Chapter 263
“Th-this can’t be?”
“Was it really the Archbishop?”
The priests of the Fanatic Order, who could no longer deny it, had horrified expressions.
Chris seized the momentum and raised his voice majestically.
“The Constellations have revealed it to me: the original Archbishop was struck down by that Devil’s servant!”
“!!”
“What are you doing?! Not executing that Devil’s servant! Can you still call yourselves servants who attend to the Constellations after this?!”
Fwoosh!
Radiant Mana extended from Chris’s hand.
On top of that, there was also the energy of the Healing Arts mixed in with the Radiant Mana.
He projected the image of a holy saint for all to see, shaking the hearts of the Fanatic Order’s priests.
In the end, Ektar the Butcher stood at the forefront and aimed his sword.
“All of you, raise your swords! We will execute that devil.”
“Understood! In the name of the Constellations!”
As the battle began in earnest, Chris retreated with Evan.
“Is it alright if we don’t join in?”
“Why should we?”
“Well…”
“Those guys will take care of the cleanup themselves. There’s no need for us to get involved unnecessarily.”
Not just the Archbishop, but the fanatics under him were also a headache.
‘Because the guys under him are also extremists who have caused all sorts of harm to the world.’
His plan was to use this opportunity to make them fight each other and wear down their strength through internecine conflict.
[You bastards, come to your senses! This is all that villain’s trick!]
As the Archbishop shouted that, some of them hesitated, but Chris intervened each time.
‘Oh no you don’t!’
With the dominating power of his Dark Demonic Energy, he continuously exposed the man’s devilish aura.
Not stopping there, Chris mixed his Radiant Mana with the will of the Healing Arts, scattering a holy aura as he continued to shout.
“That fiend is the enemy of your Archbishop! The Constellations are weeping in the Celestial Realm! Everyone, avenge your Archbishop!”
At his shouts, the priests’ fighting spirit was bolstered, and a fierce battle unfolded.
In the end, the man could not endure it and revealed his true colors.
[You… bastard…! How dare you!!]
Fwaaaah!
He withdrew the energy of the Constellations he had been faking and began to emit his complete devilish aura.
As expected of a high-ranking priest of the Mystic Demonic House.
An incomparably intense energy compared to before dominated the area.
“…What a horrific demonic aura. Is there a chance of victory?”
To Evan’s question, Chris nodded.
“Of course.”
Chris looked around at the Fanatic Order.
“Because the guys here are just as crazy.”
Crazier than magi.
That was the reputation of the Fanatic Order.
When their opponent completely revealed his devilish true nature, the priests began to emit an entirely different aura than before.
“Everyone, prepare for martyrdom!!”
“Annihilate the devil!!”
They charged at him as one body.
It was the same as jumping into a blazing fire, and countless people died in an instant, but no one hesitated.
Even he could not help but flinch at their ferocious momentum, born from sacrificing their lives.
[You bastards…!]
The performance of Ektar the Butcher was particularly dazzling.
He already had an extreme personality, one that would annihilate anything root and stem if there was even a suspicion of a connection to a Devil, and now that was combined with the fury of having been deceived, so he fought like a berserker.
“Kuaaaah!!! No one stop! O Constellations, look down upon us!!”
“O Constellations!!”
At the end of the Fanatic Order’s ferocious assault, where they did not spare their own lives, he finally could not hold on and began to stagger.
On top of that, Chris stealthily intervened in the fight without being noticed.
‘It’s not as if the Fanatic Order is made up entirely of crazy bastards that are impossible to deal with.’
There were some decent people among them who, rarely, possessed common sense.
They were the minority ‘dove faction’ within the Fanatic Order, and he had obtained a list of their names in advance through Ruina. When they were in danger, he would stealthily intervene and help them escape the crisis.
‘It seems the time has come.’
“Evan, it’s about time to get ready.”
It was the same moment he said that.
Fwoosh!
The devilish aura that had been shimmering around him began to blaze like a flame.
He shouted to the sky, his eyes bloodshot.
[O Great One! I offer these people to you as a sacrifice, please accept them along with my soul!]
The Mystic Demonic House were fanatics no less than the Fanatic Order.
His plan was to sacrifice his own soul to make his enemies an offering to the Devil.
Woooong.
A thick, ominous fog began to settle in his Dominion, then it rotated like a vortex.
It was a horrific vortex that snatched the souls of its opponents and dragged them to Gehenna.
Sensing the extraordinary crisis, Ektar shouted with a pale face.
“Everyone, draw upon the blessings of the Constellations!!”
Fwoooosh!
A noble light enveloped the priests.
But it was not enough to withstand the raging devilish aura, and at this rate, there would be horrific sacrifices.
“We must abandon the holy temple and flee at once!!”
“Shut up! To think you would turn your back with the Devil’s servant right in front of us! The Constellations will be with us!”
“But…!”
“Silence!”
Thwack!
Some of the sane-minded ones belatedly shouted for a retreat, but there was no way it would work.
Chris shook his head back and forth and took a step forward.
‘It would also be troublesome if the Fanatic Order were to be completely destroyed.’
Chris glanced at the remaining forces on the Fanatic Order’s side.
Thanks to their ferocious charge where they did not spare their own lives, the damage they had already accumulated was enormous.
Now that their strength had been drastically reduced, it would be difficult for them to cause harm to the Alliance in the future.
‘This level is just right for me to exploit them in the future.’
The time had come to end the battle.
“Ruina. It’s our turn.”
“Uwaaaaaah. I can’t do it. I told you, I can’t!”
“Why are you such a coward? Ten million rupees if you do a good job on this?”
