Please Stop The Pope - Chapter 67

21. Yamata no Orochi Subjugation Battle

There was a clear difference between the scene I watched from the helicopter and the scene I saw up close.

[Passive Skill <Divine Protection Lv. Max> nullifies a large amount of toxicity.]

[Divine power is being continuously consumed.]

First of all, Yamata no Orochi… the name is too long. It’s Japanese-style so it doesn’t roll off the tongue well.

“Since it has eight heads, I’ll just call it Palyong (Eight Dragons).”

That Palyong fellow uses poison. From a distance, I thought it was spewing out black flames, but upon closer inspection, this was close to deadly poison.

That’s why it was even more tricky.

“It would have been really bad if I hadn’t come.”

Deadly poison causes a large number of casualties. Especially with this level of toxicity, even average Awakeners wouldn’t be able to endure it.

The words ‘national crisis-level magic beast’ didn’t really hit home at first, but seeing the buildings corroding and melting from the poison, I could feel it.

Even though I was neutralizing the poison through Divine Protection, the fact that my skin was stinging conveyed the ferocious power of the poison without exaggeration.

If an ordinary person was covered in this damn poison, most of them would melt into a puddle of blood.

“It’s refreshing.”

To that crazy Barbarian, it becomes a medium that reminds him of a sauna.

An Irregular is an Irregular.

Aiden was fine even though he was covered in poison without any defense mechanism.

“I once fell into a trap dug by a hostile tribe. They were a tribe that primarily used poison as a weapon, and they dropped me into a jar filled with deadly poison. It was already 20 years ago. That memory comes back to me vividly.”

“Usually, people call that a trauma.”

“It’s one of the proud histories of struggle engraved on my body. Thanks to that, I gained a sturdy body that doesn’t get affected by most poisons. And I stuffed the entire tribe who gave me that gift into that jar.”

At least Choi Seo-jin doesn’t talk about such a brutal story as if it’s natural.

What kind of world is this guy’s origin world?

There are levels even among macho men, but this can’t even be called macho.

Compared to this guy, CEO Choi Seo-jin was a man who could be called a gentleman.

“Barbarian. There are no survivors in this area.”

“I know that even without you telling me, crazy pope. It’s common sense that humans can’t survive in deadly poison.”

“Ah, sorry. You seemed like a guy who doesn’t even know common sense.”

That physical ability to endure even deadly poison didn’t come from abilities derived from mana or divine power.

It was truly nothing more than pure physical toughness in the literal sense.

At this point, I become curious about that unknown power I felt in the tent earlier.

『Kwauuuuu-』

“Barbarian. That fellow woke up.”

“That one’s mine. I was disappointed that there were no dragons in my world. Were there any in your world?”

“There were.”

“How was it compared to that fellow?”

At Aiden’s question, I thought for a moment and then answered while putting on leather gloves,

“It’s not even a comparison.”

“Is that fellow stronger?”

“How could that be? If that fellow was stronger, I wouldn’t have been summoned to that world in the first place.”

The Demon Dragon King who led the Gluttony Legion.

The demon dragon who abandoned the pride of his race in pursuit of strong power was terrifyingly strong.

So much so that it couldn’t even be compared to that damn Palyong that merely spits out black saliva from its mouth.

“Crazy pope, I’m becoming more interested in you. You’re the first returnee I’ve felt fond of. You can be happy. Not many humans can earn the favor of me, the great tribal chief.”

“Let’s finish this quickly. This is my first time in Japan, and I want to enjoy the hot springs.”

“Among our tribe’s traditions, there is a custom of enjoying a bath with a sparring partner. After killing that fellow and finishing our friendly match, let’s enjoy a bath together.”

“Hey, you crazy bastard.”

“Watch closely. This is what fighting spirit is.”

A rough force burst out from Aiden’s body.

A power that doesn’t belong to divine power, mana, or magic that I know of.

As I felt earlier, it was a primal power closer to ‘will’ rather than being called ‘energy’.

