Chapter 167
Chapter 167
Chapter 167
The Holy Relic of the Death King (2)
The martial law in Luuren was lifted and the citizens' daily lives returned to normal.
The merchant groups and street shops that had temporarily closed reopened for business.
Rudian's party left the Papal Office and settled into a restaurant on the street to fill their stomachs.
"For food from the Papal Office, isn't it too meager?"
Rudian held his forehead as he recalled the meal served at the Papal Office.
Sour black bread with vegetable soup, and a bit of salad.
Well, no... Having grown up in hardship in Baran Village, Rudian's modern palate had been tempered, so even that menu was sufficiently edible but...
"The seasoning had a strangely malicious intent, making it even harder to eat..."
Either excessively bland or excessively salty. Moreover, the freshness of the salad was 'absolutely not acceptable,' and Yev couldn't even catch a glimpse of the snacks she had been looking forward to.
The party barely forced down that meal and came out to the street for a second round.
"The clergy of Luuren are famous for their frugality. Of course, that saltiness... it was likely done on purpose, but considering their reaction at the time, you should think of it as a light prank."
"For clergy to be so petty as to play pranks with food..."
Certainly, from their perspective, the blasphemy Rudian had committed was at a level where it wouldn't be strange to fight to the death immediately.
However, once the deal with Ruura was successfully completed and Rudian essentially established his status as an 'agent' to solve Ruura's problem, they lost their justification to interfere.
That said, if they sabotaged the work out of revenge, it would be putting the cart before the horse and they'd directly face Ruura's wrath, so they couldn't do that...
"Sigh, at least it's fortunate that the shops are open."
Except for Evangeline, who was satisfied with just the meal at the Papal Office due to her small appetite, the other party members began focusing enthusiastically on their meals with the momentum to bankrupt the establishment.
Yev, who was piling up desserts like a mountain on one side and storm-inhaling them, wasn't surprising anymore.
Unexpectedly, Rowen seemed to be a big eater despite his appearance, as he had demolished two tomahawk steaks in an instant and was ordering another one.
'Surprisingly, I'm eating quite well too...'
Even if not as much as Rowen, Rudian seemed to be eating more than half of that amount.
Was it the influence of his body beginning to change?
In fact, his body was gradually evolving to need less nutrition, but as long as he didn't completely transcend his physical form, he couldn't be completely free from eating.
'This isn't necessarily a bad thing...'
One could reach divinity not by escaping the constraints of the body, but rather by training that body to its limits.
Though unconventional, Yugria in her prime had done so, and in the original work, Sword Saint Crux had reached that realm.
'What's good is good.'
Having finished his brief contemplation, Rudian chewed a piece of meat and decided to think about what lay ahead.
'First, I can't wait until Britian wakes up.'
The biggest problem currently was Evangeline's lifespan, which had about four days remaining.
If they waited for Britian, who would wake up in a week, it would be too late.
Fortunately, according to the contract, he could summon the Death King's avatar immediately, so once they recovered the relic, solving Evangeline's lifespan issue could be accomplished right away.
'The problem is Dark North's secret temple...'
Dark North's secret temple wasn't an ordinary building.
In the past, when Ruura established Luuren through Britian, Dark North secretly sent her apostle to Luuren's territory and built a secret temple somewhere within it.
'I need to capture that apostle who has the key to the secret temple...'
Moreover, the enemy wasn't just Dark North's apostle.
Since Dark North and Garganta's target was originally Rudian, they would definitely attack this side at least once, sooner or later.
'With our current forces, we can sufficiently repel them, but while dealing with them, there isn't enough time to extract the location of the secret cult...'
The secret temple was Dark North's last stronghold, so it was a completely separate organization from the dark cult that had attacked Britian.
'At least it's certain that Dark North's apostle is here in Lu Gloria.'
That bastard absolutely couldn't leave this capital where the secret temple was located.
'Ugh, if only I knew that apostle's appearance and attire, things would be easier...'
In fact, no matter how meticulously an original author sets up the details, they wouldn't describe the appearance of such a one-time extra character.
