Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter and providing feed backs. Special thanks to both fluffball13 and Smutwithplot (you know you were in this fandom from almost the beginning if you remember who this was) for helping me develop the subject of this chapter from a LONG~ time ago.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
ALSO... FUCK THE OWNER OF THIS SITE for allowing it to deteriorite to its current unstable, sorry state.
Malty is keenly aware that fighting around her is mostly dead by now. Both the 'children' of Balmus, and those allied with the heroes and are still standing on their feet have stilled their weapon to look at the terrible, yet mesmerizing clash between Naofumi and Pope Balmus. Every combatant, be them Three Heroes Church or allies of the heroes might be fighting for different reasons. But all of them know the futility of their own battle when the Shield Hero, and the supreme leader of the Three Heroes' Church are beating each other in the middle. The land around them ravaged and broke apart between every strike when two titans favored by the gods exchanged blows against one another.
Naofumi's new shield proves to be worth the extra time it takes to bring out. The Shield Hero had always been the most durable of the four, completely sacrificing his ability to cause damage in exchange for overwhelming high defense capabilities. And Naofumi is definitely using his natural durability, and the haphazard training he received from everyone on parrying his opponent to their advantages in fending off Balmus' every strike. But with how easy the Pope dealt with his fellow heroes, Naofumi's new power should not be looked down upon for him to be able to fight evenly against his much more seasoned opponent. Someone who is one of the greatest war heroes during The Great War. Not giving a single step between the strikes they are exchanging. Therefore the extra power he gained can only be attributed to the shield he is currently using. And more importantly, as his brief battle with Tirion Fordring proves, this shield is NOT only good for defense. It's perfectly capable of destroying a hardened opponent.
"Typical cult leader. You don't care about whatever bullshit you are preaching! You talk about making the people safe. Yet your little brainwashed cult is the one harming the people of the land. You talk about serving your god, but it's only an excuse to gather money and power for yourself!" After the initial exchange, Naofumi had changed his shield into the giant flail once again. The head of his hammer meets the blade of the Pope's glaive. A shockwave explodes between the two of them, cracking the rock underneath them into a crater while sending the two combatants skidding to the edge of opposite sides. The Shield Hero points his finger at the Pope of the Three Heroes' Church, throwing his accusation. "In the end, you are no different from a typical politician. No... you ARE a politician. Peddling your lies of salvation to people, and bleeding them to line your pocket and gather power for yourself!"
"Shut your mouth, DEMON! You have no idea what Father is even fighting for!" Abaddon Abel looks positively livid at Naofumi's accusation. The peacock had to be restrained by Cain to not jump into the battle between Naofumi and Balmus. "He is fighting for the future of this land's people. To stop their end they don't even realize will be upon them! Do you think those insipid, shortsighted, unenlightened masses who only cared about feeding themselves would understand it even if my father tried to explain his reasoning?! They only care about what's in front of their eyes! That's why they need to be forced to do what's right to protect their very future! They call themselves the free, but all of them are slaves! Every single one of them."
Chapter 126: Standing Here
"Is more villain banter supposed to convince me that after being hunted down by your precious father since the Third Wave, I am somehow in the wrong?" The Shield Hero points the finger from his free hand on Pope Balmus, and then draws it back on himself. Clearly, Naofumi hasn't yet spent all his build up rage of mistreatment the church had on himself, his companions, and the innocent people even after turning Tirion Fordring into a blood smear to be completely distracted by Abaddon's accusation. A very dangerous thing to do when he is facing an opponent that's both stronger, and more experienced than himself. It's a good thing that the leader of the faith that sees him as a devil figure had some class, and didn't use this momentary lapse in judgment to attack him.
"That's enough, Abel. I do not need to beg the heroes to understand why I do what I do." Pope Balmus breaks his own fighting stance to stand up to his full height. His glaive held behind his back with a single hand. "I know that I would carry a lot of sin with me the moment I turned my back on Master Shirou's teaching and found more truth in Mikage's words. And for that, I will ask no forgiveness from anyone. And will face my judgment at the end of my days with my back straight, and my feet on the ground."
