Fated to Be Loved by Villains

0% Seeing the Holy Body moving normally like that, a question naturally popped up in my mind.

Why did he make the Homunculus sisters if he could move that way in the first place? 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

But the answer came as quickly as the question appeared.

It was simple.

“The power output is gonna be different!”

I said, holding Yuria and Lucia’s bodies with both arms while taking a leap, matching the attacks pouring out from the Holy Body.

All sorts of attacks came out from that thing, but I was still able to avoid all of them.

For now.

The more time went on, the harder it’d get. Probably.

In any case, the pattern wasn’t so different from the battle with the pope before the Holy Body woke up.

The only difference was that we wouldn’t have the duke’s deadly blows since he had been swallowed into the Holy Body, and the pope was much more aggressive.

Let’s be real. That attack won’t work the second time anyway.

The duke’s swordsmanship was definitely way beyond my expectation, but the pope wasn’t the kind of opponent who’d get hit by the same attack twice.

Which meant we had to come up with a completely different attack.

As I thought so, I took out another item off my inner chest pocket, the Rosary.

“...Isn’t this power output strong enough already?!”

The Saintess’ body went limp when she saw the ground where I had just stepped on turned into a gigantic crater by the spells pouring out of the Holy Body.

Divine Power was a Special Power that focused on causing damage mentally or spiritually instead of physically.

The fact that the spell left such a noticeable physical effect meant that even the Devils or Angels would be ‘purified’ the moment they got hit by that.

“It feels like he’s just doing things that he isn’t supposed to be able to do!”

In any case, this was the matter of the difference in purpose of usage.

The pope could move the Holy Body because the power output of his Divine Power was just on a different level, while these sisters were created with such purpose.

Both could be said as the best things to ‘fuel’ something.

“That’s exactly what we’re going to use.”

A strike using the difference in fundamental capability.

In other words, I was going to use that ‘power output’, the reason why these two were created by the pope in the first place.

Although it was quite ironic that they were being used to go against their creator.

“And how are you going to do it?! We don’t even know how such a thing works...!”

“Well, there’s one way...”

The pope must had prepared a way to use these two.

Me too, I had it, though it was a little bit...extreme...

Still, we had to do it as quickly as we could. At least for the sake of the duke who must’ve been ‘digested’ inside the Holy Body right now.

“Cut me with Severer.”

I said while pointing at myself.

There was a reason why Yuria and Severer were a set in the first place.

To compare these three to a gun; the Saintess was the ‘bullet’, Yuria was the ‘trigger’, and the Severer was the ‘muzzle’.

The thing that was lacking was something that would decide the bullet’s direction. It was a little extreme, but there was no other way to use their power quickly.

“I’ll become a makeshift Holy Body for a moment. You just have to balance the weight once.”

“...”

“I ascended to a Devil for this. It’s okay.”

Of course, I didn’t do it just for that, but it was true that it was also the reason I kept feeding the Fallen’s Seal.

“B-But...”

Yuria stammered as her face went pale.

“I-In the past... I also... to Mr. Dowd...”

It seemed like this conversation triggered her trauma. Well, it was natural since she had split me into two in the past.

“T-This time, if we fail...”

“It’s not like you’re going to kill me like last time. Really, it doesn’t matter.”

“But...!”

Hmm.

As expected, that particular experience seemed to repulse her from doing this.

Which meant, I’d need to encourage her.

And the best way to do so was to remind her of her experiences of success.

“That’s not it. Don’t think about failing.”

“...Pardon?”

I tapped Yuria’s shoulders as she stared at me in a daze, then I pointed at a certain area near my belly.

Failure? What nonsense was she blabbering about?

She literally had a great accomplishment that only she ever achieved and other punks couldn’t even dream of achieving.

“Your stab hurt the most.”

“...Uh...”

“Your accuracy was amazing, even I couldn’t avoid it. You just need to do what you did again, but gently this time.”

“...”

Yuria stared at me and where I pointed at alternately.

She seemed to be agonizing whether she should take my words in a positive way or not.

