Chapter 138
“If you entrust everything to me completely, it’s possible. Swear to entrust everything to me at this moment.”
Olivia bit her lip hard.
It signified a magical oath.
A temporary vow, but it meant her life would be placed in the hands of that dark being.
Yet Olivia nodded firmly.
A choice she couldn’t understand even herself.
“I swear to entrust everything to you.”
An oath is the affirmation of will.
Her mental barrier opened fully toward Chris, and into her now defenseless mind, black magic unfolded.
4-star illusion black magic.
Swamp of Memories.
Olivia’s mind was submerged in black magic that drowned her in the past.
Her entire vision was engulfed in darkness, and in the moment just before she lost consciousness—
A hand gripped hers tightly.
As if to say, don’t worry,
Endlessly warm and steadfast.
The very touch she had desperately longed for.
‘…Brother?’
* * *
Swamp of Memories drowns the target in a vision of the past they long for most.
For Olivia, the past she longed for most was, of course, when Chris was still alive.
Within the illusion, Olivia came face to face with Chris once again.
“Brother…?”
Olivia’s eyes trembled faintly.
She saw the figure of ‘Chris.’
She immediately realized she was seeing an illusion.
But it felt far too real to dismiss as a mere illusion.
As if the past had been perfectly reconstructed.
As if she were actually facing the real Chris.
Yes, it was an illusion that felt as though it truly ‘existed.’
There was a reason.
Chris had twisted the black magic so that he himself became the ‘Chris’ within the illusion.
In other words, the ‘Chris’ Olivia faced was an illusion—yet also the real Chris.
Chris spoke as if he had returned to the past.
“It’s been a while.”
And then—
The moment she heard that same voice from the past,
The dam holding Olivia’s emotions burst all at once.
* * *
‘This is just a fantasy.’
Olivia pressed down on her chest firmly.
Because giving her heart to a dream that would vanish upon waking would only leave her emptier.
But—
‘…Is this really just a fantasy?’
Olivia looked confused.
It wasn’t a matter of whether it was detailed or not.
Her instincts were telling her—
That it wasn’t ‘fake.’
It truly felt like Chris had come back to life.
‘That’s impossible.’
The feeling of being with Chris was so real that her frozen heart began to melt, and Olivia hastily shook her head.
“Why… why did you appear?”
There was no need to ask.
That dark being wanted her to awaken the power of Spirit Resonance.
He was using Chris’s appearance to pressure her into awakening it.
But then, ‘Chris’ gave an unexpected answer.
“Just take a little break.”
“…Huh?”
“You’ve been struggling a lot lately, haven’t you?”
Olivia nearly broke down again.
—Take a break first.
She remembered hearing those same words when she first met Chris in the past.
Even though she knew this was an illusion, Olivia couldn’t bring herself to refuse his offer.
“Can I really… rest?”
“Of course.”
Chris nodded.
Just like before, with a smile.
“For as long as you need.”
Time passed after that.
Nothing particularly special happened.
Olivia simply spent peaceful days with Chris, as if she had returned to the past.
The strange thing was, even though she knew it was an illusion—
She felt her heart warm.
As if she were truly with the real Chris.
‘I don’t want to wake up.’
Olivia quietly closed her eyes.
“…Is it okay if I just stay like this?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Thankfully, ‘Chris’ didn’t rush her.
He simply stayed beside her, gently comforting her.
Endlessly.
How much time passed like that?
Days? Weeks? Or maybe years?
She didn’t know.
Time in dreams is always jumbled.
It could feel like a lifetime, yet be gone in a flash.
The dream she was sharing with Chris was just like that.
Before long.
“Hehe, I think it’s time to stop now.”
Olivia spoke with a voice tinged with moisture.
“We can’t just stay like this forever.”
Even though she didn’t want to ever wake from this.
It was an illusion that had to end eventually.
“Still… I really liked it.”
She didn’t know how such a thing was possible.
But the time she spent in the illusion truly felt like she had been with Chris, and Olivia felt the warmth return to her frozen heart.
‘I’ll miss him even more now.’
