Pope Axel sighed and took off the mitre from the head, "Come with me to the arena you've made in this magnificent new city."
Sylvester followed the man inside, only noticing the positive scents emanating from him. He looked down at the floor and thought about Xavia, who was currently in the treasury below. 'Why is he so calm and composed? He didn't ask me about what happened with Saint Scepter—Maybe he already knew the outcome.'
"You're a Supreme Wizard. A battle with you will destroy the Palace." Sylvester said, wanting to take the battle outside as he worried for Xavia.
"This battle won't need much magic." Pope Axel replied and continued to stroll forward. "Did you design this Palace? It's beautiful, the interior, the exterior, and I noticed the metal lines you're placing on the wider streets—is it for the thing called train?"
'What?' Sylvester internally gasped.
"How do you know about trains?" Sylvester questioned him since the concept wasn't a reality yet.
Pope Axel chuckled softly and finally led Sylvester into the arena. "Trains, steam engines, electric engines, air balloons, steamships, steam carts—I'm no stranger to these terms, Sylvester. Throughout my life, I've seen things I can't explain, albeit Saint Scepter tried to make sense of them. Creations of men from a world different, from eras so magnificent—I feel envy."
'Someone invented these things before? But where are they?' Sylvester wondered and tried to imagine what secrets were in the deepest vaults of the Holy Land.
But he couldn't bring himself to question the man any further as he entered the arena. It was a vast area with a sandy field. There were spectator benches at the edges, and the ceiling was shaped like a massive dome with large windows, letting in light. But at that moment, there was a single square table in the middle of the area with two chairs. And surprisingly, the table was adorned with various types of food.
"Come, replenish your lost energy before we fight." Pope Axel took a seat. "Give your wounded, armless shoulder some rest."
'No deceptions in the scents,' Sylvester smelled nothing. 'What magic does he specialize in? Light?'
Sylvester took a seat, finding more time to absorb some solarium, a blessing. "What do you want from all this? I know what Saint Scepter wanted; my marred body is proof. But you've been a puppet too—why be a slave?"
Pope Axel began eating, placing pieces of meat and vegetables on his plate and filling his glass with Sunshine Nectar, a recipe of Grandpa Monk. "I'm proud of you, son."
Sylvester, taken aback, felt slightly annoyed. The man had betrayed him on every level and caused such harm to the world that it was reversible. "The feeling isn't mutual."
Pope Axel smiled oddly. It wasn't one of joy. "I'm seeing you after so many years, after that incident. How much you have grown, brought down an Empire all alone. What's your magic level?"
"Grand Wizard level three and Platinum Knight level eight," Sylvester responded as it didn't matter anymore. The man was far stronger than him.
"Marvelous," Pope Axel exclaimed. "At the age of twenty-five, to achieve this feat. Now I'm certain you'll surpass the Supreme Wizard rank one day. After living this long, I can say you're the best talent I have seen. If only a good teacher, I had been."
Sylvester also started eating at that point, feeling devastating hunger. "Did you know about the lies that fueled the thousand-year war?"
"Why do you think I signed the peace treaty after becoming the Pope?" Pope Axel replied. "But I didn't know the true extent until recently."
Sylvester's brows twitched, "Did you know about the truth behind the Orb of Purity?"
"That it's a tool of subjugation, which killed the first Pope?" Pope Axel answered immediately. "That there have been questionable Popes and Saint Scepters in the past? Like now?"
Having finished his meal, Sylvester rose from his seat, "Willful ignorance then? Are you that scared of 'them'?"
Pope Axel also finished eating and stood up. With a simple push of his hand, he threw the table with all its contents away to the spectator benches. "I have regrets, Sylvester. I should have done better, treated you kinder, and taught you more. But the art of acting requires a balance of good and evil before 'them', for they see all, and hear everything.
"It was a mistake to send Felix to reeducation, a mistake I despise myself for. It was a mistake to allow Saint Wazir to continue to live—I failed in my duties as a man, as the Pope, and as an old grandfather… My face, to Grandpa Monk, I can't show. He warned me, and now, burdened with shame, I bow my head low."
The scent of brokenness, despair, and hopelessness emanated from the Pope. His words had grown emotional towards the end, wavering slightly. Was it genuine guilt or a guise? Sylvester didn't know.
"It's useless to grieve now." Sylvester dismissed his outburst of emotions. "The dead are burnt, the lessons were learned—The damage has already been done."
