Episode 399
For a moment, I thought I had heard it wrong and almost picked my ears. I listened quietly, wondering what this bastard was talking about, but the voice continued.
[If you’re interested, let’s talk directly. Don’t wait.]
It has the nuance of inviting a guest to a mansion while being locked in a cell.
This time it was so absurd that I couldn’t help but laugh.
‘Do you want to come to the top floor?’
But the cult leader teaches us how to conquer the Demon King. What kind of nonsense is this?
After struggling with the flow that didn’t make sense, I went back to the beginning.
Wasn’t the premise wrong from the start? So if you change just one premise, Nevelik’s nonsense will turn into truth.
‘That guy’s true identity is not that of the cult leader.’
I thought about it for a moment and realized that it would take a long time if I thought about it alone.
In that case, you should consult with the only person you can share your current situation with.
Head straight to the infirmary.
“Brother? What’s wrong?”
“There was. “It’s very troublesome.”
“… … ?”
“for a moment.”
I first checked the surroundings.
Because I somehow had a feeling that Nevelich might be eavesdropping on the conversation.
‘It’s a bit one-dimensional, but… … .’
After spewing mana to form a membrane, there is no choice but to form a temporary soundproof space.
If this were the case, you would think that a guy who is sensitive to mana would be having a secret conversation in there.
It’s better than having the conversation overheard.
Then I gave Verita a brief account of what had just happened.
“… … .”
When the story ended, Verita also looked somewhat embarrassed.
After all, isn’t the current situation normal in this weird guy’s opinion? Or maybe I’ve been giving this guy too much information recently.
‘I guess both.’
Anyway, as I was giving myself time to gather my thoughts while admiring the somewhat fresh face, Verita let out a strange sound.
“So… Are you asking my opinion now, brother?”
“… Right? You know more about the church than I do.”
“… … .”
Is that why you were surprised?
I thought he was a really hard guy to read.
He is bossy, arbitrary, and acts like he would take out my liver and gallbladder and give it to me right away if I asked him to (not metaphorically, but in a real physical sense)… … .
On the contrary, when I show this kind of trust, they feel awkward or embarrassed.
As if he had been caught off guard.
“Let me think about it for a moment.”
“okay. “Think slowly.”
“It’s done.”
“What.”
“first of all… “I think it would be good to hear the story.”
I tilted my head.
“Really? You don’t think that guy is the leader?”
“I think we need to talk to find out. We don’t know anything about the man named Nevelich. That doesn’t mean the prisoner information stored in the Punishment Wing records room is wrong. It just means the string of letters written there is irrelevant to the nature of the man.”
“hmm…….”
“First of all, I think we need to get to know the other person. “If you try to deceive, you will know the extent of your true intentions.”
“I wonder if I can really tell. I’ve talked to him a few times, and he’s more sinister than I thought. It’s like walking through a fog, flailing your hands and feet. I don’t know if that’s the right metaphor.”
Then Betira nodded briskly.
“You were doing well.”
“huh?”
“To learn about the unknown enemy, we have no choice but to walk through the fog ourselves. To put it simply, if the cult leader intends to use us, he may instead provoke or anger the Demon King, or, rather than attacking him, he may teach him a method to strengthen his divine power.”
“If it was such an absurd method, wouldn’t you know it the moment you heard it?”
“It’s not like that. For example, there is a record like this in the religious scriptures of evil. [We offered three hundred cups of baby-infused liquor, which the ruler of the blood moon would have been most pleased with, but all we received was his wrath.]”
“… … .”
I ended up frowning at the disgusting word that suddenly came to mind.
It’s like I’m realizing once again that the religious community is not human, but a bunch of beasts in human skin.
“Until recently, God had mostly preferred human sacrifice, but at that moment, I realized that it was not absolute. I also understood. God has a way of thinking that we cannot understand, so that is why he is called a god.”
“… … .”
“This means there are a ton of things to consider in consciousness. Not only the type of sacrifice, but also the circumstances of the time and the scale of the church, the characteristics and inclinations of the priest who presided over the Advent ritual, and even the contents of the ritual performed immediately before… … . So, new verses are added to the scriptures of evil every time a ritual takes place. “There is only one exception.”
“Black cult leader.”
“yes.”
Verita nodded calmly and continued speaking.
“Only the leader knows the correct way to worship. Most of the followers have only a superficial understanding of the devil, and only priests have the bare minimum of knowledge.”
“Then, even if the cult leader tells us how to help the Demon Lord, we have no way to check if it is true.”
“That’s right. “But I just told you, right?”
I exchanged a strange glance with Verita, then my expression suddenly crumpled.
“no way…….”
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“That’s right.”
“no. no. “I happened to become a priest, but I’ve never seen anything like the scriptures of evil.”
“The content of the scriptures is important, but what is more important is aptitude.”
“what do you mean?”
“I heard that a priest can intuitively feel what he should not do to an evil spirit. Regardless of the presence or absence of knowledge or experience.”
“… … .”
I know the ambassador’s likes and dislikes to some extent.
I like to sleep in in the morning, or I enjoy drinking green tea that tastes as boring as plain water.
But I have no feeling that I know what Tangtata or Haden-Aihar or the nine likes and dislikes, or what makes them angry…
– Honestly, if it’s yours, I’ll just be surprised by Tangtata.
– … … !
‘…was there?’
For a moment, I remembered the past when I had provoked Harden Eihar at the academy.
Even at that time, I knew nothing about the Demon King of the Bloody Moon… … .
The words he blurted out without thinking made Haden Aihar angry.
If you want to intentionally make someone angry, you have to know them well.
In other words, I can be said to know the devil well.
“I guess you have something on your mind.”
“…hmm.”
But is this right?
