Somebody Stop the Pope – 47



Episode 47

15. The Holy Land of the Fallen Faith

1.

It is said that there are currently three ground zeros in South Korea.

One is Ground Zero in Seoul which our church is purifying and the other is Daejeon.

And finally Busan.

In terms of the level of magic pollution Seoul was overwhelmingly polluted and the other two regions had pollution levels that would allow ordinary people to move around for about three hours without protective gear.

Accordingly the remaining two ground zeros were also places where various research and training were conducted and it is said that the problem occurred at the ground zero in Busan two days ago.

“An Abyss Dungeon that is believed to be connected to another world has appeared and in accordance with the relevant agreement we have granted the Goblin Guild priority for exploration.”

“convention?”

“You may know that a sudden gate was created in Busan three years ago. Busan Ground Zero is the remnant of that sudden gate. And the most prominent player in that sudden gate was the Dokkaebi Guild.”

In short it was like receiving some sort of reward in return for subduing the gate.

Just as our church received ownership of the land in exchange for cleaning up Ground Zero in Seoul they too seem to have taken unfair rights.

I nodded slightly and leaned back in my chair for a moment as I spoke.

“If it’s the Goblin Guild that’s involved then they don’t need any help right?”

The Goblin Guild is a guild led by CEO Choi Seo-jin who was particularly friendly to me.

And CEO Choi Seo-jin is a strong person who has fought with Leo several times.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was one of the top S-class hunters in South Korea.

But the answer I got from Team Leader Kim was unexpected.

“This request came directly from CEO Choi Seo-jin.”

“yes?”

“CEO Choi Seo-jin lost contact two hours ago while exploring the Abyss Dungeon. He said he asked Si-woo for help before losing contact.”

I had a vague idea that he wasn’t on good terms with the representatives of other large guilds.

But why did it have to be me?

I guess other guilds are much better at things like exploring dungeons.

“We have arrived.”

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Regardless the car that Team Leader Kim and I were riding in arrived at the scene.

Haeundae-gu Busan.

Among them the place that was once called Centum City.

It was one of the places that my military friend who used to live in Busan used to take me to calling it the ‘Busan Full Course’ so coming back here gave me a new feeling.

Well if you think about it it was natural that it felt new.

“I almost didn’t notice.”

There weren’t any intact buildings.

Still it looks to be in pretty good condition compared to my first impression of Ground Zero in Seoul.

A few high-rise apartments were still intact.

The magic pollution was really good compared to Ground Zero in Seoul.

Using the sacred stone purification is possible at a fairly fast rate.

If the situation in Daejeon is the same as here purification may not be that difficult.

“Earthlings ride around in some pretty strange carriages. They don’t seem to be powered by magic. I’d like to try driving one sometime.”

As we took a moment to admire the desolate skyline around us a woman got out of the car behind us and stretched.

Of course she was Luna.

Luna was wearing jeans and a black rider jacket instead of the pure white armor she had worn on Earth.

By the way all of those clothes were created with divine power.

It is one of Luna’s unique abilities although it is closer to imitation than creation.

It was a convenient ability in many ways and even I envied it.

“It suits you well.”

It’s definitely because Luna’s hardware is amazing that she looks good no matter what she wears.

Luna smiled and responded to my compliment.

“I always like your interest. I looked at a lot of clothes on my phone on my way here. I’ll show you more later when I’m alone with you.”

“Anything else?”

“Dolphin pants bikini. Earth men really like that kind of thing. What’s your taste Your Highness? Oh and maybe black stockings?”

“Yeah it was my fault for praising you.”

Sometimes I seriously wonder if Luna is really a saint.

If I think about it carefully all the so-called prophets around me are just weird guys.

I wonder if Seungwoo will become like that when he grows up?

Just one more reason not to show the guy a demonstration.

While I was chatting lightly with Luna people started walking out of the military tent that had been set up in front of me.

They approached us without delay and the man who appeared to be in charge of the scene bowed his head politely and spoke.

“Hello again Pope Kim Si-woo. Thank you so much for accepting my sudden request. My name is Han Si-hyeon of the Goblin Guild.”

“Are we familiar with each other?”

“I saw you at the C-51 gate that was built in Anyang City last time.”

The C-51 Gate is where I first got connected with the Goblin Guild.

It’s also where I picked up Leo after he came over from Eden.

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I nodded slightly at him and answered.

“It’s nice to meet you again Si-hyeon. I heard the details from our team leader Kim Dong-sik on the way here. Did CEO Choi personally ask you to do it?”

“Yes that’s right. Only Kim Si-woo… His Majesty the Emperor can solve this….”

It seems the title Pope doesn’t roll off the tongue easily.

“You can leave out the title Pope.”

“That can’t be. There was an order from the representative to be polite to the Pope.”

I felt this last time but this group called the Goblin Guild feels more like a military organization than a company.

Should we say that they are a group that absolutely obeys orders from their superiors?

It’s not that I don’t like that aspect.

I actually like it because in my experience these types of people rarely betray.

“You all must be tired so let’s finish up the work first.”

“Okay then I’ll take you to the scene right away.”

Then Sihyeon led Luna and me to the back of the tent.

There was a strangely shaped pit there and in the center of the pit was a door with a strange pattern engraved on it.

“That is the entrance to the Abyss Dungeon.”

A feeling of familiarity and unfamiliarity at the same time.

The moment I saw it I realized why CEO Choi had asked me for help.