"Abel could have worded it better, Father. I understand that you feel guilty for all the evil you have committed. But do you want the heroes to think you are nothing more than a self-serving charlatan like Cromwell? Do you want to risk them blindly going against everything you wanted simply because they believe you to be an irredeemable, selfish man?" This time, it's Cain who speaks up. The demi-human battle priest clearly carries better understanding than his wrathful compatriot. "The heroes we have for this cycle aren't arrogant, self-righteous children throwing around power they have no understanding over, Father. At least tell them why you did what you had to."
"There is truth in your words, Cain... fine! The truth this time. If the heroes are worthy to hear it." Pope Balmus moves his arm up and wipes the corner of his mouth as he slowly turns to look at Naofumi. "I have already told you of my myth, Shield Hero. Now it's your turn. Tell me, why do you fight even when odds are so much stacked against you? I suppose self-preservation is as valid a reason as any. But it wouldn't have explained your action after what Cromwell did at the end of Third Wave. If you only wanted to save yourself, and your allies. You could have dropped everything and run straight to the border. It would certainly allow you to link up with your fellow heroes while I was still indisposed. Why do you stop at any opportunity to help others around you?"
"I fight to protect the weak and the defenseless." Naofumi narrows his eyes, his fingers tighten around the chain of his giant flail. "There was a time I thought I was the most unfortunate person. Being summoned to a world to resolve a world ending conflict with only a shield as my weapon. And the whole world feels like it's stacked against me. But seeing how the innocent people of this land get treated by those in power. It made me realize that I have more power to fight back at my oppressors and prosecutors than the common people of this country. That's why so long as I live, I'll dedicate the power I have to fight for those who are being unfairly treated, and can't properly defend themselves!"
"A worthy aspiration for a hero." Pope Balmus solemnly nods his head. A cynical mind could have taken his words as mockery towards a young person who is too naive for the world. Yet Malty has a feeling that there's no deceit in the old man's words. "Then my second question. Who do you think are 'the weak'?"
"You honestly have to ask me this question?! Do you not know the people your damn cult enslaved and mistreated?!" The Shield Hero is gritting his teeth hard enough to shatter them by this point. "Every single person who your lackey turned into a slave is one I fight for! And everyone of them killed is one I failed to save from your greed!"
"Yes. Such is a shame to the change I bring about. I have lived through a war where the world goes mad. When grown men and women force themselves onto children with the brutality of beasts every bit as much as their animalistic appearance suggests." Pope Balmus lowers his head. Once again, Malty should scoff at such acts of melancholy. Yet, she senses no deception from the supreme leader of the Three Heroes' Church. She likes to think she's good at detecting them, considering how easy it is for her to wave them. "I am no stranger to sacrifice. That is what I am saying. But every life given up without purpose is nothing short of an inerasable sin. And I am both aware of them caused by my own faith, and myself over the years. Yet, the faith I belonged to will not be the end of us in spite of it all. No. We humans as a whole are the weak compared to what my children are: The future between the children of Medea, and the Children of Malis will be the end of us all."
"WHAT?!" Naofumi turns his head around to look at the demi-human slaves fighting for the Three Heroes' Church. To both his and Malty's surprise, all of them look down at their feet in what looks to be bone deep shame. Even Abaddon Abel, someone known as Balmus' Wrathful Son, who was a step away from lunging at Naofumi is downcast. "Is this more trickery from you?! Are you trying to justify your action by blaming these innocent people you call your children, but used as your tools?!"
"I would want nothing more than making my children freemen who can walk this land without persecution! They are victims under circumstances they have no control over! And only sin they committed are carried from those who sired them! But had I not taken them in as slaves, they would have been put to the sword and there's a reason for that too!" For the first time since he arrived on the scene, Pope Balmus looks almost bursting at the seams with emotions. "Have your companion explained to you how the children between the people of Medea and the children of Malis would always carry the trait of Malis with them? And they would inherit the maturation bonus from the children of Malis? They have an insurmountable advantage over us, the people of Medea with how fast they can reach their prime. And we would simply go extinct because there would be no reason for men and women of Medea to seek partners with anyone besides the children of Malis. Pureblood or not! We, humans, would go extinct eventually. The only way to stop our extinction is by making it taboo through faith!"
