Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Salvation Lord
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The village closest to Line Roden.
Robelly.
Rain was still pouring down in the midst of the rainy season.
Inside an inn in Robelly.
"Uhaaa, I'm finally recovered!"
Syria bounced around energetically, freed from the backlash of her undead fusion.
"Syria, you're kicking up dust."
Iden protested, and Syria huffed indignantly.
"I have to show Leyzon that I'm healthy, so bear with it."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
As Syria and Iden bickered,
Hanok trained quietly off to the side.
While his brother, the Shadow Warlord, was locked in a fierce struggle with High Priest Gullian, there was nothing Hanok could do.
So he focused on training as much as he could.
'He'll sort out his emotions on his own just fine.'
Leyzon didn't pay Hanok much mind.
Snap—
At that moment, Leyzon heard the sound of letters being written in his ear.
'Here it comes.'
Leyzon turned to check the telegram on the desk.
The recipient was someone he knew well.
[I'm busy enough reclaiming the Resonance World, and now you want me to help with soul separation too? Are you insane?]
Flamehead.
The soul necromancer he'd met in the Resonance World.
On the day Leyzon left the Transcendent Church,
he'd passed along word about the Shadow Warlord to Flamehead.
Flamehead was already swamped with Resonance World affairs.
Leyzon had no other options for help.
So he decided to be shameless about it.
[What are you talking about between us?]
[You...]
He could hear the curses that weren't written in the reply.
But Leyzon couldn't care less.
He just figured his friend's lifespan had gotten a bit longer.
[Abyss, don't you have undead related to the soul realm?]
Flamehead knew about Leyzon's undead.
He was well aware of the ghost bride too.
That's why he didn't know Tessa wasn't around.
[She's busy working.]
Now he could even hear Flamehead grinding his teeth.
But Flamehead had strong reins on his reason.
[How far along is the situation?]
[Fifty-fifty. They're at a standoff.]
[Then I don't need to step in.]
[Why? Got someone good in mind?]
Flamehead always had wide connections.
Leyzon quickly asked him to share.
[I don't know what you'll think, but the soul realm isn't exclusive to necromancers.]
Leyzon was aware of that.
[So I'll introduce you to an acquaintance of mine.]
He could sense Flamehead's reluctance.
[You sure I won't cause any trouble?]
Leyzon looked incredulous.
What did this guy take him for?
Leyzon prided himself on living a righteous life.
Being treated like a troublemaker stung.
[You know me. I don't cause incidents.]
[As far as I know, no one causes more trouble than you.]
It was utterly unfair to Leyzon.
[Head west from Robelly village for a few days, and you'll find an abandoned church.]
Leyzon caught on at the mention of "church."
[He'll be there.]
The telegram finished with Flamehead's final words.
[Salvation Lord.]
The one granted "eternal life" by the Transcendent of Benevolence.
The shining glory of the Divine Order in the past.
That was who Flamehead had recommended.
The one granted eternal life by the Transcendent of Benevolence, the Salvation Lord.
The Salvation Lord was one of the three existing lords Leyzon knew.
First, the Bloodless Sovereign.
Second, the Judgment Lord.
And finally, the Salvation Lord.
Leyzon remembered them for one reason alone.
They were lords who had existed even 100 years ago.
Especially the Salvation Lord, who was said to have lived as long as the Judgment Lord.
'Never thought I'd go meet him in person.'
The Salvation Lord had left the Divine Order.
More precisely, the Divine Order had exiled him.
He was the living glory of the Divine Order.
But that also meant he knew too much.
'Even the Divine Order isn't spotless.'
Even a Divine Order was ultimately a gathering of humans.
Human selfishness and ugliness exist everywhere.
'300 years ago, the day the Divine Order rotted most thoroughly.'
The Salvation Lord was excommunicated by unanimous vote of the cardinals.
In that process, he received two punishments.
One was to gouge out the eyes that beheld the impure.
The second was to seal the ears that heard the impure.
The Salvation Lord accepted the punishment willingly.
They ensured even eternal life couldn't heal it.
In the end, he lost both eyes and both ears.
He was immediately cast out from the Divine Order.
The Salvation Lord, blind and deaf.
It was tantamount to stripping away all drive for life.
Yet there was a reason he was still called a lord.
In the past, as a Heresy Inquisitor, he had been infamous.
As the Divine Order's faithful hound, he punished evil thoroughly.
Naturally, he accrued many grudges.
So on the day he lost his eyes and ears,
countless people came secretly to kill him.
But even after much time passed, no news of his death came.
The Salvation Lord lived on unscathed.
Instead, he slew all who attacked him.
Mountains of corpses piled where he stood.
Witnessing this, the Divine Order branded him further as evil and hounded him.
But no one dared touch the Salvation Lord again.
The image of the corpse mountains was seared into everyone's minds.
Even without sight or hearing, the Salvation Lord remained a lord.
