Free Web Novel"She killed too many people..."
The savage wounds crisscrossed like ravines, shocking to behold.
Beneath the pale bone and vivid red flesh, one could even see the heart beating weakly.
It was difficult to imagine just how many wounds the priest had left on his own body over these past several decades, or what kind of pain and torment he had endured.
Both in body... and in soul.
"...I still don’t think you need to blame yourself."
Even Muen was shaken by that horrific sight. His expression became pitying and complicated. After a moment of silence, knowing there was nothing he could do to help with this matter, Muen could only offer sincere advice from the heart:
"You only did something that seemed wrong. Judging from the way the story developed afterward, the reason the Witch of Repentance became like this was very likely that she was infiltrated and polluted by the Evil God.
"So the one you spared back then was still that gentle and kind Olive. The Witch of Repentance’s sins are not Olive’s sins, much less yours."
"Who can know such things?"
The priest shook his head and closed his clothes again. When the rough cloth touched his wounds, it naturally triggered intense pain, but he had long since grown accustomed to that pain.
"I only know that because of my momentary kindness back then, countless innocent people in this world died miserably. Whenever I think of that, only the severe pain from my flesh can make me feel a little better."
"You’re too stuck in a dead end."
Muen sighed. "If a butterfly has to be blamed simply because the flap of its wings caused a storm, then there are far too many guilty people in this world. Who can be certain what unforeseeable consequences some casual action of theirs might cause in the future?"
"But all of this could have been avoided."
The priest stared at the headless corpse in the pit that was about to be completely buried and murmured, "As long as I had still been that cold and merciless executioner, all of this... could have been avoided."
"..."
Someone who had blamed and mutilated himself over one matter all the way until now was a cold and merciless executioner, my ass.
Honestly, the cathedral that assigned this guy to that position had to take at least half the responsibility in this matter, all right?
Muen slandered him endlessly in his heart.
He still could not agree with the priest’s method.
Because...
"Blind self-blame can’t change anything. If you really think you’re guilty, then you should do something to change all this."
Muen shoveled up a heavy scoop of earth and completely buried the corpse.
"For example, go straight over and kill the Witch of Repentance, instead of playing this self-harming sentimental teenage delinquent game here!"
"I did do that."
"?"
"Otherwise, how do you think I got this leg injury?"
"..."
Fine. The old woman really was a little fierce.
"But... you’re right."
The priest suddenly smiled. "I should do something."
"Right? Whether we can beat her or not is one thing, but we need enough spirit. How can we let a woman look down on us? And since you can understand that, it looks like you haven’t reached the point of sharing a room with a donkey."
Muen patted the priest’s shoulder in relief.
"I have already done that too."
"Hm?"
"Did you think I called out to you just to play house burying corpses with you?"
The priest suddenly turned the shovel around. Only then did Muen discover that compared with the rusty, battered old iron shovel the priest had given him, the one in the priest’s hand... had a shovel edge that looked a little too sharp.
"I also did it to tell you the purpose of the Salvation Society’s operation this time, and..."
At the edge of the cemetery, some shadows faintly writhed.
The priest once again touched his forehead lightly to the sacred text and began to pray.
...
...
"Olive... Olive... are you there?"
On the ornate bed, Saint Peron V opened his eyes with difficulty and called that name.
As the greatest sovereign this country had ever known, this old man was now abnormally weak. He looked like a diseased old tree that would snap completely as soon as the wind blew.
Fortunately, no matter how fragile he became, the person who could support him had always been at his side.
"Your Majesty, I’m here."
The woman lifted the curtain and leaned in with a breathtakingly beautiful face. That face was gentle and soft, just as it was in memory.
"It’s good that you’re here, good that you’re here... Olive, is that thing you told me true?" Saint Peron V’s murky eyes chased after the woman’s face as he asked in a trembling voice.
"Of course, Your Majesty. Surely you don’t think I would deceive you?"
"No, of course not. You’re Olive. You’re my Olive. My Olive... how could you possibly deceive me?"
As though he had thought of something beautiful, Saint Peron V’s face, more wrinkled than old tree bark, actually squeezed out a smile.