Which meant, I should make her stop agonizing!

[...Will this even work?]

“Among all of the ordeals I’ve gone through, you’re the most special one of them all!”

“...”

“You’re the best! You definitely have strength that the other punks can’t even imitate!”

I kept showering her with compliments as if hypnotizing her. Even while ignoring Caliban’s mutter.

“...Mr. Dowd...”

Soon, her eyes turned teary.

See, if I just pushed through it somehow, it’d work, even though everything was just a sweet talk with no ground.

Praise bred willingness. Especially on someone with low self-esteem like her. Even if the praises were nonsensical, she was bound to listen eventually...!

“...That’s not something to be moved about, you know?!”

[How the hell did that work?!]

Ahem.

We’re having a moment here, don’t ruin the mood, guys.

In any case, whatever Lucia’s reaction was, Yuria definitely looked much more determined than before.

The way she stared at Severer and me alternately before saying the following words proved it.

“...I’ll work hard to become even more special to Mr. Dowd!”

“...”

No, wait...

You don’t need to work hard, you know?

You just need to cut me...

●

The pope thought that he had seized the chance to victory.

In the first place, the remaining three people here couldn’t inflict any meaningful damage on him. Now that the duke was out of the picture, he was sure that they had no other means to cause damage to him.

He thought so as he kept on using the Holy Body to attack the three.

All that he had to do left was to calmly kill them without giving them any room to retaliate. Seeing how they hadn’t unleashed any meaningful counterattack proved that conjecture.

As he thought so...

“L-Let’s go—!”

With a strangely light-hearted shout...

Yuria suddenly stabbed Dowd’s belly with the Severer.

Blood violently came out of Dowd’s mouth as he coughed.

“I told you already! You don’t need to work hard...!”

“I-I-I’m sorryyy...!”

“No, it’s okay! I can endure this much!”

“...”

For a moment there, the pope stopped moving.

“...?”

He stared at the sight in a daze.

Because the scene before his eyes was simply beyond his common sense. That was why he reacted in such a way even though he was clearly in the middle of a battle.

“-What are they...?”

He asked, completely bewildered.

“...?!”

But soon after, his bewilderment turned into horror.

Because the Aura coming out of Dowd’s body that had been pierced by the Severer felt familiar to him. It was as if he had felt it somewhere else before

And then, he realized...

Said Aura was extremely similar to the Aura that the ‘Holy Body’ that he had prepared for his whole life was exuding.

“You see...”

Even as he kept coughing out blood, Dowd continued.

“You aren’t the only one who can prepare something like this.”

“...You damned—”

“Also, other people can do it way better than you. Way, waaaay better than you.”

This doesn’t make sense...!

The pope gritted his teeth.

Is this some sort of a joke...?!

The pope thought that he had to be the one who took the lead in all situations and controlled the world from the shadows.

Because that was how it had been so far, and that should never change, even in the ‘new world’ he’d create.

In that sense...

This wasn’t about him being hit by a sudden blow by this punk, but about how this punk had copied the ‘trick’ he had dedicated his whole life for.

It made him feel as if...

He was being ‘played’ by the opponent.

“So...”

But as if mocking him...

The punk, Dowd said calmly.

Before, he looked almost like he was half-joking around.

But now, there wasn’t even a trace of that, as he said the following words with a serious atmosphere.

“Nonsensical things happen in the world, that’s just how it is.”

“You damned—!”

“In the first place, it’s strange that a fucker like you could become a pope at all. You’re literally an evil bastard.”

Just how many miseries had he caused on the whole continent?

How many people became unhappy and were having a hard time because of this bastard’s absurd ambition?

“...You even dared to mess with people around me.”

This was probably why the man had turned serious unlike before.

Add that and the fact that the pope had been saying how he was going to purify the world and all...

He...

“This time, you’re the one who should get purified, don’t you think?”

Decided to deliver karma to him.

Dowd raised his Aura, the same one who was similar to the Holy Body’s, and poured it towards the pope.