Oni's Perspective "Wait a moment. If that's how you explain it, then the Goddess Faith already knows that the God of the Divine Word and the Goddess are the same being. But that's not the case, is it?"
Honestly, I hadn't intended to interject, but the question slipped out before I could stop myself.
Before the meeting, I'd asked Lady
She had only been involved with the Goddess Faith during a very brief period when she was an infant, so she didn't know the detailed doctrines.
But from the name alone, you could imagine that it was a faith that worshipped the Goddess.
And since it was in opposition to the Divine Word Faith, it stood to reason they didn't know the God of the Divine Word and the Goddess were one and the same.
The Pope had spoken as though that fact was already common knowledge.
Otherwise, even if the God of the Divine Word was succeeded by a new one, it shouldn't equal the death of the Goddess.
"That would be correct. We were planning to make it public from now on."
The Pope answered my question with startling nonchalance.
What did that mean?
"Well, I'm sure you have many questions, but for now, please hear me out. To cut to the conclusion: when the Goddess passed away, we had to prevent the balance of power between the Divine Word Faith and the Goddess Faith from reversing. We needed to weaken the Goddess Faith's influence, or absorb it into the Divine Word Faith, before that could happen. The war that engulfed Lady Sophia's homeland was one of the moves we made to that end."
He was glossing over a great many details, but the conclusion seemed to be just that.
"So you're afraid your own position will crumble?" Lady Sophia asked the Pope in a low voice.
"If that is what you believe, then allow me to offer you my head this very moment. Consider it a gesture to erase all grievances, and please sign the accord."
For an instant, I couldn't grasp the meaning of those words.
It was probably the same for almost everyone present.
A beat later, the Divine Word Faith attendees looked stunned, and Lady Sophia stood there with her mouth hanging open in a dumbfounded expression.
Only Lady Shiro's expression hadn't changed.
"What's the matter? I won't resist. Please, do it at once."
There was nothing joking about the Pope's gentle tone.
He genuinely seemed to believe it was fine to offer up his life right here and now.
A strange silence filled the room.
"What exactly do you mean?" After a moment, Lady Sophia finally managed to squeeze out the words in a hoarse voice.
"I mean exactly what I said. I am always prepared to offer up my life—that is all."
It wasn't Lady Sophia who reacted to those words, but the other Divine Word Faith members. They began clamoring, words tumbling over one another: "We can't afford to lose you," "Don't be foolish," "If you're going to offer your head, take mine instead"—all aimed at the Pope and Lady Sophia.
But the Pope and Lady Sophia paid those words no mind, remaining locked in each other's gaze, unmoving.
In the Pope's unwavering stare, I could sense his sincerity.
"You think you'll die easily?"
"It doesn't matter either way to me. Death is merely a waypoint for me. No matter how many times I die, no matter how many times I'm reborn, no matter how many times I lose my memories, I will never stray from my path."
"If you die now, wouldn't that mean throwing that path away?"
"Even without me, the Divine Word Faith will continue to function. I've made sure of that by cultivating the people around me. I have no memory of having built an organization so fragile that it would waver just because one man stepped away."
Lady Sophia gritted her teeth.
The Pope's resolve was genuine.
He was prepared to die here, right now, if it meant securing the accord.
It was as if he was saying, in roundabout terms, that he wasn't clinging to status or power.
Someone willing to cut away even their own life as a bargaining chip so easily could never be clinging to something as trivial as status.
"With the Goddess gone and a successor to the Black Dragon, the Divine Word Faith's authority will inevitably decline to some degree. At that time, we absolutely cannot allow the Goddess Faith to rise. It was permissible for the Goddess Faith to exist only because we could crush it at any moment. But we must not allow it to replace the Divine Word Faith and become the largest sect of the Human race—a sect that prays to a god who no longer exists and doesn't even understand the nature of the system."
The Pope pressed on in a tone devoid of passion.
"I won't deny that I'm clinging to my position. If the Divine Word Faith were to fall, I believe that would be a step toward the destruction of not just the Human race, but the world. I don't care what happens to me personally, but the Divine Word Faith must not fall—especially not to the Goddess Faith, which has abandoned the Goddess's ideals and become distorted."
I didn't know enough about the Goddess Faith to say whether that was true.
But I was quite certain that the faint note of disgust woven into the Pope's words was no trick of the imagination.
"The Divine Word Faith has always existed, and will continue to exist, solely for the sake of the world, and ultimately, to protect the Human race. If there were something that would serve the Human race better than the Divine Word Faith, I would gladly hand over that position. But if I judged that it would not serve the Human race, I would not hesitate to eliminate it."
In the end, this was what drove the Pope.
For the sake of the Human race.
He had abandoned personal desire, even sacrificed his own life, and even after being reborn, he remained steadfast in that conviction.
"Even if those you're protecting are the very Human race you mean to save?"
"If killing the few is the only way to let the many live, then I will kill the few without hesitation. When I considered which would benefit the Human race as a whole—keeping the Divine Word Faith alive, or keeping the Goddess Faith alive—I chose to destroy the Goddess Faith. That is all it is."
Lady Sophia's voice trembled as she pressed the question, and the Pope answered without a shadow of hesitation.
"You slaughtered the very people you were supposed to protect—what a joke."
The words came out like spiteful laughter, though the laugh never came.
"That is precisely why I must ensure that the mountain of corpses I've built up was not in vain."
Those words hit me like a blow to the head.
"I will not stop until this body, this soul—everything—is completely destroyed. If the world can be saved before that, I am prepared to spend eternity apologizing in hell. So please, forgive me with this body alone. I'm sorry."
I'm sorry.
For killing your family. For taking away your home. For robbing you of your future.
Hearing those words, Lady Sophia lifted her gaze weakly to the sky.