Chapter 307
Chapter 307
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Primary Stronghold (3)
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Thud.
The letter fell emptily to the floor.
No one present dared to touch it rashly.
"..."
Some even stepped backward.
As if the madness sealed inside the letter was crawling toward them.
"Get a grip, all of you! What kind of disgrace is this!?"
One apostle shouted, as if shaking off the madness.
It was Apostle Nord.
"Ecstasy! As followers of that great transcendent being, to be swayed by something so trivial! You should feel ashamed!"
"...!"
His words snapped the apostles back to their senses.
The ones dominated by madness began regaining their composure one by one.
With clear minds restored, they declared.
"Well said. As servants of Ecstasy, we can't let something like this throw us off."
"Exactly!"
"So, Nord, you'll check that letter for us?"
"What...!"
These pathetic fools—how much more humiliation would satisfy them!?
Apostle Nord, utterly exasperated, irritably reached out to pick up the letter.
"...!"
Suddenly, a line from the letter leaped into view.
The slashing, violent handwriting bled with the writer's raw emotions.
As his eyes traced the words, it felt like someone was screaming right in his face.
"Kunra..."
The letter had almost certainly been penned by Apostle Kunra.
Remembering him twisted their faces in deeper confusion.
A repulsive man who never showed his true feelings—except when donning a mask to fabricate fake ones.
Could this garish missive truly come from his hand?
When he wrote it...
What expression had he worn?
What thoughts consumed him?
Then, like lightning cracking through his skull, an image seared into Nord's mind.
It was Apostle Kunra.
Emitting a grotesque wail that blurred laughter and scream.
His eyes and mouth gaped impossibly wide, devouring his entire face.
"Gah...!"
Of all phrases, that one made Nord yank his hand away.
He was sick to death of this madness.
But only for a moment.
"Ugh-"
He glared between his hand and the letter, then snatched it up.
"Listen closely, all of you!"
He began reading the contents aloud.
"..."
Gulp.
The apostles swallowed dryly without thinking.
The contents seemed straightforward yet profoundly ominous.
Ominous, yet straightforward.
"Loathsome tumor. Surely he doesn't mean—"
Nord's face twisted in revulsion.
As did every male apostle's.
They knew Kunra had always called some grotesque, swollen part of his body by that name.
Flash.
Lightning struck their minds again, painting a new vision.
Kwaaaaaaaaagh!!!
A scream—or laugh?—as Kunra carved away part of his own flesh—
The air in the room grew heavier.
Their gazes drifted slowly.
As if reluctantly pushed by some force.
It was a joyous occasion, in a way.
Among the many remaining letters, not a single red seal was left.
Countless orange seals remained.
The plan's prospects were brighter than ever.
"..."
Yet the Four Pillars' expressions darkened further.
Now, those orange seals felt more unsettling than the red ones ever had.
They wanted nothing more than to burn them all.
But then what?
For Apostles of Ecstasy to flee in terror from mere fanatics?
It would be humiliation worse than death.
Grinding their teeth, they reached for the next letter.
"My god, you're seriously buying this!?"
"Kunra, what the—"
The old image of Kunra vanished from their minds.
Paradise of salvation?
A trite tale from the lowliest fanatics.
Every fanatic in the world probably clung to some "paradise of salvation."
No sage needed; even a sip of city water would make anyone scoff.
The kind of nonsense only ignorant villagers would swallow.
Yet Kunra treated it like groundbreaking intelligence in his letter.
By now...
Their minds buzzed busily, conjuring visions nonstop.
Flash.
A dark, blood-soaked secret rite of barbaric cruelty—a paradise of salvation.
Hahahahahaha!
Kunra cackled madly in that paradise, even as other fanatics devoured his blood and flesh.
"Kunra... Nelsa..."
In the apostles' eyes, the vanguard was already as good as dead.
Resignation flickered across their faces as they mechanically read the remaining letters.
The contents were, in a way, utterly mundane.
Kunra described his new life as a priest as a cascade of revelations and experiences.
Like a novice priest's ordinary diary.
Yet...
To apostles who knew the twisted truth behind that faith, the priest's peaceful routine was pure horror.
Soon enough, even this gruesome task reached its end.
"..."
The final letter.
Orange seal, as expected.
They listlessly unfolded it and scanned the contents.
"Ah."
Sighs escaped the apostles' lips.
They knew what that ominous opening line implied.
Flash.
Their minds depicted the two apostles' ends.
Even in indescribable horrors, the pair neither screamed nor thrashed.
Aaaaaahhh...
Twisted groans echoed, like a madman's blur of pleasure and pain.
