Children of the Holy Emperor - Chapter 430



Only Noblemtl

430. The Immortal Secretary (3)

It might have started out as a simple idea.

If the mortgaged soul must fall into the hands of the creditor at death, might not some reprieve be gained by binding the soul to the body?

It would probably be impossible to make the body itself live forever, since even with the help of the divine power that is considered life force itself, the limits of life are clear.

Even the past saints who were called representatives of the god, and even the first saint who was called a demigod, only lasted for 300 years.

So those who know the mysteries of the world thought.

What if, in some other worldly way, outside the laws of this world, you could deceive your body, deceive your soul, and ultimately even ‘death’? With a little trickery and secret techniques, you could temporarily avoid the eyes of the cruel creditors?

Maybe that will prolong this miserable life a little.

‘It was an obvious idea, but it was also an extremely dangerous idea.’

What happens when a soul cannot leave a dead body in time is more horrific than you can imagine.

Perhaps, if those who tried that trick had spiritual eyes, they would have been able to witness their failure vividly on the spot.

The nature of humans slowly decaying along with their bodies, the miserable appearance of their souls.

‘Didn’t my father once say that? The soul is constantly influenced by the body.’

So, the soul bound to the rotting body was bound to be miserably destroyed.

They lose their form with their decaying and crumbling skin, and they lose their reason with their melting brain.

Without knowing why their essence is being thoroughly corroded, they are left screaming for long hours in animalistic pain and fear.

Exactly like that.

[Ahhh… I… Kkeuuu… Why me… Keuheu… … !]

As Sungjin waved his hand, a dark red flame spread to the decaying organisms that had sunk to one side of the waterway. It was the horror of Gehenna.

Hurrruk!

The fiercely burning fire incinerated not only the shredded flesh but also the whitened bones in an instant.

The soul that had been crying in pain was also engulfed in crimson flames and soon disappeared completely.

[Tick… ​​Tick… ​​… .]

The same goes for the unidentified foreign substances stuck to one side of the damp wall. With just a quick glance from Sungjin, they were all burned cleanly in an instant.

A perfect combustion that doesn’t even produce smoke.

[… Meow… … .]

[Grrrr… Boom!]

As you move further, various souls bound to rotten flesh appear before your eyes.

Seongjin burst out laughing.

‘Well done. Just look at them. How long have they been doing this?’

Suddenly, I had a strong urge to sweep the entire underground sewer with the fires of Gehenna.

But I have to endure it. If I do whatever I want, the entirety of Furiano will probably turn into a hell where no life can survive.

“So, you guys, just burn cleanly and disappear.”

Hurrruk!

“Stop spreading such useless tricks and just disappear.”

Hurrah!

“Here too.”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

“Here too.”

Hurrrrrrr… … .

In time with Sungjin’s small gestures, the flames continued to spread, sweeping through the dark sewers.

The sight of a crimson fire demon dancing with magic seems like a scene from hell.

But despite its terrifying appearance, if we only look at the results, the work of Gehenna’s terror may actually be closer to ‘purification’.

Not only were they burning the rotten things, but they were also burning away all the miserable souls whose end was already certain.

“… … .”

Giacomo Milo, who was following Seongjin with a frightened face, was completely overwhelmed by the mysterious sight.

‘This is… the power of the one who represents the powerful monarchs!’

The momentum with which the hot flames spread was incredible. But strangely enough, the boy ahead of him and his own body were not invaded at all.

Amidst my despair, a new sense of relief welled up in me.

‘Yeah! At least my last choice wasn’t wrong!’

When he gave up his resistance and let everything go, surprisingly, a new desire began to bloom in Giacomo’s heart.

A mind that wants to abandon all desires and selfishness and completely accept only the grace of the Absolute.

The desire to accept one’s own limitations and rely on the power of the perfect absolute being.

The desire to find inner peace and happiness through devotion and submission to the Absolute.

A heart of faith so pure and beautiful that he could never have imagined it would sprout within his heart throughout his life…

“Bethelah… … .”

Giacomo Milo recited the Sign of the Cross with a trembling voice. Unlike the previous time when he had made a half-hearted imitation while in contact with the penitents, it was a truly devout sign of the Cross that came from the heart.

“I put everything in your hands, so please let me be used in your plans… … .”

In his eyes, filled with red flames, a strange joy flashed dangerously.

How long did it take for Giacomo, who was half-dead, to walk along the canal?

[…jin…….]

A small voice calling Seongjin was heard from somewhere.

‘what?’

The thought came from just below. Slowly turning my gaze, I saw a small lamp blinking a faint light in the middle of the surging flames of Gehenna.

[… This… Jin… … .]

