482 [482] Now, should I advance?
“…water…”
A sick old man managed to say, as his figure was bound to his bed. His skin was rotting away and he was all but bones. He called out once again, this time like a question.
“Water…?”
As if to probe whether someone was there or not. He should have a caretaker accompany him at all times…so where was the caretaker now?
‘sigh…’
The old man sighed, thinking the caretaker may have gone to the bathroom or something, he decided to wait.
But after an hour, he was wondering where his caretaker was. He didn’t think he was still taking a shit in the bathroom.
“May the lord bless me with strength.”
He managed to say, as he moved his head to stare at the glass of water which had a straw in it. .𝒎
He moved his blanket to try to get it, but all of a sudden, the straw was brought close to him, so he could finally drink.
“Thank you.”
He said, and drank from the straw. Each gulp was a laborious task for him, He decided to scold the caretaker later for his absence.
“No worries.”
‘Huh?’
But he heard a different voice, a voice that didn’t belong to any of his caretakers before. Uncertain, he looked up and saw a tall man.
A tall man, muscular and dressed in casual clothing that did not hide the strength he possessed at all.
“Who are you?”
He asked, thinking the man was a knight, However, glancing at the tattoos that were revealed by the half-sleeve shirt. His eyes widened in horror.
“Barbarian!”
A sense of urgency was preset in his voice as a horrifying thought emerged in his brain.
Have barbarians invaded the capital?
Then why was nothing heard? The sounds of war should have been heard, he wasn’t that sick!
“Rest, dear pope.” 𝘪𝑎.
The man pushed the pope into his bed, taking care to not injure his already weak frame.
“How has a -”
“Quiet.”
James covered the popes mouth, but did not send a snake down his throat yet.
“Now, will you stay quiet?”
The pope nodded with his eyes, and James removed his hands. The pope had realized the man could tear his jaw easily, so he complied.
“Cough!”
He coughed, his sickness taking hold, but a wave of mana entered his body and calmed him down.
“… Tribal healer?”
“I honestly don’t know what you are talking about, I’ve been doing this barbarian act for far too long…”
James sighed, as he took a seat next to the pope’s bed, staring at him with his emerald eyes.
“Greetings, Pope of the Church, I am, but a humble traveller brought to your abode by your successor, I must, it is…quite an honour and a disappointment to meet you.”
Said James, looking at the popes sickly physique, his eyes had sunken, his skin was rotting away and he was nothing but bone. In some areas, his flesh was showing.
“…”
The pope stayed silent, wanting to discern the intentions of the man in front of him.
“Stefan…brought you?”
This lowered the guard of the pope, as he understood the words of the man, But the aura of the man suggested he was not friendly. Even though he had a kind smile and nice eyes, years of staying as the pope, a dangerous position, had given him a sense. A sense which told him who he should fuck with or not.
“What do…you want?”
The pope asked, James stayed silent for a minute or two, and answered.
“Well, many things, right now I just want to clear this floor.”
“Floor…?”
“Oh, My apologies, I meant burn this church to the ground.”
The popes eyes grew wide, and an alarmed look appeared on his face.
“You know, the elections still have a lot of time until they can take place…”
A horrid thought came across his mind, and he prayed sincerely for it to not be true.
“But…if I kill you, won’t they be accelerated?”
“Nonsense!”
“Is it?”
James eyes terrified him, it was as if he was not staring at the eyes of a human or barbarian but at an animal.
No…even an animal was wrong…it was as if he was staring into the eyes of a..
“Devil…”
“Devil? Me? Oh, I’m hurt, pope…”
James had a look of disgust, it was not like he hated being called the devil. But the popes tone suggested he was comparing him to the devil!
“That you lower me such…tsk tsk… Want to hear a story?”
Without waiting for affirmation, he continued.
“Do you know, that the devil is scared shitless of me?”
He presented an absurd statement.
“When was it? Twenty or something loops ago? I remember I beat the shit out of him a few times, and tortured that retard for about…fifty years? I’ve lost track!”
He laughed, and the pope continued to look at him with horror.
“May the lord…help you.”
He had thought the man in front of him was cursed.
“I will kill you now.”
He said, as he moved his hand towards the popes head.
“May the lord curse you!”
The ‘blessing’ turned into a curse pretty soon.
“Are you referring to the deity you worship?”
Asked James, almost on the brink of laughing.
“You know how many fanatics, and deities, have said that to me?”
“Preposterous!”
“Yeah, that was their first response too. Anyway, there were dozens, but they all died. Deities aren’t that hard to kill you know, but it’s destroying their mind thats a little ha-”
“Rot in hell!”
“Will you shut the fuck up?”
James got annoyed at the popes constant interruptions.
He lowered his hand from his head, and moved towards his chest. He touched it, and ice started to wrap around the body.
“Agh…”
The pope’s body was numb, but strangely the cold didn’t kill him.
“I wasn’t going to torture you initially, but you asked for it.”
It covered every part of his body but his eyes and mouth, and James stared right at them. His eyes glowed and the ice transformed. Spikes slowly extended from the inside, and tore into the popes body. They did it so slowly, that the weak body did not die but experienced excruciating pain.
“Agh…Agh…agh…”
The popes eyes became red, and blood dared to escape, but James didn’t let it. He couldn’t leave evidence behind…now, could he?
“Bye bye~”
He said, after a few minutes of this agonizing torture, finally ending it. The frost on the body of the pope disappeared after James fixed the wounds, making it appear as if the pope had died in his sleep.
He went outside, humming.
“I wonder what kind of chaos there will be~”
The people in the church except one were under his control, so there would only be his chaos from him and from him only.
The others? James would be faking it.
This content is taken from 𝘳.𝑐𝘰