Children of the Holy Emperor - Chapter 469



Only Noblemtl

469. Congratulatory remarks (9)

One of Nate’s greatest misfortunes was that the Oracle’s power prevented him from forgetting any of the painful memories.

From the moment he was born, he remembered all the sounds he heard around him. Even before he learned to speak, he had stored in his head the syllables of sounds he could not understand.

So in the future, he was able to reconstruct the cold voice of Bethsheba that had whispered to his newborn self.

-Don’t blame me too much, my child. This is all for your own good. This power is nothing but poison to you now. If people realize your divine power, you will become a living statue of the Seonghwang family and be exploited as a fountain of divine power for the rest of your life.

The ‘brand’ was probably engraved right after that. The only reason Nate couldn’t quite remember where it was was because he lost consciousness immediately from the excruciating pain that tore through his soul.

On the other hand, one of Nate’s greatest strokes of luck was that, thanks to the Oracle’s powers, he could remember even the faintest auditory hallucinations he had heard.

On the day he was branded, Nate remembered someone’s voice shouting urgently at him.

-Wait a minute! Don’t do that! There might be a better way! So… … !

It was a fleeting moment.

But among all the thoughts pouring out through the salt crystals, that clear voice that particularly caught Nate’s ear remained in Nate’s memory for a long time afterward.

After I learned the language and fully understood its meaning, I understood that the owner of the voice was trying with all his might to stop Bethsheba for his own sake.

So sometimes I wondered who he was. It was the only warm memory I had from the desolate pre- and post-natal period.

After that, the voice would come to him every once in a while, whenever he wanted to forget it. Usually, it was at a moment when Nate was faced with a life-or-death crisis, like when he had the ‘brand’ engraved on him.

-You have to be careful with that new escort. Remember, never let yourself be alone with that author!

-Use that portal. Leave the rest to me. I’m much stronger now than I was back then. I’ll take care of everything, so don’t worry about anything and just trust me!

And now-

In this situation where he was stabbing his own stomach with a sword in front of the weeds of love, Nate unexpectedly heard the same voice as before.

[What the heck is this! You idiot! Are you crazy?!]

A strange sound that seems like that of an adult, but at the same time, like that of an innocent child.

Although Nate felt a brief sense of joy at hearing the voice after such a long time, he could no longer focus on it for long. He felt a terrible pain that tore through his soul, beyond his body.

[No, why on earth are you doing that? Why is everything you do like this?]

The voice was maddeningly angry, but the only emotions conveyed were worry and longing. Nate was sweating in pain, but without realizing it, he was making excuses for him.

‘Even if you see through everything with your spiritual eyes, you cannot see your own soul until you die. In other words, while I am alive in my flesh, I will never be able to determine the location of the mark. However, I must remove the mark engraved on me right now.’

[So you were trying to die first? Does that make sense? Yes?]

‘No, that’s not it. If I were to die like this, wouldn’t it be meaningless? I was just trying to find a place where the brand that was engraved somewhere in my soul would be and carve it out with my soul. Even if I just damage a part of the brand, it would be enough to release the restrictions that were squeezing my soul.’

If only Nate could pinpoint where in his soul the obstacle was, then he could easily create a detour around the mark. And what’s more, he had enough power to fill up that detour!

[… No, that’s not nonsense. Huh… This guy is really hitting the nail on the head… … .]

The voice that had been mumbling in vain for a moment finally spoke to Nate as if it had made up its mind.

[Damn it! Okay. I understand! I don’t have much of a way to do it. It’s impossible for me to change the self-harm event that you’ve already observed and confirmed. Our time-travel directions are just too different!]

‘then…….’

[But at least I can help you end this madness a little faster.]

The voice tried to calm down his agitated emotions and began to convey the information he had gathered to Nate as quickly as possible.

[The brand engraved on you is very large. It covers everything from the back of your neck to your lower back. Its structure is also incredibly complex, so even a slight damage to it will not stop it from working.]

Nate also had some idea of ​​the identity of the brand. It was the worst punishment that the heresy court could impose. It was a terrible brand that indicated a ‘devil worshiper.’

I heard that the complex pattern was designed based on the laws of the world of the celestials. Therefore, once the mark was engraved on the body, even a sane priest would lose his divine powers in an instant.

Perhaps that was the best way to prevent his immense divine power from leaking into the real world.

[Of course, there are a few weak points in that brand. Right nearby is a pattern of nine concentric circles tightly wound together. Since the codes are so sensitive, you could probably destroy all nine codes with one stroke. You just need to rip about an extra span from where the sword came out.]

span.

Considering that the internal organs along the same path will be cut out together, it is not a short distance to say the least.

Still, it was encouraging news for Nate, since he had originally planned to keep tearing at the stigma until it lost its power.

‘span…….’

Nate gritted his teeth and tightened his trembling hands.

Kkwaduk!

There was excruciating pain, accompanied by massive bleeding.

But in the midst of his suffering, his mind became sharper than ever before, and his rapidly expanded field of vision allowed him to perceive many things simultaneously that he had never seen before.

“What the heck are you… … .”

Taia is seen with her mouth wide open, her mind blank. Her eyes, following Nate’s hand holding the sword, are shaking violently as if an earthquake has occurred.

Krrrrrrrr… … .

