#99
The Beginning of Change (3)
Heinrich Saint Landguard.
After becoming the master of the holy sword and being ordained as a paladin, Heinrich came to bear the middle name “Saint.”
It was not a mere title.
For it was a name granted only to those personally chosen by the Main God, such as the saints and saintesses of the Order.
‘And this is all thanks to the 「Great Blessing: Knight of Light」 I received at the ordination ceremony…’
There were many kinds of blessings, ranging from the Iron Body, Leap, and Expansion that he possessed, to others he did not.
Until now, Heinrich had been directly sensing the Main God’s attention, so it had not really struck him, but blessings were like rewards obtained upon fulfilling certain conditions.
If one surpassed the limits of the body through extreme training, one received the blessing of “Iron Body.”
If one accepted divine power beyond one’s limits through endless contemplation, one received the blessing of “Expansion.”
Beyond that, if one crossed a certain standard while training in techniques that used divine power or researching holy arts, that would return to the practitioner as a blessing.
‘I haven’t really felt it much until now, though.’
But thinking about it, aside from 「Blessing: Leap」, all the others were blessings he had obtained when he had done his best in those situations.
The standards may have been somewhat generous, but it was not as though there had been no basis for them at all.
However, a “Great Blessing” was different in nature from the “Blessings” he had received until now.
‘A blessing bestowed solely by the Main God’s choice.’
Even among the countless believers of the Main God Order, it was something that might happen to one person in a generation, if that.
As a simple example, among those who had received a Great Blessing in the current era, the only one still alive was Saintess Riestha.
There had even been eras in the past when not a single person received one, so it was easy to understand just how difficult it was to obtain.
‘And being acknowledged by the holy sword doesn’t automatically mean receiving a Great Blessing, either.’
There had been about ten masters of the holy sword handed down until now, and among them, only two had been saints.
The hero from a thousand years ago, who had risen while already a saint, taken up the holy sword, and defeated the Immortal King.
And the previous-generation hero who, like Heinrich, became a saint after taking up the holy sword.
In other words, the heroes of the holy sword who had defeated the Immortal King in the previous generations were also saints chosen by the Main God.
‘That must mean the Main God is paying that much attention to matters concerning the Abyss. But a saint, huh… It feels kind of ticklish.’
It seemed the Main God had recognized his usefulness and was trying to push him forward with full support, but he could not help feeling a little burdened.
After all…
“Oh! There is the Saint!”
“Indeed, I thought he was extraordinary from the moment he first came to the Great Temple, but to think he would be chosen by the Main God so quickly.”
“His rate of growth certainly wasn’t normal. Now it makes sense.”
Everyone who had treated him comfortably before had begun treating him with reverence.
Even paladins and archbishops, and even cardinals he had only met a few times.
‘And the state of the newly issued equipment is no joke, either.’
The pure-white armor he wore, “Guardian of Glory,” was a masterpiece among masterpieces, created long ago with painstaking effort by the greatest artisans of the Main God Order.
Naturally, rare metals such as mithril and orichalcum had been used.
On its inner surface, prayers were densely engraved, and it was layered with all sorts of high-ranking holy arts and even a divine barrier. It was truly no different from a “moving fortress.”
‘And the price is exactly on that level, too.’
Not the price of some small castle on the frontier, but the price of a strategic fortress that had undergone every kind of magical treatment.
The price was so murderous that even the wealthy Main God Order had made only one, and paladins used equipment a tier below this.
In truth, it was practically a sacred relic.
‘In the end, this means it’s my final equipment. The holy sword, the finest weapon, and Guardian of Glory, the finest armor. I won’t need to worry about gearing up anymore.’
And so Heinrich, having become a saint, was now on his way out after having an audience with the pope, who was resting and recuperating, together with the saintess.
A gentle impression, eyes shining with a clear light that made it impossible to believe he was bedridden, and the immense divine power filling his body.
Hattianus II, who had led the Main God Order until now, appeared outwardly to be in perfectly good health, but…
‘They said he doesn’t have much time left. Was it that he can only stay awake for about an hour a day?’
Though he was still holding on with his enormous divine power, the candle of his life was on the verge of going out.
The saintess must have been well aware of that fact as well.
Yet she did not show it, maintaining a bright demeanor the entire time as she introduced Heinrich to the pope.
After chatting excitedly until he fell asleep again, only once she had completely left his residence did her expression turn gloomy. But she soon corrected it and hung a soft smile on her lips again.
Though still young, she was a saintess.
She knew very well that it was not good for someone like her to show negative emotions too openly.
Besides, was this not the center of the world’s largest religion?
To them, death was merely another journey toward the Main God’s side, not an eternal farewell.
As he walked along while making light conversation with the saintess, who seemed to have fully gathered herself, she suddenly changed the subject as though something had occurred to her.
“Ah, come to think of it, now that you have become a saint as well, Lord Heinrich, we can work together on this side of things more properly! Ahh, I’m so happy to have a comrade to share the burden with!”
…It seemed she had been having a very hard time all this while.
Though the truly important or troublesome matters were said to be handled by working-level personnel under the leadership of the cardinals, with the pope unable to conduct affairs at present, she could be said to hold the highest position. It seemed the stress she had been receiving implicitly had been considerable.
‘The pope and the saintess are in similar positions, after all…’
In terms of symbolism, one could say she was superior, but the position of one who had risen to the peak of the clergy as pope after countless proofs over many years was by no means to be taken lightly.
The young saintess, lacking experience, was only the symbol of the Order. It was the pope who actually led them, so it was only natural.
‘The problem is that the seat of the pope is currently vacant.’
Since a new pope could only be elected after the previous pope departed into the Main God’s embrace, for now the remaining people had no choice but to work harder.