"Isn't that why you're here? To exact revenge for my actions?" Pope Axel questioned and raised his right arm, summoning his magical staff from a distance.
Sylvester picked up his sword as well, his eyes only half-open. Thankfully, the bleeding had stopped from his eyes and the rest of his wounds. "No, I'm here to end this long fruitless plot, to find peace at last. I only see the future now; what was in the past has been lost."
Pope Axel placed his mitre back on his head, "May the mighty win."
Thud!
Pope Axel tapped his staff on the ground gently, and immediately a massive, white, shining dome-shaped shield surrounded the two, covering nearly the entire arena. "Sylvester, today, let me show you the true light magic—the same ability that brought me to the throne."
Thud!
Once more, Pope Axel tapped his staff, and instantly, everything inside the dome shield was shrouded in white light. It was as infinite as the void inside the Saint Scepter's Supreme Void, and Sylvester had no doubt he was inside one once again.
"This is my Supreme Void." Pope Axel explained and displayed his ability. "Inside this, everything that is not I, or protected by me, will be incinerated to nothingness before one can blink. The heat is so powerful that none have time to think—Ah, so that's what the little sneaky one looks like."
Abruptly Pope Axel's head turned and looked above Sylvester. A distinct cat-shaped black shadow hovered there.
Sylvester panicked and readied for an attack. "Your fight is with me!"
"Do not worry. I do not harm animals, unless they wish to fight as well. Do you know how I did that? I excluded light from touching his form but included him inside the Supreme Void—but calm your little friend in case he's annoyed." Pope Axel's demeanor hadn't changed at all. The aura of a man prepared for a battle to kill was absent.
Sylvester still warned Miraj, "Chonky, don't come down! Go higher!"
"Chonky? Hah, a surprisingly adorable name." Pope Axel said as he readied himself to battle. "Since you're starved of solarium, let's keep our fight physical. I, a Supreme Wizard of level seven, wonder about the strength behind your status as a Platinum Knight of level eight—without further ado, let's see whose arms hold more weight."
Sylvester kicked off the ground and pushed forward with his sword out. He clenched his teeth to pour out all the strength he had in him. 'Just one little cut… just a single one…'
The Pope, being a pure wizard, didn't have any flashy knightly moves. Instead, he harnessed light magic in amazing ways, creating afterimages as he sidestepped and confused Sylvester.
Boom!
Out of nowhere, Pope Axel appeared behind Sylvester and swung the magic staff, aiming at the back of the head. But Sylvester used the swords hanging on his back as a shield.
Sylvester immediately jumped away and did everything to just gauge Pope Axel's abilities, the limits, and the patterns. The man's use of his staff as a sword was a little clumsy at their level, but Sylvester knew that magic compensated for it.
Sylvester's eyes were bloodshot. The solarium he had gained a short while before depleted too quickly. "One of our stories ends today!"
Sylvester roared as he leaped toward Pope Axel. In mid-air, he placed the hilt of King Highland's sword in his mouth, clenching it between his teeth. At the same time, he grabbed Felix's Darksaber with the remaining hand.
"Light magic has the potential to be the strongest elemental ability—if used wisely." Pope Axel continued to speak for reasons unknown. He vanished into the bright whiteness of the surroundings, only to appear in a different place. "Once you learn to manipulate the invisible elements of light around us, you can appear and disappear at will."
Sylvester had learned that technique recently in Beastaria. So he decided to surprise the man with it. With low grunts and a sword in his jaw, he ran toward the Pope. The man disappeared a few times, so Sylvester pushed harder, increasing his speed.
'Just one little scratch.' Sylvester repeated under his breath.
Eventually, after repeating the same move of trying to catch up to the Pope, becoming predictable for the man, Sylvester went for the hit. He rushed toward Pope Axel, but just before the man vanished as usual, it was Sylvester who vanished instead.
Swish…
The sound of the sword cutting the air resonated. But to Sylvester's dismay, Pope Axel had already moved, floating in the air as if he was light itself.
"Once you learn to control light, the next step is to be the light—navigate space as if you were light." Once again, he appeared behind Sylvester, aiming to strike him with the staff.
Rageful mucus came out of Sylvester's mouth with his hard grunts. In a moment of utter desperation, Sylvester forgot any regard for his personal safety and took the risk necessary to defeat a monster.
'Just one touch of the blade!'
"HMPH!" With a long muffled grunt, he stabbed himself right through his stomach. The Darksaber's long blade impaled him and passed through to reach the Pope standing just behind him.
