"Stop what you are doing right now!"

Van and the group all looked at the old man that suddenly appeared in the spacious room. Angela and her sister made sure that there weren't any more people within the vicinity, so how exactly did the Pontiff manage to pass through their radar?

It was common knowledge that the highest authority of the Circle was a normal human, was there some kind of secret door that they weren't aware of? Angela squinted her eyes to check if the Pontiff was actually secretly a System Holder, but nothing pops up in her System Window.

"Let's kill him," Van let out a sigh as he stepped forward. But as soon as he said that, Angela blocked his path.

"I don't know how he's here. But he is the leader of the Circle, Mr. Evans," Angela muttered.

"Leader? Even more reason to end him now."

"No. The leader of the whole Circle, the one they all answer to, Pontiff Sullivan,"

Van blinked a couple of times as he looked at the old man approaching them. This is the leader of the whole Circle? Was this part of Evangeline and Athena's plan?

"You didn't know that he was here?" Van then looked at Angelica, who was a spy that was injected into the Circle for a few years.

"No," Angelica quickly shook her head, "He did visit some time ago, but it was in my information that he had already left."

"I see. I still don't get why we shouldn't just kill him now," Van let out a sigh as he looked at the old man straight in the eyes, "We're already wasting too much time, Evangeline might be starting to struggle."

"We can use him as a hostage, Mr. Evans," Angela shook her head, "The war against the Circle doesn't end in this country. But if we have him, then we would have an impenetrable leverage against them."

"Let's just kill--"

"Do not speak as if I am not here, you heathens!"

Before Van could finish his words, Pontiff Sullivan then suddenly took off his robes. And as soon as he did so, the expressions of Van and the rest of the group all could not help but change.

And no, it wasn't because the Pontiff was naked underneath it, it was the opposite-- he was packed… packed with explosives, that is. His whole body, from the neck all the way to his waist, was wrapped by what definitely seemed to be explosives.

"This part of the plan as well?" Van quietly said as he leaned closer to Angela.

"No."

"That settles it, then," Van once again let out a sigh, "Let's just kill him."

"Don't even try to do it! I know how fast you are, Mr. Evans," Pontiff Sullivan then raised his hand, revealing the trigger that he was holding that was connected to the multiple bombs on his body, "If you kill me, these bombs will also go off!"

"You… know who I am?" Van knotted his eyebrows.

"Of course we do," Pontiff Sullivan let out a scoff, "Did you really think someone as strong as you would be left unnoticed? Especially after what you did in Africa and Egypt!?"

"...And why are you here? Shouldn't you be wherever the Circle's head base is?"

"Why wouldn't I be here, when our provider has been transferred here!?" Pontiff Sullivan's eyes shone as they traveled towards Hermes's corpse, "The people of this country will once again find the light after we have shown them that even they, the ordinary people, could achieve greatness. America is still our bigges--"

"News flash for you, old man," Angelica did not let the Pontiff finish his words as she let out a small chuckle, "Your people are currently being decimated by us as we speak. This country, by the end of this day, would be completely free of the Circle's presence."

"The Circle will never die!"

"...Weren't you listening?"

"Leave this place at once, or we will all go down together!"

"If you do that, all of us will die, you know," Angelica slightly stepped towards the Pontiff, causing him to flinch backward, "This colossal corpse would also explode, causing all life on this round planet of ours to die."

"Preposterous, how dare you propose that you know what would happen to our provider!? The Circle will not let you heathens have him."

"...There's no getting to your head, is there?" Angelica could not help but let out a sigh before looking at Angela, "Do your thing, bend his mind or whatever."

"I can't," Angela quickly replied.

"What do you mean you can't? Did you remove that bald man's skill? Are you stupid?"

"No," Angela snarled at her sister, "I mean I truly can't. I have been trying since earlier but I can't seem to get access to his mind."

"...What?"

As soon as Angela said this, the Pontiff suddenly burst out in laughter, "Did you really think that I, as a Pontiff, would have no way to defend myself? The skills of your Systems are useless to me, such is the power granted to me, the highest authority of the Circle!"

"There was something like that?" Sarah, Angela, and Angelica all could not help but look at each other. The Circle had something like that? Then why didn't Evangeline tell them? Or did it happen after she already renounced herself from the organization?

"Really? Seems like a lie."

"!!!"

Pontiff Sullivan could not help but jump in fright as a voice suddenly whispered into his ear. He also almost dropped the trigger, and the only thing that stopped it from happening was the hand that was now gripping his hand tight.

Van was now right beside him, standing in the air as he held Sullivan's neck and the hand that held the trigger.

"H… how are you able to use your Skills around me!?" Sullivan could not help but stutter as he tried to turn his head to look at Van, "Unhand me at once, you infidel! How dare you touch me with your stained hands!?"

The Pontiff continued to scream, Van, however, seemed to be completely ignoring him as he turned his attention towards Angela and the others. "Just focus on retrieving Hermes's corpse. I'll also check the vicinity after I get rid of this old man so there wouldn't be any more surprises."

"...Sure," although Angela truly wanted to use the Pontiff as a hostage, but seeing as the situation wasn't really allowing them to, she could only let out a sigh as she gestured to Sarah to start taking off the multiple needles from Hermes's spine.

"I'll lift the pod's shell after you take off all the needles," Angelica said as she ran towards what seemed to be the room's control terminal.

"Be careful, Van," Artemis nodded her head as she stood close to Sarah.

"I'll be back in less than a minute," Van let out a small breath before tightening the grip on the Pontiff's neck. Meanwhile, the Pontiff wanted to express his rage, but he wasn't able to do so as he could not even talk due to his neck almost being crushed by Van's hand. He could only curse and pray in silence as he felt a sudden jolt in his body before he momentarily lost consciousness.

And as soon as his eyes were once again able to see, the scenery that unfolded in front of him almost made him want to puke.

"It's President Evans!"

"Who's that he is holding!?"

Van stopped by the ongoing war of the Resistance against the forces of the Circle. But seeing as there was a lack of cries and screams, it would seem that the war was actually already over. The only thing that remained was the thousands of bodies littered on the ground, as well as the field that completely turned red from all the blood it received.

"This is the future of your little organization," Van whispered into the Pontiff's ears. But before the Pontiff could reply, the scenery in front of him once again changed as Van dragged him away several kilometers away from the battlefield, facing the Pontiff towards the floating island they were just in seconds ago.

Van then let go of the Pontiff's neck, but still gripping his hand tight so as to not allow him to detonate the bombs.

"You… do any of you have any idea of what you have done!?" Pontiff Sullivan quickly roared as he found himself able to speak once again, "The Circle has provided this world with shelter. We were the only reasons why any of you are still alive today, it is us who sheltered the first generations of System Holders! The world would not have survived without us!"

"Maybe."

"Un--"

"But I don't really care about the rest of the world."

A light thud then whispered into the air as the Pontiff's head dropped to the ground, the last words that he could have uttered, stuck inside his opened mouth that was now eating dirt. Van then immediately let go of the Pontiff's hand as a light ticking sound entered his ears.

And without even looking at the Pontiff's rolling head, Van quickly ran away to avoid the explosion that was about to come. And as expected, even before the shockwave could touch his hair, he was already halfway back to the floating island.

"..." Van glanced at the explosion for a bit before once again running to the floating island. But as he was about to land on it, another blaze of fire suddenly erupted...

...right at where the hidden base was stationed.

"...What?"