Chapter 487: Apostle Evan (4)

“The time has come. Let us begin the final mass.”

Archbishop Nidri, head of the Guido Cult’s Far Eastern Branch, took a brief breath before stepping onto the platform and opening the scripture.

Her advanced age made it difficult to continue a mass for thousands of believers.

If Nidri had been a magic user, she might have been free from such physical limitations.

However, those who served as the cult’s High Priestess for generations intentionally refrained from elevating their own Hierarchy.

Accumulating Hierarchy meant fully completing and existing as oneself.

To receive and convey revelations from the gods beyond the Outer Sea, the High Priestess herself had to be essentially empty.

A High Priestess, who had to deliver divine revelations right beside the Pontiff, had to avoid anything that would hinder her mission.

Though long retired from the position of High Priestess, Nidri still meticulously avoided accumulating Hierarchy.

Even with some seats on the platform, meant for the Agents, unfilled, just as Nidri was about to begin the mass,

One of the priests kneeling in the front row spoke up.

“With all due respect, High Priestess, I have a brief question.”

“Speak.”

“Why have you moved the Far Eastern Branch’s location towards the Sea of Understanding?”

At the priest’s words, the commotion in the plaza quickly subsided.

Many priests within the cult were curious about that fact.

“I understand that due to the great blessing bestowed upon the Far Eastern Branch, we have been permitted to travel the sea.”

“That is correct.”

“Then, is it not excessively dangerous to position the branch in the territorial waters of the Sea of Understanding, close to the Pilenom Autonomous Region, at this time…?”

“……”

Nidri’s unwavering gaze, without answering, caused the priest to quietly bow his head.

“I speak for the safety of the priests gathered for the General Assembly. You know which organization has made the Autonomous Region its base, do you not?”

Eyes of Blue.

At least among the faithful gathered for this General Assembly, there was no priest who hadn’t heard that name.

The name, once utterly insignificant before the previous Lighthouse Keeper’s bloodline inherited it, had now grown vast enough to shake the entire Eastern Continent.

Haven’t they not only achieved ultimate victory in the Hanghasa Labyrinth in the north but also seized Pajeop Valley in the Middle East and forged a path to the center?

No one was so deaf as not to have heard the news of new forces intervening in the stalemated front lines.

“If the Watchers appear in our territorial waters, it may already be too late.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“If permitted, we wish to contribute the forces we brought from our branch to protect the Far Eastern Branch.”

“……”

“The excellence of the Inquisitors goes without saying, but if the High Priestess is willing to risk engaging with the Eyes of Blue, then we too cannot retreat.”

Watching the high-ranking priest from the Far Western Branch speak without a change in expression, Nidri recalled a very old memory.

The memory of the day she, as a true High Priestess, commanded the pantheon.

Since that Person stopped appearing, the affairs of the cult have been this chaotic and unsightly.

Even after thinking she had let everything go, she couldn’t help but feel a turmoil in her heart.

“I appreciate your sentiment. But there is no need.”

“However…”

“When the time comes, I will answer all your questions, so for now, let us finish the mass—”

CRASH!

At that moment, a massive pillar of fire erupted from the enormous crystal palace behind Nidri.

“Did I hear that correctly just now?”

Zaif’s expression showed he hadn’t fully grasped what he’d heard.

“You’re saying you’ll kill Apostle Amrita…?”

The significance and value of the 10th Apostle Amrita within the Guido Cult were immeasurable.

The Apostle spell, Amrita’s Scale. It required immense offerings and sacrifices, but how valuable was a spell that enabled large-scale Translocation strategically?

Naturally, the cult handled Amrita’s existence and location with extreme secrecy, to the point where no one knew where she slumbered.

Even Zaif had witnessed Amrita’s true form for the first time in his long life.

Was it even rational to speak of an Apostle’s death to Zaif, who wouldn’t dare awaken the sleeping 10th Apostle, let alone even think of touching her?

In fact, the mere fact that he didn’t immediately attack Lennok after hearing those words was proof that Zaif completely trusted Lennok.

Lennok, seeing Zaif’s reaction, immediately rephrased his words.

“Calm down. I didn’t mean to actually kill Amrita.”

“…Then?”

“It meant that we needed that much commotion to buy some time before the Archbishop began the ritual.”

