Chapter 66
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Old Woman (1)
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Jesung.
For an ancient city, it felt remarkably similar to the modern world.
What era had the ancient times truly been?
There were scarcely any scholars who knew.
In the first place, it wasn't even definitively proven that Blackout was the past of the world they lived in.
But one thing was certain: the vast knowledge scattered throughout Blackout was still usable even now.
"In the past, the previous Pope believed that if we uncovered the reason for the undead's emergence, that knowledge could be applied on the surface as well."
The justification for the investigation was an exceedingly gentle one.
Exterminating the undead and granting peace to the dead—that was the primary goal.
"So, at that time, the Church gathered information at the heart of Jesung, where the five Named Ones were sealed."
In that process, they discovered a certain altar.
And the Church instinctively sensed it.
That this altar held the key to the undead plaguing Jesung.
"It was filled with cryptic scripts and ancient languages all jumbled together. I heard it took a great deal of effort to decipher."
A tremendous amount of time and money had been invested, but their persistence paid off.
"This Jesung was a place where an Outer God had descended."
"An Outer God...?"
Beings from outer universes not permitted to interfere in this world.
One of them had descended upon the ancient city of Jesung.
"The lord of this ancient Jesung had fallen deeply into a certain religion. And he resolved to summon the god he revered directly into this world."
So, the lord made his wish.
-Grant my castle unending peace, happiness, and eternal life.
He spoke of the world he dreamed of as lord.
And the Outer God granted that wish.
In a way utterly different from what the lord had envisioned.
"Including the lord himself, all the residents turned into undead."
"That's insane. That's the result of the wish? What the hell is wrong with those Outer Gods' minds?"
Eleanor, who had been listening intently, asked that.
No one answered her question.
But in the distant past, there had been an interpretation.
"The Church interpreted the wish's outcome like this."
They had become undead, so eternal life was achieved. And the residents, now undead, were free of greed, so there was no strife.
"Then what about the happiness part? The undead can't feel happiness..."
Bern shook his head at Aiden's question.
"Happiness is relative. It depends on how the Outer God interprets the wish."
If there's no misfortune, isn't that happiness in itself? Something along those lines.
Aiden, naturally, wore an expression of utter disbelief at such a conclusion.
"Anyway, that's not the important part."
Jun said.
"Summoning an Outer God to the surface—that's the key point."
"...You're right."
That fact had drawn the interest of the Church, and even more so, the previous Pope.
If they could bring in an Outer God, then surely they could summon their own god, Ariclotos, into the world as well.
"Preparations were needed for that."
And those preparations involved finding the most perfect vessel in the world.
The conditions for the vessel were just two.
"A body perfectly suited to accept divine power. And it had to be the purest body."
"The latter must have been easy to find."
The purest body in the world.
A newborn baby.
Eleanor's eyes widened at Jun's quiet words.
By now, she could guess where this was going.
And she pointed to herself.
"You mean... me?"
"Yes. You were the most perfect vessel the previous Pope had been searching for."
Her head spun.
She never imagined she'd learn the secret of her birth in a situation like this.
"Then my parents...?"
"I don't know about that. But at the time, the Church used every means possible to find children suitable for the vessel."
So what methods would those have been?
Buying them with money.
Or persuading with claims of divine will.
They must have used all sorts of means.
Possibly even coercive ones.
"The previous Pope was utterly resolute in his goal of bringing the god into this world."
But in the end, it failed.
"Our god, Lord Ariclotos, refused the descent to the surface."
The real problem came after that.
"Our prayers veered off course."
And following the traces left in Jesung from the past.
Their earnest desire extended beyond the universe.
"And an Outer God took hold."
And that was—
"Eleanor. Even now, traces of that Outer God linger in your body."
The secret possessed by the woman named Eleanor.
"What the fuck."
"Pfft!"
At Eleanor's blunt reaction, Jun couldn't hold back his laughter for a moment.
How long had it been since he last laughed?
"Why the hell are you laughing?"
"Just."
"Are you insane?"
Was it funny that some Outer God or whatever had possessed her body?
Eleanor barely restrained herself from smacking Jun's head with her staff.
But Jun wasn't laughing at Eleanor's past.
'It's similar.'
Wasn't that exactly how he had reacted when he learned about the 'reincarnator' and the story tied to his current self?
He was just amused at how identical it felt to his own situation.
"But for someone who's angry, you seem weirdly calm about it?"
Jun asked.
Bern's face, spilling the truth, looked far more pained.
"I've never thought of myself as a normal girl to begin with."
Strange voices had echoed in her head since childhood.
Was that all?
The bizarre phenomena that occurred when she removed this eyepatch were beyond words.
"It was when I was a child. Before the current Pope gave me this eyepatch."
Her childhood.
Before she covered her eye with the black bandage, she knew she possessed special power.
"You know how kids always want something or wish for things."
"Yeah."
"Whenever I desperately wished for something, no matter what it was, it always came true."
But the process was never in the direction she desired.
Just like what had happened in this Jesung.
"If I wanted someone else's possession, it would end up in my hands in no time."
