Chapter 220

Chapter 220. The Kidnapper and the Swindler (5)

Step by step, as Reitan descended the spiral staircase, he was greeted by a narrow hallway.

After walking down the hallway, he found a space that could hold about thirty people.

In that space, a small chamber meant for sacred rites to receive blessings was prepared.

Though the size was not to his liking, it was suitable for conducting discreet rites.

As Reitan examined the hastily arranged chamber, someone approached.

“Earl Protoram.”

It was Jernima, the high priest of the Order of Agnotia.

He was an individual responsible for managing the Chedaltman Temple, where Vellego was appointed, and was part of the radical faction that shared Reitan’s intentions.

At one time, he was frequently involved, keeping Vellego from getting sidetracked.

“You said you wouldn’t come; it’s a precious visit indeed.”

But now, their relationship had deteriorated significantly.

“Aren’t you too busy preparing for the great work?”

At Jernima’s sarcastic tone, Reitan’s lips twitched slightly.

‘What an arrogant fellow.’

Reitan was not in a good mood. Jernima had started this without consulting him at all.

As a result, Reitan’s plans were disrupted.

Originally, he had intended to bring K over more slowly, after discovering another piece of divinity.

He intended to present the divinity to Agnotia through K after collecting that piece.

‘That wretched person ruined everything.’

It was clear he was blinded by ambition.

‘Or maybe, he was too busy trying to restrain me.’

After repeated kidnapping failures, discontented voices regarding Reitan had grown louder.

Led by those displeased with a young upstart giving orders.

They even began to bring up his non-ordination status, questioning why someone not affiliated with the Order was involving himself so deeply.

From Reitan’s perspective, it was exasperating.

He had chosen not to be ordained to utilize his family’s assets, yet that choice was being used to discredit his faith.

When he first heard about it, he was utterly furious.

Those who hadn’t even been chosen by God were doubting his piety.

Meanwhile, they created a mess while claiming it was for God.

‘He probably aims to become the High Priest through this.’

And, in the end, would likely try to become the Supreme High Priest.

The nominated candidates for the next Supreme High Priest have been entirely excluded from this incident.

It was truly a stage set for the Priest Jernima alone.

And unfortunately, that stage was close to succeeding.

‘If I interfere with the ritual, I will just give them an excuse to purge me.’

Patience, which he had chosen for better results, had become a dead end.

Reitan, desiring nothing more than to smash the face of the smug Jernima, ultimately quelled his anger with his superior rationality and reached into his vest pocket.

He pulled out a divine relic from Agnotia, a treasured symbol of love, and fiddled with it.

Though Jernima’s gaze fell on the relic, that was all. He did not recognize it as a sacred object.

‘It is something Agnotia personally bestowed upon me.’

A mere priest could not comprehend its value.

“This day is for Agnotia, so I had to find the time to congratulate her, no matter how busy.”

Unlike Jernima, who moved for personal gain, Reitan could endure a thousand of these humiliations for Agnotia.

Reitan spoke while holding the divine relic firmly in his hand.

“You wouldn’t chase away a devout monk who comes here with goodwill, would you?”

“Hahaha, of course not. I personally allow you the opportunity to observe.”

With a benevolent smile, Jernima patted Reitan on the shoulder before leaving to oversee the final preparations for the ceremony.

While watching Jernima walk away, Reitan brushed off the shoulder where Jernima’s hand had rested.

‘He dares to speak of permission…’

It was distasteful, but Reitan had come determined not to interfere.

If he were to disrupt now, he might not even be able to offer the current piece of divinity.

Given the situation, he should be pleased that he can at least present the divinity he holds.

‘Not for me, but for Agnotia’s sake, this is the time to endure.’

Fortunately, outsiders were increasing in number.

There was no rule that said another outsider in similar conditions to K wouldn’t appear.

Even if none appear, it’s no longer a major issue. He seemed to have found another way.