“Your Majesty. This feeling is somehow….”

At Luna’s words I nodded with a frown.

“Is this a pagan holy place?”

A strange divine power felt from beyond the door.

And the moment I confirmed it a new message window popped up before my eyes.

[You have discovered the Abyss Dungeon <The Holy Land of Fallen Faith>.]

[Time left until the dungeon goes berserk: 11 hours 52 minutes 12 seconds]

Looks like tonight will be long too.

2.

[The Holy Land of Fallen Faith]

●Type: Sub – Abyss Dungeon

●Description: You have entered the Abyss Dungeon. An unknown divine power is felt in this dungeon. Clear the dungeon to stop the rampage.

●Completion conditions

-Destroy the dungeon core

●Reward: <???> <3000 Divine Points>

“I’m fine.”

I shrugged my shoulders closing the message window that appeared before my eyes.

Most sub quests are like this.

A format that is generated based on my choice and is not forced.

I was planning to clear it anyway so there’s no reason to refuse since they’re even offering a reward.

[You have accepted the subquest.]

The inside of the dungeon had a completely different atmosphere than I had expected.

“It’s like a completely different world here. It’s amazing. Isn’t it Your Majesty?”

If the dungeon in Yeoju last time was a cave created in the mountains then as Luna said this place was like a completely different world.

An ashen sky and the ruins of a vast temple beneath it.

A sight too foreign to be considered Earth’s landscape.

If you were to create a world with the word destruction wouldn’t it feel like this?

It certainly seems to me that I am still ignorant of the phenomena occurring on Earth.

Unlike Luna and I who looked flustered the players of the Goblin Guild who entered the dungeon with us remained calm.

That meant that the structure of this dungeon was familiar to them.

“In technical terms it’s called an open dungeon. It’s not a common form but I’ve experienced it a few times. It’s famous for being the largest of the dungeons.”

I guess this is why I said you’d need a guide.

I nodded at Sihyeon’s explanation.

“It is certainly wide.”

This place must have been much wider than what the eyes could perceive.

It was easy to guess just by looking at the strange divine power that covered this place.

If the divine power here was Limen’s divine power it wouldn’t have been a problem to find CEO Choi somewhere here.

“This is the worst.”

The situation here wasn’t very good.

It would have been much better if this place had been controlled by magic or magical power.

If it were those two energies it would be possible to force them away but if it were this divine power it would be a different story.

As the name of the dungeon suggests this must have once been a holy place for some religious sect.

The only divine power I can control is that of those who share the belief in <Limen>.

Naturally I could not do as I pleased with the pagans’ divine powers.

“Certainly not the pagans of Eden… Do you have any guesses?”

“If you don’t know Luna how could I know?”

“Just in case. It could be the Earth’s deity.”

“He is not a god of the Earth.”

It has not even been a month since the divine power was opened on Earth. It is a tight time for even the divinity to appear.

So I could come to one conclusion.

“A god from another world.”

A deity of the Third World which is neither Earth nor Eden.

This must have been the sacred ground of some other world’s deity whose name was unknown at the moment.

Things turned out to be a lot more annoying than I thought.

I scratched my head with my hand and then looked at Si-Hyeon who was waiting quietly and said.

“Can you find any trace of CEO Choi?”

“Of course. When our guild raids a dungeon we always mark it with a marker so that the remaining troops can find it.”

“Please do me a favor.”

“No. It’s something we should do.”

If I had come in alone with Luna relying only on my abilities it would have been much more annoying.

So the full-scale exploration began and Luna and I quietly followed behind them.

There were numerous pillars standing in the ruins.

The pillars stretching up to the sky seemed to have a faint sense of divine power as if to prove that they had once been part of a temple.

Luna also stayed next to me and followed me watching the pillar. Then she spoke in a somewhat stiffer voice than before.

“That’s ridiculous. It must have been bigger than our Vatican’s grand temple.”

I nodded calmly in response to her words.

“The Great Temple is one of the buildings that can be used to gauge the influence of a religious sect. I don’t know for sure but if the ruins are of this level… it must have been a religious sect with enormous influence.”

Even just looking at the remaining traces it was clear that this place was once even larger than our church’s main temple in the Vatican.

And it would have been as prosperous as its size.

But the glory of that time is gone and all that remains here are ruins.

Only the faint divine power seeping through the ruins proves the existence of this nameless deity…

“…wait for a sec.”

I stopped walking for a moment.

Because I realized the cause of the discomfort I had been feeling for a while.

Divine power does not occur naturally. As Limen told me last time it is a power that occurs when life desperately believes in something.

In other words it means that ‘life’ cannot exist without ‘faith’.

Substituting that formula into the current situation gives the following answer:

“There are still living beings here who believe in the divinity of the other world?”

Unfortunately that was correct.

Card ddeuk-!

Countless shadows began to rise from between the ruins and soon monsters with grotesquely twisted faces slowly emerged.

At the sight of the guys Luna sighed as she transformed the clothes she was wearing into armor.

“His Holiness.”

“uh.”

“I told you His Majesty your tongue is always the cause of trouble.”

I had no choice but to give up on refuting that statement. Then Luna summoned her hammer and smirked smugly.

“That could be a charm in a way. At least I’m not bored when we’re together. Maybe you always make me feel excited.”

“Luna.”

“yes.”

“Shut up.”

I was starting to get angry too.

Our Pope please stop this