Chapter 99

99.

***

Myna darted through the ranks of the guards blocking her path.

Caught off guard by the sudden charge of the empress, the guards reflexively grabbed her. In response to Myna’s erratic behavior, startled knights and priests also rushed forward.

“This isn’t proper!”

“These scoundrels! Do you even know who this person is!”

A chaotic scene unfolded as people wrestled on the ground. Through the confusion, Myna slipped away and ran toward the battlefield. However…

“Gack.”

“Hold still!”

“Let me go! Urgh…”

Myna frowned in pain from the grip on her right arm.

She tried to shake loose, but Barnel’s grip on her arm did not budge.

“Your Grace!”

“Lord!”

Those who had been wrestling rushed over to Myna and Barnel.

As the guards and sect priests surrounded them again, Barnel loosened his grip and spoke.

“What a pointless act. Why are you so fixated on the duke?”

“—That person—.”

Myna shot a look at Barnel as she rubbed her arm, which throbbed with pain.

The empress’s sharp, pink eyes met the icy gaze of the empire’s duke, who urged her to continue speaking.

“…”

“…”

Continuing their silent staring contest, Myna finally spoke in a low voice.

“That person is the second divine proxy sent by the Goddess. He is the holy saint of the Bright Sect.”

“…What?”

Barnel, who had maintained his composure until then, finally faltered.

With a look of confusion and shock, Barnel turned his attention back to Myna, demanding an explanation.

Gripping the pendant of the Seven-Star Cross, Myna spun around, dismissing the issue.

While arguing with Barnel, she was aware that the Liberation Army was attacking Cain.

It had been two days since Cain began fighting, surrounded by the enemy.

An average person would not have lasted a day in such conditions.

When Cain first surveyed the battlefield upon arrival, he was already alone.

Despite undoubtedly setting out with his knights, the absence of their figures on the field meant they had perished.

“First, I need to focus everyone’s attention with the power of healing.”

The bright light emitted when a miracle is performed can instantly capture the attention of everyone on the battlefield.

The sky of the battlefield was full of dark clouds, casting a dull and somber atmosphere over everything. In such conditions, a burst of radiant light could undoubtedly capture the eyes of tens of thousands.

Using that, the war could be ended, and Cain could be saved.

“Good. I can do this, Myna. It won’t be difficult.”

As Myna organized her thoughts and began praying, shifting her eyes to where Cain was surrounded, she suddenly felt as if their gazes had aligned.

Then, she could only gape at the scene that unfolded the moment he raised his sword.

Pfft—

A dazzling light descended from the darkened sky towards the ground.

This intense beam struck Cain and soon radiated in all directions.

When the waves of pure white light finally swept past Myna, crossed the imperial army’s main camp, and reached the entirety of the Lud Plain, she started crying.

“O Goddess…”

The gentle, warm power that softly wrapped around her entire body had been summoned in response to Cain’s prayer.

Mesmerized by the grandeur of this divine phenomenon, everyone on the battlefield, not just Myna, stared up at Cain and the heavens, mouths agog.

Before the bodies that had risen could speak, panic erupted in one of the Liberation Army’s units.

“Aaaah!”

“Co, co, corpses! The corpses are—”

With bodies covered in blood, those who had died in the chaos of war were now rising one by one.

With the exception of those who had been burned or had been dead too long, everyone who had lost their lives in the two-day battle now rose.

This consecutive supernatural event filled people with fear—how could corpses be moving? What unholy event was this?

A curse has been cast!

Angry gods have cursed the land!

The battlefield instantly turned chaotic again, and people attempted to retreat to escape the defilement of this event.

That is, until the risen corpses opened their mouths.

“Where am I?”

“Huh? I’m sure I died after being pierced by a spear…”

Bewildered, the resurrected individuals inspected their surroundings. Their casual conversations made them seem like normal people, causing everyone to pause their movements.

“Lojar! You!”

“Gibson? What happened to you? Your armor is completely torn!”

“Not you too? You’re covered in blood!”

As the resurrected and the living shared their joy of reunion, shouts of astonishment rose from other areas.

“My wounds are healing!”

Wounds from slashes or piercings rapidly mended themselves.

Warm light healed the injuries, stopping the bleeding and regenerating flesh. Those whose bodies were healed had the leisure to look around with clear minds.

The fear etched into everyone’s minds quickly dissipated.

The Liberation Army and the imperial army began conversing while checking each other’s conditions, their faces bright with hope.

“It’s a miracle!”

“The Sun Goddess has bestowed a miracle!”