Lennok crossed his arms and looked up at Amrita.

“At the very least, it’s clear that the Archbishop’s objective through this ritual is related to the 10th Apostle, isn’t it?”

“……”

“Then, we need to firmly implant the suspicion that something is wrong with the 10th Apostle.”

“Th-that’s right…”

“And someone will have to stay behind and take responsibility for all of this before the Archbishop.”

Before a startled Zaif could answer, Lennok spoke first.

“I’ll stay.”

“Wait, you mean…”

“You escape from here, hide during the ritual, and come out to help when I give the signal. How about it?”

“It’s dangerous.”

Zaif’s face hardened.

“If you touch Lady Amrita, you won’t escape harm either. No matter how much you try to disrupt the ritual to stop the Archbishop’s rebellion…”

“Wasn’t this the plan I proposed from the beginning?”

Lennok’s calm words left Zaif speechless.

“Even in the worst case, it’s right for me to take responsibility for all of this directly.”

“……”

“If everything goes wrong, it will be enough if you report all of this rebellion to the main branch yourself.”

“Apostle Evan…!!”

Zaif called out to Lennok with a choked voice.

In his mind, Lennok seemed no different from a martyr sacrificing his life for a mission.

Lennok looked at Zaif’s face, filled with emotion, and quietly patted his shoulder.

“It was a short time, but it was an honor to be with you. Even if this entire plan becomes irreversible…”

“No, I won’t say goodbye.”

Zaif, biting his lip with a resolute expression, sharply turned his back.

“I’ll be waiting for your signal. You must… only think about stopping all this rebellion and seeing me alive.”

“……”

“I’m going.”

With those words, Zaif’s figure vanished cleanly from the room.

He must be planning to escape to the outskirts of the island and quietly hide where the Archbishop’s gaze could never reach.

Only after confirming that Zaif’s presence and magic had completely disappeared into the distance did Lennok let out a low sigh.

“Phew…”

Of course, Lennok had no intention of taking responsibility for all of this and nobly sacrificing himself in Zaif’s place.

He merely left a suitable excuse to separate Zaif at this point, leaving room to use him in case of an unforeseen situation.

Lennok slowly walked and stood before Amrita.

Without any intellect or will, she was merely focused on breathing steadily, accepting the food given to her.

Nowhere on her body could one feel the Apostle’s grand power, high intellect, or traces of an outer god.

Only a single old mirror, carelessly discarded at the foot of her massive body, caught his eye.

“……!!”

Lennok flinched slightly and immediately threw out a thread of magic, pulling the mirror to him.

A transparent crystal mirror crafted into a hexagonal shape. Lennok had heard of this mirror’s existence once before.

While searching for papers on existence projection rates, he had encountered a thesis that mentioned rumors of such an object.

The land that traverses the sea. A mirror that reflects the will of existence said to be there.

More precisely, it reflected beings with the same projection rate as oneself, but didn’t that mean it was a different form of oneself?

Lennok stared at the mirror, then took a deep breath and, instead of himself, subtly reflected Amrita’s image.

Whoosh!

The mirror reflected not a giant ball of fur, but the back of someone sitting with their back turned, not looking towards him.

“……”

It was clearly not an ordinary mirror.

Lennok took a deep breath and stood before the mirror.

Along with him, his own image quietly appeared in the mirror.

But in the reflection, something else was visible besides himself.

An old, worn-out gun discarded at his feet. And faint lettering reflected far behind the mirror.

– Waiting.

“Waiting…?”

At that moment, Lennok held his breath, bewildered by the message whose meaning he couldn’t grasp.

[…It is ironic, is it not?]

Suddenly, a telepathic voice resonated from behind Lennok.

A tall, monstrous figure in a talisman mask stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the colossal fur mass.

[That even an Apostle, who strategically underpinned the cult’s power, is now nothing more than a fallen beast, devoid of intellect.]

“……”

[Would you believe that all this tragedy happening here is purely a struggle to keep her bound to reality?]

Gapseon’s quiet murmuring was clear proof that he, too, understood what was happening here.

[She is merely a pitiful existence that can only sleep soundly by feeding on humans. A beast that uses power according to what it consumes, and is satisfied by spitting it out…]

Gapseon’s talisman mask swayed quietly.

