Free Web NovelGrand Cathedral, Sacred Burial Grounds.
As the ceremonial resting place that had once interred several archbishops, it remained as quiet and peaceful as ever, as though nothing had happened.
Of course, in this timeline, Archbishop Ision’s blood had not stained this place red, nor had this sacred site of worship been polluted by the Salvation Society.
Yet when Cardinal Clemens limped in with the aid of his cane, he still saw countless flowers in bloom, vibrant with life.
Not because of an archbishop’s blood, but because the blessings of the Life Goddess had descended upon this once-dead land. Even without a single ray of sunlight, it bloomed like a garden—brilliant with color, fragrant, and breathtakingly beautiful.
“Well?”
At the center of the Sacred Burial Grounds, before a black stone monument—
An old man in white divine robes calmly watered the flowers with leisurely movements.
“Is there a result?”
“My apologies, Your Holiness. I lost my composure.”
“Oh? Even you can lose your composure?”
Hezekiah raised a brow slightly. He knew this cardinal very well. Ever since Clemens had taken this position, seriousness, coldness, and unwavering steadiness had been his defining traits.
It was genuinely difficult to imagine him “losing composure.”
“I... overestimated myself.”
Cardinal Clemens revealed a bitter smile and recounted the events in detail.
“......”
After listening, Hezekiah’s hand paused mid-watering. Even that face as smooth as an infant’s showed the faintest twitch visible to the naked eye.
All right.
Understood.
“This Her Holiness the Saintess... is rather unique. It caught me somewhat off guard.”
Cardinal Clemens sighed again.
“If you knew her other side, you’d be even more caught off guard.”
Hezekiah took a deep breath and regained his calm. The watering can sprayed out a hazy mist, drawing a tiny rainbow through the air, as though symbolizing the serenity and composure within his heart.
“So, the result?”
“The Black Sun Cult will be permitted to spread under the name of a righteous faith. However, it may only operate in secret. It cannot become a faith openly recognized by the Church, nor will the Church provide any official written acknowledgment.”
“In short... we’ll be turning a blind eye.”
Clemens lowered his head shamefully.
“I am truly sorry, Your Holiness. In the end, the Church’s dignity still suffered some damage, and... the Church also lost so many devout believers.”
“...Forget it.”
Hezekiah waved a hand. There was none of the anger Clemens had imagined.
He was very calm.
This time, genuinely calm.
After all, compared to the Church’s Saintess using her crown to crack walnuts, losing a few believers truly only counted as a trivial matter.
The Life Church’s foundation of believers still remained. Its status would not be shaken over something so minor.
“The Church’s dignity will not be harmed by such a small matter. Even the rebellion a hundred years ago failed to shake our foundations. What does this amount to? As for those believers who converted...”
Hezekiah sighed softly.
“Let us simply consider it relieving some burden from the Goddess.”
“...Understood.”
“Then continue overseeing the work here. After lying inside the Holy Coffins for so long, you should come out and breathe some fresh air.”
“Yes.”
Clemens nodded and prepared to withdraw.
However, the moment he lowered his head, he suddenly noticed that the white divine robes on His Holiness the Pope no longer appeared entirely pure. Streaks of color stained them as well.
But those were not flower petals.
They were blood.
“It seems Your Holiness gained quite a harvest this time,” Clemens said in surprise.
“A harvest would be overstating it. It’s merely that if I still couldn’t properly settle old accounts with him while in this state, then I would hardly deserve to call myself his senior brother.”
Hezekiah said:
“Unfortunately, he still escaped. I understand him, and he understands me—and the Church—far too well. What looked like a desperate gamble still concealed a cunning escape route.”
“That traitor has been fleeing for over a hundred years. Naturally, he was never going to be easy to capture. Being able to seriously wound him is already an extraordinary result. It should keep them quiet for a very long time.”
“Quiet... heh.”
Hezekiah suddenly laughed.
Then he continued:
“The Salvation Society suffered catastrophic losses this time. Aside from a few important seat-holders who successfully escaped, nearly all the lower-ranking members have already been dealt with one by one by Judgment following the list. Even so, do not lower your guard. There may still be other things hidden within ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) this city.”
“Your Holiness means...” Clemens’s gaze sharpened.
“It is not only vultures that are drawn to corpses... but hyenas as well. The same applies to the insects lurking in darkness.”
“Understood. I will remain vigilant.”
“May the Goddess’s radiance be with you.”
Hezekiah bestowed a blessing. With a wave of his hand, Clemens vanished from where he stood.
And Hezekiah was no longer where he had been either.
Or rather...
He was no longer within the Sacred Burial Grounds.
His divine robes billowed. The watering can in his hand vanished, replaced instead by a majestic scepter blazing with brilliant Holy Light.
Hezekiah tightened his grip around the scepter.
“Urlons.”
“Understood.”
No further words were needed.
A massive golden gate burst open before Hezekiah.
Upon the gate was carved a divine kingdom flowing with milk and honey—the sacred realm promised by the Goddess to humanity in the holy canon.
Hezekiah stepped into the Holy Domain.
