Chapter 281
Chapter 281
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 281
Chapter Title: Numerous Secrets (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Demian and the other two left the Tart Kingdom and headed straight for headquarters.
Upon arriving at headquarters, the three submitted their report.
The priests at headquarters were overcome with shock and horror as they reviewed it.
“A Duke-rank demon? How could such a monster have been summoned to the surface?”
A Duke-rank demon was the leader among demons, a ruler of hell.
In the past, when a Duke-rank demon had been summoned to the continent, humanity had been forced to prepare for total annihilation.
“What about the sacrifice? How did they manage the sacrifice?”
“The entire Tart Kingdom wouldn’t have been enough, let alone just the people from the southern region. Summoning a Duke-rank demon with that is impossible, isn’t it?”
Referring to the sacrificed people as “just” was overly callous.
But the priests at headquarters had no spare capacity to consider such things.
“Could it have been an avatar?”
“Don’t talk nonsense! Even an avatar of a Duke-rank demon is on a different level!”
Summoning a demon to the surface required an equivalent price. Countless cases proved it.
Yet that absolute truth had been shattered mercilessly.
“If it happened once, what’s to stop it from happening again? We must identify the cause.”
“I agree. If a Duke-rank demon is summoned again... and if it’s the true body next time...!”
The high-ranking priests in the meeting all shuddered.
“I was glad Slra was dead, and now this happens...”
“But it’s a relief. Not only are all three of the Five Great Saints unharmed, but so are the Holy Knights.”
For the emergence of a calamity like a Duke-rank demon, the damage was unbelievably light. No, practically nonexistent.
“Lady Green Wind said Demian showed great valor once again this time.”
“Not only did he face the Duke-rank demon alone, but he also freed Lady Azure Flame from her seal?”
“What terrifying skill. No wonder the Empire is desperate to recruit him.”
“Is it just the Empire? I hear the Mercenary King’s side is also moving to reconnect with Sir Demian...”
As Demian became the topic, the priests’ expressions noticeably softened.
Talk of young geniuses was always enjoyable. Demian was like a flower blooming in the swamp.
“But isn’t it a bit strange?”
At that moment, someone poured cold water on the warm atmosphere.
“Sir Demian is undoubtedly a great talent... but the opponent was a Duke-rank demon. Even if it was just an avatar, facing that monster alone is suspicious.”
“Hah, you seem to have forgotten. Sir Demian is the hero who slew Slra single-handedly.”
“Slra was a horrific monster, but nothing compared to a Duke-rank demon.”
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
“I’m just very suspicious.”
The priest spoke his doubts with a deadly serious face.
“Deliberately letting him rack up achievements to infiltrate our ranks. Isn’t that a common tactic among heretics? And he hasn’t even sworn loyalty as a Holy Knight, which is suspicious too.”
At those words, the other priests exchanged glances. In agreement? No.
“Geniuses always transcend common sense, don’t they?”
“Exactly. We don’t need to look far—our founder was such a being.”
“Sir Demian’s feats have been vouched for by the Five Great Saints themselves...”
“And here you are suspecting Sir Demian. That’s the suspicious part.”
All the priests turned suspicious gazes on him.
The priest who raised the question panicked greatly.
“N-No! I’m not a heretic!”
“That’s just what heretics say.”
“In these chaotic times, vile infiltrators might have slipped into headquarters.”
“Drag him away.”
“U-Uwaaak! I’m not!”
* * *
Around the time one priest was dragged to the heresy interrogation room mid-meeting.
“Haa...”
The Holy Emperor let out a deep sigh. The reason she was lost in such profound worry was Demian Haksen.
“Green Wind, is it true? Lady Azure Flame said to give Demian Haksen a fitting reward?”
Green Wind knelt on one knee and replied to the Holy Emperor’s question.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And she didn’t specify what reward?”
“She only said to do as Your Holiness wishes.”
“And you and Radiance have no complaints about that?”
“I don’t. My sister... seemed a bit dissatisfied, but she didn’t voice it.”
The Holy Emperor pinched the bridge of her nose as if it were a headache.
Giving Demian Haksen a reward was only natural. He had accomplished that much.
The problem was that his merits were too great.
Without Demian Haksen, the Holy Church might have lost Azure Flame, Radiance, and Green Wind.
The Five Great Saints were the church’s most powerful forces.
