novelraw Chapter 96 : Chapter 96
Chapter 96 : Chapter 96
Chapter 96. Misunderstanding
Divine power of the Great Saint surged throughout the Forbidden Archive.
The air blazed pure white.
In the midst of the radiant sacred flame, Shaferia swung her sword.
Sacred brilliance rippled along its arc.
The Sacred Flame that burned away malice engulfed Gawain like crashing waves.
Thick black smoke billowed from Gawain’s entire body.
A sharp scream rang out.
“S-Stop!”
Gawain had no means to resist divine power.
His body was bound by numerous restraints, and the purity of the sacred power invading his interior was too high.
At this rate, Gawain would vanish into dust.
Within the blazing Sacred Flame, Shaferia cried out.
“Your Highness! Please forgive this disloyal servant!”
She continued to swing her sword.
She had to kill Gawain.
If he was not stopped now, disaster could befall the world.
Yohan must have known that, which was why he used Chanyeongye at the cost of his life.
Shaferia could not let Yohan’s sacrifice be in vain.
She consecrated her divine power to its utmost limit.
The condensed divine power turned blue—it had transformed into moonlight.
Shrouded in moonlight, Shaferia brought down her sword.
A blue blade of energy surged toward Gawain.
The space around him brightened in cold blue.
The miasma and malice were drowned and erased in the moonlight.
As if to shield himself from the approaching light, Gawain raised his arm.
“W-Wait!”
A meaningless resistance.
“…Forgive me, Your Highness.”
The blade of light instantly swallowed Gawain.
The moonlight burned away evil.
Not even a trace of Gawain remained.
There wasn’t even a final scream.
Only black ash, the remains of burned malice, scattered in the air.
The exorcism was complete.
Shaferia collapsed to her knees.
Extreme exhaustion and drowsiness struck her all at once.
Perhaps it was because she hadn’t handled divinity in so long. The fatigue that battered both her mind and body was unbearable.
With difficulty, Shaferia turned her head.
Her gaze found Yohan.
“…Baron.”
Yohan lay on the ground with his eyes closed.
He was probably dead.
From the backlash of using Chanyeongye.
Shaferia clenched both her fists tightly.
“I will never forget your sacrifice… Holy Marziel.”
With that short prayer, she too collapsed.
Her mind sank back into reality.
***
It was an unfamiliar sight.
A ceiling pocked with indentations and walls broken in places filled her view.
Scorch marks were everywhere her eyes landed.
Was this the middle of a battlefield? Shaferia, confused, pushed her upper body upright.
She slowly looked around.
“…A bedroom?”
She was sitting on a soft bed. Everything in front of her was either broken or shattered, yet the bedding was pristine, as if brand new.
It looked like a new bed and blankets had been hastily brought into a half-destroyed bedroom.
Shaferia cradled her head.
A severe headache crashed over her.
She couldn’t quite remember why she was lying here.
As she groaned, a familiar voice reached her.
“You’re awake?”
Shaferia turned her head immediately.
Her pupils widened.
Yohan was stepping into the room.
“B-Baron!”
The moment she saw him, her memories came rushing back.
The events in the Forbidden Archive flickered vividly before her eyes.
Gawain turning into a demon, Yohan using Chanyeongye, the radiant Sacred Flame and rippling moonlight… Regardless, Yohan couldn’t possibly have survived.
Shaferia leapt out of the bed.
She ran straight to Yohan and grabbed both his shoulders.
She wore a face as if she had seen a ghost.
Yohan, on the other hand, looked completely calm.
He spoke with an indifferent expression.
“I entered your room without knocking. My apologies—please understand. As you can see, there’s no door.”
Where a door should have been, only an empty frame remained.
Shaferia nearly shouted.
“T-That doesn’t matter! More importantly, Baron, how in the world—”
“You mean, how am I still alive?”
Shaferia nodded quickly.
“That’s right. You definitely used Chanyeongye right in front of me, didn’t you?”
Chanyeongye was a sacred relic that summoned the Great Saint’s divine power by burning the user’s soul.
Whoever used it was doomed to die.
Yohan made a troubled expression.
“To be honest, I don’t know either. Why didn't Chanyeongye take my life.”
Shaferia found it difficult to accept.
Using Chanyeongye meant certain death.
It was clearly written in the Seongyujip (Sacred Relic Codex).
There was no chance the codex was mistaken.
The Seongyujip only documented verified and official information.
Everything in it was absolute truth.
But now, that truth was being denied.
Shaferia was deeply confused.
“…Even with my limited knowledge, I can’t figure out why.”
Yohan paused to think, then spoke.
“This is just a possibility, but… what if the Chanyeongye I used was a degraded version?”
There were fake versions of sacred relics.
Shaferia immediately rejected that idea.
“Absolutely not. That sacred flame was undoubtedly the divine power of the Great Saint.”
The higher the purity of divine power, the closer it resembled moonlight.
What Shaferia had just experienced was undeniably moonlight itself.
No degraded replica could even imitate the faint light of the moon.
Yohan fell silent.
“If it wasn’t a degraded version… I can’t think of any other possibilities.”
