When he first asked to be guided to the place where the monsters’ corpses were stored—
The believers had been puzzled.
The monsters’ corpses were merely leftovers after offerings had been made to the System.
Their souls had already been offered to the System, and the reward for that returned in the form of experience points.
The corpses were collected because they could be used to craft equipment, but—
To anyone who was not part of a production profession, they held little meaning.
And yet.
“Since I ended up consuming the precious power stored within the crown.”
The monsters they had captured alive in order to turn them into soldiers of the divine army.
Not long after he entered the enclosure where those creatures were imprisoned—
“I should at least repay that cost like this.”
The man who emerged from the enclosure calmly spoke with his hands clasped behind his back.
And behind him—
Shuffle....
Figures slowly revealed themselves while bowing their heads obediently.
Monsters with remarkably docile appearances.
***
‘Uh....'
Their new pope had emerged from the enclosure.
Despite being in an environment where they could freely rampage—
The monsters were incomprehensibly well-behaved.
‘How...?’
What was even more shocking—
Was that it was not merely the pack leader among them acting tame.
Every monster present there was the same.
‘Even the crown could only subjugate a single monster that qualified as a pack leader.’
The reason they confined monsters behind glass barriers in the first place—
Was to exploit their instincts and keep them lingering near the territory of a dominant leader monster.
If they slipped free from that controlling monster’s influence, the monsters would not hesitate to attack believers as well.
-Kkiing....
Not now.
Even without coercion from a pack leader—
The monsters crawled along the floor voluntarily, behaving with absolute obedience.
“They’re low in intelligence, but their combat ability isn’t bad. This should make them useful enough as troops.”
They looked openly submissive toward their pope.
No, not merely submissive—
They genuinely followed him, even acting affectionate toward him.
And that sight could only mean one thing.
‘His Holiness....’
‘Subjugated those monsters through his own power...!’
Monsters born with mana tended to possess violent temperaments.
Naturally, they did not easily submit to other species.
Even the Order itself could only control monsters by using the “crown” to dominate specific individuals.
And yet—
Their new pope had subdued those monsters.
Something that had only been possible through the crown... and he had done it even more perfectly than the crown itself!
“Your Holiness... just how in the world did you...?”
As they stared in horror.
Shin Youngjun quietly muttered in response.
“I never favored methods that involved dominating another being’s mind.”
He had long known that this power could be used that way.
In fact, there had been a few beings he had already controlled in exactly that manner.
Even so, the reason he had refrained from abusing that power was simple.
“I feared my own mind would collapse.”
Treating another being’s mind like a toy.
Perhaps such power was useful.
But that power corrupted the soul of the one who wielded it.
Shin Youngjun was certain—
That if he continued using power in that manner, he would eventually lose the person he originally was.
Which was why he had only ever exercised it on a handful of criminals.
However.
“These creatures are irreverent beings who were never chosen by the System.”
Their pope was different.
“I’m granting them a chance to die fighting for the System. Giving garbage a purpose... if anything, that should be considered a beneficial act.”
The man smiled lightly as he said those words.
-Kkiing....
Despite the insulting remarks.
The monsters rubbed their heads against him as though desperately seeking something from him.
“Take these creatures wherever troops are needed. I’ve made things clear to them, so they’ll obey orders well enough.”
“Y-Yes...! Understood!”
Just as he had said.
Not a single violent monster disobeyed the believers’ commands.
Many believers watched the scene from afar.
“Ahh....”
And from that moment onward—
A story began spreading among the believers.
The great representative their god had bestowed upon them.
The first believer who carried out the will of the System.
Miraculous tales displayed by their new pope!
***
“You mentioned there was a food shortage. I’ve already resolved it, so go confirm it yourselves.”
“Yes...?”
The food supplies that had dwindled during their conflict with the Legion.
Inside the warehouse where those supplies were stored—
At some point, an enormous quantity of food had appeared.
“They were injured because of me. I should fulfill my responsibilities as well.”
And that was not all.
Those who had suffered severe wounds while capturing the pope himself.
The healers had already treated them as much as possible.
Even so, they had expected full recovery to take a very long time.
But—
“...It doesn’t hurt anymore?”
“Sir Jang Woohyuk...!”
Those people abruptly rose to their feet.
The healers watching them were horrified.
‘Impossible...!’
‘We already performed every treatment we possibly could.’
They were not incompetent healers.
Every treatment available to them had already been completed.
‘All that remained was recovery through their own natural healing.’
And yet—
That healing had finished instantly.
As though—
‘Their natural healing itself had been monstrously amplified....’
Unless they had consumed some absurdly powerful elixir, it made no sense.
While the healers stared in disbelief at something beyond their understanding—
“Those with physical injuries are over here.”
Their pope spoke as though such miracles were nothing special.
“And.”
Then he turned his head elsewhere and said:
“The place where those with wounded minds are gathered... is that building over there?”
The building he had once seen—
When he first stepped inside the Order.
***
“The place where those with wounded minds are gathered... is that building over there?”
“...Yes, that’s correct.”
