Chapter 730: Test

Kent offers to take on the sins.

Oliver couldn’t say anything to that.

He just looked at Kent with a shocked expression.

That expression was the clearest Oliver had ever shown in his life. It was so vivid that it made Oliver seem like an ordinary person in that moment.

Seeing this, Kent smiled faintly, as if pleased.

“Haha… I didn’t know you could make such a face. It would have been nice to see it earlier.”

Kent, looking joyful and satisfied, moved Oliver’s hand, which was holding a dagger, and slowly pulled out the knife stuck in his own side.

Slash…

A wet sound echoed, and Oliver flinched as if electrified.

“Ken-”

Thud.

Just as Oliver was about to move hastily, Kent leaned forward and embraced him tightly.

“Haa… I’m okay. I’m fine. So don’t worry. Just stay as you are. Please…”

Kent, hugging Oliver tightly as if falling forward, said this. Oliver could only stay still.

As he followed Kent’s request, Kent smiled, looking pleased, all while slowly removing the dagger from his side and began to speak.

“I remember. The time you defeated Puppeteer Grip and rescued the beggars that were captured. Do you remember?”

“…I remember.”

“And, I also remember when you gave me the money you took from Grip’s vault. Do you remember?”

“…I remember.”

“I remember that even after you became a Contractor, you still made daily donations to the beggars… and also risked your life to save a boy that everyone else ignored. I remember you coming to this city despite the urge to flee…”

“…I’m listening.”

“What I’m trying to say is, you’re an incredible person. Even if you committed sins out of ignorance in the past, you learned and corrected yourself. That’s why, you’re a truly remarkable person.”

As Kent said that, he hugged Oliver even tighter.

At that moment, Oliver could physically feel Kent’s sincerity, not just see it.

“You’re right; sins don’t disappear. Whether committed knowingly or unknowingly, someone will suffer. So… let me take those sins. Someone like me, filled with sin, will carry them for you.”

Schkrrrrk!

At that moment, the knife in Kent’s side was pulled out a little further.

It was unclear whether Kent had pulled it or if it moved on its own.

Regardless of the cause, Kent lost his balance and nearly fell to the floor.

Luckily, before he could hit the ground, Oliver caught and supported him.

Both knelt on the floor, wrapped in each other’s embrace.

“Kent…!”

“It’s okay! I’m fine….!”

Kent shouted as he almost fell to the ground.

“It’s nothing. It’s not important, so don’t worry…”

Though his breathing became rough and his body stiffened, Kent spoke with effort.

It was obvious he was lying, but Oliver couldn’t argue back.

Even he didn’t know why. He just had this single question.

“Why… why are you doing all this for me?”

“Hahaha…”

Kent, on the verge of death, chuckled.

“You’re such a fool. I’m doing this because I love you. Because…”

Trailing off, Kent turned his head to look at Oliver.

Oliver also turned his head to look at Kent.

They gazed at each other as they held on.

“Because you feel like my son.”

“…”

Oliver just stared at Kent, unable to say anything again.

He didn’t know how to respond to the words that he was thought of as a son.

In that silence, Kent continued, revealing his long-buried sincerity.

“I was so happy when you used my son’s name as an alias… It felt, even though it’s impossible, like my dead son had returned.”

“…”

“It may be presumptuous of me to say this, but-”

“-It’s not presumptuous.”

“…”

“It’s not presumptuous… Rather, I’m glad.”

Oliver, who usually had no confidence, spoke up to reassure Kent.

That he was happy to be thought of like a son.

Kent smiled at his words.

“I’m glad to hear that… Now, will you let me do this? Let me take on your sins.”

Oliver shook his head.

Unsure if it was even possible. He couldn’t be certain about passing his sins to someone else.

At that moment, Kent spoke firmly.

“It is possible. The Lord always said to repent your sins. If He is who we believe, He will surely allow it.”

Kent’s voice was so confident that Oliver couldn’t help but believe him.

Even so, Oliver hesitated. He was uncertain if giving his sins to Kent was the right thing.

Sensing his hesitation, Kent pointed it out.

“You’re hesitating. Unsure if you should pass your sins to me.”

“…Yes, I’m not sure.”

Kent laughed as if he’d expected that.

Even as the steadily loosening dagger made his body colder and blood dripped, staining the floor red, Kent kept smiling.

“If that’s the case, make me one promise.”

“…What is it?”

“Forgive yourself. I’ll take your sins from you, so forgive yourself.”

Oliver was silent. Kent, with his stiffening hand, gently stroked Oliver’s face and said.

“And love yourself. If you can’t love yourself, you can’t love anyone else. I love you, and because of that, I want you to love others too. You deserve it.”

Sincerity.

Hearing Kent’s heartfelt words, Oliver lowered his head, grabbing the hand that was caressing his face.

