BJ Villainess Chapter 360

The pope and the high priests dismissed my opinion.

 

“Where’s the evidence?”

 

“It’s all in my head.”

 

“Alright, next suggestion.”

 

The conversation ended like that. Well, it was a natural reaction and a reasonable outcome. From the creator’s perspective, having to go around in circles when the answer is obvious was enough to drive me crazy.

 

Wasn’t the minimum number of people needed to clear the Fallen Altar episode three? I just needed to recruit one more person.

 

The Fallen Altar was a place where priests lacking in holy power would be corrupted by evil if they entered carelessly. Even cardinals couldn’t endure there indefinitely.

 

Because it’s a time-attack dungeon. The moment you enter, you must complete the mission within a set time limit. If not, it’s game over—a system where you’d become a servant of evil.

 

“This works out well.” As soon as the required report was finished, Ilya got up from his seat. “Theresa and I will explore the Fallen Altar together.”

 

Everyone started murmuring. Even the pope, who had been silent until now, jumped up from his seat—clearly a reckless decision. “Cardinal Ilya! Are you aware you’re a pope candidate or not?!”

 

“I will withdraw from candidacy.”

 

The shock of his statement left the whole room silent. Ilya, being kind enough, added an explanation. “Until now, remaining a candidate was advantageous for me in dealing with the Evil God, but now it’s no longer necessary.”

 

Wow. Not only the priests, but I was left speechless as well.

 

At that moment, Heden, who had been observing the situation with a grim expression, walked toward us. What now? Is he looking for a fight? Is he going to throw a punch? He then spoke.

 

“I’ll join you.”

 

He, who despised the evil god and his followers more than anyone, offered his help. It was truly surprising.

 

Heden warned me. “This decision isn’t because of you. I’m just following the decision of the Holy God who chose you.”

 

“Ah, yes. Still, thank you.”

 

Now we have met the minimum conditions.

 

The pope, looking betrayed, shouted, “Cardinal Heden!”

 

Heden was the most powerful priest after Ilya. Losing even him would be a critical loss. From the pope’s perspective, it was a truly absurd and frustrating situation.

 

“If this is a trick played by the cultists of the Evil God, what will you do if disaster strikes!”

 

He wasn’t wrong.

 

I sympathized with the priests’ concerns, separate from my own sense of injustice. After all, as the cultist of the Evil God, I was taking the two strongest to a place where they could be corrupted.

 

“What are the paladins doing?! Stop them immediately. And you two, cool your heads and think again!”

 

“How annoying.”

 

Beep—! A sudden ringing in my ears made my eyes widen. Luckily, it didn’t feel like my eardrums would burst or that I was in pain. But everyone else covered their ears and collapsed to the floor. The person causing this was Ilya. He was drawing on the power of his true form.

 

“I know you do not fully trust the Holy God’s will, Pope Andes. It’s probably because of the incident when the Evil God descended upon the old Holy See.”

 

“…”

 

“Nevertheless, being faithful is the role of the pope. Just like Heden.”

 

Everyone realized Ilya wasn’t human. There was no denying it after what happened.

 

I grabbed Ilya’s hand. I thought pushing further here wouldn’t be good for morale. And using the power of his true form puts a huge strain on his body. Right now, Ilya was human. Just as a human body can’t withstand the Evil God, neither can an archangel. Thankfully, Ilya respected my intent and said nothing more.

 

Now it was my turn. “There’s a gate in the Holy See that leads to the Fallen Altar. Let’s go there.”

 

“!?”

 

“Ah, it’s one-way only, so you can rest assured they can’t come here from the other side.”

 

Heden frowned and asked, “How do you know something even I didn’t know about?”

 

It would be too irresponsible to say I just happened to know such an important fact. But there wasn’t time for a lengthy explanation.

 

“I made it.”

 

Hmm. Honestly, that felt a bit satisfying to reveal that.

