Rudger thought that quite a big shot would co, but this exceeded his imagination.
To think that the Holy Emperor would co in person.
He understood why the Remia priest couldn't move a muscle.
'Although they share the sa Holy Emperor's bloodline, Salesin is the current Holy Emperor, so he has the strongest control over the priests.'
While Remia unconsciously feels she must follow Rudger's commands that aren't really commands.
For Salesin, a single word would co to her as an enormous restraining force.
'I expected soone with a na in the Holy Emperor's family to co, but to think the Holy Emperor himself would visit.'
Is it to strike at our weakness, or simply to show that he has leeway?
Whatever the case, it was rather fortunate for Rudger that the highest authority had appeared.
"For soone who has ascended to the position of Holy Emperor to co to a place like this in person. You seem to have more free ti than I thought."
"Since my subordinates work hard on my behalf, I actually have nothing to do. A figurehead, is that what they call it? That's exactly my situation."
Salesin was being modest, but Rudger didn't believe his words at face value.
He was smiling cheerfully, but those sharp red eyes showed no sign of amusent.
'Just as I'm trying to test him, he's also trying to test .'
Salesin hadn't beco Holy Emperor just because he was the eldest son.
Rudger had quite a few half-siblings besides Salesin.
And the talents of the siblings of that generation were at a level hard to find even if you searched through the history of the Bretus Holy Nation.
The fact that Salesin had ascended to Holy Emperor among those who demonstrated such outstanding prominence wasn't because of luck.
It was because he was far superior.
Beyond having the skills suitable to be Holy Emperor, he also had well-rounded intelligence and political insight.
Such a person saying he has free ti and visiting him personally? Even a passing dog wouldn't believe it.
"I heard my long-lost half-brother had appeared, so how could I not co as your older brother?"
"You didn't co because you wanted to kill yourself?"
"? Why would I?"
"Have you forgotten what the Cardinal and several archbishops were trying to do?"
Salesin shook his head.
"That was Cardinal Patricio and his subordinate archbishops acting on their own. It has nothing to do with ."
Nothing to do with him?
Rudger curled up the corner of his mouth crookedly.
Several thousand troops. That's how many were gathered in one place.
No matter how impressive a Cardinal might be, could he have gathered that many people without the Holy Emperor's approval?
Salesin's influence must have been involved.
From Salesin's perspective, the deaths of Cardinal Patricio, priests, and holy knights would be a painful loss.
Yet he claid it was Patricio's independent action without changing his expression at all.
"You are quite ruthless in throwing away soone who once believed in and followed you."
"Even if he was a Cardinal, he betrayed the will of God, so it's a fair assessnt."
"God's will, huh. It doesn't seem like sothing that should be said by soone who followed Lunsis' will less than anyone else."
For the first ti, that remark caused a change in Salesin's smile.
The mask of his smile didn't crack, but the corners of his eyes stretched longer than before.
"Brother, a massive power resonance was felt at the place where Saint Arkenis and the Great Demon once fought. You opened a channel to communicate with God, right?"
"Was it just communication? I saw Lunsis exercise all of his power."
Salesin knew that Rudger had annihilated Patricio and the subjugation forces.
He too is a mber of the Lunsis Order and a Holy Emperor overflowing with holy power more than anyone.
No matter how far away he was, he must have felt that power.
"I said I killed Cardinal Patricio, right? But there's just one thing that's wrong. While it's true that I killed the others there, the only one I didn't kill was Patricio."
"Hmm. To say you didn't just kill the Cardinal after massacring so many people. If not you, then who killed him?"
"If you think about who exercised power in that place, you should know."
The corner of Salesin's mouth curled up as if finding it amusing.
"Are you trying to say that Lunsis himself delivered divine punishnt?"
"That's the truth. The Cardinal wasn't sincerely serving God from the beginning. And the sa goes for you."
"......"
"Lunsis knows that the Bretus Holy Nation, which he uses as his limbs, no longer serves him sincerely and has beco corrupted. That's why he punished Patricio then. Are you curious about his final monts?"
Salesin shook his head at Rudger's words.
"In the distant past, Lunsis preached the doctrine that if you sincerely serve him, you can rise to a high heavenly position and look down upon the world together."
Rudger silently listened to this sudden talk about doctrine.
"People firmly believed this and praised Lunsis even more. But that's just the superficial truth that's widely known; the reality is different. You asked if I'm curious about Patricio's end? I'm not curious at all. Because I know how he died."
"You know?"
"Looking down on the world together ans becoming one with Lunsis. And becoming one with him doesn't an becoming his servant, but having your very existence absorbed by him. It ans that humans, their physical bodies, collapse and turn into light and lightning, and are sucked into him."
Rudger recalled Patricio's final monts.
The sight of a human body breaking apart through a black hole, turning into light and being absorbed was a sight that was hard to believe even when seen with one's own eyes, but Salesin was certain without even seeing it.
"Lunsis never loved humans from the beginning."
"So you're planning to betray him?"
"Betray? Betrayal is sothing done to soone you trusted. But Lunsis never trusted us in the first place. Can we call that betrayal?"
"You... so you knew what your role was all along."
"Am I the only one? Everyone knew, from my father, the previous Holy Emperor, generation after generation. That Lunsis empowered us not because he loved us, but to shape this world as he wanted. We are just tools. Where do you think the docunts about turning into light and being absorbed by him ca from?"
With Salesin's words, Rudger finally realized that so Holy Emperors from long ago t the sa end as Patricio.
