Chapter 344

343. The Immortal and the Mortal (12)

-*Bang! Thud!!*

Siriō shook his head as he stared at the firmly locked door of the grand cathedral. No more screams, shouts, or the clashing of weapons could be heard. Only the sound of an axe striking the door echoed in silence.

“They won’t hold out much longer. Brother, how is the Monastery Head?”

“Not good. Either way, he won’t last long.”

As he gathered the medicine bottles and straightened his blood-stained priestly robes, the old Enmagika raised his head. Before him lay Beorn, pale-faced and gasping for breath.

Cold sweat dripped from beneath his closed eyes. With trembling hands, he pushed himself up from the floor.

“Monastery Head, you must rest, even if just for a moment.”

“There’s nowhere left to retreat.”

The Monastery Head sharply raised his eyes and spoke. He looked around. Five, was it five…….

“Unbelievable.”

When the attack first began, there were over twenty Inquisition Officers and nearly forty attendants in this monastery. Even the Torchmen, elite soldiers incomparable to civilians. Yet, one by one, they fell as if being hunted.

When the alarm bells rang madly and even the Demonica sent to repel the intruders lost contact, Beorn assumed the worst. The loss of the headquarters.

If so, what needed to be done was clear. The headquarters held precious legacies that must be protected, even if all the agents were to die.

Data on heretics and demons, records and information for training new agents, relics sealing demons too powerful to kill, and the unique techniques of the Inquisition Office accumulated over vast history.

The moment any of these were lost, the Inquisition Office could never be rebuilt. Beorn immediately gathered the materials. Though he couldn’t preserve the entire archive, he secured the most crucial documents.

The old instincts of a heretic screamed at him. The thing outside couldn’t be stopped. No reason, cause, identity, or number could be discerned. But at this most vulnerable moment, the Inquisition Office was under attack.

He gathered the materials, took to the front lines, and bought time from the enemy. He activated traps in every section of the headquarters to hinder their advance. He sent spirit messengers to request reinforcements and held out for five hours.

At the cost of five Inquisition Officers and the core documents of the headquarters, Beorn was now dying. A penetrating wound in his abdomen, crushed internal organs, and blood loss were taking their toll.

“Monastery Head. The Great Sealing War has collapsed.”

One of the Enmagika, seated in meditation in the corner, raised his head and spoke. Beorn clicked his tongue.

“If the Sealing Sanctuary is completely destroyed, the sealed demons will join them. Phaeirn will fall.”

Even in this critical moment, the future of the secular royal families unfolded vividly in his mind. Phaeirn would collapse, and the reason would be revealed as the Inquisition Office. A demonic outbreak would spread like a plague across the Eastern Kingdom, but the secular royals would no longer trust the Vaitas Church.

The Churches of the Temple of the Gods were no longer united as they once were. The Shield Church, operating based on the Empire, would attempt to expand its influence. They would likely succeed. But during that time.

While the secular royals and the various sects of the Temple of the Gods were in conflict, the Eastern Kingdom Alliance would crumble. Rotting from deep within, like a giant tree slowly falling…….

“My…… *cough*! My thoughts were short.”

“Monastery Head.”

“Leave it, brother. I know better than anyone how much time I have left.”

He pushed aside the medicine bottles and stood up. Excessive blood loss made his head spin, and objects appeared distorted. Yet, he calmly adjusted his sleeves and flexed his fingers.

-*Thud!*

The thick iron doors of the grand cathedral rang out once more. Beorn stepped forward before the priests, gripping his sword and shield.

“How much more time do we need, brothers?”

“An hour……. No, thirty minutes more. Monastery Head.”

That was the time needed to conceal and seal these core documents. Instead of fleeing to survive, those who remained here gathered in the cathedral, prepared to die. To protect this precious legacy, other brothers had given their lives like straw.

“I’ll make it happen.”

“I’ll join you, brother.”

In the darkness, flying spearheads, sudden intruders in empty spaces, and blades that silently cut brothers’ throats before disappearing. Even Beorn, until a spear pierced his abdomen, hadn’t seen the face of the assailant.

“What is it you desire, Daryan.”

