One Silver Coin For a Pound of Demon

Chapter 39

Draft
___

The death of the Pope shook the whole world.

The christmas that year was called the Black Christmas. His Majesty the Pope died, would the Crusaders no longer be able to go to expeditions to hell? Except for a very few people, no one knew the inside story.

What most people knew is that His Majesty the Pope, who received divine grace, passed away, and the army of demons lost the divine might suppressing them, these monsters began to fight back frantically. The liberation front were treated like rats crossing the street. However, the accusations of the public and the suppression of the army could neither make the Pope come back to life nor make the demons go back. After months of turmoil, some countries gave up seeking asylum from the Holy See and secretly restarted research projects condemned as blasphemous.

In the third year after the incident, the gates of hell closed.

It wasn't the Holy See's credit, it's better to say that it's from the resistance of the Holy See. In the country most plagued by demonic disasters, the new president suddenly launched an attack, controlling the Holy See's army stationed at the gates of hell and sending their research results into that fiery gap. The deafening loud sound resounded for a radius of hundreds of miles, and the white flames, more dazzling than the sun, burst from the ground. The sharp blade was aimed at the bottom, and the aftermath threw earth and rocks into the sky thousands of miles high, the smoke and dust looked like a mushroom cloud.

Even the manufacturers of the weapons underestimated the power of their research, it caused many people overground to be affected. People who didn't have time to escape from that area died without a whole body, and the land collapsed and cracked. It's probable that many years will pass without even a single weed. The researcher that ran the project wept over the horrific results. "My God," He murmured, "Did we concoct a new demon?"

"No, teacher," Said his student, wide eyes flashing with an ambitious light, "The devils have returned to hell, and the priests have returned to heaven. It'll be just legends on the earth from now on."

Indeed.

This fearsome weapon brought a great deal of death, but it also eradicated the scourge of demons. Since it was thrown underground, all gates of hell have collapsed, and not a single demon ever appeared overground again. The researchers who were criticized and even wanted by the Holy See could finally stop hiding. They stood in front of the media and explained how the weapon worked and how to destroy those creatures that were resistant to heat.

"Organisms," They said, "'Demons' aren't a mythical species. In fact, the so-called 'hell' is probably just another ecosystem in which creatures were isolated from the overground creatures due to the movement of the earth's crust, possibly hundreds of millions of years ago. Like the Orcs, they've taken another path in evolution..."

Even if someone booed at the "evolution", no one could ask for them to be burned.

Having demonstrated the power of this new weapon, the Holy See, which has been pressuring the country, was no longer as aggressive as it used to be. Many nations, religious or not, have begun their own research into the weapons.

There were mixed feelings about this, conspiracy insider theories prevailed, people fought fiercely, and those above tore at each other in the negotiating table. At the height of shock, you and Lemuel wandered the desolate plains, surviving in small isolated places. By the time you heard about the eye of the storm, the hurricane has passed.

You heard that the gates of hell have closed and that there'll be no wild demons from now on. You heard that the Holy See's "New Son" was revealed to be a hoax, that the miracles on the Pope created were also fabricated, and that the power in all of the clergy was weakening. You heard that some countries have even attacked the Holy See, refusing the Holy See appointing their own bishops, and asking the Holy See's armies to withdraw from their borders. You feel a little melancholy, your brothers and sisters, enemies and missions are really gone now.