The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss-Chapter 307: Pope Lucius

"..." I’m standing in front of the church in a beautiful white dress, I’ve already taken my medication, so everything non-human is hidden. The white dress is simple but beautiful, accentuating my natural beauty.

Some students murmured about me seeming more mature and slightly taller, but fortunately no one questioned it, so I just gave the usual lesson and waited for the time to come to go to church.

And finally, I’m here next to the saint, who is more uncomfortable with me than usual. She must be feeling how much stronger I’ve become in a short time.

"Come on, saint, don’t be late. I want to see the famous Pope who never shows up in public," I say sarcastically, practically pushing her along the path.

"O-Okay..." She just says a nervous "okay" as we both enter the church. As soon as we step inside, I feel the unpleasant magic in the place.

’My skin tingles a little.’ For this magic to affect me, the level of power must be absurd. It’s natural for normal demons to die just by entering here, given this powerful magic.

"Rosaline, you seem disappointed. Were you expecting me to catch on fire or something like that?" I speak sarcastically.

"N-No!" She speaks too quickly. It’s obvious she was hoping something would happen to me when I entered the main headquarters of the church where the Pope resides.

’The insects inside Rosaline are completely fine. Maybe Rosaline’s body serves as a shield that protects them from the magic.’ It’s curious, but not of interest to me at the moment.

"I see you have paintings of deceased saints here. Is being beautiful a requirement?" I scoff, looking at the various paintings, all of which are beautiful young women.

"No, it’s not..."

"Hmm, you don’t seem very honest. Remember, we’re in a church, and lying is wrong."

"..." She remains silent as I wear a huge smile on my face. It’s fun to see her discomfort with me entering this ’sacred’ space, and her not being able to do anything about it.

Soon, we start climbing a very tall staircase, which will take a few minutes.

"What’s the Pope like?" I ask curiously.

"Pope Lucius is... a unique individual," Rosaline says, and then falls silent.

"Unique how?"

"You’ll know when you see him." She seems increasingly uncomfortable as we climb the steps.

"That really doesn’t help much, you know? But if you don’t want to talk, that’s fine. I’ll see him soon enough," I say, and the rest of the climb is made in complete silence.

After a few minutes of climbing, we end up in a corridor, but the corridor is somewhat bizarre for what one would expect in a church.

’These are demon heads... and judging by the residual magic, they are powerful.’ What an unusual hobby. Not only are there heads, but there are also demonic weapons on display, and paintings depicting demons being killed and tortured.

"What do you think of this?" Rosaline asks, uncertain of my response.

"I think he has excellent taste. Nothing like decorating the workplace with war trophies," I say, as I also have my own ’war trophies’ with me.

Although not in this form, I have Aokitsu serving me after defeating her, I have her entire race working for me, and I have Vanessa and the parents of the heroes, as well as my father, as trophies in my universe.

I’ve even sent them to my universe. The souls of the heroes’ parents are being tortured in the way the inhabitants of my universe find best, and they are locked in the underground, serving as toys.

As for my traitor father who abandoned my mother, he has a special cell even deeper underground, where his torture is being boiled in hot oil for 12 hours a day, and the rest of the time, his body is opened, and some of the more sadistic inhabitants play with his organs, forcing him to watch it all while he suffers.

"Tsk," Rosaline clicks her tongue and continues forward, while I follow behind, admiring the Pope’s excellent taste. His trophies are very good, and I like the tone of the paintings beautiful and bloody, just the way I like it.

"Pope Lucius, I-I’ve brought the Grand Duchess Pandora. May we enter?" Rosaline stops in front of a door and knocks, asking for permission to enter.

"Enter," I hear a calm and composed voice from inside, as Rosaline opens the door and, with a sigh, enters the room. I follow her, entering what appears to be a simple office.

’So this is Pope Lucius.’ He is a tall man with white hair and eyes. He is not young, but not old either, seeming to have the appearance of a "gentle" man in his 30s.

"Good morning, Grand Duchess. I am honored to receive your visit," the Pope says with a smile.

"Likewise, Pope Lucius. I am honored to be able to approach the man closest to the Goddess," I say, approaching his desk and extending my hand boldly. He gives me a smile and shakes my hand.

"I’m glad you have that view of me. The younger generation usually doesn’t seem to care much for religion," he says with a chuckle.

