Episode 1325
Simon left Asperia’s palace and came out into the wide open fields of Aroch.
Today, the Arok people were having a happy day.
People lying on the grass and sunbathing, people dipping their feet in the flowing river and chatting, and even people playing with Arok’s sacred tree.
The ‘madness of happiness’ that we had seen before had greatly diminished. On the surface, it seemed as if the false saint’s brainwashing had been completely lifted and peace had been restored.
‘Is everything back to normal?’
As Simon looked around, lost in thought, a familiar face caught his eye.
He was immediately noticeable because he was wearing a practitioner’s uniform.
‘Tour guide!’
He was the first guide to greet Simon and his party when they arrived at Arok.
-I am also training while working at the federal level. Someday, I will be recognized by the divine spirit and go to where my parents are.
Simon approached quietly and listened.
“… …Mom, Dad, are you really okay?”
The guide asked that question while holding the parents’ hands with a worried look on his face. The two nodded.
“Then, we are so happy in Arok.”
“I heard that the saint has shown mercy and given a good offer to the practitioners. Would you like to stay in Arok too?”
Simon kept quiet and listened to the conversation from behind. The family was talking and hugging each other, and the guide’s face was suddenly filled with happiness.
At first, he must have been disappointed by the shocking reality of Arok created by the fake saint, but he thought that perhaps he would remain in Arok as he had hoped.
Simon walked past them and continued walking.
‘Is it okay to leave it like this?’
Everything looked good.
Now that he had the remains of the saint’s essence, Simon could just leave. The practitioners were also free to choose whether to stay in Arok or leave. They could stay in Arok and pursue happiness, or if the Arok created by the fake Asperia was too shocking, they could leave.
But why does my heart keep feeling uneasy?
Why can’t we ignore them?
Simon was thinking of an uncomfortable possibility, and he was looking for one person to confirm it.
“Hmm- hmm- ah.”
Since Arok was too large to search by foot, Simon sang a song to gather the spirits living in Arok. After telling the spirits the description of the person seeking and asking them to find him, Simon continued to move on foot.
How much time had passed like that? Simon, who had been wandering around for a long time, finally
‘ah!’
I found the guy.
A character who was not happy, unlike other Arok people.
“Brother Bowes!”
Bowes turned his head at Simon’s shout.
“Oh, Brother Zion! How have you been?”
It looks no different than when we last met.
But Simon’s gaze turned downward. He was not covered with leaves or anything like when they first met. He was naked like the other Arokians.
“Hahaha! Things went well, the sky is clear, and the weather is cool. That’s great!”
He sat on the grass and muttered.
“This is happiness, huh!”
Simon sat down with his buttocks slightly away from him.
“Are you happy, Brother Bowes?”
“Then, then! Are you happy? Everything worked out well, didn’t it?”
Just a day ago.
-I came to Arok 6 years ago! But then one day, I suddenly stopped feeling happy! At some point, I felt like I was being stupid.
Bowes had always been a suspicious person. But now, all his anxiety, worry, and doubt seemed to have disappeared.
Simon looked at him blankly and said.
“I will be leaving Arok in two days.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Do you have any intention of going out to the secular world together? If I ask Saint Asperia directly, you too can go out from here.”
“Hahahaha! What kind of joke is that!”
He waved his hands.
“I am so happy to be in Arok! If I go outside Arok, I will go crazy with anxiety and worry!”
“… … .”
Simon listened to those words quietly and then suddenly said.
“Arius Ceola.”
Shudder.
When Bowes heard those words, his shoulders shook reflexively.
“Brother Arius, my younger brother. The saint has permitted the novices to remain in Arok, but does Brother Arius want to remain in Arok?”
Bowes was unable to answer that question right away for the first time.
His lips twitched. His expression, full of happiness and comfort, began to crack little by little.
The moment Bowes was about to say something.
“older brother.”
Simon and Bowes turned their heads at the same time at the sudden voice. Finally, Bowes abruptly got up from his seat.
Arius, who had obviously been looking for his brother all day, was walking toward him with a tired face. Simon nodded silently, and Arius nodded back slightly before looking back at his brother Bowes.
“I would also like to hear the answer to that question.”
Arius spoke to Bowes, who was standing there as if nailed to the spot.
“Do you want me to stay in Arok?”
“… … .”
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Bowes grabbed my head, his lips quivering.
“Ah, Arius! T-that’s because you should be happy! Yes! You should be happy! Hmm! That’s right!”
He twisted his body in pain as he continued to babble strangely, like a pig.
Arius took a step closer.
“Answer me straight, brother. Do you want me to stay in Arok? If you want, I will stay here too.”
Bowes didn’t answer right away. He seemed to be holding his head, clutching his neck, or looking around as if he was frustrated. His breathing was ragged.
“Nam in Arok… …! Nam… …!”
in the end.
A breathless word came out.
“Nam… … don’t.”
Simon felt his heart heat up and the blood in his body go cold.
‘Asperia.’
As expected, the brainwashing has not been lifted.
Even though the fake Asperia died and the intensity of the encroachment was lowered, she was still deceiving the Arokians and keeping them in a state of happiness.
I could confirm that fact from Bowes. Bowes was now fighting with himself.
“Haha! What are you talking about, bro? You’re making no sense.”
