Book 3: Chapter 122: The Defeat of Pope McPherson

Olsylvia Academy, North Campus, Filomena Nobility Academy’s Student Quarters, in the pilgrimage hall of the McPherson Monastery, one of the Olsylvia Academy’s Nine Midnight Forbidden Grounds.

Bella, Noreya, Elaine, and Cynthia were face to face with the holy spirit of the third generation Pope McPherson. The figure appeared much clearer than the typical evil spirit and did not look much different from a living, breathing human. However, there was still an ethereal quality to the figure that made him appear somewhat different.

“Holy Swordswoman, aren’t you aware of the proper procedure when you meet the Pope?”

“I… Pope…”

“Who in the world are you to say that?! She is mine now. This holy swordswoman belongs to me. Go back to wherever you came from!”

Suddenly, Bella swiftly pulled Cynthia closer towards her. Cynthia had intended to kneel down to pay her respects to the late Pope but Bella’s actions forced her to stop midway.

“Bella… we should pay our respects to the late Pope…”

“Cynthia, you currently belong to me. Stay out of this. You should not even lift a finger for him.”

As Cynthia thought about how the third generation Pope McPherson was responsible for the assassination of the second generation Pope Aesop, she became increasingly confused by the situation. Assassinating the Pope was considered an act of treason against the Church. However, the Radiant Church did not have any rules that placed restrictions on the Pope’s actions. Thus, there was no way to determine if Pope McPherson’s actions were treason or not.

“I am the third Pope McPherson. Lady Knight, you have an aura of evil. This is the sacred holy ground; how dare you demons wreak havoc here?!”

A magical scepter made of pure white jade appeared in McPherson’s right hand. When he raised his scepter, the entire monastery was instantly enveloped in a bright light that seemed to turn night into day. An extremely powerful gush of light-type energy came along with the bright light.

Cynthia was immediately knocked down to her knees as the light energy fell upon them. She was tying herself in knots as she looked at Bella and the others. Seriously, this Pope McPherson fellow was insane; why were his attacks always targeted at his allies? Stop it! She was not completely on Bella’s side yet, and she was still the Holy Swordswoman of the Radiant Church.

Bella, Noreya, and Elaine were not affected by the light energy at all. It only caused them a little discomfort. This light magic move was called the Praise of Light and was highly effective against typical demons and undead type beings. However, it was completely useless against beings like demon kings or stronger.

“No wonder I can’t use any of my savior’s equipment! You, you must have set up the restrictions against holy weapons! What a pity as I’m not a holy knight!”

Through her contract with the Abyss Demon King, Bella summoned 【Emperor Scorpion】 Gresham’s blade. A strange green blade appeared in Bella’s right hand from an opening to the black space. The blade had wild jagged edges and it was surrounded by an eerie green toxic mist.

“You… seems like I have underestimated all of you. However, this is still my territory. Although, I may consider letting you go if you leave this holy swordswoman behind as my companion.”

Knowing that Bella and the others were not to be messed with, McPherson began to speak freely. Initially, he had intended to keep all of the girls here, but Bella’s poisonous, lethal blade caused McPherson to switch tactics and negotiate with them instead.

“Get lost! You have been dead for thousands of years and your body has already decayed beyond recognition. What use is she to you if she remains here? If you hand this monastery over to us in an amicable manner, I might think about getting someone to pick a decent cemetery for you to rest in peace!”

“It seems like we have reached an impasse. You leave me with no choice. Awaken, my servants!”

With another flash of light from McPherson’s white jade scepter, many corpse-like holy knights emerged from the secret doors within the monastery’s walls. This group of holy knights were decked in heavy armors that looked like they were made of pure gold. It was apparent to everyone that there was definitely a vast difference between the financial capacities of the Radiant Church of the past and the present.

The modern-day Radiant Church was only using armors that were made with mithril. Compared to the Church thousands of years ago which only had armor made of gold, there was clearly a noticeable difference.

“Oh, it’s a team battle then? I’ll gladly oblige. Show yourselves, my adorable puppets!”

