ραпdα nᴏνɐ| сom The group had successfully stolen 2 mounts. One for Shaman and Elysia, the other for Wolfy and Clara. They had also stolen an entry badge just as a precaution, but they were unsure if they had to just possess it or there was something special about the badge that allowed them to enter cities.
Since they were not really on the run and only needed to get out of Ebonscale, they also figured they could abandon the mounts before entering a new town or city if need be.
Shaman was on the red lizard mount looking at a map with Elyisa hugging her from behind. Even though Shaman found it quite comfortable, her face still revealed a troubled expression. Clara and Wolfy were on a green lizard slightly behind Shaman's mount. Clara was looking off into the distance lost in thought while slowly patting Wolfy.
All four of them were close enough to talk, but nobody did as they were still processing what happened at the dungeon entrance. Shaman was able to think through it quickly and was waiting for the others to be ready as she had a few things to talk about. In the meantime, Shaman was making sure they were heading in the right direction.
They travelled in silence till finally, Clara spoke up.
"So does anybody have any idea who he is? He mentioned the capital so it might be the church." It only made sense to Clara that it was the church since Himeko always had a bad relationship with them. It also wouldn't have surprised her if this was their way of getting rid of Himeko, turning her into a pet.
'She has a strong will and likely has manipulation powers from the cursed object. Surely she couldn't have been controlled that easily.' Although Clara did not like Himeko, seeing her act like an animal did not sit right with her.
"I think you are right, seeing how strong he is it wouldn't surprise me if it was the pope himself. however, seeing as he uses dark magic he seems more like the leader of an underground organization that does the church's dirty work." Shaman found it hard to believe it would be the pope because of his use of dark magic.
"That sounds very likely and since dark magic is taboo, the pope being able to use it doesn't sound right as he should only have light magic." Clara knew that every pope must have light magic in order to take the role of pope.
"Well if the pope is so powerful wouldn't he be able to hide his dark magic? If anything, since he is so powerful, couldn't he just do whatever he wants anyway?" Elysia had raised a much simpler solution which made Shaman and Clara reconsider.
"We know what his face looks like so we just need to find a picture or recording of the pope to check if it's the same person." Shaman saw no point in theorizing whether it was the pope or not, when the best option was to find a picture or some form of recording of him in the next human city they visit.
"Fair enough, so what about Himeko, what are our thoughts?" Clara was rather curious about what the others had to say about Himeko's situation.
"Honestly I have no words, it's a bit hard to think she would be in such a state and knowing her I'm sure she is fighting it but, I don't think she will ever be normal again." Shaman felt sick thinking about the things that must have been done to Himeko for her to end up like that.
"I'm more or less in the same boat, I haven't properly registered what happened to her, and I'm fine staying that way." Elysia was trying to avoid thinking about it and since she was not attached to Himeko, she found it easier to brush off what happened. Wolfy had responded with a simple nod agreeing with Shaman and Elysia.
"Although we are not fans of her, I think we should try to save her when we can. Still, by the time we are powerful enough, she might be too far gone." Clara still needed answers about her parents and Himeko was the only person who knew.
"Well it's worth a shot, plus I would like to know why she was brainwashing everyone around her." Shaman also had her reason to save Himeko and if they were gonna wait till they were strong enough, Shaman was sure she could hold her own against Himeko.
"I will do whatever Sham wants." Elysia was falling asleep as she had already lost interest in the topic and in the end only really cared for Shaman.
"I guess we just have to leave it for now." Clara wanted to do something but they were powerless and without getting to a higher tier it would be impossible to save Himeko.
"Unfortunately yes, so let's just focus on ourselves for now." Shaman knew that they had to get stronger, but as for how long it would take, she had no idea.
***
The pope appeared in front of a dungeon throwing Himeko by the collar inside.
"I will be coming back later, make sure you behave." The pope slammed the metal door shut and a locking sound could be heard.
Himeko was left alone in the room and as if some pressure was released she gained back some light in her eyes.
Himeko's head suddenly began to burn with pain as if something was being ripped out of it. She screamed out and her screams echoed out in the dungeon.
Himeko rolled around the room holding her head, wanting the pain to stop. Suddenly Himeko's mana exploded and the seal that was holding her mana core broke.
Flames bursted out from Himeko, engulfing the entire room in fire. Himeko let out another scream but this time it sounded like a screeching phoenix. Slowly Himeko's body was turning into a phoenix causing the flames around her to become more violent.
During this transformation, the pope teleported back into the room with an aggravated look.
"Those bastards clearly didn't put on a tight enough leash on you." Cursing the torturers that were responsible for breaking Himeko's will, now making him have to deal with a disobedient pet.
"Good thing I got this new toy on my recent venture." The pope smirked as the pain Himeko was experiencing was the pain of her being disconnected from the cursed item making anyone under her control free.
"Now let's see how long you can last." The pope knew it took a few days in order for the item to take effect and once complete he would be able to directly manipulate the person's mind.
"YOOUUU SCUMMM!!" Himeko's eyes were full of rage as she stared directly at the pope's eyes.
"Oho~ look at you, so active after being forcefully removed as the owner of the cursed object." The pope attempted to walk closer but was stopped by a wall of flames.
Usually, flames would not affect him, but these flames were different. Because Himeko was partly taking the form of a Phoenix, the flames posed more of a threat to him.
"Tch looks like I can't have any fun." The pope's face went cold as if all emotions were cut off.
A light sword with dark streaks running through the blade appeared in his hand. He had combined his light and dark element creating something which was never thought possible.
[Sword of Light and Dark]
[Skill type: Taboo]
A system menu appeared in front of him showing some details of the skill.
'Urg so many skills, having to look through a list just to find the right one is always a headache.' The pope had run into the issue of too many skills and had to always rely on a system list to remind him what skills he had.
Himeko used the time to transform fully into a Phoenix and took flight into the air.
The pope kept his indifferent look and waited for Himeko to make the first move.
Under Himeko's command, the flames filling the room started swirling around her, only to surge forward a moment later, converging around the pope. Soon he was encased in a ball of flames and Himeko tried condensing the ball to crush and also burn him.
As expected, the pope was able to easily dispel the ball and walked out without a single burn mark.
"Oh, come on, you can do better." The pope had a sadistic look as if something inside him had switched.
Taking it as a challenge Himeko charged forward, diving headfirst into the pope. The flames around her body were growing becoming more chaotic and the closer she got to the pope the faster she got.
"Hot-headed as always, when will you learn going headfirst against me will only lead to your loss." The pope raised his sword and the dark magic inside began to spew out.
"Your time being sane ends here."
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