‘The experiment to use outsiders affiliated with the Order of Palao proved effective.’

Though faint, there was indeed latent divinity of Palao within them.

‘Enhancing their vessels to prevent shattering makes them a usable offering.’

Once the current experiment is successful, gathering the scattered pieces for presentation will be simple.

Reitan waited quietly from a spot far from the altar, anticipating the commencement of the ritual.

After a bit more time, “Make sure there are no mistakes at all!”

Under Jernima’s command, they began placing the prepared offering on the altar.

Reitan’s gaze remained fixed on the being at the center.

The symbol floating in the air was indeed that of Palao.

K, an offering to elevate Agnotia to greater nobility.

Wearing elaborate ceremonial garb, he seemed unconscious, with his eyes closed.

Moreover, his garments around his limbs appeared utterly deflated.

It seemed all his limbs had been severed to prevent escape.

‘Seeing him in such a state is somewhat satisfying.’

A bastard who ruined everything he was conducting with Gallonic.

The idea of him being gone filled him with a bitter satisfaction.

Reitan continued to toy with the pocket watch in his hand while observing the ritual.

The process of embedding the secretly kept piece of divinity into K’s body went smoothly.

Even the recitation of the prayer required during the offering was carried out without a hitch.

After all the procedures were completed,

“…….”

A solemn silence enveloped the space where the ceremony was held.

Those who were attentively observing the altar glanced around at each other, exchanging looks.

It was the moment when the offering was supposed to be oxidized and presented to Agnotia.

Yet, nothing happened.

‘What’s this?’

Realizing that something was wrong, Reitan’s brows furrowed, and then, the ground began to rumble.

Dust fell from the ceiling, and the shock was strong enough to knock the priests participating in the ceremony off balance.

“What, what is this…?”

Reitan mumbled, steadying himself against the wall.

That was undoubtedly Agnotia just now.

‘Why is she refusing the offering?’

Absorbing new divinity should be Agnotia’s long-cherished desire?

Before he could fully grasp his doubt, a strong golden light emitted from unconscious K on the altar.

“Ah!”

Only then did the priests overseeing the ceremony exhale with relief.

But Reitan’s expression remained stiff.

The authority emanating from the dazzling golden light was not Agnotia’s.

Once the strong, dazzling golden light subsided,

“What you are trying to say is…”

Instead, they were filled with an unfamiliar voice.

“You didn’t think I was really caught off guard because I didn’t know, did you?”

K, the owner of the voice, was rising from the altar.

Though just moments ago, all his limbs were supposed to be cut, he stood firmly on both feet without any issues.

Everyone around him gazed at him with dumbfounded expressions.

Unaware or indifferent to their feelings.

“Gasp!”

K, standing with his own feet on the ground, suddenly seized Jernima’s neck, who was closest to the altar.

“Ugh, you bastard! What trickery did you commit!”

Stunned by the unexpected turn, Jernima clutched K’s arm in desperation.

However, with his strength, it was impossible to escape K’s grip.

“No need, honestly, what does it matter what you were thinking?”

Pulling a smirk with one side of his mouth, K kicked Jernima away.

“Ugh!”

“Thanks to you, I gathered divinity for free, so I should be grateful.”

Jernima collapsed sideways with foaming at the mouth from a single kick of K’s.

K, with an uncharacteristically clear smile, said as he tossed Jernima aside.

“Thanks for everything.”

Immediately, K’s gaze fell precisely where Reitan was standing.

Despite glaring at him, Reitan quickly moved his hand.

He intended to press the winding part of the pocket watch he’d been holding all along.

This item was a divine relic and contained a teleportation magic stone that would take him to a designated place.

But just before Reitan could press the winding part and break the magic stone, an outsider unexpectedly surged out from his shadow, brandishing a dagger.

“Argh!”

As blood gushed, Reitan’s hand holding the pocket watch fell away.

Following that, a commotion was heard from the entrance direction.

“Arrest them all!”