Beorn muttered, recalling the empty chamber of the Thunder Thrower hanging at his waist.

* * *

Daryan, without a word, struck the cathedral door with near-mad determination. His muscles had already surpassed the limits of a mortal, yet they moved with new, even greater strength.

Each time he killed a priest and desecrated a sanctuary, power surged into his body. Stronger, rougher, stickier power enveloped him. Even Enmagika’s magic couldn’t pierce the mana surrounding him.

-*Thud!*

The sanctuary’s large door bent further. Now, his strikes carried the impact of siege weaponry.

“What have you done to my body?”

Finally, he felt the last bar of the sanctuary break. A few more strikes, and this steel door would collapse. He could feel everything beyond the door without seeing it. A sense beyond human limits.

“Tell me. What have you done to my body?”

The Great Sealing War, was it? One of the most resistant sanctuaries in this cathedral. When he killed all the priests there and saw the relics within, Daryan instinctively sensed the presence of demons. He left the demons as they were.

Yet, even though he took no action, the demons began to break free after he left. Since it wasn’t his doing, it must have been someone else’s work. And he knew who it was.

“Tell me. Karlomano.”

“I gave you power, Sir Daryan Schryke.”

From afar, Karl walked out. He smirked as he looked at Daryan.

“After all this is over, no matter what happens, I will slaughter you all.”

“Who do you mean by ‘you all’?”

“You, the Phaeirn royal family and your minions.”

“Aren’t there still many priests in the world for you to kill?”

“Do not think of me as your servant. The demons lurking behind you are no different. The reason I tolerated you…….”

“I know, I know. Because you want the collapse of the entire church power.”

Daryan was the Emperor’s eyes. An assassin wandering the darkness across the Empire. He was well aware of the atrocities committed by demons and their minions, and the consequences thereof.

But now, with the Great Demons fallen and the heretics losing their power, the Churches of the Temple of the Gods were more clearly than ever revealing their desires towards secular society.

The boundary between secular and religious authority had already blurred. Each church was greedily…….





He was aiming for power. Is that just? Well, compared to the rule by heretics, I suppose it is. But—

The Church does not hesitate to sacrifice the majority for the sake of a few. They are the ones who burn the absolute majority, blaming a single heretic to preserve a pure minority. If a village falls into the hands of heretics, they will burn an entire territory and demand even more fuel.

To bring down the Church, their unity must first be shattered. Shield, Vaitas. These two great churches must be prioritized. Shield has been losing influence recently, so the Vaitas Church must be struck first.

“But surely you didn’t expect this, did you? The collapse of the Church’s power means our rise. Did you really not know, even as you slaughtered so many priests yourself?”

Karl smirked and whispered. In the long history of power, there is no vacuum. If someone falls, someone else will inevitably rise. In the absence of the Church, heretics will surely swarm.

At Karl’s laughter, Daryan turned his head and glared at him.

“I will crush and trample both the Church and your heretics.”

“Hahaha! In the thousand-year history of the Church, there has never been a perfect victory. You overestimate yourself, my lord. Even if you eliminate a few sects, do you really think we will be uprooted?”

“Probably not.”

Daryan shook his head briefly. He took a step forward. Blood pooled at his feet, forming a small puddle.

There was no pain, but he knew it was a serious injury. It was the moment he pierced the abdomen of the man called the Monastery Head, Beorn Shieldbane. Despite the near-perfect ambush, the man reacted immediately and managed to pull a thunder thrower into his stomach.

It was the first significant injury sustained during the raid on this monastery. Daryan lamented it. That momentary counterattack was a symbol of human will, honed to its limits.

If only he had met him a little sooner, before things had gone so wrong, perhaps he could have stopped him.

Now, it’s a meaningless delusion. Some currents can never stop on their own. In that sense, Daryan had already become a whirlpool. A whirlpool that would shake the entire world.

He took another step toward Karl, who was still spinning and laughing, and growled.

“You will fear me.”

“Hahaha! Do you think we, who serve fear, would fear a mere mortal?”

“You will fear me as you fear the sun at noon, as you fear the moon in the deep night. Every moment you live and breathe, every moment you cry out the names of those you serve, you will fear me. You serve fear? No, you do not.”

