Please Stop The Pope

“Boring.”

Lee Sehee pouted her lips while looking at the fallen employees of the Ministry of Ability Management in front of her.

It was too boring, even for something boring.

They couldn’t even slightly alleviate her boredom.

“There are more ordinary people than awakeners in the 2nd Building. Moreover, among the government-affiliated awakeners, there are very few who can handle you. It’s only natural.”

“Hmph. But it’s still boring.”

“Our goal is to retrieve the vessel detained in the top-floor holding cells and escape. If there is any hindrance to the mission, that person will not sit still.”

“But what can I do if I’m bored? When I’m bored, I want to have fun even if it means killing my comrades?”

“…Crazy bitch.”

“Being crazy isn’t bad. Being weak is what’s bad.”

She looked at her leader, who was wearing a mask, and then turned her gaze again.

And she spoke to a man who had fallen at her feet.

“Right, mister? It’s your fault, mister. You’re being punished like this because you’re bad. Oh right, if you’re affiliated with a government agency, mister, do you know where Kang Chae-ah is? I heard her whereabouts have been unknown for the past month…”

Lee Sehee said that while tearing off the name tag hanging from the man’s neck. And she quietly looked at the name tag.

“Kim Dong-shik? Is that your name, mister? If you’re from the Special Investigations Bureau, shouldn’t you be at the headquarters, not the 2nd Building?”

“I have some business at the 2nd Building.”

“Anyway, it’s good. If you’re from the Special Investigations Bureau, you’re a key figure in the Ministry of Ability Management, right? Then you must know where that bitch Kang Chae-ah is.”

Kang Chae-ah.

One of the few remaining S-grade hunters in the government, and her long-time rival.

Lee Sehee apathetically interrogated Kim Dong-shik about Kang Chae-ah’s whereabouts, but the answer that came back was the same.

“I don’t know. How would an ordinary civil servant like me know the location of such an esteemed person?”

“Hmph. Then it’s troublesome. Mister, if you don’t answer, I’ll kill you. Do you know why I kept you alive? There aren’t many people who can hold their head high in front of me.”

Whoosh-!

She ignited blue flames from her hand.

A level where flames could be ignited just by lightly moving mana.

Although it was a small flame like a candle, everything that touched this flame turned to ashes.

And that destructive flame was the power that had given Lee Sehee a tremendous notoriety.

“You know, I heard that the pain of being burned is the most painful among the pains that living beings can feel. So I kept experimenting, and it seems to be roughly true. They all screamed until their vocal cords melted.”

Her eyes glimmered with a strange excitement.

“If you obediently tell me where Kang Chae-ah is, I’ll kill you cleanly without pain.”

“I’m sorry, but our Special Investigations Bureau only deals with matters related to returnees. And civil servants don’t know anything outside of their own work.”

“Interesting.”

Sizzle-!

“Argh!”

The moment Lee Sehee’s flame touched Kim Dong-sik’s right arm, a small scream escaped from between his lips.

“What?”

That wasn’t the result Lee Sehee wanted.

She had intended to turn one of his arms to ashes, but her flames only left burns on his skin.

The Kim Dong-shik in front of her was like a bug, not even reaching the level of an A-grade hunter, let alone possessing anti-magic power.

But for some reason, an unknown subtle energy blocked her flames.

Something that wasn’t mana.

Lee Sehee licked her upper lip and smiled. Her expression was similar to that of a child who had received a new toy.

“What kind of ability is that? How did a bug like you block my flames?”

“Lee Sehee. We don’t have time.”

Her teammate, who couldn’t stand it any longer, urged her.

“The mission comes first. I’d prefer if you indulged in your personal hobbies later.”

“I want to take this mister and examine him a bit. My research motivation is burning for the first time in a long while! Since we’ve already terrorized the Ministry of Ability Management building, kidnapping a civil servant should be okay, right?”

“…Do as you wish.”

The leader readily accepted her request to avoid unnecessary confrontation.

Lee Sehee was a fatal time bomb even to her allies.

If it weren’t for the influence of ‘that person’ whom they believed in and followed, controlling her would have been impossible.

He signaled to the other subordinates with his hand to take care of Kim Dong-shik, and they knocked him unconscious and carried him on their shoulders, following the leader’s orders.

“An unexpected variable has emerged.”

At the leader’s words, Lee Sehee widened her eyes and asked back.

“Variable? What variable? Could it be Kang Chae-ah?”

“Kim Shi Yu. I’ve been told that Kim Shi Yu is near the 2nd Building. We must finish the job before he arrives here.”