Then, ‘Chris’ said something unexpected.
“I’m going to stay with you from now on.”
“!!”
“I promise.”
Olivia’s eyes shook.
“…That’s a lie.”
“It’s not a lie. Want to see?”
A leaf appeared in Chris’s hand.
Then came the sound of a whistle beginning.
“!!”
Olivia’s eyes quivered faintly.
‘How can he whistle like that?’
It was exactly like the whistling tunes Chris used to play for her in the tower.
It was far too real to have been reproduced from unconscious memory.
The warm sound, as if gently brushing against her heart, made it impossible for Olivia to treat the vision before her as a mere illusion.
She knew it couldn’t be true.
But she just wanted to believe—it was really Chris.
“…That’s not fair.”
Olivia wiped her eyes hard.
“I’ll be with you, so believe in me and keep going.”
Olivia remained silent.
“You really mean it, that you’ll stay with me?”
“Yeah, I promise. Honestly, I’ll be busy and can’t always be around, but I’ll come see you from time to time.”
Olivia gave a soft, breathy laugh.
Chris’s voice continued to soak gently into her heart.
It felt like the deep scar inside her was finally warming a little.
“Olivia, do you remember what you always used to say to me?”
“Huh…? Yeah.”
Olivia nodded blankly.
When she was young, she used to go on and on to Chris about becoming a great Pontiff.
Though it was difficult as a Saintess, her dream had always been to become a Pope who served the people.
But after falling into despair, that dream had long since faded away.
“I don’t actually think you need to become a great Pope. No matter what kind of life you choose, I’ll support you.”
“……”
“But I just hope your dream doesn’t end because of me. That’s not what I want.”
Olivia stayed silent for a long time.
Then—
She smiled faintly.
“You’ve always been the same, haven’t you, brother.”
Even before.
Whenever Olivia wavered, Chris always held her steady.
If it weren’t for Chris, Olivia would never have been able to stand tall as a Saintess.
“I’m going now.”
Light shone from behind her back.
“I’m going to live in a way I won’t be ashamed in front of you.”
And with that—
The illusion came to an end.
* * *
“!!”
Olivia’s eyes flew open.
The irritating demon stood before her.
It seemed barely any time had passed.
“…What did you do to me?”
“As you saw. I made you face the wounds of your past. To help you awaken your Authority. Thankfully, it seems to have worked.”
Olivia bit her lip.
The reason she hadn’t been able to awaken her Authority was because of her despair.
More precisely, it was the festering wound in her soul that blocked its awakening.
That demon must have realized it—and showed her that illusion.
‘…But how was he able to show me something like that?’
Truthfully, Olivia didn’t know much about illusion-type dark magic.
But she could tell that the illusion she’d just seen was far from ordinary.
It wasn’t just about realism—it really felt like she was with the real Chris.
Especially when she heard the whistling at the end—she had unconsciously believed it was truly him.
In any case, that was something to think about later.
“Do you think you can do it?”
He was asking about the awakening of her Authority.
Olivia paused for a moment, then nodded.
“I’ll try.”
Honestly—
Her wounds were still there.
Of course they were.
There’s no way a single dream could heal something like that.
But—
Whether the Chris in the illusion was real or fake, there was one thing she was sure of.
‘Brother wouldn’t want me to stay like this.’
What Chris wanted was for her to stand tall as the Pope.
Olivia clutched the gift Chris had given her in her hand.
As if she were holding her unseen brother’s hand.
At that moment, her soul took a step forward.
Paaah!
Brilliant light poured out from her body.
Her wings of light radiated an even more solemn majesty.
‘It’s still not enough.’
Olivia instinctively understood.
What was lacking—was her will.
She firmly established her own resolve.
She engraved in her heart the will to serve and protect the people as the Pope, something she had long forgotten since Chris’s death.
‘I’ll do it!’
And at the moment she embraced that strong resolve, her “Authority” bloomed.
Paaah!
Soul Requiem.
Sublime light radiated from her body and shone upon the souls atop the altar.
[Aah!]
The souls wept.
Exorcism was not simply about comforting souls.
