I Became The Pope, Now What?

Mount Eternal, the largest volcano in Sol, spewed its lava at all times. But for as far as history remembered, it had been gentle, never going beyond being a mere torch in the night. One of its underground veins was responsible for the lava moat around the Castle Ashstone. 

But now the volcano had burst, and the explosion was far more deafening and frightening than any had expected. Massive chunks of rocks went flying around, burning red like balls of fire. Ash spewed out with no end, turning the entire sky dark in no time. 

The people of Wailing City cried and ran for their lives, crowding at the city's gates. The small villages near Mount Eternal were already in the death zone, and rivers of lava rushed toward them. Meanwhile, Shadow Town, on the other side, rested at the edge of the Desert Road; on its left was the Wall of Void, on the right was the sea, and behind was the sea of lava that crept towards them. There weren't enough ships to evacuate the city in time. 

"Should I eat it?" Miraj asked while perched on Sylvester's shoulder. 

Still sitting on the bone dragon, Sylvester looked around at the entire situation from the sky. Xylena had returned to the royal castle already and was organizing everything. However, it was all useless since only he could do something. 

"Chonky, I think this volcano eruption isn't a curse but a blessing for the people of Blackhart Kingdom," Sylvester saw things differently. "First of all, this happened when I was here. Secondly, volcanic rock and ash are extremely fertile when they settle down."

"But people will die." 

"No, nobody will die today." Sylvester stepped away from the bone dragon and walked on Light Tiles. Being at a vantage point, he saw everything in all directions. Then, he waved his arms towards the volcano and its flowing rivers of lava. 

The land cracked as the earthquake spread due to Sylvester's manipulation of Earth elemental. But it remained restricted to the volcano, making the massive hellish mountain spew more of its ash and lava. 

"The air is going towards the sea," he realized it soon enough, but this wasn't what he wanted. The air needed to go directly towards the east, onto the infertile lands of the kingdom. If it were to go north, then the land already under cultivation due to the aid of new canals would be affected. 

Grrr!

It was deafening. He went down and landed on the ground, then asked Chonky to give him the Pope's staff. It was simply a medium that allowed one to better control the basic elements of magic. 

Thud!

He stomped the butt of the staff on the ground and controlled the earth. Gigantic walls of land, ten meters wide and fifty meters high, rose all around Mount Eternal. Effectively turning it into a reservoir for the lava, saving the city and the villages nearby. 

"Now, onto directing the wind." 

He used one of the most basic magical moves that he knew, one taught by Sir Dolorem. The Whirling Storm was a great Air elemental attack. But, with greater control, Sylvester turned it into a sort of horizontal funnel that collected all the ash coming from the volcano and spread it eastward. Since the Barrier Mountain Range was there in the distance, he didn't worry about the ash going too far either. 

The sheer ease at which he could change nature and manipulate it to his will made him agree with something that may or may not be true. 

"Indeed, anyone stronger than a Supreme Wizard shouldn't be allowed to exist here. If I can do this with ease, what can those above do? Change the molecular structure of everything in the world?" 

After setting up the tornadoes, he once again stepped up into the air to look around and see if anything more was needed. 

Noticing a part of the Desert Road ruined by the lava, he immediately removed it with a bit of magic. Shadow Town was now safe as well, but the villages near the volcano were now covered in ash. 

Once again, a light wave of wind solved the issue. But a light drizzle of rain was also needed to settle the dust. Otherwise, the ash would get into people's lungs and create health issues. 

"Chonky, you still got water in your belly?" 

"Aye, aye—lots of it." 

"Good, we'll use it later. Let's go to the castle now and rest. The volcano won't be a problem anymore." Sylvester grabbed Miraj and walked straight toward the castle, "I might need you to drain the entire Darkpit Sea later as well. I don't feel comfortable swimming there to find the source of the spatial distortion." 

Pa!

Miraj patted his fluffy chest. "Worry not, Maxy. I'll turn very big and stomp all those fishies… They're so ugly, I don't even wanna eat them." 

"Will you be joining me in the Demon World too?" 

"Of course—I must protect my son," Miraj tried to fold his arms, but they were too short. 

"Who will protect Xavia then?" 

Miraj fell into contemplation, "Umm… We have Felix, Aurawra, Cone-hat, Gab, Boney Raz… She'll be safe."

'Cone Hat? Is that the Lord Inquisitor?' It wasn't hard, but Miraj's constantly changing nicknames were sometimes a struggle to understand. 