"That's not how it works! Everyone knows excessive intermixing with the Malisi would lead to the birth of Malborn. Those who are born with deformities, and unable to have children themselves. Those without a future- AHH!" The princess turns her head and sees Iris being pushed over by Balmus' children, and bodily shoved onto the ground. From where the golden heiress of House Amelia touched dirt, she certainly doesn't look any more graceful than a common born peasant.
"Is it a proven fact? Or is it simply another story we tell ourselves? Because the last Shield Hero, Mikage Mikami had something to say about the belief of how Malborn came to be. He said it's stupid, because if the mix of incompatible genes leads to sterility, it should have happened to the first generation. Not future generations where the gene only becomes more stable. And what about the well known 'Imp of Casterly Rock'? Or Sophia of House Ascart the infamous 'white lock spawn'? Even if you believe the gossip that Lord Ascart's wife had an affair with some Siltvelt white tiger tribeman, nobody can accuse Lord Charles having any love for the children of Malis. Yet he sired a Malborn who was obviously purely human." The princess wants to argue against Balmus for going against a well accepted fact, yet she can't deny any of his accusations. "As for the Malborn being unable to have children - do we know it as a fact, or do they simply can't have children because nobody wants them due to their birth deformity?"
"And you thought a rampage of killing and enslaving people is the way to stop extinction?!" Naofumi managed to recover enough faculties to ask. He sounds genuinely incredulous. "If you are so concerned, why not talk to other people about it!"
"Not a rampage of killing and enslaving, boy! You are right in that I needed money and power. And do you honestly think I never tried to confide with someone about my fear?! All of them, be it nobles or clerics, brush it away, either because they thought it a far away problem, or some test of the gods! I even tried to pray to the patheon for guidance, and receive... NOTHING! If nobody will take it seriously, I have no choice but to take matters into my own hands! That's why I need to build a myth!" Pope Balmus swings his free arm forward and balls up his fist. "What am I, but an old man that's one foot in the coffin? And what are you, and you fellow but boys summoned to a world you don't fully understand, but forced to burden a power and responsibility you were never prepared for? Yet, that's not what the unenlightened masses see us, is it? To them, I am the Chief God's Miracle Maker. One of Melromarc's greatest heroes even without a hero's weapon. While you, and you fellow heroes are mythical warriors who are destined to save the world and its people. It's through creating myth, we cast much longer shadows on the people than we physically could, and have them follow us. And only through creating a myth, can I lay down a dogma that will make union between the people of Medea, and the children of Malis taboo. That's the only way to save our people from going extinct in the future! You can not afford division in a time of great crisis, for it weakens the resolve of the people to unite together. That's why it's better to have only one person, one mind in control to lead them away from catastrophe. And to do that... you need to build a myth so the unenlightened masses, who can't be trusted to think for themselves, will follow you willingly!"
"I... I don't know if you are trying to bullshit me, or if you genuinely believe what you are saying this time. But I still can't allow you to do what you are doing!" Naofumi seems to wobble a few steps on his feet. Malty can't tell if he's a bit shaken up by Pope Balmus' confession, or if he's not recovered from his injuries. He managed to find a firm footing in the end as his face slowly turned from shocked confusion to grime resolution. "Even if you are being true, what's to say your plan will work? What's stopping those around you using this opportunity for their own end? What's stopping you from making a mistake and leading everyone to their death? What's stopping other people from misinterpreting what you said, or deliberately twist your words to suit their own actions? The first Shield Hero told the people of Siltvelt to respect differences, and those fuckers used it to justify their prejudice on others and their might makes right rhetoric. His words were much less harmful than yours, and look at how it got twisted years later! All I know is your action, no matter your intention, is causing a lot of harm to innocent people even now! And that's probably because you stopped listening to other people's thoughts! If you want to make yourself into some god figure, you have to get through me first!"
"That's fine by me! If I were to make my myth solid enough to endure the ages, I'll have to make myself larger than the four Cardinal Heroes combined!" The Pope returns the Shield Hero with a satisfied grin as the two charges at one another again. The blade of Balmus' glaive meets the ball hammer of Naofumi's flail. The strikes between them cause the land around them to shatter and crack. Pieces of broken earth float up from the ground in an open defiance to gravity. Each one of the Pope's swings is measured and precise, while The Shield Hero wildly throws his weapon around hoping to hit his target. Yet, it's always Pope Balmus who has to step back and dodge his opponent's attack. Clearly, this super form Naofumi managed to unlock for his intact hero weapon is much more powerful than a weapon only forged with the power of a hero weapon's broken shard, even if it's empowered by three pieces of his fellow heroes.
