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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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Edanant felt a sense of unease as he carefully recalled the words he had exchanged with Maximilian.
He hadn’t received the most crucial piece of information.
It was clear Maximilian had deliberately avoided answering something.
What could it be?
Edanant swallowed hard and stared at Maximilian.
The unsettling feeling kept warning him that he had missed a vital fact that he absolutely needed to uncover.
“Hey, Maximilian.”
“What is it?”
He had no intention of fighting.
If they continued their confrontation, Rue might get caught in the crossfire.
Edanant sheathed his sword and approached Maximilian.
In response, Maximilian calmly nodded and momentarily released Rue, who had been clinging to him.
“Where’s Beatrice?”
“……”
Until now, Maximilian had answered all the questions faithfully.
Except for one.
Questions related to Beatrice.
Regnas had been the same.
Whenever he asked about Beatrice, he would either stay silent or look away, avoiding the question.
The symbol of evil to prevent the world’s end.
As Edanant thought about it, he felt a sharp premonition piercing his lungs.
“…Max.”
“Hmm.”
Maximilian and Regnas’ expressions instantly hardened at the question regarding the saintess’s whereabouts.
Should they reveal it?
Is it premature?
After a moment of hesitation and a frozen response, Maximilian spoke.
Edanant could sense through his resolute golden eyes that something serious had happened to Beatrice.
“Beatrice is in the Demon Realm.”
“What?”
“To be precise, she’s at the Demon King’s castle, where the Immortal Demon King resided.”
“That’s absurd…”
The Demon Realm.
The land of the demons who had invaded the continent.
The Second Saintess, Beatrice, was there.
It was only natural for Edanant to refute Maximilian’s answer as an absurd lie.
However, he couldn’t shake off the ominous feeling and revealed a terrified expression.
‘Rue mentioned that the Saintess Party headed to the Powder Keg Peninsula. The Powder Keg Peninsula… If you keep going east from the Powder Keg Peninsula, you reach the Demon Realm, the territory of the demons.’
The pieces began to fall into place.
The Powder Keg Peninsula.
And the Demon Realm located beyond the east.
The reason the Saintess Party members had all disappeared at once was to cross over to the Demon Realm.
Realizing this fact, Edanant clenched his fists in shock.
“We’re going to resurrect the Disaster God of Death soon. That’s the only way to prevent the world’s end.”
“Resurrect… the Disaster God of Death?”
They had killed the Immortal Demon King using the Scepter of White Night.
And they had even annihilated the Disaster God of Death, who had bestowed immense power upon the Demon King.
It was impossible.
Hadn’t he witnessed the Disaster God’s final moments as he perished under the Earth Mother’s divine power?
Edanant was naturally shocked by Maximilian’s declaration to resurrect the Demon God of the Demon Realm, whom they had completely annihilated in the final battle.
Zebeline, who had been listening from the side, also showed a horrified reaction and spoke.
“You’re insane! To resurrect the evil god you yourselves annihilated!”
“Of course, we don’t intend to fully unleash him. He’ll only exist as a means to prevent the world’s end.”
The plan to use the innocent calamity as a tool was too extreme.
It was impossible.
To control the very source of calamity that would one day annihilate humanity.
Edanant, who had been an apostle serving the Disaster God of War, knew this better than anyone else.
“Rue.”
“…Yes.”
Maximilian called her in a low voice.
Rue lifted her head and answered, holding back her tears.
“I know this is a selfish request, but I hope you can trust me.”
“I trust you! You’re my precious partner…!”
She wanted to hold onto him.
She wanted to tell him to take her with him.
She wanted to cling to him and say she didn’t want to be left behind.
But Rue bit her plump lips and desperately suppressed her yearning.
She didn’t want to be hated by her savior and lifelong partner.
That’s why she continued to swallow her sobs even as tears streamed down her face.
“…Damn it.”
That bastard is trying to run away.
He’s planning to leave as soon as he’s finished his business.
Edanant swallowed hard.
He wanted to unleash a barrage of attacks on Maximilian, but he couldn’t act rashly because Rue was nearby.
“Our objective has been achieved. We’re leaving now, Regnas.”
“Understood.”
Maximilian and Regnas simultaneously moved their steps.
At that moment,
White lightning struck.
Along with a sharp thunderclap, streaks of lightning bolts filled the sky.
The saintess with flowing silver hair glared at the hero and the sword saint with a murderous expression.
“Having heard your absurd plan to resurrect the Disaster God of Death… I can’t let you leave peacefully.”
The White Dragon of the Holy Kingdom.
Even though she wasn’t one of the Seven Strongest in the Warring States, she wasn’t an easy opponent to defeat.
If they were to fight the First Saintess, Edanant would surely join her side.
