### Chapter 3: No Slapping!
Carlos was putting up a fierce resistance, gripping my arm tightly while tilting his head back as if he were trying to escape my attack. Meanwhile, the Pope was rolling on the floor, clutching his stomach and laughing like a maniac, his obnoxious chuckles drilling into my ears and pushing me further into a state of embarrassment and fury. No wonder those two clerics laughed at me earlier—who knows how ugly Carlos has made me look!
In a fit of madness, I wanted to smear the ink in my palm all over his face, but alas, he had a vice grip on both of my arms. He was strong, and I just couldn’t outmatch him. So, I decided to elevate my strategy—literally—and kicked him right on the calf.
“Ouch! Ouch! Stop it! I said stop!”
“I’ll kick you to d*ath!”
I kept on kicking Carlos, forcing him to dodge back, but by then, my later kicks were all missing their mark. It made me tremble with rage—I almost wanted to bite him!
“Please, for the Pope’s sake, have some mercy on me…”
“You j*rk!”
…………
The hilarious battle ended with my glorious victory. Carlos’s face was smeared with black ink, looking utterly ridiculous.
Despite this, I was still boiling inside, my chest heaving up and down as I shot him angry glares.
This guy’s sense of humor was painfully dull. He kept stressing the importance of this meeting, telling me to think about what to say to the Pope, which made me nervous, yet here he was, deliberately making me look foolish. Fantastic! All that preparation I did for this conversation went out the window! I just couldn’t comprehend it; my bl**d pressure was nearly skyrocketing. But I also knew not to make too much of a scene in front of the Pope.
Wait and see, you scoundrel! I’ll get my revenge when the opportunity arises!
“Alright, let’s get to business.”
Carlos ignored my murderous glare, straightening his clothes and hair as if nothing had happened, and promptly reminded the Pope.
“Ha ha, business!” The blonde man wiped away the tears of laughter, “So, um… Little Black Charcoal, are you the amazing monster that Carlos encountered?”
“I’m not Little Black Charcoal. And I’m not a monster either.”
I replied coldly, word by word.
“Oh, that doesn’t matter. Anyway, since you’ve stupidly come all the way here, my goal has been achieved. Unfortunately, I have to inform you that you can’t leave now.”
The Pope spread his hands in a nonchalant manner, rubbing his sore cheeks from laughter as if he was just casually chatting.
My heart skipped a beat.
“Angel, don’t cause any trouble.”
Carlos’s face turned serious.
The man named Angel narrowed his eyes, the remnants of a smile on his face, but his words made me feel like I had just plunged into a glacier.
“Carlos, what are you hesitating for? Aren’t you going to take action?”
…Take action?
Are they planning to k*ll me?
I looked helplessly at Carlos, my beautifully expressive eyes full of disbelief.
Carlos… was lying to me? No, impossible. He literally told me at the church door that everything would be fine as long as he was there. There’s no way he would deceive me—if he wanted to k*ll me, I wouldn’t have made it this far. It made no sense for him to ambush me now…
Even though I kept reassuring myself to stay calm and that everything would be alright, my feet instinctively started to back away, inching toward the door behind me.
Carlos seemed oblivious to my tiny retreat, his expression as calm as ever, focused solely on the Pope on the bed.
“Angel, now is not the time for these stupid jokes. You’re just complicating things.”
“Are you having second thoughts?” Angel replied with a cold smile, his eyes flashing with a chilling glimmer, “You’re the one who said to bring forth the Abyss of the White Night and follow my orders.”
“What I mentioned was a reward!”
“But I’m talking about consequences.”
“Are you serious? Have you thought this through?”
“Are you trying to interfere with my decision?”
“Your decision is utterly foolish.”
“Carlos, no one has ever dared to interfere with my decisions. You know well what I’m capable of. If you want to protect her, are you ready to face the consequences?”
Carlos smirked at that. The two men were exchanging rapid-fire dialogue, their eyes sparking as they locked gazes—both clearly unwilling to back down, and the atmosphere in the room became tense and heavy.
It appeared that no one noticed me quietly retreating to the door… maybe I could escape while they were distracted!
I pushed against the door with all my might, only for it to remain stubbornly in place.
“You little thing, you can’t get away. I’ve had the Church Knights surround this place. Once you step out that door, be prepared to face a horde of soldiers~”
Angel’s gaze stayed on Carlos, yet it felt like he was all too aware of my movements.
“I’m not afraid of them,” I said with bravado, even though my heart was racing in panic. This utterly unassuming Pope probably had Carlos fooled and had set this trap long ago, just waiting for him to lead me into it.
“Oh? Want to test that theory?”
The blond man looked at me with a curious grin, his amusement palpable.
“Angel! What exactly do you want!?”
Carlos shouted angrily, and it seemed he was genuinely furious.
