Taming the Dark Lord

CHAPTER 11

Chapter 11 – The New Chief

A chief saint was elected every year. The saints themselves choose the person best suited for the position, to lead and guide them with the God of light’s teachings. The high authority usually revolved among all the excellent saints, but re-election was something that happens quite rarely.

Even with such power and command, the head of the Church was not entitled to any kind of privilege. If anything, the most he/she could get out of the position was to have more contacts with the senior management. It was always a simple election, one with honest voting and organized civilians.

Until the news of the Holy Scripture came.

The Millennium Ceremony stated that the God of light would come down, and the selected chief would be granted a chance to meet Him upfront. And if he’s lucky, he may also get a few words of wisdom from God Himself.

Any devout believer wouldn’t want to miss out on such, rare opportunity.

Upon hearing the news, all the saints strived their best to be the top contender, all of them except Amelia.

From there the ruckus began. Most of them resorted to tactics that brought the other down to their demise, blatantly betraying their fellow saints in order to get to the top. One betrayal after the other was a common occurrence among the candidates, and if they have to get their hands dirty to get to the peak, they would do it without a second thought. All of them are as greedy as the other.

Among the hundreds of saints, only Debra and Rita were rivals for the position. They were undoubtedly the best, the ones who are likely to be crowned with the Papacy this year.

Debra wouldn’t say where she got the information from, but she knew she had to do something to get rid of her competition, Rita. There was a rumor that said one of the orphan-born saints was actually an illegitimate daughter of a certain noble, and a prostitute for a mother. And it said that the prostitute herself paid to have her daughter trained to become a saint.

There were many orphans in the monastery, and Debra hoped that the illegitimate child would either be Amelia or Rita. Luckily for her, she got hands on Rita’s birth certificate, and announced her illegitimacy to all the saints present.

Amelia knew nothing about this. She never mingled with her fellow saints, only keeping to herself most of the time. And she only found out about the news of the coming ceremony just today.

She was sure of one thing: The pope entered the room, and he was unmistakably angry.

The atmosphere suddenly became heavy, so tense that no one dared to look at the fuming pope.

The pope’s hawk-like eyes leered over Debra and Rita, his voice as cold as iceberg.

“Debra, Rita. You two are the most outstanding saints this year, have you completely forgotten our rules?” The pope said in a stern voice as he continued. “No one is allowed to quarrel inside the Church!”

Debra, who was on the receiving end of the pope’s glare, shuddered on her spot as she bowed her head low, her chin almost touching her neck.

The pope’s strict utterance made all the saints silent on their seats. It’s clear that he didn’t play favorites, since he scolded Debra despite being the most exceptional saint of them all.

Rita sniffed, and sobbed silently where she stood. She knew that the pope would not let her stay anymore after everything he heard.

The looming silence enveloped the Church to a complete standstill, and only the faint sound of chirping birds outside could be heard across the hall.

Amelia crept towards the back row and kept her head down.

After a brief pause, the pope spoke with finality to his voice. “Neither of you are worthy to be the next chief.”

Not just Rita, but Debra too.

Debra had pulled quite a stunt in order to eliminate her competition, and she didn’t care one bit whether it would harm the person or not. She was too avaricious to a fault.

She was no longer spotless, no longer the Divine Saint she used to be. Her sins are laid out in front of everyone, it might as well be displayed on her forehead.

With the two saints unfit for the position, there were still other saints to choose from. Lately, the pope has been keeping a keen eye over the saints’ actions, observing them from afar to see if their virtues are as intact as they claim. The pope wanted to find someone who was spotless, pristine and void of any sins.

The God of light could only accept someone who has the purest soul, who was perfect inside and out.

But everyone let him down, and he was greatly disappointed.

Except for one person.

With a watchful gaze, the pope walked straight towards the crowd. He was like Moses in his wake, the horde parting like the Red Sea.

The sound of his heavy footsteps echoed loudly against the white stone floor. The sight of the pope’s white garment embroidered with gold leafs glided in front of everyone’s eyes. The crowd hitched in breath as the pope stopped in his tracks, right in front of the girl who was situated at the back row.

“Holy Daughter Amelia.” The pope voiced out softly.

Amelia gulped. “Yes?”

The pope gave her a small smile, his admiration evident on his face.

The truth is, he never really paid much attention to Amelia, since her achievements are only a fraction compared to the others. What she had on her hands was her pure soul.

Observing them, the pope saw how the saints fought over the spot. They argued as if they were demons, and not children of the Holy Spirit. They were unashamedly cruel as they tear each other down to the ground. It was an upsetting sight.

Amelia was the only one who was purely devout, always going to Church every chance she gets. No one but Amelia was deserving of the position.

Amelia was the only one who lived up to the name ‘saint’.

The pope regarded Amelia with respect, and he admired how pious she was with her devotions. How could he ignore the saint for such a long time? It was right in front of him all along.

With this realization, he prayed and repented through day and night in front of the statue of God at the sanctuary. He wanted his overwhelming guilt to subside, to not let his eyes be blinded any longer. Stopping the saints from causing trouble was also his intention.

It was time for the saint to receive the recognition she rightly deserved. He stretched out his arm towards Amelia.

The eyes of the people watching grew wide, their mouths slightly agape as if they couldn’t believe their eyes. The pope leaned down, and softly touched his scepter on Amelia’s forehead— the grand symbolism of his supremacy, which gives her the power and glory that comes with the Papal position.

“I hereby declare you as the chief saint, Saint Amelia.” He declared.