Chapter 691: The Procession

Martin Lothringen.

He was a Dark Priest of the Pater Church, with a background that was both common and unique.

The common part was that he came from a wealthy and reputable family.

The unique part was that he didn’t become a priest just because of that.

That was merely incidental. He truly became a priest of his own will.

Purely to worship God and help people in His name.

Though rare, this was not unheard of.

Wealthy and intelligent, but feeling emptiness in the secular world, he turned to religion.

Martin Lothringen was no different. Though he had once lived a life of indulgence, one day that pleasure seemed hollow, and he joined the Church.

He said he could hear the voice of God.

And it turned out he was right.

Compared to his days of indulgence, it was a hard and stifling path, but Martin felt fulfilled within it.

Through prayer, offerings, and service, he experienced a satisfaction he had never felt before, and he could hear God’s voice.

“This is your path.”

Fulfillment and certainty turned into zeal, and zeal bore results.

As time passed, Martin was appointed as a Dark Priest, not through political maneuvering, but through pure religious devotion.

Martin gladly accepted this honor. It would allow him to better serve God’s will from a higher position.

And then, the emptiness returned.

This time it was because he could see the darkness within the Church, which wasn’t visible from below.

Sometimes that darkness would come to Martin and force him to make choices.

As it did to all Dark Priests.

The once-clear voice of God gradually became faint, and his certainty was tinged with doubt.

But Martin did not give up.

He worked even harder to fulfill his duties, hoping to hear God’s voice again, dispel his doubts, and fill the emptiness.

If he were to retreat now, everything he had done so far would be meaningless.

Thus, Martin decided not to run and to fulfill his mission.

When disaster struck this land where God dwelled, he raced to save people, confronting the lies of the devil before him.

How could he stand by and allow a devil to claim it was sent by God?

“Shall I show you the evidence?”

Shraaaaa-!!

The devil then showed the evidence that it had been sent by God.

A Holy Knight, made from blood, entrails, and flesh—a sinner from Hell.

At that moment, a tiny doubt that Martin Lothringen had extinguished countless times before began to resurface in his heart.

A small but sincere doubt.

With the doubt rising, the woman on the camel voiced it aloud.

“Do you still believe in Him?”

“…No.”

When Martin, the Dark Priest, finally gave voice to the doubt that had appeared and vanished so many times since he became a priest, he collapsed helplessly, even though he had come to save people from disaster.

It wasn’t due to anyone’s coercion, violence, or threats—he did it himself.

“Your Excellency…!”

A Holy Knight, who had been following Martin, caught the falling priest.

It was a knight who happened to respect Martin deeply—no, perhaps it was inevitable. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have followed Martin in the first place.

While supporting the priest’s fallen body, the Holy Knight tried to persuade him.

He told Martin not to be deceived by the devil’s cunning tongue. It must surely be a trick. God would never abandon them.

“Your faith is deep.”

The woman on the camel then turned to the Holy Knight.

“Have you never done anything shameful in your deep faith?”

***

“Ten years ago, I tortured some boys. They were boys from the slums helping a Dark Sorcerer for money, and I had to capture that sorcerer at any cost.”

The Holy Knight confessed the truth… It was a fitting expression—to ‘confess.’

Even though he didn’t want to, even though he tried to clamp his hands over his mouth, the truth continued to pour out.

“The Dark Sorcerer had cursed my village with disease, and that’s why I became a knight. So, I tortured those boys and even threatened their families to find the sorcerer’s location. I justified my anger and violence under the pretext of serving God.”

But it didn’t end there.

“I once accepted money from a Dark Sorcerer in exchange for information. My sister had fallen gravely ill…”

“I frequented brothels and fathered an illegitimate child. A mistake from my past…”

“I envy the knights. I wasn’t able to become a knight myself, so I hate them…”

The plague of truth spread from the Dark Priest and Holy Knight to the surrounding servants and other knights, and even further to the citizens and priests in the Holy Capital.

“In fact, I have no faith. I just did what my family told me to avoid being destitute…”

“This child isn’t actually my husband’s child.”

“I bribed someone to become a priest, and I’ve mocked God within my heart.”

Just like the Dark Priest and Holy Knight before them, those who spoke the truth started breaking down one by one, drenched in cold sweat.

As a result, the woman on the camel reached the Holy Emperor’s Palace without any obstacles.

A place proclaimed to be the house of God, but filled with sinners crushed under the weight of their own sins.

The woman on the camel crossed the vast square within the Holy Emperor’s Palace and reached out toward the main gate, causing everything to corrode.

