I Killed the Hero and Took His Achievements-Chapter 35: The Blasphemy

[Location: The Scorching Sands - Wreckage of the Ark]

[Status: Post-Battle Cleanup]

The desert turned to glass. The heat from the Satellite Strike had fused the sand into obsidian. The wreckage of the Ark laid in the center like a broken ribcage.

My mercenaries were looting the bodies.

I walked through the mass murder scene. "Inefficient," I noted, stepping over a melted Paladin. "They spend too much on armor and not enough on magic resistance."

In the center of the wreckage, a figure was standing. Unharmed. He wore crimson robes. He held a flail with three spiked balls.

[Boss: Grand Inquisitor Torquemada]

[Level: 75]

[Class: Fanatic.]

[Passive: Faith Shield (Invulnerable to Magic).]

He was praying. "Lord of Light," Torquemada whispered. "Forgive these sinners. For I shall send them to you in pieces." He opened his eyes. They were white and blind. "Cain Cross," he said. He didn’t turn around. "The Demon of the North."

"Emperor," I corrected him. "Demon is a racial slur."

"You destroyed the Ark, you broke the Hero and you mocked the Heavens."

"And I made a profit," I added sarcastically.

Torquemada turned. He swung his flail. The ground fractured open. "Profit is temporary. Faith is eternal. Prepare for The God’s Judgment."

FIGHT.

He charged. He was fast for an aged man. WHOOSH. The flail smashed the spot where I stood. Luckily, I Shadow Stepped back.

"Sylvia! Ice Lance!"

Sylvia fired a shard of True Ice.

PING.

It was negated against his red aura. [Faith Shield]. "Magic is useless to me!" Torquemada roared resoundingly. "And my faith even rejects your existence!"

"Ahri! Fire!"

Fireballs engulfed him entirely but he walked through them like a cool breeze.

"He’s immune!" Ahri yelled.

"Physical attacks only!" I ordered. I drew the Soul-Eater’s Fang. I dashed in. CLANG. My dagger hit his robes. They were hard as steel.

"You possess a Cursed Blade," Torquemada sneered. He swung the flail. I ducked. But the chain wrapped around my leg. "Got you." He yanked me hardly. I flew into the air, then slammed into the ground.

[Damage: 2500.]

[Ribs: Cracked.]

I coughed out blood.

"Boss!" Seraphina howled while casting a heal.

Torquemada took away the healing light, then ate it. "Your Saintess is corrupted," he spat. He raised the flail for the killing blow. "Any last words, Heretic?"

I looked up. My HP was at 60%. "Yeah," I coughed. "I have a question. Does your Faith cover Inflation?"

"What?"

I activated my Chaos Broker skill.

[Skill: Market Crash.]

[Target: The Church’s Gold Reserves.]

I didn’t attack him. I attacked his Funding. Using the access codes I stole from Cardinal Benedict, I triggered a remote transfer.

[Action: Donate 100% of Church Treasury to ’Orphanage for Satanic Kids’.]

[Transaction Complete.]

Torquemada solidified. His aura dimmed. "What... what did you do?"

"Your power derives from the cumulative belief of the Church," I explained frankly while standing up. "The Church runs on gold. No gold? No expenses. No expenses? No Faith. I just bankrupted your silly God."

[Debuff Applied: Crisis of Faith.]

[Invulnerability Removed.]

The red aura vanished wholly. Torquemada looked at his hands. "My... my protection..."

"Now," I grinned heinously while blood dripping from my mouth. "Sylvia. Freeze him."

[Skill: Absolute Zero.]

Sylvia didn’t hold back. A beam of ice hit perfectly on the Inquisitor. Without his shield, he froze instantly.

"Ahri. Shatter him into pieces." Ahri tail-whipped the ice sculpture. CRASH. Torquemada broke into gore red crystals.

[Boss Slain.]

[Level Up: 38 -> 40.]

I wiped my mouth while grinning heinously. "Never bring a prayer scripture to a bank robbery," I mocked nonchalantly. I walked over to the loot pile.

[Item: The Inquisitor’s Flail (Epic).]

[Item: Ring of Fanaticism.]

And... a small, golden key.

[Item: Key to the Vatican Archives.]

"Jackpot." I grinned viciously.

Seraphina ran over to heal me. "Boss! You’re bleeding!" She raised her staff. The grass around us withered and died, the life force was ripped from the earth. It swirled into her hands, then pushed into my wound.

"Thanks," I said while watching the dead flowers turn to ash.

I looked at the horizon. The Holy Army was routed back, their leader was dead, and their Hero was in a coma. "We won the attack," I said. "But the Church is still standing. We need to go to the Holy City."

"I’m going to install a new Pope." I looked at Seraphina.

She paled. "Me? No! I can’t be Pope! I’m a girl! And a Heretic!"

"You’re perfect," I said. "Pack your bags, Your Holiness. We’re going to the Vatican."

