Episode 1048 Summit (3)
The upper wall of Nordwald collapsed. Cold-blooded stone fragments burst out along with a pile of snow, and two shadows burst out from within.
Shh
Adrian glided down the steep protrusion of the fortress, which had an unusual angle. Snow piled on the frozen structure swirled from side to side.The clear, transparent, and cold air moistened his lungs, which were just beginning to function fully.
Theocracy of Luas.
We received help from the Saint when we defeated the Bone Dragon in the Republic of Beldirn. Had it not been for the Holy Spear she launched from the other side of the continent, Adrian could have died, and my Lord could have suffered a much deeper wound.Even if the Saint did not intend this, a debt is a debt.
However, that debt has already been more than paid off.
At the time when the Bloodcry Plague was rampant, Eon manufactured a palliative to assist the Luas religion and found and annihilated the third servant who had spread the plague.
During the sanctuary massacre, the Lord himself stood in the way of the first servant. He eventually executed two servants on an island in the Hiaremar Inland Sea.The old king was resurrected, and the second servant was also revived and is currently held captive, but had it not been for Eon, the Ruas religion would have been truly helpless.
Is that all?
The southern part of the Eastern Continent was virtually devastated due to the Gate of Death that opened at the border between the Kingdom of Ronia and the Lower Beastmen Tribe.While rescuing lives from the undead was a matter for the Ruas Church to handle, the Aspects of Eon risked their lives to enter and protected as many survivors as possible.
If the Theocracy of Luas had any sense of shame, it should have bowed its head in submission. Forthey had failed to protect the remains of the former king to the very end, nor had they managed to completely eradicate the glory of the corpse over the past few hundred years.
Even if there were decent figures like Archbishop Joseph or High Bishop Lena… if the former king who had overcome death were to start a war, more than 40% of the blame would be on the Luas religion.Adrian thought so, though he did not know how others might judge.
Quaddd
The new saint—Leonhardt—sliding down the fortress wall more clumsily than Adrian, gritted his teeth and put strength into the holy sword.
The young culprit who ignited the fire of conflict by arbitrarily killing the King of Ronia, whom the lords had struggled to capture, is directing his anger toward Adrian.
It looks as if one is rejecting reason even though they know it is wrong.
It sounds like a child throwing a tantrum.
Sadly, Adrian was a man who soothed a boy with brute force rather than kind words when the boy cried and threw a violent tantrum.
Adrian turned his head slightly.
Standing at the far end of the summit hall where one wall had collapsed, the Lord gestured with his chin.The meaning was exactly this.
Overwhelm and subdue them.
I will serve you.
Adrian twisted the corners of his mouth with sincerity and drew his light sword [Silendar] once again.Since the Saint and the Pope had failed to teach him properly, he intended to personally instill the teachings in the transcendent being of the Faith Realm who had not yet adapted to the realm.
Adrian and Leonhardt’s legs floated up into the air at the same time.
“I’ll teach you a lesson.”“──────!”
Leonhardt roared and manifested divinity with the holy sword [Luens]. As it intersected with the purple sword energy, the atmosphere was greatly agitated.
The two transcendent beings successively stepped between the walls and clashed their swords.
Spreading sword name.
However, Adrian had long since mastered the use of ki to trample the air like the earth during his life-or-death duel with Jinyeon Sandir Faen, to which he had thrown his life.It was a freedom that Leonhardt, who relied on the friction of walls, could not match.
Crack!
The moment the light sword swung the holy sword to the side like flowing water, the instep struck Leonhardt’s face. The saint slammed into the fortress wall and bounced back.Striked again by Adrian’s kick, he plummeted down into the fortress streets.
“Ugh……!”
Fresh blood trickled down Leonhardt’s lips, leaving a deep mark on the road. Before he could even wipe the blood with the back of his hand, Adrian charged diagonally.
The goddess’s divine artifact, and the dragon sword created by the legendary dwarves.
Moving at formidable speed, the two revealed themselves to the national-level forces holding a banquet inside the fortress only when their blades clashed.The people somehow chased after the metallic sound piercing their ears, a step too late.
Kaang! Kaaang! Crack! Kagagagagak──!
Leonhardt, who had been being pushed back unilaterally, stepped forward and raised his holy sword. Along with the sword light, a sacred shockwave colored the vision.Immediately afterwards, Leonhardt pushed off the ground to the side and slashed horizontally.
Kagak, kagagak… … !
A light sword and a holy sword clashed in power on an outdoor table where a drinking party was taking place.
The warriors froze as they saw the two transcendents up close: Adrian, whose entire body was intact, and Leonhardt, who had bruises on his face.