The scenery changed instantly.
Dense vitality rushed toward him.
Unlike the small flower garden from before, this vitality was far more overbearing, far denser, as though it had already condensed into physical substance.
Seeds would instantly sprout here.
Dead branches would bloom again here.
Even terminally ill patients would not die here, because this overwhelming vitality could even make a rotten heart beat once more.
Hezekiah walked past the lush ancient vegetation, extending a hand to brush against it, using Holy Light to isolate the flowers sprouting from his skin.
Finally, he arrived before a gigantic pit.
All of that flourishing vitality originated from within the pit.
Yet along the edge of the pit hung enormous chains engraved with countless runes, densely packed together, as though some unimaginable existence were imprisoned in the abyss below.
“You’ve come.”
From beneath a tombstone surrounded by flowers came an aged voice.
“You’re a little late this time.”
“I’ve been rather busy lately. There are too many restless people.”
Hezekiah bent down. The scepter lightly tapped the tombstone, and blazing Holy Light erupted forth, rapidly burning away the flowers that were trying to completely swallow the tombstone.
Under the flames of Holy Light, those once-beautiful flowers suddenly became hideous.
They twisted and intertwined like a nest of serpents, rapidly growing and reproducing as they lunged madly toward Hezekiah.
In the end, beneath the blinding Holy Light, they turned to ash.
Once the flowers faded, fertile black earth was revealed beneath. Dense formation patterns spread across the soil, seemingly suppressing something just like the chains above.
Fresh sprouts poked out from the earth again.
But this time, they grew very, very slowly.
“For even the Pope himself to say he’s busy, it seems quite a lot has happened recently,” the voice beneath the tombstone said.
“It is neither particularly great nor particularly small. The world is not about to be destroyed because of it. Yet someone’s obsession has shown no signs of weakening even after a hundred years. In fact, it has only become more fanatical.”
Hezekiah recalled Gaius’s so-called “Humanity Purge Plan.” As an observer, he had already seen the full picture of the plan clearly.
In a certain sense, that plan truly did possess a chance of succeeding.
An Evil God Scion possessing the power of most Evil Gods really could unleash a catastrophe sufficient to exterminate all humanity.
But the plan was also far too insane.
So insane that even he, the person who had once understood Gaius best, had never imagined he would make such a choice.
Though he had merely used the Lord of the Stars, that was still cooperating with an Evil God—using an Evil God’s power to accomplish his own goals.
For the Gaius of more than a hundred years ago, the man who despised Evil Gods more than anyone else, that would have been absolutely impossible.
But the current Gaius could make such compromises.
He had become even more terrifying than he had been a century ago.
“Humanity’s greatest enemy has always been humanity itself. That old saying passed down for a thousand years truly seems correct.”
The voice beneath the tombstone chuckled as well.
“Perhaps in the end, the prophecy that the world will be destroyed by Evil Gods is false, and humanity will instead destroy itself.”
“If that happens, it would be far too ironic.”
Hezekiah shook his head. Then his tone shifted.
“By the way... how is It?”
“As for that... you should see for yourself.”
“......”
Hezekiah glanced at the tombstone but said nothing further. Passing through the vegetation so dense that not even light could penetrate it, he walked deeper toward the pit.
Gradually, he began hearing sounds.
【It hurts.】
【I’m hungry.】
【I feel awful.】
【......】
【Please save me...】
Hezekiah’s expression changed abruptly.
In a low voice, he asked:
“How many words has It learned now?”
“About... seventeen, I think.”
The tombstone left behind him shouted loudly:
“And It repeats them more and more frequently. Probably because more people have been praying those words to It lately. Honestly, I feel like one day It’s going to start dragging me into conversations too. To be honest, I’m kind of scared. How about we switch places? Feels like you’re the only one who can handle this here...”
“Has It reached the critical point again?”
Hezekiah ignored the tombstone’s rambling and immediately began praying. As Holy Light resonated with the existence within the pit, he more clearly sensed those murmurs mixed with strange screeching sounds.
Fortunately, the murmurs abruptly stopped at the critical moment.
Like the babbling speech of an infant that had only learned halfway.
“Heh. It seems that from a certain perspective, that brat’s Black Sun Cult appeared at exactly the right time.”
Hezekiah laughed self-mockingly.
“What difference does losing that tiny number of believers make?” the voice beneath the tombstone asked.
“I know it is far too insignificant to matter much. Better than nothing, at least. But in the end... perhaps it can reduce even a little of the suffering It bears.”
Hezekiah opened his eyes.
His expression no longer carried any emotion.
Cold.
Severe.
“Urlons.”
“I am here.”
“Prepare it... the Ninth Division.”
“Yes.”
......
Boom!
Deep within a hidden space unknown to all, the greatest machine humanity had ever built began operating at full power.
Boundless Holy Light descended from the heavens, transforming into countless blades capable of dividing all things apart before converging into one point under the scepter’s command.
Then it fell.
Like divine punishment itself.
......
......
【It hurts.】
【I’m hungry.】
【I feel awful.】
【Wuu...】
【......Please save me.】