“Ah! That irregular who single-handedly blocked the Monster Wave? Isn’t it rather a good thing? This time, that bastard…”

That’s when it happened.

Kwajik- Kwoong!

The sound of something being crushed rang out, and shortly after, the large man who was holding Kim Dong-shik fell to the floor.

The skull of the large man wearing a mask was smashed beyond recognition.

And a moment later, a playful voice reached their ears.

“Oh my. I was told to kill if they resist… Let’s just say you guys resisted. Got it? Our Holiness is surprisingly naggy, you know.”

“Archbishop Lebenthon. It is right according to the doctrine to first offer surrender.”

“Then let’s say they attacked before we offered surrender. Leo, you also folded someone in half earlier even though they said they would surrender, right?”

“I simply didn’t hear the surrender declaration.”

Standing there were a man in priestly robes and a woman in pure white armor.

Lee Sehee looked at the two with an amused expression.

“What, our guys should have been spread out on the lower floors, did you break through them and come up?”

“Lee Sehee, the situation is not good. Those two are combat personnel of the Limen Denomination. Especially that woman…”

The leader spoke to her in an increasingly serious voice, but Lee Sehee waved her hand and raised the corners of her mouth.

“What are you talking about when things are just getting fun? You said that guy Kim Shi Yu is a nutjob, right? Do you think I’ll lose to the subordinate of a cult leader bastard? I can even test out the power I received from that person this time.”

Whoosh-!

Her body was instantly engulfed in blue flames. It was truly a figure like the incarnation of fire, with her entire body burning.

And that wasn’t the end.

The black color that began to spread from her chest devoured her blue flames, and soon, black flames began to flicker on her body.

‘Aaaaah!’

Lee Sehee couldn’t hide her excitement at the sense of fullness felt throughout her body.

The pleasure brought by overwhelming power was incomparable even to orgasms.

These flames were ultra-high-temperature flames that could melt even steel. Last time, she had tested it in a sparsely populated rural village, and it completely vaporized a house without a trace.

Of course, along with the family of four sleeping inside.

These black flames with ecstatic destructive power were a blessing bestowed upon her by ‘that person’.

She looked at the opponents with half-dazed eyes. And she spoke in an even stickier voice.

“I like the screams of people burning to death. I hope you satisfy me with your screams.”

Lee Sehee lightly flicked her finger.

Then, black flame serpents revealed themselves from the ground where the unfamiliar enemies stood.

Those serpents coiled around the man and woman in the blink of an eye.

Lee Sehee raised the corners of her mouth while looking at the black serpents that had instantly coiled.

“You can’t even scream? How disappointing. I had high expectations after you appeared so boldly…”

That’s when it happened.

The coiled black serpents burst open from the inside. And soon, something surrounded by a white membrane rushed towards her from inside.

It all happened in less than a second.

Lee Sehee quickly erected a wall of flames ten layers thick.

Kwaaang!

However, the wall failed to serve any purpose, and her body soon collided strongly with that white meteor.

“Kyaak!”

Due to the tremendous repulsive force, her body was pushed back, but her body couldn’t actually be sent flying backward.

“I’m the one who’s disappointed, you bitch.”

The holy knight in pure white armor grabbed her collar and lifted her up. The black flames flickering on Lee Sehee’s body couldn’t even inflict the slightest damage to the holy knight.

“When a mage faces a knight, it’s basic common sense to always maintain a certain distance, but you don’t even have that basic knowledge.”

She was intoxicated with power.

She didn’t expect the opponent to easily penetrate the black flames like this.

Lee Sehee quickly tried to gather mana to escape from the holy knight’s grasp.

However, her attempt was nullified by an unknown energy that had penetrated her body.

“If you hadn’t accepted the demonic energy, you might have had a chance at least once, but did the bastard who gave you that power not warn you to be careful of holy power?”

“Holy… power?”

“But there is one thing in common between you and me.”

Fwoosh!

Pure white flames erupted from Lee Sehee’s feet.

And at that moment,

“Kyaaaah!”

Terrible pain assailed her entire body.

Amidst the pain that felt like even her soul was burning, a mocking voice penetrated her ears.

“I also like screams. Especially the screams of bitches like you.”

‘This is the worst.’

The man bit his lips tightly and ran down the stairs.

The operation had already failed.

All the forces he had brought were defeated on the 32nd floor. Among them was Lee Sehee, who had been one of his hidden forces.

Lee Sehee was the maximum force he could mobilize.

She was originally a powerful mage who was evaluated to be S-grade, but after receiving baptism from that person, she had become an existence beyond that.

To the extent that she could single-handedly burn down a small city in the countryside.

