As Amon had guaranteed, it took less than three minutes to take down the attackers.
That was because they had lost all reason and charged like beasts.
However, while dealing with them, Amon felt a familiar sensation.
It took him a while to define exactly what that familiarity was.
“This… isn’t this Cyber Schizo?”
From the deep sea of his memories, Amon dredged up a long-forgotten mad gorilla.
Of course, as a mercenary, he had encountered other schizo patients besides the gorilla.
But none had been as uniquely insane as that one.
And now, after more than ten years, there was only one reason why that gorilla came to mind.
“Heinrich!! Why are you abandoning me!!! Heinrich!!!”
The cardinal’s desperate wail overlapped with the image of that gorilla.
He reached out sorrowfully toward his nephew.
“Please understand me… If you abandon me… I have no choice but to be like this…”
The cardinal, sobbing, spoke to the archbishop.
No one, including Amon, could understand why the cardinal was acting this way.
Trying to understand a madman was never a wise endeavor.
Amon looked at the cardinal, who had been subdued by the paladins, not with pity but with suspicion.
“Why now of all times?”
There were still many unknowns about Cyber Schizo, but there was at least one theory that attempted to explain the phenomenon.
Cyber Schizo was a sort of Ship of Theseus dilemma.
A mental disorder that arose when a body, enhanced through cyber implants, magical engravings, or genetic modifications, became too far removed from the individual’s own perception of self.
The academic community had narrowed down three possible causes for its onset.
First, being pushed into an extreme situation that eroded one’s mental fortitude.
Second, undergoing so many enhancements that the body could no longer withstand them.
And most importantly, the third—
“Why did you give up?”
The individual had to willingly surrender.
“I don’t understand. What made you give up?”
“Laplace Heinrich… Why did you abandon me…”
Lying on the ground beneath the paladins, the cardinal muttered nonsense.
Amon questioned him.
But all that came back was the wretched cries of a lunatic.
A productive conversation was impossible, and the cardinal was dragged away in disgrace.
Amon stroked his chin as he watched the man disappear from sight.
‘This feels… familiar.’
‘Why did this cardinal remind him of that mad gorilla?’
It wasn’t just because of his obsession with a blood relative.
There was still an unsettling feeling he couldn’t explain.
***
“Doesn’t something seem strange to you?”
The archbishop’s question pulled Amon from his thoughts.
“My uncle truly cared for me. But not like that.”
“You must have been close.”
“He was the reason I decided to become a priest.”
The now-former cardinal was still the archbishop’s uncle.
“When I first became a priest, he wasn’t like this. He was my mentor, the one who instilled my faith in me.”
“So then, what happened…”
“A single holy war corrupted him.”
“A holy war?”
Amon turned to the archbishop.
“I’ve never seen any records of a holy war after the Crusades.”
Even after gaining access to the Vatican’s classified records, he had found no mention of such an event.
The archbishop lightly smacked his lips, realizing his slip.
“My apologies. That’s a term priests use informally, so you might not have understood. Shall we move to a more private place?”
Amon nodded.
The two moved to a shaded area and cast a silence barrier.
The archbishop continued.
“The event we call a holy war is something you’re quite familiar with. It’s closely tied to Lady Sonia.”
“Sonia?”
“Yes. More precisely, Sonia’s mother.”
Amon’s brow twitched.
The archbishop sighed, guilt visible in his eyes.
“The holy war to reclaim the Archangel… Does that sound more familiar?”
“I see… So the cardinal—no, Trimond—was part of that war?”
“Yes. He was an archbishop at the time. When he was first appointed as the commanding officer for the mission to reclaim the Archangel, he wasn’t like this. But after watching his paladins and Archangels slaughter demons under his command, he became drunk on power.”
After hearing the cardinal’s backstory, Amon let out a deep sigh.
“Haah… The Saint performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes and walked on water, and the people praised her signs.”
“The Saint warned those who followed her only for her signs. My uncle, however, abandoned the Goddess and worshipped power instead.”
Amon felt genuine pity.
‘If the archbishop, who seemed deeply devout himself, still respected the former cardinal, then his faith must have been unquestionable.’
“You must be heartbroken.”
“I’m fine. A fallen priest must ultimately be treated as an outsider.”
***
“So, where were we?”
“Why was Trimond so obsessed with you? More importantly, what made him give up?”
The cardinal had been aware that Heinrich was preparing to purge him.
If one were to make an extreme assumption, he could have been deeply wounded by his nephew’s betrayal.
But that alone wasn’t enough to drive him mad.
More importantly—
“It wasn’t just Trimond. The other paladins and even the attackers were the same.”
They hadn’t displayed the same obsession toward the archbishop, but each of them had manifested Cyber Schizo in their own way.
While it wasn’t unheard of for Cyber Schizo to appear in groups, such cases were rare enough to be considered anomalies.
For such an anomaly to occur on the very day of the canonization ceremony—
It was too deliberate to be a coincidence.
The archbishop nodded in agreement.
“We should investigate Trimond’s history. The procedures he underwent, the people he met, and so on.”
“Do you suspect anyone?”
“… Let me be clear, this is just speculation. Please don’t take it too seriously.”
“I understand. But intuition shouldn’t be ignored either.”