 

* * *

“The key is in the second room on the left. Let’s go there.”

 

“Infuse holy power into this. That will weaken the corruption and buy you more time before you succumb to evil.”

 

“Lord Heden, you should use this holy relic. It’s better than what you have now.”

 

“Ah, should we take this too?”

 

I tried my best to avoid saying things like, ‘This is my creation!’ I believed that was a matter of respect, and I still think so. Of course, it was also better for my own safety.

 

I hadn’t been attacked just because my achievements were so overwhelming up until now. If I’d said I knew everything, who knows what chaos might have ensued. In any case, aside from those considerations, personally, it was incredibly frustrating. I’m only human. Of course, I wanted to tell the truth and feel relieved. And now, pouring out all the information I knew, I was conquering the old Holy See in the most exhilarating mood I’d ever felt.

 

As I was running around, Heden, who had been quietly following, asked, “Did you make this place too?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“What exactly are you? Are you something like Cardinal Ilya?”

 

“No, I’m not. I’m just a human. I just know a lot about this world. The Holy God knows that, which is probably why I was chosen as Deina’s mentor.”

 

Ah, I got too excited and spoke as if the Holy God were a friend. That’s why I can’t let my guard down.

 

I quickly pointed ahead to gloss over my slip. “There’ll be the Demon of Lies in there.”

 

Ilya understood right away. “If it’s lies, that must be Belial. So they can already summon demons?”

 

“No, not yet. But there’s no choice. To block us, they’ll have to summon him, even in an incomplete state.”

 

Heden muttered as if dizzy from our conversation. “So that’s how you’ve been finding all those relics…”

 

That was a trade secret, though.

 

“I’ll open the door.”

 

Creakkk… With an ominous sound, the arched door, closed for ages, opened.

 

“How awful.”

 

A wave of evil energy surged from within. The density was so high, it almost felt sticky. Ominous and foreboding, that was my impression just from looking.

 

“Hmm.”

 

But why do I feel so energized? I’d always grown stronger in the face of evil, but never to this extent. My state now makes me feel like I am almost omnipotent.

 

Rumble, rumble! At that moment, Belial sensed the intruders and manifested in the center of the room, enveloped in pitch-black darkness.

 

[Who. Dares. Disturb. The. Sacred. Ritual.]

 

As soon as Belial appeared, Ilya and Heden attacked. But the attacks were intercepted by the cultists of Evil God, who suddenly appeared.

 

“Green poison will spread on the floor! Dodge it!”

 

Taking on the role like a commander of the army, I tried to neutralize as much of the spreading evil as possible. The power Belial used was being absorbed. At first, the overwhelming force made me dizzy, but I soon got used to it. As if drawn in by a spell, I approached Belian and absorbed his power.

 

[Be gone—!]

 

One of Belial’s attack patterns, a jet-black breath, shot straight at me.

 

“Wow.”

 

You know how, in games, there are bonus stages? Where do you get a shower of coins or experience? I was having an experience shower right now.

 

Is… it really okay for me to get this strong? At this rate, I felt I could even devour Belial. It wasn’t out of recklessness or arrogance. The evil energy all around was writhing as if ready to obey my commands at any moment, just like they were extensions of my own limbs. I wasn’t sure if I should be pleased, but either way, this was overwhelmingly advantageous for me.

 

Realizing something was wrong, Belial stopped all attacks and looked down at me. By then, I was already on my hands and knees on the floor. Evil energy gathered in my palms, then shot out in a straight line and pooled beneath Belial.

 

Five streaks of black shroud rose up. They spread like fluttering petals, enveloping Belial in the center.

 

[―――――――!]

 

He’s being swallowed. Helplessly, Belial sank smoothly into the darkness. There was no difficulty in the process.

 

Silence. After swallowing everything, all that remained was silence.

 

I looked down at my hands and bounced in place a couple of times. Hmm, looks like there were no problems at all.

 

“Shall we go to the next room?”