"Only you won’t deceive me anymore... Those ministers, those insects, those fools... they are all trash. They only deceive their superiors and hide things from those below them. They only push this country into the flames of war... You are the only one truly doing this for my good, Olive. Only you won’t deceive me anymore..."
"Yes, Your Majesty. Only I won’t deceive you."
The woman also smiled.
"Then the time is almost here. Please proceed with this final step according to the plan, Your Majesty. This is the most crucial step... to make the Kingdom great again."
"Yes, yes, yes. The final step... It’s time to begin the final step."
Saint Peron V struggled to prop himself up and shouted outside the curtains:
"Someone, someone! Help me up! Quickly, help me up!"
"..."
For the moment, there was no movement.
There was not even a response from a single palace maid.
Only when the woman signaled with her eyes did two people step forward, one on each side, and support Saint Peron V, bringing him to the center of the room.
As it turned out, this was not some bedchamber at all, but the throne hall of Saint Haze Palace. The throne had already been removed, and a massive formation had been set at the very center of the hall. The place where Saint Peron V was brought was right atop that formation.
"Proceed according to the plan. Once the time comes, begin immediately."
The woman instructed the two people.
"Yes."
The two bowed and answered, but their courtesy was not the etiquette of the Kingdom court.
The woman paid no attention to such details, because there was no need to.
Once the preparations were ready, she turned directly and left.
Outside the throne hall, a young girl was waiting as well, trembling all over.
"Let’s go, Fubeka."
The woman... no, the Witch of Repentance, came to Fubeka’s side and gently took her hand.
"My good daughter, it is time for our operation to begin."
"You..."
Fubeka’s trembling did not stop. She timidly raised her head, like a frightened little beast, sizing up this woman who was extremely unfamiliar to her.
"Are you really my mother?"
"Shh, lower your voice."
The Witch of Repentance raised a finger, signaling Fubeka to be silent, and lowered her own voice as well.
"It would be best not to let the old thing inside hear about this. If he dies ahead of time, I’ll be very troubled."
"He..."
"Relax. There is nothing between me and him. To put it in common terms... hm, merely childhood friends."
The Witch of Repentance tightened her grip on Fubeka’s hand, her brows and eyes gentle, and said from the heart:
"Your father and I are the ones who truly loved each other."
"No..."
Fubeka forcefully pushed the Witch of Repentance away. "My mother would never be someone as bad as you..."
"Bad?"
The gentleness in the Witch of Repentance’s eyes suddenly vanished. Replacing it was bone-deep coldness... and disgust.
"How rude. Clearly, my adorable daughter, you are the real bad person, while I... am the good person who intends to bring salvation to this world."
"Bad... me?"
"It seems Ision really loves you. He protected you very well. Not only did he arrange a flawless identity, status, and everything else for you right under the Holy City’s eyes, he even hid this matter from you."
The Witch of Repentance cupped Fubeka’s face and stared into her eyes...
Or rather, stared at the faintly appearing stars in her eyes, stirred into visibility by fear and anger.
"Stars. Truly nauseating."
As though she had thought of some unbearable past, the disgust in the Witch of Repentance became even clearer.
"Stars?"
"You really know nothing at all... But it’s fine. I will tell you everything."
The Witch of Repentance took Fubeka’s hand again.
"Come. I’ll take you to meet your... true blood relative."
...
...
Not far away, shadows writhed.
Then very quickly, they crossed over the shadows of the ruins and arrived before the two of them.
"Living corpses?"
The familiar phenomenon of corpses reviving made Muen raise a brow, but right now, he had no time to care about these utterly nonthreatening things. Instead, he was thinking about what the priest had just said.
"You mean the Salvation Society’s goal is to make the Evil God overhead fully descend?"
The Lord of the Stars.
Muen deliberately did not say that name aloud, because it was far too close.
Above the sky, that fierce battle was still continuing, but the sense of shock the battle brought Muen was diminishing.
Not because those two human beings at the pinnacle were gradually running out of strength, but because the stars even higher in the firmament were visibly drawing closer.
The starlight was growing brighter, even gradually piercing through the Holy Light’s seal.
Muen could feel that Evil God’s power gradually approaching. If he spoke His honored name at a time like this, he would inevitably be watched by Him.
But...
"How is that possible? With the world barrier there... how could an Evil God truly des..."