————————————————————

[Location: The Holy City of Sanctum]

[Status: Chaos]

The city was in chaos. The news of the Crusade’s defeat had arrived, the Ark was destroyed, and the Inquisitor was dead. Mobs were rioting in the streets.

"The Goddess has abandoned us!"

"The Demon Lord is coming to eat our souls!"

I watched from the balcony of a rented villa on the city outskirts.

"They’re frightened," Seraphina said while clutching her staff. "They think you’re going to blaze the city."

"Panic is good," I said. "But faith is more profitable."

I turned to the room. Cardinal Benedict (my Spy Agent) was sitting there, sweating profusely through his robes. "Benedict, what is the current status of the Conclave?" I inquired.

"The Cardinals are locked in the Sistine Chamber," Benedict reported. "They are voting for a new Pope to replace the passing one. They are deadlocked. Half want to surrender. Half want to summon an Angel."

"Summon an Angel?" Sylvia asked. "Can they do that?"

"Yes, but it requires a sacrifice of a thousand souls."

"We can’t let that happen," I said.

I adjusted my tie. (I was wearing a suit, because aesthetic matters). "We are going to crash the papal election."

————————————————————

[The Sistine Chamber - The Vatican]

The doors were sealed shut. Magic barriers prevented entry. Inside, twelve Cardinals in red robes quarreled.

"We must summon the Archangel Michael!" Cardinal Richelieu shouted resoundingly. "He will purge him!"

"We don’t have the souls!" another quarreled.

KNOCK. KNOCK.

The heavy oak doors shook.

"Who disturbs the Conclave?!" Richelieu demanded.

"Room Service," I called out.

BOOM.

The doors shattered open. I walked in menacingly. Behind me were Shadow Snipers (camouflaged). Sylvia and Ahri stood guard at the entrance. "Gentlemen," I smiled vilely. "I hear you’re looking for a leader."

"Cain Cross!" Richelieu heaved. "Guards! Seize him!"

"Your guards are currently negotiating their severance payment," I said. (My mercenaries had already bribed the Swiss Guard).

I walked to the head of the table. "I am here to cast a vote.

"You have no vote!" Richelieu spat. "You are a non believer!"

"I am the majority shareholder."

I threw a financial ledger on the table. "I own the bank that holds your mortgages, I own the farms that grow your communion wafers, and I even own the ink in your scriptures. So technically..." I sat in the Pope’s empty Throne. "I own the God."

Richelieu drew a hidden dagger. "Die, heretic!"

BANG.

A sniper shot from the shadows precisely hit the dagger. It flew out of his hand.

"Sit down, Richelieu," I said gently. "Now. Here is the new ballot for candidate." I pointed to the door.

Seraphina walked in elegantly. She wasn’t wearing her usual robes. She wore the Papal Vestments (which we stole from the laundry room). She held the Staff of the First Saint.

"I nominate Seraphina," I pointed her.

"A woman?!" The Cardinals gasped. "Impossible! It is against Tradition!"

"Tradition didn’t stop a Satellite Strike," I countered them. "Seraphina is the ’Resurrected Saint’, the people love her and she brings rain to the desert. If you elect her, I spare the city. I even fund your charities and I repair the Ark. If you don’t..."

I tapped the table. "I release the Martyr Kenji into the city. He’s currently famished and deranged."

The Cardinals paled. They knew what Kenji had become.

Richelieu looked at the other Cardinals, he saw dread and greed.

"If... if we elect her," Richelieu muttered. "Will you guarantee our assurance?"

"I guarantee your Big Salaries."

Richelieu gasped. "I cast my vote for Seraphina."

"Me too."

"Yeah, me too."

One by one, they folded.

"Unanimous," I grinned wickedly.

I turned to Seraphina. "Congratulations, Your Holiness."

————————————————————

[The Balcony of St. Peter’s]

Millions of people gathered in the square below. They waited for the white smoke coming from the chimney. PUFF. White smoke rose. "Habemus Papam!" The curtains parted. Seraphina stepped out elegantly.

The crowd went silent for a moment.

"A woman?"

"Is that... the Saintess?"

Seraphina raised her staff sublimely. I had cast [Amplify Voice] on her voice.

"My children," she spoke charmingly. "The War is over. The old ways led us to ruin. The new way leads to prosperity. I bring you a new Revelation. A Covenant of Avarice."

She raised her hand like a saintess.

I signaled the ship linger above the clouds. The bay doors wide opened. It didn’t rain water this time, instead it rained Food, Bread, Wine, Mana Potions, and more.

The crowd cheered merrily. "A miracle! The Saintess provides!"

I watched from the shadows behind the curtain.

"Bread and Show," I whispered. "Works every time."

Sylvia stood next to me.

"Now the South is secured," I muttered. I checked my map.

North: Mine.

South: Mine.

East: Allied (Drug Trade).

West: Mine.

"The continent is finally unified." I looked at the timer.

[Time Remaining: 300 Days.]

"We have 10 months left."

"What now?" Sylvia asked.