Chapter 281
Chapter 281
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 281
Chapter Title: The Holy King is Dead
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Chapter 281.
The Holy King was dead.
The news spread throughout Iyer in less than a day.
But even more shocking was the rumor that his true identity had been an Apostle.
"No way."
"Isn't this some kind of deception tactic?"
The people didn't believe the story.
The Holy King an Apostle?
His recent actions had been outrageously unconventional, impossible to comprehend.
Because of that, war had broken out, and Iyer had spiraled into its worst crisis yet.
The people's distrust of the Holy King was snowballing.
Yet still, no one believed the tale that he was an Apostle.
They would sooner believe the Hero was the Demon King.
That's how utterly unreliable the rumor seemed.
Amid all this, the Supreme Religious Order issued a holy decree across all of Iyer.
[The wicked seed of the Demon King impersonated His Holiness the Holy King to sow chaos. Thus, Lady Freya, the sword of the Lord God, has ended her long seclusion and returned to vanquish the evil.]
The decree was lengthy.
But to sum it up, the key points were few.
First, an Apostle had killed the Holy King and taken his place.
Second, the current war was all that Apostle's doing.
Third, the former Captain of the Holy Knights, Freya, who had retired, noticed the truth, returned, and executed the Apostle.
Fourth, everything would soon return to normal, so the people should not act rashly and should return to their daily lives.
The people of Iyer who read the decree were all plunged into shock.
A baseless rumor they'd dismissed as nonsense was true?
The Holy King, who should have led the charge against the Demon King, was actually an Apostle!
The chaos was incomparable to before.
Some set out for the Supreme Religious Order to confirm the truth themselves, while others claimed the issuer of the decree was the Demon King's lackey.
Fights broke out wherever three or more gathered, and with not enough personnel to maintain order, Iyer descended into a cauldron of chaos.
The surrounding nations at war were no different.
"What do you think?"
The supreme commander of Reninstang, Bastian, asked the man before him cautiously.
"Who knows? I'm not sure."
The man bit into the apple in his hand, replying with an expression of disinterest.
"This is important. If the holy decree from Iyer's Supreme Religious Order is true..."
"Pfft!"
The man burst into laughter at Bastian's words.
"Hey, you're Bastion the Count, right?"
"...It's Bastian."
"Right, Bastian or Bastion, whatever. Think about it. Why would they issue that decree at this timing?"
Bastian said nothing, just stared at the man.
The man clicked his tongue and continued.
"The Holy King got purged. He overstepped his bounds, and his own subordinates chopped off his head. Then they slapped on some plausible charges and announced it."
Crunch!
He took another big bite of the apple.
"The guy who caused this mess is dead. So it's like, 'That's that, now back off.'"
"But..."
"I'm right. So, Count Bastion, just keep occupying Iyer as planned."
The man's words weren't entirely implausible.
No, they were quite credible.
But Iyer was a nation unlike any ordinary kingdom.
Could a people united solely by faith in the Lord God truly purge their own king?
He recalled their tendencies, unbroken for centuries.
'No way.'
No matter how much discontent piled up, they could never purge their own king.
Because it was a nation bound not by politics, but by faith.
"Understood."
But Bastian didn't voice his thoughts.
If the man thought that way, it was best for his own safety to obey.
Because he was Reninstang's sole Duke, a being who had reached the transcendent realm.
"Duke Diarock."
He was the fire-mad sorcerer, Diarock.
* * *
Seo Woo-jin was now planning to return to Massive Guardian.
The promised week was nearly up.
It might be a bit tight on time, but with Hwiraetheon's help and using 'Haste,' he could make it back in time.
But in conclusion, Seo Woo-jin had not yet left Iyer's Supreme Religious Order.
"Stay and help."
"...Why me?"
Seo Woo-jin grumbled sullenly at Freya's words.
"Isn't this mess because of you? You have to take responsibility to the end."
"No, why is this my fault? All I did was beat up those Apostles. Instead of giving me travel money as thanks, you're talking about responsibility?"
It wasn't like he'd saved a drowning man only to be asked for his bundle.
"I'll give you compensation. Even if I have to empty Iyer's treasury, I'll find something useful for you. Satisfied?"
Tempting.
But not quite enough to convince Seo Woo-jin.
"I refuse. No, what can I even do here in the first place?"
Mardetain and Baron were dead.
Well, precisely, Baron was still alive, but barely.
Anyway, the two biggest threats were dealt with.
All that remained was restoring Iyer's wrecked governance to normal.
And that was their job alone.
Not something an outsider—a Hero like Seo Woo-jin—could do.
Yet Freya was still asking for his help.