Elaine was unwilling to show any weakness and swiftly gestured with her hands. Almost immediately, many intricately created puppets crawled out from the interdimensional doors behind her. The puppets were made of various rare metals. At first glance, it looked like a large group of metal men.

“Elaine, the costs of your puppets are incredibly high. What if they get damaged in the fight…”

“If they get damaged, you’ll just have to collect more ingredients for me, Your Demonic Excellency.”

“I… yes, I am indeed a demon king. Fine, I will cover all of your expenses for the production of the puppets.”

With a command from the white jade scepter in McPherson’s hand, the holy knights surrounded Bella and the others. The forces on both sides began their attack with Elaine’s puppet army on one side and McPherson’s army of holy knights on the other.

After a short scuffle, Elaine’s puppet army was soundly defeated by McPherson. Most of the puppets had been torn to shreds by the gold-clad knights. These holy knights were the elites of their time and were much stronger than any of the regular holy knights. They were outfitted with the best equipment and were extremely coordinated in their strategies. The mindless puppets were obviously no match for them.

“Just admit defeat! These Holy Knights are the cream of the crop… You can’t defeat them with your pathetic puppet army. Leave while you still have—”

Before McPherson could finish his diabolical monologue, a gold-clad holy knight flew across the room. The knight crashed into the stone wall and lay there motionless. The poisonous blade in Bella’s hand had long transformed into an eerie green pair of boxing gloves.

Earlier, with a heavy blow from Bella’s hand, she had managed to send the nearest gold-clad holy knight flying. The armor that they were wearing was resistant to attacks from blades and thus Bella was worried that her blade would not be able to penetrate their armor. In the end, she decided to use brute force instead.

As one of their team members was sent flying, the other holy knights activated their Holy Guard and began to rush towards Bella. Before they could reach her though, countless puppet strings rose up from the ground and tripped some of the golden holy knights leading the group. As the holy knights behind them were unable to react in time, it unleashed a domino effect as they fell over each other.

Where did this fallen holy knight had come from to have the ability to blast a golden Holy Knight away with a single blow? When the twelve demon kings had invaded the continent, many of the demonic beings were helpless against these golden holy knights. How far had this golden-haired maiden knight fallen?

As the golden holy knights prepared to spring a second attack, countless dark magical shackles appeared beneath their feet, keeping the knights rooted to the spot. Taking advantage of their paralyse, a shadow of a blade flashed through the group. Thousands of years ago, the golden holy knights had claimed to be the strongest human shields known to man. However, in no time at all, the blade’s aura had managed to slice through their forearms.

“This… the power of this swordsmanship has already far surpassed the current Holy Swordsman standard. Who in the world are you…”

McPherson raised his head towards the monastery’s balcony. Under the dim illumination of the moonlight, he saw two stunning young maidens with flowing silver locks. One of them was in a swordsman’s outfit and had striking purple irises. The other was dressed in mage’s robes and had glowing pink irises.

“Don’t bother. They all belong to me. I had instructed them to take over this monastery with me.”

Kriss and Ariel could not deny what Bella said at all. Since they did not raise any objections, it was considered a silent approval of Bella’s words. Once Bella realized that something was about to go wrong, Lolita and Lisha, who were standing on alert, were immediately activated to provide assistance.

“Huh, my female slaves… come out and drag them back into the dreamscapes! Just you wait.”

McPherson brandished the white jade scepter and attempted to summon the nuns from the monastery gardens. However, there was no answer to his summons and they were nowhere to be seen.

“What’s going on? Where are my nuns? You… when did you… my scepter, give it back to me!”

Without anyone’s knowledge, Noreya had snuck behind McPherson. In a split second, she made use of her unique skills that were part of her thief profession and had taken McPherson’s white jade scepter from right under his nose.

Before McPherson could regain his senses, Noreya had slipped back to Bella’s side and handed the scepter to her. With a grin on her face, Bella took the scepter and patted Noreya gently on the head as a form of encouragement.

