The Pope stared at the cracks appearing on the figure. It was a darkened grey statue with smooth finishings. Its various features were not visible because it had remained in that same Arena for nearly three thousand years.
But now, long and tiny cracks appeared all over it as if something was revealing itself.
"Step back." The Pope warned Sylvester and pulled him back. "We don't know if the legends are true."
So the two semi-nude, shredded men waited calmly as the cracks deepened and patches of stone started falling off. It was a prolonged process, and Sylvester wanted to train seriously, not waste time there.
"Perhaps I should use some magic from here? The egg has already cracked, after all. We just need to push it to break." Sylvester suggested.
The Pope agreed with him. "True, we don't have so much time to waste here."
Bam!
The Pope slammed his foot once, and the ground shook. It instantly caused many more parts of the statue to chip off and reveal the skin underneath. It was light blue and somewhat shining.
"I see it... It's certainly not a woman." Sylvester muttered as he focused on the little parts.
Bam!
The Pope again stomped his foot and made the statue lose more crust.
Slowly, things started to become apparent. The body turned out to be too muscular for it to be anything but a beautiful woman. But then, what was it?
"Just the upper body is left now." Sylvester focused.
Soon, the last remaining parts started to become clear. But, the more they could see, the more their shoulders began to fall.
"This isn't a man... or a woman... or a human." The Pope exclaimed.
"..."
"This is a..."
Sylvester completed. "Demon!"
There, the body of the creature appeared, standing tall and mighty. It was of a normal human height, but everything else about it was demonic. It had smooth, shining, bluish skin. It had a lot of muscles and even many patterns on the body. Its face was the most striking conclusive feature, however.
Its bald head, two broken horns, scowling angry face, and sharp teeth. All of it was visible, but from the looks of it, the creature didn't seem alive.
[A/N: See here.]
The Pope became alert and took a fighting stance. "A demon was kept here? For three thousand years? Who propagated the rumours of the love story then?"
Sylvester was more shocked by the fact that the Pope was not shocked. "You're not surprised by this?"
The Pope chuckled and slowly walked closer to it. "Hah, son, if you live long enough, nothing ever surprises you. I've seen things much more shocking than this in my life. You should look at the underground storage. It's full of the strangest things you can imagine. But, let's check this for now."
Sylvester stayed behind the Pope and moved closer. The Demon's body was still standing somehow, but he could not smell anything from him, so the being was likely dead. But it brought another question. 'Why did my touch break the statue open? I'm sure over the past thousands of years, many wizards with light magic must have touched it too.'
Pa!
"It's dead." The Pope said after suddenly slapping the dead Demon. "But this is rare. We generally don't get living demons in our world, as they are exorcised. So then, why was this kept here by whoever put it here... Perhaps it was the Pope himself."
'Why is he not taking this seriously?' Sylvester wondered silently.
"I've seen clergymen take bloodlings seriously, so why don't we take the Demons seriously as well?" He asked.
"We do, but not always. Yes, some of them can be extremely strong, like Soul Eater, but most are weak. Freaks of a world trying to enter ours, but they can't survive here without the help of a medium." The Pope explained.
But that made this demon even more important as Sylvester realised the same. "Then, does this mean that whoever left behind this dead Demon wanted us to learn about it? Perhaps this Demon is different?"
"I think the same, young bard. This Demon could be a rare one, a warning from someone in the past. Its body is too real, not like any human's possessed body. The horns as well; they show a tale of a battle as they are broken." The Pope added and checked the Demon from all sides. "Only surgical dissection can help us understand it. Wait here, son. I will go and call the necessary department."
As the Pope left, an eerie silence took over the Arena. Sylvester kept staring at the Demon's body, trying to ask himself why he could free it. It instantly brought his mind to that vision of Solis not long ago.
'What mystery is this now? There has to be some special reason why I could do it.'
He walked up to the dead body and touched it.
Bam!
"Fuck!
Sylvester tried to jump back. But the Demon suddenly moved, and its arms grasped Sylvester's neck. It was strong, more than Sylvester. To the point that it easily kept Sylvester right in front of its face.
"L-Loo...k!"
Sylvester was in a slight panic but not fear. He had not smelled death or any other emotion from the Demon this whole time. So, he did look into the Demon's eyes, as asked.
In the Demon's big white eyes, he noticed some images forming. The images seemed like a city full of lights and buildings. Of course, the first thing that Sylvester remembered from that was Aurora's vision while being stuck inside the Soul Eater demon.
