Chapter 258 - Paying the Price (4)

Ronan was right.

Sending Narva to Enkelmann wasn’t the only present Arthus had in store for Henry. He had sent the other eight apostles as well, those whom he himself had named individually, those that would serve him unconditionally and spread the glory of his name into the world.

Narva was just one of them. Arthus had ordered him to go to Enkelmann, which was the closest city to Charlotte Heights. That was why he had managed to wreak havoc faster than the other apostles.

However, Henry hadn’t realized this until he had faced the thousands of Chimeras and frozen the entirety of Enkelmann.

Everybody was distressed by Ronan’s theory. They didn’t know when and where Arthus’ ‘presents’ would show up and slaughter innocent people.

“Damn it! Everyone, prepare your movement spells!”

“Roger!”

Everyone aside from the few wizards who had passed out jumped to their feet and immediately gathered to cast a spell. They were casting an ultra-long-range teleportation gate.

‘We need to narrow down the list of cities!’

They didn’t know which cities were the next targets; the only thing they knew for certain was that Enkelmann had been the first target. However, they couldn’t figure out why Arthus had chosen that city specifically.

Henry suspected that he himself was the reason Arthus had chosen that city.

‘There’s no way he picked Enkelmann at random. He would’ve sent his monsters to places that stood in his way!’

Henry’s reasoning wasn’t wrong. He proceeded to think of a list of cities where Arthus might’ve sent his ‘presents’. However, there were too many cities for Henry to narrow down to just a few. Counting the free cities, special cities, as well as the kingdoms of the Allied Powers, the number of possible locations were already in the double digits.

The wizards had finished preparing the teleportation gate far quicker than Henry had expected.

Everyone looked at Henry, but he hesitated to give an order. If he made the wrong call and sent his forces in the wrong cities, the other ones would be destroyed.

Hela’s impatience got the better of her and shouted at Henry, “What are you waiting for?! I’m going to my home, Amaris!”

“Then we’ll go to Faesiling!”

“Then we’ll...!”

As Henry kept hesitating, the leaders of each nation, all extremely stressed out, cried out that they would be returning to their own countries, and Henry had no right to stop them.

“...Alright.”

Henry decided to be considerate of their own homes. With this, there were only Salgaera, the current capital, and the free cities that had made the agreement with the former capital.

Multiple teleportation gates were activated and each leader disappeared one by one. With this, only Henry and his party, which included the knights and the wizards, remained in Charlotte Heights.

Just then, the people of the Church of Peace and Herarion, who had been talking in private, returned. Henry explained the situation to them.

“No...!”

Herarion and Irenae were going to tell Henry about the fact that Janus had forsaken Herarion, but upon their return, they were faced with foreboding news.

It only made matters worse.

After hearing the news, Logger gritted his teeth, turned to Herarion, and said, “Your Majesty, I’m sorry, but I think it’s best to tell them what we’ve discussed after we figure this out.”

“A-alright.”

It was a shame, but there was no other choice. Whatever the case, they first had to put out the fire and then talk about what had caused it. Soon, the people of St. Hall disappeared into the teleportation gates, but Herarion remained.

Henry looked at Herarion and scratched the back of his head.

‘I don’t know what kind of creature did that to Enkelmann, but one thing is for sure. No ordinary creature could bring Enkelmann to such a state.’

Henry was concerned about how powerful Arthus’ ‘presents’ were, since Shahatra currently didn’t have a proper defense unit, except for Herarion and Viram. Thus, Henry decided to send Hector with Herarion.

“Hector.”

“Hm?”

“Go to Shahatra with His Majesty.”

“Okay.”

Without asking why, Hector disappeared through the teleportation gate with Herarion.

“And the rest of you...”

Henry thought for a moment and soon came to a decision. He assigned everyone where they should go.

“I know we’re tight on forces, but just hang in there.”

“Don’t worry too much.”

“Alright.”

Oong!

Henry teleported all the remaining knights, so the only people he still had to send somewhere were the Archmages, who were still conscious. He gave each of them orders.

Finally, Henry gathered all the unconscious Archmages and walked into the teleportation gate last.

Flash!

With a bright flash of light, there was no longer anyone left in Charlotte Heights.

...

But just then, amidst the piled-up corpses of the Chimeras, the head of a Chimera opened its eyes.

- Kheee...

The muffled howl of a surviving Chimera broke the eerie silence.

***

“W-what the hell...!”

“R-run!”

It was just as Ronan had predicted. Arthus had blessed Dracan’s masterpieces, the nine Chimeras that had survived the battle royal between the thirty Chimeras, with divine powers and made them his apostles, thus giving them a new life.

The apostles’ power was out of this world; they had received their physical prowess and knowledge from Dracan, whereas Arthus had blessed them with his power and his teachings.

In particular, Arthus had taught them about the power and prestige he would have as he reigned as the new god of the continent. Then, he had sent them to different regions to preach about his commandments.

Arthus had assigned nine regions to his nine apostles. Among them, Narva had been assigned to Enkelmann, and he had executed his task flawlessly.

All the cities, small and big, and the kingdoms were under attack: the free cities of Enkelmann and Vivaldi, the special cities of St. Hall and Faesiling, the Highlander capital, Amaris, Shahatra, Zipan, and the Sore Empire.

Three silhouettes emerged from a dazzling beam of light. They were none other than Saint Irenae and her two Sun Warriors, who always protected her; they had used Teleportation.

“This is...!”

Upon arriving in St. Hall, Irenae looked around and she was shocked to see that the Holy City was peaceful and quiet, just like it always had been.

As Irenae, Logger, and Ananda realized that there was nothing wrong in St. Hall, they patted their chests and sighed in relief.

Sounding genuinely relieved, Ananda said, “It looks like our St. Hall didn’t receive any presents from Arthus.”