I felt my spirits starting to subside a little.

Oh, I see. It seems like something is wrong with me. I’ve been having this feeling for some time now that something isn’t quite right.

Is this okay? For one thing, my father isn’t here.

[Lee Seong-jin.]

If it had been like this, my father would have stopped me before it happened. That’s what I should have done.

But I had to send Sir Sharon away. It was inevitable. I had more important things to ask of her.

[Lee Seong-jin. Lee Seong-jin.]

Oh, I know, Demon King.

It’ll be okay though, because I know who I am now more than ever.

* * *

Woof woof! Growl woof!

Squeak! Squeak squeak!

Kwaaaaah! Guwak!

The sight of rotten, decomposed corpses rushing in all at once was not just disgusting, it was terrifying.

Marsain swung his arms wildly, creating a series of explosive blasts.

Phew! Boom!

The group of rats that had been rushing in at the very front were turned to dust and were thrown in all directions. The animals that had been rushing in after them were also pushed far away, scattering rotten flesh.

“… Huh!”

Actually, considering the amount of Aura consumed, Aura Burst wasn’t a very good option.

But there is no other way. The opponents are corpses that crawl on the ground even if their bodies are torn in half. So rather than cutting them down one by one, you can only blow them away with a wide-area attack.

Of course, apart from the remaining physical strength, the mental damage was also considerable.

Gueeeeee… … .

Masain, who discovered the corpse of a child who had his brain shattered but was still standing up, groaned with a pale face.

“Oh my God. Oh my God… … !”

Meanwhile, Owen moved lightly between the corpses.

‘Please hold on for a moment, Brother Marsain!’

He moved counterclockwise along the wall with the magic circle drawn on it, then swung his axe at the corpse of a sturdy man blocking his way.

Crunch!

A single-handed axe smashes his skull in one blow. Even then, the corpse does not fall, but stubbornly extends its arms toward Owen.

puck!

Owen kicked her in the chest, sending her flying far away, and used the recoil to spin around to avoid the old woman’s claws that shot out from behind.

WHEEK-!

At the same time as turning his body, he did not forget to shake his arm hard to remove the flesh stuck to the axe.

Owen raised his arms high in the air and swung the axe diagonally, cutting down the woman running towards him from the side.

grasp!

In a clean cut from the neck to the side, white maggots were jumping out instead of red blood.

‘… How terrible!’

It was fortunate that Owen was quite accustomed to such sights, for there were quite a few dungeons in the Pangea Chronicles that were filled with undead monsters.

Thanks to this, Owen was able to take the time to look at the situation from a relatively distant perspective, rather than being engrossed in the tragedy before his eyes.

‘The quest that Status Window gave me wasn’t to get rid of the corpses!’

In that case, all he has to do is find that ‘important document’.

Once you’ve completed the quest, it might be better to get out of here quickly with Brother Marsain.

Kuroooo… … .

As the corpse of the man who had been pushed away charged again, Owen swung the axe hard, this time aiming for his leg.

puck!

After kicking the one who was staggering to the side with his thigh bent again, Owen diligently rolled his eyes to find the mark of Mr. Status Chang.

‘… There it is!’

Twinkle!

On an old bookshelf on one side, a single old book glows faintly among the messy stacks of paper. That must be what is meant by a precious old book.

Owen turned around naturally, pretending to be wary of the monsters, and advanced toward the book.

Kwaaang!

In the meantime, Marsain was steadily reducing the number of corpses. The aura of the high-ranking knight, who was close to Dekaron Knight, was displaying truly astonishing destructive power by obtaining the status of the holy relic Misra.

Thud thud thud!

Rotten flesh scatters in all directions, like meat being minced in a grinder.

The repeated explosions shook the old sewer tunnel, sending clouds of dirt and dust flying overhead.

“Your Majesty Owen! It’s dangerous to go too far alone!”

At this point, even the black-robed wizard, who had not moved an inch from his seat until then, began to show great agitation.

“… How can this be! Where on earth did these people suddenly come from?”

The trembling wizard quickly turned around as if he had made up his mind. To be exact, he was headed towards the bookshelf Owen was aiming for.

‘this!’

If you think about it, it was an obvious result.

This is the secret laboratory of an evil wizard. If he were to leave this place behind, what would be the first thing the wizard would take with him other than his research records?

Owen, whose heart was racing, quickly shouted.

“You evil apostate! You shameless servant of the devil!”

“… … ?!”

Stop.

The wizard looked back at him with a look of bewilderment at Owen’s scream that made the sewer rumbling. Unlike Marsain who was flashily exploding his aura, Owen’s activities had been minor so far, so he had not paid much attention to them.