But despite him being put on the backfoot, Pope Balmus' grin only seems to split larger. "Hmm... why have you not used one of your shield weapon arts against me, Shield Hero? Maybe a [Shield Charge] to close the distance between us as your opening attack? Perhaps this flail form of your weapon, while technically is made of your shield, left you unable to use the weapon arts your weapon unlocked for you. And you aren't sufficiently skilled with this new form to use hammer weapon art that it could use? That seems quite the conundrum, doesn't it? It's clear between our first clash, your new weapon only grants you this devastating attack power while it stays a flail. Yet ironically, it's a type of weapon you aren't actually proficient in, or have easily accessed weapon art thanks to your legendary weapon. Which means it's next to useless in your hand against an actual skilled opponent!"
Naofumi didn't dignify Pope Balmus with a reply. The only noise he made from his mouth was something that sounded like the click of his tongue. Grunting like the Sword Hero isn't the only defiance he shows his opponent. A white wisp shimmers into existence over his left hand, and it quickly grows into a brilliant, golden orb that's as gloriously incandescent as a sun that's been pulled onto earth. The Shield Hero tosses his miracle towards Pope Balmus, as the chained flail in his hand quickly flips back out into a shield again. "[FORCE]!"
Everything in Malty's vision flashes to blinding whiteness. It forces the princess to cover her entire face, fearing the permanent loss of her own vision if she doesn't. Naofumi isn't a helpless child playing the role of a hero, who can only rely on whatever weapon art his legendary weapon unlocked for him. Throughout their journey, he had actively sought out to learn and train alternative sources of power such as healing magic, and the Chief God's miracles (with added irony that it was Three Heroes' Church members who taught him the lateral). It's something he had to especially lean on after Lautrec's fucking goddess sealed his legendary weapon away. And now his initiation had borne its fruit thanks to not only gaining his shield back, but unlocked some kind of powerful super form as well. A basic [Force] miracle which is nothing more than a concussive blast that can only push people and objects away without harming them had turned into a miniature sun in his hand.
The princess is almost hopeful that this attack had killed, or maybe severely harmed the Pope of the Three Heroes' Church. But as the large dust cloud surrounding both combatants begin to settle, she still sees two figures standing in the crater Naofumi's attack created. Although now they have both been pushed to the edge of their respective sides rather than standing close together in the middle to enter a melee brawl. Not as a great surprise, she supposed. The strongest effect of [Force] miracle is its concussive force after all.
Naofumi is hiding behind his fully extended out shield, which is large enough for the young man to fully hide behind after he contorted his body a little to make himself smaller. Pope Balmus on the other hand is standing at his full height, standing inside some kind of golden warrior that's shaped by three faced triangles around him and a triangle under his feet. Said barrier was apparently strong enough to survive Naofumi's devastating blast, as not even his elaborate robe had been damaged beyond whatever cut and scrapes when he was engaged in melee fighting before. The same face splitting grin is still on the old battle priest's face. "Guess I was right, Shield Hero."
"I'm not done yet!" Naofumi pulls the chain of his shield with his right hand, making his weapon coil into a giant chained flail once again. His left hand reaches over his shoulder, slightly bent behind his head almost as if he is trying to throw a javelin that's not there. A splendid blade of golden lightning cutting through the air like a beam of sunlight, collecting into his hand while pulsating with wild energy that's fighting to be released against his enemy. Making the Shield Hero look less like a young man, and more like some kind of ancient god descended down from heaven. He tosses his attack at his enemy, it becomes a blinding beam of crackling energy. "[LIGHTNING SPEAR]!"
This time, the golden beam of lightning tore through Pope Balmus' barrier like it was made of paper. But the most it accomplished was shredding his elaborate robe. The supreme leader of the Three Heroes' Church was able to twist his body away moments before Naofumi's attack hit, and suffered nothing more than a mere glancing blow on his left shoulder. And it did char his flesh, but he quickly recovered himself with a wordless casting of a healing miracle. On the other side, the Shield Hero is on his knees. The attack apparently took a lot of him, probably in the same way that whatever empowered his legendary weapon to give him such devastating attack power also increased energy consumption of his miracle attack similar when [Unstoppable Force] was cast on him. He pulls out a vial of potion from his weapon, pops the stopper and down it in his throat, just before Balmus closes the distance and strikes at him. Their respective weapon clashes again, Pope Balmus' smirk grows larger on his face. "Is this sweat I see on your face, Shield Hero?"
