Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 124
EP.124 Play Part 5
With a brief reflection, the dust that had risen settled down. Jeong-hyeon stood alone amidst the ruins of everything around him... or was it more accurate to say he stood proudly?
"Well, at least I'm standing."
A smirk crossed his face as he looked at the paladin.
"Wow, he survived this."
Honestly, he had thought there was nothing he could do if the paladin died. But seeing him endure and survive, Jeong-hyeon couldn't help but be impressed. He loosened his shoulders as he watched the paladin, whose body twisted grotesquely, and decided to fight properly this time, clenching his fists tightly.
"Alright, let's start with... the head."
As the saying went, the first attack was always aimed at the head. Honoring tradition, he prepared to smash it first and charged forward. His entire body was clad in divine power, so just stepping forward caused everything around him to explode. With each step, the ground shattered with a boom! He swung his fist and struck the paladin’s head hard.
Bang!
He deliberately stopped his fist mid-swing to avoid piercing through the paladin’s skull, causing the helmet to deform and his face to cave in completely.
"It feels pretty good to hit."
The sensation in his hand was perfect for using the paladin as a punching bag. Jeong-hyeon chuckled as he watched the paladin, filled with rage, swinging his weapon wildly, and then aimed a punch at his chest. A crunching sound followed as something broke. It was probably the sound of his ribs shattering. Watching the paladin scream in agony, Jeong-hyeon decided to target his legs next.
"This time, let's keep it simple."
He thought of just kicking the paladin’s leg hard in the opposite direction. With that thought, he stomped on the paladin’s thigh, crushing it completely.
Crunch!
One of the paladin’s legs twisted grotesquely, making it impossible to use. Jeong-hyeon smiled at him and offered his congratulations.
"Just break three more, and you'll be more like a human!"
Whether the paladin took it as a congratulatory remark or not didn't matter much, since he was about to die anyway. Before the paladin could respond, Jeong-hyeon crushed his other leg completely, forcing him to kneel.
"Kiieeeek!"
A piercing scream filled the air. Jeong-hyeon looked at the crumbling paladin and took back the holy sword he was holding.
"How dare you try to steal what's mine."
Vroom! Vroom!
As he said that, the holy sword vibrated violently, as if blaming him for everything. But since it couldn't speak, Jeong-hyeon told it to complain verbally if it had a problem and turned his gaze away.
"So... it's just the two of us now?"
Though it was a somewhat romantic statement, the Pope seemed to perceive it as a line from a horror movie. She stepped back, looking blankly between the paladin and Jeong-hyeon.
"How... how could you defeat the paladin?"
"He was weak."
"Weak? This generation’s paladin is strong enough to be recorded in history..."
"What are you talking about? He was weak."
"..."
The Pope, unable to argue against Jeong-hyeon's assertive words, fell silent before beginning to question him as if denying reality.
"Who... who are you? A hero who hasn't even faced a real trial can't be this strong! Even the Demon King was much weaker than you... who are you?"
Jeong-hyeon answered as if it were obvious.
"Me? I'm the divine power bomb you guys created."
"..."
Though it contained many meanings, the biggest implication was I became strong to take revenge on you. The Pope seemed to understand the underlying message and continued retreating, eventually tripping over a stone and collapsing to the ground, trembling. Jeong-hyeon looked at her and asked for her thoughts.
"So, how does it feel? To be strangled by the bomb you created?"
Whether she didn't know how to respond or simply didn't want to, the Pope remained silent. Jeong-hyeon gently grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up, speaking.
"Well, anyway, that's enough of a greeting. Let's start the trial now."
At the mention of a trial, the Pope shouted desperately.
"A trial can only be held by high-ranking clergy... no one will agree if someone like you tries to hold one!"
Why did she think he needed the Church’s authority to hold a trial? Jeong-hyeon shook his head, thinking that religious people were overly church-centric in their thinking. Deciding it wasn’t worth discussing further, he grabbed her by the hair and headed to where the Magic Stone was located.
"Now, let's broadcast this to show everyone."
Dragging the Pope, who was covered in blue blood due to his actions, he addressed the wizards recording the situation.
"From now on, we'll start the witch trial... no, the demon trial."
