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Chapter 259 - Paying the Price (5)

“Who are you? Identify yourself!”

The gatekeepers of both regions asked them the same thing, and the apostles complied with their requests.

“My name is Cann.”

“My name is Lydkan.”

“I’ve come to preach the commandments of Sir Arthus, the great continental god.”

Arthus’ commandments.

The apostles were essentially acting as missionaries, trying to convert everyone to Arthus’ ideology and beliefs. However, Cann and Lydkan didn’t have identity tags on them to prove who they were, so naturally, the gatekeepers responded with scornful laughter.

The gatekeepers of Zipan and the Sore Empire kept true to their duties.

“I can’t let you in if you don’t have an identity tag.”

It was a natural reaction to which the two apostles reacted differently.

First, Cann said, “That’s strange... Why wouldn’t you want to learn about the great Arthus?” He cocked his head and looked at the gatekeeper as if they had made the dumbest decision imaginable.

On the other hand, Lydkan said, “As expected, it was just like Sir Dracan has said. They’re a bunch of ignorant swine, so all the more reason to teach them a lesson.”

Lydkan was even more motivated to convert them.

The two apostles reacted differently, but they ultimately made the same decision. They had received orders from Arthus, and they had to fulfill them. They were also powerful enough to do that.

Cann and Lydkan said, “Rejecting the teachings and being ignorant... That is your sin.”

Boom!

With a single blow, the two apostles broke down the firmly closed gates of each respective kingdom.

***

With a fleeting bright light, the three highest commanders of Faesiling, namely Allen, Walker, and Masila, emerged in the Mercenary City.

They arrived in front of Faesiling’s city hall, since that was where Allen and Masila would deal with public affairs.

However, shortly after arriving at the city hall, their jaws dropped at the unbelievable sight before them. There was a mountain of corpses piled up, larger than the city hall itself, oozing blood and emanating a nauseating stench.

It looked like the giant corpses of the Chimera army, and the shock that this brought was overwhelming.

As Allen froze at the gruesome pile of death and decay, an unfamiliar voice rang in everyone’s ears.

“Oh, you\'re here?”

“...!”

As an unfamiliar voice called out to them, seemingly from the top of the corpse mound, Allen quickly came to his senses.

Perched on top of the mound of corpses was a strange man in uniform with golden hair like that of a lion’s mane.

“Hi.”

The man waved nonchalantly and wore a casual smile.

Allen couldn’t help but chuckle at the man’s relaxed attitude.

Thud!

The man jumped off the mountain of corpses, and despite how tall the pile was, he landed softly like a cat. He brushed off the dust from his clothes, then extended his hand to Allen and said, “Nice to meet you. What’s your name?”

The mysterious man wore white gloves that matched his formal attire. It seemed like he didn’t know who Allen was.

The Mercenary King raised one eyebrow and scoffed again. He didn’t shake the man’s hand because he reeked of blood. He instead asked, “That thing over there by the city hall, is that your doing?”

“Yes, I did that.”

“Why?”

“They didn’t have any faith, so not even Arthus’ teachings would work on them. Thus, I took away the meaning of their lives.”

“The meaning of their lives... I see.”

When that filthy name, Arthus, left the man’s lips, Allen thought he would explode. However, he did his absolute best to maintain the last bit of composure he still had left in him.

Allen then turned around to Walker and Masila, who were standing behind him, and said, “Walker.”

“Yes.”

“Protect Masila, and if, just if, something happens to me, immediately go find the Archmage with her.”

“...Alright.”

“Allen! What are you talking about?!”

Allen left Masila in Walker’s care.

Masila looked surprised and tried to protest to Allen’s decision, but unfortunately, the librarian didn’t have the power to disobey her king’s order.

“Masila,” Allen called out.

“Y-yes?”

Masila, who was struggling to accept the order, was rather flustered when Allen called out her name in a calm voice.

“Nothing’s going to happen, so just stay hidden for a while, just like you always did.”

“Allen...!”

“I’ll leave it to you, Walker.”

“Yes, sir.”

After Allen reiterated his instructions, Walker lifted Masila on his shoulder and fled. With that, Allen turned back to the man and faced him once again.

“What did you just do?” asked the man.

“What I always do. Shall we continue the conversation from where we left off?”

“Continue the conversation, huh... You look like you want to rip my head off, so I find it hard to believe that you wish to simply discuss.”

“Body language is a form of communication. Anyway, you’re the gift that Arthus was talking about, right?”

“That’s right. However, if you continue uttering Sir Arthus’ name with such disrespect, I shall inflict divine punishment upon you, so watch yourself.”

Whoosh!

At the man’s warning, Allen immediately drew his magic sword, the Vasilipo. Then with a broad and condescending smile, Allen spat, “Fuck Arthus.”

“Ha?”

Swoosh!

A hot current of air swept outward from the man, dispersing in all directions. The man’s eyes widened so much that they seemed twice as big as before. His smile vanished and he was glaring at Allen with a killing intent.

“I dare you to spew such blasphemy one more time! What did you just say?”

“You didn’t hear me? I’ll tell you again then. Fuck... Arthus...”