Why do people worship demons? If not corrupted by hellish magic, demon worshippers serve demons solely for power.

Power, wealth, ambition, magic, and wisdom. Whatever the reason, they crave power beyond their own efforts and talents. Demon worshippers are fascinated and overwhelmed by the fear of demons, but they do not serve fear itself.

Daryan’s eyes glowed darkly like an abyss. He would teach them. He would become the fear that the beings of fear fear. Incomprehensible, irreversible, immortal fear. He would remain as its symbol. Even in the dark night and under the shadows, they would whisper his name.

“If, after everything is over, you still believe you serve fear, then I will reject your service. You will die alone. No more parasites will interfere with human independence before me. After tearing apart every parasite that preys on demons, gods, and human spirits—”

I will remain as a symbol and disappear. Forever.

As Daryan whispered, Karl stepped back with a disgusted expression. A terrible pressure seemed to weigh on him. He recalled what he knew about Daryan.

A young temple knight, one who had never been defeated, whose nickname when he was fully active was—

‘The Empire’s Strongest.’

A man said to have mastered all combat skills. In fact, during the raid on the Inquisition Office, he slaughtered the priests one by one without ever revealing himself.

In the process, Karl had succeeded in releasing the demons of the Great Demon War, but separately. He didn’t think the demons in this forest could stand against this man. Despite being a mere mortal, never.

‘So that’s it.’

Karl fiddled with a piece of paper hidden in his pocket. A small report he had found while rummaging through the Monastery Head’s messy office. The operation outline of the renowned saint, ‘Fernandez.’

The location and method of unsealing the being called the Great Demon. As he fiddled with this small piece of paper, he thought quietly.

‘Daryan in his 30s is absolutely necessary…….’

The man’s name was among the minimum conditions required to kill the Great Demon. He quietly stepped back and said.

“Then I look forward to seeing you again, my lord. I’ll prepare a stage worthy of your satisfaction.”

“Get lost, puppet. Before you find me, I will find you first.”

“Puppet…… puppet……. Haha! My lord, please keep your body strong. His Highness the Prince is waiting for you.”

Karl laughed and pulled back. He immediately sprinted toward the forest, thinking. The Prince’s operation was proceeding flawlessly. Starting with the fall of this thorn in the side monastery, staining all of Phaeirn, and then bringing down the Eastern Kingdom—

Finally, Leviathan, the wilderness, and then Kirzat.

Beyond the past thousand years, the eternal Great Empire that will last for the next thousand years. An empire created by hundreds, thousands of puppets living under a single god.

And above it, they will reign forever. As the god’s glorious hunting dogs.

Karl finally burst into laughter. As he escaped Daryan’s presence, laughter spilled out like a cough. He ran through the forest path.

“……What?”

But at some point, he could no longer laugh or run. He saw the forest burning. A pure white flame was slowly advancing toward the direction of the monastery.

“What the…… hell……?”

The forest, thick with hellish magic, was parting like the sea to avoid the flames. Like a torch chasing away fog. A giant man was boldly advancing, holding a brilliantly shining military flag in one hand.

Countless men followed behind him, climbing the mountain path.

-Ooh, ooh ooh, ooh.

-Ooh, ooh ooh, ooh.

A low, long hum came through the sound of the wind.

-O Temple of the Gods, bless us. The martyr of the great god departs this path.

-May angels guide you to paradise.

-When you come, the prophets will welcome you.

-The hall of the gods awaits you.

-Only praise the holiness of the Lord.

-Brother, our path has always been the same.

-Pray until we meet again.

-He who shone brightest among us has been taken.

-This is to make him a star of the world.

Singing a funeral dirge, collecting the bodies of dead priests, subduing the rampaging demons. Like that.

Like that, the priests were advancing.

“Damn it. His Highness the Prince must not be late!”

Karl stared blankly at their advance, then suddenly bit his lip. Daryan must not die yet. He immediately changed direction and ran down another path.

This is a matter of life and death……. He clicked his tongue. He wasn’t one to gamble, but he couldn’t let Daryan die. For that, he needed bait. A bait that fool would follow, covering everything and chasing after him.