Chapter 429: The Power of the Sun (3)

“Th-The Platinum Dragon...?!”

“Yurin, step back. This is no longer a matter you should be involved in.”

“What are you talking about? What do you mean this is the Platinum Dragon’s new lair? This is the holy Church, where we serve Yula!”

Crack—!

At that moment, Karyl seized Yurin’s wrist in a crushing grip.

“Khk?!” Yurin groaned in pain, feeling as though his bones might shatter.

“The holy Church? Yurin Huygar, are you seriously blind? What did you see in the empire? I hope I don’t need to explain again why I left you in the Church.”

“...That’s because I’m not a devout priest.”

“If you know that much, then don’t ever say the word

holy

in front of me again.”

With that, Karyl let go.

Yurin’s wrist throbbed, already turning a dark shade of purple, but he didn’t even dare attempt a healing spell. After all, priests relied on Divine Power to heal, and right then, the last thing he wanted was to provoke Karyl further.

“I’m going in with you.”

“...”

“Whether you like it or not, I’m a priest. No matter how the world sees me, I still have a duty to witness what’s happening within the Church.”

“Then you should’ve come down here before

I did.”

“I... I know.”

Karyl stopped just before the door that led underground and looked back.

“Now finish what you were saying about the previous bishop.”

“...Sorry?”

Yurin cocked his head, taken aback by the sudden return to the earlier topic.

“That’s all there is. The rebellion succeeded, and the priests declared Rael Stallen a saint and made her the new bishop. I reckon Joey Johansel and I weren’t hallucinating because we were out on a mission at the time and returned only after the whole ordeal.”

“Perhaps they knew what was going on and embraced the hallucinations. Rael’s followers would’ve all been members of the Wooden Cloud in the first place.”

“...What do they even want?”

Until now, Yurin had only thought of the Wooden Cloud as some underground organization within the principality, but learning that they had nearly devoured the Church and that the Platinum Dragon himself had been involved, he could no longer disregard them.

“I don’t know.”

Yurin was baffled by Karyl’s blunt answer.

“They’re lunatics. How could we figure out what they’re trying to do?”

“Ha... Haha...”

“The real danger is that lunatics like them could make the whole world go mad.”

Yurin scratched his head awkwardly.

“Can you still use divine blessings as a priest?”

“Yes.”

“I see. So Yula is still lending power to the Church.”

“No matter how things have turned out, there are still many across the continent who follow Yula. The people in the borderlands might be in the dark, but your name is spreading quickly, Lord Karyl. Especially after you repelled the Nephilim who came to prophesize the Oracle,” Yurin explained warily.

“There are even rumors saying that the emergence of that tower was actually punishment meant for you... because you struck down the angels sent to bless the world.”

“They’ll learn the truth eventually,” Karyl snorted. “But let me ask you something. Can you follow me without giving up the power of your god?”

“I’m no knight. I’m no noble. I’m a priest, first and foremost. I won’t swear loyalty to you, and I won’t renounce the divine.”

“Is that so? Then I suppose you’re a hindrance to me. If you’re planning to stand with the gods, you’ve got no right to complain if I kill you right here.”

“That may sound insolent, but I’m still a priest. And because I am, I have a duty to see the truth of what’s happening. You entrusted me with the Church not because I’m some greedy noble’s lapdog, but because I wasn’t part of the Wooden Cloud. Isn’t that right?”

He clapped the dust from his hands as if making a point.

“Heroes are strong, but with that strength, they can become tyrants. The people are ignorant. No matter how loudly a few voices cry out the truth, in the end, the masses will bow to power.”

“So what, you’re saying I might become a tyrant?”

“You know that’s not what I mean. I may not be devout, but I still look at Yula through the eyes of a priest. And if a god is wrong, then I have a duty to speak up for humanity.”

“Isn’t a priest’s duty to

believe

in his god?”

“Yes, but I’m not a devout priest. I

observe

my god while standing firmly on humanity’s side.”

Yurin flashed Karyl a somewhat defiant grin.