[Can such a thing be called an Apostle who upholds the revelation of the end?]

“Are you pitying her?”

At Lennok’s words, as he quietly set down the mirror, Gapseon chuckled hollowly.

[Of course not. I merely mean that you, too, should know. That this is the fate of an avatar embodying the will of the end.]

“……”

[The cruel truth is that even the most outstanding warriors and exceptional superhumans mostly cannot avoid such a fate.]

Gapseon continued to speak, not averting his gaze from Lennok.

[She has only prolonged her life thus far because the power of the end she upholds was extraordinary. A fate worse than death awaits the cult’s believers who serve the end.]

With those words, Gapseon subtly looked up.

[Just like that.]

At that moment, the back of the fur mass split open, and a mouth made of sharp teeth protruded from within, spitting out a corpse.

Chomp chomp chomp!!!

A truly eerie sound, as if savoring a delicious meal, gently munching and swallowing.

But Lennok focused on the debris spat out rather than the fact that Amrita had vomited.

Among the inorganic matter that burst from Amrita’s mouth, Lennok recognized the faces of the Agents.

Lennok quietly muttered, looking at the corpses sprawled at his feet.

“They were forcibly offering the Agents attending the General Assembly to Amrita. So…”

They probably never imagined an Apostle would devour them, judging by their rigid faces, unable to even resist.

These were the relatively lower-ranked Agents among those gathered in the plaza. Perhaps they only understood their fate at the moment of death.

[Archbishop Nidri did not approach the Sea of Understanding for the Apostle Selection Ritual.]

Gapseon’s voice sharpened.

[Perhaps their true purpose is not a new Apostle, but to transform an existing Apostle into a higher-dimensional being.]

“Did you suspect that from the beginning and continue investigating separately?”

[I was somewhat certain from the moment we arrived at the island. Because an island like this might hold one of the cult’s most crucial secrets.]

Did he intuitively sense Amrita’s existence to some extent and then deduce the existence of this space from that point?

There was no way to know what experiences Gapseon had gained in the Western Continent, but it seemed certain that he had been closely involved with the cult more than once.

[What is happening here is likely not the Pontiff’s judgment. That monster enjoys keeping everything under his eye, far more secretly and quietly, perhaps without anyone even realizing it has been handled.]

“……”

An remark as if he knew the cult’s Pontiff personally.

But Lennok couldn’t rashly refute that statement.

Because the Pontiff’s words and actions he had seen in the memories of Amila Bainjer, the cult’s Northeast Branch manager, were no different from what Gapseon described.

His enigmatic demeanor, as if seeing through events in actual reality, even while acknowledging it was merely a fragment remaining in someone’s memory.

After all, didn’t everything the Pontiff said about the Well of the Codex prove to be precisely true?

Considering that, it was understandable why Gapseon was confident that the Far Eastern Branch’s current actions were not part of the Pontiff’s plan.

“…You think the cult’s entire movement is the Far Eastern Branch acting on its own.”

[Archbishop Nidri, as the former High Priestess, wields considerable influence within the cult. Considering that, all of this makes sense. If the current situation is the Archbishop’s unilateral action, not the Pontiff’s plan…]

Did that mean now was the only chance to dismantle the Far Eastern Branch and kill Amrita?

Only then did Gapseon realize why he was so actively stepping forward to resolve this matter.

A small variable in the cult’s movements, where everything usually revolved around the Pontiff and the Apostles.

But if they could seal the Apostle spell, Amrita’s Scale, which held immense value through this.

The possibility of friction with the cult while searching for hidden realms to construct new Lighthouses across the continent would significantly decrease.

No, beyond that, it might even be possible to greatly reduce the cult’s influence across the continent.

If they borrowed Lapis’s knowledge and judgment regarding the Central Front, they could even disrupt the Order Alliance and the cult’s ceasefire agreement in the long term.

Gapseon was saying that what was happening here could, conversely, be the greatest blow to the cult.

“…Alright. I understand what you’re trying to say. I’ll cooperate.”

Lennok, who had been glaring at the humans offered to the Apostle, screaming, slowly nodded.

“However, it’s impossible with just us. You know that, right?”

[….]

