The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)

"What?!"

The Pope seemed to contemplate swinging his staff to bonk my head, but before he could do anything, the light coming from the statue’s crown grew so blinding that I had to cover my eyes. It was enough to make the plaza seem like it was bathed in daylight, even though it was supposed to be the twilight.

At that point, most of the people in the plaza had been evacuated--thanks to Zarfa and friends. The people who were inside the building were still inside, and the ones still in the plaza were people who were originally in the park behind the outer sanctum. All, without exception, turned to look at the blinding statue once the light dimmed.

Of course, the clueless pawns and the snared executives. Also, the old man Pope, whose pale eyes were squinting hard.

There was a ten-second lull when everything fell into silence. No scream, no questioning. Their brains were still too dazed to even question what caused the blinding light.

And then, the vibration came.

First, from the air, as if a stiffening storm raging around them. Invisible force pressuring their sides and above as if the air suddenly gained weight.

And then from the ground, quaking like an ancient dragon of legend stomping in. The poor people left in the plaza braced themselves to the ground or held on to pillars as the world seemingly went into a rage.

Perhaps it was. Perhaps it was their patron deity’s anger--who knows?

But just in case, I let the bound members of the church experience the full treatment. With tied limbs, they were staggered and sprawled all over and around the stairs, unable to balance themselves. They rolled and fell to their knees, like the poor people they had made miserable without much thought.

The Pope struck his staff to the stairs to hold on, and I simply elevated myself a little bit--about five centimeters above the stair surface--so I wouldn’t get affected by the shaking ground. The air pressure, for me who had gone through the Demon God’s trial, was nothing.