Sweat? It's perfectly normal for someone that engaged in melee battle to tire them out and start the natural reaction of perspiration. That's another reason why as a royal princess, Malty always prefers to engage in magic combat (preferably from a distance) rather than the dirty, and grime action of a melee like a dirty plebeian. But the way Pope Balmus is saying, it clearly had more meaning than the most basic and natural explanation. Almost like...
"It's this new shield you unlocked, isn't it? How long it took to bring it out clearly isn't the only drawback. Or else it wouldn't have made any sense for you to dispel it as soon as you finished your engagement against Lord Commander Fordring. It would have made more sense for you to keep on you after you brought it out, because it took you over a minute to bring it out!" Pope Balmus pushes Naofumi's feet further into the cracked ground with his giant glaive as he begins to spell out the same conclusion Malty came to from his previous clue. "This weapon form constantly needs your vitality feeding into it as long as it's out. You can't keep it up, even if you have an unlimited supply of potions to help your own recovery. At one point, your body will begin to reject it and break down."
"SHUT. UP!" Naofumi grits his teeth and grunts back in defiance. Yet, it only seems to further confirm how right Pope Balmus' estimation of his own limitations are. "I'm not letting someone like you who lies to get into a position of power if it's the last thing I do! With greater power comes greater responsibility! You who wield power to oppress other people's will can not be allowed to stay in power!"
"You still don't get it, Shield Hero. With greater power comes greater responsibility is a great philosophy to live by... for your personal power! But when you are responsible for ten, for one hundred, one thousand, tens of thousands of people? You can't force others to live as selflessly as you. That's why to look after them, acts of evil are committed regardless if you want or not! That's why with greater power, comes greater evil! And the most responsible thing you can do when you are in charge of countless people is strive to be the least evil! I'm only using a myth to elevate my own words so it would become a solemn and unshakeable thing. To give the weak people of Medea like us a chance to live, to survive! So I can end this endless Game of power plays from weak minded, shortsighted fools! Because those who are weak in body, or in mind need to temper their own weakness into hardened steel to survive. In my new world, people will live and die for a grander purpose! Not for gold. Not for power! Not even for the reverence to their gods!" Pope Balmus begins to swing at Naofumi, not with his shard weapon, but with his bare fists and feet. "DAMN the limpdick clerics and birdshit nobles who only play The Game for their own gain! DAMN this nation who asks its common people to die for the glory of the great houses but doesn't take care of them in return!"
"And DAMNthe CHIEF GOD! Who doesn't care for the people he ruled over to save them in their time of need!" With a final, blasphemous yell, the Pontiff of the Three Heroes' Church grabs Naofumis shoulder with his left hand. Balmus twists his heels, then his body, and finally his arm as he throws the Shield Hero flying into the air. As Naofumi unable to adjust his own body in the air, the supreme leader of the Three Heroes' Church swings his weapon like a quarterstaff and strikes the falling Shield Hero flying into the incling wall of their battlefield. "DON'T FUCK WITH THIS POPE!"
Naofumi's body collides into the ground, kicking up an eruption of rocks and dirt. Pope Balmus pushes his spectacles up the bridge of his nose first, before charging towards where Naofumi has fallen. But before his body moved half the distance, his motion suddenly freezes in the middle. Dozens upon dozens of swords made of pure white light surround him. Malty pushes herself up from the ground she's been lying on this whole time, it's the Sword Hero's technique.
"[Swords of Revealing Light]!""[Meteor Spear]!" The Sword Hero isn't the only one who had recovered and used his own technique to aid Naofumi in his time of need. Spear Hero has also used his own weapon to toss a spinning star into the face of Balmus. The attack freezes mere fingers away from its intended target due to the effect of the sword art still in effect, until a beam of shockwave collides into them. Causing an explosion much greater in its intensity than [Meteor Spear] alone should erupt on its own. "[Arrow Shockwave]!"
