That night, Yupheon brought Yuria to the Pope’s private prayer room.
Overwhelmed by the solemn atmosphere, Yuria carefully held onto him.
“Yuphe, this place is…”
“No one can enter here.”
He smiled faintly as he took Yuria’s hand and led her toward the altar.
“Yu, Yuphe…?”
Yupheon lifted her up and placed her on the altar.
“Close your eyes, Yuria.”
Yuria, though bewildered, blushed slightly.
“Do-doing this in such a place, we might receive divine punishment.”
“It’s fine.”
Yupheon smiled gently as he soothed her.
Mesmerized by that lovely eye-smile that could enchant people, Yuria stared at him blankly before slowly closing her eyes as he instructed.
Whoosh.
The smile on Yupheon’s face evaporated instantly.
Without hesitation, Yupheon took out a dagger from his br*ast and swung it toward Yuria’s chest.
Had Yuria not opened her eyes slightly at that moment, sensing something strange, he might have succeeded in cutting out her heart.
Slash!
“Ahhh!”
As Yupheon plunged the dagger into her chest, Yuria rolled to the opposite side and fell off the altar.
“Ah, ugh, sob…”
The dagger missed her heart and lodged near her collarbone. Bright red blood dripped from her chest.
“Yu, Yuphe, wh-why would you…”
Yuria looked at Yupheon with disbelieving eyes.
Though the wound was deep, her holy power was barely maintaining her life.
“I told you to keep your eyes closed, Yuria.”
Yupheon, his expression turning cold, sighed deeply and spoke as if annoyed.
“It would have ended easily if you had.”
“Why, why would you do this…”
“Sorry, but I need your heart. I’ll just take that.”
“Are, are you crazy?”
She noticed a sacred sword hanging on the prayer room wall.
Yuria quickly grabbed the sacred sword and pointed it at Yupheon.
“St-stay away!”
“I need to meet God. Help me out.”
Yupheon approached her with a grin.
“Don’t come any closer!”
The moment Yuria screamed, the sacred sword reacted with her holy power and released an explosive force.
“Ugh…”
While Yupheon was caught off guard by the unexpected power, his ankle trapped, Yuria quickly opened the door and escaped.
Looking at the sacred sword lying on the floor and the red bloodstains Yuria had left behind, Yupheon bit his lower lip.
He had lost Yuria.
“Ah, this is a problem…”
Given the situation, he would have to use force to find Yuria. As quickly as possible, before God sensed something was wrong and noticed his plan.
However, Yuria did not inform God about what happened with him.
Instead, she escaped completely by returning to her world.
Yupheon fell into despair.
Yuria, the only key to meeting God, had disappeared.
……
……
……
No, was she truly the only one?
Yupheon paused at the sudden question that came to mind.
He gently placed his hand on his chest.
Thump, thump.
He could feel his heartbeat.
He suddenly realized that he, as the Pope, was also an apostle of God.
Although he couldn’t directly hear God’s voice or converse with God like Yuria could, he too was someone who could receive God’s will in the form of oracles.
If he cut out this heart and offered it… he could meet God.
Since a human body cannot reach the divine realm, only the soul can meet God.
In other words, even if he faced death by cutting out his heart, his soul could reach the divine realm and meet God.
For ordinary people, cutting out their own heart to offer as a sacrifice to God is impossible.
They would die from excessive bleeding before placing the heart on the altar.
But it might be possible for him. With his strong holy power, often called God’s blessing.
So if he could use his holy power to maintain his life just a little longer until he completely cut out his heart…
‘I don’t need to find another sacrifice!’
The moment this thought reached him, a gleaming light flashed in Yupheon’s eyes.
Without hesitation, he headed to the prayer room.
But after meeting God, what would happen to me?
“I’ll probably die…”
Yupheon muttered in an indifferent voice as he climbed onto the altar.
After cutting out his heart, even if he met and killed God, he wasn’t sure if he could wake up again in this body.