Fully armed holy knights and outsiders stormed in.

Instantly realizing their failure, the priests who had been huddled together scattered, but it was futile.

The single entrance, created for secrecy, was sealed.

It was like strangling themselves with their own hands.

Though by the time they realized this, it was too late.

* * *

The moment the Agnotia fanatics inserted a piece of divinity into my body, a message popped up asking if I wanted to inherit it immediately.

‘I had prepared all sorts of things, thinking I’d have to endure some trial.’

It turned out to be a useless endeavor.

‘Is it because the size was small?’

Compared to what Gretman handed over, it wasn’t even a tenth the size.

Maybe thanks to that, while pretending to be unconscious, I absorbed the second piece.

Though the plan slightly deviated, resulting in slight confusion.

There was no downside, so I decided to focus on the current situation.

“Don’t let a single one escape!”

The underground chamber designated for the ceremony quickly turned chaotic.

Thanks to the holy knights and Order of Palao players who had infiltrated.

Among them, there were also several investigators from the association.

The current scene meant that my prepared plan had achieved perfect success.

At first, even when setting up the plan, I didn’t expect things would progress this smoothly.

‘I thought reaching half the success would be satisfactory.’

In retrospect, it seemed I had captured even bigger targets than initially intended.

The one who deserved the most credit for this success was undeniably Jernima.

I looked down at Jernima, who was foaming at the mouth and unconscious.

‘He started biting Reitan as expected; he moved exactly as anticipated.’

There are those who envy and resent successful individuals anywhere you go.

Dealing with such individuals isn’t that difficult.

In practice, agitating Jernima through a player who had infiltrated Agnotia was easy.

Dislodging the influence of Reitan, who was taking his seat naturally among the radicals.

Bringing up his past close association with Senoa to fuel suspicions of betrayal.

All it required was subtly convincing him that there might be a way to knock him down a peg.

Instigating division through provocation and leading to internal strife is a tactic often used by former powers to take control of colonial nations.

Thus, I was confident this method would work.

Although I didn’t expect it to go this smoothly.

‘What should I say, naive maybe.’

It’s ugly, but rather than cunning, it’s accurate.

‘There aren’t any vile crimes exploiting human frailty here.’

Bihar is a world where identity, power, and force allow you to plunder others.

Therefore, there isn’t a broad spectrum of heinous frauds exploiting human psychology here.

In contrast, we players hail from Earth, rife with all sorts of scam tactics, including voice phishing.

Prodding the ambition of a marked individual to guide them in the desired direction wasn’t challenging.

Thanks to that, it seemed I caught all my initially planned targets.

The first being the radical faction of Agnotia, currently being captured.

“You scoundrels! Do you know where this is?”

“Ack! Let go, let go! I said, let go!”

“Run, run!”

Those who treated me as an offering are now tied with magical restraining tools, kneeling as criminals.

They number exactly fourteen in total.

Though it isn’t an overwhelmingly large number, all are high priests.

It was as if capturing all those somewhat influential within Agnotia at once.

‘I cannot leave those aiming for my back unchecked.’

Through this event, the radical faction of Agnotia would suffer greatly.

‘It will then be easy for the pacifist faction backed by Jose Wolfrian to expand its influence.’

Honestly, I didn’t intend to go that far.

Having learned that Bihar will eventually fall, after all.

There wasn’t a need to further bolster the pacifist’s power.

‘However, there’s no reason to snatch away a given opportunity.’

Either way, the pacifists are player-friendly forces.

There’s no need to alienate those protecting and supporting players.

While observing the unfolding events within the ceremonial chamber and organizing my thoughts.

“Hyung!”

Approaching me rapidly was Kim Yul, who had snuck in with Reitan’s shadow.

“Did it all end well according to plan? Nothing’s accidentally gone wrong, right? All ten fingers and toes are intact, right?”

He began to make a fuss, inspecting me.

Damned System

TL’s Corner:

Well, that was easy.