Chapter 119
Chapter 119
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: Downfall
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The archbishop known as the next pope.
Santos Juda de Nursia.
We watched his past in stunned horror. What in the world was this man—one of the three living saints—doing?
"Kill him."
With a cold glint in his eyes, he swept his hand downward. A knight under the Papal Court's command brought his axe down on the terrified child.
Splat!
The child's torso separated in a single blow.
The mother, witnessing the scene, let out a piercing scream.
"Kyaaahhh!"
As she fainted, a man who appeared to be a serf grabbed a pickaxe and lunged at the knight.
"What have we done to deserve this?!"
The knight twisted the serf's wrist and kicked his knee with an iron boot, sending him crashing down.
Thud!
"Gahk!"
"How dare you!"
Archbishop Juda, who had been watching from behind, stepped forward and addressed the serf.
"What have you done, you ask? Are you truly asking because you don't know? Do you think we're doing this without knowing your true nature?"
"Our... true nature?"
"Yes. You're revolutionaries, aren't you?"
"R-Revolutionaries?!"
Juda grabbed the serf by the hair with a benevolent expression.
"Don't play dumb. You fell for the heretics' temptations and plotted rebellion against His Holiness the Pope, who conveys the will of the divine, didn't you?"
"D-Don't spout nonsense! We've never done anything like that!"
"Is that so? Then what about that song you keep singing?"
"Song?"
"Yes, the one you were singing even as we arrived in this village."
The serf tilted his head in confusion.
"That song was given to us by Saint Joanna Arc herself—a song for peace!"
"No, I know the truth. That song is the 'Song of Revolution' created by heretics to demand atonement from their gods."
"Revolution my foot!"
"Enough. I didn't come here to talk with the likes of you anyway."
Juda smirked at him and traced a cross on his forehead with his index fingernail.
"Now, then."
At the signal, the knight raised his axe overhead.
"W-Wait! W-Wait, hold on! Just a moment!"
Splat!
With the serf's death as the trigger, the knights began slaughtering everyone in the village.
The reason? They had sung a revolutionary song created by heretics, defying the will of God.
"Did you find the book?"
Juda asked casually.
A knight who seemed to be the captain shook his head.
"We searched everywhere, but it's not here."
"Hmm... This is the last village Saint Joanna Arc visited. I have no idea where she hid it."
"Maybe that wench has it? There was a blue-haired brat who trailed her around the battlefield."
"Blue-haired brat?"
"Yes, one of the new knights in the Holy Knight Order. Her name was... Sin, Sin... Cynthia! Yeah, Cynthia!"
"Lady Cynthia?"
"Yes. We can find it through her. She roamed the battlefields with Saint Joanna Arc, so she must know something."
Juda shrugged.
"Hmm... It's true she followed Saint Joanna Arc, but she wouldn't have the Book of Sin."
"Why not?"
"If she had the Book of Sin, we would've found Saint Joanna Arc long ago."
"...Is that possible?"
"Of course. The power of the song written in it is incomparable to anything else. Strange? Glazer? Rockefeller? Even the Rothschilds, called children of God, would be in danger."
The knight swallowed dryly.
"That powerful?"
"Yes. It holds the power to shake the world."
"Ah..."
"And yet, with that power, she joined the Holy Knight Order without doing anything? That doesn't make sense."
"Now that you mention it..."
Archbishop Juda rested his chin on his hand, thinking for a moment, then snapped his fingers as if struck by a brilliant idea.
Snap!
"Ah, that's it!"
"Pardon?"
"Perfect! I've figured out how to find the Book of Sin."
"How to find the Book of Sin?"
"Yes. Didn't she follow Saint Joanna Arc around?"
"She did."
"Then she must have seen the Book of Sin that Saint Joanna Arc carried."
"...Probably."
Archbishop Juda pointed with a meaningful smile at the tower visible in the skies above Legion.
"Send her to the tower."
"The tower?"
"Yes. I've heard there's an apostle on the tower between the 20th and 30th floors with the power to see into the past."
"......"
"If we track Saint Joanna Arc's past through his power, we'll surely find where the Book of Sin is hidden."
The knight nodded with a sly expression.
"Oh ho—that's a great idea."
"Then we can proceed with our plan to reset this world to its genesis, as God desires, without hindrance."
To reset the world to its genesis.
It was a heretical notion straight out of a demon cult, but their minds were already fixed on that goal.
Archbishop Juda clasped his hands together, gazing at the burning village.
"May God's blessings be with all who sacrifice for the new world."
A mere mortal dreaming of realizing their oracle-fueled ambitions.
