"It's almost over."
At the same time, the Pope, sitting alone in the imperial temple, smirked. He had been looking down at a fist-sized bead, but now he frowned. "It won't work out your way."
Two men, whom he had ordered not to be allowed in the temple, had just barged through the gates. They were from Meldenik.
"Isaac, Dominic." The Pope shook his head gently, but Dominic stomped his foot impatiently.
"Don't call me by my name, you're filthy."
The Pope's expression hardened, then softened again. "How did you get in?"
"We killed everyone and walked right in, what do you mean?"
"As expected, you two are quite capable. It seems you've dealt with all the paladins surrounding the temple."
Isaac and Dominic didn't respond. They strode forward and stood directly in front of the platform where the Pope was sitting. Despite being surrounded by the two powerful men, the Pope remained completely calm.
"What's with that baseless confidence?" Dominic said, his voice laced with impatience.
The Pope held up the crystal bead in his hand. It was a bright red, divine bead, a sacred object passed down through the generations with the Catechism. It contained a vast divine power that a Pope could use only once in a crisis.
Isaac, staring down at the bead, sighed. "It's a divine bead. It seems he's used the supernatural power within it."
The power of the divine bead was divided into three stages:
Separation: It separates a person's body and mind.
Confinement: The body is left in the human world, and the mind is confined in a "special space."
Manipulation: The mind is completely brainwashed and manipulated.
Not even the most powerful dragon could avoid this mind control. Normally, the divine bead was just a bright red orb, but when its power was used, the person being mind-controlled could be seen within it. The Pope was able to issue direct commands to that person through the bead, giving him fine control over their mind.
Isaac spoke as if he were spitting out venom. "I see Meldenik in that bead."
Of course, using the most powerful force on earth came with a severe penalty. The Pope would lose all of his divine powers and any other supernatural abilities he had acquired. The current Pope would be nothing more than an ordinary human after this.
"So Mel is sleeping in the Marquis's mansion right now, and her body and mind are separated?!" Dominic exclaimed.
The Pope laughed. "Yes, I broke all the contracts and locked up Meldenik's mind. It was truly easy."
He gazed at the bead in his hand with a sense of triumph. Meldenik was now defenseless, stripped of the protection of Isaac, Dominic, and the dragon. He had first canceled all the contracts surrounding her, then locked up her mind. Right after that, he had brought all of her worst experiences to the forefront of her memory. Soon, her weakened mind would succumb to his brainwashing.
"Ah, the second phase has just ended. I'm breaking Meldenik's mind. Would you like to take a look?" A strange joy was in his expression.
"What do you mean, 'mental breakdown'?" Dominic's fists were clenched tight.
"Yes. To brainwash someone, you first have to destroy their mind." The Pope laughed, looking into the crystal ball. Meldenik, huddled inside the bead, looked incredibly weak.
Dominic ruffled his hair and stomped his foot. "This crazy bastard! What are we going to do to him?"
Isaac, in contrast, was frighteningly calm. "You can't kill him, Dominic."
The Pope laughed at the rational Isaac and the enraged Dominic. There was one fact Dominic didn't know, but Isaac and the Pope did.
"The Pope's consciousness is directly linked to Mel through that bead. If we kill him, Mel's consciousness will be trapped inside forever."
The Pope smiled bitterly. "Unlike the hero, your mind seems to be working quite well, Master of the Black Tower."
"Don't call me that, you crazy bastard." Dominic looked back at Isaac, hitting his own chest in frustration. "So you mean we have to just sit here and have a chat with this bastard? I can't do that!"
"What will you do if you can't?" Isaac asked.
"Somehow! I can't be quiet. I'm going to torture that bastard until he gets Mel out!"
Isaac's gaze was sharp and piercing, completely fearless. Dominic flinched and furrowed his brow. "What's with that look?"
"When did I say we had to wait without doing anything?"
"There's a way to get Mel out?"
"There is no way to do that. But Dominic, after Mel gets out, my words will change."
Isaac glared at the Pope, who was now bound and panting, his human form torn apart by his own power. "He's powerless. The divine bead's side effect is the loss of all other powers."
"Hahaha, hahahaha!" But the Pope still laughed. He was confident. He would brainwash Meldenik and lock her away forever. She was the only woman who could change the world's future, and once he brainwashed her and had her write the future he wanted in the Catechism, he could become a god. Anything he wanted would come true.
What was there to fear from these two men, who couldn't even touch or kill him right now?
The Pope, staring at Isaac, asked, "What are you staring at?"
Isaac closed his eyes, a cold smile on his face. "I'm not going to threaten you right now." He lifted the Pope's chin with his fingertips. Their eyes met, and a cold air filled the temple. "I just want to prevent you, who is about to be defeated, from running away."
"Defeated?" The Pope smiled lazily, shaking his head. He was sure of his victory and knew he had the advantage. "Is there really a way for me to lose?" he chuckled, poking the bright red crystal bead that was stuck to his hand like a parasite. "I'm going to kill you all… it's just a matter of time."
"Crazy bastard." Dominic, unable to control his rage, cursed and stamped his foot.
The Pope laughed at Dominic and then turned his attention back to the crystal bead. Now that Meldenik's mental breakdown was over, it was time to brainwash her. After that, he would order her to write the deaths of Isaac and Dominic in the Catechism.
But as he looked down at the bead, his eyes widened slightly. An unexpected event? I thought she was going through a mental breakdown like before... Meldenik was slowly but surely standing up.
"How pathetic." She stood up and stretched her stiff legs. She was clearly in the subspace created by the Pope. She shook her head and shouted, trying to shake off the terrible memories of her unhappy past. "You only show me the bad memories? I won't fall for that."
She took a deep inhale, then exhaled, and her spirit returned. She gently touched the necklace hanging around her neck. Without it, she might have succumbed to the brainwashing and been reduced to tears.
'Even if I managed to hold on, it would have been a tough fight,' she thought.
She remembered what Danny had told her, and a small smile appeared on her lips.
'You must wear this necklace every day!'
'Why? Did you put a spell on it?'
'It's not a spell, it's very, very, very weak… it's a forgotten magic. That's why it's so ancient, even the gods have forgotten about it.'
'Magic so weak that even the gods have forgotten it? Why would I need that?'
'There will come a time when you need a very weak strength that the gods have forgotten about and don't care about.'
At the time, she hadn't understood. But since that day, she had worn the necklace every day to appease Danny. Now, she held the square wooden pendant tightly in her hand.
She finally understood the true meaning of what he'd said: that the Pope's divine power, which came from the gods, could not reach this magic.
Danny had been right. When she was lost in her trauma, the precious voice coming from the pendant had been a great source of strength.
'It's okay. It's okay.'
'People grow up making mistakes.'
'Your childhood wasn't your fault.'
'There were unhappy times, but there were also happy times. It's all right. Even if everything doesn't work out, it will be okay eventually.'
'It's fine to live a quiet life, but don't let yourself be manipulated by that person. Your life is your choice.'
The soft, warm voice was so small and delicate that it was easy to miss. But she had listened to it, and thanks to that voice, she had found the strength to fight back against the voices trying to destroy her mind.
The ancient magic, forgotten even by the gods, had given her the greatest support. The magic in the pendant was now gone, its power spent like the last embers of a fire.
But with newfound courage, she looked around the space. "I don't know exactly where this is, but your brainwashing won't work on me anymore. I'm going to live my life the way I want, you bastard."