『Kwauuuuuu-!』

Palyong, who has completely woken up from sleep, stares at us with glowing red eyes from its sixteen eyes.

At the same time, the numerous monsters that were keeping their distance from us began to rush towards us all at once.

“A warrior proves himself only through fighting, and at the same time, grows through it. Fighting spirit is trained through battle. Fighting spirit is the manifestation of the will to fight the opponent to the end as long as there is life, as long as the eyes are open.”

The primal power swept away the monsters in an instant.

And the monsters touched by that fierce will fall without being able to do anything.

To me, that sight was impressive.

I thought he would just recklessly smash the enemies, but he subdued them in a more effective way.

『Kiaaaaaaah!』

Palyong, who felt Aiden’s ‘fighting spirit’, screamed even more fiercely. And the real battle began.

A murky liquid is simultaneously spewed from the mouths of the eight heads. The deadly poison that momentarily covered the sky sweeps away everything without distinguishing between friend and foe.

Even the monsters that were convulsing on the ground after being swept away by the fighting spirit melted like ice cream the moment they were touched by that poison.

“I’ll go first.”

Aiden let out a hearty shout and broke through the poison head-on. The axes he was holding in both hands rang loudly, and the huge wave of poison was split apart.

Then, the huge body of Palyong, who was glaring at us with red eyes, came into view again.

The deadly poison it shoots from a distance was enough to be called a weapon of mass destruction, but that only applies to those it works on.

Aiden leaped into the air like a madman, covered in poison.

“Hraaaaaaah!”

Kwaaaang!

He cut off the eight tails rushing towards him in a single strike. It was a feat worthy of being called a god-like warrior… but that would probably be from the perspective of ordinary people.

I lightly checked my condition while watching Aiden rampage like a berserker.

“There don’t seem to be any restrictions from the law of causality either.”

Is it because the number of believers has increased? The law of causality that used to put the brakes on me whenever I tried to properly use my power was quiet this time.

I thought it would be different since it’s a national crisis-level magic beast, but it was something I didn’t even need to be tense about from the beginning.

Well, it does feel like a tremendous threat to Earth’s Awakeners…

“I tore apart even the demon lords who boasted about being strong, so if I can’t crush a fellow on the level of a dragon hatchling, the plausibility wouldn’t make sense.”

[Activating Active Skill <Holy Spear Lv. Max>.]

Woooong!

I threw a holy spear created in my hand directly at Palyong, and the holy spear struck the rightmost head of Palyong.

A moment later.

『Kkiaaaaaaaaaah-!』

『Kkieeeeek!』

As the holy spear exploded, it blew up the other three heads next to it at once.

And the remaining four heads writhed in pain and began spewing poison in all directions.

I looked at that sight and slowly nodded.

“Blowing up other heads hurts the remaining heads too… confirmed.”

And I said to Aiden while summoning a holy spear again,

“You’ll have to work hard if you want to even tie with me. This is what divine power is. You chuunibyou Barbarian.”

Then Aiden shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Have you no pride as a warrior! Let’s have a fair match-“

“The orc warchief I beheaded last time said the same thing, are you perhaps a distant relative?”

“You coward!”

“What are you saying?”

I grinned at Aiden and then threw the holy spear again, saying,

“If you’re jealous, you do it too.”

Why’s a guy with no long-range skills acting up?

The base camp located near Sendai City.

“Yamata no Orochi… no vital signs.”

“…Total combat time 1 minute 12 seconds. National crisis-level monster, code name Yamata no Orochi… subjugation complete.”

“No casualties on our side.”

“The situation has been concluded… by the hands of Korea’s Irregular Kim Shi Yu.”

Silence fell inside the base camp.

Japanese Awakeners, American Awakeners. Even Korean Awakeners.

They couldn’t say anything more while looking at the subjugation scene being broadcast live.

And that was the same for Sasaki Hiroto, the Prime Minister of Japan, who belatedly joined the base camp.