"In the name of the Divine, amen."
Timeless clapped his hands.
Clap clap clap clap!
"Wooow, I had no idea, but Lord Juda is truly something else, isn't he? God wants to reset this world to the beginning? As if! Kahahaha!"
I was shocked too.
Not merely filling his pockets with wealth or fame.
To reset the entire world back to the moment heaven and earth were first created.
If asked whether that's truly what God desires, I'd say absolutely not.
Not just me—the Papal Court itself would give the same answer.
Truly.
If the God they believe in truly wanted to return the world to its origin, the tower standing tall in central Legion would cease to exist altogether.
Or perhaps...
The God they worship isn't the same entity.
"What are your thoughts on the scene you wished to see, Lord Berddin?"
We could tell Cynthia's feelings from her reaction—despair, confusion dominating her mind from the archbishop's chaotic ambitions.
The entire party froze in place.
Only Rox scratched his head, not grasping the archbishop's intent.
"What's 'the beginning' mean?"
I took a steadying breath and replied to Timeless.
"Skip the nonsense. Time to give you the reward you want."
"Ooooh! Then I'll open the space where I can devour Lord Berddin's lifespan."
"Space..."
"The time you spend there will transfer your lifespan to me. Or rather, you already know all this, so no need for explanations?"
Timeless started to say something but glanced at my party members and shook his head.
"No, Lord Berddin has no memories of your past life, so you wouldn't know."
His cheeky expression made me want to smack him.
"The time I spend in your space shortens my lifespan, right?"
"Yes. But your time there flows differently from here."
"How different?"
"Ten years there... When you return, only about ten minutes will have passed here."
Ten years for ten minutes.
That means one year there equals about one minute here.
"Doesn't matter."
I turned to my party members and continued.
"You all heard? I'll be back in ten minutes. Stay put here until then."
Alfredo and Rox, the only two who had snapped out of it, nodded.
"Got it. Be careful out there."
"Yeah! But Berddin, what about this girl? She's muttering to herself and out of it."
Rox pointed at the trembling Maria Theresa. It was impossible to snap her out of her broken state here.
"Stay by her side and watch her. It won't take long for me to return."
"Ah, uh. Just hang out next to her?"
"Yeah. And make sure she doesn't enter any other spaces."
"Got it."
"And."
I turned my gaze to Timeless.
"Don't touch them while I'm gone."
"...Eyy, do you think I'd attack them while you're away, Lord Berddin?"
"Answer me. You won't touch my party members."
"......"
"This is the time for you to keep your promise to me, and me to you."
Timeless nodded awkwardly with a sheepish expression.
"Very well."
With that, he raised both hands above his head and chanted a spell.
It was the ancient language of forgotten spirits. As he finished the incantation, a small clock tower dropped from a rift in the space.
Thud!
Mysterious white mist seeped from the entrance, spreading across the floor.
"Lord Berddin, one more thing: once you enter, you can't come out until the agreed time ends."
"I know."
"And no one except the contractor and me can enter—"
Timeless glanced at my guardian spirits.
"So they must stay here."
Siegfried shoved his face close to Timeless.
"What? This orc bastard wants to get chopped up?"
Orc?
"Don't you remember almost dying to me before? Hey, Brunhilt! Should we remind this guy?"
Brunhilt licked her paw indifferently.
"What're you yapping about, you dumb swordsman? That orc's an apostle here, so if it's the rules, we follow them, nyang."
"You telling me to listen to some orc?"
"Here, he's not an orc—he's an apostle. Apostle, nyang."
Hold on.
I'd never heard Timeless called an orc before. Even Siegfried from my past life never mentioned it.
I turned to Timeless. He watched them with a faint smile and whispered softly.
"I'm merely following the Divine's command. Please understand, superiors."
Siegfried growled angrily at me.
"Berddin, can you really spend ten years alone in that guy's space?"
"Yes."
"...Really?"
"Yes."
Siegfried let out a long sigh.
Haaa—
"Fine. Go ahead, then."
"Master."
With that, I stepped into the clock tower Timeless had summoned. It would be the longest and shortest journey of this lifetime.
"I'll return stronger."
A scorching sun beat down from above. A desert stretching endlessly in all directions—sand as far as the eye could see.
Sand began pouring from a massive hole in the sky.
Shaaa—
It's starting.
The place where I'd spend the next ten years—a space said to have been created by a dragon.
The Silent Hourglass.
I drew my sword, gazing at the endless cascade of sand.
Swish—
"Let's begin."
The next ten years.
How strong could I become?