Chapter 62
The strongest nation on the Central Continent.
The nation with the greatest power among the countries founded by humans.
At the same time, it is the country that made the most decisive contribution to spreading the Baal faith throughout humanity, based on its firm belief in Baal.
The Blackset Empire.
However, at this moment,
The Baal faith, which had been as solid as Mount Tai within the Blackset Empire,
Was now thrown into great confusion.
“So… you’re telling me that the Salem Temple has truly been reduced to ashes?”
“Yes… that’s correct, Your Majesty.”
“How could this be… I thought it couldn’t happen, but… such a thing actually…”
The Salem Temple had served as the heart of the Baal Church.
However, that grand and majestic centre of faith had thoroughly collapsed into ruins.
The temple, which had once overwhelmed all who saw it, was destroyed without even leaving a cornerstone behind,
And the Pope, along with the archbishops beneath him,
Met a pitiful end, without even their corpses being retrieved.
Salem was destroyed in a single day.
As for what caused this,
It became clear once again due to the ‘corpse’ brought back by Princess Elisha, who had been leading the army to Salem.
Demons.
Beings that crawled up from Hell, incarnations of evil, whose purpose is to lead mortals to destruction.
According to the few citizens Princess Elisha rescued from Salem,
The demons suddenly burst forth from the heart of the temple and blew it to pieces,
Before immediately attacking the residents and anyone nearby.
During this attack, the Pope and the church’s leaders were massacred.
Immediately afterward, Goddess Isera appeared and fought off the demons,
But even she couldn’t prevent the destruction of Salem.
Moreover, there was one more thing.
Despite Goddess Isera’s efforts, the endless flood of demons was ultimately driven back, and the situation resolved by another.
The name of that being left everyone present in considerable surprise and confusion.
“Seraphim… you say.”
“Why in the world would the god of heresy appear there?”
Seraphim, officially declared an evil god by the Baal Church.
The fact that this Seraphim had helped them—more specifically, helped Goddess Isera to defeat the demons—was still something they could not easily accept.
At that moment, Princess Elisha spoke to those expressing their doubts.
“As I know it, the northern wolves often growl at one another over territorial disputes, but when a strong predator like a bear appears, they band together to fight it. While I can’t be certain, this incident might be something similar.”
“You mean… Baal and Seraphim joined forces to fight against the demon invasion… is that it?”
“Something like that, but it’s probably not Baal. Even as such major events continue to unfold, Baal has yet to show any sign of appearing, let alone responding to prayers. Even the Pope is dead, yet Baal remains silent. That means…”
“No… surely not…”
“That can’t be… right?”
“What you’re saying does have merit, but… that’s a bit too extreme, don’t you think?”
The nobles and the emperor expressed their denials all at once.
And it was no surprise; after all, it was unthinkable that Baal,
The god who had ruled over humans for centuries as the king of gods, could have fallen.
However, Princess Elisha spoke with a calm yet firm voice.
“…Actually, I should confess now that I had already received a revelation from Goddess Isera regarding this matter.”
“A… revelation?”
“Yes, what did she say? Why is Baal still in hiding?”
The emperor, now growing impatient, asked his question.
And Princess Elisha finally revealed the truth she had been concealing.
“Baal is dead.”
“…What?”
“Wait… what do you mean by that…”
“It’s true. Some of you here might have suspected it already, but Baal has indeed died. This is something Goddess Isera made absolutely clear.”
Princess Elisha’s claim of receiving divine revelation.
Even though she was the crown princess and the future ruler of the empire,
Fabricating a meeting with a god would not be taken lightly and could result in severe punishment.
But the confidence with which she spoke only made her words more credible.
More importantly, the surrounding circumstances all pointed to Baal’s death as the only logical explanation.
According to myths—not quite myths, but popular lore—Baal’s existence guaranteed that there would be no demon invasions.
Thus, the current demon invasion could very well signify Baal’s demise.
“In that case… what should we do now, Your Majesty?”
“If Baal has passed away, who are we supposed to believe in now?”
“…Hmm…”
As his ministers questioned him, the emperor quickly began to contemplate.
The death of their god was akin to the death of a king for humans.
When the ruler dies, it is natural that their successor takes over, but Baal had no clear heir.
Since Baal was an immortal god, there was no concept of a rightful heir.
In the end, the emperor naturally began to speak of one person.
“It seems that Goddess Isera is the only option.”
“I think so as well.”
“She is also highly revered as the Earth Mother Goddess. Even if we serve her, there won’t be much resistance from the people.”
As there were no other candidates, the ministers accepted this without much issue.
Meanwhile, watching this unfold, a quiet smile began to form in the heart of Crown Princess Elisha.
‘Everything is going according to plan…’
Elisha, the legitimate daughter born between the emperor and empress, and their only child.
In the absence of a male sibling, she was the only one with legitimate claim to the throne, but her position wasn’t all that secure.
Female rulers were rare, and they were often considered less legitimate than male rulers.
For someone like her, who had been working hard to solidify her position, this current situation…
The fact that the main god of the empire had become a queen, rather than a king, would greatly strengthen her own foundation as a woman.
Having initiated this and gained most of what she wanted, Elisha began to think of someone she wished to boast about this to.
‘I haven’t seen her lately because I’ve been busy, but I should take this chance to see my friend Solomon.’
Although their countries were practically enemies, personally, she had a close relationship with Princess Solomon of the Kanan Kingdom.
Moreover, considering the need to reassess the relationships with neighbouring countries after the fall of the Baal Church, Elisha decided to visit her friend under the guise of a diplomatic mission.
‘Now that I think about it… I remember her mentioning something about the god Seraphim in a letter not long ago… I should look into that as well.’
Seraphim, who seemed to have rescued and allied with Goddess Isera.
Once an enemy, but now something like an ally, Elisha thought it was necessary to confirm more details about this being.
However,
Unfortunately, Elisha’s plan never came to fruition.
Just a few days later,
A piece of news arrived,
And it stripped away any remaining composure from Elisha and the Blackset Empire.
* * *
“Uh… What do you mean by that?”
Mephistos asked in a hesitant voice.
Filled with confusion over this unexpected development, he questioned further…
In response,
The being, clad entirely in black armour from head to toe,
With a massive sword strapped to its back and wings like blades,
Agares, spoke in a cold voice.
“I’m not interested.”
“But… as I mentioned, the opponent is an angel. And not just any angel, but a Seraphim, thought to have gone extinct in ancient times. How could you, Agares, not be interested in such a battle?”
“What do you mean by ‘being like me’?”
“!… Well… that is…”
“Are you, a mere worm, daring to judge me?”
“! Ugh…”
For a moment, the air froze.
Under the overwhelming pressure, Mephistos found himself at a loss for words.
Agares, one of the most powerful Great Demons of Hell.
Mephistos knew very well what it meant to anger him.
“I… I apologize, Lord Agares! I… I misspoke. Please, do as you wish… No… I beg you, please do as you see fit.”
“…”
Agares, without a word, turned his gaze elsewhere.
Then, drawing the great sword from his side,
He pointed its tip toward a certain direction.
And,
As soon as Mephistos realized where Agares was pointing,
He thought to himself,
‘Damn it… he does whatever he wants. This is why I didn’t want to summon him…’
The direction in which Agares was pointing his sword,
It wasn’t toward the Kanan Kingdom, where Seraphim’s faith was growing strong,
Nor was it the central continent, where Mephistos had been thoroughly beaten.
It was the northern part of the continent.
The beings living there were… not human.
‘Not yet… it’s not time yet…’
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