Chapter 62

Chapter 62. Saint John

On a deserted island beneath the blazing sun,

Bishop Paulo swallowed nervously as cold sweat ran down his face.

Whooooosh!

The aura that had taken shape through John's Bible was gently being drawn back into it.

"I, is this what a Saint is capable of?"

Although John had been fighting until just moments ago, there was no trace of the heat of battle coming from him. His unnaturally calm and emotionless appearance made Paulo even more nervous.

"Everyone, you all worked incredibly hard!"

Snap!

After every last bit of aura had been absorbed, John closed his Bible and wiped the dust from his glasses. Only after putting the Bible away did his usual cheerful expression return.

So he's only been showing everyone his outward appearance all this time?

Some people believed John had become a candidate for cardinal simply because he had powerful support as a Saint. After all, a Saint was someone who served as an example to everyone, not necessarily a measure of strength. However, after witnessing John's abilities today, Paulo could confidently say that those people were wrong.

Gulp.

As Paulo repeatedly swallowed, only one sentence came to his mind.

The Great Demon Forneus met his death at the hands of Saint John.

As if proving that thought, the whale known as Forneus lay floating on its back in the sea behind John, who was adjusting his glasses. The enormous horn on its forehead had been half destroyed. Countless sword wounds covered the whale's body, but the most noticeable injury was the enormous hole that had been torn through its torso.

Would my teacher have been capable of that?

Paulo thought of his teacher, who was currently one of the cardinals and had previously served as the bishop of Cologne Cathedral. He wondered whether his teacher could have killed a Great Demon as easily as John had. He knew it was a pointless question, yet he couldn't stop himself from comparing the two.

"As expected, Great Demons certainly aren't easy to deal with. Things could have gone terribly wrong if Lord Gabriel and Bishop Paulo hadn't been here."

Paulo shook his head, trying to clear away those thoughts. Then, after hearing John's words, he looked toward the seawater, which had turned black from contamination by demonic energy.

Gurgle, gurgle!

Black blood was still flowing from the enormous hole in Forneus's body, contaminating the surrounding sea.

"Hoho, please don't say that, Bishop John. Dealing with those creatures alone was already more than enough for me."

Paulo somehow managed to hide his bewilderment and pointed toward the corpses of demons floating in the sea. They were demons that had emerged from Forneus's mouth and resembled the mermaids of mythology. Even for Paulo, who had spent many years training with a sword, dealing with enemies attacking from the sea had been difficult.

Even that would've taken a long time if Lord Gabriel hadn't been here.

There were holes in the foreheads of the dead demons where the Holy Nails had pierced through them.

More importantly, those were the demons' actual bodies. How did they manage to cross over?

In Paulo's memory, Forneus had opened its enormous mouth before the battle truly began. Surprisingly, demons that weren't possessing any human bodies had poured out from inside it.

Is some enormous change taking place in the world...?

Wondering how it had happened was meaningless. There were far too many things in this world that Paulo's common sense couldn't explain. For now, he could only assume that the demons were openly revealing their ambitions toward the human world.

Just as he was about to become lost in thought, John waved his hands dismissively with his usual cheerful manner.

"Oh, you're being too modest. Thanks to you dealing with those demons, the whale seemed to grow weaker as well."

"W, weaker...? Hoho."

Paulo wondered whether the word modest could really be used to describe him in this situation. The whale with the enormous horn on its forehead had gone on a rampage, firing what looked like lasers from a movie. As proof, the forest behind the group was now full of enormous holes.

"Seriously, that's enough pretending, Bishop John. No, Saint John. Excessive modesty is one of the things my fallen angel hates the most."

Gabriel, who had put away his nail gun, now better known as Nocturne, scolded John.

"Haha, when you put it like that, I really don't know what to say. Ah, give me a moment."

Rub, rub.

"Hmm, I think rinsing them with water would be better."