“This is absurd. Was the US trying to test such a person? And of all places, on our Japanese soil?”

“Your Excellency.”

“Our national territory has suddenly been reduced to Korea’s nuclear testing ground. And the results of the nuclear test… are an unprecedented great success. Twice. With just two attacks, he dealt with Yamata no Orochi that caused numerous casualties.”

It was just two shots.

Yamata no Orochi, which killed countless civilians and numerous Awakeners dispatched for emergency response, was subjugated by just two attacks.

With two Irregulars mobilized, the success of the subjugation was taken for granted, but in reality, only one person properly performed in this battle.

“This is the worst.”

Prime Minister Sasaki pressed his throbbing head with his fingers.

Completing the subjugation of Yamata no Orochi without further damage was undoubtedly the most joyful thing for Japan.

A national crisis-level magic beast.

Subjugating a magic beast that could drive the country to a state of annihilation if left unchecked was clearly an achievement worthy of applause.

But that’s only possible when it’s subjugated by the country’s own power.

Foreign powers, of all things, the Irregular of Korea intervened. No, it’s not just intervention, Korea’s Irregular single-handedly resolved the situation.

It was already a catastrophe from here.

Currently, the <Rising Sun Association>, which leads the mainstream of Japan’s Awakener society, is an organization that is difficult to control. Now that Japan has been saved by a Korean Irregular, there’s no way they will sit still.

Moreover, what he feared was not simply the Rising Sun Association.

‘Did the US perhaps have this situation in mind too?’

The true intentions of the US were becoming suspicious. Did they really not know that Kim Shi Yu was an Irregular of this level?

Perhaps they had already conspired with Korea’s President Seo Shin-woo, that sly fox?

All sorts of suspicions came to mind. If the US side had assumed this situation, Japan had provided the stage for Kim Shi Yu’s international debut free of charge.

‘…Yes, that’s not what’s important right now.’

Now that it has happened, what’s important is not the cause.

Figuring out the cause comes later, dealing with the situation is the priority.

As Prime Minister Sasaki was barely devising a method, the Foreign Minister, who had been quietly keeping his mouth shut beside him, unhesitatingly presented an opinion.

“How about inducing naturalization to the Japanese side, like in the case of Ryu Jin-young?”

“Naturalization? On what conditions?”

“The population of our country is still far greater than that of Korea. Wouldn’t it be worth bringing him over on the condition that we support the Limen Denomination at the national level?”

Prime Minister Sasaki was a person who was so composed that he was nicknamed ‘living Buddha’, but this time he couldn’t do that.

“We? Support the Limen Denomination?”

“That’s right, Prime Minister. If we can just pull Kim Shi Yu to our side, we’ll gain…”

“Do you only use that idiot head of yours when committing adultery? Don’t you understand the current situation as the Foreign Minister?”

“Y-Your Excellency?”

“The 1 minute and 12 second subjugation video just now was viewed by the entire nation through the disaster broadcast. Not only that. By now, not just the Japanese, but people all over the world will be replaying only that video on the internet. That man is already a hero who saved the archipelago. And what? We’re going to help expand the influence of his denomination?”

Suddenly, a chilling air settled in the tent again.

Prime Minister Sasaki glared at the Foreign Minister for a long time with clenched teeth, then soon took a deep breath. And he said in a cold voice,

“If you want to keep your position with that idiot head of yours, prepare the highest level of protocol right now. And… request a call with President Seo Shin-woo immediately.”

They must have already anticipated this situation. Because they were confident, they readily dispatched Kim Shi Yu to Japan.

But that’s when it happened.

“The, the battle has begun!”

A situational soldier shouted in a panicked voice, and Prime Minister Sasaki asked back with a deeply furrowed face.

“Has Yamata no Orochi come back to life? That can’t be…”

“No!”

Prime Minister Sasaki could only show a dumbfounded expression at the situational soldier’s subsequent answer.

“The Irregulars suddenly started fighting each other!”

“These crazy bastards!”

Japan’s disaster was not over yet.