Maximilian and Regnas revealed troubled expressions as they looked at the ominously flashing lightning.
“Stop.”
Just as they were about to clash,
Edanant reached out his hand and stopped Zebeline.
“…Edan?”
“They’ve completely turned against us. There’s no need for you to get involved, Saintess.”
Maximilian and Regnas, along with the Saintess Party, had already made a firm decision.
Therefore, no matter how much he tried to persuade them, they wouldn’t give up.
It was a futile effort.
Those bastards would one day face the consequences of their arrogance.
Edanant glared at Maximilian with a look of contempt.
In response, Maximilian turned away with a meaningful expression.
“You’re saying you’ll awaken Death, whom you put to eternal rest? Try it.”
“……”
There was no need to awaken Death.
They could have simply used War instead.
But-
The Saintess Party knew this and still chose the most drastic option.
Why?
Edanant forced down his boiling emotions and let out a sarcastic laugh.
His mocking smile was filled with deep self-deprecation.
Edanant carried Rue, who had cried herself to sleep, on his back as he left the scene.
He didn’t say a word.
He remained silent, consumed by a heavy silence.
He walked alongside Zebeline to a steep mountain valley and carefully laid Rue down.
Then he temporarily entrusted Rue to Zebeline’s care.
“She’s trying to stay strong, but… she must be deeply hurt.”
“Indeed, so much has happened in such a short time.”
Edanant and Zebeline were also in a state of bewilderment after the successive shocking news.
It must have been even more overwhelming for Rue, who had been reunited with Maximilian after his sudden departure.
Will she be alright?
I hope she can overcome her despair.
He let out a heavy sigh as he looked at Rue, who was sound asleep.
He seemed worried that the incident might leave a terrible scar on her.
“What does he mean by resurrecting the Disaster God of Death?”
“I don’t know. But one thing’s for sure… the Disaster God of Death was completely annihilated back then. It’s impossible to resurrect the Disaster God of Death.”
It was impossible.
Edanant spoke in a firm voice.
He had witnessed the Disaster God of Death’s annihilation with his own eyes, which made his conviction even stronger.
“But I don’t think the Saintess Party would engage in such a grand delusion for no reason. If they truly have a way to resurrect the Disaster God of Death…”
“That’s what bothers me as well.”
Edanant nodded and removed his iron mask.
It had been three long years since he last wore it.
His face was covered in sweat, perhaps because the rusty iron mask had been quite uncomfortable.
Zebeline hurriedly took out her handkerchief and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead.
Edanant leaned forward and accepted the saintess’s gentle touch.
“There’s a way to find the answer. Death… and Tyranny and Famine. We can solve all the mysteries surrounding the innocent calamities at once.”
“What is it?”
Was it just his imagination?
Edanant’s voice sounded chilling.
The silver-haired saintess swallowed hard and observed the rigid Edanant.
“We can ask the Disaster God of War directly.”
“Excuse me?”
“We’ll have to pay a hefty price, but… we have no choice but to accept it.”
“Oh, no! A hefty price…! Are you planning to offer a sacrifice to the Disaster God of War?!”
Since ancient times, the cruel and ruthless cultists who worshiped the Disaster Gods had offered living humans as sacrifices.
They ripped out their hearts while they were still alive.
They crushed their heads with heavy maces.
And they continued their gruesome slaughter until the altar was stained with blood.
Recalling the terrifying legends associated with the cultists, Zebeline showed hostility towards Edanant’s plan to seek an oracle from the Disaster God of War.
Her blue eyes flashed like sharp lightning bolts.
“Excuse me? A sacrifice…? What are you talking about?”
“…What?”
“When I said a hefty price, I meant a financial expense.”
“……”
Zebeline tilted her head repeatedly at Edanant’s unexpected answer.
A financial expense?
Did he mean they had to offer a huge sum of gold to the Disaster God?
It wasn’t that materialistic deities who craved precious treasures didn’t exist in the world.
But the idea that the Disaster God of War, the embodiment of calamity that would one day end humanity’s existence, was a greedy individual was strange no matter how much she thought about it.
“To summon the Disaster God of War, we need a space where his divine power can manifest. Like a battlefield where noble lives are sacrificed…”
“That won’t be easy. The clouds of war that had engulfed the continent have dissipated since the Racial War ended.”
A battlefield.
A horrific space where noble lives are endlessly sacrificed.
Since it involved summoning an innocent calamity, they needed a place where human fear was intensely concentrated.
Would such a place even exist?
Zebeline tapped her plump lips, lost in thought.
“Saintess, isn’t there the Powder Keg Peninsula?”
“…Ah!”
It existed not far away.
The Powder Keg Peninsula.
The land of war where conflicts and divisions had persisted for hundreds of years.
Zebeline let out a gasp of shock at Edanant’s answer.
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