The female warrior of the North kept pouring alcohol, unaware that it was spilling out of the glass.
“Oh my…”
The man, who used to call the female warrior “Sister,” raised his glass without realizing it. With his reason paralyzed, his body’s ingrained habits suddenly surfaced.Since he enjoyed drinking so much, he ended up habitually offering her a drink.
“Ha, would you like a drink?”“Hmm.”
Adrian instantly reversed his grip on the light sword touching the holy sword. The distance between them narrowed just as quickly. This was truly the art of speed.In the blink of an eye, Leonhardt’s jaw was struck by a fist and snapped to the side.
thud.
Leonhardt momentarily lost his balance and placed his hand on the freezing, wet ground.
Gulp, gulp.
Adrian immediately gulped down the drink the man offered him right there. Then he held out the warrior’s glass, which was sloshing with alcohol, to Leonhardt.
“Take a quench your thirst.”“…….”“Ah, you’re just a kid, so you don’t know how to drink.”
Adrian threw the glass with a mocking laugh, as if to show off.
Ting!
Cold liquor wets Leonhardt’s head.
brat.
Leonhardt knows better than anyone that he is a novice. He understood that the other Transcendents do not regard him as a Transcendent.He admits it.Does the fact that a Holy Sword has been given to an ignorant farmer fundamentally change anything? He is still nothing more than a farmer who knows nothing.
The teachings of the Pope.The teachings of the Saint.The teachings of the Cardinal.The teachings of the Archbishop.The teachings of the Bishop.The teachings of the Clergy.… … .
As a saint and a cleric representing the Luas religion, Leonhard studied the proper mindset and conduct. He delved deeply into the doctrine.
I understood it in my head, but I felt skeptical from time to time.
A saint?
It felt like wearing ill-fitting clothes. All he wanted was to protect his family and neighbors, but the power and status were far too much for him.
“under.”
Leonhardt rises with a wry laugh. The people around him paused at the change in the atmosphere. He gazed at the drop of alcohol clinging to the tips of his hair.Distracting thoughts scattered.Was it because he had been hit? His cluttered mind seemed to clear up a little.
Leonhardt walked over with his holy sword hanging down and poured the female warrior’s bottle of liquor into his mouth. No matter how strong the liquor is, it cannot intoxicate a transcendent being.
Gulp, gulp, gulp!
An empty liquor bottle was placed on the table.
“……I know how to drink, too.”“So.”“There are too many people here.”
Leonhardt acted on his anger to somehow shake off his杂乱 thoughts. His emotions were still burning, but as you can see, this time it was a much more rational choice than before.
“Let’s go outside and fight again.”“I take back the ‘bastard’ remark.”
Adrian looked down at Leonhardt from a considerably high vantage point. He was quite mature. And Adrian was the type of person who soothed kids with brute force and beat adults with brute force.
“You arrogant bastard.”“You…!”
A holy light grazed Adrian’s eyes by a hair’s breadth.Having dodged the blow, Adrian’s front kick struck Leonhardt’s solar plexus.
* * *
Boom!
Adrian and Leonhardt’s presence crossed the walls of Nordwald Fortress.Under any other circumstances, the Master or Grand Duke Rivandale would have stepped in to stop them long ago, but an unprecedented intruder was blocking their intervention.
Don’t even think about stepping forward.
Verden stood at the boundary of the rift in the summit hall, where the outside was clearly visible. Positioned in the center as if to say he would not allow anyone to leave, he watched the sudden battle between the two transcendents.
However, the transcendent being standing at the very top was too self-righteous and strong to be continuously restrained by such intimidation alone.
“……Get out of the way, Verden.”
Ersetia summoned the Holy Armor and Holy Spear and aimed the blade at him. An immense divine power, far superior to Leonhardt’s, manifested.Before she knew it, she was calling Verden by his real name rather than his divine name.
“I can no longer sit idly by.”“That’s ridiculous.”
Verden let out a hollow laugh.
“Considering you’ve been just standing by all this time.”“……!”
Verden pulled the Holy Spear. Ersetia, whose reaction was delayed due to the strange aura emanating from Verden, was instantly pulled in.At a distance where their breaths touched, the blue eyes stared directly into the pupils stained with divinity.
“What have you been doing all this time?”“We…”“I asked what you were doing when the Old King awakened from the Provider’s seal, when the Gates of Death opened across the continent, and when the Kingdom of Ronia collapsed.”
Verden pierced the hearts of the clergy listening to him.