'There is the setting that he possesses considerable divine power of Dark North...'
But that didn't mean he could capture all the clergy of the Dark North cult who had formally established parishes and were conducting business activities.
That would be tantamount to declaring complete war.
But the moment that thought occurred to him, Rudian hesitated slightly.
'Hm? Can't I do that? Really?'
The number of Dark North cult clergy in Lu Gloria was about 200. Even expanding to all of Luuren, it didn't exceed 1,000.
Since Luuren wasn't a country with particularly large territory to begin with, the scale of the parishes was also small compared to other countries.
"Anyway, the Ruura cult and Dark North cult have crossed an irreversible river..."
Couldn't they just capture them all and suppress the religion?
Having already struck the Saint first and killed three Sword Master-level holy knights who were the center of the nation, it wouldn't be strange for Luuren to declare a holy war and go berserk, regardless of evidence or anything else.
"Oho..."
"...?"
Rowen, who was putting a freshly served steak in his mouth, trembled slightly at his shoulders upon seeing Rudian's ominous expression.
***
"A holy war... you say?"
"That's right. Haven't we already crossed an irreversible river with the Dark North cult?"
"That's true, but..."
Pope Fabricio II closed his eyes with a troubled expression after hearing Rudian's proposal.
"Declaring a holy war is easy. No, it's rather overdue. Originally, we should naturally have brought the hammer of revenge down on the Dark North cult, but..."
"You're saying military power is insufficient?"
"...That's correct."
Judging by apparent national power alone, Luuren had nothing to be inferior about compared to the two cults.
Luuren was, after all, a 'nation.'
However, since their core forces including Britian had been helplessly defeated, Luuren couldn't move rashly despite trembling with anger.
"Don't worry about that. Anyway, once we smash those asymmetrical forces—the gods of the pantheon—the two cults won't be able to do anything."
"Uh, hmm..."
The Pope's expression darkened slightly.
Knowing that the opponents were gods, anxiety was naturally inevitable.
He could well imagine what Dark North and Garganta cults had done to summon them.
Though he didn't know for certain, they probably committed all sorts of atrocities no less than the Apophis cult.
As such, they would have obtained enough causality to reduce Britian to that state, but...
That didn't mean they had no weaknesses.
"Having mobilized such forces to blatantly attack a fellow servant of the same main god, those bastards won't be able to move easily for a while."
To put it clearly, Dark North and Garganta had made many reckless moves this time to interfere with Rudian.
In fact, it was hard to believe they had gone so far just to prevent him from obtaining the Death King's relic, but as a result, if Ruura formally protested to them over this incident, their movements would inevitably be restricted.
Though there was some deliberation, the Pope's decision was quick.
"Understood. We'll declare a holy war and arrest all Dark North temple followers within Luuren."
***
Regardless of the inside story, it was true that Luuren had suffered a fatal blow from the enemy.
The Pope and the College of Cardinals, as if they had been preparing, suddenly declared hostility toward the Dark North cult and began deploying massive forces throughout the capital.
Since sufficient forces had already gathered due to the martial law, the actions of the holy knights and inquisitors were unstoppable.
"Wh-what is this!"
"This is oppression! By the authority of the Archbishop, I will formally protest to Luuren's Pope!"
"Shut up!"
Following the Pope's orders, the 2,000 troops gathered in Lu Gloria began systematically hunting down and capturing all individuals related to the Dark North cult.
Not being the cult's headquarters but merely a parish, there were limits to what they could do no matter how much they struggled.
Rudian secretly watched the Dark North cult clergy being dragged into prison like dried fish strung together.
'Will he get caught?'
Originally, Dark North's apostle moved separately from the dark cult, but since they served the same god, there was a possibility he was hiding and operating in secret.
Clergy knew his power best.
With Cardinals and Archbishops leading the way to root out those with divine power, it would be difficult to hide to the very end in this small city.
'Being the guardian of the god's last stronghold on earth, he won't easily cause a ruckus with force.'
Of course, with his excellent power, he could manage to flee or hide.
But the moment he did that...
"Uh, hm...? There's a suspicious person?"