Apparently the dust wasn't coming off his glasses properly, so John walked toward the sea. Gabriel watched him from behind, covered his right eye, and chuckled.

"Hehehe. Korea really does seem like an interesting place, Nocturne."

Gabriel had volunteered to go to Korea because of the rumors he had secretly heard about Michael. Unexpectedly, he had also been given the opportunity to witness John's abilities.

"Power coming from a Bible, huh? Interesting. Very interesting. Kukuku."

As far as Gabriel could tell, John's Bible was at least a Special-Class Holy Relic. Its abilities were that powerful, and seeing them made it easy to understand why John had been chosen as a candidate for cardinal.

"Your Holiness, if you had something this interesting, you could've at least given me a hint beforehand. Ah, but that would've been a spoiler. Of course, seeing it for myself is much more entertaining. Hehehe. Isn't that right, fallen angel?"

While Gabriel laughed unpleasantly to himself, John calmly rinsed his glasses in the black seawater without any hesitation. As he shook off the water, demonic energy attempted to enter the glasses, but aura released from John's hand drove it away.

"Hmm! Nice and clean."

John put his glasses back on and turned toward Gabriel and Paulo. Now that they had dealt with the Great Demon and its followers, all that remained was to resume their journey to Korea.

"Has your fallen angel said anything about the people who were asleep?"

Like someone carefully dealing with a child, John deliberately phrased his question in a way that would appeal to Gabriel.

"Oh? That's unexpected. You're only the second person who has ever asked my fallen angel a question first."

"Really? Who was the first?"

"His Holiness the Pope."

John blinked at the unexpected answer. Thinking about it, however, the Pope was the person who had known Gabriel for the longest time.

"As expected of His Holiness!"

John had always respected the Pope, but learning that he had already mastered the art of dealing with this madman made John's respect grow even greater.

"I feel like that wasn't entirely a compliment... Anyway, my fallen angel says the sleeping people should be waking up around now."

"That's a relief. Shall we first check whether we can contact Korea?"

Step, step.

The three returned to the aircraft, where they found John's aide moving around busily.

"Ah! Bishop John! Are you injured?!"

Apparently the aide had understood the situation shortly after waking up and was already efficiently carrying out his duties. He explained that he had first awakened the captain and first officer, who had been put to sleep through the worshipper's control, and then checked whether communications were working.

"Bishop Paulo, could you please bring the captain here?"

"Of course."

After sending Paulo to fetch the captain, John asked his aide about the information he needed.

"Can we communicate with Korea?"

"Well... Something seems to have happened in Korea too. We haven't been able to contact anyone there at all. I'm sorry!"

Apparently trouble had broken out in Korea while they were fighting Forneus. When the aide looked at John's face, he immediately lowered his head. John's anxious eyes made it obvious that he was worried about many things.

Pat, pat.

"It's all right. It's not your fault that we can't establish contact, so there's nothing for you to apologize for."

The aide raised his head when John comforted him and gently patted his shoulder. As though nothing had happened, John was wearing his usual kind, smiling expression.

"Thank you for saying that!"

Is that a mask?

Seeing the contrast between the John who had fought Forneus and the man standing before him now, Gabriel found it difficult to tell which side was the real John.

Or perhaps both sides are genuine.

Whatever the case, John was a Saint. It wasn't a title that an ordinary hypocrite could carry. The weight of being called a Saint was simply that great.

"Bishop John!"

At that moment, Paulo returned with two men wearing pilot uniforms. They were the captain and first officer. John hurried forward to greet them, feeling both relieved and worried.

"You've worked hard. Are you feeling all right?"

"Yes. I feel refreshed, almost as though I've just woken up from a good night's sleep."

The captain, whose face was covered in fine wrinkles, answered John's question. Considering he had been controlled by a demon worshipper, he looked surprisingly healthy. John decided it was time to discuss the matter at hand.

"That's good. Then, can you get the aircraft into the air again?"

