Chapter 246: The Blooming Flower of Malice (3)

“I’m almost there.” The Mercenary King paused for a breath, surveying the road ahead. At that very moment, he was making his way toward the heart of the Ferderica’s Church.

The journey from the Mercenary Guild to Ferderica’s holy land was no short distance. Yet he was here, traveling alone and in haste, without a single subordinate in tow. This wasn’t a planned mission, nor was it something he’d had time to prepare for. It was a sudden impulse, an urgent decision.

The reason he was heading to the holy land was simple. News had reached him that Ferderica themselves had delivered a divine revelation and seized Ketal, bringing him to the holy land. The Mercenary King owed Ketal his life. If not for Ketal, he would have been slain by a dragon. He was alive because of that man, and now he intended to repay that debt, whatever it took.

Something is deeply wrong,

he thought.

How could Ketal be branded as a heretic, a sinner against the revelation?

Ketal possessed the strength of a Hero, a warrior who had toyed with even the mightiest dragons. Although the Mercenary King had blacked out after that, from what little he remembered and what he’d heard, Ketal had even triumphed over that monstrous woman who had appeared later. There was hardly a soul on the continent with such overwhelming strength.

Yet now, somehow, Ketal had been condemned as the Sinner of Revelation. It made no sense.

The Mercenary King had already sent his apologies, but he felt that wasn’t enough. So, he had set out himself, heading directly for Ferderica’s holy land, determined to plead for Ketal’s life—no matter the risk, no matter the cost. Even if it was unlikely, given that the god themselves had intervened, he could not simply stand by and watch Ketal die.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason he was coming here. He had another purpose, another task that weighed on his mind. However, above all else, he wanted to save Ketal. With that resolve, he pushed his body to its limits. As a highest-level Transcendent, the landscape blurred past him in an instant.

Please, let it not be too late,

he prayed. He had rushed over as soon as he received the news, but days had passed already. Now, as he crested the final hill, Ferderica’s holy land came into view at last.

The Mercenary King reached the summit and stopped dead in his tracks.

“What...?”

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

A deep frown crossed his face as he stared down at the holy land. He was seeing something impossible, something no mortal should ever witness.

“W-what on earth...?”

***

“Oh! Bloodedge!” Ketal called out the moment he arrived. Ketal beamed, his face lit with joy. “It’s good to see you again! How have you been?”

“I... I’ve been well,” the Mercenary King replied, still stunned.

“What brings you here?” Ketal asked him, smiling as if nothing in the world could faze him.

The Mercenary King hesitated, then answered quietly, “I heard you’d been taken as the Sinner of Revelation, so I came to help.”

Ketal’s eyes sparkled with gratitude. “You traveled all this way for me? Truly, thank you.”

Ketal clapped him warmly on the shoulder. To come himself, simply because they had once fought side by side; that was the stuff of fantasy legends, the kind of loyalty people sang of in old ballads. Ketal’s warm welcome only deepened the Mercenary King’s confusion.

Here stood Ketal, accused of heresy by a god, dragged to the holy land by force, yet he moved and spoke with confidence, as if nothing had changed. However, that wasn’t even the strangest part.

“How... how did this happen?” the Mercenary King muttered, looking around the holy land in disbelief.

The holy land was destroyed. Its outer walls had been reduced to rubble, and the buildings within were nothing but shattered shells. It was as if a storm of ruin had swept through, leaving only devastation behind.

The damage didn’t stop at the buildings. The land itself had rotted, its fertility drained away. The soil was blackened and dead, and it would take decades, if not centuries, for it to recover.

Most shocking of all, the Mercenary King sensed nothing. He had visited the holy land before, as a guest of honor, and every time he’d felt the overwhelming presence of divinity, an invisible weight pressing down from above, a sense of being watched by something far beyond human understanding. The whole holy land used to feel imbued with the god’s grace.

Now, there was nothing. It was just ordinary earth, stripped bare of all divinity.

“Is this really the holy land? What happened here?” the Mercenary King asked him.

Ketal shrugged, as if the answer were obvious. “There was an incident.”

