Chapter 589
“Yes, of course. We should vote.”
It was then.
Hearing a familiar voice, he turned his head and saw Quai, who had appeared at some point without him noticing.
Su-ho said with a smile,
“Oh my, has the Constellation arrived?”
“Haha, you keep doing that.”
Quai grinned.
Well, look at that. Guess he doesn’t °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° really intend to hide it anymore?
Su-ho drew a line.
“I’m asking just in case, but you didn’t show up to stop me because I threatened the voters, did you?”
“Of course not. I appeared here because the Conclave is over.”
“We haven’t even voted yet, though?”
“Haha, what use is voting against someone who has seized control of the entire voting body? Ah, of course, I’m not criticizing you. Proving that you can become Pope by whatever method is itself the Pantheon’s Conclave.”
Quai clapped his hands together as if in prayer.
Then, centered on Quai as he clapped, something swept outward like a gust of wind. The three Cardinals who had been beheaded, the Cardinals waiting to vote, and even the summons Su-ho had called forth all vanished at once.
Jack was no exception.
But despite being forcibly reverse-summoned, Jack showed no particular reaction.
Su-ho did not deliberately search for him.
Because from this point on, he had to focus on Quai.
Su-ho asked,
“So, have I proven myself now?”
“Yes, you have proven yourself more than sufficiently. Under the rules of the Conclave, you became the sole candidate, and through your soldiers, you were going to obtain approval from more than half the voters. So you may consider everything that happens from now on secondary.”
So it’s like a rite.
When Su-ho nodded, Quai pointed to the door on the exact opposite side from the one through which he had entered this place.
“Shall we walk for now?”
“Let’s.”
The two of them walked slowly, as if taking a stroll.
As they walked, Quai said,
“First, congratulations on ascending to the seat of the new Pope of the Pantheon.”
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself. An official system notification hasn’t even popped up yet.”
“Haha, I’ve already decided that it will be so, so none of that matters. Surely I would not keep changing my words and handing out new trials like someone else, would I?”
Like someone else?
Hera suddenly came to mind.
But was he really talking about Hera?
Su-ho thought it was possible.
When Quai had opened the door to the Pantheon, he had recited a whole introduction about Su-ho to the being beyond the door.
“You seem to know a great deal about me.”
“I’ve been watching you all along.”
“Well, everyone says that. So is there anything you want to tell me separately?”
“Rather than something I want to tell you, there is something I’m curious about.”
“What is it?”
“Are you truly confident?”
“In what?”
“What you are trying to do.”
Ah.
I wondered what he was talking about.
Just as Su-ho was about to answer, Quai continued.
“I know because I have been watching you all along. I know how difficult and arduous the thing you are trying to do truly is. And how cruelly heavy the responsibility you must bear will be if you fail.”
“Yes, well. I’ve seen the positions of the other Constellations, so I can roughly tell how severe the aftermath will be. But it’s not like I can stop now.”
“Why can’t you stop?”
“I have my pride.”
“Pride?”
“I thought I had become a regressor because I was lucky. But once I learned that it wasn’t coincidence or fortune, and that I had simply been deceived as part of some game, well... And more than anything.”
As he spoke, the faces of the people he had loved appeared in his mind.
The faces of his beloved family and friends, whom he might never be able to see again.
“If it weren’t for the system in the first place, my life would never have ended up like this.”
Quai nodded.
He knew.
He knew what things made Su-ho unable to stop the fight he was in now.
After all, during the trial to become the Blood Cardinal, even his dead mother had been summoned.
This time, Su-ho asked,
“May I ask a question too?”
“As many as you like.”
“Then, those Cardinals I saw earlier. Were they all real?”
“What kind of real do you mean?”
“I’m asking whether they are people who actually exist.”
“They did exist.”
“Did... meaning...”
“Haha, they are beings created for this Conclave. To be precise, it would be more accurate to say they were invited here temporarily. Because they were judged to be the most hostile toward you among all Cardinals throughout history, and at the same time, the most optimal personnel for facing you.”
“For that, Silen and Wolfgang’s skills were a bit lacking.”
“By your standards, that may be true. But in the history of the Pantheon, Silen and Wolfgang were the greatest holy knight and Monk. They spent more time on service and prayer than on honing martial skill.”
“Hmm.”