Crrrrr…

The sturdy pillars, the grand door, and the pure white walls all began to crumble like ash, turning black in the process.

It was as if fresh fruit was rotting, and the corrosion continued to spread, as though everything would soon decay and collapse completely.

It was a pitiful end for a building that had stood since the beginning of the Pater Church.

Then suddenly, the corrosion ceased.

It was when, inside the deepest part of the demolished walls, an old man appeared.

Boooom…

Boooom…

Without a moment’s hesitation, the woman on the camel led the procession to greet the old man and spoke.

“You’ve worked hard, Archive.”

***

“You’ve worked hard, Archive.”

The woman on the camel spoke through her telepathy.

Then, deep within the Holy Emperor’s Palace, a massive and rugged iron door creaked open, and the old man who had been leaning against it, opened his only remaining eye.

He gazed at the woman on the camel and the headless nuns she led—fifty-six in total.

Surprisingly, the old man did not flinch at the horrifying sight.

It wasn’t just because he had lived long and seen many things.

“You’ve arrived, haven’t you? Woman on the Camel.”

Despite being a first-time encounter, Merlin greeted the woman on the camel as if he had seen her before.

It might not have been strange.

In a way, they might know each other.

The first Archive, who created the position, knew all the devils, so Merlin, who shared those memories, could be said to know them too.

Perhaps because of that, the woman on the camel treated Merlin more kindly than she did others.

“Yes, I got here easily because no one got in the way.”

Once again, Merlin did not budge.

After all, he could already guess what had happened.

The woman on the camel was one of the seventy-two rulers of Hell.

Surely, everyone had collapsed on their own as a result of her power. The power to forbid lies and reveal the dark truths hidden within one’s heart.

Ironically, humans lived their lives building up sins that could break them at any moment.

If someone were to expose those sins, no matter how strong-willed or mentally resilient they were, they would collapse under the weight of them.

Merlin, as the Archive, knew that all too well, so he did not harbor any resentment even as he saw the knights and servants collapsing in the distance.

This was a kind of fate, like water running its natural course, impossible to escape even with knowledge.

“Ah, I should correct myself. I didn’t really mean ‘no one’—you’re still standing in my way.”

The woman on the camel bent slightly to look at Merlin closely. There was kindness in her gaze, a kindness mixed with respect that was different from the usual condescension directed at others.

“Well, it’s understandable. The Archive is someone who has already faced his own sins, so you should be fine.”

“It’s not that I’m fine; I’m just enduring it… I didn’t mean to offend you, so if I did, I apologize.”

Was it because of his injuries? Or because he was dealing with a devil? Wrapped in bandages, Merlin acted even more deferentially than usual, much like he did with Oliver in the past.

It felt a bit excessive, but at the same time, it showed he had drawn a line he would never cross.

A line that was non-negotiable.

Whether she realized this or not, the woman on the camel smiled.

“You don’t need to apologize. After all, the Archive was created precisely for this purpose. I actually appreciate it.”

“What do you appreciate?”

“The fact that you’re sitting in front of that door to protect him.”

The woman on the camel correctly guessed the reason Merlin was sitting in front of this door while so many other places could have been guarded.

The door Merlin was guarding was the only entrance to the basement beneath the Holy Emperor’s Palace, and as soon as the disaster began, he had taken his injured body there.

Fearing that someone might harm Oliver.

And indeed, there had been several attempts, but Merlin had thwarted them all amidst the chaos.

“Thank you for protecting him.”

The woman on the camel said without a hint of a smile, making it sound very serious.

Merlin asked back.

“You’re saying strange things. Why should I receive your thanks for protecting my disciple? I was simply exercising my duty and my right, so I ask you to retract your words.”

“Disciple?”

“Yes. Though temporarily, a disciple is still a disciple.”

“You’re aware of who he is, aren’t you?”

“Yes, of course. But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s my disciple.”

“You’re quite extraordinary. Truly.”

The woman on the camel expressed her admiration to Merlin.

“Alright, I’ll retract my thanks as you requested. So, could you step aside?”

Merlin smiled. A sad smile.

“Could you just do what you need to do and leave?”

“Do you know what I’m here to do?”

“You’re here to take back what you gave, under His command. I don’t resent you. But please, do not meet that child. He’s not in a condition to see you right now. You know that as well, don’t you?”

“And that might be exactly why seeing me now might be good for him.”

The woman on the camel responded, and Merlin sighed deeply before standing up.

The woman on the camel displayed an unusual look of pity.

“Please, I ask you. Could you just step aside? I really don’t want to hurt you.”

