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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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The Hohenberc estate had always been a place of tranquility, much like a retirement home designed for a peaceful old age.
But with the arrival of the colorful and energetic Luinongs, much had changed.
Vitality now overflowed.
Every day was filled with boisterous activity.
The once quiet Hohenberc estate, now home to the mischievous fairies, had transformed into a lively amusement park.
“Kyahahaha!”
“Behold! The Hidden Water Attack of Guru Guru Luinong!”
“I have claimed the great mansion’s seal! From this day forward, this mansion belongs to Zururu Luinong!”
Luinongs raced through the hallways.
Luinongs turned the flower garden into a miniature flood with errant splashes from their watering cans.
And a Luinong had even stolen the official seal of the Hohenberc family head.
Chaos reigned.
It was like a daycare overflowing with rambunctious toddlers.
The Luinongs, naturally curious and inquisitive, had become even more mischievous since starting school. Otto, the head of the Hohenberc family, had established the school to educate the Luinongs, who were unfamiliar with the ways of the world.
“The Luinongs have become quite boisterous lately. Perhaps it’s time for a stern lecture.”
“Nonsense! Don’t you find it delightful? These energetic guests have brought life to this quiet old house.”
The head butler, adjusting his monocle, spoke.
Otto, however, smiled indulgently and waved a dismissive hand.
“Max and Edan were always so quiet and reserved. Didn’t you find it a bit dull? I, for one, am delighted by the energy these little ones have brought to our family.”
“…The lord’s official seal is missing, sir.”
The ornate seal, adorned with gold and jewels, had vanished. Undoubtedly, the mischievous Luinongs had stolen it, likely using it to stamp official documents with childish glee.
Hopefully, they weren’t plotting anything sinister.
Perhaps colluding with nobles who coveted the Hohenberc marquisate’s power, scheming to usurp the inheritance.
Of course, that was unlikely.
The Luinongs’ intellect was far too… limited for such complex machinations.
Cute and simple-minded fairies.
Edanant’s assessment of the Luinongs was remarkably accurate.
“Behold! Ring Burger Luinong has built a magnificent earthen fortress!”
“So tall! Even with all the Luinongs reaching high, we can’t touch the top!”
The Luinongs cheered, celebrating their accomplishment. Otto, glancing out the window, saw a massive sandcastle, nearly ten meters tall.
Unbelievable.
It was less a sandcastle and more a true fortress, sculpted from earth and sand.
Its scale was far too grand for a children’s pastime. It resembled a siege fortification, meticulously constructed to withstand an invading army. The servants, witnessing the Luinongs’ ambitious project, were speechless, aghast at the sheer scale of their “play.”
“The earthen fortress is crumbling!”
“We’re under attack! The enemy has come for our hard candies!”
–Crumble.
The Luinongs, holding hands, were celebrating the completion of their sandcastle when—
A spatial rift opened in the sky, and numerous figures plummeted onto the sandcastle. The structure, already precariously balanced due to its hasty construction, crumbled under the weight of the unexpected guests.
“We’ve arrived.”
A gray-haired young man landed gracefully, brushing the dust from his clothes. He extended his hands, catching a saintess dressed in pure white as she fell from the rift.
Edanant and Zebeline.
The Hohenberc servants, witnessing the surreal scene from afar, smiled knowingly.
“Cough, cough! What in the world?! I’m covered in sand!”
A vampire, emerging from the sand pile, coughed and brushed the sand from her hair.
The other apostles were in a similar state.
Transported to the Hohenberc marquisate by the Master of the Tower’s forced teleportation, they looked around in bewilderment, covered in sand. The suddenness of the event had clearly taken them by surprise.
“…Where are we?”
A woman with flowing orange hair groaned, raising her head. The celestial being, unfamiliar with the mortal realm, was understandably wary.
The Subjugation Chain still bound her.
Despite attempting to break free from the forced teleportation, she had been dragged along.
Bellatiel glared at Edanant, her eyes filled with murderous intent. She swore vengeance against the one who had not only defeated her, a Seraphim, but also stolen her divine artifact.
“Waaaaah!”
“We worked so hard on it…!”
The Luinongs, their hard work destroyed, burst into tears. They wailed like street vendors whose stalls had been demolished without warning.
