Chapter 183: The Cathedral (1)

Archbishop Roan Hebriss.

He tried to calm his trembling hands, feeling the pressure he hadn’t felt in a long time.

He let out a short sigh.

It had been several years since he received the command of the great being and founded the order.

In a short time, the order had expanded endlessly, and now its influence could swallow up several cities.

But even for Roan, who had led such an order, this command was not easy.

“The Heart of Origin…”

The Heart of Origin.

It was an object that was presumed to be stored in the center of Crossbridge.

Of course, it was nothing more than a conjecture of the black mages, and no one knew if it really existed there.

But the great being he served ordered Roan to find the Heart of Origin.

There was only one thing that meant.

“War is inevitable.”

He had to wage a full-scale war with the Holy Land.

He had poured everything into growing the order for his own future, but now he had to face the Holy Land, which he feared the most.

There would surely be countless casualties.

The monsters that were stuck in Crossbridge were not easy opponents.

And the heroes who had grown up would not be as easy to deal with as before.

“Archbishop Roan. Are you afraid of war?”

“Wouldn’t it be a lie if I said I wasn’t?”

Roan said as he looked at Evan, who had asked him a question.

He couldn’t help but be afraid.

Crossbridge was a nightmare for black mages.

He had to give the order to attack that place with his own mouth.

Any black mage would be afraid of that.

“But I have to do it. Because I’m the archbishop. And because it’s the command of the great one.”

But he couldn’t back down.

Roan had already received too many things from his master.

He had received a magic sword that absorbed magic, and the position of archbishop that made everyone respect him.

He had also received a miracle that allowed him to control fire and wind with his hand.

The guardian beast of the order that was hidden in his arm would do most of what Roan asked.

‘And now… this has happened.’

And now, Roan had a relic that would protect his life tied to his arm.

He had received too much grace from the great one.

He had to complete the impossible mission no matter what.

Evan nodded at Roan’s answer and said.

“That’s a good attitude.”

“What about you, Apostle? You’ll have to fight your blood who became a hero, won’t you?”

“Are you talking about Hus?”

Evan looked troubled by Roan’s question.

Hus Alemir, the hero of knowledge.

Evan Alemir’s brother would be waiting for them in the Holy Land.

If the war started, the two would have to cross swords with each other.

Evan moved his gauntlet and said after a moment of hesitation.

“I don’t know yet.”

“Are you still not ready?”

“Don’t worry. I won’t avoid fighting.”

He still looked troubled.

Roan saw Evan’s magic sword tied to his waist as he looked at him.

It was a new weapon that the great one had bestowed on Evan, who used a gauntlet.

He heard that it was a magic sword that increased the power of lightning by almost half.

They couldn’t help but show their loyalty to the great one who loved them so much.

It was a decision they made the moment they stepped under the name of the order.

“Of course. That’s what it means to be an apostle of the order.”

It didn’t matter what the being they served wanted.

Even if he was a huge darkness that was scorned by the world.

Or even if he was a huge hypocrisy that wore the mask of darkness.

They had to fulfill the will of the great one in the end.

“Archbishop Roan. It seems like time is up. Let’s go up.”

Evan, who had briefly looked up at the sun’s position, said.

He was right.

The overwhelming presence that came from beyond the tent was felt even where he was.

They were the ones that Roan had summoned to announce the will of the great one.

“Is it already that time?”

It was time for Roan to stand in front of them himself.

What they had been fighting for until now.

And what they would be fighting for from now on.

He had to tell them himself with his own mouth.

“Archbishop Roan.”

“It seems like you still have something to say, Apostle.”

“I believe that Archbishop Roan will somehow make it happen.”

As Roan grabbed the tent to go outside after making up his mind, Evan looked at him with a faint smile and said.

It was a smile that didn’t suit his stiff face.

Roan also smiled back at Evan and replied.

“Is that so?”

“It’s because of the power of the great one and Archbishop Roan that the order has come this far from nothing.”

The image of himself pouring his blood and sweat for years passed through Roan’s head.

It had been hard days, he thought.

And it had been happy days, too.

It was a better life than rotting as a mere black mage, or being pointed at as a heretic by the paladins.

Roan stopped in front of the tent and shook his head to deny Evan’s words.

“No. You’re wrong, Apostle.”

“Did I say something wrong?”

“All this is done by the great one.”

Evan looked surprised for a moment.

But soon he couldn’t hold back his laughter and said.

“I still have a long way to go to follow the archbishop.”

“You’ll catch up if you work hard slowly.”

“I guess so. That’s how I can go along with Archbishop Roan.”

Swish.

Roan pushed aside the tent and said his last words to Evan.

“Of course. We are the ones who serve the great one.”

Roan’s footsteps headed to the podium after finishing his last conversation with Evan.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

As Roan’s footsteps climbed up the stairs to the podium, more and more people appeared in his eyes.

There were too many people there for something that started from a bandit’s hideout.