The move was a success as Sylvester felt some resistance from behind. He gave all the energy he had in his body to ensure it also passed through the Pope's armor.
"Such desperation…" Pope Axel's voice came, slightly shocked. "I truly respect your determination."
"Ungh!" Sylvester jumped forward, expecting an attack from Pope Axel behind him. The sword he had plunged into his stomach remained there, as he took the other one out of his jaw and held it tight in hand. He retorted through clenched teeth, a growl in his voice. "You created me… Only if you had accepted King Atrox's offer to adopt me!"
Pope Axel stood in his place. A faint little cut mark was evident on the chest plate of his armor, its depth unknown. "I have many regrets throughout my existence—To keep you in the Holy Land, I'm proud of my persistence. Sylvester, you may see me with derision. But to take you into the Church was my life's greatest decision. I am su—"
Abruptly the Pope stopped, and silence took over. A crimson layer of blood gushed out of his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears simultaneously. Profusely, as if all the blood vessels inside him erupted.
"Haa!" Sylvester found a chance and rushed forward, sword prepared in hand. "Let me have my peace!"
He found no resistance and plunged the sword deep into the Pope's chest until the hilt struck the armor. The blade seemed to inflict more than mere flesh wounds as Pope Axel's face was filled with continuously bloated veins, which eventually exploded, causing a bloody, gory mess.
"S-Sylvester…" Pope Axel, in a sudden and shocking turn, breathed his name in desperation, losing his balance.
Sylvester threw his sword away and rushed to the old man. He caught Pope Axel just before falling and allowed him to rest his head on his lap. The Pope's entire body was bursting apart, all of his veins swelling and exploding. On the verge of going blind, he weakly raised his hand to touch Sylvester's face.
"S-Sylvester…" He tearfully, weakly whispered, straining his throat. "I miss the days… when things were simpler. You were smaller, a mere crawler… Son… won't you... give your grandpa another… candy?"
Hundreds of memories flooded Sylvester's mind in that instant. All his doubts and theories materialized into reality. Many mysteries of all the 'whys' that had kept him perplexed for years and weeks were solved on their own. The man before him was the answer.
Sylvester, having known of such an approaching, unchangeable outcome, welled up as well. His eyes, reddened and tired, still had some tears to cry. "You knew I was poisoning you for years, and yet… Thank you for protecting me from afar… You sent the Anti-Light Chief to me in Masan… You sent the Shadow Knight in Iceling… You were there in Beastaria to throw the rope… T-Thank you, Your Holiness…"
Pope Axel's eyes finally ruptured, plunging his world into darkness. His mouth continuously coughed blood, while his beard and hair had turned scarlet. The scents spoke only of sorrow. Yet, without groaning in pain, he spoke, or tried to. "Fo-Forgive me f-for... the pain... I s-should have done… mo-more…"
"Why? Why not sit back and let the storm pass? Why come out now and… You should have stood with me to watch the dawn of a new world!" Sylvester wept, but spoke with a frustrated rage.
With faint words, the Pope's voice finally wavered. "'T-They'… wouldn't ha-have… allowed me. But f-for the realm to accept... their new… ru-ruler—You had to be... the one... to k-kill me... lead them to a d-d-divine futur..."
His words abruptly cut off, and no more came from his lips. But life was still in him; Sylvester could feel it. He just couldn't speak. Pained, Sylvester held Pope Axel's head in his arms and hugged him, trying to make him feel respected and... cherished.
"No… the future won't forget your sacrifice… as long as I'm alive…"
The endless white light of the Supreme Void began to falter, growing more and more dimmer with each passing moment. As the life from Axel Tar Kreed's body shifted afar, the void started losing energy and turning bizarre.
'~Hehe… Grandpa candy…~'
'~Bwahaha… such a good kid.~'
Alerted by the voices, Sylvester looked up and noticed the white dome of the Supreme Void projecting memories of the Pope. In them, he was a little boy, playing on the lap of the old man. Giggling, as the old man beamed loudly, his beard fluttered wildly.
Woosh!
With that, the Supreme Void faded into nothingness, bringing him back into the arena. In his lap, he gazed back at Pope Axel's face, now lifeless. Destroyed beyond recognition, but still, he could notice the big final smile.
The projection was just a small piece from Pope Axel Tar Kreed's mind's treasury—It was his life's happiest, most cherished memory.
