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Chapter 969: Altanus (6)

Lucifer did not have the luxury to pass down a divine message or create miracles to promote herself. She couldn\'t even descend into a devotee\'s body.

I was sure that was the reason they locked up Saint Altanus underground. Lucifer needed someone to manage the scarred surface world—someone who could protect the continent.

The continent looked perfectly fine. According to the books in the library, the current level of civilization, mindset, and the overall living standards of the continentals were pretty high.

The underground temple was no different.

I thought there was an ongoing apocalypse outside, but the surface world had an abundant amount of resources, and there weren\'t any tainted regions as well.

Of course, social issues such as war, hunger, and poverty existed, but those were basically everywhere. The continent looked perfect in the eyes of a transcendent being.

Unfortunately, if something was perfect on the outside, then it had to be corrupted on the inside. In other words, it could be said that the continent\'s bubble was about to pop.

Lucifer was probably borrowing holy power from everywhere and was running around the continent to fix it.

‘Come to think of it, wasn\'t the Rift Museum created around this time as well?’

Max’s mother—my spiritual wife—probably died while trying to close the rift.

Several issues popped up, and if it weren\'t for the underground temple, the surface world would be a mess.

Lucifer had to have locked Altanus here, as she couldn’t bear to look at the continent herself. In that sense, it could be said that Draktaris wasn\'t really communicating with the priests of the continent.

‘Is this the first miracle in decades—no, centuries?’

I was sure that it had a really long wait.

‘They\'ve been living for this day, after all.’

And that was the reason this clumsy event was so effective.

“Do you really understand… what she said?” Draktaris asked.

“I don’t want to believe it, either, Father Draktaris,” I said.

“...”

“But what I heard is the absolute truth. Lady Lucifer said that Saint Altanus would eventually lose her light. The foundation that has been protecting and maintaining the continent would become unstable. A great threat will soon be upon us,” I said while crying like a child. “She said that darkness will envelop the continent, and everyone will tremble in pain and fear. Heuk…”

“H-How could this…” Draktaris mumbled.

“That’s…”

“O Lucifer… how…” Draktaris said.

“Saint Altanus lost her light, and I saw what happened to the surface world after that. The denizens were crying tears of blood, and they were cursing Lady Lucifer,” I said.

“It… can’t be…” Draktaris muttered in disbelief.

“O Lucifer… are you going to abandon the continent… Are you going to abandon your lambs?” I cried out.

“F-Father…” Draktaris stuttered.

“AAAAAAAHHHHH!” I roared, acting like a lunatic.

“Calm him down! Hurry!” Draktaris ordered.

“The darkness! The darkness! Is coming! Heuk… heuk… Ahhhh!” I screamed.

“Father! Are you okay? Father!” he asked.

“Saint Altanus! O Lucifer! Why… Heuk… Ahh… Ahhhh!” I shouted.

I clutched my chest and started roaring like a lunatic.

The sight seemed to have finally made everyone realize the gravity of the situation.

Draktaris\' tough guards grabbed me, but they couldn\'t do anything about my mind.

I was bawling, and I was crying so much that my eyes were hurting.

I was losing my mind.

I couldn’t stop crying.

I even had no idea what I was doing right now, as I was actually losing consciousness.

“Heuk… Haa… Heuuuk… Ahhh!” I shouted.

“Father! Father! Are you okay?” Draktaris asked.

I was having a seizure, and my heart was pounding fast against my chest.

I was breathing fast, but it felt like I wasn\'t getting enough air.

“Hurry! On Father Lee Ki-Young!” Draktaris ordered.

“Heuk… O Lucifer… Lucifer…” I mumbled.

When a stream of holy power entered me, I slowly calmed down. My breathing became calm, and I stopped crying. However, I was covered in sweat, utterly exhausted.

“...”

“...”

After the commotion, a deafening silence filled the room.

‘My acting skills were amazing.’

It was perfect.

It seemed like no one cared about whether my words were true or not.

Everyone, including Father Draktaris, looked pale.

They got immersed in my performance which was so brilliant that even the winner of the "Best Actor Award" would cry upon seeing it.

Was the scene of the continent heading toward the apocalypse reflected in the panicking protagonist who had received a divine message?

Were they sympathizing with the priest whose heart almost ceased all movement out of terror and shock?

The reason didn\'t really matter.

Anyway, Templar Genny was busy explaining everything that he knew.

He was still too young to know about the truths of the world, so he looked nervous, and there were tears in his eyes. He looked paler than a sheet of paper. It was a typical reaction of someone like him. Actually, his reaction wasn’t that bad because he had received training, but if he had been an ordinary kid, he would have fainted from terror.

“...”

“...”

Templar Genny came back to his senses and approached me.

“E-Excuse me, Father. Are you okay?” Templar Genny asked.

“Y-Yes… I… just…” I mumbled.

I looked like I still had no idea what had happened.

“He\'s in shock, Father Draktaris. I think it’s best if he rests first…” Templar Genny suggested.

