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Chapter 285 - Nephram (4)

The hunt had been carried out by imperial wizards, knights, and the holy warriors of the Church of Peace. The latter were obviously the most eager to destroy all remnants of black magic.

The rules of the Church and the Pope’s orders had been part of the reason they had frantically hunted down those who used black magic, but it was their own faith that had spurred them the most.

The holy warriors had been especially eager to hunt down Warlocks because they also possessed divine powers.

Unlike the wizards that used black magic and necromancers, who simply relied on magic, the crimes committed by the Warlocks were on a different level; they could bring the power of the Demon God into the mortal world.

Henry hadn’t been aware that some Warlocks had been eliminated long before the campaign of annihilating them had begun. He also hadn’t expected Pope Ross, out of all people, to hide the Warlocks he had been so adamant about killing.

“Coexistence, huh...?”

“That’s right.”

Hoosler was trembling in fear, which was why Henry was certain that he wasn’t lying, but even so, he was in disbelief.

“Sword on.”

Henry’s face contorted with rage.

He unsheathed his Colt Sword and pointed the blade toward the Messiah of the Church of Nephram, who was still on the ground with his eyes closed.

“If you’re lying to me to avoid death, then...”

Drip.

Henry made a small slit on the Messiah’s neck with the tip of his sword, drawing a drop of blood.

“...I will never forgive you.”

“I-I’m not lying! I’m telling the truth! I-I also don’t understand why Pope Ross would send you to us at all!”

As blood trickled down the Messiah’s neck, Hoosler rubbed his hands together, crying and begging as though his own grandson had been wounded. His distress made his words sound authentic, but the more genuine he seemed, the more shocked Henry was.

‘The greatest religious organization on the continent has a symbiotic relationship with Warlocks, who worship the Demon God? What the fuck is this?!’

Boom!

Henry couldn’t contain his anger any longer. He unleashed a sword strike at the temple, which was partly submerged in the ground, causing it to collapse.

Thud! Rumble!

The rumble of the collapsing temple echoed throughout the area, but even after it fell completely, Henry was just as angry.

‘If this is true, that damned Pope is...!’

If Hoosler was telling the truth, what the Pope had done was unforgivable. If that was indeed true, Ross had to be denounced as a heretic, put on trial, and burned at the stake at the very least.

‘But wait a minute...’

His mind was filled with fury and different ways of punishing that bastard, but he suddenly thought of a question with the little bit of reason he still had left in him.

‘What is a Messiah exactly?’

This was the first time Henry heard that word. He had killed countless Warlocks in his life, but he had never met or even heard of one that was called Messiah.

Henry turned his head and looked down at the boy Hoosler called Messiah. He was just a kid, roughly around Howl’s age.

“Hoosler,” said Henry.

“Yes!”

“So you’re the leader of the Church of Nephram, and this boy is the Messiah?”

“That’s right!”

“Alright, I know what a religious leader is, but what is a Messiah?”

“That’s...!”

Hoosler made a face as if he had been dreading the moment Henry asked this question. Panic overtook him as he broke out in a cold sweat.

Henry pointed his sword at the Messiah again.

“You’re not going to speak, huh?”

“H-he is the savior of the world!”

“Savior of the world? Is that what Messiah means?”

“T-what’s right! We’re an organization that believes in the Demon King, the ruler of the Demon Realm. The Messiah is the Demon King’s chosen one, the only one who can save us Warlocks.”

“Savior, as in... a saint?”

“Sorry?”

“Isn’t that the same as a saint?”

Certainly, by Hoosler’s explanation, those two roles definitely sounded similar. If the Church of Peace had a saint, the Church of Nephram had a Messiah.

However, there was a big difference between the two. Within the Church of Peace, a saint was below the Pope, whereas in the Church of Nephram, the Messiah was essentially above the leader of the church.

‘Just what is he?’

Henry stared at this Messiah skeptically. He had already seen what saints were capable of, but this boy had to be special, incredibly powerful. Why else would this elderly Warlock, the leader of the Church of Nephram, beg him to save the boy?

“What does the Messiah do?” asked Henry.

“T-that’s...!”

“Ahem!

“Uhm... He will bring about the descent of the Demon King!”

“...What?”

Henry couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

The Demon God watched over the Demon Realm, but that was it. They couldn\'t directly intervene in anything. However, the Demon King was different.

The Demon King was an unparalleled being who literally ruled over the entire demonic race, including the demonic beasts Henry had seen on the continent.

Henry also had a reputation for being the greatest Demon King slayer on the continent, having defeated the Demon King multiple times as it kept coming back to life here and there.

Henry despised the Demon King. After all, he had cast that damned curse which had cut short Golden Jackon’s life.

‘We wouldn’t even be in this mess if it hadn’t been for him!’

In a way, the Demon King was to blame for all of this. Golden had died prematurely because the Demon King had cursed him in his dying moments. Because of that, Silver Jackson, his incompetent son, took over the throne. Then, Arthus took advantage of a weakened empire to slander the State Contributors to death.

Thus, the Demon King had essentially started all of this.

