Chapter 99 - Trapped
Himeko was sitting alone at the table as everyone had left to go speak to the pope or return back home. Himeko was left to dwell on her next move as she was being threatened to go see the pope.
'Fuck, I can't just run away, he could probably get to my city faster than I fly back by just clicking his fingers.' Himeko had grabbed her hair as the stress was getting to her.
'I should have played along like my parents said before passing the responsibility but my pride wouldn't allow it. I just had to antagonize the one that is blessed by the supposed church goddess making arguably one of the strongest people on the damn continent.' Himeko gritted her teeth at her decision to actively oppose the church and it has now landed her in a terrible position.
'I hope I'm not stuck here for any longer than a month. I need to check on the cursed item and see if it made a connection with the girls.' Himeko sighed as she had many things to do and only anticipated she would be gone for at least a month but she never expected it to turn out like this.
'I better head down before I get more threats and if that black mist is what I think it is then I'm afraid there may be no stopping him.' Himeko recalled the black mist she caught a glimpse of.
Himeko jumped off the edge of the platform and freefalled towards the cathedral. Before she hit the ground she used her fire to slow herself down and have a smooth landing.
Himeko could see one of the leaders walk out of the cathedral looking annoyed and defeated. Himeko could only feel bad for her as she could only imagine how frustrating it was to argue with the pope. The leader wore purple admiral clothes and when she got far enough from the cathedral a purple mist formed below her and she started to fly off.
'Let's hope things go smoothly.' Himeko let out a sigh as although she hoped for it to go smoothly, she half expected it to go down horribly.
Himeko pulled open the doors to the cathedral and walked in. She was greeted with rows of seats on either side and multiple arches that support the building. The place was completely lit leaving no shadow anywhere.
It was almost blinding to look at as everything was white, Himeko disliked how white the pope made everything.
Himeko looked to the end of the cathedral, spotting the pope standing in front of a statue. The statue was that of the goddess the church believed in, which Himeko thought was just a load of shit.
The statue did not look special as her face was covered by a hood and was in simple robes. The statue also had cupped hands in front of her like she was giving someone something.
The pope who was standing in front of the statue was admiring it but due to his fully white attire he almost blended in with the white statue making only his blonde hair visible.
Himeko walked forward nervously and the nerves only grew as she got closer to the pope.
The pope had turned around with his red eyes locking onto Himeko's and watched as she slowly approached.
Himeko stopped at the front row seats and looked at the pope waiting for a response.
The pope stared at Himeko for a moment as if analyzing her, making sure that Himeko had not planned anything.
His eyes also had this ring of black fire in them and slight movement could be seen if you looked close enough.
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Since the pope was on an elevated platform, he carried an imposing presence making the air suffocating and Himeko could not help feel like a small insect while standing in front of him.
Although Himeko felt like an insignificant being she stood strong and kept her composure.
After a brief moment of staring at each other the pope finally broke the tension with a smile. Himeko could feel that the smile was much more sinister than what it seemed on the surface and it gave her chills.
"It's good to see that you came but you know you had no other choice." The pope smirked as he knew Himeko was struggling to stay composed.
"Tch, tell me what you want." Himeko wanted to leave as fast as she could while also trying her best to keep her annoyed and disinterested act.
"What's wrong with a little chat, I always loved your feisty side, as if you are playing hard to get and I would love to get to know you better." The pope paced around the platform while talking and motioning with his hands as well.
Fire started to conjure on Himeko's back as it pissed her off what the pope was saying. Despite her feeling small in comparison her anger started to overpower it.
"Woah there, no need to burn down the place. I rather not have to rebuild this place, after all you can cause so much destruction in the one second it will take to beat you." The pope's words were playful but this was the last straw for Himeko as she was already on edge before entering the cathedral and this pushed her over that edge.
Flames started to burst out of her back but before she could even move she felt her mana get cut off and was frozen in place.
"Never mind the one second it takes to beat you, it's now 0.5 seconds. I have to admit I'm getting better by the day." The pope had seemingly done nothing as he jumped off the platform and slowly approached Himeko.
"What the hell did you do!" Himeko was furious and felt utterly defenseless as it wasn't even a second before she was restrained by light and her mana use was cut off. She could still feel her mana but it seemed like something was blocking it, not allowing her to access it.
"Oh nothing special, I just used my light to restrain you and I have also developed this technique where I can trap your mana in your core making it impossible for you to use mana." The pope explained what he had done while walking around Himeko.
Himeko tried to move but it was as if her body had been put on pause and only her head could move.
"Now that you are an obedient raging phoenix let me get to the point of this meeting." The pope stood directly in front of Himeko with a massive smile.
Himeko felt hopeless as the dread started to sink in as she was completely at the mercy of the pope.