Is it right to think, “I made the Demon King angry! I can control his emotions!” just because that cheap provocation worked?
‘If that doesn’t work out, maybe I should ask Lee Se-han.’
It seems that Lise also has some knowledge of demonology, so it might be a good idea to ask her for advice if you can’t find the right answer.
After thinking about this and that, I made a decision.
“Okay. Then I’ll go and listen to the story myself, Verita. You go to the surveillance room and eavesdrop.”
“Isn’t there another guard there?”
“Not now. “They all said they felt bad about hearing strange noises and left the room.”
“All right.”
Verita took a posture as if praying silently as she watched me leave.
“Brother, please be careful.”
Of course it will.
Because I don’t want to die yet, and I don’t want to return.
I was going straight to the top floor, but I stopped by my room and took Myeongryonga with me just in case.
“… … .”
Finally arrived at the top floor.
What greeted me on my first visit here in a long time was the unpleasant scent of blood and rotting corpses.
I glanced at the room where Gustav was.
It is the source of the smell.
I can still hear a faint whistling sound… I may have eaten a lot more bittern than I expected.
Or maybe he’s not a guard but a prisoner.
‘I don’t know if he’s Mr. Tangtata or not, but he’s definitely a devil.’
Normal humans don’t commit cannibalism.
Even if they committed cannibalism, they wouldn’t be able to eat that much in one night.
First of all, it is clear that Gustav has become a mutant being, and only a demon can have the influence to cause physical mutation.
I resisted the urge to peek into Gustav’s room and opened the next door to Nevelik’s detention room.
“… … .”
The man was still in his restraints, tied up in the middle of the room.
The same applies to blindfolds, muzzles, and chains wrapped around the entire body.
He said that because he found the sight unpleasant.
“Stop acting like that.”
“… … .”
Then, Nevelik, who had been tied up, shook his shoulders and made a loud sound as if spitting.
The muzzle fell off and rolled on the floor.
“Did it show a lot?”
That’s right, unless you’re a bodybuilder, you’ll understand.
What if the guy who was talking to you in his voice just a moment ago has his mouth muzzled again?
As I looked at him with pitiful eyes, Nevelik chuckled.
“You should have just taken off the restraint garment and the blindfold.”
“The muzzle came loose accidentally. “I am still helplessly restrained.”
I guess that’s quite true.
“By the way, did you come alone?”
“exactly.”
“why?”
“The other characters are all out of their minds right now.”
“okay? I thought there might be at least one person as sane as you… … .”
“… … .”
Yeah, it exists.
Surprisingly, the most sane person at the moment was Jisal, who was in charge of the punishment unit.
I don’t know if that person’s mental power is stronger than expected, or if there is some other reason.
However, for some reason, I felt that the person the religious leader was talking about was not Jisal, but someone else.
For example, Verita, who is probably eavesdropping on this situation.
‘It might not be an exaggeration.’
Anyway, this guy seemed to have noticed my presence in the surveillance room and started talking to me.
Even in that state, it wouldn’t be strange if he knew everything that was happening at the top.
“You suddenly said you would teach me how to defeat the Demon King. Does that mean you acknowledge that the new Gustav is the Demon King?”
“The way you talk is a bit weird. “If anyone sees it, they will think I was the one who initiated this situation.”
“Then, let me ask you more directly. Are you the leader?”
Nevelik smiled, revealing his teeth.
“You are asking the most useless question in the current situation. What if I were the leader? “Does the value of the information I give change?”
“Values don’t change. But a lot will change depending on what your intentions are.”
“My intention.”
Nevelik, who had been mumbling, said with a smile on his face.
“I like that. good. There is only one thing I wish for. “It’s my death.”
“… … .”
“Is this hard to believe? Well, that could be it. But if you get rid of the demon lord who has descended here, I can die with peace of mind.”
“Why is that so?”
“That was my long-time wish. I have wanted death for a long time. “Whether you believe it or not, it’s the truth.”
“It’s hard to believe.”
“That’s right. Then I should be a little more honest. You’re right. I’m the black cult leader. The top floor is what you could call my true self-hmm. Should I start by explaining the ‘body of consciousness’? If I destroy that, I’ll die… … .”
Saying that, the leader began to spread information about himself.
So, Vice Principal Obi… This is the greatest secret held by the sect’s leader, which was shared only with me by the sect’s priest.
How on earth should I follow the flow of this conversation?
I suddenly felt a headache and closed my eyes slightly, and then the leader also closed his mouth.
“… In order to gain your trust, I will need to prove two propositions. first. That I am the leader of the Black Religion. second. “I truly wish for death.”
“exactly.”
“First, how about proving that I’m the Black Cult Leader? What do I have to do to get you to trust me, Luzard?”
I said, frowning.
“I heard that the orders of the Black Cult are absolute in the cult.”
“yes.”
“Then, you also have the authority over the life and death of all the church members infiltrated in Rahild.”
“that’s right.”
“Order the death of all of them.”
As I spoke, I recognized that this request was quite unreasonable.
In the first place, it would have been a difficult proposition for the religious leader.
You have to prove that you are the leader of a cult to gain my trust, but to buy that trust, you have to kill at least dozens, possibly hundreds, of the church members who follow you.
A number of priests have even infiltrated this labor yard where the competition is taking place.
It is absolutely impossible to order the death of all of them.
If this guy is the leader, absolutely not.
“Okay, well. Let’s see… … . Okay. They all just died.”
“what?”
“All 212 believers who infiltrated the Lahild Workhouse have just taken their own lives.”
“… … .”
“Shall I go into more detail? 188 church members, 21 priests, and 4 priests… No, there are three now. “They all took their lives anyway.”
I couldn’t help but look at this guy with a blank expression.
The leader said with a smile.
“Well then, let’s have a more honest conversation.”
