CHAPTER 243

"Those damned flames, I thought I was gonna go bald."

Murakan formed spiritual energy in his palm and grumbled as he combed his hair.

Surprisingly, his burnt hair returned to normal as it absorbed the spiritual energy.

"Why did you use your body instead of using your spiritual energy?"

"Right, why didn't I think of that? Damn it, I guess I was too anxious at that moment."

"Hm… In any case, you did go through a lot. You just did something significant for the history of magic. Though I'm the only witness."

"If anyone says they're writing a biography about you, make sure that they include what I did today."

"Sure."

Ring of Erupting Flames Massacre by the Empress of Magic Final Form.

Jin's eyes sparkled as he held the magic tome.

Though, in his previous life, he had access to all manner of rare magic tomes thanks to Valeria. And in his current life, he even had the magic tomes of Tzenmi and Kiddard Hall that he himself embedded in his body.

Liol Zipfel's legacy was truly a masterpiece in the world of magic.

This was the greatest work of the person who was not only the strongest of their time, but was always brought up when talking about the greatest mage in history.

As a mage, it would be hard to experience something more joyous than this.

He felt like he wanted to open it right away, but for now, he carefully tucked it away.

Before his joy could subside, he suddenly heard a low groan.

"Ugh…"

"Chukon?"

Chukon Tolderer.

Unlike Susan, her neck having been completely severed, it seemed like Chukon had managed to cling onto life.

He cast a protective shield to protect his heart the moment the leader thrust his sword forward.

But on closer inspection, it seemed it only prolonged his life for a short while.

The shield had only served to postpone his death briefly, as his face had already turned blue and he was no different than a corpse.

With the outcome of the conflict decided, Jin asked the defeated what the victor usually would.

"Chukon Tolderer, any last words?"

Cough, cough.

Chukon, vomiting and foaming blood, had a dark look in his eyes.

It was only natural since he had been struck by the sword of his leader in front of the enemy.

"My… My magic… tome."

It was made clear just from those few words he barely managed to utter.

He wanted to leave his legacy behind like Liol.

No mage wanted the unique achievements they had made throughout their life to disappear without a trace.

Moreover, since he had met his end after being betrayed, he couldn't help but feel like he should at least pass his magic tome over to the enemy.

"Where is it?"

"Eternal… Third, locklava."

The Eternal Storage, third warehouse, and the password was locklava.

With those words, Chukon crossed death's door.

Jin closed Chukon's dark and unfocused eyes.

"If it's in the third warehouse of the Eternal Storage, then it must be quite valuable. Well, the defensive magic was good in its own right."

Murakan spoke while shrugging his shoulders.

Neither Jin nor Murakan felt any particular sense of pity just because he had left behind his magic tome.

After all, this probably wasn't the only experiment on civilians he had been involved in. They thought Chukon should actually be grateful they at least listened to his dying words.

"Let's go."

They walked quickly into the ruined castle.

Now, they had to return to the Holy Kingdom of Vankella with Mertual and the survivors, settle today's events, and fight their next battle.

'Kinzelo's identity has been discovered. I can't even get a grasp of who that leader bastard is, though. Is he a demon like Murakan said?'

The ability to form iron.

He'd never heard of anything like that before.

Even if you somehow got past the fact that he'd made a sword, it was impossible to imagine he'd be capable of moving through space as well.

It was definite that the leader was a being who had lived for over a thousand years.

No, he may have existed even longer than that, from the time when the Illustrious Legend Tribe ruled the world.

'Trying to restore the Illustrious Legend Tribe is undoubtedly the work of the leader. He knows of my brethren as well. The reason he rescued Joe was likely because he is absolutely necessary for the restoration.'

And he definitely had some kind of relationship with Temar.

Murakan's reaction to the leader's words—'It was you who went berserk, not Temar.'—was definitely abnormal.

He lost all sense of reasoning, as if he was someone who didn't want to face their past.

While with Murakan, Jin had asked why he'd fought with Temar.

Murakan didn't seem to want to talk much about him, so Jin didn't ask any more questions.

'The bastard will tell the story in his own time. If there's anything I need to know about Temar, that is.'

He entered the castle with that thought.

Unlike when he had found it earlier, the castle was seriously damaged in various places.

It was only natural since Murakan's merciless attacks continued for so long.

After clearing away broken stones that had piled high like a mountain, he headed to the laboratory where Mertual was.

In the laboratory where the explosion magic had taken effect, there was not a single facility related to the experiment remaining.

Everything was broken and debris was rolling around.

It wouldn't be easy to find the secret entrance's door like this.

"Mertual! Mertual Scylla!"

"I-I'm here…!"

"I'm here!"

The distant voices of unfamiliar men, not Mertual, were heard.

Finding the source of the sound, they pushed the rubble and tore out the entire floor.

When the secret passage was opened, what appeared before them were the terrified, teary faces of the surviving citizens and the magic injector that Jin had moved.

Mertual was also there, her two hands uniformly clasped in front of her chest, her eyes closed.

"…The priestess saved us and has now returned to Ayula's embrace."

"Please take the priestess's body back to her homeland with you."

Mertual had squeezed out the last bit of life force she had and injected mana into the citizens, returning to Ayula.

She had fulfilled her duty as a priest.

'In the first place, since she had to die to save them, was that the reason she asked for us to wait so earnestly?'