But every time, the owners of those items vanished without a trace.
Suddenly kidnapped.
Or murdered by someone.
Or struck by lightning from a clear sky.
Or struck down by some inexplicable illness.
Through such events, their possessions made their way to Eleanor via certain paths.
"At first, I didn't realize it was because of me. But as I grew a bit and started thinking... "
The young Eleanor realized.
Every time her wish came true, incidents and accidents happened around her, and something inside her was growing larger.
"I was scared. And I felt guilty."
It terrified her so much—the voice seemed to control her, and she feared its owner might steal her body.
Everything was frightening.
"That's when the current Pope appeared."
He showed up one day and adopted her.
And fitted this eyepatch over her eye.
"That's how I've lived."
Something existed within her.
But she lacked the courage to face it. She didn't know how.
She just lived like this.
Treated as a somewhat peculiar person within the Church.
As a priestess, doing her best in the reality given to her.
That was the only life she could choose.
"Eleanor..."
Bern bowed his head heavily.
He knew her secret, yet had never told her until now.
"Th-then... after the descent ritual failed, what happened to the Church?"
"As you can see. It entered a decline. Countless followers died in the process."
"Pardon?"
"The moment the Outer God began possessing Eleanor's body, the minds of everyone involved in the ritual were corrupted."
And among them was the previous Pope.
"The current Pope, who was a bishop at the time, gave me an order."
He commanded to forcibly end the ritual where the Outer God was descending.
"Forcibly end it...?"
"It was an order to slaughter everyone participating in the ritual."
As a result, the Pope of that time and numerous high priests lost their lives.
All by Bern's hand.
"S-such a thing happened...?"
"The silver lining is that very few in the Church at the time knew of the incident."
It had been carried out in utmost secrecy.
Even now, in the current Church, those who knew were...
"Me, the Pope, and..."
"Bishop Elias, right."
"...Yes. He was handling external intelligence back then."
Now understanding all the events, Jun nodded firmly.
"You said the bishop wanted the Pope's position?"
"...Correct. He has a serpent's heart."
The current Pope knew it well—that the bishop coveted his seat.
Yet Bishop Elias was too valuable in many ways to remove.
"But lately, the connections tying him have started snapping one by one. His standing in the Church has gradually weakened as a result. It was only natural as his influence over the doctrine waned."
"So he got impatient and tried this stunt? Guy's got balls..."
Bern closed his eyes in sorrow at Jun's mutter.
"Why did you make that choice, Bishop Elias..."
Then, Maya, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up about the matter.
"Question."
"What?"
"So, what do we do now?"
It was the most crucial question.
Jun answered.
"Get back the Holy Grail, find the bishop and smash him. Smash the Celestial Church bastards too."
And finally.
"And stop the seal on the five Named Ones."
There was a mountain of tasks ahead.
"Simple enough."
Maya nodded as if she quite liked it.
She seemed utterly uninterested in everything that had come before.
In any case, their next destination was set.
The heart of Jesung.
The altar.
"Kiruk, preparations are complete."
"Asura Salbarta. You've had a hard time."
"Yeah. While you monks lounged around, I was the one busting my ass."
The old woman with a reptilian head grumbled, and the man shrugged in response.
"What can you do? Our missions differ."
"Gruk. I know. So shut your mouth."
The monk clutching his prayer beads nodded.
In truth, over the past few days, this sorceress had accomplished a great deal.
She had coaxed that worm of a bishop for a long time.
Hidden traps within.
And prepared for contingencies if things went awry.
"But do we not need to fetch her ourselves?"
Even with unexpected variables in the plan, there was no time to deal with them.
Originally, by now, they should have collected the unconscious Eleanor from the Church's base camp.
But they had let her slip away.
And an unforeseen variable had infiltrated Jesung.
Somehow using magic, they had rendezvoused with Eleanor and even purified a level 7 holy knight.
"You're talking about those worms. Grarrk!"
The sorceress spat with venom.
Indeed, the unanticipated variables were a massive nuisance for her.
With recent affairs going poorly, her irritation had escalated to rage.
But.
"That situation was what the time was for preparing against. And the reason you're by my side."
In other words, handle it yourself if things went south.
The monk nodded calmly at her words.
"Asura Salbarta. Worry not. The temple's goal will surely be achieved."
A level 7 holy knight?
It mattered not.
Battle lust boiled within him. The monk gripped his prayer beads tightly in his large hand.
The religions of this era were all contradictions wrapped in arrogance.
Disgusted by them, he was willing to stain his own hands with blood to change the world.
"With the Outer God watching us, this is merely a step toward opening a new era."
Seeing the monk filled with fervor—or fury—the sorceress cackled.
If they successfully concluded this affair, their standing in the Celestial Church would rise significantly.
"They're coming, they're coming... The fools who'll lead us to victory are coming..."
The old woman hummed a tune while gazing at the unconscious Bishop Elias.
It wasn't exactly pleasant to the ears.
But the monk guarding her side paid it no mind, instead looking toward the entrance leading to the surface.
He sensed presences approaching.