Chapter 175: The Entangled Fate of Dekan, Master, and the Holy Country
In the backyard of the Lord’s mansion, beneath a grand tree.
At noon, the sky was not particularly bright, and only a thin stream of sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting its glow on Dekan and Cornelia.
“Phew, we’re done.”
Leaning against the tree, Dekan basked leisurely in the sun.
Cornelia sat beside him.
The two were as relaxed as they were when they used to play with cats on the mountain behind their school.
This time, however, they had brought Countess Lislinna to the backyard to enjoy the sun with them.
They spent quite some time using the “Purification of Blood” spell card to evaporate all the blood from Countess Lislinna’s body.
Just like when they performed therapy on Count Augustine, the boss of the ancient house on the desolate mountain.
Every time Dekan used the “Purification of Blood” spell to wake Lislinna in pain, Cornelia would use her “Blood Case Log” to knock her unconscious again.
Under the sun, Countess Lislinna was as easy to put to sleep as a baby.
One of them was responsible for anesthesia, the other for treatment, and after dozens of sessions, they finally completely purified the Vampire Count.
When a blood kin’s blood is entirely consumed, no matter how strong their regenerative ability and vitality, they cannot mend their injuries.
Apparently, the “Purification of Blood” spell is also a countermeasure specifically targeting vampires.
Seeing that Dekan and Cornelia had finished, and Countess Lislinna was utterly still, the Lord, who had been hiding inside the mansion, finally stepped out and approached Dekan.
“High Priest… is the vampire already dead?”
The Lord inquired.
“Of course, Lord, you can rest assured,” Dekan responded with a composed smile.
His professional smile reassured the Lord significantly.
Previously, when Dekan and Cornelia successfully subdued all the vampires in the mansion, they were the first to awaken the Lord.
Theoretically, as long as the spellcaster loses consciousness, the abnormal state of the controlled person is relatively easy to dissipate.
However, the abnormal state imposed by Countess Lislinna necessitated higher-level purification magic to lift easily.
Rank was the weakness of Dekan and Cornelia.
But they had their ways.
Sometimes physical means could be far more effective than magic.
And Cornelia was indeed a master of magic with strength.
Thus, the Lord ended up with a big bump on his head, finally fortuitously breaking free from Countess Lislinna’s control.
Even while under spiritual control, the Lord felt dazed, as though he had experienced a nightmare, but he still had a rough understanding of what had happened.
Once he awoke, he quickly comprehended the situation without much persuasion from Dekan.
Without a doubt, this peculiar priest and the nun who never left his side had saved the Lord’s mansion and, by extension, the entire city-state.
Despite their unconventional methods, the Lord knew exactly how he should treat these two.
After all, he was a man who could discern right from wrong.
Moreover, setting aside whether these two were agents of justice,
No one who valued their life would dare to provoke them!
Without question, these two were even more terrifying than the vampire countess who had filled his dreams with nightmares!
“What should we do with the vampires locked in the basement…?”
The Lord asked hesitantly.
Naturally, the Lord hoped these two masters would help him eliminate these lingering threats together.
However, seeing Dekan and Cornelia look as if they merely wanted to take a nap and live leisurely, he didn’t want to push them.
So he gently inquired.
“Why not send those to the Holy Ritual Church branch in the city-state? Let them handle it there?”
Dekan raised an eyebrow, puzzled.
Dekan and Cornelia only planned to personally eliminate the boss to prevent complications.
But these elite monsters with thick blood reserves, they really had no intention of slowly redeeming them.
“High Priest, I can no longer trust the Holy Ritual Church of this city-state.”
As the Lord spoke, a look of fierce hatred appeared on his face.
“But am I not also a priest of the Holy Ritual Church?”
Dekan asked.
“No, you’re different. You and High Priest Kevin are priests who have come from the North, genuine noble priests worthy of trust.”
Hearing the Lord’s answer, Dekan was first taken aback.
Then he became slightly more serious.
He hadn’t expected that after completing the mission, such an unexpected plot twist would emerge.
Dekan realized that he wasn’t a local priest but one who had come from the Holy Capital?