The order’s humble hideout had turned into several magnificent temples in no time.

The influence of the great one was evident everywhere in the order, despite the short time.

“Archbishop Roan is entering!”

A follower of Roan shouted at his subordinates as he watched him climb up the podium.

As soon as they saw Roan, the archbishop, the people who had been waiting below started to buzz.

The crowd was making noises of all kinds, creating a noisy scene.

Thud. Thud.

Roan reached the end of the podium after receiving the salutes of the officers.

He then flicked his sleeve and raised his hand to the sky.

“Listen to me!”

Roan’s voice echoed loudly, silencing the noisy crowd.

All eyes were on Roan.

Even a grand duke would not feel such a gaze easily.

Roan faced the endless followers with a serious face and opened his mouth.

“The great one has commanded.”

Roan always had one thing to tell them.

The will of God.

He only conveyed what the great one wanted to the humans on earth.

And what the great one wanted now was one thing.

“Prepare for the holy war. We will raise the order’s flag in Crossbridge.”

A huge war.

Their master craved for the greatest war.

***

The Holy Land, Crossbridge.

On the bridge that connected the imperial palace and the temple, Hus looked at the crowd that was moving hastily.

Ever since the emperor passed a dangerous bill in the council of elders, all the clerics in the temple of order had started to move busily.

There was one reason why they were so busy.

They were preparing for the ritual to open the gate of heaven.

“Isn’t it amazing that they’re going to open the gate of heaven?”

Next to Hus, who was walking side by side, Sion’s face was full of curiosity.

He always moved with interest, but this time he seemed more excited than usual.

Sigh.

Hus let out a short sigh and looked at Sion.

“Sion, there’s going to be a war. It’s not a time to be happy.”

“But it’s not easy to see angels coming down, right?”

Sion was not wrong.

Even they, who were called heroes, had never seen an angel’s face directly.

An ordinary person would never see an angel in their lifetime.

But as Hus listened to Sion’s words, he felt that he needed to correct some part of them.

Hus pushed away Sion, who was smiling smugly in front of him, and said.

“The angels are coming down on the empire’s side. More precisely, near the islands.”

“What? So we can’t see angels here?”

“We might be lucky enough to meet some. But there won’t be any spectacle like you expect.”

The angels’ purpose was not to defend the Holy Land.

Rather, they were beings used to attract the attention of the order and the apostles.

While they were reducing their power a little bit, Hus and his fellow heroes had to defeat other apostles.

That’s why they were trying to open the gate at the expense of the temple of order.

As Hus thought about his future, Sion, who still had a playful expression on his face, said to him.

“That’s too bad. I thought I could see angels.”

“Didn’t the saintess tell you?”

“I don’t really know much. Maybe it’s because I’m still young?”

Hus thought of the huntress of the saintess who followed Sion every day.

To be honest, she was too young for the position of a saintess.

The huntress of the saintess liked chasing Sion more than doing her duty at the temple.

But it was an inevitable fate once she was chosen as a saintess.

Hus chuckled as he thought of the huntress of the saintess who chased Sion.

“Someone might say that’s an insult to the saintess.”

“She wouldn’t care about that, would she?”

“That’s irresponsible of her.”

“I’ve always lived like this, you know? If I had to act like a hero, I’d suffocate and die right away.”

Sion was right.

He always did what he felt like doing.

He often defied the orders of the temple or the imperial palace.

But he usually obeyed them anyway.

“Well, that might be true.”

“Rather than me, you should be more worried about yourself, Hus.”

“What are you talking about?”

Sion’s finger pointed to the direction of the temple of honor.

It was where Hus’s brother Evan belonged.

Sion pointed to the temple of honor with his finger and said to Hus.

“You’ll have to fight your family when the war breaks out.”

“…”

“If you don’t harden your heart, you’ll have trouble on the battlefield.”

Hus frowned at Sion’s words.

Someone had to fight Evan when the war broke out.

He knew that from the beginning.

He had engraved his mindset in his heart many times for that.

Hus answered Sion with an indifferent voice.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s my problem to solve.”

“If you say you’re feeling burdened, I could fight for you instead… Ugh…!”

Crack.

Hus twisted Sion’s neck and brought his face close to him.

Hus’s eyes had changed to a murderous look as he looked at Sion.

He said with fierce eyes as he lifted him up.

“I’m the one who will kill Evan Alemir.”

“Hus…!”

He had to be the only one to fight Evan.

He had trained for that until now, and he would continue to do so.

So Evan had to remain Hus’s nemesis.

He had to end Evan’s life with his own hands.

Otherwise, his whole life would be unfair by someone else’s hand.

“No matter who you are, if you interfere with my business, I won’t let you go.”

Hus declared to Sion with a vicious look.

A killing intent that seemed to kill anything in sight filled the surroundings.

Sion looked at Hus with a panicked expression and then gave up resisting and slumped his arms and legs.