Losing three of them would have been damage enough to threaten the church’s very survival.
And the one who prevented that was Demian Haksen. Headquarters now owed him an immense debt.
Entrusting her to repay that massive debt? It was truly unfair.
“...I’ll have to extend paperwork duty by five months.”
“Yes?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
The Holy Emperor relaxed her stiff expression.
Pondering it wouldn’t yield an answer anyway. Besides, they couldn’t keep ignoring the hero who saved the church.
“Green Wind, go rest now. You’ve worked hard.”
“No, it was only natural for the church.”
“Oh, and on your way out, could you call Sir Demian for me?”
Green Wind left the Holy Palace.
Shortly after, Demian Haksen entered.
“Your Holiness, I’ve come at your summons.”
The Holy Emperor couldn’t help but be startled by Demian Haksen’s appearance.
She possessed a divine insight that pierced through a person’s essence.
Using it, she could gauge their power.
Demian Haksen had grown another level in that short time.
The Holy Emperor felt a chill run down her spine.
As Holy Emperor, she had watched countless geniuses. That included the Five Great Saints.
But none of the geniuses she had seen had grown as rapidly as Demian Haksen.
No, was this even growth? Was he even human to begin with?
The Holy Emperor shook her head side to side. It wasn’t the right time for such worries.
“Sir Demian, you’ve done us a great service this time. Thank you truly.”
“As the church’s Honorary Holy Knight, it was only my duty.”
The Holy Emperor gave a wry smile.
The title of Honorary Holy Knight was far too modest for someone of his caliber.
Perhaps she should elevate him to Honorary Saint.
“Azure Flame, Radiance, and Green Wind unanimously recommended giving you a fitting reward. I agree.”
“I didn’t do it for a reward.”
Demian spoke with a serious face.
Yet for some reason, the Holy Emperor strongly suspected those words weren’t entirely sincere.
“...However, my dull mind can’t grasp how to reward you properly. So instead, I’ve decided to make a proposal.”
The Holy Emperor stared into Demian’s eyes as she spoke.
“Demian Haksen, name your desire. Even if it means emptying all the church’s secret vaults, we will provide what you want.”
This was no empty promise.
The Holy Emperor was truly prepared to empty the vaults.
The Holy Church had survived thanks to Demian Haksen.
So emptying the vaults was the bare minimum fitting reward.
“Then I shall humbly make a request of Your Holiness.”
Yet the reward Demian Haksen demanded was remarkably modest.
“Please allow me to peruse all the secret manuals held by the Holy Church.”
* * *
“...Is that really all?”
The Holy Emperor asked with a baffled expression. Demian nodded.
“Yes, that will suffice.”
In truth, Demian’s request wasn’t something to dismiss as “just.”
The secret manuals held by the Holy Church were all master-class texts.
Master-class produced by the Holy Church, master-class felled by the Holy Church, and even those left by past Five Great Saints.
Demian was asking to view the manuals they left behind.
“You can ask for something else.”
“That’s what I need most right now.”
The reason Demian requested them as his reward was to ascend to the Grandmaster realm.
Watching Azure Flame and Bahel clash this time had made him realize the need to reach Grandmaster.
‘Who would’ve thought I’d encounter a Duke-rank demon.’
He always assumed the worst.
But even Demian hadn’t anticipated a Duke-rank demon’s appearance.
The future he knew had vanished entirely. From now on, anything could happen.
Thus, Demian resolved to reach the Grandmaster realm as soon as possible.
‘I already know what I lack.’
During his Death Knight days, Demian had already ascended to Grandmaster once.
So he knew exactly how to reach it.
What he needed now wasn’t elixirs or spirit medicines. It was knowledge to fill his technical gaps.
“If that’s your wish, of course we’ll grant it. However... I feel it’s not enough.”
The Holy Emperor pondered briefly, then spoke to Demian.
“Demian Haksen, do you know of the First Holy Emperor?”
Demian nodded. How could he not know?
The First Holy Emperor, Bartoleo.
The first Holy Knight to awaken holy power.
The superhuman who shattered an evil dragon’s head with a single mace.
The hero of the Salvation Legion who saved humanity.
After the Salvation Legion saved humanity, countless heroes arose, but none matched even the fringes of their achievements.
Thus, people regarded the Salvation Legion as a group of transcendents who surpassed even Grandmasters.
“I’ll permit you to experience the insights he left behind.”