The greatest shock yet swallowed them whole.
They took deep breaths to steady themselves.
Forcing the images of their comrades from memory, they turned back to the letter with effort.
Its handwriting was the most frenzied of all.
Unceasing tremors betrayed uncontainable emotions.
The apostles confronted the fanatic's viscous fervor.
The apostles flung the read letter to the ground and gathered them in one spot.
And—
Whoosh!
"..."
"..."
Shadows deepened over their faces as they watched the flames.
"Kunra and Nelsa... The vanguard won't be returning."
"I agree on that point."
"Time to discuss a new plan."
"What should we do?"
Apostles of Ecstasy.
Their founding was recent.
Originally heretics worshiping the "Crystal of Happiness," they had reached a turning point upon realizing it was a fragment of Ecstasy.
The apostles received powers from Ecstasy.
A blessing or curse that placed them above all pleasures.
They became beings who bowed to no pleasure.
In other words, beings who felt no pleasure at all.
Not from love. Not from drink. Not from dance or song.
Only emptiness.
One sole exception.
The moment they spread Ecstasy—that alone, they felt it vividly.
When believers' deep faith turned to Ecstasy, He felt immense joy.
When that joy peaked, Ecstasy would return—and the apostles be saved.
They must prioritize spreading Ecstasy above all.
Thus, their path was clear.
Follow the vanguard's advice.
They had said:
Akirin's priests.
Fanatics immune to Ecstasy's power, beyond norms.
And also:
"..."
The apostles stepped out of the cave, taking in the distant city on the horizon.
Was it his imagination?
Bondales.
The city seemed to be calling to them.
The apostles gathered the Crystal of Happiness and headed for Bondales.
The Apostles of Ecstasy wondered.
Where exactly had they gone wrong?
Ignoring Kunra and Nelsa's advice?
Heeding the fanatics' whispers?
No way to know.
One thing was certain—
"Kunra! Nelsa! How are you here—"
He encountered specters haunting the city streets.
His comrades, surely dead, were openly proselytizing in broad daylight.
As priests of Akirin.
"Ah, you came! Just as we hoped!!!"
His proselytizing comrades looked... fantastic.
Too fantastic.
Beaming with unfeigned joy utterly unlike the men they knew.
The dissonance choked him.
The apostles turned to flee without a backward glance.
"Kunra! Nelsa! Snap out of it! We have to get out of here now!!!"
Yet somehow...
When he came to, the apostles were attempting escape alongside the pair.
He had pulled the two aside mid-proselytizing and whispered urgently.
"Get out? What do you mean?"
"...!"
A whisper from behind.
He whipped around to see a group of beautiful priestesses.
Akirin's priests.
Step.
One stepped forward.
At her introduction, the apostles froze as if breathless.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm High Priestess Akirin. You must be the comrades Kunra and Nelsa mentioned."
The high priestess beckoned.
Akirin's priestess beckoned.
"This way. We have a place to take you all."
"A place...?"
"Rejoice, everyone!!!"
Kunra and Nelsa exclaimed in ecstasy.
"Lord Rishir heard our tales and invited us to paradise...!!!"
"...!!!"
Gasp.
Gasp!
Gasp!!!
The apostles heaved ragged breaths.
Their comrades' unnaturally radiant smiles.
Paired with that word—"paradise"—it birthed horrific dissonance.
Crushing pressure.
Hallucinations echoed from nowhere.
Clanking chains.
Metal crushing flesh and bone.
A madman's laughter blurring pleasure and pain.
Closing his eyes summoned visions of blood and gore.
"N-No...!!! Kunra! Nelsa!!! Snap out of it!!! That's no paradise...!!!"
Hah!
The apostles clapped hands over mouths after their unwitting outburst.
They had denied the fanatics' paradise right to their faces.
"..."
Yet the fanatics remained serene despite the blasphemy.
They smiled benevolently at the apostles.
Encircling them.
"Ah... aah..."
The madness peaked now.
Some burst into hollow laughter.
Others covered faces and sobbed silently.
Apostle Nord.
Feeling the ground swallow his feet in profound despair, he murmured.
"Paradise... What could be there to drag us in...?"
"..."
High Priestess Akirin.
She beamed brightly.
What could possibly delight her so?
What filled her with such pride?
Infinite faith in paradise.
The apostles drowned in thick madness and regretted.
Could their minds endure the hell described by fanatic lips?
"A young World Tree and holy sword await. The hero will use them to heal the curse of Ecstasy upon you."
"Uh?"
The madness and bloody visions tormenting the apostles suddenly brightened.
The fragment of Ecstasy in their luggage trembled.