"Yes, it’s lamentable that they don’t care for our Goddess. They are just a bunch of fools who have not yet received the proper vision of the divine," the Pope seems surprised by my words.

"I didn’t know the Grand Duchess was religious," the Pope says with an amused smile on his face.

"Oh, but I am. I believe that this kind of thing is shown through actions, not words, and that’s why I will be one of those fighting on the front lines in the war," when I say this, the Pope seems to become more animated.

"Is that so?... Grand Duchess, then tell me, what punishment would you give to a filthy demon who goes against the authority of the Goddess?"

"I would remove their skin and immerse them in boiling water with salt." If a demon dared to go against my mother, the Goddess of the Abyss, I would undoubtedly make them regret it.

"Hmm," the Pope gains a huge smile on his face at the unhesitating response.

"What an excellent answer. Rosaline, when she heard this question, hesitated and was so benevolent as to only grant death to such an unclean being. But you are creative, and I like that," the Pope says, while I just smile.

Just as Mikael said, I need him to like me, so I’ll give good answers and gain some degree of friendship or favoritism.

"I appreciate the compliment. I’m just being honest about what they deserve," I say humbly.

"So, Grand Duchess, what do you think of this place?" he asks now with more interest and attention on me.

"Beautiful, and of very good taste. I find it interesting how defeated enemies and war spoils are displayed for all to see, and I can feel the incredible sacred magic of the church penetrating my body," an honest answer as well.

It’s just not pleasant to have this magic trying to harm me and failing. I still feel a slight discomfort.

"Hahaha," the Pope laughs at my response.

"You are undoubtedly an entertaining person, and Rosaline has also told me that you have even more talent for sacred magic than her. That is undoubtedly impressive. Are you interested in sacred magic?"

"Yes, without a doubt, it interests me. I even know how to use the [Chant of the Seven Heavens]," when I say this, both the Pope and the Saint are surprised.

"Is that so?" the Pope asks now with total interest.

"Yes, I learned it after much study and a divine revelation." This magic called the [Chant of the Seven Heavens] is an ’ancient’ magic, but no one knows how to use it, although there are records and books that teach it.

Not even Rosaline has been able to learn this sacred magic, but the books never describe exactly how to use it, only what happens to the environment.

But now that I have it, I know what it does, and honestly, it’s not worth all the effort I put into learning it.

"I can use it here and now if you wish," I tell him, and he nods his head with great interest.

[Chant of the Seven Heavens] - Sacred magic that generates a powerful flash of light that blinds everyone within the area for 1 minute.

As soon as I use it, a brief flash of light occurs and passes as quickly as it came. To me, everything is normal.

"I see, it is truly an impressive thing, Grand Duchess. I am blinded, and it is not easy to affect me with a debuff, as my natural healing and regeneration cannot repair the damage," the Pope says with a smile.

"Yes." Honestly, this magic is nothing special. It’s just difficult to learn because they’re doing it wrong. Unlike other magics, this one doesn’t use any of your mana, only the ambient mana.

In other words, the mistake of everyone is trying to use their own mana to perform the magic. If Rosaline tried to use this magic with just ambient mana, even she could do it.

Of course, it’s not easy, but it’s not that difficult either. They just exaggerated the difficulty because of interpretation errors, but thanks to these errors, I now have this card up my sleeve to impress the Pope.

"May I ask how you learned it?" the Pope questions with interest as he uses sacred magic to try to heal himself.

"I had a divine revelation. I felt touched by the sacred power and was able to learn such magic along with a few others," I randomly make up some nonsense. I learned this by reading 3 books and testing what worked and what didn’t.

"I see. It seems your talent for sacred magic is truly special and high, just as Rosaline said. You came for an inspection, didn’t you? I will accompany you," the Pope says, standing up from his chair.

Rosaline is shocked by what the Pope says, which makes me wonder if it is very unusual for him to decide to move around the places like this.

"I appreciate the understanding, and I would love to have you come with me. It would be a great honor," I say with a big smile as he approaches me.

"Hahahaha, your youthful enthusiasm is truly invigorating," he says with a laugh as I analyze his strength.

’He is quite strong, but nothing compared to me.’ He is not a direct threat, and for now, I seem to be managing to stay on his good side. I just need to keep up the pace.

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