Noreya gave a look of disdain as Bella patted her head. When she handed the scepter over to Bella, Noreya was in a kneeling position and Bella had made use of the opportunity to pat her head. However, the look on Noreya’s face was just a cover for what her body was actually feeling.

Olsylvia Academy, North Campus, Filomena Nobility Academy’s Student Quarters, in the outer gardens of the McPherson Monastery, one of the Olsylvia Academy’s Nine Midnight Forbidden Grounds.

The entire McPherson Monastery was enveloped in a strange barrier which prevented anyone outside from viewing what was happening inside. When Norris and the others left the area, they had evacuated the nearby students as well. Tonight, other than Bella and her group, no one else could enter the premises.

The barrier was obviously not set up by Norris. Other than Kriss and Ariel, she had also sought the help of her most trusted “lolita slaves”—Angel, Mia, Noesha, and Betty. In addition, there were also Bella’s younger sister Lisha, Lolita, and Bella’s demonic minion, Demon World Princess Diaz.

The Loli Army had taken charge of the entire area surrounding the McPherson Monastery. Bella and the other “big sisters” were responsible for battle against the “Final Boss” within the monastery itself. This made for a much more logical plan of attack.

As this was her specialty, the barrier was set up by Noesha. The monastery gardens were covered in departed souls that were controlled by Angel. The evil spirits that were initially in the garden were forced out by Angel’s powers when they did not accept her command.

The undead nuns in the monastery’s gardens were “living dead” corpses created by the third generation Pope McPherson before his death. He had used a secret magic to allow them to have specialized powers in creating illusions. However, these illusions had no effect on Lolita who was the Devastating Evil Dragon Emperor. With a single blow, Lolita had smashed their illusion to smithereens.

At the moment, there were thousands of zombie nuns clutching their chests and kneeling on the grounds inside the gardens of the McPherson Monastery. The nun’s habits had been torn to ribbons by Lolita’s blast of destructive energy. There were a couple of Angel’s departed soul soldiers behind each undead nun to prevent them from getting up to any mischief. If the nun was to try anything funny, the soldier would destroy them immediately.

Fortunately, the loli maidens were the commanders of the departed souls. If the commander was a man, the entire situation might end up being part of the typical boy-meets-naked-girls plot. However, Noesha and Betty had a glint in their eyes that revealed an unnatural excitement causing the nuns to feel a little unnerved at the very core of their being.

“Humans are more interesting than I thought. They’re even able to come up with this type of respawning… no, this type of sorcery that provides eternal youth.”

Betty, who was the root of the excitement, reached out and grabbed one of the nuns by the chin. As she looked at her, she let out a regretful sigh. The beautiful nun was filled with terror as she looked into the eyes of the loli with jade green hair. As a zombie nun, her only ability was a bit of illusion magic. Once her magic was destroyed, she was no different from any other ordinary nun.

“Mistress Betty, aren’t these people already dead? Why are their physical bodies so perfect and blemish-free? It’s… as though they are still alive.”

Diaz was extremely respectful when she was asking for Betty’s opinion. Even though she was a Princess of the Demon World, she was still the Demon King Bella’s personal demonic minion. Everyone else here was a high ranking power in the darkness faction. Truth be told, in terms of ability, she was the weakest. Therefore, it was necessary for her to swallow her pride and speak in a humble manner.

“You should ask Mia as she’s more familiar with such forms of sorcery. Lolita, Mistress Bella did not give any instructions on how to deal with these zombie nuns. Why don’t I bring them all back as live subjects for my experimental poisons? Elder Sister Bella always forbids me from testing my creations on living humans, and since these are technically only half alive…”

“Betty, what a waste! They would be destroyed after just one experiment. Why don’t I take them? I’ll bring them back and groom… my apologies, slip of the tongue, I mean educate them. I have so many new toys, so I’m sure they would reach new heights in ecstasy. Lolita, what do you think?”

At Betty and Noesha’s words, the zombie nuns were all trembling in fear. This goddess-like loli who had a strong aura and was full of life definitely had a dark heart. If she were to experiment on them, it would be absolutely terrible.

