Fated to Be Loved by Villains

0% Sera had multiple routes, so there were many variables involved to see which Final Boss would come out.

In other words, there were several candidates for the Final Boss’ position itself.

The Holy Body itself was on a Final Boss level, and so was the pope. Now what if the two were combined? Yeah, their destructive power would be on a whole different level.

“...Did the Holy Land really look up to this thing as their Savior?”

Gideon asked that reasonable question while throwing off the robe he was wearing in disgust.

Its look wasn’t the only thing that looked monstrous.

Anyone would be able to tell with a glance that this thing didn’t fit the word ‘Savior’ at all.

“From the way it looks, this thing seems like it’s made solely for ‘killing’...”

“Well, that’s roughly what its purpose is. Purifying the world, or something like that.”

Befitting of that, the shockwaves it kept letting out was no joke. The dense Aura contained in those shockwaves had the power to turn everything in its path into dust.

It resembled Riru’s Blue Demonic Aura’s Pulverization to some extent, but unlike Riru who had that as a Skill, this thing just released such a thing constantly like it was breathing.

Like it was a Passive instead of an Active Skill.

But, the scarier part here was...

“...It hasn’t completely resurrected yet.”

“...”

I could hear someone gulping dryly after they heard what I said.

Well, anyone would show the same reaction if they saw a punk who could release something that was comparable to a Devil’s Authority as if they were breathing. The punk wasn’t even in its perfect form, no less.

“Then, before it’s completely resurrected, we just have to... kill the ‘source of power’ over there first, no?”

Gideon said while glaring at the pope—who was stuck in the center of the Holy Body.

Judging by how his split body was wrapped in a ‘membrane’, in the center of the Holy Body, it made it look like he had turned into some kind of important organ for the thing.

However, I stopped Gideon from making his move for now.

“It’s not that simple.”

“...What?”

“At this point, that guy’s probably connected to the Holy Body.”

In other words, the pope and the Holy Body were sharing the same HP. Even if we attacked them separately, they wouldn’t die.

Which meant, focusing our firepower on the pope wouldn’t work. We had to fight them both at once head-on, that was the only plausible tactic.

[And you said you’re going to finish this fight in 5 minutes?]

Gotta keep the promise I made, no?

[...]

I mean, I was the one who said I’d finish this guy while that punk was eating, so I had to finish it within that time frame.

[Let me get this straight. You’re saying that you’re going to finish that disgusting thing that would keep reviving itself, in 5 minutes, while fighting it head-on?]

I said, fighting it head-on is the only plausible tactic, I didn’t say I’m going to use that.

[...Are you making a play on words with me?]

No, but I still gotta finish it in 5 minutes either way.

[...]

In my eyes, the pope who attached himself in the center of that thing looked like a malignant tumor instead of a heart.

As it was always the case with a malignant tumor, instead of letting it be, you gotta remove it.

“Thankfully, I’ve prepared something for this situation.”

“...What did you not prepare for, even?”

I ignored Lucia, who muttered as such, and rummaged through my inner chest pocket.

Well, even though she was grumbling, it was clear that she was looking forward to what I had in mind. After all, so far, there had been no problems that I couldn’t come up with a solution for.

“...What’s that?”

But, her expectation turned into bewilderment the moment she saw the item I took out.

What I had in my hands were a bunch of short sticks.

Their lengths were a little different from each other, but they didn’t have any special abilities whatsoever.

I roughly set them to look as if they had similar lengths inside my hand and handed them to the people next to me.

“Pick one each.”

“...”

“The one who gets the shortest is the chosen one.”

“What does this even...?”

“We’re drawing lots.”

What do you mean we’re drawing lots out of a sudden?

Has this punk finally gone crazy?

Such gazes were being thrown at me, but that didn’t faze me at all. Instead, I complained to them.

“Come on, do it quickly.”

If we kept on hesitating and wasting time, the pope and the Holy Body would be completely fused, and that would give even me a massive headache.

Hearing me rushing them, Gideon, Lucia, and Yuria eventually came closer reluctantly and picked the sticks I had prepared one by one.

And the one who got the short end of the stick was...

“...Hm.”

Gideon stroked his chin while staring at the short stick in his hand.

“So, what am I supposed to do exactly?”

Now, how should I explain this...?

