"If my death is to come in the hands of this young man, then that is the will of god."
–Is what the Pope said. But still, his three paladins did not follow the command for them to stay away. The main purpose of the 3 Paladins was and is to protect the Pope at all costs.
They were individuals trained from birth to uphold their beliefs and protect the important individuals in their community– if they awakened powers and abilities during that time and excelled above the rest, then they would have the chance to directly guard the Pope as his personal glorified bodyguards.
And it is that very same training that made them realize that they were no match for Darkday.
But still, they would rather die fighting him than leave the Pope without any protection. And so, even though the Pope dismissed them and ordered them to leave him and Darkday alone… they still followed.
They were currently hiding on the church's mezzanine. And considering the size of the church, they could easily hide from the two; holding their breaths and not letting even their beating hearts to silently echo throughout the church.
The eyes of the 3 paladins, converge tightly at each of Darkday's actions. Watching his every move as he and the Pope were just casually sitting side by side on the frontmost pew nearest to the altar.
"…I apologize," the Pope then breathed out as he took a small glance at the mezzanine, "They are just doing their jobs."
"It is alright, Pope," Riley only waved his hand, not even bothering to look at where the Pope was glancing at; his eyes, just looking forward to the altar, "I am the one being rude for intruding into your home."
"Hm," the Pope nodded, "You are different from how the news and the media portray you," the Pope then said; his voice calm even with a mass murderer beside him.
"And how does the media portray me, Pope?"
"An evil beast."
"That is true," Darkday breathed out; his head slightly turning towards the Pope.
"You may be evil, but you are definitely no beast," the Pope let out a hearty chuckle; before clearing his throat to prevent a dry cough escaping it,
"A beast would not be having a conversation with me right now."
"…"
"…"
"…Are you wondering who I am so calm?" The Pope then said, breaking the short silence between them.
"No."
"…I see," a small smile slowly crawled on the Pope's face as he leaned back, "You truly are as she told me."
"…She?"
"Megawoman," the Pope whispered, quickly causing Darkday to turn his head towards the Pope completely, "She visits me from time to time."
"Megawoman… visits you?" Darkday tilted his head to the side, "Why?"
"To ask the condition of my people," the Pope answered without any hesitation, "My… job provides me the privilege of having the insight into the status of more than a billion people all over the world."
"Why would she ask you that?"
"To help those that need it," the Pope answered before coughing a few times, "We are the largest… organization in the world, but there are many who are suffering. It is not just us, she has also approached the various leaders of the world."
"…"
"Did you know that in the past, the countries of Africa were having a hard time due to slavery?"
"Yes, your people were involved in that."
"…Megawoman directly helped Africa to solve their problems," the Pope continued his story, "But she created more problems in the long run. She was devastated due to this… and she asked the various leaders of the world so she would be able to help in a way that would last for centuries– my predecessors were one of those leaders. Megawoman wanted to help, even in the shadows."
"…Why?"
"Because despite not being born here, she is a good person," the Pope then turned his eyes towards Darkday; his old and wrinkled face, almost reflecting on the visor of his helmet,
"She stands opposite to you– maintaining the balance between good and evil."
"That does not make sense, Pope," a breath escaped Darkday's helmet as he shook his head, "Megawoman has been in existence for more than 300 years. Our… accomplishments will never be equal."
"And yet since the few years you have appeared, you have caused damage that puts the calamities of the past in shame. Capable of taking lives by the million in just a single day."
"…"
"And I know you will continue to do so because that is your nature," the Pope breathed out.
"…" Darkday turned his head away to look at his hands, "Can my nature be changed?"
"Do you want it to change?"
"No," Darkday then answered as he dropped his hands,
"This is what I am… and I believe this is just how I am supposed to be."
"…" The Pope slightly squinted his eyes as he heard Darkday's words, but after a few seconds, he let out a small breath,
"Why did you come here, young man?"
"I was going to kill everyone here."
And as soon as he said that, the Pope could not help but suddenly burst out in laughter, "And no one will be able to stop you."
"…You can't stop me?"
"I am just a normal human."
"You do not have any abilities?" Darkday tilted his head; his voice, truly curious.
"No."
"And yet people bow before you?"
"They do not bow before me, but to the one behind me," the Pope muttered as he looked at the altar.
"Their god?"
"Yes."
"Is he a Super?"
Once again, the Pope broke into a fit of laughter, causing him to almost choke in his own cough after.
"N… No," the Pope then waved his hand as he slowly recovered his breath. But afterwards, he pointed at the cross hanging on the wall of the altar, "But he is."
"Him?"