Noesha, the red-haired loli, was even more terrifying to behold. Her slightly red irises were filled with desire. It was obvious that she wanted to do unspeakable things to them.

“Mistress Knight, please save us. We know all of the third generation Pope McPherson’s deepest, darkest secrets. Please… we’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

Based on their observations, Lisha was the only one that seemed stable. This young lady appeared to be a Knight and Knights were usually more reliable. At least, they would not be too bad. In the end, they regretted their decision as they realized that among the knights, there was Bella who had an air of evil mischief about her.

“Well… Lolita, what’s your take on this?”

Lisha hesitated and eventually decided to check with Lolita. Among all the young ladies present, she was definitely the most powerful. If she were to make a decision, even if Noesha and Betty were unhappy about it, they would not make a fuss. Angel, Mia, and Diaz were no problem as they tended to go with the flow.

“Their bodies seem pure and untainted, which might have been a requirement for the magic to happen! If you wish to serve the Demon God… and wish to claim the Demon God as your lord and master, you may stay. Otherwise, I might just gift you to Mistress Noesha or Mistress Betty instead!”

Lolita’s words did not leave any room for negotiation. She had always held this attitude towards other races. If they could not be used, then they would be completely disposed of. Her telepathic connection with Bella had given her the knowledge that the Demon God, Bella, had some special “kinks”. Otherwise, these nuns would have been completely blown to dust earlier on, not just their clothes.

Olsylvia Academy, North Campus, Filomena Nobility Academy’s Student Quarters, in the pilgrimage hall of the McPherson Monastery, one of the Olsylvia Academy’s Nine Midnight Forbidden Grounds.

With some force from her hands, Bella snapped Pope McPherson’s white jade scepter in two. Even though this staff was a divine artifact, Bella did not like it at all. This was because this divine artifact had been in the hands of a man for thousands of years; she thought it was more appropriate for it to be destroyed.

The pilgrimage hall was covered in the corpses of the golden holy knights. These knights who had been summoned to deal with Elaine’s army of puppets had been utterly defeated by Kriss the Dark Savior. Many of the golden holy knights had been sliced to pieces by her blade.

After Kriss had sliced the knight’s limbs off, Noreya would use her hidden darts to pin the fallen limbs to the ground and attach some puppet string to it. Finally, Ariel would use her dark shackling magic on the limbs to lock the soul of the golden holy knights within their corpses.

This time, the golden holy knights would finally be able to rest in peace. There was no way they could be resurrected anymore. It was not due to their lack of power, but rather it was just their fortune that they were faced with Bella’s team of five “humanoid figures”, and it was almost a miracle that they had lasted this long.

“Honorable McPherson, as the third generation pope, would you like to share your opinion?”

“You… just tell me what you want! My soul is immortal. When your ability reaches its peak, it would be comparable to the twelve demon kings who had been around thousands of years ago. You would know the reason for my soul’s immortality then.”

Pope McPherson seemed to calm down when he saw the dead bodies before him. Thousands of years ago, he had struck up a deal with some of the twelve demon kings. Bella’s powers seemed to be close to the twelve so it would be wise to negotiate with her instead.

“Hey, Pope, you are… surprisingly annoying. Is there any reason why I should let you go? Even if I can’t kill you right now, I have my ways to seal you here for eternity.”

“I can hand over the ways you can control the spiritual imprint. However, I do not know how to undo it. The imprint was designed by that old jerk, the second generation Pope Aesop. How about this, once you know the secret behind the imprint, you will practically be like the Pope and control the Holy Swordswoman standing behind you.”

“The reason why this lass did not dare to resist the illusions in her dreamscape was because I knew how to control the spiritual imprint. She could only obey my every command. I had intended to use her body to… Forget it, since she is yours, the terms of this deal should be quite satisfactory!”

“The terms are rather good. However, I’m not satisfied at all. First, I need to know what I have to do for you.”

“Destroy the final resting place of that old jerk, Aesop. This fellow is hiding somewhere here. After my death, I found out that his soul is still in the mortal world.”

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