“Ercetia, you went into seclusion.”“…….”“Romanus, you sought to recover in the sanctuary citing poor health. Other forces dealt with the tragedies that occurred where the Radiance of Luas did not reach. In that process, do you think the Theocracy fully fulfilled the duties it established for itself?”
Ersetia was unable to move at all because she had suffered a second fever after engaging in a bloody battle with Barcazel, a beastman whose tribal origins were completely unknown.Romanus had removed the Bible from his body to protect Leonhardt during the bloody battle with Draben. As a result, he could not immediately respond to the fatal wound and was unable to control his body for a while.
There was a reason.
There was clearly a reason why the new people of the Luas religion could not respond globally.
“……There was a reason.”“Are you in a position to make excuses? If you intend to evade responsibility in that manner, then cast aside the prestige of being a world religion and your lofty faith. It would be a waste.”
Ersetia’s madness, which had subsided for a moment, reared its head.Bang!She grabbed Verden by the collar.
“Watch your mouth.”“Shut up and listen.”
Verden immediately grabbed Ersetia’s lower face with his gray gauntlet. “Huh?” Having her mouth gagged for the first time in her life, she was overcome with bewilderment, unable to even think of shaking off the oppression.
Those who knew how violent a person Ersetia was held their breath.Emperor Zeracl and Antias quietly took a bite of the special strawberry cookies from Prohas that no one had touched due to the commotion.
“It is entirely your fault that the Saint is acting so emotionally. If you intend to teach him properly, you should have protected him thoroughly until he absorbed the teachings. This mess is happening because you entrusted him with responsibilities and heavy duties he could not handle when he was not mentally or physically prepared.”“…….”“The Ruas Theocracy obstructed the execution of Eon’s commandments, and a divine being of the Ruas religion launched a preemptive strike against Eon’s Transcendent Being in an official setting.”
A crack spread beneath Verden’s feet.
Anyone looking at this would think it’s a declaration of war.
Verden’s madness suppresses Ersetia’s fanaticism.It was not a mere threat.The Saint’s pupils trembled.For no one had ever imagined a war between Eon and the Holy Kingdom.
“I thought the Saint was the most consumed by madness among the modern transcendents… …”
Bendie eventually stood up from his seat.
Verden is the craziest of them all.
Still, it did not seem like Ersetia would back down easily. Her eyes began to be deeply tinged with defiance.Since this had crossed the line, it was the moment Bendie was about to intervene.
“……The Divine Being is right.”
Romanus carefully pressed down on Verden and Ersetia’s arms, forcing them to separate their grips on each other’s collars and jaws.Romanus was finally able to break the silence, having only half-adjusted to the inexplicable presence emanating from Verden.
“The Pope…….”“I will take charge from here on, Saint.”
Romanus slowly pushed Ersetia away with an attitude of refusing to accept opposition, and stood facing Verden himself.
“Holy.”“Speak.”“How shall we take responsibility? How shall we take responsibility to stop their fighting?”
Although the process differed significantly from expectations, it unfolded according to Verden’s plan. In the Theocracy of Luas, Pope Romanus is the only one open to negotiation.However, he has no intention of revealing his true intentions immediately. Now is the time to buy time.
Verden said.
“Adrian will bring Leonhardt. He will get hurt, but that is all. In fact, since this is an opportunity for Leonhardt to pour out all the emotions he has been holding back, he won’t show the same impulsive behavior as before.”
Verden cast his gaze outside the fortress.
Negotiations come next.
* * *
Fast.Seriously.
Crack!
Leonhardt tumbled down the snowy mountain from an unannounced blow. He immediately got up and countered with divine sword energy, but he could not keep up with Adrian’s sword speed.A dozen or so sword energies, which he could not block in time, sliced only through his skin.
‘This is the difference between me and a true transcendent being… …!’
In an instant, the holy sword flew away. Gasping for breath from the impact that precisely pierced a weak point in his body, he dropped the holy sword.
An unbridgeable gap.
Leonhardt was left barehanded. At the same time, he was struck directly by a side kick. Pushed back, his knee buckled as his hand touched the glacier.
“Cough, cough…….”
The inside of my mouth was torn, and blood mixed with my saliva.
Leonhardt struggled to lift his head. In contrast, Adrian was fine. The Holy Sword had never once touched Adrian’s body.
“……I lost.”
Leonhardt’s anger had completely drained away, and so had his impulses. Accepting victory or defeat, he did not rise like a sinner. He was prepared to accept any price for the madness he had committed at the summit.
Let me teach you one.
Adrian stuck his light sword into the ground.
“Losing isn’t the end.”“……Yes?”
Adrian’s fist struck Leonhardt’s face again.
Who decided to end it as they pleased?
