Chapter 530
With only two days left until the election of the Pilgrimage Church’s second pope, Se-Hoon was silently working in his workshop nestled on the mountainside even after the sun had set.
Click.
He assembled the components he had crafted separately piece by piece, then gazed at the newly assembled lamp now resting on the table. It was rectangular, about the size of a human head; it wasn’t flashy, but it was neatly and elegantly completed.
“...Tsk.”
He couldn’t concentrate. Despite knowing he should be focused on inspecting the lamp, his concentration kept drifting back to yesterday’s conversation in the Netherworld.
“Using the archbishops’ Sanctuary is fine. But I oppose giving them command of the operation. You know the relationship between the Pilgrim and his followers isn’t exactly ordinary. They’re too easily influenced by each other—for better or worse. If you don’t intend to take charge, I won’t force you. If things get even a little out of hand, though, just become the pope. It’ll make handling the worst-case scenario easier.”
In particular, Se-Hoon couldn’t stop thinking about Meirin’s suggestion for him to become the second pope in Kamal’s stead.
Me, becoming the next pope...
Truthfully, when Se-Hoon first heard of the prayer operation, he’d considered the same thing as Meirin. Within the Pilgrimage Church, Karl’s stature was nearly divine even though Karl claimed to be merely a spokesperson. In the first place, the reverence people had for a Perfect One was inevitable.
And because of that, Karl and the archbishops weren’t just separated by a strict hierarchy—his influence permeated even their synesthetic mindscapes. It was that, out of everything, that posed the greatest risk.
If the prayer operation fails and Karl is affected, the archbishops will be impacted instantly too.
While he had subdued the archbishops before, if Karl’s support was added in, it would no longer be easy to go against their offensive Sanctuary. Considering the risk, it made more sense for Se-Hoon—whose synesthetic mindscape rivaled the Perfect Ones and Harbingers of Destruction—to take the lead rather than rely on the archbishops.