“You never know how things will turn out until you try, right?”

Merlin pulled a book out of thin air.

“Trying one by one is foolishness. But you’re not a foolish man.”

“As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to think…”

“…What?”

“Foolishness might just be a blessing from God.”

With those words, Merlin began to channel the power of the first Archive into his body through the book once more.

The power created to counter the apocalypse, the power that even briefly held back Oliver’s awakened form.

As a result, Merlin’s flesh, already decaying under the bandages, began to deteriorate even faster.

However, Merlin didn’t mind. It was as if those things no longer mattered to him.

The woman on the camel, seeing this, raised her massive arm—formed from the arms of the nuns—and spoke in her own voice.

“This is why I can’t dislike you.”

***

Cough, cough…!

On the outskirts of the Holy Capital, the furthest point from the Pater Church’s center, two old knights in armor coughed up dust.

Their appearance was dreadful, especially considering they were Dark Priests.

Even so, they were relatively fortunate.

If Kevin had been a little later, they would have been dead.

“What… what exactly happened here?”

Armand and Roderick, faces covered in dirt and dust, asked.

Even in such a situation, they didn’t search for water but tried to understand the situation, which was commendable.

In respect for that, Kevin explained calmly.

“The devil has descended. The woman on the camel.”

“…Is that so?”

Luckily, Armand and Roderick remained surprisingly calm.

As the worst had come, their minds became even cooler.

“Has the devil truly descended?”

“Yes, that’s why I pulled you two out. Is there anything we can do?”

A question asked out of a faint hope.

But both Armand and Roderick shook their heads.

“If the devil has descended, there’s no way to stop it. According to the scriptures written over the centuries, devils are beings that have power beyond what humans can handle. That’s why the books and records on devils have been strictly censored.”

Kevin wasn’t particularly surprised.

He had known instinctively, after seeing the woman on the camel in person.

Still, he had asked, just to verify it, as it was the only thing he could do at the moment.

So even though he knew it was useless, he continued to ask questions. Giving up was something to be done after death. As long as he was alive, he had to do something.

“Can’t we subdue it with Holy Power? Even if not subdue, can we at least do something similar?”

“Holy Power will not work.”

This time, Joanna answered. Having encountered both The Burned One and the woman on the camel, Joanna.

She gave a definitive answer to Kevin’s question, and he asked again.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I’ve already confirmed it doesn’t work… After all, Holy Power isn’t truly God’s power.”

Joanna relayed the truth she had learned from The Burned One.

Somehow, it felt like the right time to share it.

Kevin wasn’t too surprised either. He had already learned this when he heard about the Deus Ex Machina project.

The Dark Priest acknowledged it as well.

“It’s true… Holy Power was actually granted by an angel, not by God.”

“An angel?”

“Yes. The most beloved son sent by God Himself. He is the one who blessed the pond, which is the source of Holy Power. The Holy Emperor’s Palace was built where that pond once was. Over time, it was misunderstood… No, it was deliberately manipulated to be perceived as a gift from God.”

“It carried more prestige that way.”

Roderick added to Armand’s explanation, as if there was no longer anything to hide.

Indeed, with a devil now descended in the Holy Capital, what was there to hide?

An unknown sense of liberation spread, and within that, Roderick burst into laughter.

“Haha… how ironic. We brought him here to prevent such a catastrophe, yet I’ve ended up accelerating it.”

“What do you mean by this catastrophe?”

Joanna asked.

Come to think of it, she had been imprisoned by fellow knights while trying to protect Oliver, so she hadn’t heard yet.

About the Deus Ex Machina.

“What is it? What do you mean by Deus Ex Machina?”

Now that the devil had descended and there was nothing left to hide, Roderick rummaged through his belongings and answered.

“In simple terms, it’s about artificially creating a Son of the Angel to prevent the apocalypse.”

“How could that be done?”

“With this.”

Roderick pulled out a bottle of Holy Water, as red as blood, from his robes.

“Holy Water made from the blood of the angel who granted Holy Power. We planned to inject it into him to artificially create a Son of the Angel.”

Joanna’s expression twisted in confusion.

“Is that really possible?”

“I don’t know if it’s possible or not. Most who drank it died. Their bodies couldn’t handle the content.”

“So the reason you involved Oliver… was to use him as a vessel?”

“Yes.”

Roderick admitted it without hesitation. He looked like he would just take it if she threw a punch.

Seeing his demeanor, Joanna clenched her fist tightly, but she didn’t strike. Instead, she asked more questions.

“If you use that, can you stop the devil?”

With eyes ready for death.