Chapter 28. Apostle Beris (2)
Inside a 4-5 person tent barracks, several female devotees were laying out sleeping bags, preparing to sleep.
Shaferia, who finished organizing first, took out her scripture and opened it.
She purified her mind and body by ending the day with scripture reading.
It was an old custom of the Great Saint Church.
Shaferia read aloud Piremell’s Book, Chapter 8, Verse 7.
– The Saint, Marziel, said that the strength to uphold justice comes from unshakable conviction.
Shaferia closed her eyes and recalled her convictions.
Protect the weak and eradicate evil.
Back when she was a street beggar, she had been kidnapped by a vicious mage and was nearly offered as a sacrifice in some ritual.
Death had come right before her eyes, yet she survived.
It was thanks to the sacrifice of an unnamed Holy Knight.
Appearing suddenly, he interrupted the unholy ritual and fought against the mage.
After a fierce battle, the Holy Knight ultimately won, but he too was fatally wounded.
Shaferia had asked the dying Holy Knight why he fought, risking his life. Why had he continued to swing his sword when he could have fled and lived?
Even as he coughed up blood, the Holy Knight smiled and replied.
‘We do not turn away from evil. No matter how great the evil before us, a Holy Knight cannot show his back.’
Even while dying, he shone brightly.
That noble conviction set a fire within Shaferia’s heart.
She stayed by the Holy Knight’s side until his corpse went cold.
The other children who had been kidnapped had long since fled, but she alone did not leave.
It was her way of honoring the man who had, for the first time in her beggar’s life of living day to day, planted within her a higher view of life.
Shaferia made a vow that day.
‘Let me live like this man.’
By helping the weak and fighting against evil.
At that moment, a pentagram stigmata appeared on the back of her hand.
The Great Saint Marziel had answered her.
From then on, she was able to use Judgment Eyes and handle holy power.
Shaferia opened her eyes from her recollection.
She read Chapter 8, Verse 7 once more.
– The Saint, Marziel, said that the strength to uphold justice comes from unshakable conviction.
If, back at the Lord’s castle, she had driven Ilea, the weak, to the end as a heretic just to cover up her own mistake?
Shaferia’s conviction would have been damaged, and the Great Saint would have taken back her power and holiness.
By correcting her mistake, she had been reprimanded by the Archbishop, but in the end, she had preserved her conviction.
They said protecting one’s conviction often comes with great trials, and this had been one of those times.
Shaferia let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed she had overcome her first trial well.
Just as she was about to make the sign of the cross, a question suddenly crossed her mind.
‘What kind of conviction does the Archbishop have, to protect the honor of the Order even if it means creating false victims?’
The answer was simple. The question contained its answer.
‘The honor of the Order.’
The Archbishop would do anything for the honor of the Order.
That was his conviction, and the strength of believers grew by protecting their convictions.
‘I’ll be clashing with him a lot in the future.’
Just as a bitter smile crossed Shaferia’s face, one of the female devotees began to cry out in pain.
“I-I can’t breathe.”
She beat her chest wildly as if something was stuck.
Other devotees in the barracks began to show similar symptoms.
A strange pressure was pressing down on the space.
It was an extremely sudden situation, but Shaferia did not lose her composure.
As she had learned from the doctrines, she deployed holy power. A pure white light spread from Shaferia in all directions.
Those who touched the holy light were able to regain some stability.
“Wh-What was that just now?”
“I don’t know. My trembling still won’t stop.”
Everyone shuddered at the sensation they had never felt before.
“Some kind of spell or magic…… Could it be an ambush?”
It was possible that heretics were launching a surprise attack, aiming for the corpse fragment of the Great Saint.
Shaferia shouted.
“Everyone, outside!”
Grasping the situation came first.
She lifted the flap of the tent.
Devotees from other tents were also rushing out.
Everyone’s eyes were focused on the mountain ridge on the opposite side.
It was because of the miasma rolling under the moonlight.
The owner of the miasma did not seem to have any intention of hiding his presence, as he continued to flaunt it openly.
A Holy Knight shouted.
“Everyone, sanctify your holy power!”