There was also a demonic figure that killed Abbot Mathieu in one blow. Even after the Abbot’s death, the demon, who had been destroying buildings as he pleased to relieve his emotions, finally lost interest in his corpse and turned his gaze toward the Astros mercenary group and the orphans gathered there.

and-

‘… … !’

Nate was able to catch a glimpse of the owner of the voice for the first time.

The flames enveloping his body, and his pale golden hair reflecting the crimson light of the flames. He spoke hesitantly, his soul faintly visible.

[Oh, shit… I didn’t know I’d be cheering on such crazy shit. But it’s coming to an end now. Just hang in there a little longer, Dad… … .]

Pfft!

With those words, the spirit completely disappeared from Nate’s timeline. Presumably, there was some kind of limitation to his interference with reality.

But fortunately, Nate no longer needed his cheering.

Gulp!

With the blood flowing, the constraints that had been holding the soul were finally broken-

Paaaaah-!

A powerful divine power that had been suppressed for a long time is released, and bright rays of light burst out in all directions as if exploding.

In that dazzling light that seemed blinding, Taia lost her mind and shed tears.

“… Ah, Bethel!”

How can words describe that scene? The sacredness that goes beyond the limit is a violence that tramples on the soul.

Would it be like this if the great saints of old, or even another incarnation of the Lord, were to return to the world?

“Oh, my dear! Oh, incarnation of the Lord! This lowly servant has finally seen with his own eyes the evidence of your presence and arrival in the world!”

The parish priest of the Ae-yeol Church, Taia, wept as he felt the fullness of faith welling up from his soul for the first time in his life.

But that happiness was short-lived.

Choaack!

Immediately afterwards, she was decapitated by Nate’s longsword, which swung like lightning.

* * *

Rattle rattle.

“… … .”

When Dasha came to, everything was over. They were neatly purified and loaded onto a wagon heading to Asain.

As I lay there in a daze, feeling the vibration of the shaking carriage, I heard the sound of mercenaries arguing in front of me.

“Oh, let go of me! Don’t stop me, Paula! This time I’m not going to let that Bart guy off easy! How dare I fool that Justin Astros!”

He was a man whose voice was thick, but whose speech sounded extremely frivolous.

And then a dull woman’s voice is heard rebuking him.

“What kind of crazy talk is that? How can the captain say something like that after seeing with his own eyes what our lucky rookie has done?”

“Of course, he did contribute somewhat to defeating the demon… …!”

“You should speak straight. The newbie did it all by himself. Why did we go near the devil because we were afraid of erosion?”

“… … !”

“And who on earth purified all those poor children who were caught up in the erosion?”

Then the man was silent for a moment as if he had been taken aback, and then he protested in a weak voice.

“But because of that guy, we’ve suffered a lot of damage! Receiving a pitiful fee to save lives and even exorcise a high-level demon? Where on earth is that kind of pointless, pointless effort? If only he had reported the results of his investigation to me properly…!”

“Of course, the new employee did a thorough preliminary investigation and submitted a neat report. He also proposed several special provisions to prepare for unforeseen circumstances, so I reflected them in the contract as is, but did you not read the contract?”

“Oh, I read it. I read it roughly, but… No, wait a minute, Paula. What kind of weirdo would put such a complicated special contract into a mere low-level request?”

“Then you should be happy. Fortunately, our new recruit is a strange guy who puts in such a thing, and if the contract is properly carried out, our mercenary group will get a lot of money for free.”

Then the man flinched and asked.

“What? Did we… make money?”

“Yes. We made a lot of money, Captain Justin. If we had been careful, we could have formally requested the Empire to form a Knights Templar, but our mercenary group covered it up. We probably still have money left over after taking in all the orphans we rescued. Our new recruits are truly valuable.”

The man looked momentarily taken aback by the outpouring of praise from the woman named Paula.

“… So, are you saying that it would be better for you to make a formal contract with Bart?”

“I would like to do that, but the new recruits refused to sign a formal contract with us.”

“What? Why again!”

“Bart doesn’t want to be treated like a boss by someone like Captain Justin.”

“… No, what did you say?”

I sense a man disappearing somewhere, grumbling. Perhaps he’s going to have a go at that guy named ‘Bart’.

At the same time, on the other side of the carriage, another conversation was whispered, its voices muffled.

“Father Gustav. Are you of a certain mind?”

The man with a hoarse voice stammered a question in the woman’s soft voice.

“… Oh, the children… What happened to the children?”

“Everyone is safe. The erosion has disappeared and we have found complete stability. It is all thanks to the priest’s efforts.”

“Ah, my lord!”

A man’s sobbing was heard, accompanied by a small prayer.

“I could not do anything. Yes, it was impossible. With my meager divine power alone, I would have lost my children without a fight! It is truly the Lord’s guidance that He has given me such great mercenaries at this time.”

“Shh. Don’t worry too much about the past and just rest. Your Majesty has used up too much of your divine power.”

“Thank you. I really appreciate it!”

Dasha, who had heard up to that point, slowly closed her eyes, feeling somewhat tired.

Bart… … .

Priest Gustav… … .

These were names that had originally had no connection to her life. Perhaps because of this, they felt familiar, yet strangely vague.

… cool.

As her consciousness faded, the familiar names faded from her mind, leaving behind a faint echo.

……. (continue)