Perhaps out of pride, it came across more as a demand than a request.
"Reninstang. We must stop the Reninstang army still marching here."
Incredibly, even after publicly revealing the truth about the Holy King via the holy decree, the war hadn't ended.
They had explained everything to the neighboring nations...
"Brovaion and Trian have halted their advance and begun verifying the facts. But Reninstang has not sheathed its sword, so if this continues, the Supreme Religious Order will fall."
Honestly, he had no desire to get involved.
But he couldn't just leave either.
Hadn't he come to Iyer himself to stop the war?
To minimize sacrifices in the Descent War, he needed as many priests and holy knights as possible.
They weren't manpower to be wasted in petty national squabbles.
He had come and resolved the issue, yet the threat of war lingered.
"How am I supposed to fix that?"
He couldn't just go Demon King Transformation like before and drive off the Reninstang army.
"And now we only have to stop Reninstang, right? That should be plenty doable even now."
Facing three kingdoms at once was impossible.
But with Brovaion and Trian withdrawing...
Iyer had more than enough strength to hold off Reninstang.
Yet Freya shook her head.
Simply blocking soldiers and knights? Seo Woo-jin wasn't wrong.
But the problem was that Reninstang had 'him.'
"Have you heard the name Diarock?"
"Diarock?"
Seo Woo-jin tilted his head, searching his memory at Freya's question.
But he'd never heard the name.
"Who's that?"
Given the situation and Freya mentioning him, he was clearly no ordinary person.
But without prior knowledge, he couldn't guess his identity.
"Truth be told, the reason I reemerged into the world was to stop that damned bastard."
Her words made Seo Woo-jin's eyebrow twitch.
"You mean..."
"Diarock has reached the transcendent realm. And he's a ridiculously powerful sorcerer to boot."
His eyes widened at 'sorcerer.'
"Aren't all sorcerers affiliated with the Sky Tower?"
And he'd reached the transcendent realm, no less.
Someone of that caliber should be receiving all sorts of support from the Sky Tower for research and training.
"Not all sorcerers belong to the Sky Tower. A few wander the world or attach themselves to a nation. Diarock stands at the pinnacle of those."
Only then did Seo Woo-jin understand why Freya was holding him back.
"You're not asking me to stop that guy, are you?"
He let out a hollow laugh.
Stopping a transcendent powerhouse wasn't as easy as it sounded.
'Better to fight Apostles.'
Apostles were enemies he could kill without hesitation.
But this sorcerer Diarock wasn't someone he had to fight to the death.
Suppressing rather than killing was several times harder, making Freya's request absurdly burdensome.
"...No more meaningless sacrifices can be allowed. It's impossible for me, so I have no choice but to ask you."
Freya bowed to Seo Woo-jin.
"Haa-"
Seeing it, Seo Woo-jin sighed.
"Get up first."
He didn't want to see a wrinkled old woman bowing to him.
It unnecessarily reminded him of his late grandmother.
"How strong is he? That sorcerer?"
He hadn't agreed to her request yet.
He needed to gauge Diarock's power before deciding.
"By the rumors, he's not far behind the Empire's Guardians."
Seo Woo-jin frowned at that.
"That's too vague."
The Empire's five Guardians had vast gaps between them.
Magic Duke was so overwhelmingly stronger than the others that it was hard to believe they were in the same league.
"Better than the Grand Duke, but below the Fist Duke, I'd say. Of course, it's not precise..."
Seo Woo-jin mentally calculated based on Freya's words.
He hadn't met Fist Duke, but he'd be under Dark Fist.
'I can handle any Guardian below Dark Fist.'
Magic Duke was still out of reach, Sword Sage uncertain.
So, this was within his capability...
"If I do this favor, what do I get?"
Seo Woo-jin asked.
He was breaking his promise to his comrades for her request.
It had better be worth it.
"Tsk tsk-"
Freya chuckled.
"Didn't I say earlier?"
"Say what?"
"About the compensation."
Seo Woo-jin tilted his head, replaying their conversation.
'Right, she did mention it. What was it? Definitely...'
"I'll give you compensation. Even if I have to empty Iyer's treasury, I'll find something useful for you. Satisfied?"
"The treasury?"
Seo Woo-jin's eyes widened slightly.
"It wasn't an empty promise. If you stop that damned bastard and end the war, I'll open the treasury and give you whatever you want."
The treasury of the Holy Kingdom Iyer.
It might not compare to the Empire's secret vault, but it undoubtedly held treasures of immense value.
Anything he wanted from there?
'She's straightforward.'
Unlike the Emperor, who haggled over every trinket.
"...Let's draw up a contract."