"You talk about tempering the weak to make them into steel. But all you are doing is forcing your ideology onto someone weaker than you." The Sword Hero is walking with a slight limp on his feet, one of his hands is holding his sides. But the other hand clinches the hilt of his sword tightly as he slowly slides his way down to where Naofumi is slowly standing up. "I met someone from Siltvelt before the Third Wave. He told me to truly be strong, you need to keep challenging someone even stronger. That's a choice people make on their own, not something you force onto other people! Even if you are right about the future extinction of humans, all you are doing is making yourself weak when your mind is ruled by your fear!"
"I'm not smart like Naofumi, or Ren. I don't get whatever you are blabbering about." The Spear Hero looks to be in even worse condition than his sword wielding compatriot, he is using his legendary weapon as a walking stick to help him every step. He nearly trips himself as he wobbles over to the Shield Hero's side. But he bends down over, offers a hand and helps Naofumi back to his feet. "So I leave the big words debate to smart people like them, and trust in whatever conclusion they come up with! I will not sit back, and let you beat up my friends!"
"I still don't know who is right and who is wrong. Before I was brought to this world, I thought it's easy to tell them apart, and serving justice meant beating up those who do bad things. But now I have actual power, I found everyone is fighting for their own reasons. Not a week ago, I helped kill an army of soldiers who only wanted to save Naofumi's life. Am I the villain this time?" Despite him working better as a backline fighter who shoots arrows behind his protectors, the Bow Hero also walks over to stand among his fellow summoned heroes. "But I know this one thing: You are not doing right. You are not justice. And with how much pain and suffering your faith brought to both your people and the people of Siltvelt, you have to be stopped if you refuse to back down."
"Four legendary Cardinal Heroes... fighting together. Usually it's reserved for world-ending threats like the Wave of Catastrophe. I'm quite flattered that a mortal like me would receive the same honor." As the dust begins to settle, the figure of Pope Balmus reveals himself among the debris in the crater. The elaborate pontiff robe of the Three Heroes' Church he wears over himself is entirely gone now, revealing the bulging muscles he hides underneath his ceremonial cloth and grandfatherly smile that someone his age shouldn't possess. Also gone are the golden trimmed spectacles he wears over his nose, and the satisfied smile he had underneath. "With greater power, comes greater evil. Thus the most responsible thing for those in power to do, is to be the least evil. That was the philosophy Master Mikage Mikami believed in, and tried to live by until he completely lost his mind. Something I, too, have adopted despite me being the disciple of Master Shirou Emiya."
"But even the least evil... is still evil." Balmus slowly moves his right arm over, to the shard weapon he used against the heroes. His fingers tighten around it, pull it out of the cracked earth, and throw it back to where his children stand. "I am one of the most powerful men on Medea. Thus... it's only natural that I sinned the most among the mortals. And today is the day that I finally face my judgment!"
"Father..." Malty moves her eyes over to Balmus' children, and finds them casting their eyes downward. Only Biscas Cain uttered a single word, yet it seemed to say much more. And despite the battle priest's solemn expression, his arms didn't let up as Abaddon Abel began thrashing in his arms with renewed effort.
"Is this another one of your tricks?!" The Shield on Naofumi's arm is no longer the red, carapace-like thing. Perhaps the Pope's barrage of heavy attacks knocked him out of it, or perhaps he is trying to conserve his vitality now that he stands with his fellow heroes rather than alone. But the weapon on Naofumi's arm is made of black, dragon scales just like the rest.
"No tricks, honored heroes. You, who are believed to be the messengers of the Chief God himself. I stand before you as a humble faithful. You four will serve as my judge, jury, and if I am found wanting by the gods... executioner." Pope Balmus takes a step forward, his posture slightly hunched, almost like he is prepared to bow down. Not to the young heroes standing before him, but the power they represented. "Consider this my final judgment... and your first test! If you want to have your will, your ideology, your Myth stand the test of time, you need to show the unenlightened masses that they can remain standing against real opposition. Your myth needs to triumph over mine!"
"Let me stand with you, Father!" Abaddon suddenly interrupted Pope Balmus' declaration. "It's not right for me to watch my father get killed without giving me a chance to stand with him against his opposition!"