Arius approached. His lips were smiling, but his eyes were very serious.
“Wasn’t Arok a happy place?”
“Yeah, yeah! I’m happy when I’m in Arok!”
“But you want me to be happy? Then, if I want to be happy, shouldn’t I be in Arok?”
“That’s… …! That’s!”
He held his head and cried out in pain.
His happiness crumbled, and he, filled with agony and conflict, finally cried out with a heavy voice.
“This is hell!”
Clang, clang!
Bowes shouted in the middle of Arok, which was called paradise itself.
“If I told you to leave, just say something nice and leave! You crazy bastard!”
“older brother!”
“ah……!”
Only then did Bowes look around as if he realized something. Then he realized that the brainwashing had been lifted and started to cry.
“Arius!”
“older brother!”
The two brothers embraced each other and finally enjoyed their reunion. Simon also watched them with a relieved smile.
‘!’
But suddenly a creepy sensation ran down his back. Simon shouted urgently.
“Damage!”
Arius opened his eyes wide upon hearing those words and almost instinctively hugged Bowes as he flew towards him. Immediately, sharp thorns shot up from the ground towards the two of them.
Chomp!
Bam!
Red blood is scattered.
The thorns shot out, cutting through Bowes’ shoulders and chest. If they had stayed there, they would have been amputated, but fortunately, the two men fell to the ground with only serious injuries.
‘This is!’
It was a sure thing.
It was the very same thorn that had pierced Talrock after the Saint’s executioners had pronounced his death sentence.
“It’s sad.”
Simon’s head turned to the side.
Car park, car park.
A long-haired woman, her body covered with a shroud, was slowly approaching.
“Why are you denying happiness?”
Simon bit his lip.
“… …Saint Asperia.”* * *
Same time.
“also.”
Mother was hiding deep in the palace, looking through documents.
Asperia has ruled Arok for over 30 years. According to her claims, the fake saint has ruled Arok for 10 years.
But the records here tell us that it was only three years ago that the executioner of the supposed fake saint arrived.
‘In the end, the period during which the fake saint ruled was only about 2 or 3 years out of the entire 30 years.’
If so, this deceptive cradle of happiness had been maintained as intended by the real Asperia for at least 27 years. This was consistent with what Simon and his group had guessed.
What is needed for this is actual ‘evidence’ to formally report to Sky Island.
“Then from this side… … .”
As Moje was about to open the closet, he flinched and looked back.
-Ssssss.
-Sssssssssss.
Before he knew it, countless gods were approaching Moje with their eyes shining from the windows and ceilings. Moje clicked his tongue.
“It won’t be solved that easily.”
A loud explosion occurred as light spread throughout the room.* * *
“Asperia, the Eternal Saint.”
Simon strode forward and opened his mouth as if to pronounce a sentence.
“You have been running Arok as a ‘happiness farm’ for the past 30 years. You have built Arok’s reputation by promoting the image of a paradise where people in the Holy Federation can pursue happiness, which would be tempting, and by using the cultivators who follow Arok.”
Asperia remained silent, and Simon spread his palms.
“But the reality of Arok was that it was an ‘artificial granting of happiness’ that made people obsessed with the power of the saint in exchange for money. The operation of that happiness farm must have been smooth for a dozen years, but there are no complete secrets in this world. Problems big and small would have gradually arisen, and strange rumors would have started to spread. If I suspected something, there’s no way Sky Island wouldn’t have suspected it too.”
Simon crossed his arms.
“As you were struggling for so long, a member of a group with ambitions to rule Arok appeared.”
As befitting a member of a deceptive society, he was also able to change his appearance and steal some of their abilities.
Asperia knew everything, but she pretended to be part of her trick. The members of the organization thought they were controlling Asperia, but in reality, it was the members of the organization who were being controlled.
Asperia’s power is ‘Emotional Corruption’. The more you use Asperia’s power, the more the members of the organization fall under Asperia’s control.
There was only one reason why Asperia went through all this trouble: to place all the blame on the fake saint and then get rid of her.
“We too were just used by you.”
Simon continued, patting her shoulder.
“If we defeat the fake saint, you can just pretend to be locked up and escape later. That’s why you sent one of the six divine beasts of paradise to help me.”
A saint who ‘used the organization’ for her own benefit.
This was the first time I had encountered such an opponent.
“Blaming the false saint and deceiving the people. Do you still have any attachment to this happiness farm? Now, please free the people.”
“… … .”
Aspera smiled.
“You know too much, my hero.”
Kugugugugugugugugu!
At her side, Aurevon, a pure white dragon and bird-like beast that had once helped Simon, rose up in a gigantic form and spread its claw-like wings.
Kwakwakwakwakwakwa!
This time, thorns rose from the ground one after another, and a lion’s face with gleaming eyes burst out through the ground. This divine beast also seemed to be protecting her from the side, so it must be one of the six divine beasts of paradise.
The real Asperia opened her mouth, accompanied by two powerful divine beings.
“I’ve become very interested in you.”
Her eyes turned to Simon.
“Will you live with me in Arok? I will make you happy forever.”
“Thank you for your kind words, but I would like to decline.”
Simon took out two cat holy waters and threw them, and took a fighting stance while holding the chakrams in both hands.
“I take care of my own happiness.”
