Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Pushing and Pulling to Get What I Want (2)
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For years, they had held the Blessing Festival, but this kind of anomaly was a first.
Pa-aa-aht!
The light spreading from Rachel's hand eventually enveloped her entire body.
At this moment, she looked as if she were surrounded by light. It was an intensely sacred and holy sight.
"Th-this... this must be!"
The Archbishop cried out as if suddenly realizing something. People's attention turned to his voice.
"The Lord has answered the Saintess's prayer!"
The Archbishop raised both hands high with an excited face.
"A miracle has occurred! The Lord is personally blessing us!"
He prostrated himself flat on the floor in that very pose.
"Dio Benedica!"
The Archbishop's shout reverberated loudly across the platform.
"Oh, my God."
"The Saintess has performed a miracle!"
"Directly from the Lord!"
A massive commotion erupted among the crowd. They all hurriedly lowered their bodies like the Archbishop.
"Dio Benedica!!"
A thunderous cheer swept through the central plaza. A fanatical atmosphere of faith began to spread insidiously.
"What do we do?"
"No, really..."
The nobles exchanged awkward glances. As if by prior agreement, they all turned to look at the Emperor to find an answer for the situation.
"......"
Emperor Theodore's face was rigidly stiff. He glared at the scene of the miracle, fists clenched tight.
"Why is His Majesty acting like that?"
"He seems angry for some reason, doesn't he?"
"In a miraculous situation like this? Isn't he just a bit flustered?"
Because of that, the nobles could only murmur in confusion, unsure of what to do.
"......"
Rachel felt Emperor Theodore's piercing gaze. His bloodshot eyes were asking.
What the hell is going on right now?
He seemed to want to grab Rachel's arm right then and there, but was holding back due to the surrounding eyes.
'Hmph. What are you going to do if I glare at you?'
Rachel ignored the Emperor. Even if he charged at her now, it was already too late.
'More, even more. More still!'
She drew out her life force again and again. She scooped from an infinite ocean, creating a spring that never dried up and flowed endlessly.
She poured all her strength into letting that life energy spread across the stage, reaching all the way to the ends of the central plaza.
A sense of abundant life energy filled the surroundings.
There was no way Requiem would leave this alone. It would be dying to plunge its maw into this spring of life and gulp it down.
'Ahahaha!'
Rachel wanted to laugh out loud. She wanted to rip off this cumbersome veil, rush right up to the Emperor's face, and declare the end times.
Now, everything was over.
Being trapped in the temple playing puppet, being toyed with by the Emperor, living a life without purpose or meaning.
"Haha..."
Rachel let out a small laugh as she lifted her head toward the nobles' viewing area. There, the owner of Requiem would be writhing in agony, twisting his entire body...
"...Huh?"
Rachel's mouth slowly fell open.
The owner of Requiem was not in the state she had expected.
"......"
He stood there casually, leaning to one side. Simply,
'Oh, that's the power of blessing?'
With a face that seemed to say that as he looked at the Saintess's hand.
A calm expression, as if gazing at something completely unrelated to him. It was hard to believe he was locked in a fierce struggle with the raging Requiem.
Incredibly, he was utterly composed.
'Why? How?'
Rachel was extremely flustered. For a moment, she nearly forgot to use Serenade's power and let the light fade.
'...No way!'
Thinking again, the man had dominated Requiem and maintained his sanity all this time. That meant his willpower was far stronger than an ordinary person's.
'I misjudged him. He can endure this much.'
Rachel steadied her shaking heart. Gritting her teeth, she drew out even more of Serenade's power.
Hwaaaaak!
A radiance close to blinding light burst from her hand.
"Oooh, my God..."
"Lord..."
The crowd couldn't even dare to lift their faces, trembling uncontrollably.
"Di, Dio Benedica."
One noble clasped her hands and closed her eyes. It was Sophia Barnes, who had experienced the Saintess's blessing earlier.
Starting with her,
"Dio... Benedica."
"Dio Benedica..."
The other nobles gradually followed, clasping their hands. As the atmosphere spread, even the imperial family had no choice but to do the same.
Except for Emperor Theodore.
Now that there were no eyes on him, he openly glared at the Saintess as if he wanted to kill her.
The central plaza was filled to the brim with absolute faith toward the Lord. If the Lord saw this sight, he would scream in joy.
"Ugh! Saintess! Are you alright!"
"It's too bright; I can't see the Saintess!"
"My eyes are going to go blind!"
In reality, screams from the priests and knights erupted around them.
'So, how's that.'
Rachel panted as she lifted her head.
It had been too long since she poured out this much power, leaving her overwhelmed. So this time, surely, the owner of Requiem would...
"-!"
No anomaly occurred.
The owner of Requiem was scratching his cheek and looking around. His apathetic expression seemed to say,
'Should I pray too?'
That nonchalant attitude set Rachel's insides ablaze.
'Why! How! What's going on!'
Rachel screamed inwardly.
For Requiem to stay still despite sensing such immense and powerful life force.
It defied Rachel's common sense. The massacre by Requiem should have started long ago.
'In that case...'
She had to confirm.
Rachel bit her lip hard and focused her eyes.
Pat!
In an instant, people's bodies glowed in various colors, transmitting all sorts of information.
"Ugh."
The excessive influx of information made her eyes ache as if they were being squeezed.
'The owner of Requiem.'