When John asked whether they could take off, the captain thought for a moment before frowning with an uncertain expression.

"If we remove as many seats and unnecessary pieces of equipment as possible to reduce the weight, I think we might be able to take off again, but... we're missing the most important thing."

"A runway, I assume."

Gabriel, who had been listening quietly, spoke up. Paulo and John both stared at him with wide eyes, like startled rabbits, surprised by his unexpectedly sensible observation.

"My fallen angel wants to know why you're so surprised by such obvious common sense."

Gabriel looked dumbfounded when everyone suddenly turned their attention toward him.

"Ah, ahaha. My apologies."

"Hoho. Please forgive us."

With the atmosphere now somewhat lighter, John stepped forward.

"If the runway is the problem, I think I can solve it."

The captain tilted his head when John claimed he could create a runway in a place where there was nothing except sand being washed by the waves.

"Excuse me? How are you planning to make a runway here?"

"You'll understand when you see it. However... Ah, never mind."

There was no better way to convince someone who didn't believe him than to show them directly. However, John's unfinished sentence left a slightly uncomfortable feeling behind. Nobody chose to question him about it.

Rustle, rustle!

John stepped out of the aircraft and opened his Bible. Holy aura flowed from John and entered the Bible, causing its pages to turn on their own. When the pages stopped at a particular passage, John glanced over it and began reciting a prayer.

"A voice cries out in the wilderness! Prepare for the coming of God! Make the road level and straight! Let every valley be filled and every mountain made level. Let winding paths become straight roads and dirt roads be paved. And all people shall see the salvation of God!"

When John's prayer ended, the captain's mouth fell wide open at what happened next.

Rustle! Rustle!

Although there was no wind, the sand began separating to both sides. Aura spread over the exposed ground, forming an unpaved road. As the surface was straightened and carefully shaped, it gradually began resembling a paved road.

WHOOOOSH!

The road, which required no material other than aura, began extending farther and farther until it reached the area where the aircraft was standing. It became more solid to support the aircraft's weight and gradually took the shape of a runway.

RUMBLE!

Finally, after the structure was firmly secured to the ground, the runway was complete. Although it was only a temporary runway created from aura and wouldn't last very long, it was more than sufficient to allow the aircraft to take off. John smiled at the captain.

"We can leave now, can't we?"

Even after witnessing everything with his own eyes, the captain found it difficult to believe what he had seen. All he could do was nod repeatedly.

The descent of a Great Demon was a disaster.

HONK! BOOOOM!

Beneath a gray sky darker than the fading light of sunset, two vehicles desperately trying to escape the disaster collided. The vehicles behind them became caught in the accident as well, turning it into a massive pileup. However, nobody showed the slightest interest in whether the drivers had survived.

"RUN AWAY!!"

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

The streets were crowded with people desperately trying to survive by fleeing from the enormous tree at the center of the disaster. Every person focused solely on their own survival, paying no attention to the people around them.

"Grrrrgh! Gack!"

"Bleurgh! M, my stomach!"

"WAAAAH! DAD!!"

Some people collapsed while clutching their throats. Others continued retching even after they had already vomited everything in their stomachs. There were even children who refused to release their fathers, whose skin had become discolored as they lay dying before their eyes. The disaster, carrying suffering and screams wherever it went, continued expanding its range.

Behind them, vines rose from the ground, grabbed the corpses, and dragged them toward the tree. The tree, which was taller than the surrounding skyscrapers, devoured the bodies and continued growing even larger. As though that still wasn't enough, its vines spread in every direction, searching for more prey.

"I, is that Marbas?"

However, the most dangerous thing of all was the being standing at the center of the disaster, spreading the plague.

"Your blood shall become the blood of the White Horseman, and your bodies shall become the flesh of the White Horseman."

Marbas, the Demon of Pestilence, whom Sia could see before her, watched the streets filled with suffering and chaos with complete indifference.