〈 Chapter 208 〉 Retreat (2）
*
“I understand. After all, I came here prepared to die, so it doesn’t matter to me.”
Saying this, he began to reveal information step by step.
“First, the most important thing. Information about the High Priest.”
This was certainly the thing I was most curious about.
I had no clue about the High Priest, especially her purpose.
“I had thought she was simply focused on power until now… but lately, I’ve been wondering if that’s not the case.”
The problem was that I had no concrete evidence, but now, that evidence was starting to take shape.
“Originally, she was supposed to head to the Ice Valley.”
“Ice Valley?”
As far as I knew, the Apostles were set to be dispatched to investigate the Ice Valley’s collapse incident around this time through the Hundred Braves.
However, I had no idea that the High Priest was also going there.
“Is she going there to investigate the Ice Valley collapse incident?”
The Apostle replied, impressed, “That you know that much… you certainly aren’t an ordinary person.”
But he denied it.
“However, that’s just the surface reason. The true purpose of her journey is known only to the High Priest. We are supposed to protect her for a year and eight months from now.”
A year and eight months?
Coincidentally, there was one thing that matched that timeframe.
The scheduled destruction.
Exactly one year and eight months were left until that.
Which means…
Yeah, there’s definitely a connection.
That made me speculate something.
“Luel, is the location of the Divine Authority sealed…?”
“Yes, it’s in the Ice Valley.”
The time and place matched perfectly.
Moreover, Luel also chimed in on the Apostle’s words.
“It does make sense. It’s originally a seal that shouldn’t be broken, but starting around now, it will begin to weaken rapidly.”
Of course, if you think positively, she might be trying to protect the seal while also looking for a solution.
But one thing was certain: at least in the Hundred Braves, she had never resolved the planned destruction.
Moreover, during that time, she had even controlled other heroes to prevent them from stepping into the Ice Valley.
Her actions were reminiscent of…
“Is she trying to protect the seal?”
Whether her actions were intentional or not, as things stood, she might cause the complete destruction of not just this world, but other dimensional worlds as well, completely blocking any possible hero interventions.
It was indeed strange to think that she was doing this on purpose.
She had managed to hold back the Demon Kings up to this point.
However…
“What if her goal is not just the destruction of this world?”
If that were her goal…
“What if she intended to destroy other dimensions from the very beginning?”
I didn’t know the High Priest well.
So I turned to Luel, who held the memory of the Water Sage, and the Apostle for their thoughts.
“What do you think?”
Luel responded, “Hmm, I’m not sure. When I was with her, she was more like a tool without emotions.”
But the Apostle’s reaction was slightly different.
“What do you mean by that?”
Now that I thought about it, he probably didn’t know that this world was set to be destroyed.
‘Should I explain it to him?’
“It shouldn’t be a problem. Our fundamental enemy is actually the High Priest, rather than the Apostles. Besides, by revealing this, we might be able to persuade other Apostles as well.”
Albert had a point.
So…
“This world is set to be destroyed in a year and eight months, and the source of that destruction lies in the Ice Valley.”
“What does that mean…”
“But the bigger problem is that if it fills up and explodes in a year and eight months, not only this world but other worlds will also be destroyed.”
At that, the Apostle suddenly trembled.
“Hey, is there a problem…”
“I believe she could do it. She doesn’t see people as people, and life and death have no meaning to her.”
“And yet you were cooperating with her?”
He shook his head.
“I didn’t know. Of course, the High Priest’s nature sometimes felt chilling, but to be honest, I was too tempted by the power and immortality she promised.”
“Immortality?”
“Oh, I was just about to mention the Apostles.”
Indeed, he had promised to give me information about the High Priest and the Apostles.
But…
“So, is that all the information about the High Priest?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Then there was nothing I could do.
“Alright, then tell me about the Apostles.”
“Yes, first I need to explain how Apostles are born. All Apostles are divided into two types: those who enter alive and perform as an Apostle even after death, or those who come in dead.”
That sounded like a riddle.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s simple. Those like me work as Apostles while alive, and after death, they become puppets, or alternatively, deceased humans are turned into Apostles.”
Come to think of it, Stella had also mentioned something similar.
“It seems like not all Apostles are like that, but the High Priest has the power to turn deceased humans into Apostles and control them like puppets.”
At that time, it merely seemed like an offhanded comment, but now it felt rather eerie.
“So, does that mean there are already dead people among the Apostles?”
“Right, and they essentially serve as the High Priest’s puppets, lacking any will of their own.”
“That’s…”
Now I understood why Stella had gone to the trouble of burning her own corpse to eliminate it.
‘To leave no body behind…’
It was at that moment.
A sudden thought crossed my mind.