However, as astonishingly as she was, she was subdued in a devastating manner.

And by an unknown woman at that.

Moreover, that wasn’t all.

‘If I stop, I die.’

Even excluding that woman in pure white armor, the man in priestly robes who had come with her was also a terrible monster.

The man was chasing after him while lightly folding his subordinates in half like paper.

His subordinates were throwing themselves at him to buy as much time as possible, but it was merely a delaying tactic.

‘I must retrieve the vessel.’

Now that it had come to this, he had to at least achieve his initial objective.

The man continued to climb the stairs while tightly grasping the portal scroll hidden in his chest.

After running for some time,

“38th Floor – Special Detention Area/Unauthorized Entry Prohibited”

He was able to reach the floor he had targeted.

Special Detention Area.

A place where awakeners were temporarily detained by the Ministry of Ability Management before being transferred to a prison exclusively for awakeners.

Confirming that it was blocked by a thick special door, the man immediately cut the iron door with his own sword.

Kwoong!

The door that had been installed to prevent the escape of detainees was cleanly bisected, and the man hurriedly entered.

Then, those who had been waiting inside immediately bowed their heads to him and said,

“You’re here, Branch Manager!”

“You idiotic bastards! Shouldn’t you have escaped immediately after abducting the target!”

“We apologize! The emergency lockdown system was activated.”

“The target?”

“It’s this guy. As soon as we untied him, he tried to kill us, so we had no choice but to knock him unconscious. In the process, two of our men died.”

At those words, the man frowned and looked at the boy being held by his subordinate’s hand.

The hands of the boy, who appeared to be in his mid-teens at most, were stained with someone’s blood.

The man quickly realized that the boy was the ‘vessel’.

It was because a tremendous demonic energy could be felt from the boy.

“Branch Manager. Did something happen downstairs? Lee Sehee, that crazy bitch came with us, right?”

“There’s no time to explain. You guys immediately head to the magic circle installed on the rooftop. I will escape with the target through the portal scroll.”

“Yes! Understood!”

The number of subordinates in the detention area was fifteen.

They would be able to buy some time against the monster chasing from below.

His subordinates who received the order headed towards the stairs all at once, and the man frowned while looking at their backs.

‘3 minutes. Just buy me 3 minutes.’

The magic circle installed on the rooftop was not a teleportation magic circle in the first place.

It was a type of self-destruct magic circle.

The moment they reached the rooftop, a huge explosion magic would be triggered using their bodies as a medium.

They themselves didn’t know, but from the beginning, they were expendable troops brought along except for Lee Sehee. If they could just buy the 3 minutes it took for the portal scroll to be used, they would have served their sufficient purpose.

Pwooosh-!

The man immediately tore the portal scroll. Then, the magic circle for escape began to form.

‘Once I return, I must gather the other branch managers and destroy the Limen Denomination first.’

They were at a level that even Kim Shi Yu’s subordinates were difficult to handle.

If left alone, there was a high possibility that they would grow to become the biggest threat to their plans.

Kwaaang-!

Judging from the roaring sound coming from the direction of the stairs, it seemed that monster was chasing his subordinates.

‘Good, I’ll just escape like this…’

“Using subordinates as bait to attempt an escape… No matter how much of a villain you are, isn’t the plan too cliché?”

He had merely blinked once. That was all he did, but a slender man in a black priestly robe appeared in front of him.

It was a face he knew.

“Kim… Shi Yu.”

The irregular who suddenly appeared in South Korea.

The returnee who single-handedly blocked the Monster Wave.

Kim Shi Yu alternated his gaze between the man and the boy with a strange expression. Then, as if interested, he said,

“Now I understand. That guy is the vessel of the Demon King’s incarnation, right? I roughly know what you guys came here to do. But… shouldn’t you be careful?”

“What the hell are you talk- Aaaargh!”

Crack-!

The boy who had been lying unconscious until just now suddenly bit into the man’s neck.

Amidst his fading consciousness, Kim Shi Yu’s voice quietly echoed.

“The vessels of the Demon King’s incarnation basically replenish their power through cannibalism of their own kind. Isn’t that basic common sense? This is why knowledge is power.”

The time it took for the boy to devour the man was a mere 3 seconds.

The boy who had voraciously devoured the human looked at Kim Shi Yu with languid red eyes.

Kim Si-woo also raised the corners of his mouth while meeting the boy’s eyes.

“Now that I think about it, it wasn’t that we were unlucky. Rather, we might be lucky.”

A moment later,

Kyaaaaaaaah!

The sound of a beast howling shook the entire building.