When someone offered a prayer while kneeling, others turned their heads.

The miracle of the Goddess.

Who is the one who performed this absurd miracle that healed the injured and resurrected the dead?

“…”

“…”

People moved closer to the young man with black hair standing in the gentle beam of light.

And Myna realized this was the right moment.

After carefully wiping the tears that had run down her cheeks, she spoke.

“We should move as well. Let’s go to greet Lord Cain.”

With heads bowed in pious reverence, the priests followed the empress, chanting sacred incantations as they walked.

Their destination was behind Cain, who pushed his way through the Liberation Army’s crowd. No one stood in his way now.

*

Cain turned his head within the radiant light showering down on him.

Though the light was strong enough to illuminate his surroundings, it was oddly not blinding. Instead, it was warm and soothing, allowing him to calmly observe his surroundings.

“Ugh… where am I?”

“Russell? Are you alive?”

“Captain! Are you okay?”

The unit members who had fallen in the battle were checking each other’s conditions with puzzled expressions.

Cain silently turned around, offering quiet gratitude at the miraculous scene.

Clang.

The metallic clicking sound caused the knights to stop their conversation and turn their attention toward its source.

Cain, walking silently past the bowing Liberation Army members, continued on his path.

Realizing the situation, Milene quickly followed, and the other members of the unit soon joined behind Cain.

Cain and the knights proceeded solemnly as the Liberation Army respectfully stepped aside.

The healed and revived people also followed in their footsteps, joining the growing line behind Cain as they quietly marched forward.

Finally…

Cain arrived in front of the Liberation Army’s temporary command post, bathed in soft light, surrounded by a great multitude.

“This can’t be… it’s unimaginable… why…”

Jade Camelsson and his command staff knelt with pale faces, trembling.

The war had begun under the guise of punishing the wicked who oppressed the sect and suppressed the empress.

But the Duke of Macbilian, the focal point of justice in this righteous war, had performed miracles.

The descent of radiant light splitting the heavens followed by bizarre phenomena like the resurrection of the dead.

It could only be called a miracle.

The one who performs miracles in this world is predetermined.

The proxy of the Goddess.

The imperial duke, Cain Macbilian, was the proxy of the Goddess—a divine figure like the empress, Myna.

And countless individuals on the battlefield were eye-witnesses.

‘How can this be? Why did the Macbilian family and the sect stay silent…’

Jade shut his eyes, overwhelmed by the terrible reality.

‘Could this have been planned?’

The sudden rumors, the sect’s silence.

The absurd situation where the proxy of the Goddess was classified as evil and the holy war that followed.

‘No, perhaps this was an awakening. If that’s the case…’

Jade struggled desperately to think of a way out.

There was still a chance to escape.

The holy war would be canceled, and Karlhyg would have to pay enormous reparations, but at least…

‘I can survive this.’

As his trembling body calmed, he lifted his head.

And let out a dumbfounded sigh.

“Uh…”

The crowd parted, making way for an approaching group.

Jade anxiously observed the woman approaching with the priests.

The splendid robes marked with the insignia of the Sun.

Pink hair, pink eyes.

Myna stopped in front of Cain, receiving the astonished glances of many, including Jade.

“Empress Myna.”

The call from Cain, who briefly turned his head, prompted Myna to draw a holy cross in the air as she spoke.

“Lord Saint Cain.”

“A humble follower of the Sun Goddess greets the proxy of the Goddess.”

At the same time as Myna’s words, the priests knelt and prayed.

Saint, Proxy of the Goddess.

The declaration by the high empress and priests of the Bright Sect had a powerful reverberation.

Quiet observers suddenly dropped their weapons, fearing they had committed some sacrilege.

Everyone bowed before the saint who had manifested divine power.

Calmly receiving the numerous gazes, Cain spoke.

“Return.”

Jade lowered his head, his spirit shattered.

*

As the searing summer sun shone down, the radiance of the Saint and the miracle he performed spread across the Western Continent.

The Liberation Army, gathered for the holy war, dispersed without purpose, and the main body of the Karlhyg army returned home toward the allied capitals.

Shaming the Saint and indoctrinating the believers with lies.

Acts that would have branded them as followers of the Dark Cult or heretics, resulting in the constant burning fires that consumed Karlhyg.

In the capital, heated discussions took place daily, assigning blame for the unjustified holy war.

Finally, the unsettling atmosphere of the allied kingdoms was settled when King Jade Camelsson and the perpetrators were led to their executions by the people.

The three-week-long Lud Plain battle.

The war between Karlhyg and Altain ended with the birth of the Saint.