I Became The Pope, Now What?

How much time passed in that place?

How long were his eyes closed in search of that faint flicker of the energy he had received from the Orb of Purity.

Sylvester, standing at the edge of existence itself, surrounded by the wrangling, eel-like creatures, gave his everything to find a clue to his enemies. He felt the urge to hurry as well since, without the Demon World, all the focus of the two gods were likely on his home world.

But, no matter the rush, he had no choice but to go through all of the energy stored within his body and inside the realm of Nehilius.

'Where is it?' Annoyedly he checked everything. 'It couldn't have assimilated that easily if the Primordial Gods made it.'

He cursed himself since it was a folly on his part. To consume the Orb of Infinity without giving it a second thought might have been a powerful move, but if he had evaluated the energy inside it before, it could have saved him precious time.

In the end, despite becoming almost as powerful as a god, he still possessed the mind of a human. Hence, susceptible to mistakes.

'I can't afford to be wrong.' He knew that, however. Being invisible from their gaze also meant they must be anxious. In that state, they could do anything.

…

Sol, The Holy Land

"The Empress of the demons has arrived." Felix entered the Pope's office and led Empress Zenith with her new adjutant, Dalgan, inside. "The proposal has received a consensus. A temporary ban on civilian entry and exit from the Silver Continent is agreeable to them. Only the officials shall enter and exit from both sides."

It had been a week, and a war between two worlds had been averted. But more than that war, the bigger problem was the population that had appeared from the Sand and Central Continent.

In fact, the bigger issue was that of the Central Continent. Since the land was known to be full of micro-kingdoms with their kings, queens, and other nobles; their lifestyle was snatched away from them. Appearing in Sol with nothing angered them, turning them into wandering refugees.

Food was given to them plenty, but their desire was luxury. That was one thing the Holy Land couldn't provide. Even less so when aristocracy had ended in Sol, and royalty existed only in name.

So, the most feared man was sent to subdue all the new ambitious royalties and nobles, who, in reality, were no richer than a small merchant of Sol while living in the Sand Continent.

Lord Inquisitor's furious gaze, his speech, fire, and aura were enough to remind them who ruled the world, let alone the land they were on.

In a week's time, over five thousand 'kings' and 'queens' surrendered their nobility in return for a small amount of money and some land to live on, build a house upon, and farm on. No different from minor commoners. As for real commoners, they were divided into their mastery.

Blacksmiths were absorbed in related guilds, the same for goldsmiths, weavers, traders, and adventurers.

"My people are dying," Empress Zenith revealed as soon as she walked in. "It's not the food but the air. It's not suitable for us. We will need to change the climate of the entire continent."

Gabriel frowned since this was something the original dwellers wouldn't be able to accept. After all, changing the climate meant making the region uninhabitable by non-demons.

"Is there no other way? You stand here comfortably," he asked.

"That's because I was the strongest in my world. In fact, most of those who can harness the magical energies are untouched. It's the common people who are suffering and dying a slow death from suffocation. It comes so gently that they pass away in their sleep." Zenith explained and insisted, "I understand your worries, Pope Gabriel. I respect Sylvester as well, and I have no desire to do any wrong. Allow me to change the climate until Sylvester returns."

"Holy Sovereign…" Gabriel corrected Zenith in her manner of calling Sylvester, "You are right. He will be able to revert any changes with a wave of his hand. You can go ahead."

"I will require the help of one of your Supreme Wizards," Zenith added.

Gabriel looked at Felix while pondering, "Julius is too serious. Send Emperor Raz with her. I hope you won't have any problem with an undead Supreme Wizard."

"That one?" She remembered the creature. "I still can't fathom how he came to serve the light faction. But I will be grateful for his help."

With that, Empress Zenith took Raz and his bone dragon to the newly made continent in the far south. The undead creature talked nonstop throughout the journey, curious about the Demon Realm to which his existence had been associated with for so many years.

"I don't worry about work these days. My greatest General, Bob, is enough to handle almost everything. The good lad rose from being a brain-dead skeleton to a General," Raz babbled the whole time. "I remember that day so vividly."

Empress Zenith sighed, as did Dalgan. They already felt exhausted through the journey. But thankfully, they saw the shores of the new continent on the horizon.

"Emperor Raz, I will need you to help me power a sealing ritual that will create an invisible shield on the continent that will create an enclosed environment suitable for my kind." She interrupted Raz's self monologue.

"Sure, sure," Raz muttered, uncaring about life since his was endless. No longer a curse since he surely enjoyed it now.

The bone dragon soon landed in the middle of the Silver Continent, a combination of Sand and Central Continent. The place was barren, so without any interruption, Zenith drew the huge ritual rune using demonic language.

It alone took ten hours since the rune needed to go very deep into the ground for it to be firm enough. They were going to perform something akin to terraforming, so the fear of the rune breaking was high.

"Please stand here with me, Emperor Raz." Zenith eventually prepared everything and stood at the center of a one-mile-

wide rune circle. "The ritual requires my blood and chants. You merely need to provide the magical energy. Solarium will do."

Everything was prepared. All the inscriptions on the ground were perfect. Zenith closed her eyes and prepared to start the rune scheme with her magic and perform the ritual. A blade ready in one hand to cut a wound on another.

Drop!

Her blood drops fell.

"What?!"

But nothing happened.

"The rune circle should have emitted energy by now!" She exclaimed, confused. "Dalgan, look at the runes again. Is there any mistake?"

Hours went by. Frustration grew more and more.

"Let's try again." Zenith poured her blood on the rune circle, "Still nothing!"

"Strange..." Emperor Raz voiced all of a sudden. "I can't seem to be able to use magic anymore."

"What?!" Zenith exclaimed and tried to create a simple fireball. "I can't either."

Dalgan did the same. "Me neither. What's going on?"

Boom!

All heads looked up. The dark clouds gathered in the sky for no reason, so dark that they almost turned the whole world black. There was no wind, no stormy sights, just black clouds and thunderous roars.

"What we gave, we can take. Your magic is now your wagering stake."

Raz looked left and right, "Who was that? I heard a voice… so inhuman and terrifying. Even I felt shivers, and I have no skin."

Zenith's face had turned ugly, however. "I-It's them… The Primordial Gods. They're now targeting this world. They took away our ability to manipulate magic."

"To go against your creator, you overstepped your boundaries. It's a parent's right to take the child's toy, your magic I now seize."

Boom!

Thunder boomed continuously, and then slowly, the dark clouds began dissipating. The 'Gods' were done speaking.

"There will be chaos in the world." Dalgan worried, "Without magic, there can be a rebellion. Mass violence… nothing to fear. 'They' have made the Church vulnerable."

An indirect way to strike Sylvester where it hurts. This was much different than directly using a Black Hole.

"Something tells me we're not dealing with the same god this time," Zenith muttered, frustratingly looking at her palms. Feeling weak, like a common mortal once more. "But our bones still retain the strength of a powerful being."

Perhaps, things weren't as bad as they thought.

…

Beyond The Existence,

"That is your plan? To suffocate them?" Ashraska watched in his formless conscious state, his brother playing a slow game to his annoyance. "This will only give that mortal more time to reach us."

Aveda didn't react intensely, "To suffocate them is to suffocate him. The more frightened, and hasty he becomes, the more mistakes he shall commit. Perhaps no longer a mortal, but he retains the mind of one. Burdened by feelings, emotions, like those ants do."

"Then how are we—" Ashraska paused midspeech, a surprise and delight in his voice, "Did you feel the tear in space?"

"I did." Aveda, once again, didn't react, "What was inevitable has happened."

"He's not alone."

"I know, Ashraska."