“I agree, but…” Draktaris paused.

“What should we do about this?” Draktaris continued.

“Let’s not tell anyone for now,” Templar Genny answered.

\'Yeah, that’s a reasonable decision. There’s no point in making everyone panic. I’m sure that’s not what he wants, though.\'

However, it\'d be absurd to notify the ordinary priests of this incident, and he’d also have to think twice about the higher-ups. A low-level priest would immediately run to the higher-ups and let them know about this, but Draktaris wasn’t a low-level priest.

He had his own troops and a group of holy knights who were on the same level as low-level Templars.

He had to consider the impact that this incident would have once word got out, but he also had to worry about the corrupted priests, who\'d definitely use this incident to their advantage. Of course, a few people would inevitably find out, but it was going to be fine as long as they worked hard at suppressing the news.

In this room, there wasn\'t anyone else aside from me, Draktaris, two of his trustworthy guards, and Templar Genny. After saying a few words to one of his personal guards, he walked up to me.

He grabbed my hand—the hand of the one aware of the continent\'s grim future. I knew what he was going to say, so I decided to speak first.

“Father," I said, “This is presumptuous of me, but…” I paused.

“...”

“How about… we keep this a secret for the time being?” I suggested.

\'Yeah, that\'s right.\'

“Father…” he mumbled.

I wasn’t just a devout priest.

‘I’m an elite priest.’

I was aware of what kind of impact this incident would bring, as I was a priest capable of looking at the bigger picture before making any decisions.

I was a well-educated priest who understood politics and current affairs.

Basically, I was competent. I was someone people would want to work for them.

I was panicking and was like a lunatic just a few moments ago, but I could simply say that it was all because my faith was strong.

My sponsor—no, Father Draktaris, who\'d become my sponsor, looked at me with deep and wise eyes.

‘Yeah, take a good look at my behavior, too.’

Even at a glance, anyone could see that I was a noble.

‘I was acting cautious.’

My hands were soft as if I had never experienced any hard labor, and my skin was pale, as I was barely in the sun. I was sure many thoughts were popping up in his head right now.

He was probably assuming that I was either a fallen noble who became a priest or a servant of Lady Lucifer who came out to the world with a purpose in mind.

I didn\'t know exactly what he was thinking, but I was certain about one thing.

He wanted to sponsor me, as he didn\'t want to lose me.

“Father, I understand better than anyone how you feel,” Draktaris said.

“Father Draktaris,” I said.

“I’m sure you’re worried about what’ll happen afterwards and the impact this incident will have, but you don’t have to worry. However…” Draktaris paused.

“I think it’s best if we straighten things out so we’re on the same page,” I said.

“...”

“O Lucifer…”

“Also…” Draktaris trailed off.

‘Yeah, Templar Genny is the problem, right?’

Technically, he wasn’t one of us.

As expected, the archbishop cast a cold gaze at Templar Genny. Draktaris\' guards also placed their hand on the pommel of their sword.

Genny was young, but he wasn’t that stupid to not notice what was going on. I was sure he also understood that he was in a pickle. It’d be a different story if there were only one guard, but there were two here.

Moreover, there were definitely more guards outside.

‘I can’t let him die here.’

A butterfly effect might happen, and I believed that he was still useful.

“He’s one of us, Father,” I argued. “I’ll make sure to talk to him. I\'ll tell him that he can\'t reveal our secret to anyone."

“But Father Draktaris…” a guard muttered.

‘Guards should remain silent.’

“Silence,” Draktaris said sternly.

“...”

“...”

“Can you promise me that?” Draktaris asked.

“I…”

“Can you swear on Lady Lucifer\'s name that you’ll take everything that happened today to your grave?” Draktaris asked.

‘Of course, he can.’

“I-I…” Templar Genny stuttered.

“Templar Genny,” I said.

‘I’ll support you.’

“...”

‘So that you can ensure that this important secret will remain a secret and that you\'ll overcome this cruel fate.’

I looked at him nervously, and he was also looking at me.

He nodded slowly, but it wasn\'t because he had no choice. It was all because he trusted me, which was why he was willing to make an oath. He seemed to be unaware of the fact that nothing good would happen by trusting someone whom one had just met, and I presumed that was the case because he looked like he had complete trust in me.

“I swear it, Father Draktaris. I swear on Lady Lucifer\'s name that I won’t tell a soul about what happened today,” Templar Genny pledged.

I have a feeling that I was going to get even closer to Templar Genny and Draktaris.

‘He\'s not going to say something ridiculous during the dungeon raid, right?’

***

— The day of destruction that the prophetic priest has spoken of has arrived! Ahh! Where is he?! Prophetic priest… Prophetic priest! If you’re not here, I… I!

“Prepare for battle!”

“Hey, I told you to prepare for battle!” Park Deok-Gu shouted.

— Ahhh! Where the hell are you?!

“Damn it!”

***

\'Yeah, he probably won\'t do that.\'