"Garrick...His Holiness the Pope!"

Yulanda was the first to recognize him. She had clearly seen the Pope before and called out Cysper's real name. Luckily, Yulanda was from the Kingdom of Astralrealm, and not a follower of the True Church, otherwise we might have seen another scene of people kneeling and worshipping.

"Everyone, since you've listened to a song, why don't I join you on the journey to relieve the boredom?"

As the music ended, Cysper put away his lute and asked us with a smile, as if very sure we would agree to have him join.

"Are you really the Pope of the Holy City?"

Brennan had never seen the Pope before, only learning his identity from Yulanda's words. He looked at the man doubtfully, then turned to Cyra and me for our opinions.

However, even Yulanda couldn't quite believe her eyes, and asked:

"I remember the Pope has never left the Holy City of Jethrobaines before. How could he appear in a place like this? Could it be an impersonator?"

"No, it's really him!"

I said it with great certainty. Apart from the song 'City in the Air', the light elemental aura on him could not be faked.

"I have left the Holy City now, so please call me by my alias - Cysper..."

Cysper shrugged and explained casually.

"I'm tired of the Holy City after thousands of years. I'm going out to get some fresh air, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

The reason sounded plausible, but we all knew this so-called explanation was pure nonsense, not convincing at all.

"I remember you asked about when we were leaving the first time we met..."

I pointed at him, feeling confused, as if his appearance here was not a coincidence, but had been premeditated from the start. Like that overly 'enthusiastic' sendoff earlier.

"You're not following us, are you?"

There was clearly some mischief going on, and even Cyra noticed something amiss. But just following us didn't explain all the questions. If he really was following, why would the Pope take action himself? The True Church had plenty of capable people who could do the job. And Cysper's blatant following gave an inexplicable sense of dissonance.

"Of course not, I really mean no harm!"

Cysper shook his head and denied our suspicions, but did not explain the real reasons, only giving the reason for joining us.

"I learned from Cyra that your goal is to go to the Sulide Volcano to rescue people. But if you face the Phoenix, your numbers might be too few, so I thought I could help..."

"I don't believe the Pope of the True Church would be so kind! Even if you really wanted to help, you wouldn't need to take action yourself, right?"

Naturally, Brennan scoffed at the Pope's explanation. He never really liked the True Church much, so this reaction was understandable.

"I can swear to the Lord!"

Seeing we still looked doubtful, Cysper raised his hand earnestly.

"I truly wish to help. Of course there are some other factors involved, but they have nothing to do with you..."

"Don't give him a hard time. I believe him. Having an extra person help isn't so bad, right?"

Cyra spoke up. As an angel, her words carried more weight. And since the Pope had sworn like that, he was quite credible. Brennan couldn't really argue further.

"Let's just continue on our way for now..."

I sighed, supporting Cyra's view. I also noticed something - when Cysper was swearing earlier, he was clearly speaking to Brennan. It implied he had some connection to us two angels, but couldn't say it openly because of Brennan and Yulanda being humans present.

Moreover, on the surface it seemed only the Pope was here, but I could sense faint movement in the surrounding bushes. His guards were likely hiding there. Cysper's main identity was the Pope, but he was also a sovereign ruler, so having bodyguards was normal no matter how strong he was.

"His Holiness must be very powerful, right? I heard your lifespan is very long, comparable even to angels. With you here, we'll definitely succeed in rescuing our companions."

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Despite the Pope joining us due to mine and Cyra's insistance, we couldn't help but ask many questions along the way, like Yulanda's words here. Unlike the skeptical Brennan, she was quite respectful towards the Pope despite not being a believer herself.

"I wouldn't say that. While I do have some attainments in light magic and martial arts, I lack real combat experience, so I dare not call myself powerful!"

Not sure if he was being humble or telling the truth, Cysper laughed it off.

"What if we encountered some Mountain Lizards?"

As he finished speaking, Brennan pointed to a pool ahead where some sunbathing Mountain Lizards were resting lazily, his words carrying a probing tone.