The archbishop took a deep breath before speaking.
“I believe this is the work of Goetia.”
“Goetia? Are you saying there are demons in the Holy City?”
“No. There’s no way they could infiltrate this place.”
The Holy City was home to the most elite exorcist priests, paladins, and Archangels.
It was impossible to slip past their detection.
Not to mention—
At the heart of the Holy City lay the relics of the Saint’s first apostle.
Those relics, by their very existence, repelled demons.
Even if a demon managed to slip past detection and infiltrate the Holy City, they would barely escape with their life within a day.
That was why the archbishop was certain—no demon could have invaded the Holy City.
Instead, he proposed a different possibility.
“But didn’t the people who attacked today… briefly leave the Vatican?”
Amon nodded at his reasoning.
Indeed, all the deranged individuals he had encountered today had first clashed with him at the airport.
If they had been outside the Vatican, it made sense.
“A reasonable theory.”
“It’s just speculation, so take it with a grain of salt.”
With that, the archbishop turned his gaze elsewhere.
The chaos was settling, and somehow, Sonia’s canonization ceremony was concluding.
Amon looked at Sonia and asked the archbishop, “What about the plan?”
“The atmosphere isn’t good. If we don’t allow for mourning, we might face backlash.”
Though the mad cardinal and paladins had been subdued easily, there had been casualties.
Some citizens had been caught in stray bullets or explosions.
If they publicly condemned the heretics now, it could paint Sonia as someone indifferent to human life.
Since the plan relied on using her authority to denounce the heretics, maintaining her image was crucial.
“For now, we wait. Trimond was a heretic anyway.”
During the investigation into him, they could naturally shift the focus onto condemning the heretics.
That way, Sonia’s image wouldn’t take a hit.
“I’ll inform you once we have the interrogation results. We can adjust our plan then.”
Amon nodded and signaled to Sonia.
She returned his glance, confirming she had understood.
[All stand and salute Saint Sonia.]
Following the Pope’s instructions, the archbishop bowed to Sonia.
Then, Sonia greeted the Pope, marking the official conclusion of the canonization ceremony.
***
A few days later, the results of the cardinal’s interrogation arrived.
The archbishop relayed the information to Amon.
“Recently, the cardinal and his paladins attended heretical gatherings. Other than that, nothing significant came up.”
Since the investigation had relied on CCTV footage and the power of seers, there was no doubt about its accuracy.
“This isn’t a major issue, but I’ve been recognized for exposing Trimond’s corruption… so I’ve been appointed as the new cardinal.”
“…Isn’t that a major issue?”
Amon raised an eyebrow, but the high priest simply smiled.
“For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
“…Amen.”
Amon smirked at the response.
The archbishop—no, now Cardinal Heinrich—continued speaking.
“The timing is suspicious no matter how you look at it. On the day of the canonization, at the exact moment, Trimond lost his mind. Because of the chaos he caused, Sonia couldn’t speak up either.”
“Are you saying they orchestrated this?”
“I can’t say for sure. But at the very least, our hardliners believe so.”
Heinrich spoke on behalf of the hardliners, confirming their stance.
It was only natural that a group largely composed of young priests and lower-ranking paladins would rally behind Heinrich, now a cardinal.
“Even the moderates seem half-convinced.”
“And what about the Pope? Has he said anything about this?”
“His Holiness also suspects the heretics.”
It was too convenient for them to dismiss it as mere coincidence.
There was also a logical basis for suspicion.
“As you know, the seers are already under the heretics’ control. It’s not uncommon for situations to play out in their favor. You’ve seen it yourself.”
Unlike Amon, who operated from the outside, both the Pope and Heinrich had witnessed the heretics’ corruption firsthand within the Holy City.
“But it’s fine. We have a saint on our side.”
A saint’s title transcended priestly rank.
In terms of authority, it was nearly on par with the Pope.
That meant the moderate-hardliner-Amon alliance effectively had two Popes.
“For now, we’ll make sure the heretics can’t control the media. Once everything is in place, we’ll proceed as planned.”
Amon nodded.
There was no reason to rush.
They already had the evidence, and there was no risk of it being destroyed.
Rather than act in haste and risk failure, it was better to move slowly and ensure success.
“We’ll likely begin in about a week.”
With those words, Heinrich rose from his seat.
Amon escorted him out of the meeting area.
After seeing Heinrich off, Amon was reviewing the operation when Cassie approached him.
“Amon. Heinrich the Archbishop…”
“He’s a cardinal now.”
Cassie blinked in surprise, then continued.
“Cardinal Heinrich… Something about him feels off.”
“Be specific.”
“There’s no fixed future for him.”
“What?”
“You can’t see your own future, right? And the Hound-headed Demon obscured his. But with him… his future keeps shifting in real-time, making it unreadable.”
“…Could it be because of my involvement?”
“If that were the case, Sonia would be the same.”
“…?”
The two exchanged meaningful glances before turning toward the retreating cardinal.
But they had no time to discuss his true nature.
[Paul XXIV. Respond.]
[Paul XXIV. Respond.]
[Paul XXIV. Respond.]
A cardinal in black robes solemnly repeated the Pope’s baptismal name three times.
No response came.
Then—
“His Holiness… has passed away.”
The world was thrown into shock once again.