"Have I ever taught you it's right to throw away your life, Abaddon?" Balmus slowly turns his face away from the heroes to look at his thrashing child. "I have sinned out of my own free will. Because I believe them to be the lesser evil. And if I did nothing, greater evil would have been committed. But I still need to be judged by my own actions. You, and the rest of my children on the other hand. None of you had any choice. I stopped my fellow faithful from granting you 'Chief God's Last Mercy' when you were all but babes, and in doing so I forced all of you into a life chained by the church. You, all of you, are victims of my own sins. And now under the heroes who hate such bondage, all of you have a chance to be remembered as much more than mere dogs and pigs of the church. Tools of war! If you throw away this chance, you will be one of my sons no longer. Release Abaddon, CAIN! I will not force this choice on any of you!"
The merciful son opened his arms and released the wrathful son. But the peacock didn't jump right at the four Cardinal Heroes like Malty suspected. Abaddon Abel stumbles, before falling down on the ground as beads of tear fall on the ground. Despite the alternative, it's clear that what the wrathful son feared most, was the total disappointment from Balmus.
"Why do what you scolded your own child for? If you know this fight is pointless, why throw your own life away? Don't you know we have a world ending crisis on our hands?!" Malty can't help but notice the way Naofumi addressed Abaddon. By acknowledging the peacock as Balmus' child rather than a mere slave, he had clearly changed enough of his mind from thinking the Pope of the Three Heroes' Church is trying to trick people, or making excuses for his own actions. She wonders what it says about the Shield Hero's opinion towards the Pope's ideology.
"Have you not heard a single word I said so far, Shield Hero? Do you know why it's so easy to sway people into trying to kill you, and your fellow heroes who our very faith should worship as messengers from our Chief God himself?! There is always a Wave of Catastrophe every two, or even one century. The last one was only sixty years ago! Repetition creates banality out of everything, world ending crisis included! That's why instead of treating you and your fellow heroes as saviors of our world, almost everyone in power is more interested in exploiting you like a tool, a resource to further their own political gains, their own greed for wealth, or their ambitions!" Pope Balmus turns back to face Naofumi as he points a single finger at the Shield Hero. "It's easy to have the weak willed blindly follow you based on the past myth. For we naturally seek support from each other and would gather into the congregation, and it's natural for those weak in the will to blindly follow those with stronger will. But what is easy to follow, can easily be swayed away by others."
"That was why the people of Stormwind followed me into overthrowing their king." Itsuki, rather than Naofumi, is the first to respond to Pope Balmus' revelation. "They weren't following me. They were following the past Bow Hero's action. Like Shirou Emiya. They thought I would have done the same thing as what my predecessors would have done."
"The Myth." Naofumi's facial expression is hard to describe as he breathes out with a hushed whisper. It's a mixture of disgust and grim understanding. "That's why you were talking about believe that's what will force the people of this world to ignore their personal needs and want to act. You are seeking to dictate what people would do... what people would feel much more than the threat of pain and death even the slave seal would force upon them."
"Exactly! To stop a crisis that could potentially end the world is easy when you have something tangible to fight over. But what would you leave behind as a legacy, other than have this world continue on as usual. Where self-serving nobles and clerics continue their pointless Game that only further their own individual ambitions and greed? To change it, you need to create a truly strong myth. Something that'll cast a much larger shadow over the people than you physically can. To last something much longer than your life that could continuously mold the world!" Pope Balmus takes another step as he balls up his right hand into a fist so hard, a vein pops up on the back of his palm that almost threatens to burst. "I am one of the most powerful men on this earth. But I'm not the only one! There will be others who will also challenge you, so their own myth can prevail over yours! That's why even if I will only fight against you with my own power, don't expect me to pull any punches either! If the four of you are stronger than myself, let my own body become the first stepping stone that will form the bedrock of your myth. But if you four working together can't even triumph against me when I seek no outside help, you will NOT be able to prevail against others in this world. In that case... it would both be a sign from the gods that they approve my own methods and my own myth, and also show that this world would be better in my hands than yours. Come at me with your strongest will, heroes."
"I guess there's no point in trying to talk you down from this. Get ready, guys! Just like we trained together against Lothergain and Zellus. But this is the real thing now." The Shield Hero digs his heel further into the dirt and keeps his center of gravity low. The Sword Hero and Spear Hero stand by him on his sides, while the Bow Hero takes a few steps behind them.