Without a heart, he would most likely die.
Death…
Although he had never thought about his own death before, the reason he could proceed without hesitation at this moment was because he feared her death more than his own.
Yupheon lay down on the altar.
Then he willingly drew his dagger, held it with both hands, and aimed it at his chest.
Although his holy power was strong, it wasn’t enough to hold onto a dying person for long.
So he had to finish it as quickly as possible.
‘But after I die… what if Jella becomes sad?’
Such a question suddenly crossed his mind.
But he quickly found the answer.
‘No. Jella will hate me… so it will be fine.’
She hates him.
She hates and resents the garbage-like him who committed the sin of filial impiety and betrayed her.
At that moment, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
The fact that she hated him, that fact which had always hurt and tormented him, couldn’t have been more welcome now.
If he had known this would happen, he should have acted like an even worse piece of garbage.
So that the kind-hearted her wouldn’t feel even the slightest compassion for him.
Yupheon applied strength to his trembling arms and pulled hard.
Squelch.
His skin split open, and hot blood soaked the altar.
That’s how Yuphe cut out his own heart.
***
Johannes came out after finishing his conversation with Yupheon.
“Lord Johannes!”
The priests who had been waiting outside the annex rushed to him.
“Have you finished your conversation with His Holiness Yupheon?”
“Did the Pope not become violent…”
“We were worried something might have happened since it took so long.”
To the priests’ concerns, Johannes replied in a calm voice.
“Nothing of the sort happened. We finished our conversation well.”
Relief washed over the priests’ faces.
Not only the elder priests but also the younger priests who had supported Yupheon were worried that the rogue-like Yupheon might harbor resentment for being confined to the annex and become violent.
“That’s a relief. It seems even His Holiness Yupheon becomes docile in front of Lord Johannes.”
“Now if Lord Johannes could decide on His Holiness Yupheon’s punishment…”
The priests looked at Johannes with expectant eyes.
They had many discussions among themselves, but Yupheon’s punishment was never decided. In the end, they all agreed to follow Johannes’s decision.
Johannes slowly closed and opened his eyes, then answered in a painfully subdued voice.
“…I merely follow His will.”
The priests were momentarily confused.
“When you say ‘His’…?”
There were few who could be referred to as “His” by Johannes, the former Pope.
Although Yupheon was the current Pope, their father-son relationship made the honorific “His” somewhat awkward.
However, since there was no one else Johannes would call “His” besides Yupheon, the priests cautiously asked:
“Are you referring to His Holiness Yupheon?”
“He is the only one who can lead us. That is all I have to say.”
Without further explanation, Johannes turned away with those final words.
“Lo-Lord Johannes?”
“Lord Johannes…!”
He heard the priests calling him, but he continued walking without looking back.
At that time, a deeply troubled expression appeared on his face.
‘I’m sorry, Father. I must protect Jella. You’ll understand, won’t you?’
‘What else can I do? The one who opened my world was not that damn God you serve, but Jella.’
That was the last conversation between father and son seven years ago.
Since then, Johannes had been confined to the Holy Land, cut off from the world and unable to hear news from outside.
However, seeing that the world was peaceful, he vaguely assumed on his own that things had flowed according to the oracle.
Within that confinement, he had also mourned, wondering how much his son had grieved over her death.
But that wasn’t the case.
His son had ultimately killed God and abolished the oracle.
And in return…
‘It doesn’t matter. I don’t care about anything. Because I saved Jella.’
Johannes could tell as soon as he met Yupheon.
What was beating under his son’s left chest was not human.
His son was no longer human.
That fact made Johannes sad and tormented.
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PhoeDaHoe
I kinda wish the men had more personality and background other than: (IMMORTAL PRIEST childhood bestfriend obsessed with Jella) (EMPEROR ex-duke ex-fiance obsessed with Jella) (SLAVE dragon boy obssesed with Jella)