What have I done?
It hadn’t been intentional.
Bellatiel, witnessing the Luinongs’ tears, was at a loss.
“Edan!”
“Father.”
A middle-aged man with a head as shiny as a polished gemstone approached. Edanant smiled faintly, genuinely pleased to see his father.
Perhaps it was due to the recent turmoil in the Sanctuary.
But after less than a month apart, his father’s presence felt particularly comforting.
As he looked at his father, Edanant’s thoughts drifted to his brother, who had vanished without a trace. Maximilian, having abandoned the battle against the Seraphim midway, had remained in the Sanctuary.
To slay the Seraphim.
That had been his stated reason for betraying the Holy Kingdom’s cardinals.
However, Maximilian had disappeared as soon as Bellatiel began to falter. He had vanished as if he had urgent business elsewhere.
‘Perhaps his declaration to kill Bellatiel was merely a ploy to provoke me. Or perhaps…’
He didn’t know.
What was Maximilian’s true objective?
Bellatiel had been a mere stepping stone. His betrayal of the Holy Kingdom’s cardinals must have been part of a larger scheme.
If he hadn’t been weakened, he would have remained in the Sanctuary. Edanant clicked his tongue, recalling Maximilian’s ghost-like disappearance.
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Smoke and soot filled the sky.
The cathedral lay in ruins.
The city streets were unrecognizable, reduced to rubble.
The Sanctuary, once the slaughterhouse for those who defied the One True God and the heart of the Earth Mother’s faithful, now lay in ruins.
The Holy Kingdom’s forces, deployed to quell the unprecedented disaster, had arrived too late. The perpetrators, along with their collaborators, had already vanished.
They had suffered a crushing defeat.
Despite the unimaginable losses, their efforts had ended in failure.
–Creak.
Numerous carriages arrived, their wheels crunching on the debris-strewn ground.
They were the same carriages that had paraded through the Valtarian Empire’s capital during the Alliance Council. The Holy Kingdom’s carriages, adorned with platinum and jewels, came to a halt at the edge of the Sanctuary’s ruins.
“Your Holiness!”
“Welcome, Your Holiness!”
The lead carriage shuddered.
A middle-aged man, dressed in pure white robes, emerged.
Boern I.
The Pontiff, the Earth Mother’s representative, had arrived at the devastated Sanctuary.
Imprisoned in the auxiliary palace by the rebellious cardinals, Boern had been freed after the incident’s conclusion. The Pontiff, arriving late at the scene, surveyed the ruins of the holy city, swallowing a groan.
“Utterly destroyed?”
“Not entirely, Your Holiness. Only the central area has been destroyed… the outer districts remain largely intact. Thanks to the Seraphim’s intervention.”
Cirel Veillard and Ilkeron Nebiakus, who had orchestrated the incident alongside the Seraphim Bellatiel, had surrendered and been imprisoned. And the surviving cardinals involved in the rebellion had been arrested.
The ringleaders had been apprehended.
But the devastation wrought by the Sanctuary’s destruction was irreversible.
Reports of heavy casualties among the deployed forces flooded in. Boern made the sign of the cross, his expression somber.
“This cannot stand!”
“A challenge and an insult to the One True God! We beseech you, Your Holiness, declare a holy war!”
The Holy Kingdom’s paladins, assembled at the Sanctuary, cried out, their voices filled with righteous fury, demanding a holy war.
Sanctity had been defiled.
The history of faith and worship, carefully cultivated by the Holy Kingdom, had been reduced to ashes.
The Earth Mother, possessing the body of a prospective saintess, had witnessed the catastrophe. Boern sighed, imagining the Earth Mother’s grief as she surveyed the ruins.
She must be weeping.
Her gentle heart couldn’t bear such devastation.
The whereabouts of the Seraphim Bellatiel, the mastermind behind the incident, remained unknown. If she had perished in the battle, she should have ascended back to the Celestial Realm… Yet, she had vanished without a trace, as if she had evaporated into thin air.
Bellatiel was the Seraphim who had sealed the Calamity of Famine, and the Earth Mother’s most beloved adopted daughter. If the One True God were to learn of her disappearance, her grief would be immeasurable.
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