As he bowed his head, something fell.

“…What else do you want me to do?”

After a long silence, Kent answered.

“…Never forget what I said.”

“…”

“You’re not strange or broken, you’re just different.”

“…”

“I may not understand the End Times, the Devil, or the Prince, but I know this one thing: you are simply you. You’re different from others, yes, but that’s all. Don’t ever forget that.”

“…I don’t know what to say.”

“That’s fine. Take your time. That’s what life’s about… I’d like to rest now. Can you help me?”

Having said all he wanted, Kent’s face relaxed as he made his request.

Seeing his expression, Oliver finally pulled out the dagger they had been slowly removing.

Clang!

As the knife was drawn out, the blade clanged to the ground, and blood spilled rapidly onto the floor.

At the same time, Kent toppled over as if his strings had been cut.

Fortunately, Oliver caught him as he fell.

Kent lay on the floor, cradled in Oliver’s arms.

As Kent’s breathing grew faint and labored, he spoke for the last time.

“I love you, Oliver…”

Even as his breath ran out.

His breath finally stopped completely, and Oliver simply sat there in silence.

He spent three sleepless nights lost in thought.

***

The city of Randa, the world’s largest metropolis.

While it was dealing with chaos—between the army of the dead, the Royal Army, and the birth of the new Archive—the world’s smallest country was also experiencing turmoil.

But its chaos was even worse.

For the smallest country in the world was the Holy Capital itself.

The center of the Pater Church, the most sacred city.

Or perhaps, it was no longer appropriate to call it that.

Though still the smallest nation in the world, it was difficult to call the Holy Capital sacred anymore.

After all, the nuns had summoned a devil, and in doing so, unleashed six plagues upon the land.

The water turned to blood.

Frogs swarmed forth.

Lice infested the lands.

Flies darkened the sky.

And boils and blisters spread everywhere.

As a result, many priests, Holy Knights, and members of the upper classes within the Holy Capital found their skin ravaged and twisted into grotesque forms.

Some speculated that the side effects were a demonic curse or a plague, but the truth didn’t matter.

Whether from curses or disease.

What mattered was how the nations, especially neighboring ones, reacted to the situation.

Border closures, restricted movement… denial and isolation were the response.

This was where the Holy Capital stood now.

People treated it like a leper colony, a den of sickness and pestilence, to be avoided at all costs.

The people trapped within the Holy Capital, especially the noble elite, were outraged at this treatment.

Many of them were members of aristocratic families, sent here to train their children as priests. Yet now they were stuck in this mess.

(There were even rumors that some families had cut off funding to the capital.)

But it wasn’t hard to see why they were treated this way.

After all, the unprecedented event of a devil descending in the Holy Capital, the place meant to serve as the model for all others, had occurred.

However, this wasn’t the only reason the Holy Capital was treated so badly.

The descent of the devil was indeed a major event, but the even more significant factor was the disappearance of Holy Power.

The sacred power used to banish evil, the symbol of the Pater Church, and the living proof of God’s love for humanity had vanished.

Everyone still remembered seeing Holy Power leave the Holy Knights’ bodies and ascend to the heavens, all on the same day.

It was an event both monumental and symbolic.

With the disappearance of the Holy Power, it became much harder to keep forces like the Dark Sorcerers and other groups in check.

Rumors began to spread—about how God had abandoned mankind, and how the End Times were upon them.

Each day, more incidents were reported from the chosen nations and their colonies.

Chaos caused by doomsday prophecies, lawlessness growing amid the atmosphere of despair, rampant Dark Sorcerers, criminal syndicates, colonial resistance groups, and so on.

To top it off, there were rumors that a female Dark Sorcerer controlling various monsters was unifying these Dark Sorcerers, and that the United Kingdom’s Royal Family had made a secret pact with Puppet. This only added to the confusion and fear.

Though the various royal families and governments of the chosen nations hadn’t officially stated it, they all blamed the Pater Church for the current situation.

Now that the Holy Power had vanished.

It seemed as though the Pater Church might collapse entirely, but fortunately, it was not the end.

As the saying goes, even when the sky falls, there may still be a way out.

Though the descent of the devil had wreaked havoc and Holy Power had been lost, something appeared to balance it all out—the Children of Angels descended.

The Child of Angels, Joanna, who defeated the devil that had descended upon the Pater Church (officially).

Thanks to Joanna, the Pater Church had narrowly avoided the worst-case scenario, and they were able to maintain at least some authority.

Support from the new Archive also helped to some extent.

In any case, the Pater Church was slowly recovering its footing amidst the chaos.

However, that peace was shattered by a single letter.

The letter was from the Royal Family, the supreme power of the United Kingdom, inviting the Children of Angels to the capital.