“And that’s why I have to see it for myself...”

Then, he stepped past Karyl and pushed the sanctum door wide open.

“...what’s waiting inside.”

***

Although he had confidently summoned a light orb and taken the lead, Yurin was fighting the urge to run back. His apprehension grew with every step.

The inside of the sanctum looked utterly devastated, as though an explosion had occurred there. The stone walls were marred with deep gashes, as if they had been slashed by something razor-sharp.

“Those look like claw marks,” Allen Javius murmured, sweeping his gaze around the sanctum.

“If the damage was this severe, surely there would’ve been an uproar in Heim... but I never heard a thing.”

“It might’ve happened while you were away. Or perhaps it was sealed off so no one would hear it.”

“A seal? No. Magic is strictly forbidden in Heim. Although mana is considered a blessing from Yula, only priests are permitted to draw upon it, and even then, only as Divine Power, drawn directly from Yula herself.”

“There is one exception.”

“...Sorry?”

“A traitor. Someone who wielded mana and still became Yula’s apostle.”

“A traitor...?”

Yurin looked genuinely confused. Naturally, he had no way of knowing what had happened during the Divine War.

“Narh Di Maug.”

Kary left it at that, choosing not to elaborate.

Clink—

A pebble rolled across the floor, kicked loose by Karyl’s boot. Its faint sound echoed through the eerie silence, and both he and Yurin stopped in their tracks.

“Gah?!” Yurin gasped and stumbled back, startled by what he saw.

A figure was barely visible in the deepest part of the sanctum. He seemed to be sitting in prayer, hands clasped together. He wore a robe, but not that of an ordinary priest. The moment Yurin spotted the symbol of the Fascia draped over both shoulders, he swallowed hard.

“B-Bishop...?”

His voice trembled as he addressed the familiar face.

“This place... the smell is familiar,” Allen said calmly as he examined the surroundings. “It’s just like the dungeon we found in the capital.”

“You’re right.”

Karyl nodded at his words.

“Th-That’s... the bishop...”

“I know,” Karyl replied. “But he’s already dead. You can feel it too. There’s no life in him.”

“But...”

Yurin couldn’t understand why the body of the former bishop was here, in the sanctum where the Church stored its sacred relics.

“It may seem absurd that something like a dungeon exists here in Heim, the Holy City of the Church. But if the bishop was part of the Wooden Cloud all along, then the pieces fit. He was the one who tried to turn the Church into a cult. And if the Platinum Dragon was using him as a test subject before Rael Stallen, then a dungeon in Heim isn’t surprising at all.”

“A du-dungeon...?”

Karyl slowly approached the kneeling corpse of the bishop.

Woosh!

Without hesitation, he swung his Freezing Talon and decimated the corpse.

“W-What are you doing?!” Yurin cried out in shock as the bishop’s body crumpled to pieces.

“We were wrong.”

Bone fragments scattered across the floor, some of them infused with mana. As they embedded themselves into the crumbly walls, the stones cracked and turned to dust.

“...”

Yurin could hardly believe his eyes. Beyond the shattered wall lay a massive pile of corpses.

“Those are...”

“Let me guess. They were Rael’s followers, weren’t they?”

“...Yes.”

Karyl nodded, unsurprised. “To think this was all happening beneath the Church. Dragons really take god-defying to a whole new level.”

With a grimace, he spat on the ground.

“This isn’t the Platinum Dragon’s new lair. Or at least, not anymore. This is just another discarded site, like the lair in the Promised Land. Something he used and then threw away.”

“It certainly looks that way.”

“It’s nothing but a big pile of trash,” Karyl scoffed.

Narh Di Maug... you’re gone now. Your power is mine, but what you left behind still remains. The answers I seek must still be hidden in all this filth.

In the end, Narh Di Maug was the one who had made it possible for Karyl to acquire Riseria’s heart. He had definitely known—that if Karyl went back in time,

their

future would irrevocably change.

And still, Narh Di Maug had shown Karyl the way back.