Shaferia remained deep in thought for a long while.
Eventually, she spoke.
“There is one hypothesis remaining.”
“What is it?”
A strange certainty formed in Shaferia’s gaze.
“Yohan Miyatro is a Messenger of the Great Saint. That’s the only explanation.”
A Messenger of the Great Saint was a Holy Hero directly chosen by the Great Saint.
They were not bound by truths, absolutes, or prohibitions. Earthly rules could not shackle them.
Holy Heroes obeyed only the divine will of the Great Saint.
If Yohan was a Messenger of the Great Saint, it would explain how he survived using Chanyeongye.
Yohan held back a grin.
He was quite satisfied.
Shaferia’s line of reasoning was proceeding exactly as he had planned.
It confirmed that designing the hallucination had been a great decision.
He feigned a troubled look.
“Lady Shaferia, a Messenger of the Great Saint? Someone like me?”
Shaferia shook her head.
“There are many things about you that are extraordinary. Not just your abilities, but your spirit of sacrifice and deep sense of duty. You lack nothing to be chosen as a Holy Hero.”
Yohan had willingly sacrificed his life to prevent Gawain from being released upon the world.
His calm acceptance of death had left a deep impression on Shaferia.
Yohan acted visibly embarrassed.
Of course, it was all an act.
“I don’t deserve your praise. Thank you for seeing me in a good light.”
“I’m only stating facts. Anyone would agree with me. Instead of lingering here, we should head straight to the Order’s headquarters.”
Yohan raised an eyebrow.
“Headquarters?”
“Yes. The moment we report this incident, the Baron’s domain will come under the protection of the Order.”
Yohan responded with skepticism.
“And the Order’s interference would follow with that support, no doubt.”
“…Don’t tell me, you wish to keep today’s events secret?”
“To be honest, I find the Order a bit troublesome. There’s still the matter of His Highness, after all.”
Suspicion colored Shaferia’s face.
“But His Highness has already met his end, hasn’t he?”
Gawain had been engulfed in moonlight and disappeared.
“No. He’s still alive.”
Shaferia was utterly shocked.
“H-How can that be?!”
“Since he hadn’t fully transformed into a complete demon, it seems he was able to survive even that intense moonlight.”
It was hard for Shaferia to believe Yohan’s words.
She had seen Gawain’s destruction with her own eyes.
“…May I see His Highness myself?”
“Of course. Let’s head to the Forbidden Archive now.”
Yohan and Shaferia immediately made their way there.
***
At the center of the Forbidden Archive, a man sat bound to a large chair.
It was difficult to identify him.
His entire body was wrapped in chains, and countless talismans were plastered over his face—there wasn’t a single spot of skin exposed.
He looked like a sealed mummy.
Shaferia swallowed dryly.
“T-This is His Highness?”
Yohan nodded.
“It’s disloyal, but we had no choice but to restrain him. We never know when he might awaken and lose control again.”
Shaferia fully understood.
It had only been hours since she experienced Gawain’s malice.
She swallowed hard.
“…What should we do about him now?”
Yohan replied calmly.
“We must heal him. Just as originally planned.”
Their original intention had been to heal Gawain.
That goal hadn’t changed.
“Is there a way?”
“As I said earlier, we must go to the Abyss.”
Suddenly, a better solution occurred to Shaferia.
They could just kill Gawain here.
There was no need to risk going to the Abyss.
Whether he lived or died, the justification lay with Yohan.
Gawain had already transformed into a demon, after all.
Shaferia quietly stared at Yohan.
“If I may ask just one thing…”
“Please, ask freely.”
“Why are you trying to help His Highness?”
Yohan spoke in a calm voice.
“Repay grace. Do not turn away from the suffering. Even if the path is long, always choose righteousness. These are all teachings of the Great Saint. As a Watcher of the Abyss, I merely follow divine will.”
From what Shaferia knew, Gawain was cursed while helping Yohan.
Because of that, Gawain now suffered, and Yohan bore the duty to save him.
He had to repay that grace in a righteous way.
Yohan followed the divine will of the Great Saint without the slightest compromise.
He was more devout and reverent than anyone Shaferia had ever known.
Truly a man worthy of being called a Holy Hero.
Shaferia whispered in a small voice.
“…I’ve been waiting for someone like you.”
Yohan didn’t hear her.
“What did you say?”
Shaferia reached to her waist.
Her sword came free with a heavy sound.
She suddenly dropped to one knee.
Holding the sharp blade in both hands, she offered it to him.
“Please accept this sword. I wish to become your hands and feet.”
Yohan was a bit taken aback.
‘This level of loyalty wasn’t part of the plan.’
He had orchestrated all of this to erase Shaferia’s suspicion.
But he had left a stronger impression than intended.
Shaferia was now pledging loyalty.
Yohan fell into thought.
Should he accept the sword? It hadn’t been part of the plan, so it was a hard decision.
He needed to weigh the gains.
‘…I suppose no harm in going along with it.’
There didn’t seem to be any downside, though he felt a strange discomfort.
After pondering for a while, Yohan opened his mouth.