"...!"
Rudian's ears perked up.
Right beside him, Evangeline was concentrating and communing with the spirits.
No matter how excellent one's martial prowess, unless one was god-level, they couldn't deceive the eyes and ears of spirits.
This was one of Evangeline's cheat abilities.
"There's someone attempting to escape from the northern part of the parish. He appears to be a priest, but... he knocked down three holy knights who were trying to capture him and is getting away."
"Oh!"
Rudian brightened and stood up from his seat.
If a mere priest with no combat ability had knocked down three holy knights, it definitely meant there was something hidden.
"You did very well, Miss Evangeline."
"Hehehe..."
At Rudian's praise, Evangeline scratched her cheek slightly and smiled innocently.
"Let's all go. We'll subdue him as quickly as possible before those who attacked Britian arrive."
Rowen and Evangeline struck fighting poses and burned with enthusiasm.
Just as the party was about to go catch that so-called priest...
"...Yev?"
"What's wrong?"
Rudian looked at Yev with trembling eyes—Yev, who still hadn't fully digested the aftereffects.
In Yev's arms was an armful of snacks she had swept up before coming here.
"...Well, I'll buy you lots later, so eat moderately for now."
"..."
"You've been putting food in your mouth for hours now, isn't it time to take a break?"
"..."
Still, they were going to handle something rather important, and it would be awkward if one person had a completely different atmosphere.
At Rudian's words, Yev finally began folding up the snack bag she had been eating from with a lonely expression.
***
"Damn, have the Luuren bastards all gone insane at once?"
Dark North's apostle, Jereon, couldn't hide his bewilderment at the Luuren holy knights who had suddenly burst into the parish.
Jereon's position was, strictly speaking, Dark North's first servant corresponding to Britian, but his actual martial power was considerably lacking compared to Britian, who had become strong through irregular means.
That said, Jereon's martial power wasn't completely pathetic, and he was at a level where he could sufficiently subdue ordinary Sword Masters, so escape itself wasn't difficult.
'They're definitely targeting me. Since Dark North gave me an oracle to hide, I was prepared, but... I never thought they'd storm in this quickly!'
He should have abandoned everything and gone into hiding the very day the oracle came down.
But the reason he couldn't was that he had been rooted here for such a long time that he needed time to organize his foundation.
Though he had immediately subdued the holy knights surrounding him and fled, it had now become quite difficult to escape Lu Gloria without any commotion.
While Jereon was hiding and contemplating methods to escape outside the walls...
"So it's you. The nameless extra bastard."
"What...?"
Before he knew it, Rudian and his party of two men and two women had appeared before Jereon.
"You, you are!"
Jereon knew Rudian's approximate appearance through Dark North's oracle.
The absolute powerhouse who had transcended humanity, whom Dark North had earnestly warned never to confront and to avoid at all costs.
That Rudian sneered at Jereon.
"Will you be captured quietly? Now that we've met like this, escape will be difficult."
"Nonsense! I can't end it like this!"
Jereon rushed toward Rudian with the mindset of making a last desperate struggle.
"What, you want to fight?"
Jereon's combat power confirmed through the Eye of State was about 30,000.
He was certainly a strong opponent not to be ignored, but among the party, there wasn't a single person who couldn't handle Jereon.
Rudian confidently began drawing up his power to subdue Jereon, but...
"...Huh?"
For some reason, Jereon wasn't targeting Rudian but was aiming for 'Yev' right beside him!
'I'll take that brat who looks the most manageable as a hostage!'
Rudian immediately realized what was in Jereon's mind and tried to stop Jereon with panicked gestures.
"Hey! W-wait!"
Yev, who watched Jereon's charge with a blank expression, simply let out a small sigh instead of responding and dodged Jereon's attack.
If it had just ended there, it would have been a somewhat happy ending for Jereon too, but...
RIP!
Perhaps Yev's evasion wasn't perfect, as the snack bag she was holding was grazed by Jereon's gesture and tore open.
SCATTER!
And the contents inside began spilling out of the bag and scattering through the air.
"...Ah."