"His mercy is boundless like the ocean." Pope Balmus utters a single prayer to the Chief God. A ray of golden sunlight shines over him, casting his chiseled body in its glittering splendor. And with that, the supreme leader of the Three Heroes' Church charges forward into his self confessed final judgment. Against the heroes his faith revered, the heroes he personally respected.
End Note:
So, Pope Balmus finally reveals why he went through such great length to do what he did. While what he said in the last chapter about the native people of Melromarc always wanted a war against summoned heroes isn't a lie, it's not what motivated him to go on this path. He thinks human is honestly facing possible future extinction when faced against the evolutional competitive advantage against demi-human. And with Cromwell essentially forced his hand when he was in a coma... it pretty much blocked any chance for him to reconcile with the heroes and have them accept his goal peacefully. This had always been my story's motivation on why Balmus did all his bad things from the very start by the way, all the way since I started this story and draw Senator Armstrong for his characterization inspiration.
Anyways, for those who site Alenko's canon explanation about excessive interbreeding between human and demi-human leads to deformity and sterilization. Fluffball13 told me this almost since the start of my story (yes, that's her contribution to this subject I mentioned at the start). And when I talked about this with Smutwithplot. He said it doesn't make any sense because from real biological sense, any incompatible gene that would have lead to sterilization would happen in the first generation, and future generation would only lead to genes being more stable. Not the other way around.
Just like Alenko's dumb justification on how demi-human's boosted growth rate means Raphtalia's canon relationship with Naofumi isn't pedophile or grooming because she has an actual adult body makes no sense (because as I always explained, her accelerated growth would NOT give her the life experience to make sound decisions like a normal adult, and the sudden change in her body's chemical composition would actually lead to her making worse decisions than if she stayed a child), I can't tell if this is Alenko once again don't know how real science works, or if they know but didn't give a crap for their own story because f̶u̶c̶k̶ y̶o̶u̶ narrative magic. Personally, I always lean more towards Alenko know more than their story suggested, but they simply don't give a shit about making the 'science'... or anything else in their story coherent. But it doesn't really matter in the end.
But anyways. Despite drawing heavy influence of Senator Armstrong, Pope Balmus in my story is actually the first major 'boss' character in the story in the sense that he has his own set of philosophy that challenges the main cast's own. He isn't another self-serving greedy man like Cromwell or SIOC, or a glory hog like Roger of Ajax. He fight the heroes not for selfish gain, but he truly believes his own ideology will be better for the world (or at least his people) than the heroes'.
Naofumi's accusation of Balmus being a politician using religion as a justification for his rhetoric is actually the second iteration of his characterization by the way. A religious politican who uses faith to control the masses. The reason this version was eventually dropped and he turned out to be a flip to his second iteration (a man of faith who uses politics to achieve his own goal) is when Commissar Gaunt pointed out to me... with Balmus not being a meglomaniac idiot and have no problem working with the heroes (Naofumi included), there would be no conflict between him (and 3HC by extension) and the heroes. While that would certainly be an interesting angle to go with where 3HC ends up being preserved and act as ally to the heroes going forward, it doesn't really fit my goal of essentially still hitting every plot beat of canon RotSH at least till the conclusion of 3HC Saga (the relative 'good' part of canon).
This which of course, lead to the creation of Cromwell as a character (if you wonder why he wasn't mentioned at all till 3rd wave where this supposed big deal of 3HC came out of nowhere... there you go). Cromwell essentially act as a completely self-serving version of Balmus 2.0: A politician who uses religion as a tool to justify his own rhetorics. And just as Naofumi wrongly accused of Balmus in this chapter, Cromwell really is a self-serving politican who has no greater aspiration than gaining wealth and power for himself unlike Balmus 2.0 who had the aspiration of stopping human from being replaced by demi-human and goes extinct. So yes. What Cromwell did in this story is what original Balmus would have done, but obviously turned up to eleven because of his self-serving nature.
And of course, next chapter we finally get to the final battle of the Three Heroes Church Saga. Four Heroes working together (truly working together, not Naofumi carrying the fight while others standing around like deer in headlight) against Supreme Leader of the Three Heroes Church. It has to be this way.