It was the process of healing the wounds they bore and purifying them completely.
The holy power expelled the wicked dark magic that had clung to the souls.
“Th-this can’t be…!!”
Grand Duke Vince’s face turned pale.
As the sacrifices began to be liberated, even his power started to falter.
“What are you doing! Are you just going to stand there and watch?!”
Grand Duke Vince shouted desperately at the puppet standing behind him.
The puppet shrugged its shoulders as if troubled.
[This is unexpected. To think she would induce the blooming of her Authority. I never imagined it.]
The puppet wore a mischievous smile.
[But—how about this, then?]
Snap—the moment the puppet flicked its fingers, a disturbance occurred.
Fwoooosh.
From beneath the altar, deep black flames erupted.
With a presence so ominous it was suffocating.
[I’ve summoned the Flames of Gehenna. They’ll strengthen the effects of the dark magic.]
Sure enough, the souls that were about to be freed were once again engulfed in the flames, letting out cries of agony.
The puppet smiled as if watching an amusing show.
[Now then, what will you do? With an Authority that’s only just bloomed, you won’t be able to save souls consumed by the Flames of Gehenna, will you?]
Olivia grit her teeth.
Paaah. The light radiating from her body intensified even further.
Fwaaaah!
But the Flames of Gehenna also surged with greater fury.
It was a power that overwhelmed her Authority.
‘Those Flames of Gehenna are a 6-star-level cursed dark magic. As things are now, there's no chance of victory.’
She needed a plan.
After some thought, Chris reached out his hand.
“Take my hand.”
“…Huh? What?”
“I’ll help you wield your Authority. Hurry!”
Olivia was flustered.
The Authority of the Thrones was a power that belonged solely to her. The idea that someone else could assist her was absurd.
Tap.
Olivia took Chris’s hand.
“…Can you really help?”
“Yes. But—you must trust me. Don’t resist my energy.”
From their joined hands, a faint energy flowed into her.
It was demonic energy.
“!!”
Olivia instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but barely managed to hold herself back.
Chris’s demonic energy seeped into her bloodstream. Incredibly, it didn’t cause any clash with Olivia’s divine energy.
To any onlooker, it would have been an unbelievable sight.
‘Demonic energy and divine light usually trigger a neutralization reaction. But if I use the domination property of dark demonic energy to precisely manipulate the opposing energy’s reaction and suppress the neutralization temporarily—’
In other words—
It was something only Chris could pull off.
And then something even more unbelievable happened.
Chris’s demonic energy spread through Olivia’s veins, subtly interacting with her energy.
Then—
Paaaaaaah!!
The noble stream of divine energy suddenly formed a different pattern of flow, and something miraculous occurred.
“?!”
The power of Olivia’s currently active Soul Requiem Authority began to amplify.
‘H-how?!’
Olivia stared in shock.
Chris answered inwardly.
‘Even the Authority of Holy Blood ultimately comes down to technique. Its power depends on how efficiently you use the skill.’
Olivia was the sole awakened bearer of the Holy Blood.
Therefore, she had never been taught how to properly refine her Authority, so she was bound to have technical limitations.
Of course, Chris himself had never used the Holy Blood Authority either.
‘But I’ve helped Olivia manipulate her divine power many times before.’
And more than that—
During the Age of Ruin, he had seen Celestials use the Authority of the Thrones many times.
Based on that, he devised a method to enhance its power.
This, too, was a crazy feat only Chris could accomplish.
Paaaah!!
The empowered and solemn Authority began to suppress the Flames of Gehenna.
Once again, the souls began to be liberated, and as Grand Duke Vince’s power faltered, he began to stagger.
[Ahahaha!! Insane! You modeled the Celestials’ method to amplify the Authority of the Thrones?! Are you even human?! Truly fascinating! Ahaha!]
The puppet burst into a grotesque laugh.
[I can’t go down like this either. Descend—Despair and Malice!]
The Flames of Gehenna surged even more violently.
As if to push back against the Authority Chris had reinforced.
As Olivia’s face paled—
Chris made his next move.