Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 275

275.

The Pope came to visit even before the war council could begin.

The Pope appeared to be middle-aged.

He was the Pope even before the Empire was founded, and long before that… he was the Pope when the Warring States period began.

In other words, the Pope was already close to a hundred years old.

His appearance as a middle-aged man meant one thing.

‘Proof that his Divine Power is immense.’

The priests of the Order are different from knights, mages, and spiritists.

The source of their power is not mana.

It is Divine Power.

Strong Divine Power means the Pope is that much stronger.

“Please, have a seat.”

I treated the Pope as a powerful figure.

Although the authority of the Order itself had weakened considerably under the pressure of the Calpheon Empire, the Pope’s personal strength had not disappeared.

“It’s our first time meeting properly since the coronation.”

I smiled at the Pope’s benevolent smile.

Soon, tea was served.

I picked up my teacup and said,

“I heard you didn’t attend the Emperor Emeritus’s [retired emperor] coronation, so I thank you for attending mine.”

The Pope’s smile deepened.

He was a person whose emotions were not easily discernible.

The final piece to eliminate the Demon King Bellushi.

That was the Pope.

The problem was that I couldn’t trust him.

Lilian was my only mage, and Olivia and my father went without saying.

On the other hand, the Pope… was someone who had been hiding until the very end.

Although he had no choice but to come forward, he was likely only thinking about what would happen after the Demon King was eliminated.

“The Order and the Imperial Family should strengthen their relationship now. By the way, the aroma is wonderful. I heard you originally enjoy tea.”

“Yes.”

I couldn’t read anything from the Pope’s smile.

“The immediate challenges are too heavy to think about the future.”

Demon King Bellushi.

Without eliminating him, neither the Imperial Family nor the future of humanity could be guaranteed.

“Yes. For the Demon King to descend upon this land… as the leader of the Order, it is truly a shameful matter.”

“The Purifying Flame’s activities… hasn’t the Order been aware of them for a long time?”

“They have been involved since the assassination of the former Empress. The Emperor Emeritus was in charge, and the Order had no room to intervene.”

Neglecting the Purifying Flame’s forces was clearly the Order’s fault.

In this world, there is only one religion, the Order, and all others are heretics.

Punishing heretics is a very important aspect of religion, but they intentionally ignored the Purifying Flame.

And I found the reason for that in my father.

It was true.

I clicked my tongue at the irrefutable logic.

“The Emperor Emeritus was a monarch with great power. As are you, Your Majesty.”

“I need the power of the Order. I cannot deal with the Demon King with my own strength alone.”

The Pope’s eyes gleamed.

“Divine Power allows one to see many things.”

It was a rather abrupt statement.

As I silently held my teacup, trying to understand the meaning of his words, the Pope continued.

“The power to see what is invisible. That is one of the powers I possess, having received an excessive blessing from God. And seeing Your Majesty like this, I see things that I did not see during the coronation.”

“What do you mean?”

“It means that time is not on your side.”

I shuddered.

The Pope smiled gently.

“Calpheon is an empire maintained by the overwhelming force of the Imperial Family, or rather, the Emperor alone. It is still in its early stages of establishment, and that power is still needed. Therefore, I was puzzled when the Emperor Emeritus stepped down, but I understood upon hearing of Your Majesty’s renown.”

I felt sweat trickling down my back.

Olivia and Lilian didn’t know, and even I myself had only recently begun to suspect it, without knowing for sure.

But the Pope seemed to know for certain.

“Your Majesty’s power is running out. Spirits are beings created by God for balance. For one person to possess all the Spirit Kings goes against the will of God.”

The Pope took a sip of his tea and concluded,

“What goes against providence will naturally return to providence.”

The Pope rose to his feet.

“I, as the Pope, will certainly cooperate in the elimination of the Demon King Bellushi. However, future matters… let us discuss them again later.”

I nodded with a bitter smile.

After the Pope left, I leaned back deeply into the sofa.

‘As I thought.’

I couldn’t even tell myself, but thanks to the Pope, it became clear.

I didn’t have much time left.

As soon as my father came out of his closed-door training, we had to set out to subjugate the Demon King.

I didn’t know how long my power would last.

The Pope said it was because it was against the will of God, but I just felt that my abilities were lacking.

‘He’s not wrong. Being able to summon all four elemental kings means you are literally the ruler of the Spirit Realm.’

A being who rules a world is not a mortal.

A transcendent being who transcends time.

I was still human and destined to die someday.

A created being who could not defy the will of God.

Still, this issue needed to be discussed with Ken and my father.

The reason the Pope was actively cooperating in the elimination of the Demon King Bellushi was simple.

He thought of my power as a divine blessing to fight the Demon King, and he believed that my power would naturally disappear once the Demon King was eliminated.

Because that was what he saw.

‘If the Emperor loses his power… the power base itself will be shaken. Isn’t the reason Father didn’t retire from everything and remained as Emperor Emeritus perhaps because he knows my condition?’

Even if I was an emperor without power, as long as my father was still alive, there would be no need to be mindful of the nobles or the Order.

The Pope seemed to be concerned about that point as well.

‘What he will demand after the Demon King is eliminated is probably the official religious recognition of the Empire.’