As he unleashed his holy power, the paladins imbued their weapons with pure white light.
This was what they called sanctification. Paladins who could not emit holy power themselves fought by borrowing the power of Holy Knights or priests, just as they were now.
A pure white light engulfed the ridge.
Nearly a hundred troops were clad in holy power, forming their battle lines.
Preparations for battle were completed in an instant.
A Holy Knight approached the Archbishop.
“Archbishop, do you know what that is?”
Archbishop Hiles, standing at the forefront, shook his head.
“I have never seen such malice before. It’s a monster that should not exist in the south, no, in the world!”
A being so fearsome that even an Archbishop of high standing could only click his tongue. It might be a Gakgwi with several horns.
The Holy Knight swallowed dryly.
“……Can we face it with our current forces?”
The Archbishop furrowed his brow.
“If we can’t, would you run away?”
The Holy Knight immediately straightened his posture.
“Holy Knight Aylan! Even if I die, I will not show my back!”
A halo surged from his entire body. The Archbishop nodded in satisfaction.
“Prepare to intercept.”
“I obey!”
The miasma began to move. A darkness deeper than the night was approaching.
As the distance closed, an overwhelming presence pressed down on their entire bodies.
Without holy power, everyone would have been forced to their knees before the malice.
A Holy Knight shouted.
“Activate the Holy Magic Formation!”
The priests began to chant the sacred spear.
“Archers, forward!”
The paladins nocked sanctified arrows onto their bows.
Before they knew it, the miasma had entered range.
At the very center of the seething malice would be the body of the grotesque being.
A Holy Knight drew his Holy Sword.
“Intercept!”
Pure white flames erupted from the ground. The sanctified arrows filled the night sky.
The dark night was covered by holiness.
Like a white night, the surroundings brightened.
The miasma slowly cleared.
That was all.
The presence within the darkness remained intact.
“How utterly pathetic your struggles are.”
A grotesque voice crashed down like thunder. Everyone shuddered at the scream that seemed to tear their souls apart.
Through the dispersing miasma, the figure of the grotesque being slowly appeared.
The Great Demon, with the full moon behind him, looked down at the ridge, his gray robe fluttering.
From his vertically torn eyes, a bright red malice overflowed.
An overwhelming presence ravaged the ground.
Everyone lost their fighting spirit and stared blankly into the air.
The Great Demon Beris twitched his nose in displeasure.
For mere mortals to look at him directly. It was something he could not tolerate.
“The same irreverent light as ever.”
He waved his hand once in the air.
At that moment, all the holy power on the ridge vanished like a mirage.
Without holy power, mortals could not resist the malice of the Apostle.
Everyone collapsed to the ground. Their gazes fell to the dirt.
Extreme fear was paralyzing their minds.
Apostle Beris chewed with his small mouth and spoke.
“Submit to your instincts, mortals. Do not be ashamed to bow your heads before a demon and grovel. As is the supreme order, you need only beg for mercy before omnipotence. In the name of the Apostle, I promise. If you do not resist, I, Beris, Apostle of the End, shall grant you a death without pain.”
In the end, it meant he would kill them. Even if they bowed, they could not survive.
One might think that, since death was inevitable, they should at least die fighting with honor, but no one moved.
The promise of a painless death felt like the greatest mercy to them.
It was due to the Apostle’s Word.
A single word from a great being had a profound influence on mortals. It paralyzed reason and crushed their values.
Unless one had a very strong conviction, it was difficult to shake off the Apostle’s Word.
Most of those present had already submitted to Beris’s words.
Beris raised the corners of his mouth in satisfaction. His small mouth split instantly to his ears.
“Behold, Marziel! Your lackeys have bowed their heads before me!”
The Archbishop, who had spent his entire life fighting for the honor of the Order, was kneeling before the Great Saint’s nemesis.
The Holy Knight who had sworn to eradicate evil was begging the demon for mercy.
The priests who had vowed to illuminate the world were submerged in darkness.
The paladins who had claimed to be the servants of the Great Saint were licking the demon’s feet.
All of this brought Beris immense pleasure.
Broken convictions were the rarest of delicacies.