On top of that, despite his advanced age, the current pope was her adoptive father on paper, having adopted and raised her.
The desire to somehow fill the empty place left by her father must also have been one of the reasons the saintess was reducing even her sleep to help with the work.
“Come to think of it, there was something I needed to discuss with you. You’ve heard about the Immortal King’s movements this time, haven’t you?”
As he became a saint, duties were handed over to him, and people were assigned to relay outside news to him and assist with his work.
And through them, he had been able to hear the recent news.
“They say he’s showing serious movement, unlike before. He opened the Abyss and summoned undead onto the continent, and this time he’s even provoking us openly…”
It was about the recent actions of the Immortal King Hans.
Moreover, the Order’s capable intelligence team had analyzed in detail why he was taking such actions and delivered that information to Heinrich.
They had detected signs that he was sending signals to the undead, gathering them, and collecting them.
‘Of course, I never thought I could hide it forever.’
Since he had been advertising it loudly enough for not only the Order and the Magic Tower but even most territories to notice, it was only natural that everyone’s attention would be focused on it.
By now, other forces were probably spending a very hectic time pouring all their strength into grasping more detailed information.
Though for Hans, that was not very good news.
“I don’t know what he’s suddenly thinking… but if the Immortal King has gone that far and started gathering his forces again, we can’t just leave that be. This is our chance to deal with him before he gathers more troops!”
The saintess passionately spoke with a face full of determination, her golden eyes sparkling.
That was something Hans had already anticipated sufficiently.
A reply to the signal sent by Hans ultimately carried the risk of being discovered by others who were determined to detect it.
‘That’s why I’ve been deliberately dividing the regions while carrying things out… But in some cases, the undead get subjugated before they can even gather and be recovered.’
That was something still happening in real time even now.
The places where the undead appeared were so varied and numerous that they had not appeared only in uninhabited areas.
If they were near a temple of the Order or a Magic Tower, or near a city with powerful individuals or a territory with strong military forces, the moment their location was discovered, it was over.
Unless there was an officer-class member of the Immortal Army present, they could not avoid being defeated in detail.
“Ah! And another Continental Summit is scheduled to be held soon. Since things have gone this far, they won’t be able to just sit back any longer, so this time we’ll have to work hard to establish proper measures!”
The saintess’s eyes shone as she steeled her resolve with firm determination.
Then she turned sharply toward Heinrich and added one more thing.
“Together!”
…It seemed the burden of work had truly been heavy on her all this time.
***
In truth, although the Order had issued several warnings about the Immortal King in the meantime, there were limits to how the other countries of the Ion Continent could respond.
The situation was very different now from what had happened before.
The battles against the previous Immortal Kings had basically taken the form of all-out wars.
This was largely because the aura of the Abyss within their hearts was so strong that the Order had somehow been able to determine their locations.
Of course, since every Immortal King had reached the pinnacle of black magic, they had been capable of avoiding the Order’s gaze for a short time.
But no matter what methods they used to obscure attention temporarily, there were limits, and in the end their locations were revealed.
Because of that, they had no choice but to raise vast armies of immortals to protect themselves and choose all-out war against the continent.
And yet.
The Immortal King revived this time was moving in an entirely different way.
Whatever method he was using, he was thoroughly hiding his location while scheming in the shadows and plunging the continent into chaos.
On top of that, because of his unpredictable mobility, it was impossible to gather information and determine his whereabouts.
That was the reason the other forces could not make any particular moves right away.
When they had no idea where the enemy they needed to fight was or what he was doing, what could they possibly do?
At most, they could protect key figures and strategic points while strengthening their vigilance and organizing their forces in preparation for future calamity.
But with the enemy nowhere in sight, and only indefinite preparation continuing for months…
As the situation became like that, hyenas seeking to profit from the chaos rather than prepare for the future began to poke their heads out one by one.
From embezzlement of military supplies and corruption in military procurement at the bottom, to secret collusion in political circles at the top.
Small discords that arose in all levels of society gathered and gathered, lending a hand in creating the current chaotic political situation.
Now that the matter had grown larger, they were hurriedly trying to bring it back under control.
But before they could settle the situation, an even greater change was approaching.
A group of merchant caravans was passing along a forest road where monsters appeared.
Since it was a dangerous region, the number of mercenaries surrounding them and keeping watch was considerable.
At that moment, one of the mercenaries guarding the caravan quietly spoke to the man beside him.
“Hey, Mike. Will this really be all right? I heard undead have been roaming around everywhere lately.”
“Then what are we supposed to do? It’s not like we can stop working forever.”
“That’s true, but…”
“And unless we’re seriously unlucky, we won’t run into them. With this many people, we might even have a chance.”
Since the merchants were also well aware of the current situation, several caravans heading in the same direction had joined forces and hired more mercenaries than usual.
Thus, they crossed the dangerous forest road with confidence, and in the end, they did not encounter even a single undead.
However…
“Urgh! What are these things!”
“Careful! They’re definitely not ordinary— Keugh!”
Monsters. A countless swarm of monsters attacked the caravan group.
“Krrrk—!”
“Kieeeek!”
There were various kinds of attacking monsters, such as goblins, orcs, and gremlins, but they all shared the same traits.
Eyes faintly tinged with red.
Saliva dribbling from the corners of their mouths.
Viciously swollen muscles.
A reckless abandon that made them charge in without care even when their limbs were severed…
And a killing intent that drove them to murder their opponents until the very moment their breath completely stopped, even if their necks were cut or their hearts pierced.
“Why are different races joining forces— Kugh!”
“These bastards, there’s no end to—!”
They were mercilessly trampling the humans.
This, too, was something that had begun happening all across the continent.
The influence of “Madness” was slowly, but surely, revealing itself.