“So, uh... In order to remove things like a tumor, uh, what was it again? Uh, they’d need to insert something... Like a medicine to locate it accurately... You know, something like that.”

“...I’d like you to explain it to me in a way I could understand.”

Upon seeing me fumbling with my explanation, Gideon said so calmly. It was actually a hard thing to explain, you know?

The thing that he had to do itself was simple, but to convince him to do it...

“...You don’t have to think of it so hard.”

Noticing how I was struggling to pick the right words to use, Gideon said such words calmly.

“I can do anything if that means I can kill that punk.”

Hm.

If you say so...

I let out a sigh, then told him ‘what exactly he had to do’.

“...You’re telling me to really do that?”

“...”

I mean...

You just said you could do anything.

●

The pope could feel it; the almighty power.

He could feel God’s voice and the Angel’s will; a power that was more than enough to achieve his goal of getting rid of impurities that filled up the world and rebuilding the world only with pure and incorrupt things.

As he felt the density of the Special Power flowed into him through the Holy Body, his mind was thrown into a state of natural ecstasy.

However, that was just a part of his mind...

Because the other part was currently boiling with rage.

This body isn’t supposed to be woken up like this...!

If he had put in the Homunculus sisters as fuel and eaten up all of the Devil’s Vessels to push the power output up to the threshold, he would’ve become tens of times stronger than now. But instead, he had to put up with this incomplete state.

I’ll make them pay! No matter what...!

Such a determination was probably why he started moving much more aggressively than before.

-...

It was hard to say he was moving quickly since the body was incomplete and all, but regardless of that, its power output was still overwhelming.

His opponents also threw their attacks at him as a response; the same attack combo that cut through him in a single blow.

The combination of Divine Power, Demonic Aura and a Slash that possessed an unfathomable power.

However...

—How foolish!

Though it was the same attack that had torn him apart, the current him was able to face it head-on with a disdainful snort.

The mouth of the ‘face’ of the Holy Body was opened. It casually ‘ate everything’ that came towards it.

“...?!”

“What the...?!”

Hearing their terrified voices, the pope let out a satisfied smile.

Indeed, even those punks hadn’t expected such a result.

It would only be natural for them to lose their fighting spirit if they found out that all their attacks wouldn’t hurt him but make him stronger instead.

After all, all the Special Powers in this world could serve as the Holy Body’s food. The moment such power made contact, it would be ‘purified’ and turned into fuel that increased the body’s power.

‘Attacking’ meant strengthening it. This trait didn’t only make attacking and defending worthless, but also made the notion of fighting the body itself meaningless.

[Why don’t you hang in there a bit more and fight?]

Do it, make me grow stronger!

The pope ridiculed as he moved the Holy Body again.

Everything that happened after that was merely a repeat of the previous thing.

His opponent attacked him, the Holy Body received the attacks and absorbed it as its fuel.

The whole thing made it embarrassing to even call it a battle; he was just toying with them one-sidedly.

With the shockwaves that constantly came out of the Holy Body, it was impossible to approach it in the first place. It also rendered all long-ranged attacks useless.

The pope even felt the thrill from watching their expression as they were forced to be on the defensive...

“...?”

But then they started to make a move that he never expected at all.

...What is he trying to do?

He thought so while staring at Gideon who took out his sword and approached him closer.

‘Has he lost his mind to his despair?’ From the pope’s perspective, it looked like the guy was trying to make a decisive strike by narrowing the distance between them, even though it meant that he had to endure the shockwaves directly with his body.

Such arrogance. I’ll make sure he’ll pay the price for it.

The pope smiled sarcastically while moving the Holy Body. Once again, its mouth was opened, but this time, it moved Gideon instead trying to absorb any incoming attacks.

Special Power wasn’t the only thing the Holy Body could turn into energy, it could also use ‘organisms’.

Considering how high his level was, he could become quite the nutritious food for it.

No matter what kind of attacks he throw at me, I’m going to ignore it and devour him—

“...?”

The pope thought so at first, but then, he looked at Gideon—who was charging at him—with a stunned expression.

Then again, anyone would show the same reaction.

“...I’m going to make you pay for this, Son-in-law—!”

Gideon...

The guy with the monstrous swordsmanship...

Willingly let himself be swallowed into the Holy Body.