But the next words Owen shouted were ones he absolutely could not ignore.

“I am the prince of the Holy Empire Delcross!”

“…Prince?”

“Yes! As a proud member of the Sung Hwang family, I will risk everything to take your head!”

Owen shouted ominously and walked straight towards the wizard. He was cautiously approaching the bookshelf on the wizard’s right.

“Ugh!”

At his ominous expression, the wizard hesitated and could not bring himself to approach the bookshelf any further.

Meanwhile, Owen jumped over a corpse and then deliberately twisted the angle of the axe blade to violently blow off the head of the woman following him.

WHEEK – CLASH!

Half-melted brain matter flies roughly, accompanied by a foul odor.

“You, stay still and don’t move! Soon I will drive my sacred axe blade into your cursed balls!”

At first glance, he looks more like a Barbarian from Barcelona who makes a lot of noise and fights on the front lines than a prince.

But that ignorant pressure had some effect on the wizard. The wizard, overwhelmed by Owen’s momentum, eventually gave up on the bookshelf and began to back away.

“Ugh… … .”

Just then, Owen suddenly turned away from the wizard and quickly leapt towards the wall.

Taat!

And with a lightning-quick swing of his hand among the corpses, he finally succeeded in snatching a shiny book from the top of the bookshelf.

‘… Got it!’

At the same time, a small window of courtesy pops up before your eyes.

[Urgent Quest? Find and obtain the important documents! Complete!]

‘I did it!’

Owen rolled on the floor with a thud, holding the book in his arms.

“lowering!”

Kwaaang-!

An unusually large aura blast blasts out, sweeping away any remaining corpses nearby.

Suddenly, Owen flew to the ground, and Marsain seemed greatly surprised.

“Your Majesty! What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“Yes, bro! It’s nothing!”

And the wizard who was looking at that sight-

“… Tsk!”

Perhaps because he thought he had no chance, he turned around and hurriedly left the lab. He had thought this was a dead end section of the sewers, but it seemed like there was a secret passageway that only wizards had in case of an emergency.

Owen, who had confirmed that the pitch-black new form had disappeared from before his eyes, slowly got up and followed its movements. Unfortunately, the wizard’s movements quickly disappeared, and soon he could no longer detect it.

For a moment, Owen felt that something was strange.

‘Mr. Status Window. Why didn’t you tell me to catch the wizard, but instead asked me to find this document?’

It was a messy fight, but thanks to Marsain’s efforts, the corpses were quickly rendered inactive. If Owen had not paid attention to the documents from the beginning and had confronted them, he might have been able to capture the wizard just in time.

The documents could have been collected slowly after all the processing was completed. But why did they insist on securing these documents first?

But Owen’s doubts were short-lived, as he soon learned why.

Hurrruk!

Suddenly, a fierce flame began to surge from one side of the sewer.

Hwaruk-!

It was a sinister flame with a crimson glow. The flames quickly surged into the sewers, engulfing the waterways and incinerating the shattered corpses. They even burned away the flesh stuck to the walls and the intricate magic circles.

Whoosh whoosh!

The flames spread so quickly along the wall that in the blink of an eye they engulfed the wizard’s bookshelves and documents, burning fiercely.

‘…omg?’

Owen could only stare blankly at the flickering flames as the event happened so quickly. If he had been even a little bit later, wouldn’t the quest document have been blown away?

“…lowering?!”

At that moment, Marsain’s terrified scream was heard from the other side. Only then did Owen come to his senses and look at the thing that appeared with the flames.

A boy standing with crimson flames covering his entire body. That was none other than Mores.

He slowly turned his head at the voice of Marsain calling him, then slowly tilted his head and looked at him.

“Brother Marsain.”

“… … !”

Owen was very embarrassed.

Why is that kid acting like that all of a sudden? Brother Marsain? Is there something wrong with the kid?

“Hey… newbie. Are you okay?”

Then this time, Mores just rolled his eyes and looked at Owen.

“Yeah, you idiot.”

“… … .”

No, I guess it’s a shame that you’re responding so well to the title of newbie.

No matter how I looked at it, the guy’s expression was incredibly unnatural. It was as if he had forgotten how to properly move his facial muscles after not using them for a long time.

Owen approached him with a worried look on his face and asked.

“Hey, how’s work going? Or did something big happen in the meantime?”

“… … .”

“Why are you suddenly like that? Are you sick?”

Then Mores looked at Owen with a blank expression, then said something incomprehensible with a flash of light.

“It’s nothing special. It’s just that Brother Marsain and you are here in front of me, so it’s kind of strange. It seems like I’m still in a happy nightmare.”