Chapter 238: 126. The Tomb’s Guardian -4 (Part Two)
Explosion noises loudly went off in the surroundings and the huge blade blew apart the atmosphere while flying towards Metatron.
The mechanical archangel crossed its heavy arms.
‘I shall defend against it!’
If it failed to defend this attack, then this tomb would be…!
-Uwo-ooooooooh!
Along with the loud yell coming from the Skeleton King, the edge of the blade crushed the arms of Metatron.
The armour covering the arms broke apart. The arms which were created by trapping divinity under the armour plating were getting severed.
The sword strike brimming full of divinity sliced apart the entirety of Metatron’s body.
Metatron’s glowing eye opened wider in shock.
It was… beautiful to behold.
The sword that sliced it apart swung past while leaving behind a series of afterimages, and waves of aura belatedly exploded along its trajectory.
Metatron and the wall of the temple behind it were cleanly sliced apart and began crumbling down.
‘Unable to function…’
Three unfamiliar words that it had never experienced before were deeply engraved within Metaton’s ego.
‘My duty of guarding this tomb for the past thousands of years…’
-Continue to protect this land. And, just in case…
The final command from Holy Emperor Ordin, and also his last will, entered Metatron’s consciousness. Its fading gaze shifted over to Alice, and then at Allen.
-If a person wielding a sacred power who can defeat you shows up, then…
The bone armour crumbled away and the boy took off the skull helm. Metatron now got to properly register the boy’s face, one that somehow seemed to resemble Holy Emperor Ordin’s.
-…You must take that person as your new master.
‘…has come to an end.’
Metatron’s glowing eye disappeared. Its imposing body began crumbling down.
The huge armoured figure crashed down on the temple’s floor as it slowly dissipated, bright light particles scattering from its silhouette.
The same thing also happened to the Bone Dragon; it too disappeared from the view while scattering away light particles.
As for the Skeleton King, it got sucked back inside the holy water lake while gripping its bone sword.
Hans stood there in a pure daze and witnessed these spectacles unfold for a long while. As it turned out, a considerable amount of time was needed for an archangel around twenty metres in height to vanish from existence.
A short while after everything was gone, Hans was finally jolted awake from his reverie and cried out in alarm, “Oh my goodness?! We really did it! Just what are the real identities of his highness and Lady Ali… Huh?”
He got even more shocked and tilted his head in confusion.
“Y-your majesty, Queen Rox?!”
Queen Rox was breathing a sigh of relief while leaning against her crystal staff. She had spent most of her Mana reserve and was suffering from heavy exhaustion.
She shifted her gaze around.
Inside this wrecked temple’s interior were some remnants of the holy water lake. A pair of a young boy and girl could be seen on its surface.
This would be her first time journeying with the boy, but even then, she couldn’t help but say that…
“His majesty sure has got himself an absurd grandson, hasn’t he?”
While saying that, Queen Rox could only smile wryly.
The boy and the girl were slumbering away while leaning against each other.
**
A few days later, inside the imperial palace of the Theocratic Empire.
Holy Emperor Kelt was reading a letter while resting on his throne. The sender of the letter was his seventh grandson, Allen.
Kelt coughed loudly but continued to carefully read the contents of the letter. It started off with a simple greeting before delving into the crux of the matter.
If the contents were to be simplified, then it’d be…
…To ‘increase’ his vacation days.
[I’m still recuperating within the queendom of Aihrance at the moment. I beg of you to graciously understand this point, your majesty.]
Kelt coughed again.
He felt a bit frustrated and used a handkerchief to cover his mouth.
When he continued to shift his heavy-feeling body around in an uncomfortable manner, Cardinal Raphael, who was standing next to the throne, looked at him with worried eyes and tried to ask something, “What was written on the letter, your majesty?”
“…It seems that my grandson wishes to take a nice, long break.”
“I can’t help but wonder, your majesty, just what exactly is his highness Allen doing during his travels?”
Kelt shrugged his shoulders at that question before making a verbal reply. “He must be protecting world peace or some such.”
As it was his one and only seventh grandson’s vacation, Kelt chose not to interfere and let the boy do whatever he wanted to.
He was planning to treat the boy with respect befitting the one to inherit the Holy Emperor’s throne.
The thing was, though… the ‘rumours’ Kelt kept hearing about were all quite absurd to behold. From the incident of the Big Eyes and the subsequent opening of purgatory, to the incident with the Vampires in the Aihrance royal palace…. And as if those weren’t enough, the boy also seemed to have gone on an adventure inside the legendary underground labyrinth, Titalos.
“Rather than a vacation, it’s more like a business trip overseas at this point, isn’t it? Those matters should’ve been handled by us, but we just ended up putting my grandson through a wringer, instead.”
The summoning of the Big Eyes and the pathway to purgatory opening up were grave matters that required the mobilisation of the Theocratic Empire’s forces. Well, all the incidents involving the undead fell under the empire’s jurisdiction, that’s why.