Could it be that the story he told the prisoners in the dungeon about being a close friend of High Priest Kevin was actually true in the background?
What a powerful mouth one could have.
“Please convey as much information as you can about this city’s branch of the Holy Ritual Church to me.”
Dekan began probing the Lord.
“…”
The Lord fell silent, seeming to fear speaking.
“Please rest assured and tell me. I won’t let anyone else know what you tell me, and if anything happens, I’ll take the responsibility.”
Dekan was extremely interested in these pieces of information. He gently patted the Lord’s shoulder and gazed at him solemnly.
Although the Shadow World had already ended,
He could still gather intelligence.
This indicated that the story of the Holy Country might be far from over.
Moreover, Dekan suspected that the “Mysterious Shadows of Snowy Peaks” he entered last time and this “Secrets of the Shrinking Holy Ritual” were set in the same world background.
If this could be confirmed,
Then in the future, Dekan might very likely enter into shadow realms related to the Holy Country.
Generally, most challengers enter shadow realms at random.
They may challenge many shadow realms but won’t enter the same world background more than once.
But some challengers will consecutively enter several shadow realms that are connected.
It’s as if these challengers have some unspoken connection to the world background!
Rather than entering by chance, it seems like some fixed shadow realms have chosen them!
When he entered the Demon College and the Desolate Mountain Ancient Mansion previously, Dekan had no such feeling.
But after entering this shadow realm, Dekan’s intuition was quite strong.
He seemed to really have some connection to the Holy Country.
Sighing, the Lord clenched his fist, as if he had come to a decision, and whispered:
“It’s not just this city-state’s Holy Ritual Church; the Holy Ritual Church in the entire South is the same. I think the root of the problem is in the Holy Capital.”
Dekan: “The Holy Capital?”
The Holy Capital is the imperial capital of the Holy Country, located in the central-south part of the Holy Country.
Lord: “There are rumors that the northern part of the Holy Country is currently embroiled in a war against the demon race, but the South is indifferent, and the Holy Capital is doing nothing.
This attitude seems like the North has been abandoned.
But this time, I have realized that the Holy Capital isn’t just abandoning the North.
They don’t care about the safety of all the citizens! Even the South is treated the same!
And the ones who truly protect us are you northern priests like Lord Ruen.”
“You should be fighting the demons in the north, and yet you also have to come south to guard against the vampires. The Holy Capital will eventually drag you down!”
The Lord became increasingly agitated, seeming to be determined to say his piece despite the risk of losing his head.
Dekan nodded after hearing the Lord’s response.
“Lord, thank you for your righteous and brave statement. I have some more questions to ask you.”
“Please ask all you want!”
After more questioning, Dekan roughly pieced together the background story before the beginning of this shadow realm:
High Priest Kevin was dispatched years ago by Cardinal Ruen to guard the seal of Marquis Roderick in the south.
Recently, the north received some rumors about the blood kin, and sent another priest, Dekan, to cooperate with High Priest Kevin in defending the south.
When Dekan arrived in the city-state, he heard news from the town that “High Priest Kevin had disappeared, and a bridge had collapsed.”
Then Priest Dekan and the knight who had come to seek help from the city-state rushed to the town, starting this shadow realm…
Now Dekan somewhat understood why only he, as a single priest, came from the city-state to investigate after High Priest Kevin’s disappearance in the town.
Because the priests of the Holy Ritual Church in the South were genuinely not acting.
“Don’t worry, I will report the situation to Lord Ruen.”
Dekan had already understood that he was a priest under Lord Ruen’s group, so he updated his wording.
According to Dekan’s knowledge, Ruen was the youngest cardinal of the Holy Ritual Church and the mainstay of the northern front.
Dekan didn’t expect that his identity wasn’t just that of an ordinary priest.
He had someone to lean on.
Would he meet this person called Ruen in future shadow realms…?
“Cardinal… Ruen…”
Just as Dekan was pondering, a murmuring voice from Master suddenly resonated in his heart.
“Is something wrong, Master? Have you heard of this name?”