"It is not known in the public, but he is one of the earlier recorded Super…"
The Pope then proceeded to tell the story of the man on the cross, almost taking a full hour; his breaths almost depleted, but his words remained filled with passion even as the story came to a close.
"They say that people always fear what they do not understand," the Pope ended his story, "That is true, to some extent. But what people truly fear are things that have the potential to be more powerful than them, and the unknown always gives birth to that."
"That… is a very interesting story, Pope."
And as soon as his story was over, Darkday stood up from the pew. The Pope also followed him and stood up, letting out a small but deep breath as he once again focused his eyes on Darkday's helmet.
"Are you… going to kill me now?" The Pope then said.
"No."
Darkday, however, just shook his head, "That is a very interesting story, I am certain that mother would like it. Thank you for telling it to me, he then said,
"I would like to hear more in the future."
"…Then do you want to hear more?"
"No," Darkday once again shook his head, "I would like to tell the story to mother while it is still fresh in my mind. Farewell, Pope."
And with that, Darkday casually left the church– not flying, not disappearing, but just casually leaving through the front door.
And as soon as he was gone, the 3 paladins appeared in front of the Pope.
"Are you alright, Holy Father!?"
"Are you hurt!? Do you need anything!?"
And with his paladins' worried words entering his tired mind, the Pope could only take a seat back on the pew, leaning back as the deepest breath he could muster escaped from his mouth.
"Darkday…" He then whispered,
"…He will be the end of us all."
***
"Why… is the Pope here?"
Back in the present time, everyone's curiosity has almost reached its peak. It is true that Prophet held a somewhat powerful position in life, being the Headmaster of the remaining Mega Academy in the world– but was that really enough for the leader of the biggest religion in the world to officiate his requiem?
"Maybe they knew each other? Prophet is supposed to be ancient, right?"
"If I knew the Pope would be here, I would have–"
Their whispers, however, instantly died down as soon as the Pope's breaths started to echo throughout the entire church. The people, holding their breaths as they tried to listen to every word that escaped from his mouth.
As for Bella and Hannah, even with the presence of the Pope, their eyes were still busy. Like a hawk trying to find its prey, they were still busy trying to find Prophet's so-called husband.
But with hundreds of people inside the church, their task almost seemed impossible. They focused on people that were seated on the frontmost pew, but only they and the instructors were seated there.
As for Riley, well… he was staring at the Pope. He already looked old when he met him last. But now, it feels like his skin would fall off anytime soon. Riley then turned his eyes towards the 3 people that were standing around the perimeter of the altar– the 3 paladins.
They seemed aloof and busy; their stance almost saying that they would not let anything happen to the Pope. However, as soon as Riley's eyes met with the Red Paladin, the paladin seemed to flinch ever so slightly.
"…" Riley tilted his head to the side as he stared at the Red Paladin, trying to see what sort of expression he was making. But due to his head being fully covered with a helmet, only his eyes could be seen.
"…" The Red Paladin, however, just slowly looked away as if nothing happened.
"What is it, Riley? Did you see something?" Hannah then quickly whispered to Riley as soon as she saw him tilting his head.
"Yes, sister."
"What? What?" Bella joined in with another whisper.
"Something to pass time with later on," Riley replied; the smile on his face slowly crawling from ear to ear.
"Tch," Hannah rolled her eyes as soon as Riley's words reached her ears, "I thought you found you-know-who."
"I do not know any Koreans, sister."
"I'm talking about his husband!" Hannah loudly whispered as her eyes pointed towards Prophet's coffin.
"Oh," Riley blinked his eyes a couple of times, "I will ask later."
"What do you mean later? Sheesh."
And with that, Hannah and Bella continued their fruitless search. But alas, minutes into the requiem, there was still no sign of anyone that would potentially fit being Prophet's husband.
But finally, like a ray of hope, the Pope said something–
"Does anyone want to say something to the dearly departed?"
This is it, the both of them thought as they looked at each other. Prophet said that they would find his husband during the funeral– what better time to show himself than this?
But alas, contrary to their expectations, even after a minute had already passed… stepped forward.
"Where is your father? He should be here to say something!" The only thing Hannah received was Diana's frustrated words once again entering her ears. This time, however, her tone was somber; the disappointment within it, almost oozing out.
"If there is no one," the Pope then raised his hand, "Then–"
But before he could finish his words, one of the people in the front pew stood up– causing everyone's eyes to watch him as he slowly and casually walked towards the altar.
"I have something to say."
"…" The Prophet looked at the individual for a few seconds, before nodding his head and stepping away from the podium. The paladins also slightly became alert as the individual got near to the Pope, but the Pope only raised his hand and shook his head.
"Prophet's lover…
…Come find me when this is over," Riley said.