In the end, the Divine Order chose to ignore him.
If they couldn't eliminate him, they had to pretend he didn't exist.
After that, the Salvation Lord vanished quietly.
'Wherever the Salvation Lord is found, it's always a ruined church in a deserted area.'
He'd been exiled from the Divine Order.
Yet afterward, he wandered abandoned churches alone.
Leyzon had encountered the Salvation Lord several times during Dungeon Replays.
His dialogue consisted of only two lines.
Salvation Lord: ......
When a normal player found the Salvation Lord, he offered no reply and simply prayed.
But if a player with high evil alignment encountered him,
the text changed.
Salvation Lord: (Draws his sword.)
He was merciless to evil.
Thus, the Salvation Lord engaged in combat without mercy.
This part had always bothered Leyzon.
Leyzon looked up.
A vast blue field stretched out before him.
Under the clear blue sky, goats grazed here and there, likely from a nearby pasture.
"Hanok."
"Yes?"
Leyzon slowly rubbed his chin.
"I'm pretty good, right?"
Hanok blinked.
Then rolled his eyes thoughtfully.
"Y-You're a good person."
That meant good, right?
Leyzon took it positively.
At that moment, Syria rushed at Leyzon.
"Leyzon is of course the kindest in the world!"
Leyzon caught her in his arms and smiled.
"Right?"
"B-But why do you ask?"
Hanok changed the subject with a question.
"I told you we're going to meet the Salvation Lord, right?"
"Yes, you said we need his help to aid brother."
"The Salvation Lord is blind and deaf. He moves solely by sense."
Is the one before him good?
Or evil?
To the Salvation Lord, there were only those two options.
At that instant, Hanok flinched.
Confusion spread across his face.
"Then Leyzon, the kindest in the world, will have no problem at all!"
Syria laid on the flattery as always.
Leyzon nodded.
He genuinely believed there'd be no issue meeting the Salvation Lord.
'Uh, um.'
But Hanok anxiously rolled his eyes.
To him, a bad future loomed ahead.
"Kiiing."
Haron, whose thoughts aligned somewhat with Hanok's, let out a whimper.
Then Iden suddenly cut into the conversation.
"Leyzon, Syria's words are extremely biased toward you."
Hanok's face lit up.
He nodded vigorously, fully agreeing with Iden.
He believed Iden's words could correct Leyzon's thinking.
"What do you mean? The world revolves around Leyzon by natural law!"
Syria jabbed at Iden's straw face.
It looked like a cat getting its paws pressed.
"I agree with that. But it's true that Syria's biased."
"Then what do you think, Iden?"
Leyzon turned the question to Iden.
Hanok clasped his hands inwardly, praying desperately.
Please, heavens.
"Leyzon is of course good. I've never seen anyone kinder than Leyzon."
Hanok's heavens crumbled.
"See?"
Leyzon puffed up with pride.
He was usually smart and rational.
But on this topic, he rationalized heavily.
Hanok stared at Leyzon before lowering his head.
"Haron, let's train."
"Nng."
Combat with the Salvation Lord.
Hanok could only train in preparation.
Crossing the blue Beres fields, Leyzon arrived at a mining village.
In the past, it bustled with people.
But after the veins ran dry, it decayed.
This city was fading into history's back alleys.
Balantia.
Balantia had emptied of people, becoming a ghost town.
Abandoned buildings and mining materials littered the place.
Leyzon walked through the village.
"Chiiik, chiik."
"Kawk, kawk."
Wild animals had taken over after humans left.
Leyzon's ears picked up their sounds everywhere.
Hanok shuddered.
"It's, uh, kinda eerie somehow."
With no signs of life, it did feel ominously gloomy, as Hanok said.
Dusk fell as the sun set.
"Let's hurry before nightfall."
Leyzon quickened his pace before full darkness.
Hanok gripped his spear tightly for some reason, but Leyzon ignored it.
In the center of Balantia city stood a crumbling cathedral.
Sunset light filtered through the hole in the ceiling.
As if a god shone the sun for one in prayer.
Leyzon entered the cathedral.
Deep inside, where sunset glow spread,
someone knelt before the ruined altar, hands clasped in prayer.
An elderly man of small, hunched stature wore faded armor.
The armor bore the emblem once used by the Divine Order.
Now, even that emblem had mostly faded away.
But the old man's prayer to the Transcendent of Benevolence endured.
"Salvation Lord."
Leyzon called his name.
Swish—
The old man released his prayer as if hearing.
Slowly, he rose.
His height matched his sitting one—short.
But his presence was anything but.
The wrinkled face turned this way.
His eyes were gently closed.
No eyes remained within.
Instead, they now discerned only good and evil.
Shing—
The Salvation Lord drew his sword.
Hanok stared at Leyzon with a grim face.
Leyzon swallowed bitterly.
"Life."
Getting treated like a villain and all.