‘Then Freira?’
According to what Stella had told me, she had supposedly been killed by the High Priest.
So, could it be?
“Then, is there an Apostle named Freira among the recent arrivals…?”
“I’m not sure about that. There is one new Apostle, but we don’t know each other’s identities well either.”
“I see…”
Perhaps it wasn’t such a disappointment after all.
It would surely be better for her to pass away peacefully than to become the High Priest’s puppet.
Yet, whenever I thought of her, I couldn’t help but feel a pang in my heart.
“…Then continue giving me information about the Apostles.”
The Apostle began to spill more information about the Apostles.
Their behaviors and a few Apostles to be cautious of.
Among those was Wilhelm as well.
“What did you just say?”
“Are you talking about the Thorn?”
“Yeah, that.”
It could move freely in the air and was unaffected by Wind’s Power, that ‘thorn.’
It was what caused Lucy to lose her arm.
“The exact name of that is Gorgor’s Thorn. As the name suggests, it weaponizes the Thorn of the 29th Demon King, Gorgor.”
“They weaponized a Demon King’s thorn?”
“Yes, and perhaps for that reason, it holds resistance against ordinary spells. A vague Magic Shield is useless against it.”
I assumed that was why it hadn’t been influenced by the Wind’s Power.
“Anyway, does it have any weaknesses?”
He nodded.
“In fact, it’s a miracle that Lucy managed to survive at all. Schurz and Duke were also unable to resist it. However…”
After a moment of thought, he said, “If you had to say, its production is slow.”
“Production?”
“Wilhelm’s body can be seen as the host for the thorn. He produces thorns by multiplying them within his own body, but the production speed is fairly slow.”
So that explained why Wilhelm had asked Hailen to let him go.
‘He must have run out of thorns.’
That wrapped up the information about Wilhelm.
But there was still one last thing I wanted to ask.
Something I had been curious about for a while.
“Why are you helping me? Do you want something in return?”
The Apostle turned away instead of answering.
“I don’t think I can tell you that. If it’s something I wanted, I would have already achieved it.”
He began to merge into the darkness.
It was then.
“Wait a minute!”
It was Sara.
“Mister, it’s you, isn’t it?”
Mister?
“You took me from the orphanage and taught me swordsmanship.”
There had indeed been someone like that.
The Apostle who taught Sara swordsmanship after taking her from the orphanage.
However, he shook his head.
“You have mistaken me for someone else.”
“No, there’s no way I could be wrong.”
“You should just treat it as if you were mistaken. I’m no longer a person related to you. I can count this as the last time I saw you. And…”
He said in a pitiful voice.
“I am a bad person. Knowing the reality of the Apostles, I still tried to make you one… I’m that kind of bad person, so please forget about me. You’ve found someone far better, haven’t you?”
No, I knew the truth.
So I pointed my sword at him, standing far away.
“What did I say earlier?”
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
“I said I’d kill you if you kept talking nonsense.”
He had indeed just talked nonsense.
“You didn’t want Sara to become an Apostle, so you taught her swordsmanship.”
He couldn’t possibly have been unaware that the Overload ability didn’t suit swordsmanship.
“Think what you want.”
With those words, he completely disappeared into the darkness.
“Well then… what do you plan to do now?”
“Well, it seems that if I go back like this, I’ll just die and become an Apostle forever. But I don’t want to insert myself into your journey, so I think I’ll quietly die somewhere, carrying the karma I’ve built up as an Apostle.”
His voice echoed in the air.
It was a voice so firm that I couldn’t even think of breaking it.
He must have accepted his death and followed me.
At that moment, Sara bid him a final farewell.
“Thank you.”
But there was no answer.
*
“Are you alright?”
I asked Sara, who had just parted from her former benefactor.
She nodded with a stern expression.
“Yeah, it’s good that I could see him one last time.”
He had essentially been a father figure to her.
To think someone like that had abandoned her, and now she finally got a chance to meet him one last time.
Despite that, I was grateful she could quickly shake off those feelings to focus on our journey.
“Alright, then let’s set off again.”
There was truly not much left until Basilium now.
Just as I was about to move forward…
“Allen, someone is coming from behind!”
Gwen, who had been scanning the area, alerted us.
“Damn, is it an Apostle?”
“No, it’s not an Apostle, but someone alone… Who could it be?”
Alone?
Turning my head, I recognized the figure approaching this way.
‘That guy is…!’
The 59th Demon King Ael.
In the Hundred Braves, she was not very active and had a rare mild temperament among the Later Demon Kings.
But why was she here…
Just then, the space beside Demon King Ael rippled.
And a familiar blonde appeared through the shimmer.
“Elsie?”
*