“Still, Antonio’s Sacred Zone and White Zone were extremely lethal to you, weren’t they? And because Wolfgang was there, you could not target Antonio immediately, which forced you to deal with Silen first. So if this trial helped you realize where you are lacking, I believe it was useful in its own way.”
Put that way, Su-ho found himself nodding naturally.
Looking back, Quai too had invited Su-ho here in order to promote him to Pope after he had crossed the singularity of power.
“Then I’ll ask another question.”
“As many as you like.”
“Is the reason you are helping me, Lord Quai, because you also have the same goal as I do?”
Quai flinched.
At Su-ho’s question, Quai stopped walking.
Then he looked at Su-ho with a faint smile.
“Well... let’s say there are many reasons.”
Then he began walking again.
Su-ho looked at Quai’s back as he walked ahead.
Right.
So you have all kinds of circumstances too.
That was why he did not pry any further.
After they walked for some time, they arrived at a door with the most solemn-looking design Su-ho had seen so far.
Quai opened the door.
When he did, it opened silently. Inside the room, there was one old desk and a chair in the center, while countless bookshelves surrounded the desk and chair in a circle.
“This is the Pope’s library. It is also called his office.”
This place was the Pope’s library.
Quai went to the desk and chair and seated Su-ho there.
Looking at the desk and chair, Su-ho said,
“The desk is rather worn-out for a library used by the Pope.”
“Most Popes were upright and frugal. It may look like this, but once you learn the true power this place possesses, you will no longer think that.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
After seating Su-ho, Quai pulled one of the countless books from the shelves and opened it.
Astonishingly, a ring came out from inside.
“This is the Pope’s ring. It is the one and only symbol of the Pope granted exclusively to the Pope of the Pantheon.”
“Are you starting the Pope’s appointment ceremony now?”
“Haha, in truth, there is nothing that could be called an appointment ceremony. Once you wear the ring, the process is effectively over.”
“That easily?”
“Anything simple is a good thing.”
Quai smiled and slipped the ring onto Su-ho’s finger.
The ring did not have the splendid appearance worn by actual Popes—for example, it was not the kind of Fisherman’s Ring people commonly imagined. Instead, it was a plain, patternless ring of silver and black, with a strong rosary-like feel.
The moment Su-ho wore the ring.
Hwaaa!
Light began pouring from the ring.
And then.
[ All conditions have been fulfilled. ]
[ You have completed the final quest. ]
At last, the notifications announcing the completion of the final class quest began.
[ The system and Quai have completed their evaluation of you. ]
[ Quai fully acknowledges you. ]
[ The Pope’s Ring is fully absorbed. ]
[ Class information changes. ]
[ A new name is bestowed upon you. ]
[ You have ascended to the seat of Pope by the roughest method in the history of the Pantheon. ]
[ The name “Black Pope” is bestowed upon you. ]
[ Congratulations! You have become the first Player to ascend to the seat of Pope. ]
[ You have achieved a truly remarkable feat that no other Player has ever accomplished. ]
[ In recognition of your supreme achievement, the system gifts you 20 bonus stats. ]
[ As compensation for succeeding in the final quest, 10 bonus stats are awarded. ]
[ Due to promotion, “High Priest” is deleted. ]
[ In place of the deleted skill, you have acquired “Pope of the Pantheon (SS).” ]
[ Some trait and skill information changes. ]
A flood of system notifications.
As the ring on his hand was absorbed, Su-ho was able to become the Pope of the Pantheon. To be precise, under the name Black Pope.
However, the notifications were not over yet.
[ By becoming the Pope of the Pantheon, the Pantheon is automatically designated as territory of Suho Land. ]
[ You have obtained ownership and command authority over everything in the Pantheon. ]
[ You have interference authority over everything that happens in the Pantheon. ]
[ Dominion Core is activated. ]
[ All stats increase. ]
The Pantheon had become part of Suho Land.
At the same time, as the scale of his possessions increased, Dominion Core activated, and his stats also rose by a great deal.
The corners of Su-ho’s mouth rose automatically.
‘Yes. This is exactly it.’
Now, more than any other ability, he looked forward most to the stat increase from Dominion Core.
Su-ho immediately checked his status window.
[ An Su-ho ]
Lv: 400Class: Black PopeGrade: Guardian GodBetting: Traits▲: Herculean Strength (S): 98True Demon (G): 437Super Sense (S): 90Command (N): 220Bonus Stats: 30Thirty bonus stats.
But what caught his eye even more than that was, without question, the triangle mark that had vanished from beside his class.