Rachel hurriedly shifted her gaze. The moment she found him in the nobles' viewing area,
"...!"
She let out a silent scream.
A darkness so deep and dark it seemed to swallow even light. An unfathomable, endless void of an unknown depth.
It was unmistakably Requiem. No one but Requiem could harbor such a thing in their body.
The problem was that instead of violently vibrating or swirling, it was quietly rippling.
As if obediently following its master's control.
'How, did, this...'
She couldn't continue the thought. A pressure built as if her eyes would burst.
"Ahk!"
Rachel squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head.
A burning sensation surged inside her retinas. The unimaginable pain made tears well up.
'Damn it!'
Rachel struggled to open her reluctant eyes. Her sclera was already bloodshot.
Now she had to admit it. She didn't know exactly what had happened.
The owner of Requiem maintained perfect composure amid these vividly surging waves of life force. Thoroughly by his own will.
There was no point in emitting more of Serenade's power.
'No... way.'
The light from Rachel's hand faded. The Serenade she had been cradling in one hand was sucked into her palm and vanished.
'This can't be real. There's no way this is possible.'
Rachel let her hands drop limply and stared blankly ahead.
The crops that were the target of the blessing had turned into seeds. Having received too much life force, they had gone back in time to their primordial form.
"Ooooooh!"
"Look at that!"
The crowd finally noticed the seeds in front of the Saintess. Seeing the astonishing miracle firsthand sent them into a frenzy of excitement.
"The Lord has blessed us!"
"He's pleased with this year's bountiful harvest!"
"My God! I've never seen a Blessing Festival like this!"
Whether they cheered and jumped for joy or not, Rachel just wanted to run away from this place. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs and bolt.
She had done all this expecting Requiem to rampage. Thinking that now the end would truly come.
"......"
Emperor Theodore's stinging gaze poured down on her face. Eyes that could rip her apart and dissect her insides.
'Ah, I've completely failed.'
A hollow chuckle escaped her in her empty state. It seemed like today was going to be a very long day.
❖ ❖ ❖
"Ooh, truly astounding."
Mikel kept letting out exclamations of admiration. He held his hand like a visor to his forehead and couldn't tear his eyes from the stage.
"Is that truly the power of the Lord?"
What power of the Lord.
I snorted inwardly but didn't show it.
"Has Young Lord Abel ever attended a temple mass?"
"Not yet."
"I've heard that during masses, we sometimes receive the Saintess's blessing, but this is the first time I've seen light that intense."
Mikel tilted his head.
"It looks like next year will bring an incredible bumper crop."
A faint smile played on Mikel's lips as he spoke. He seemed to hope that the north's situation might improve a bit.
'It won't be like that, though.'
Contrary to my thoughts, I nodded in agreement and shifted my gaze to the stage.
"Saintess! Oh my God!"
"Saintess, are you alright!"
The Archbishop and priests fussed over her, clinging to the Saintess.
"......"
The Saintess silently raised one hand. Its tip trembled as if exhausted.
"Bring her this way!"
"What are you doing! Hurry and prepare a seat for the Saintess!"
After a bit of commotion, the Saintess slumped into the chair prepared by the priests.
"Are you alright? Are you dizzy?"
"Shall I get some water?"
The Saintess just shook her head. The priests grew even more frantic at the sight.
Seeing that, I chuckled softly.
'She must be hugely disappointed.'
After all that elaborate preparation on stage, only for it to come to nothing. But this stage was doomed to fail.
'Without information on me, she must have assumed wrong.'
That I had somehow luckily gotten Requiem and was barely enduring it by sheer force.
That's why she pulled off this insane stunt. Right in front of me, unleashing Serenade's power to make Requiem rampage.
'She's desperate to die.'
I had no intention of playing along with her scheme. That's why I grabbed Alessia's ring before confronting the Saintess.
The inside of the Gauntlet was still warm. The rings on my fingers were proof they were protecting me from Requiem.
Without this, I couldn't have so easily resisted—not resisted, but ignored—Serenade's temptation.
'The Guardian's high is killer.'
I marveled once again at my own meticulous and thorough preparation.
In the original story, Abel never came to the capital while maintaining sanity with Requiem in hand. So today, I had to infer what would happen purely from existing information.
'Fortunately, it worked out well.'
From the first day in the capital, after sensing each other's presence. I predicted how Rachel would move. Because I knew her situation, desires, and limits better than anyone.
If we hadn't crossed paths like that, I had even planned to go to the temple myself.
'I had to let her know the owner of Requiem was in the capital.'
Luckily, brushing past each other saved me the trip.
Rachel moved exactly as I predicted. Though I was a bit surprised when she called Requiem during the mass earlier.
'I didn't expect her to check so openly like that.'
I pretended to be flustered, rubbing my heated nape as if caught off guard. Thanks to my brilliant acting, Rachel must have resolved to carry out her grand plan today.
Everything was proceeding according to plan.
"Ooh...!"
Amid the commotion, the Archbishop stepped forward to the front of the platform.
"On this most sacred day, glory to the Lord!"
He held up the crops that had turned into seeds and shouted.
"Blessings upon the future of the Magiore Empire! The Lord is with us!"
The crowd waved their hands in ecstasy.
"Blessings from the Lord!"
"Glory to the Saintess!"
Watching them, I clicked my tongue.
'That bunch sure knows how to run a business.'