“At least three or more. We need the assistance of high-ranking Watchers specialized in combat. We need to contact Lapis and request reinforcements.”

The Watchers gathered here were individuals selected by Lapis for their ability to handle various situations.

However, it was also true that they were somewhat lacking compared to Watchers specialized in direct combat.

Even if Lennok and Gapseon weren’t heavily bound by such categories, it was naturally impossible for the two of them alone to contend with the entire Far Eastern Branch.

“If we use the Autonomous Region’s navy to block external intervention and directly strike Amrita to prevent the activation of her Apostle spell, we can also cut off reinforcements from the cult’s side.”

[You mean we need time until the Lighthouse’s reinforcements arrive?]

“I’ll buy time.”

[…You alone?]

“I’ve tampered with various parts of the temple’s interior, intending to disrupt the ritual.”

Lennok turned his head.

“Just in case, I even ‘cooked’ one of the Apostles. There are enough safeguards.”

In addition, Enakphil’s five fingers, over a dozen remaining flash magic spells, and Jindun’s control code.

Even if other Watchers were to die in this place, Lennok himself would have more than enough to escape at any time.

On the contrary, if he entrusted the task of buying time to other Watchers instead of himself, there was a possibility that the various preparations he had painstakingly made would all go awry.

But Gapseon seemed quite impressed by Lennok’s attitude, remaining silent for a long time before quietly nodding.

[A difficult decision indeed… I salute your dedication to the Lighthouse.]

“Contact Piyo and Rapperd and break through the grand barrier with them.”

Saying that, Lennok handed him a piece of paper from his pocket, where a control code was hidden.

“Using this, you’ll be able to break through the island’s grand barrier for a moment and contact Lapis. How you receive reinforcements from there will depend on their capabilities.”

Unlike Lennok, who was relatively specialized in moving alone, Gapseon, who handled talisman magic, would be able to receive Lapis’s help in various ways.

That was also why Lennok, not Gapseon, had to remain in this place.

Gapseon clutched the control code Lennok handed him, silently staring at it before muttering.

[I was wrong. You are undoubtedly similar to that man, yet different.]

“……”

[Since a young wizard like you is putting forth such earnest effort, I too shall do my best.]

Immediately after confirming Gapseon’s disappearance, Lennok silently watched Amrita, who was panting softly.

Her appearance was closer to a giant, pure white ball of fur.

Ironically, that form somewhat resembled the unknown monstrous creature that The Doctor of Pandemonium had assumed in the Hanghasa Labyrinth.

If that wasn’t a coincidence, then the experiments The Doctor was conducting through his research were probably…

Whoosh!

Pushing aside thoughts he didn’t need to ponder right now, Lennok conjured flames from his fingertips.

[Ignition]

[Fire Progression]

[Advent of a New World]

Rather than inflating the flames as a result of a spell, he rapidly increased the size of the fire in a short time by combining several incantations.

Following his hand, dozens of swirling heat currents, dancing as if in a spiral, split and intertwined, instantly expanding in scale and mass.

Rumble, rumble…!!

[Groooan, ooooh…!!]

As the intense heat of the flames intensified from all directions, Amrita’s sleeping body trembled uneasily, and her cries grew louder.

Before the 10th Apostle’s true form, peacefully slumbering, could fully awaken, Lennok gathered the rampant magical power and chanted it as hand signs.

Heat-based unique magic

[Crimson Phantom Legion]

[Lord of the Grand Void Flame]

At that moment, the flames concentrated and swirled in the center of the enormous room, soaring skyward and transforming into a colossal pillar of fire.

KWA-AAAAANG!!!

[KIIIIIIIK!!!!]

The agonizing scream of the 10th Apostle Amrita, awakened in the center of that pillar of fire.

The room where Amrita had been sleeping exploded as if tearing apart, and the pillar of fire shot into the sky, becoming a magnificent explosion visible to everyone on the island.

Lennok’s form, having ascended above the room on the updraft of the pillar of fire, sensed thousands of gazes looking down at him and extended his hand.

Whoosh!

Hundreds of Inquisitors rushing from afar, Agents turning to face him from the platform.

And Archbishop Nidri, looking back with a hardened expression.

Lennok, who single-handedly received all that shock and animosity, gathered the surging flames in both hands and smiled.

“Let’s begin.”