Right after Henry defeated the Demon King, he tried to seal off the Demon Realm Gap located in the first district of the Demonic Beast Forest. He wanted to prevent the Demon King from emerging again and causing more tragedies.

However, Henry hadn’t yet awakened the 8th-Circle at that time, so he couldn’t close off the gap between the two dimensions, or rather, he didn’t know how. He hadn’t been able to discover the method to seal it off.

For that reason, Henry had given up on sealing the gap and instead built the Caliburn Fortress to keep the Demonic Beast Forest in check.

However, not too long ago, Iselan had given Henry the terrible news that a new Demon King would soon be born...

“What... Did you just say?”

“T-to bring the Demon King into this world—that is the mission of the Messiah...”

The mission of the Saint of the Church of Peace, Irenae, was to pray for the peace of the continent and spread love. In stark contrast, this Messiah’s mission was to bring a new Demon King into the world.

The rise of a new Demon King to rule the world of humans meant salvation for the Warlocks.

Henry closed his eyes at Hoosler’s sincere answer. He was silent for a while, and when he finally opened his eyes, he looked at Hoosler and said out loud, “So this Messiah will bring the Demon King into our world, the Pope has kept his existence a secret, and the Church of Peace allows the Church of Nephram to exist...”

The situation was rather straightforward. Henry resumed all the facts that fit together perfectly like the pieces of a puzzle.

“Ross, you fucking...!”

Rumble...!

After reaching the harsh conclusion, Henry released a foggy emerald-colored Aura as his rage reached its peak.

“How dare you stab me in the back like this?!”

Henry had unwittingly amplified his voice with magic, causing it to resound throughout the now-empty area, dust and dirt swirling around him.

Hoosler, who was right in front of Henry, covered his ears and begged, “P-please let me live!”

He was trembling in terror, both of his ears bleeding. However, Henry’s rage didn’t seem to abate one bit. It took him a few good minutes to slightly calm down.

He grabbed his hair and shouted, “SHIT!”

No matter how he looked at it, Henry couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation as to why the Pope had allowed the Nephrams to continue existing. He was intentionally letting the Nephrams summon the Demon King so that the Church of Peace would demonstrate its supremacy by defeating him.

But even if that was the Pope’s intention, which Henry suspected it was, why had he sent him here?

Henry couldn’t wrap his head around that.

‘I’m sure he knows how strong I am, so why?’

Henry was widely known as the only 7th-Circle Archmage and the only magic swordsman on the continent. Thus, knowing that, why had the Pope exposed his weakness, the Church of Nephram, to Henry, knowing that he was powerful enough to intervene in his plans?

A calculated individual like Pope Ross surely wouldn’t do something like that.

‘Did he actually think that I would die here?’

Henry had also thought of that possibility, but quickly refuted it. He didn’t think that Pope Ross would be stupid enough to assume that he would be defeated here.

After racking his brains for a while, Henry turned to Hoosler.

“Hoosler.”

“Y-yes?!”

“Other than that well, the barrier that disrupts mana, the skeleton soldiers, the Death Knights, and your suicide attack, are there any other traps or dangers I should know about?”

“Dangers... Actually, the soil where the temple was built on, many animals have been buried there, so that soil is highly contaminated. Even staying there for a short period of time is enough to poison and kill a normal person.”

“Poison? But you’re fine.”

“Well, we Warlocks borrow the power of demons to withstand this kind of poison, so...”

Henry held up his hand and silenced Hoosler; he was already sick of hearing about their practices.

Given what he had learnt from Hoosler, Henry realized that any normal Archmage or Sword Master would’ve certainly died here.

Henry let out a deep sigh, exasperated. He still couldn’t believe what was going on. He then turned his attention to the Messiah, who was still on the floor.

“Wake him up,” Henry demanded.

“H-huh? Bu-but the Messiah has been praying to the Demon God for a very long time now, and I can’t wake him up. It’s beyond my capabilities as the leader of the church. I’m a mere mortal.”

“What does that mean?”

“That’s...” Hoosler hesitated to answer Henry\'s question again.

Henry frowned. It was clear that Hoosler was one of those idiots who weren’t persuaded by fear alone.

With his last sliver of patience gone, Henry bluntly said, “Nevermind, I was stupid for asking in the first place. However, one thing is clear. If this guy sleeping over here will be responsible for the emergence of a new Demon King, that just means that I have to get rid of him now. That will solve everything.”

“W-wait!”

“Goodbye.”

Henry quickly raised his sword and swung it without hesitation at the Messiah, who was still sleeping soundly, unaware of his executioner.

Slice!

Blood spurted from the boy’s flesh, and within seconds, his breathing stopped.

Seeing this, Hoosler fell into despair.

“N... NOOOO!!”

“This is the end of the Church of Nephram and yours as well!”

After confirming that the Messiah was dead, Henry turned and pointed his sword at Hoosler.

“I’ll spare you since I’m sure you still have a lot of work to do for me. Oh, and don’t try to kill yourself again because I’ll just bring you back to life again and again.”

Normally, this would sound reassuring, but Henry’s promise to keep Hoosler alive no matter what came off as terrifying.