"We got our chance because of the battle between the Saint and the Great Demon. In that battle, Lunsis completely lost his authority."
"So you took the opportunity to make the Bretus Holy Nation your own?"
"No. It's the opposite. This was originally ours. We've just reclaid our rightful ownership."
"On the contrary, you didn't properly do what Lunsis ordered."
The developnt of human history was the evidence.
Originally, Lunsis feared that humans would develop too much and go against his will, so he created an order composed of followers.
He created the Holy Nation to empower that order, and thus gave power to generations of Holy Emperors to exert strong influence in the mortal realm but the mont that channel disappeared the essence of the Bretus Holy Nation was reversed.
Though it still exerted strong influence throughout the continent as before, it wasn't enough to prevent human developnt.
Especially the scientific advancent in the last 100 years was too fatal.
The power of religion weakened considerably, and with the ergence of magical engineering, firearms developed remarkably.
"We can't just live as his puppets forever, right? This world belongs to humans."
That might sound like a hymn to humanity, but the underlying aning was completely different.
"Although you've escaped Lunsis' oppression, all the actions you've committed weren't for humanity. It's purely because you didn't want to let go of the power you held."
In the end, this conflict between Lunsis and the Bretus Holy Nation occurred because both sides insisted on their own desires.
"What does that matter? The important thing is that you were born."
Salesin stared at Rudger with his red eyes.
"Heathcliff. You know too. What your existence ans."
"Yes."
"Lunsis probably thought he could no longer intervene in the mortal realm. But he didn't give up. He sought an opportunity to exert his influence again, just like before, no, even greater than before. As a result you were created."
A child who should never have been born was born: Heathcliff van Bretus.
The only one born with black hair while all of the Holy Emperor's bloodline had snow-white hair.
The royal family's illegitimate child.
And
"The Holy Grail created by Lunsis to contain his power."
"......"
"Talent that surpasses geniuses and could be called monstrous. Even if you were an illegitimate child, with that level of talent, you would have been enough to beco Holy Emperor."
But Salesin and others didn't do that.
Especially Benedict, the previous Holy Emperor, realized what kind of being Rudger was.
"You are nothing but a tool sent down by Lunsis to exert his power in the mortal realm again. A powerless god with only an empty shell is trying to take our power again. Should we just sit by and watch that happen?"
That's why they tried to kill Rudger.
Because he is the Holy Grail to contain God's power.
If he stays alive, Lunsis will rule the Bretus Holy Nation again.
"No, no. That can't happen."
Rudger realized what emotion was flickering in Salesin's eyes.
It was desire.
Greed. Lust for power. All the attachnts that co with sitting in a high position.
"Until you disappeared, I really worried a lot. If I had you in front of , I wouldn't have been this anxious. Because I didn't know where you were and what power you were cultivating. But now it's different. You've appeared before our eyes again and co into our hands."
"So you're going to kill ?"
"What if I am?"
Salesin reached out his hand toward Rudger.
From beyond the iron bars, he just held out his hand and made a grasping gesture, but marks appeared on Rudger's neck.
If he applied force now, he could break Rudger's neck.
Rudger stared at Salesin with an unchanged expression.
"Of course, not right now."
Salesin withdrew his extended hand.
"Killing you here wouldn't help us at all."
"Your patience is quite remarkable."
"I have to save it for later. You shouldn't die quietly in a place like this. You need a much bigger stage and audience. Like that, in front of everyone, you will be executed. Enemy of the Holy Nation. Betrayer of humanity."
Salesin no longer hid his emotions.
Now that Rudger knew the whole story, there was no point in hiding it; it would only make the conversation longer.
"For the past 20 years, we've been too curled up. The continent has forgotten the power our Holy Nation once held. But now it's different. I won't allow that anymore."
"That might have been possible in the past, but it won't be so easy now. It's been a long ti since the na of the Holy Nation was known throughout the continent; who would follow orders in tis like these?"
Selling indulgences and deposing kings, that was all hundreds of years ago.
In a world developing like now, with science advancing and laws against discrimination, equality laws, and labor laws erging one by one.
They were just old n clutching at past legacies, throwing tantrums for recognition.
"Right. People these days lack respect for God. And that's not sothing that will co about just because we talk about it."
"Missing what you once had? Did you think people would live like fools forever?"
"Haha. Of course not. If they hadn't, we would have been disappointed. It's no fun if the puppets you control are pathetic, right?"
"...What?"
At Salesin's words, Rudger sensed sothing ominous.
"What are you plotting?"
"It's nothing really. Since this world seems to have forgotten the greatness of Bretus, I'm thinking of etching it back into their minds."
"Is that just bravado? Such a thing is not possible."
"Whether it's bravado or not, you'll soon find out. Heathcliff. Haven't you thought sothing was strange? Just as the beings we now call demons have them, every god has their own apostles. You, who have experienced so many things, should know this."
"......"
Of course, that's obvious.
After all, apostles were the representatives of their respective gods, their closest beings, and those who proclaid their voices in the mortal realm.
"Then here's a question. Does Lunsis have apostles or not?"
"...Don't tell there are apostles in the Bretus Holy Nation?"
That's impossible.
If there were, there's no way there wouldn't have been traces of apostles over the long years.
"Saying more would spoil the fun. But don't be too curious. You'll find out soon enough."
Salesin said this and waved his hand toward Rudger.
"It was a sowhat enjoyable reunion. Let's have our next eting in the holand."
Though it will be your last.
Reviews
All reviews (0)