“Yes, but... I think we should still keep our guard up, since we never know when Arthus is going to change his mind...”

“Sir Logger is right. We must go and tell the Pope about everything we’ve learned.”

Having made their decision, the three of them headed straight to the Pope.

Of course, the whole time they were heading to the Pope, they kept their eyes peeled for any dangers, but fortunately, nothing happened.

As soon as the three arrived at the Church of Peace, they immediately requested to see the Pope. They were the most powerful members of the holy community, so they were quickly granted permission to see the Pope.

As usual, he was having tea at the round table in his room.

Upon entering the Pope’s room, the three of them greeted him reverently.

“I, Saint Irenae, have come to see the Holy Father.”

“I, Paladin Logger, have come to see the Holy Father.”

“I, Monk Ananda, have come to see the Holy Father.”

“Come on in.”

The Pope, Ross Borgia I, was an old man around the age of ninety, with a wisdom that matched his old age.

Nonetheless, he still looked young for a ninety-year-old man. After all, he had made the Holy City of St. Hall the religious capital of two empires, granting him immense power that allowed him to lead an abundant life.

The Pope offered each of them a seat and some tea. He was the first to speak.

“So... Given your reports, have you dealt with Arthus, the former emperor, and now the

great evil

of the continent in the name of the Goddess?”

“Um... That’s what we’re here to talk about.”

“Go ahead, Saint Irenae. We have plenty of time.”

The Pope reassured the Saint with a gentle smile, which gave her enough courage to tell him everything that had happened.

When she was done explaining the situation, the Pope put down the cup of tea he was sipping and closed his eyes, and the others kept silent. His closing his eyes meant he was thinking deeply about something.

They didn’t have to wait for long. The Pope soon opened his eyes and chuckled.

“Haha, I see. Arthus has gained the divine power of the desert god...”

“It’s not confirmed yet, but we heard this from the man who used to possess Janus’ power, so it’s pretty much confirmed.”

“So you all rushed here just in case St. Hall was under attack?”

“That’s right.”

“I see. You did well. However, unlike what you all feared, nothing has happened to St. Hall, and even if Arthus did send such a

present

to our Holy City, what is there to be afraid of? We have so many Sun Warriors guarding the city.”

The Pope wasn’t worried because he had faith in his Sun Warriors, especially in the three that sat before him. Regardless of whether Arthus had gained divine powers, St. Hall had a large number of soldiers who also possessed divine powers.

“But... Pope, since nothing has happened to St. Hall, shouldn’t we be sending reinforcements to other regions that may be under attack?” asked Irenae.

“Reinforcements?”

“Yes, because if Arthus’ present is somehow related to Janus’ power, then we, the people of the Church of Peace, are the only ones who can fight against his power, given that we have the greatest faith on this continent.”

“Hmm, you do have a point, but... I don’t think that's a very good idea.”

“Pardon? What do you mean...?”

Irenae had realized how serious the situation was and suggested sending reinforcements to the other regions. However, even after listening to her briefing, the Pope had merely smiled in a different way and denied her request in a gentle tone.

The atmosphere immediately sank. Logger and Ananda focused on what the Pope was about to say to motivate his denying their request.

“Things are not looking so good at the moment. The current empire has put a random man on the throne as a puppet, and the so-called perfect plan of that wizard Henry has fallen apart, hasn’t it?”

“W-well, yes, but...!”

“And technically, this a fight between Arthus and Henry. It’s not our fight. While we were once forced to participate in the conquest of the continent out of fear of political reprisal from Arthus, the very foundation of our Church of Peace is

love and peace

, so I’d prefer us to avoid any more unnecessary bloodshed.”

“...”

The Pope’s tone was cold, but his argument was valid. Realistically, this was a fight between Arthus and Henry, so the Church of Peace had no reason to keep getting involved in their bloody vendetta.

“Of course, this could lead to our faithful believers getting attacked by Arthus, but... But we cannot sacrifice something great to prevent something small. Saint, we must be wise, especially in times like this.”

Irenae couldn’t argue against the Pope’s reasoning, so despite the pain in her heart, she couldn’t help but follow the Pope’s orders.

Like the Pope had said, it didn’t make sense for them to make big sacrifices when they wouldn’t gain anything.

“You all look very tired. Let’s talk more after the three of you are well rested.”

“...Alright.”

After ending the conversation, the Pope let them outside. As soon as the three of them left the room, the doorknob turned on its own and locked itself seemingly with magic.

In front of the lock, the air vibrated in a strange way, and an unfamiliar human figure started to materialize. After a few moments, a handsome young man, who was roughly one hundred and eighty centimeters tall, stood at the door.

He had black hair, red eyes, and wore a black uniform. Seeing the man, the Pope stood up and greeted him.

“Were you watching, Sir Palo?”

“Haha, of course. You’ve done a wonderful job at keeping your promise. I’m very pleased.”

“Of course, I’m a man of my word. I, too, take promises very seriously.”

“I understand. Then as I’ve promised, I will grant you the power of the great Arthus.”

Following a warm exchange, the two men came closer to each other. Palo raised his hands and cupped the Pope’s face.

Shhh-!

A purple glow lit up on the Pope’s face, and the wrinkles brought on by his ninety years of living vanished without a trace.

Palo removed his hands from the Pope’s face and brought him a mirror.

The Pope looked into the mirror and felt his smooth and young face. He was delighted.

“Indeed, this is the power of the great Arthus...!”

Seeing how excited the Pope was, Palo smiled and said, “Well, then, I look forward to working with you in the future, Pope Ross Borgia I.”

“Of course, I shall forever be a loyal follower of the great Arthus.”

Having completed their bargain, the two men shook hands and smiled at each other.