Was that really all it was? Just a final test of humanity’s potential...?

Karyl slowly shook his head.

There was no one left to ask about the past, not that anyone could provide him answers at this point.

“Greeeeee...!!”

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

That was when the pile of corpses behind the collapsed stone wall began to stir, and from within, a sharp, inhuman shriek rang out.

“There were Chimeras even in the Platinum Dragon’s abandoned lair. Looks like you were right. He relocated from the Promised Land and continued his experiments here. I’m not surprised. I mean, it’s far easier to gather materials here.”

“Materials...?”

“They’re right in front of you.”

The corpses that had been motionless moments ago began to twitch and writhe. Even the bishop’s body, which Karyl had shattered earlier, began reassembling itself. Bones snapped together, reconstructing the figure piece by piece.

“U-Undead...?!”

“Turning priests into undead? He really went off the deep end.” Allen grimaced. “The Platinum Dragon must have tried every possible combination. Not just experimenting with elves and humans, but now even with priests who wield Divine Power. What’s next? Subjects with dark energy?”

“Enough with the nonsense,” Karyl cut him off sharply. That kind of speculation was pointless. After all, the only ones on the continent who possessed dark energy were the Immortal Council.

“Yurin, that’s not an undead.”

Karyl turned his head.

“What...?”

“That’s not resurrection. The corpses are being

fused

together. It’s a type of Chimera. Look closely. Even though those things are made from corpses, they’re still radiating Divine Power. That’s not something any ordinary necromancer could pull off.”

Yurin looked back at the writhing mass of flesh and bone.

“That’s impossible... Divine Power wielded by the dead? That’s outright blasphemy! Are you saying the Platinum Dragon did this? Inside the Church?!”

His voice quivered with fury. Even for him, this was unacceptable.

“O God who commands the armies of heaven... cast these soul-destroying wraiths into the pit of damnation...”

Yurin closed his eyes and traced a sacred sign onto the ground.

“May Yula’s joy be upon us.”

As he finished the prayer, a crimson glow enveloped him, and he opened his eyes. It was an exaltation spell, Yurin Huygar’s specialty.

“To the pit of damnation, huh?”

Watching this familiar sight for the first time in ages, Karyl smirked and glanced around.

“If you want them sent there, don’t pray to your god. Send them yourself.”

He walked over to the wall and pulled down a large hammer, one of the Church’s sacred relics.

“Catch.”

He tossed it to Yurin, and the moment it touched his hand, it began to shine with radiant light.

“Is this... the Infernal Hammer?”

“Unlike the Blader artifacts, sacred relics are infused with Yula’s power. They’re perfect for channeling Divine Power. And to be honest, the name suits you perfectly.”

Karyl gave a faint smile as he watched him hold the relic.

The Infernal Hammer had once belonged to Yurin Huygar in his previous life, when he was known as the Madman. The red glow of the exaltation spell conjured the image of the berserker priest in Karyl’s mind.

“Whether they turned their backs on the gods or were abandoned by them, I can’t leave them in a state like this...” Yurin gripped the hammer tightly. “As a priest—no, as a man, I have no other choice but to walk beside you, Lord Karyl.”

“You won’t get anything out of following me. My Free Nation won’t offer you the wealth you’re used to.”

“But it offers the truth, and I’ll bear the duty of delivering that truth.”

“So you’re choosing to walk the path of hardship, then?” Allen Javius chuckled. “At least you won’t be alone. There’s already someone walking that road ahead of you.”

“...What?”

Yurin glanced at Karyl.

“If you’re willing, then go ahead. If one writes history with a pen, then someone else must reveal the truth with scripture. Though honestly, I always thought Joey Johansel was more suited for that.”

Karyl pointed at the hammer in Yurin’s hand.

“You were never the type to deliver sermons. You’re much better at smashing things.”

THWACK!

At that moment, Yurin Huygar brought the Infernal Hammer crashing down on the bishop’s head, crushing it to a pulp.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking the same.”