“A feast after two hundred years! My patience has been rewarded!”
The miasma churned violently as if exploding.
Malice swayed before them, but no one reacted.
Shaferia was the same. She was enveloped in helplessness, merely wallowing in self-deprecation.
“I-Is that truly an Apostle? Why would an Apostle…… No, it doesn’t matter. I’ve already bowed my knees. I’ll never be able to stand again. I was truly a worthless being.”
Similar mutterings could be heard everywhere.
Everyone was muttering like madmen.
Beris burst into mad laughter.
“Indeed, it is so! You humans are insignificant and pitiful beings! You cry out for the illusion of conviction, only to be broken in the end! Look now! How pathetic you are!”
No one could deny it. Rather, some even began to agree.
“……You’re right. I don’t deserve to live.”
“Kill me! Just kill me already!”
Amidst the echoing self-deprecation and screams, a desperate yet calm voice reached Shaferia’s ears.
“Saint Marziel. Lord of all sacred spears, grant your servant permission to borrow your miracle.”
Shaferia turned her head toward the direction of the voice.
Her expression filled with shock.
The Archbishop was lying prostrate, chanting the sacred spear.
‘How can this be!’
The sacred spear was the incantation to activate holy magic.
In other words, the Archbishop was preparing to fight against the Great Demon before them.
Shaferia was deeply shaken.
To remain clear-headed even before such overwhelming malice.
‘The Archbishop truly is the Archbishop!’
Until recently, Shaferia had secretly looked down on the Archbishop.
Outwardly he acted benevolent, but in truth, she thought he was a hypocrite who cared only about the Order’s appearance.
That evaluation changed.
‘……It wasn’t hypocrisy. The Archbishop simply acted according to his conviction.’
He would do anything to protect the honor of the Order.
Even if it meant falsely accusing the weak to uphold the Order’s dignity, and no matter how powerful the enemy he faced, he would never bow his knees.
Because for the Order, there could be no mistakes or defeats.
Twisted as it was, there was no hypocrisy in that conviction.
Shaferia, still kneeling, clenched the muddy ground tightly.
‘I was the hypocrite.’
She had acted as if she were noble, yet here she was, kneeling before a demon. Her vow to eradicate evil had been so easily broken.
She found herself so pathetic that she could not endure it.
As she was wallowing in self-blame, Beris’s laughter was abruptly cut off.
Silence fell upon the ridge.
In the sudden stillness, Shaferia lifted her head.
Beris was approaching the Archbishop with a hardened expression.
“O mighty One who has reached the pinnacle of demon-exorcising holiness, with supreme omnipotence, eradicate the evil before……”
The sacred spear chant continued.
‘Damn it!’
Beris had noticed.
The Archbishop would die.
Suddenly, a conversation with Yohan flashed through her mind.
– Correcting one’s mistakes. It is one of the teachings the Great Saint always emphasized.
All humans make mistakes.
But they are also given the chance to correct them.
Even if water is spilled, it can be poured again.
As long as one has the will, whether it is an empty cup or lost conviction, it can be filled again.
Now was that chance.
Shaferia slowly lifted her kneeling legs.
‘Let me do what I must.’
She intended to buy time.
Until the Archbishop finished the sacred spear.
Shaferia shouted loudly.
“Over here!”
Beris’s gaze turned to her.
Malice that seemed as if it would burn her soul swept over Shaferia’s entire body.
A horrific pressure pressed down on her.
Even as she trembled violently, Shaferia did not fall to her knees.
Beris frowned.
“To think I permitted mere mortals to commit blasphemy. Is it because I am divided into ten? I must first reclaim my scattered soul.”
Shaferia pointed her steel sword at Beris.
“Vile spawn of evil! I will not turn away from you! Even if it means death, I will not bend these knees!”
Holy power surged from her entire body.
Her eyes were burning with pure white light.
Beris watched her quietly, then his small mouth split to his ears as he spoke.
“Red hair. So you are Shaferia.”
At that moment, Beris waved his hand once.
Shaferia’s upper body was torn off in an instant.
Her remaining lower body swayed before collapsing to the ground.
“You have broken. What a pitiful resolve it was.”