It was the same story for recovering the ancient treasure of the Imperial Family, as well.
“Well now. I’ve lost my chance to that boy, haven’t I?”
Kelt could only smack his lips here.
The legendary labyrinth, Titalos, and the archangel hidden somewhere within…
Kelt always wanted to get his hands on the latter, which was a treasured tool of the Imperial Family. Unfortunately, he couldn’t just vacate the imperial palace for an extended period like that. Several incidents kept happening lately, which also forced him to largely stay put in the capital. That had been his excuse for not doing anything about the ancient treasure, but this…
“…And I really wanted to have a throwdown with the archangel myself…”
There was something else he wanted to do.
Kelt looked back to the letter.
[Her majesty, Queen Rox of Aihrance, also wishes to convey her greetings to you, your majesty.]
He wanted to meet Queen Rox one more time during his trip.
Kelt ruefully folded the letter and put it away, then leaned his back against the throne. “Extend Allen’s vacation, Raphael. Let him be free for as long as he wishes to rest. How unfortunate this is, since I wanted to personally witness the coronation of the Holy King. Oh well.”
“I understand, your majesty.” Cardinal Raphael bowed before saying something else, “By the way, his highness the Seventh Imperial Prince has entrusted the Imperial Family with a certain investigation, your majesty.”
“…Investigation? Regarding?”
“He sent us a letter earlier through a merchant group hailing from Elusha.” Raphael began scratching his chin while making a complicated expression. “The investigation is regarding the current statuses of the defence force in the northern region, plus all those individuals in the other nations that his highness has saved so far. Although the other locations are still under investigation, the one taking place in and around Ronia has been recently concluded.”
“Alright. What’s the conclusion?”
Raphael began rubbing his temples hard.
The contents of the report he received not too long ago was just too absurd and couldn’t be understood by his logic, so he ended up hesitating.
Kelt tilted his head in confusion, which prompted Raphael to finally break his silence. “W-well, your majesty. The convicts are…”
“…?”
“…Now capable of wielding divinity, apparently.”
Kelt became somewhat dazed by that reply.
His state didn’t last for long, however. His brain finally digested that statement and his brows shot up high.
**
Twenty-fifth of December, the day that Necromancer King Amon was killed.
This date was a nationally celebrated day back in the Theocratic Empire’s capital, but the story was quite different in the fiefdom of Ronia in the northern region.
‘The Tide of Death.’
That date denoted the peak of the month where a near-unending stream of undead descended on the fiefdom in order to go on a rampage and kill all living beings. It also happened for a whole month, no less.
The demonic energy belonging to the Necromancer King still lingered in the land, and continued to spread its insidiously powerful influence to the rest of the continent. And it was up to the ‘prisoners’ of Ronia to stop these undead trying to spread the ‘infection’ to the rest of the world.
And right now, in the middle of October, that activity had become much livelier.
“Stop them!”
The prisoners were crying out.
However, these people weren’t some random, ragtag bunch of misfits. They were warriors who fought against the Vampire Count’s invasion and had survived the close brush with death.
Perhaps more notably, they had all become ‘soldiers’ equipped with proper armaments under the support of the Theocratic Empire.
“Lord Saint is with us!”
“We are his blessed believers!”
They all used to be felons convicted of various crimes. Some didn’t even believe in the gods in the past.
But now, they all had become…
“Offer your prayers-!”
…Devout believers.
The convicts all cried out in unison.
“Oh, dear Gaia-!”
The undead were crawling up on the outer wall.
“Please grant us the strength and courage to…!”
Although their physical bodies were weak, the powers of divinity were now seeping into their flesh.
“Under the blessing of Lord Saint Allen Olfolse, help us judge the undead-!”
The power of divinity spread throughout their bodies.
Their physical abilities were rapidly enhanced, and as if to match that, the corners of the prisoners’ lips also curled upwards.
They no longer felt fear. They unhesitantly yanked out their weapons to subjugate the incoming waves of undead.
“What on earth…?!”
Among them was a certain ‘convict’ volunteering his services.
His name used to be Ruppel Olfolse. But now, he no longer had a surname and was a simple ‘gravekeeper’ named Shuppel living his new life.
He was currently watching this scene unfold in stupefaction.
It wasn’t just him, though. The two other individuals standing near him – Harman and Charlotte – were also staring dazedly with shocked expressions on their faces.
The shock was even greater on Charlotte’s face. She was paying a visit to her hometown after being away from it for so long, and even got to meet her adopted father Gril, once more.
And that man, Gril, he…
“I shall subjugate these undead abominations. Hahahaha!”
…He was standing tall atop the piles of undead corpses with his sword raised up high, a loud peal of laughter leaving his mouth.
Charlotte muttered in stupefaction at this sight. “…This doesn’t make any sense.”
Every single person who received Saint Allen’s salvation…
They were using ‘divinity’ to defend the northern region.
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