Though low-ranked, these lizards were incredibly tough in defense and strength. Ordinary fourth-tier adventurers would find it very difficult to defeat them head-on. Conversely, their weakness was also obvious - slow movement and simple attack method. They would actively attack humans on sight, so lower-ranked adventurers dared not provoke them, while higher ranks saw them as beneath notice.

I had killed many in the past when doing missions, mostly by hovering in the air and stabbing them to death bit by bit with a long sword...Okay, maybe a little unsportsmanlike, but I also wanted to see how the famous Pope would deal with them.

"These magical beasts, huh..."

Cysper pondered for a moment looking at the targets ahead. He took out an exquisitely crafted dagger from his storage ring and slowly approached the Mountain Lizards.

"Huh?"

Seeing him going forth with just a dagger and no defenses, we all looked quite surprised. He should at least use a longer sword! Could his mastery of unarmed combat have surpassed the fourth tier?

However, the situation defied our expectations again. Cysper had no intention of going head-to-head with the foes.

As two lizards charged at him sensing the disturbance, a ball of light emerged from Cysper's palm. Dodging their attacks with fluid moves, he precisely tapped the light ball onto the lizards' heads, the ball instantly sinking inside...

After that smooth sequence of evasion and tapping moves, the two lizards simply collapsed motionless on the ground, forcefully put into a slumber!

"You can use sleep magic like that?"

I could naturally see at a glance what method he used. Sleep magic is very simple for angels, but considered intermediate-level for humans, with very few able to cast it wordlessly. But he did it!

Moreover, sleep magic usually just needs to hit the target's body, and its effects typically aren't as quick - the key was him directly striking the lizards' brains.

Dodging attacks while accurately landing magic strikes on the enemy's brain, without any incantation. Combining these skills showed he was far from ordinary! At minimum sixth-tier in standard, something I couldn't achieve! A true master of both magic and martial arts!

Indeed, the Pope could not be viewed as an ordinary human. Normal humans can only specialize in magic or martial arts, rarely attaining mastery of both. Even if forcibly trained in both fields, their limited lifespan means they cannot reach such heights in both paths.

"Can't be helped, unlike you angels who can replenish light elements freely, gathering mana is very slow for me, so I have to conserve it..."

The dagger sank into each lizard's brain, Cysper swiftly ending their lives, then clearing out the entire pool in the same way - always striking vitals for one-hit kills. He strolled back without any wasted movements.

"Impressive..."

Brennan couldn't help but praise. As a martial artist himself, he recognized Cysper's formidable skills.

"Actually in magic, Cysper is mainly limited by his mana reserves. If it were my body..."

Perhaps feeling it was unwise to reveal the body-swapping secret in front of outsiders, Cyra stopped midway.

Though Brennan and Yulanda didn't quite understand, I knew what she meant. It seemed they had done quite a bit of research in this area.

But come to think of it, since those two would likely continue swapping at night, could this secret really be kept?

...

Even with five of us traveling together, our pace remained very fast. And for crossing the mountains, since Cyra and I were angels present, in places where we originally had to make a winding ascent, I carried one person in each hand while Cyra brought Cysper and we simply flew up, saving a lot of time.

Though difficult to sustain for long periods, it was manageable for short bursts like this.

By the time we set up camp to rest in the evening, we had covered over half the journey. We should reach our destination by noon tomorrow, much faster than expected.

"We should actually be able to see Sulide Volcano from here, if only it wasn't night..."

Brennan turned around, gazing into the pitch black distance where nothing could be seen.

"This time, you and Yulanda stay to start the fire and cook. Let us go hunting for meat, alright?"

I pulled Cyra along and dragged the seated Cysper up from where he was about to start playing the lute again.

"Don't play the wandering bard. Come with us!"

"Ah?"

Looking bewildered, Cysper quickly got the idea and hurried after us.

Truth be told, Brennan's preparations were very thorough with ample food supplies. My real intention was to probe the Pope's motives, making him reveal what he couldn't say openly earlier in the day.