Ch. 183

The headquarters of the Diego Church.

A man was walking down an ever-dark corridor. With neat black hair, golden eyes, and thick frameless glasses, wearing ordinary priest's robes—he was the Seventh Apostle, Rawin.

Though Rawin appeared to have no particular expression on his face, he was walking deep in thought.

'Hmm, what method should I use?'

What had filled his mind for some time now was only thoughts about ways to make his one and only friend, the leader of the Kyros Church, Leviathan, repent.

Making Leviathan repent and ultimately making him part of the Diego Church was Rawin's current biggest goal.

But since no suitable method came to mind, he only continued to worry. It was the same when eating or performing other tasks. Because of the solution that wouldn't come to mind, Rawin had been worrying for days.

And that worry continued today as well. As he was walking down the corridor deep in thought...

A woman was walking from the opposite direction. With long green hair reaching her waist and soft brown eyes, she was walking with her gaze lowered as always.

Upon discovering her coming from the opposite direction, Rawin just gave a nod and passed by.

Then suddenly, Rawin turned his head.

'Beyond this way, there's only the First Apostle's office... Why did that woman come here?'

Questions arose in Rawin's eyes. Of course, it wasn't a problem for the Diego Church's 'Saintess' to go anywhere.

However, since only 'apostles' actually received missions from the First Apostle, there was no reason for the Saintess to visit the First Apostle.

'...I don't know what it's about this time, but.'

It probably wouldn't be a big problem. Thinking so, Rawin disappeared to the end of the corridor.

At that moment, the Saintess of the Diego Church, Emily Billion, had arrived in front of the First Apostle's office.

Soon, as if noticing her arrival, the office door opened by itself. The Saintess, Emily Billion, immediately entered inside.

No one was visible in the dark interior. But Emily naturally went inside and silently stared into the darkness.

Soon, a voice was heard from within the darkness.

"You've arrived, Saintess."

"Yes. You summoned me, First Apostle?"

When Emily answered, the First Apostle's silhouette appeared from within the darkness. His appearance was covered by a black robe and hood.

"A sacred mission has been bestowed upon the Saintess."

The First Apostle's lips curved up slightly. So faintly that no one could confirm it, not even Emily who stood before him.

"Yes, I will accept anything."

The First Apostle was satisfied with the Saintess's loyal answer and spoke.

"Within the near future, head to Holden Territory within the Herpheon Empire. And there, widely spread the will of Diego."

"I will follow the command of the great Lord Diego."

The First Apostle smiled more deeply at the Saintess's answer that came without a moment's hesitation.

***

"Brother, brother!"

Ivan called to Terdius sitting across from him with an excited face. Terdius swallowed the food brought from the temple and opened his mouth.

"Ivan, talk after you finish eating."

"Ugh, okay."

At Terdius's words, Ivan quickly finished the rest of his meal. Only after showing his empty bowl to Terdius could Ivan open his mouth.

"Can I talk now?"

"Yes."

At the finally given permission, Ivan's eyes sparkled. Then Ivan said with a bright smile.

"You know, brother. Let's pray to Lord Kyros together. There's a statue of Lord Kyros at the temple, and it's really cool!"

At some point, Ivan, who had become completely absorbed in the Kyros Church, went in and out of the temple every day. Because of this, he even urged Terdius to join him in religious activities like this.

"Alright. I understand."

Terdius answered with a faint smile. Then Ivan's expression brightened noticeably.

"Really? Really?"

"Yes."

"Yay! I'm so excited!"

Ivan jumped around, very happy. Terdius watched Ivan for a moment, then continued his meal.

After mealtime ended, Terdius put Ivan to bed.

Terdius watched Ivan, who had fallen asleep without fussing, for a moment, then rose.

Then he quietly left the house so as not to wake Ivan.

At a time when all of Rovel was deeply asleep, Terdius walked quickly through the night streets. Then he arrived at the Kyros Church temple.

The Kyros Church temple was always open, even in the dark night.

At a time closer to dawn than night, there were no believers in the Kyros Church temple today. So when Terdius entered the prayer room, he was left alone in the slightly dark space.

Terdius slowly walked and approached Kyros's statue. Then a statue that seemed alive came into view.

Terdius looked at Kyros's lifelike statue with slightly tense eyes.

Then the next moment, Terdius heard a voice that came only to him.

—So, are you ready?

The owner of the voice was Kyros.

It was not long ago that Kyros's voice had first reached Terdius.

The night Terdius had declared his intention to join the Kyros Church to Revelof...