That was just my guess.

First, a meeting with the other advisors was necessary.

“It’s complicated.”

I shook my head.

* * *

Closed-door training.

It had been a long time since I had trained alone in a space where no one could intrude, in order to reach the desired level.

Ron opened his eyes and stood up.

There was a time when he had given up at the end of swordsmanship.

After becoming a Sword Master, he didn’t particularly try hard to achieve the path of a Grand Sword Master.

But the situation had changed.

An individual had appeared whom he could not defeat with his own strength, and he had lost in a war in which he had never been defeated.

He had always thought that he would be defeated someday, but the actual defeat caused Ron great pain.

If it hadn’t been for Arun, he wouldn’t have been able to shake off the pain of defeat so easily.

“Hoo-ooo!”

Arun had grown far beyond his expectations.

And… that power was running out.

The reason he stepped down as Emperor Emeritus was because of Arun.

Even if he lost all his power, as long as he was there, the authority of the Imperial Family would still be absolute.

And development was also needed to eliminate the Demon King Bellushi.

Ron grasped the path to Grand Sword Master with just a week of meditation.

Truly a heaven-sent talent.

He had no intention of being satisfied with swordsmanship.

He would also reach an absolute position in magic.

Magic was even easier than swordsmanship.

It was said that magic was a discipline only allowed to geniuses, but Ron was a being beyond genius.

Ron was the one who was most loved by God, and originally, he was destined to die at Karen’s hands, but due to Arun’s existence, the fate of this world had been greatly twisted.

Ron closed his eyes again.

It was time to complete swordsmanship first.

* * *

After the war council, I quietly called only Ken and Olivia.

“The nobles must be quite embarrassed.”

I asked at Ken’s words.

“About what?”

“They thought that the Emperor Emeritus and Your Majesty were different people. So they had other thoughts, but everyone held their breath at Your Majesty’s aura during today’s war council.”

Olivia agreed as well.

“That’s right.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“You had a private meeting with the Pope, did it end well?”

It was time to get down to business.

I confessed calmly.

“My power is in an unstable state.”

Olivia and Ken’s eyes darkened.

“I probably won’t last long.”

Olivia jumped to her feet.

“Ah, don’t worry. I’m just losing my spiritism, not my life. I’ll probably… become an ordinary person.”

“Y-Your Majesty!”

Olivia even teared up.

I carefully stroked her hair.

“I’m okay. I lived well even when I didn’t have power. The Imperial Family will be fine too. You have the Emperor Emeritus and Olivia, and Duke James as well.”

Olivia nodded.

“Yes.”

“Ken.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Come up with a good strategy after the Demon King is eliminated.”

There was no pity on Ken’s face.

He answered as if he had expected it.

“I hoped it wouldn’t happen, but it’s going to happen.”

Ken, who didn’t have the eyes of God like the Pope and wasn’t strong, had guessed it.

“How did you know?”

“It’s not that I knew, but it was one of the many considerations. We also had to assume the situation when Your Majesty couldn’t exert any power at all.”

Ken continued.

“As you said, we have the Emperor Emeritus and the Empress. We also have Duke James. The power of the Imperial Family will not decline. The Pope is the problem.”

“I’m even thinking of approving him as the official religion.”

“Let’s think about that problem slowly for now.”

“That’s right. The Demon King is the priority.”

I nodded and asked.

“Is there any news from Lilian?”

“She said she drew a sealing formation using the Reinhide family’s relic. She said that she won’t be able to stop Bellushi, but at least she will know clearly when Bellushi destroys the seal. It means that she can figure out when Bellushi leaves the Kingdom Alliance.”

“Good. What about the Emperor Emeritus?”

“He is still in training. The Shadows are thoroughly controlling the surroundings. I think he will come out soon.”

I agreed as well.

“The Emperor Emeritus is a heaven-sent genius. He will meet Lilian’s requirements.”

Olivia asked carefully.

“Reaching Grand Sword Master and 9th Circle [highest level of magic] at the same time….”

I smiled at her anxiety.

“The world said that magic and swordsmanship could not be learned at the same time until Father came out. But Father was also top-notch in spiritism.”

“Ah!”

“Common sense doesn’t apply to Father. He is someone who far surpasses common sense. The most important thing in the elimination of the Demon King is not me, but Father.”

Olivia was relieved.

“Now that I hear it, that’s true.”

“Are there any other problems?”

Ken answered.

“All administrative issues seem to be resolved over time. The West is gradually stabilizing.”

“What about the South and the former Pyreon Kingdom?”

“The former Pyreon Kingdom has suffered less damage. David is supporting the South and West, focusing on them.”

The former Pyreon Kingdom is the largest granary on the continent.

In a situation where food is scarce, the support coming from the Pyreon Kingdom territory is a great help.

“That’s a relief.”

At that time, a hurried voice was heard from outside.

“Y-Your Majesty. Mage Lilian has returned.”

Before the words were even finished, Lilian opened the door and entered.

Lilian’s face was flushed red.

I felt uneasy.

Olivia and Ken also couldn’t say anything and were just looking at Lilian.

Lilian opened her mouth.

“The seal is broken.”