Halfway through speaking, Muen suddenly froze.
Yes. The world barrier separated the Evil Gods from the world. For a thousand years, the only one who had successfully descended into the world was the First Demon God.
But that did not mean Evil Gods had no way to bypass the world barrier.
Evil God scions.
This familiar name was itself one of the materials Evil Gods prepared to deceive heaven and cross the sea.
Just like the Moon before.
So, in theory, it was possible. The only problem was...
"Why do this?"
No, this should be two questions.
"First, why would that one do this?"
Back then, to avoid being gnawed and devoured by the Withering King, the Silent Moon had been driven into a dead end, and only then had He wanted to use Anna to bypass the world barrier and descend into this world.
Key point: driven into a dead end.
Although the act of using one’s own scion to replace the original and deceive heaven was theoretically feasible, for an Evil God, it would definitely require an enormous price.
First and foremost was the divine body. The Evil God had to abandon His noble divine body and transfer His power, authority, and consciousness into the scion.
Next was the "wear" produced during this process.
After the transfer, the Evil God’s power, authority, and consciousness would certainly suffer broad damage.
Because no matter how perfect the "scion" was, it was absolutely impossible for a human body to perfectly receive an Evil God’s immense power, to say nothing of the fact that during the transfer process, the world barrier would also "filter out" a large portion of that power.
So, for an Evil God, descending this way had to be a final resort, and one where the losses outweighed the gains.
The most serious result might even be... after transferring, He could be surrounded and killed by mere ant-like humans in His own eyes. If He accidentally overturned, that would be hilarious.
"Who told you it had to be a complete transfer? This one has no external pressure. What He values... is only the delicacy right within reach, and the many more delicacies afterward."
The limping priest swung the sharp shovel in his hand. His movements were clean and efficient, and in an instant, he cut off the heads of three living corpses that had pounced at him.
The headless corpses flopped around, unable to rise again.
"Haven’t you noticed? The abnormality of this city."
"Abnormality?"
"It seems your resistance to Evil God pollution is very high. I have already spent a great deal of effort merely resisting the erosion of this pollution."
The priest glanced at Muen in surprise. This young man, whose realm was lower than his, actually looked much more relaxed than he did.
No wonder Her Majesty had sent a message telling him to find this boy.
"This city has already been severely polluted, and the speed at which this pollution is worsening has far surpassed the level of an Evil God merely approaching and watching. It is only because all the people are dead that some mutations have not become substantive effects. Otherwise, the scene you would be seeing now should be several million people across the entire city growing four eyes, five noses, and nine ears or something, raising their heads together to welcome the descent of their ‘Lord.’"
"That sounds terrifying, but... what are you trying to say?"
"What I am saying is that this city is being peeled away from the mortal world."
"Peeled away... from the mortal world?"
The unfamiliar term, which he had never heard before, left Muen confused.
"To put it simply..."
The shovel in the priest’s hand turned, chopping down several more living corpses.
"It means peeling this city... out from within the world barrier."
"What?"
Muen’s pupils shrank, and he thought he had misheard.
"Peeled away... from the world barrier?"
"That’s right. The world barrier resists the Evil Gods’ invasion from outside, but toward the inside... it is not that strict. There are still some loopholes to exploit. After so long a period of planning, it is not unbelievable that the Salvation Society found a way to exploit such a loophole. The Church was originally the organization with the deepest research into that layer of barrier, and the Holy Lord of Salvation... was also originally the Church’s greatest traitor."
The priest paused, then said:
"So, can you understand why that one came here so impatiently?"
"...I can."
With some unknown emotion, Muen actually pulled the corners of his mouth apart and smiled like a puppet.
Understand?
Of course he could understand.
Several million delicious souls exposed outside, about to become completely unobstructed.
And a perfect scion vessel capable of containing His power without being blocked by the world barrier.
Combined, with an Evil God’s methods, who knew what enormous crisis could be brewed from them? It could even be said... to be the greatest crisis since that era a thousand years ago.
Of course He would come impatiently.
Who could give up an opportunity like this?
"Continuing the question from just now. Second, why would the Salvation Society do this? Don’t they equally hate Evil Gods? In terms of methods used against Evil God cultists, their extremity is no less than the Church’s, but..."