When he was trying to sleep in the lodging Revelof had prepared, an unfamiliar voice rang in Terdius's mind.

—Interesting. You don't believe in me, yet you say such things to my child.

When he first heard that voice, Terdius naturally couldn't help but be surprised.

But he quickly assessed the situation and accepted it. There weren't many beings that could penetrate into his mind.

Especially since Terdius had been brainwashed by Diego, he could notice even faster what that being was.

So Terdius immediately realized that the being speaking to him was Kyros.

And Terdius was a little afraid of Kyros, but he didn't back down either.

"If I made you feel bad, I apologize. Because it may have looked like I was using the Kyros Church. But I didn't have many options available to me."

Even in conversation with a god, Terdius stated his opinion without being intimidated. Having already experienced Diego made this all the more possible.

And Kyros quite liked Terdius's attitude. Though that was Terdius's speculation.

Whatever his inner thoughts, as a result, Kyros gave Terdius an 'opportunity.' And that opportunity was what Terdius had been waiting for.

'The opportunity to repay my debt to Leviathan—no, Revelof Holden.'

Even now, after having his power confiscated by Diego, Terdius possessed strong power. Strong enough to be counted among the best within the Kyros Church temple.

But with the 'god's power' that had occupied part of his strength gone, Terdius couldn't help but feel powerless.

He had come to Revelof saying he would repay his debt, but he felt doubtful about whether he could properly repay his debt with just this level of power.

However, Kyros gave him an opportunity at just the right time, and Terdius had finally finished his preparations.

"Yes. I'm ready."

Terdius looked up at Kyros's statue with resolute eyes. Then Kyros's voice continued again.

—Truly, won't you regret it?

"...I have no regrets."

At Terdius's answer, Kyros responded with a slightly amused voice.

—Very well.

Right after Kyros's answer came, a bright light bloomed before Terdius.

Whoosh—

The shimmering golden light was a portal large enough for a person to enter.

Terdius looked at the golden portal for a moment. Then soon, without a moment's hesitation, he boldly stepped into the portal.

Terdius's figure instantly disappeared from the prayer room.

The next moment, where Terdius appeared was a completely different space from the temple's prayer room.

"Gasp—"

As soon as Terdius opened his eyes, he gasped for air with difficulty. This place had absurdly little oxygen.

That wasn't all. The space visible before his eyes felt as if it wasn't of this world.

The sky was red like blood in some places and darkly stained in others. And the land spread below was dry and cracked earth.

In the wide cracked land, there were places where constantly erupting lava flowed, and places where unextinguishable flames burned.

Terdius keenly surveyed his surroundings while breathing with difficulty. It was right at that moment.

"Grrr—"

"Grr—"

Low growling sounds of monsters were heard nearby. Terdius immediately noticed their presence. And he drew his sword from the scabbard at his waist.

Shing—

Having somewhat regulated his breathing, Terdius continued breathing lowly.

Tap—

Soon Terdius lightly kicked off the ground and leaped up.

***

Early dawn, I woke up. Usually I woke up around six in the morning, but today was even earlier than that.

'Four in the morning...'

I let out a low sigh and got out of bed. Then I washed my face lightly and fell into thought.

'This is different from usual.'

I hadn't woken up at this time because someone woke me. Rather, it was because of the notification sound of a system message.

'It's been quiet whenever I was sleeping.'

Was it because the type of message this time was special? I thought I might have seen the message content wrong, so I checked it again.

But I had seen correctly.

'...Really.'

Having finished preparing for the day, I quickly left the temple building. Then I moved my feet to find 'that guy.'

But then I saw a bright light from the direction of the prayer room. I immediately turned my gaze.

The golden light disappeared in an instant, but I could recognize that something had happened there.

'This isn't an ordinary matter.'

Moreover, the prayer room at this time should have been completely empty. Of course, there were occasionally believers who visited at this time, but there had been no such occurrences in the past few months.

I quickly headed to the prayer room. And I immediately opened the closed prayer room door.

Boom—

As soon as I did, I could find that guy.

"...Brother Terdius."

Terdius was walking with difficulty, supporting himself with his scabbard. He was in a state with minor wounds all over his body, and blood was flowing from his abdomen.

But Terdius himself was looking at me with a faint smile.

Only then did I properly understand the system message that had come to me.

['Terdius Austin' has completed 'Kyros's Trial.']

[From now on, 'Terdius Austin' is a 'Holy Knight of the Kyros Church.']

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