Dekan replied quite surprised with his thoughts.
“No… I can’t remember clearly… but it seems familiar. I may have had contact with this person.”
The Master appeared to be making an effort to recall.
The name Ruen triggered her memories, some fragments of memories seemed to be pieced together little by little.
But her memories, like damaged modules, lacked key points and could only barely arrange some originally insufficient fragments.
Her memory, just like her soul, was fragmented and incomplete, and there were things about herself that she couldn’t even remember.
Especially her earlier life, she had no recollection, as if it had been severed completely.
What remained relatively clearly preserved was only the most important memory before her death and her accumulated knowledge.
“I can confirm that I’ve seen this human called Ruen!”
Finally, it seemed that the Master had discovered something and passed a message to Dekan with excitement.
“!”
Dekan was also excited, not expecting to have found clues related to the Master’s background in the third shadow realm.
“… So, it seems my coming to the shadow worlds of the Holy Country is indeed related to you?”
Dekan asked.
Since the Master has met Ruen, it means the Master must have been to the Holy Country in the real world.
But that must have been a thousand or even ten thousand years ago.
Then this means that the timeline of this shadow realm corresponds to events that took place thousands or even tens of thousands of years before the present time.
An ancient story.
“No…”
The Master unexpectedly negated Dekan’s statement, making him furrow his brows.
One minute it is, the next it isn’t?
If it isn’t related to you, does it mean it’s related to me?
However, Dekan only heard the Master continue:
“Coming to the shadow world of the Holy Country… is also related to you… I saw you when I was with Ruen…”
The Master’s words struck Dekan like thunderclap.
“How could that be possible…”
Even though Dekan’s mind was racing, he couldn’t figure out the meaning of the Master’s words.
How could he possibly be connected to the Holy Country?
What connection could there be between him and Ruen or between him and the Master?
“Look.”
The Master tried hard to share a broken memory piece she had pieced together with Dekan.
Dekan gradually felt he could perceive the Master’s memories.
It was an extremely blurry image.
There seemed to be two people conversing in a great hall, surrounded by indistinct onlookers.
Among the two main figures, one looked dignified yet somewhat weary.
This figure must surely be Ruen.
The other figure looked like he was speaking to Ruen.
Despite the blur, it wasn’t hard to recognize, it was none other than Dekan’s appearance!
Staring at the image in disbelief, Dekan found it eerie.
The only difference between this Dekan in the Master’s memory and himself now, was that Dekan in the memory had golden eyes.
And from the Master’s first-person perspective, she stood right next to Dekan.
The golden pupils of Dekan in the memory were so familiar that the Master could recognize when Dekan’s body became hers.
But this raised a significant question.
In the scenarios of the Master’s memories, if the living Master was indeed by his side, how did his eyes become golden?
“Impossible, how could I be in other places in the Holy Country!”
Dekan felt his scalp tingling.
Master’s memories should date back thousands or even ten thousand years ago.
It was impossible for Dekan to exist at that time.
And even if, in the future, Dekan enters a shadow realm connected to the Holy Country to meet Ruen,
That would still be a parallel shadow realm!
A shadow realm is a parallel world recreated from real worlds, other worlds, or historical reproductions.
It is absolutely different from our present reality!
If this is a memory from the Master in the real world, the only explanation is that Dekan truly existed in ancient times!
“Could I possibly travel back to ancient times in the future?”
Dekan asked, puzzled.
“Impossible, even a tenth-tier being cannot reverse causality by traveling ten thousand years back.”
The Master answered with certainty.
She had a clear understanding of the limits of the power system in this world.
“…”
Both Dekan and the Master fell silent for a long while.
They paid no attention to the Lord waiting in the courtyard of the mansion.
Right now, figuring out this issue was more important to them than anything else.
“So there is only one explanation,”
After much thought, Dekan finally passed the message mentally, “The Holy Country, you, me, and our past and present lives have intertwined connections that cannot be explained.”
Perhaps meeting the Master wasn’t a coincidence but a certainty.
These entanglements might only be unraveled in other shadow realms of the Holy Country.