“What do you need me to do? Should I bark like a dog? Just give the order… wait, that’s not right!”
Ruina, who had unconsciously taken the posture of a puppy at the words ‘ten million rupees,’ screamed again.
“Dame Ruina, stop going on about money and come to your senses. Do you feel no shame before Christian, who is striving for the sake of the world?”
“Uwaaah!! Sir Evan, I hate you the most!!”
And yet, she was still Ruina, who steadfastly did what she had to do.
She took out the holy relic, the ‘Shield of Agios’.
For a brief moment, it protects its owner from the energy of Gehenna.
The problem was that Ruina had to stand at the forefront and face the energy of Gehenna.
“Uwaaah! This is an artifact with a limited number of uses, so its value depreciates a ton if I use it once!! My money!!”
“…So in the end, it was about the money. I’ll really give you ten million rupees when this is over.”
“Really? You mean it?! Ujaja! Let’s do this!!”
Under the protection of the artifact, Chris and Evan entered the area where the demonic aura was raging.
“Evan, you have to finish this. You get one chance. I’ll support you, so you can do it, right?”
Evan glanced at Chris, then nodded.
“I will do it.”
“Good.”
Chris placed his hand on Evan’s back.
“Now, it’s time for your debut as a Hero.”
Starting with this incident, Chris planned to make Evan a hero of the Alliance.
‘Because I have to unite the Alliance before the Age of Ruin comes. I’ll make this Evan kid a hero and start working him to the bone!’
The more he made Evan suffer, the more comfortable Chris’s own life would be.
Meanwhile, Evan, unaware of Chris’s inner thoughts, closed his eyes.
‘To think he trusts me this much.’
When he had first heard about this plan from Christian, the thought that had entered Evan’s mind was that it was ‘impossible.’
But.
-Evan, you can do it.
The moment he heard those words full of trust, the desire to succeed surged within him.
‘I must succeed, no matter what. I can’t hold Christian back.’
The image of the Christian he had seen until now flashed through Evan’s mind.
A person who, though a magus, hides a nobility deeper than anyone else’s, silently fighting a desperate battle for the world all alone.
‘The true Hero is not me, but Christian.’
Fwoosh!
Evan drew upon his Radiant Mana.
Originally, in Chris’s previous life, Evan’s Will Construct was the ‘Sword of Death and Darkness’.
A Will Construct that dealt a powerful blow to beings of evil.
But this time, Evan’s Will Construct had changed.
This was thanks to the influence of Christian, who was walking the path for the sake of the world all alone and steadfast.
The Sword of the Solitary Sea.
The uprightness and nobility of Christian, which were engraved in Evan’s mind, blended into the sword of light.
…It was something that would have dumbfounded Christian if he knew the inner story, but thanks to this misunderstanding, Evan’s Will Construct went beyond simply exerting a powerful effect on evil and came to hold an unbending will.
“Blessings of the Constellations upon my Will Construct.”
Woooong.
The blessings of the Constellations that protected Evan settled into his Will Construct.
The priests of the Fanatic Order let out sounds of admiration at the supremely noble light that wreathed Evan’s sword.
‘But it’s not enough.’
Evan gritted his teeth and looked at the swirling energy of Gehenna.
He had to annihilate that energy with his power of light, but it was insufficient.
Just then, Christian moved.
Christian closed his eyes and felt Evan’s energy.
For reference, Evan and Christian were in a master-servant relationship. The subordinate relationship they had formed before was still in effect.
Therefore, it was possible for him to feel and grasp Evan’s energy as if it were his own.
‘And on top of that, something like this is also possible.’
He unfolded his Blooming Realm and, within his thoughts, unfolded his Will Construct.
It was the Sword of Annihilating Light, the light that destroys evil.
Within his thoughts, Christian’s Will Construct merged with Evan’s Will Construct.
Fwaaaaaaaah!!
Evan’s sword was stained with a supremely noble light.
On top of that, Christian transformed his own will.
‘To drive out that energy from Gehenna, simply strengthening his power isn’t enough. A nobility that can wash away evil is the key.’
The fortunate thing was that Chris could artificially imbue his own will with nobility.
Chris recalled the images of the various saints he had witnessed in the past.
The noble hearts they had shown artificially blossomed within his own chest.
It was a shortcut made possible because his talent for handling his will was exceptional.
It was a shortcut, but it was effective. The nobility that settled into the Sword of Annihilating Light shone even more brilliantly.
And this shortcut of Chris’s produced an unexpected effect.
It unexpectedly spurred Evan on.
‘This brilliance contained in Christian’s will. As expected, it’s incomparable to the likes of me.’
Evan squeezed his eyes shut.
He had once again mistaken the nobility that Christian had embraced through a shortcut for the real thing.
‘And here I am, only wishing for mere revenge.’
In truth, Evan’s greatest motivation was revenge against the people of the great swordsmanship house who had cast him out.
The reason he had accepted the fate of a Hero from the Constellations was also to take revenge on his family with the Hero’s power.
But why was that?
Every time he saw that upright and brilliant nobility of Christian, he became ashamed of himself.
‘I don’t like it.’
Yes.
That incomprehensible nobility of Christian.
It was so dazzling that he felt a surge of emotion.
A single thought arose.
‘I won’t be outdone.’
Evan’s will as a Hero awakened one step further.
As Evan’s nobility deepened, the blessings of the Constellations that had settled on his sword were also amplified.
Finally, slice.
Evan’s sword cut through the energy of Gehenna.
Fwaaaaaaaah!
A brilliantly radiant light covered the world.
It was the moment Evan was first revealed to the world as a Hero.