At the pope’s words—
The believers guiding him were still reeling from the miracles he had displayed, yet when they looked toward the building, sorrowful expressions crossed their faces.
“In a world like this... many people refused to face reality and closed off their minds.”
“Many regained hope and recovered through our faith, but... far more are still unable to escape their suffering.”
In truth.
There were likely many such people outside this region as well.
People who had survived physically, but not mentally.
And yet, the reason there were not many such people left at this point in time was simple.
‘Because their bodies probably died soon afterward.’
A world filled with chaos.
Those who lost their minds could never survive for long.
The Legion too had encountered similar people in the past.
To reduce the number of those slowly fading away, they had even imbued the food distributed outside the Legion with effects that could stabilize the mind.
“Even so, the fact that they are children loved by the System does not change.”
And.
The same applied here.
“That is why we too invest many resources into treating them....”
People who ordinarily would have been devoured by monsters long ago.
The Order protected them and managed them within that hospital ward.
However—
“It couldn’t have been easy.”
“Yes.”
This was the kind of world they lived in.
Even organizations that appeared powerful on the surface rarely possessed true abundance.
Caring for incapacitated patients.
That sort of task consumed far more resources and labor than most people imagined.
There was a reason modern battlefields often considered severely wounding the enemy more valuable than killing them outright.
The dead were finished.
But those who survived without properly dying continued draining the enemy’s manpower and resources for as long as they remained alive.
That hospital was incomparably larger than the facility housing the physically wounded.
Meaning the number of such people was far from small.
Managing so many individuals must have been extremely difficult even for the Order.
And despite that—
‘They didn’t abandon people who were essentially nothing more than burdens... they even built a facility like this to care for them....’
Those who had already let go of their minds.
Even if abandoned, they would not have been capable of resenting anyone for it.
But the Order had not abandoned them.
The Legion also distributed food and engaged in relief efforts, but—
That was partly possible because food was one of the few resources they had in relative abundance.
‘Investing this much into people who are practically burdens, despite lacking surplus resources.’
Even the Legion he belonged to—
Could they truly have done the same...?
Honestly, he was not sure.
“You’ve all worked hard.”
And thanks to those efforts—
“Now... the time has come for that labor to bear fruit.”
Countless humans who otherwise would have faded away.
Had endured while barely clinging to life.
Until this very moment—
When someone capable of healing them had finally arrived.
Paaahhhhk...!
Shortly after the pope entered the hospital—
A brilliant light burst from inside the building, radiant enough for even distant observers to see.
Tap....
Countless patients lying within the hospital.
Something tiny landed atop their bodies.
And then—
Srrrk....
It melted into them.
“Ah....”
And then—
“Where... is this...?”
That alone was enough.
***
“Y-You’ve regained your senses!?”
“You people are... who...?”
Because their wounds were not physical—
Even the Order’s healers had been unable to cure them.
Yet now those people returned to clear consciousness.
“I feel like I had a truly horrible nightmare....”
Despite being “humans” worthy of receiving the System’s love—
They had spent years in miserable states.
And now.
They had finally opened their eyes.
Everyone who learned of it was left stunned.
‘We already knew he was strong.’
They already understood the pope’s strength firsthand.
The Order’s greatest combatants had personally fought him °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° and concluded he was absolutely impossible to defeat.
Even after his awakened powers had been sealed through a holy relic—
He had fought and defeated powerful awakened believers using nothing but the body of a non-awakened human.
And once his strength returned?
He had even overcome overwhelming assaults from enemies the believers themselves could not properly confront.
Power beyond all common sense.
But at the same time—
‘In terms of combat ability... even the cardinal was monstrously powerful.’
To most believers, Cardinal Jung Suhwan had also been an absurdly powerful figure.
The cardinal had been overwhelmingly strong.
And the pope was said to be even stronger.
Though there was clearly a difference between them—
Oddly enough, that gap did not feel all that dramatic.
But—
‘He isn’t merely powerful.’
He subdued monsters that could not be controlled.
Filled empty warehouses that brute force alone could never replenish.
And saved brothers and sisters who had spent years suffering with their eyes closed.
Achievements that even the cardinal, despite all his strength—
Could never possibly have accomplished.
Yes.
This was truly—
‘The Emperor of the Order...!’
Someone worthy of being called the true leader of the Order.
A being who performed “miracles.”
***
“We’ll explain everything in detail, so please try to remain calm.”
Those who had regained consciousness through that miracle.
The believers of the Order approached them and explained the current situation.
“G-Good heavens....”
“So much time has already passed....”
What had happened to the world.
Why they were here.
Who the people protecting them were.
And so on.
“Th-Then you people are....”
Among them were some who had survived the early days of the apocalypse, only to later fall into despair.
There were even a small number of awakened individuals among them.
“You’re saying you’re a group that worships the System?”
At those words from one awakened survivor—
The believer responsible for treatment quietly nodded in affirmation, but—
“It is called the System.”
At that moment.
Someone else spoke first.
“...Pardon?”
“The being we worship.”
The man walking among the newly awakened people while observing the situation.
“The System.”
He spoke with a somewhat serious expression.
“That is what we call it.”