"What? Are you trying to show me the demon world?" He asked the creature.
But, all he saw was the view of the city from the Demon's eyes. The view was moving, and the landscape was huge. It was like a megacity from modern times, but the buildings had strange architecture.
"L-Loo...k... Beyond..." The creature sounded without moving its mouth.
Sylvester did so and noticed something. 'A reflection? So this is not a vision, but a memory of someone standing in front of a building's glass panel?--Is this a memory of this Demon?'
Soon, the scene changed, and Sylvester noticed a different person. It was also a tall demon with its whole body covered in loose robes, and even its face was veiled. Only its large horns were visible.
"O-Order... Meet J-Ja...arl Desmond...' the Demon in front of Sylvester muttered in its voice as if it was translating what was inside the vision. "T-Two worlds... meet... war... win...!"
Thud!
The body of the Demon finally fell back onto the ground. Its strange, muffled voice stopped and left Sylvester more confused than sorted. "War? Does the demon world want war?"
He went closer to the dead body and tried to touch it again. But nothing happened this time, and even the eyes got closed.
"The scene in its eyes. Was that other Demon the ruler of the Demon world? And how did this body end up here? And what does Pope Jarl Desmond have to do with this?"
Sylvester scratched his head, but there was nothing he could do. 'I will have to spend some time in the library, it seems. I have an ominous feeling about this."
But before Sylvester could check anything else, the Pope returned with some men. "There! That's the body!"
There were five men in tight robes and leather aprons. They were likely from some alchemy or biological studies department.
They didn't speak and just wrapped the body in a piece of silk, placed it on a stretcher and took it away.
"Don't worry, son. They will get to the bottom of this. Now, let's continue with the training." The Pope focused on Sylvester again.
'Why do I smell a sense of doubt and anxiety from him?' Sylvester was alerted by the Pope's inner emotions.
"Was that demon really not important, your holiness?" He asked.
The Pope smiled and waved his hand. "It's not a big deal, son. We find demons around the world all the time. The only thing that made it special was that it was kept here. Worry not. We shall soon find the reason behind it, it shouldn't be too hard to find, so there is no need to mind."
'Lies! Even if I could not smell it, I easily see it. Whenever you become serious, you start speaking in rhymes.' Sylvester noticed the underlying things. But he decided not to pursue them.
He just smiled and formed a fighting stance. "Understood, your holiness. Let's start the training then."
The Pope relaxed his arms and stood in a crude boxing stance. "See me how I will cover the Solarium over my upper body. I will do the advanced version for now since it's easier to see."
Sylvester nodded and silently watched everything. On Pope's torso, over the skin, a strange white glow started to appear. In the beginning, it was very light, but slowly it became stronger and appeared like a solid item. It covered the Pope's body like it was spandex fabric.
"See this, young bard? Now come and try to punch me with all you've got." The Pope ordered him.
Sylvester took a more accurate boxing position and walked closer to the Pope while doing the footwork. Of course, he knew about imbuing Solarium onto swords and body parts to get stronger in the knight's class. But this was his first time seeing someone turn it into something akin to a solid object.
Sylvester didn't waste a second and sent a left jab at the Pope's chest.
Bam!
Then he sent a right hook to the head.
Boom!
The Pope, however, remained standing, not even flinching. "See that? You can likely not even feel my skin. It's like hitting a metal sheet. But now, it's my turn to show you the advantage of mastering the body."
Sylvester prepared himself the best he could for the coming punch. He knew it was going to hurt. Sadly, he miscalculated.
"Here I go, son!"
Woosh!
Too fast, that was the first word Sylvester's mind could think of. The Pope seemed like a hungry giant bear clawing his enemy. The old man's punch went right to Sylvester's head, just above the nose.
Boom!--It landed loud and clear and sounded like something metallic clashed.
'Hm? What's happening to me?' Sylvester was confused as he was already falling before he could even feel the pain. 'I'm losing consciousness? Am I falling? How?'
Ever since Sylvester started fighting outside, working--Not once did he fall unconscious in the middle of anything.
'Ugh... I don't think I can last against this monster...'
Thud!
Sylvester fell, knocked out of his senses. His head, where the punch landed, swelled up instantly, like the horn of the magical unicorn that he was definitely seeing in dreamland now.
700 GT = 1 Bonus chapter.
1 Super Gift = 1 Bonus chapter.
Ape Together Strong