The two landed on the castle terrace and found almost the entire administration of the Royal Family there, along with the five Hive Project members. 

"That was so awesome!" Prince Rex shouted in excitement. "Can you teach me to do all that? Can I also stop volcanoes? Can I make those tornadoes?" 

Sylvester took out a strategic banana reserved for Miraj and handed it to the boy, "Calm down and focus on your training. One day, you'll be able to do the same. In any case, Xye, inform your local lords and ladies not to panic. Mount Eternal will calm down soon. Tell your wizards to only clean the cities, towns, and villages while leaving the ash to settle in the rest of the fields. From next year, start cultivating the land as well." 

Lord Einarr flinched and understood the correlation, "Ash makes the ground fertile?" 

"Minerals make the soil fertile. Blackhart Kingdom's soil didn't have the said minerals; hence, nothing grew. Where do these minerals come from? Rivers. Which you don't have. What do rivers carry? Silt. 

"The land we stand on is full of minerals, but they don't always appear on the surface. Volcanic ash, which brings the trapped minerals out, is what your soil lacks," Sylvester explained briefly and didn't forget to do a small product advertisement. "Nobody has ever taught this before. But the new books I've prepared in the Holy Land 'Basics of Geography' cover such topics." 

"Can I read it?" Ella plainly asked.

"You'll get it and many more books the day you start your classes at the School of Dawn. But for now, I have some business to deal with at the Darkpit Sea. I'll call forth the Fifth Guardian, Julius, as well. Do not mind my presence in the Kingdom from now on. Resume with your royal duties," Sylvester dismissed the crowd and walked downstairs to contact Julius and call him. 

Before taking any steps further, he hoped to get some help from the other two Supreme Wizards at his side and see what could be done. Especially Emperor Raz, since he was thousands of years old. 

…

Merely a day later, Julius arrived at Wailing City by flying at his maximum speed. It only took him a few minutes to cover the entire journey, much to Sylvester's slight jealousy. 

Emperor Raz, meanwhile, was already in the Kingdom. So the three of them quickly got on top of the bone dragon again and flew to the spot Sylvester had recorded in his head. Much faster and quicker, they soon found themselves staring down at the dark pit in the sea, with countless gigantic sea creatures circling it.

"You believe this is causing the Darkpit Sea to be untraversable?" Julius asked, wearing his normal white robes and looking like a random priest. "First Guardian, were people able to traverse this when you were alive?" 

The skeleton man, suited in luxury robes with a fur coat, shook his head. He blankly stared at the dark black pit with his hollow eyes. "When I was alive, my family's priority was finding food. What occurred beyond the boundaries of our village didn't concern us. But, the Dark Wizard who made me a Lich used to talk about exotic experimental materials and resources he gathered from the Western Ports—rich in dark energy, he used call them." 

Sylvester agreed with that assessment, "Indeed, and that's exactly why I called you two here. You two have the highest affinity with the darkness element in this world. What do you make of this? Does this hole in the sea correlate to the beastly creatures?"

Julius Aurelius Alexander didn't waste another moment and dived straight down. Avoiding the dark, bottomless pit, he plunged into the water around it. In the next moment, he came out with a massive creature hovering behind him, dead from the looks of it, surrounded with chains made of dark elemental chaotic energy. 

"A fusion of creatures," Julius evaluated after returning to stand on the bone dragon, keeping the sea creature in the air as well. "Head of a snake, body of a crocodile, and legs of a turtle. This is akin to some godly being playing with the origin of life." 

"Quite a lot of dark elemental energy in this," Emperor Raz flew closer to the creature and caressed its body with his skeleton fingers. "If I were to make these my undead—they'll be stronger than this dragon of mine." 

Sylvester silently nodded his head the entire time, slowly finding his hypothesis turning into reality. 

"I feel you are aware of the origin of this darkness?" Julius questioned right away, being a man who had studied Sylvester for years, after all. "You came to the South to seek this knowingly, didn't you?" 

"Door to the demon realm." 

One sentence and the two Supreme Wizards turned alert, staring down at the gaping black hole. 

"You can't seriously be thinking of going in there," Julius deduced Sylvester's intentions further. "Playing with spatial anomalies can be deadly, even for a Supreme Wizard."

Sylvester folded his arms, sighing and weaving a false story for the time being. 

"Attacking from the inside—is the only way to end one of the greatest threats to our world."

'Unless they're the victims of the same mysteries as us.'

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