Mimicking a solemn tone they might appreciate, he explained the trial process.
"The Goddess is more merciful than anyone. Therefore, rather than killing someone simply because they’re a demon, she wishes to give them multiple chances to repent."
When he mentioned "repentance," the Pope looked at him with an expression that said, I knew it. Trying to suppress his laughter, he continued speaking.
"Therefore, until red blood flows instead of blue from this heinous demon’s body, we will continue to punish them, helping them truly repent."
In other words, I will torture the Pope until red blood comes out. Essentially, it was a plan to conduct as much legal torture as he wanted.
"But just repeating torture would be boring."
He decided it would be good to mix in some events and fun elements. With that decision, he raised the holy sword and explained the legitimate reason for the torture.
"The first thing we should do is confirm the true form of the demon wearing the Pope’s skin."
The Pope, realizing something was wrong, struggled, but Jeong-hyeon continued, pressing down on her ankle with his foot.
"So, first, we’ll peel off all the skin to see what’s hidden inside."
"...?"
Hearing this, the Pope desperately tried to escape, even deploying her divine power. But it was a futile struggle. Overwhelmed by Jeong-hyeon's immense divine power, she couldn't use her strength properly and slammed her head into the ground. Watching her pitiful state, he chuckled and called out to Bishop Lea, who was standing awkwardly nearby.
"What are you doing? Hurry up and peel off the skin."
At his words, Lea flinched and froze, looking at him with a bewildered expression.
Duke Filothes sighed as he watched the Pope bleeding blue through the Magic Stone. It was clear that the Church would fall to an irreparable level due to this incident.
"I can't even begin to fathom how to handle this."
If it were just the Pope falling alone, they could replace her with a substitute and somehow cover it up. But the fact that the "Church," known as the nemesis of demons, and its supreme ruler was actually a demon was something that couldn't be covered up no matter how they tried.
"The Pope can't really be a demon... but the suspicion among the believers will never die down."
The Church, by its nature, tended to unite firmly in the face of religious persecution or adversity. However, if the problem arose from within rather than outside, it had the characteristic of breaking apart more easily than anything else. It was crucial to prevent believers from harboring "doubt," but...
His colleague and the current Pope had destroyed everything herself, even burning the last card they had.
"...It's over."
Thinking it was so frustrating that it only made him sigh, he pressed his head down. Then, a butler who had been watching everything approached him slowly and made a suggestion.
"Duke, I've heard that the hero of this generation is staying at the royal dormitory of the academy."
"...A hero? At the royal dormitory? No matter how capable he is, is that possible?"
"Normally, it wouldn't be possible... but it was changed at the suggestion of Princess Charlotte."
"Is that so?"
Royal dormitory, hero, Charlotte. These words didn't seem to fit together at all, yet they were strangely intertwined. Intrigued by this, he muttered to himself and then asked the butler a question.
"The line of succession to the throne. How is it progressing?"
"Currently, Princess Karina is in a favorable position, but due to some issues, her position is gradually shaking."
"...I see."
After a brief calculation, he reached a conclusion.
"There's no need for Karina to become queen."
Though it was a statement that could cause problems even for a duke, the butler nodded in agreement as if it were obvious. Watching this, he decided to offer the throne as a bargaining chip to Charlotte to win over the hero and closed his eyes.
"If it seems impossible to handle, it might be better to calm him down and bring him to our side."
He knew well that revenge and anger would eventually subside, leaving only emptiness. So, he decided to try to calm Jeong-hyeon down by stimulating this.
***
Jeong-hyeon watched Lea mercilessly torturing the Pope and couldn't help but be impressed. She seemed to have a lot of pent-up frustration, as she was practically skinning the Pope. Being someone with a sensitive disposition, he couldn't bear to watch the torture and turned his gaze away. He then spoke to Shin Si-ah, who had arrived earlier.
"Si-ah, can I ask you a favor?"
"What is it?"
Shin Si-ah nodded, curious about his sudden request. Jeong-hyeon pointed at the "Paladin" and spoke.
"Can you turn the Pope into a chimera like that Paladin? It would be fun to carry her around like a royal corpse golem."
"..."
At his words, Shin Si-ah looked at him silently, then offered her horn.
"Should I just give you my horn?"