At the man’s request, Allen repeated the insult slowly, putting emphasis on each word. With this, the man’s face contorted in fury; he gathered all his strength and swung a fist at Allen’s face, the vicious impact sending him flying into a random building.

Boom!

The building collapsed as soon as Allen crashed into it, burying him like in a tomb.

Crack, crack.

However, the man’s fury didn’t subside because he could still feel Allen’s life force from within the pile of rubble.

“Judging by your nasty will to survive, you must be Allen, the leader of Faesiling.”

The man’s tone changed from a casual, slightly pleasant one, to one of arrogance and disdain. He was now talking to someone whom he considered inferior.

“My name is Zion, and I am one of Sir Arthus’ nine apostles. It seems that you don’t have a single drop of faith in you.”

Apostle Zion finally introduced himself. He now seemed like a maniac; his murderous aura was so intense that he looked like he wanted to obliterate Allen completely.

But just then...

Crumble- Crack-!

The ruins of the collapsed building started to shake, and eventually, all the rubble was knocked into the air as Allen emerged to the surface.

“Zion, huh...”

Zion’s destructive punch would’ve disfigured an ordinary person, probably even killed them, but Allen seemed to be unharmed; he merely had some dust on him.

“He’s a funny guy, isn’t he? First a grand duke, then an emperor, and now he’s pretending to be a god?”

“He’s not pretending. He’s the one and only god to rule over this continent.”

“What a joke!”

Allen spat on the ground, and there was a little bit of blood mixed with his spit.

‘Did he say he was an apostle? I don’t know who the hell he is, but Arthus’ got a hell of a man working for him.’

Allen didn’t think the blow from earlier was Zion’s true strength, but that didn’t mean Allen wasn’t confident.

Zion had already committed an unforgivable sin, so Allen had no intention of forgiving him. After readjusting his grip on the Vasilipo, Allen called out, “Then prove to me that Arthus isn’t a piece of shit!”

Zion swept back his golden hair and smirked. Then with a terrifying expression, he warned, “I don’t know if it\'s because all mercenaries are idiots, but you’re one hell of an ignorant guy. I’ll make sure you spend the last moments of your life repenting for your transgression.”

“As you wish.”

Flash!

In the blink of an eye, Zion vanished and reappeared right in front of Allen, smiling.

“Hello,” Zion whispered.

Pow-!

Zion punched Allen in the chest.

***

“This is great...!”

Arthus was bathing in a marble bathtub. However, it wasn’t water that filled the bathtub, but blood, freshly drained from humans, its metallic scent filling the air.

As Arthus was bathing in the fresh blood, he had an intense look of satisfaction on his face. He looked as gleeful as a woman drunk on wine.

“I’m glad you like it, Your Majesty.”

“Haha, Dracan, how long are you going to keep calling me Your Majesty? I’m done playing the emperor, so just call me Sir Arthus from now on.”

“I apologize. I already knew that, but it seems like it became a habit of mine in that short period of time.”

“I guess that can happen. Anyway, I’m glad to see that the apostles are doing a good job. I can feel their faith increasing as time goes on.”

“Congratulations, Sir Arthus.”

Arthus smiled, even more satisfied by the divine power that flowed within him.

Divine power was simply the power that a god possessed through the faith of his followers. From that faith, the god chose a representative from among the humans and lent them his own divine power.

Arthus had become Janus’ chosen one.

Originally, Herarion should’ve been Janus’ sole worshiper, but generations of false offerings and unambitious kings of the Khan dynasty had left Janus deeply disappointed. Thus, the god of death and night had decided to give Arthus a chance, since he had coveted his power for a long time.

However, because Janus hadn’t had the chance to meet Arthus in person, he couldn’t do anything.

Until one day, when he realized that Arthus had entered his temple through Selene, the queen of Khan, Janus decided not to lose this opportunity as Arthus was present during the ritual.

Janus infiltrated Arthus’ mind which was connected to Selene’s. He then imprinted his blessing, the divine mark, on Arthus’ eyes.

The divine mark soon became a divine object, which in turn became a channel of communication between Janus and Arthus.

Just like that, Janus finally managed to gain a new follower he so desperately wanted. The follower was Arthus, out of all people, someone Janus was very satisfied with.

However, this didn’t mean that Janus had favored Arthus from the start. He had simply given Arthus the same chance he had given Herarion’s family, and Arthus had proven himself far worthier than Herarion with his false offerings and unambitious nature.

Janus was greatly pleased, and so his favor for Arthus grew more and more until he completely dedicated himself to Arthus.

As a result, Herarion had lost Janus’ blessing and divine power. Along with that came the loss of the divine object, which meant that Herarion could no longer wield the power of death.

On the other hand, Arthus’ divine powers were growing stronger by the day.

He had earned the power of death, such as stripping someone of their right to die, as well as other powers that only a god could possess, such as the ability to travel through space and ignore any physical attacks from his opponents.

“Divine power... is the best...!”

However, Arthus was not completely satisfied. To gain more power from Janus, Arthus continuously worked towards fulfilling Janus’ wishes, as well as his own goals.

There was no end to his ambition. He would strive to achieve everything he wanted, even if it meant destroying all life on the continent.

Arthus grew more and more drunk on his divine power.