Sending food.
Sending a daughter.
And even considerately delivering both right to His mouth.
Was this something people who hated Him would do?
This was something only fanatics would do.
No, perhaps even if that one’s believers heard of this matter, they would burst into tears and sigh that they were inferior.
"Why the Salvation Society would do this, and what specific purpose they have, I do not know."
The priest shook his head again, his expression regretful.
If he really knew even something this secret, perhaps before all this had become inevitable, he could have done something, instead of strangely chatting with a young man at the end, after everything had already happened.
"But..."
The priest conveniently smashed several more living corpses’ heads apart and said:
"One of the reasons, I can guess."
"What?"
"Repaying the price."
"Repaying... the price?"
The words flowed into Muen’s ears.
As if they had finally hooked onto some thought of his, they once again made him sink into contemplation.
Only, before he had time to think deeply, more living corpses lunged over, and the priest could finally no longer clear them all by himself. Muen had no choice but to draw his blade and cut them all down.
But the number of living corpses still did not decrease. It was still increasing.
"Speaking of which... aren’t there too many cases of living-corpse transformation?" freёwebnoѵel.com
Just now, he had been too shocked by the Salvation Society’s insane actions to pay attention to anything else.
Only now did Muen realize that those corpses lunging over one after another were not the rare, low-probability cases of living-corpse transformation at all.
He lifted his head and looked into the distance.
A chill... suddenly made Muen shudder.
Because at some unknown point, corpse after corpse had risen from the ruins.
Some were covered in wounds. Some had half their bodies carbonized. Some could not even find all their own limbs.
But even so, they stood up like that, one after another... eerily rising to their feet.
"Dead... yet still not dead... just like living corpses."
"Could this be..."
A pass, a war, and... the frenzied hundreds of thousands of Kingdom troops flashed through Muen’s mind.
Although the order and characteristics differed somewhat, if one looked carefully, these living corpses were fundamentally no different from the Kingdom army controlled by the Salvation Society that time.
So, just like that time, this was...
"Arasax’s Red Shoes. It is probably that Ancient Magic again," the priest sighed.
"The Witch of Repentance?"
"Yes."
"But why would she do this? There are no enemies here anymore. Why would she still go to all this trouble to..."
"Didn’t I say it? Repaying the price."
"Don’t tell me..."
Muen thought of something.
Yet before he could react, the living corpses attacking him suddenly stopped moving.
All the living corpses stopped moving.
Then they raised their heads and looked up at the sky.
Their movements were extremely orderly, so orderly that it made one’s hair stand on end.
"Olive... my Olive..."
In Saint Haze Palace, Saint Peron V, seated within the central formation of the grand barrier, raised his head, his face full of intoxication.
"I did as you told me... According to what you said... this country... will surely soon move toward a bright future, right..."
"Yes."
There was no one around him, yet Saint Peron V seemed to have received such an answer.
"I see."
He smiled happily, as though he had already seen himself becoming the greatest sovereign of the Kingdom and leaving a heavy, brilliant stroke in the entire history of the Kingdom.
"Then I will begin."
"[Prayer]"
As Saint Peron V spoke, countless living corpses raised their heads, looked upward, and lifted both hands.
Their faces were intoxicated, their ragged lips opening and closing as they spat out cold, emotionless voices.
The world fell silent. Only their utterance echoed.
"[With our blood, our bones, our flesh, our souls, and all that we are]"
"[To the great ruler of spirit, the end of night, the eternal abyssal observer—the Lord of the Stars]"
"[We pray for a miracle to descend]"
Boom!
The star sea in the sky twisted.
And the city, reflecting the sky’s star sea, seemed to twist together with it.
Without the world barrier obstructing it, terrifying power descended violently upon Saint Haze Palace.
That enormous formation lit up, and with it as the center, a massive magic covered the entire city.
The faint sound of bells echoed by his ear. This time, without the timeline’s obstruction, Muen finally heard the warning from the Eternal Clock.
"So that is the Ancient Magic that split the timeline."
Muen watched all of this happen and suddenly understood, finally connecting the part that had puzzled him most.
"So the one driving this enormous Ancient Magic was not the Salvation Society..."
It was the Lord of the Stars.