“An incident?” The Mercenary King repeated the word, trying to process what he was seeing.

He then noticed the eyes of the faithful, peering at them from the shadows. The followers of Ferderica watched the two of them with a mixture of emotions: fear, resentment, suspicion, and a strange, persistent dread. However, it wasn’t the hatred or righteous outrage one might expect toward a heretic. Their feelings were tangled and conflicted.

At that moment, Riltara spoke up quietly. “We shouldn’t discuss this here. Please, come with me.”

“Thank you,” the Mercenary King said, grateful for any kind of guidance.

Riltara led them into a small, hastily built structure, hardly more than a shack. Yet it was the only building with a roof left standing in the whole compound. The Mercenary King entered, his expression a mixture of disbelief and fatigue.

“Was Ferderica’s holy land always like this?” he asked Ketal, half-joking. Perhaps, as the God of Hunger, Ferderica’s holy land had always been so ruined.

Ketal let out a hearty laugh. “No, not at all.”

“I see...” the Mercenary King replied, his nerves only slightly eased. “So... what happened after the dragon quest? Did the Wandering Merchant reward you properly?”

“I got everything I was promised,” Ketal replied. “I actually wanted to talk more with you all, but the Merchant sent you away before I could.”

“Did you fight that woman?” the Mercenary King asked him, voice tense.

“I did.” Ketal nodded, his eyes serious.“It was the Elder Dragon, Ignisia.”

“An Elder Dragon,” the Mercenary King breathed, rubbing his forehead. He didn’t seem shocked, more resigned, almost as if he’d expected it.

Only a true Elder Dragon could so completely conceal her identity, transform her appearance, and lull everyone to sleep with a single word. No other creature fit the profile.

So this barbarian really did fight an Elder Dragonragon... and survived?

The Mercenary King looked at Ketal with awe, unable to hide his amazement.

However, that wasn’t the most pressing concern. There was a bigger, more immediate problem at hand.

“How... how did this happen?” he finally asked, unable to hold the question back any longer.

Ketal launched into a concise explanation, summarizing everything that had transpired. When Ketal finished, the Mercenary King was left speechless, his mouth hanging open.

“No way... Are you serious?”

“There’s no reason for me to lie to you,” Ketal replied simply.

The Mercenary King clutched his head, trying to process the enormity of what he’d just heard.

“So... you’re telling me that Ferderica themselves appeared, intending to kill you, and not only did you survive, but you fought them off and even struck back?”

Ketal nodded. “It took everything I had. Since then, I can’t sense their presence anymore. I imagine it will be a long time before they can manifest in the world again.”

The Mercenary King stared at Ketal, at a total loss for words. It was an impossible story, something no sane person could accept. Yet, Ketal had said it so plainly, so honestly. It left no room for doubt. For a long moment, he sat there, silent and dazed. Finally, he managed to pull himself together.

“Ketal, you must never tell anyone about this. No one at all,” the Mercenary King said.

This was a truth that had to be buried forever. If word got out that a mortal had battled and defeated a god, every religious order would hunt Ketal down. It would be blasphemy of the highest order—an act that could not be forgiven. The very existence of the gods depended on their inviolable supremacy. If that image was shattered, the whole continent would turn against Ketal, determined to erase him from the world, whatever the cost.

At least there was some comfort: Ferderica’s followers would never spread such a shameful tale to outsiders. As long as Ketal and the Mercenary King kept quiet, there should be no trouble.

Ketal nodded without hesitation. “I have no desire to brag about it.”

The Mercenary King let out a shaky sigh of relief. “So... does this mean they can’t use divinity anymore?”

“It seems so,” Ketal replied.

The Mercenary King fell silent. For all intents and purposes, the entire Ferderica’s Church had been destroyed. Perhaps, as Ketal suggested, their divine power would someday return, but there was no telling how long that would take.

“What on earth is happening? This can only mean good news for the demons,” he said bitterly.

With Ferderica unable to intervene in the Mortal Realm, the demons would rejoice. They would have one less enemy to fear. However, for Ketal, it was just another complication.

