that continued to grow stronger. Individually, he didn't feel anything from them, but as a group, he could sense their strength reaching close to him.

"You finally arrived, Sylvester Maximilian."

"That voice…" Sylvester looked at the forefront humanoid tall figure in the crowd. He was the first to show his complete appearance, "Pope Hermington?!"

Once the silhouettes became clear, he confirmed it to be him. But not only that, he saw a female elf behind him, dwarfs with long red beards on the other side, a humanoid mutated dragon, a lion, a giant, and so many more.

"Remira? Iron Gods? Luna?" Sylvester blurted the names of all the godly entities prayed to in his world, and also those that existed before, like Luna. "This is where you live?"

"Where we're imprisoned," Luther Vas Hermington, the first Pope to ascend beyond the limit, replied. "This is from where we watched your journey as you fulfilled the countless fated prophecies."

'Watching me?' Sylvester didn't feel comfortable with that.

"So all of you were once like me? But ended up getting stuck here?" Sylvester asked them, "What's stopping them from capturing me here too?"

"Because we're not captured here. We are here to protect ourselves from them, a small crack in the spaces between their realm and ours, where we can find some shelter from their control," the first Pope answered. "We were to await you, Sylvester. All of us, for countless years, have been awaiting you."

Sylvester glanced at Remira and the rest, "Do all of you have the same story?"

"Identical," Remira responded, her hair green, her clothes made of bunched-up leaves that covered her bosom and the lower parts. Her long ears were a little longer than any elf Sylvester had seen before. She held fondness towards him as he initially shared blood of her kind. "But yours will be different."

Sylvester had grown to ignore all the fate-related talk and focus only on what was in front of him. His suspicions were rising now regarding everything, an occupational hazard after having experienced so many hidden schemes.

"What have you been doing here all this time? What's your purpose?"

"To make the rift in space for you," voiced another creature this time, the strong, muscular, red-bearded dwarf, an iron hammer in his hands. "To defeat the Primordial Gods, you need to reach them first. While you ascended from being a mortal to a god, we carved you a pathway."

"Forged slowly so they won't notice." The dragon-like being added, likely the god of dragons. "The element of surprise is your greatest tool."

"There is no element of surprise when it comes to them," Sylvester replied, dismissing their optimistic ideas. "They are always aware of everything. They are omniscient unless you possess an artifact to hide from their gaze. There are no surprises."

"There is, however," the First Pope interjected. "The same surprise that has led you throughout your journey with words, with goals, with replies to your worship."

Sylvester immediately looked at his side, but Solis' flickering light wasn't there anymore.

"I shall be going there with you." Solis' voice came just then. For the first time, he appeared to be walking like a human. Cutting through the crowd of the gods of his worlds, Solis arrived at the forefront, a staff in one hand, his tall stature eclipsing even the giants. His face was still surrounded by darkness, but the halo behind his head was visible, as was his shoulder-length white hair.

Sylvester felt genuinely overwhelmed by this entity, just like before. Despite having grown so strong, Solis still remained above him by a margin. And now, the being was coming with him where the rulers of reality were going to die.

'I can't help but doubt his motives.' Sylvester silently stared at the mighty form. 'Too convenient that he found me in the mortal world when even the Primordial Gods couldn't.'

"To go alone knowing that the enemy outnumbers you is a fool's mistake. This is beyond you and me, Sylvester; such are the stakes," Solis spoke and stopped in front of the crowd of gods. "Many have perished to see you rise. You must stand prepared for any surprise, for their lies can even deceive my eyes."

Sylvester silently nodded, knowing he couldn't say no. But before he continued, he looked back at the First Pope and directly asked, "Pope Hermington, who brought you to this 'prison sanctuary?', what about the rest of you?"

"It was Solis," the First Pope replied.

"Solis."

"None but Solis."

"Respected Solis."

All of them gave all but one answer. Just one name behind everything. It rang alarm bells in Sylvester's head, louder than any scent of death he had ever smelled.

His jaw tightened.

'Him again… every time.'