“Come on, what do you want? Carlos, I’m just curious—when did you let this little monster mesmerize you and become an enemy to humanity?”
“Angel, if you keep this up, I’ll actually get mad.”
Carlos inhaled deeply, suppressing his rising anger. He knew this man well and understood his intentions.
“Fine, since you’ve made your choice, I’ll just have to take both of you out.”
With a lazy tone, Angel spouted something out of left field, and before anyone could process it, he suddenly struck. A golden light flared from his hand, illuminating the room as it shot straight at Carlos’s head.
Carlos’s eyes widened in shock, his sapphire-like pupils filled with disbelief, clearly not expecting Angel to come at him. He looked like he was frozen in place.
“You dare!”
In the blink of an eye, a petite figure lunged forward.
The moment Angel struck, I forgot about my plan to escape. Instinctively, I just didn’t want him to hurt Carlos. My body moved faster than my mind—I rushed over and kicked Carlos in the backside, sending him flying to the side. I ducked just in time to avoid the oncoming golden light, and before Angel could react, I grabbed his wrist.
My right hand erupted in frost.
“Little Silvya, stop!”
“Wait, don’t slap me!”
Two panicked voices echoed in my ears.
I was momentarily stunned and unconsciously released the ice mist, but by then, it was too late.
Smack!
My little palm made direct contact with the Pope’s handsome profile.
Yikes! I put my full effort into that slap—not holding back at all! With no defense, Angel’s upper body was sent flying by the force, and his neck let out a ‘crack’ as he fell lifelessly onto the bed.
The air suddenly fell silent.
“…”
“…”
After a long moment, Carlos covered his face.
“You idiot… he was just tricking you…”
“d*mn, being surrounded? Do you think the Church Knights can fly? There’s no way they could get here that fast…”
“If he seriously attacked you, do you think it would be that easy to stop him…?”
Uh… was he really tricking me? Is he crazy? Why on earth would he trick me? Was he testing me?
I stole a glance at the now motionless Pope.
Though I hated to admit it, this man—who had just received a solid slap from me—was indeed the highest ruler of humanity, known as the Pope. Now he lay there as if dead.
… Surely he didn’t actually d*e, right?
Great, I’m in deep trouble.
Realizing what happened, I quickly stashed my hands behind my back, adopting a guilty and pitiful expression as I turned to look at Carlos with wide eyes, brimming with helpless panic.
Carlos waved his hands dismissively, indicating it was fine, then shouted at the man lying on the bed.
“Hey, if you keep pretending, I’ll zap you!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Angel shuddered and, with a roll, leaped back up.
“… Ow, ow ow! So painful, so painful!” he turned his head awkwardly to one side, looking like he had suffered a neck sprain, gritting his teeth as he spoke. “Ugh—my neck is killing me. Little Black Charcoal, your slap was way too heavy!”
“… That’s what you get for tricking me.”
Seeing he was okay, I let out a sigh of relief, then suddenly thought he had it coming.
Ha! Served you right for messing with me.
“A man who brings trouble upon himself,” Carlos quipped from the side.
“I just wanted to tease you! It’s all Carlos’s fault. He told me you were hilarious, which piqued my curiosity, ugh—”
As he spoke, he tried to adjust his neck, wincing as he inhaled sharply.
“What’s so funny about you?”
I rolled my eyes at him. How did this kind of person become the Pope? Is this really okay?
“The meaning of ‘funny’ that I referred to might differ from your understanding… Now that the show is over, can we get back to business?”
Carlos seemed to be filled with deep despair toward this Pope.
“Alright, alright. So, Little Black Charcoal…”
“I’m Silvya,” I interjected, frowning and cutting him off.
“Oh, that doesn’t matter.” Angel slowly turned his neck, still sporting an unserious expression, “You are the Abyss of the White Night, and I am the Pope of the Holy Church—that is what truly matters. I think you probably can’t understand what this meeting signifies for me or for humanity as a whole, nor do you realize how much resistance we’ve had to eliminate for this to happen. But don’t worry, less than ten people in the Church know your identity. Carlos will tell you who they are later and warn you about who to be cautious of.”
“Is anyone going to hurt me?”
I asked, slightly worried.
“Don’t worry, as long as I’m around, they wouldn’t dare—ow—”
With a smirk, Angel’s teasing smile turned to horror as he twisted his neck again, letting out a pained cry, his frivolous demeanor not inspiring any sense of security.
“… In any case, starting today, you are the Church Knight of the Holy Church, the hero who will single-handedly slay the Abyss. The official ceremony will take place tomorrow, but you can’t reveal your true identity for now, and don’t use the powers of the Abyss carelessly. I’ve already contacted Queen Elizabeth and plan to send you to the Royal Academy in Order Royal City to learn the knowledge of this world. Your Frost Order still has great potential.”