Even though Mertual was not a healer, but a 'saintess', the reason she had died was the same.

Traces of the experiment remained all over the subjects' bodies.

They either had a heart of light protruding out of their bodies, had only one arm golemified, or had tails.

Since they were all in such a critical state, where they could no longer be considered ordinary humans, she had no choice but to give up her life force in order to save them.

"She asked me to give this to you. That we had to deliver this to His Majesty, the holy king…"

As Jin took off his robe and covered Mertual's body with it, one citizen held out a book and a pendant.

It was Mertual's pendant, and the book was a diary.

After receiving orders from the holy king and spying on the Dark Magic Association, she risked her life every single day to record the reality of this place.

"Let us go outside. Let's go back, everyone."

* * *

The last day of the advent.

The capital city of Vankella was bathed in dazzling sunlight, as if Ayula had bestowed upon them a blessing.

Amidst the crowd of people gathered in the plaza, a huge and pure white carriage stood tall.

The fake McLan and Rani could be seen standing in the carriage, waving at people.

The thirty members of the Golden Shield Paladins surrounding the pure white carriage who were there for protection, and the spread of priests behind the carriage were a great tourist attraction for those visiting to witness the Advent Festival.

There was literally no space to take a step in the plaza.

The subjects, citizens of all countries, and nobles who had gathered to receive the consecration of the holy king were all waiting for the ceremony to begin.

"Holy King, Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty!"

There were many subjects who were so moved just by seeing Holy King McLan that they shouted at the top of their lungs.

They were mainly the lower class who suffered from serious illnesses.

For the sick and poor, the consecration ceremony was a great opportunity and the hope they could continue living.

This was because if one received the consecration, they could escape from illness.

However, because the sacred power of the holy king was limited, there were not many people who were able to experience the good fortune of the Holy Kingdom of Vankella during each year's Advent Festival.

About fifty people received the actual blessing, receiving it directly from Holy King McLan's divine power, while the rest simply received verbal blessings.

Although the latter had no influence on their actual fate, there were still an endless amount of people wanting to speak with the king.

Soon, the holy king lowered the hand he had been waving with, and the noisy town square instantly turned silent.

"First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to all of you, dear children of Ayula, who came from all over the world to see me. I am Holy King McLan."

Woahh!

"As usual, my precious daughter is here at the consecration ceremony. Rani Salome will read the blessings instead of me, an old man. I would like to ask for a round of applause for my daughter, who will be praying with a hoarse voice tomorrow."

The fake king showed his affection for his daughter by patting her shoulder.

Rani locked arms with the fake king and smiled brightly.

The fake behaved simply, and was perfectly acting as the real McLan, who loved his daughter to death.

Clap clap clap clap clap—!

When the applause ended, Rani readied the blessings.

"We'll begin the blessing ceremony of His Majesty, Holy King McLan. When the carriage begins moving, please follow along in an orderly manner to avoid injury or other unpleasant incidents."

As was typical for events like this, those who would receive the 'true consecration', which consumed holy power, had already been decided on.

Though not many knew of that fact.

The carriage moved forward and stopped once in a while at a designated location for those waiting for their consecration.

Each time, the holy king got off the carriage, kissed their foreheads, and blessed them as Rani read.

"May Ayula's will, heart, and love be with you…"

In that manner, the real consecration was granted without any incidents to forty subjects.

Those with crippled legs were blessed and began to walk, and those with blind eyes saw new light.

Onlookers who were filled with emotion at the sight were constantly wiping away tears.

A group of subjects covered in robes, who weren't appointed candidates, stepped forward from the crowd to block the carriage.

"Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty! Please listen to our story!"

Jeers erupted from everywhere.

However, since this kind of obstruction was common each year when the consecration ceremony was held, people didn't think much of it.

The holy king smiled kindly at those who intruded while Rani whispered into his ear.

"Bless them, Father. You were willing to get off the carriage to help the obstructors last year, right?"

The fake king nodded. 

He and Zipfel had judged that Rani had given up and submitted to them. 

They believed this was the result of all manner of mental torture she suffered while imprisoned be Vitura.

The holy king got off the carriage and greeted them. 

"Yes, children of Ayula. How much pain must you have gone through to find me? Tell me your story."

The intruders raised their bowed heads.

"Your Majesty, we…"

Abruptly, the covered subjects raised their heads and discarded their robes.

This revealed their hideous bodies, covered with the remaining traces of biological experimentation.

"What in the world… What on earth happened to them?!"

"Arghhh!"

The onlookers who saw the terrible appearances of the subjects let out groans and screams.

Only then did the fake holy king become startled, realizing something was wrong. Rani bit her lower lip and looked away.

She looked at Vitura, who was also looking at her with a calm expression in front of the guarding paladins in the distance.

The thirty Golden Shield Paladins surrounding the carriage also gritted their teeth while looking at Vitura.

"We were forcibly taken to a laboratory and made to look like this…"

"Wh-Who… Who did this to you?"

The fake king asked somewhat calmly.

If he were to show any signs of fluster, it would spell disaster for him.

The subjects answered him.

"Vitura, Commander-in-Chief of the paladins. He sold us out to Zipfel's lab! They made us like this!"

"Shut your mouth!"

Hiss!

Vitura shouted as he drew his sword.

Rani was unable to take her eyes off him, barely holding back her tears.