“If they didn’t want that, they should have left me alone,” Ketal said quietly.

“I suppose you’re right,” the Mercenary King replied, gulping hard. He shook his head, as if trying to drive away the unpleasant thoughts. “At least you’re safe. That’s all that matters.”

“Yes. Thank you for coming to help.”

The main crisis had resolved itself, but the Mercenary King found no joy in the outcome. He shook his head and muttered, “Now I’ll have to find another place to go. Who would have guessed they’d lose their divinity... What a mess.”

Ketal caught the odd note in his voice and asked him, “Was there another reason you came here?”

“There was,” the Mercenary King said. While rescuing Ketal was important, he had also hoped to enlist the church’s help. He explained, “A demon has consumed another holy land.”

“Oh?” Ketal’s eyes sharpened with interest. “What exactly happened?”

The Mercenary King gave a terse report. A demon had descended, seemingly out of nowhere, attacking a different holy land. The demon had devoured everything, including land, buildings, and the faith itself. The holy land had become its own domain. They would have to act, and quickly. Ketal stroked his chin, thinking.

Is it like what happened at Kalosia’s holy land?

he wondered. Back then, the demon had been defeated because of Ketal’s intervention, but it sounded as though this time, the demon had succeeded, seizing the sanctuary and corrupting it.

“I was hoping to enlist their help, since it’s a demon, but... I suppose that’s impossible now,” the Mercenary King said with a sigh.

Ketal’s curiosity only grew.

I want to see it for myself,

he thought. He had never seen a demon that had succeeded in consuming a holy land before. However, he forced himself to focus. There was something more pressing to deal with: mastering Myst. He could put it off no longer.

Or... perhaps not,

Ketal realized. He looked at the Mercenary King, a formidable Transcendent who wielded Myst with ease—someone who might be able to teach him.

“Do you have any information about the demon?” Ketal asked him

“Nothing. The holy land was destroyed overnight. There were no survivors. We’ll have to investigate in person.”

“I see.” Ketal’s eyes glinted with interest.

“Are you going alone?” he asked him.

“No. Since this is a crisis, many people will gather to fight the demons. Followers of other gods will probably come as well,” the Mercenary King explained. “An Elder from the Earth Goddess’s Church has promised to come. There will likely be a few mercenaries too. A Transcendent mage from the Mage Tower will also be joining us. I’m a bit late to the scene because I came here to help you. Most of the others have probably already arrived.”

“Is that so?” Ketal said, his interest intensifying.

The Mercenary King went on, listing names. At one, Ketal’s eyes widened.

“Swordmaster Kain will be there, too.”

“Kain?” Ketal repeated, stunned.

“You know him?” the Mercenary King asked him.

“You mean Kain, Swordmaster of the Kingdom of Gehentra?” Ketal asked him, surprised.

“That’s right. How do you know him?” The Mercenary King was clearly curious.

Ketal could never forget Kain, as he was the first Transcendent he’d ever met. He was also the one who had first taught him about Myst.

Ketal murmured, almost to himself, “So he’s coming, too?”

“Yes. I should go and join the others soon. I’m glad you’re safe, but what will you do now?” the Mercenary King asked him

Ketal grinned, as if the whole world had just fallen into place. “I have nothing urgent to do. In fact, this is perfect timing.”

“Perfect timing?” the Mercenary King echoed.

“Yes. A demon dares to claim a god’s holy land? I can’t let that stand!”

“Uh, well...” For a moment, the Mercenary King was left speechless. Without realizing it, he found himself gazing at Ferderica’s holy land where the god’s presence had vanished. Of course, Ketal had acted in self-defense, but the Mercenary King couldn’t help but feel a strange mix of emotions.

Ketal, for his part, was all smiles. “Such wickedness has no place in this world.”

This was the chance of a lifetime—to master Myst, fight a demon, reunite with old allies, and cross blades with legends. It was an opportunity to seize not one, but two—no, four—destinies at once.

“So, would it be all right if I joined you?” Ketal asked him, eyes bright.

“Huh?” The Mercenary King could only stare, round-eyed, as Ketal’s laughter filled the tiny room.