Ch.198Chapter 198 – People Burning with Fighting Spirit in Their Sorrow

The Capital of the Gelebrio Empire.

News from Glesius Academy arrived at the Imperial Palace, the symbol of Aurelios.

“What did you say?”

“Y-Your Majesty… Count Pathos Severio was returning from his foreign schedule when a mysterious explosion occurred and…”

Emperor Decatro IV stared at the trembling servant prostrated before him, delivering the news.

“Surely my ears have deceived me? Is that not so?”

He was now doubting his own hearing.

Who had died?

Who?

“Count Pathos Severio… died in a mysterious explosion?”

“R-Rather than death, it’s more weighted toward disappearance…”

“Death or disappearance! They amount to the same thing! Are you trying to insult me?”

Emperor Decatro IV shouted at the servant bowed before him.

In this world where knowledge and technology for search and location tracking were quite inadequate, disappearance was considered equivalent to death.

Especially since Pathos had disappeared on the vast open sea.

A ship exploding and someone disappearing in the middle of the ocean… it essentially meant they should be considered dead.

“Sigh… what did the Liu Empire say?”

“After examining the recovered wreckage, they say it appears the explosion originated from inside the ship, not outside.”

“From inside, not outside…”

Emperor Decatro IV pondered who might be capable of such an act as he received the report.

“Is there any possibility that the great noble houses or the Liu Imperial family were involved in this incident?”

“They claim they absolutely did not do it and will fully cooperate with the investigation, keeping all possibilities open.”

“I see… the great houses and the imperial family wouldn’t deliberately create friction…”

Emperor Decatro IV wondered if the great houses and the Liu Imperial family had caused the accident to provoke him.

But they had absolutely no reason to do so.

An immediate war between the two countries would benefit no one.

Rather, war would cause losses for both countries, and the Island Federation caught between them would suffer tremendous damage as well.

Then, a certain organization came to mind.

‘The Demon Cult.’

None other than the forces seeking the resurrection of the Demon God, whose plans had repeatedly been thwarted by Pathos.

Emperor Decatro IV thought that the Demon Cult might be behind this incident.

“I understand for now. You may withdraw.”

“Your Majesty’s grace is boundless.”

The servant who had reported to Emperor Decatro IV hastily left the office.

“Ah… truly, we have lost an invaluable talent. All because of my lack of virtue…”

Emperor Decatro IV stared at the ceiling, letting out self-reproachful sighs.

At the same time.

Outside the Chancellor’s office at Glesius Academy, Shannon, the Chancellor’s secretary, was knocking on the door.

“Chancellor! Please open the door!”

“…Go away.”

Compared to Shannon’s loud voice, Regina’s voice from inside was very faint.

Since receiving news of Pathos’s death from the Celestial Horse in the far Eastern Continent, Regina’s eyes had lost their light.

Her once brilliant and glossy golden hair had now become dull and lost its luster.

Shannon felt sorry for Regina, who had been living a listless daily life.

When she was under the curse of regression, she had become childlike and moved about actively…

But since hearing the news of Pathos’s death, she had merely been existing.

She was literally no different from a moving corpse.

She had been living like a moving corpse for a whole week.

But no one at the academy blamed Regina.

This was because Shannon had revealed that Regina and Pathos had been lovers.

People showed interest in their love that overcame their age difference, but then cast sympathetic glances at Regina, who was suffering the loss of her beloved.

They couldn’t even begin to imagine how great her sorrow must be, losing her loved one in a foreign land and not even being able to find his body.

“Chancellor!”

“Please go away, Shannon…”

“Do you think Count Severio would be happy to see you like this?”

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

Regina flung the door open in irritation at Shannon’s words, snapping back.

“I’m already trying every method I can think of. How I can bring Pathos back to life! And if that’s not possible, how I can get revenge on those who drove him to his death!”

“There is a way!”

“What?”

At Shannon’s words, light momentarily returned to Regina’s eyes.

“What do you mean? There’s a way?”

“Count Severio. There’s a way to save him!”

Pathos could be saved.

At those words, Regina’s eyes cleared and her gaze focused on Shannon.

“Ah, you’ve finally come to your senses. Please discuss the details with this person.”

As Shannon stepped aside, her place was taken by a woman Regina knew well.

“You are…?”

“As you already know, let me introduce myself again in this place.”

With long silver-white hair and eyes that appeared almost closed.

“My name is Eterna Lumio ‘Sol.’ I am the Chief Inquisitor of the Solar Order and…”

As Eterna began to state her full name, a halo began to shine from behind her head.

“I am the Saint of the Solar Order. I am the one who inherits the name of Lumio Sol, the Saint of this era.”

It was the moment when Eterna, who had been hiding her true identity all this time, finally revealed herself not as the Chief Inquisitor but as the Saint.

She revealed herself to Regina because of Pathos.

“After hearing the news of Lord Pathos’s passing, I fell into despair and prayed to the Sun God. And after receiving His response, I came here.”

A faint smile was drawn on Eterna’s face as she looked at Regina.

“Chancellor Regina. I have a way to bring back the dead. However, to do so, we need to prepare a ritual. And for the ritual, we need quite a lot of items.”

“What do you need? If it can save Pathos, if it can save him, I’ll give you anything.”

“…May I come in and explain the details?”

“Of course. By all means.”

With the determination to save Pathos, Regina allowed Eterna into her room.

Inside, the two women began their meeting to prepare the ritual to resurrect Pathos.

While the two women were preparing to bring back one man, an oracle descended at the temple of the Great Goddess.

[Prepare for war. My apostle has been killed by those who serve malevolent beings, so prepare for war in my name. Annihilate all malevolent beings. This is my will.]

“Everything shall be done according to the Great Goddess’s will.”

The oracle of the Great Goddess Epitrina was a declaration of war against those who had killed Pathos.

This meant that the Great Goddess Order was entering into war with the Demon Cult.

Simultaneously with the Great Goddess Order’s oracle, oracles descended in all temples serving the gods.

[My children, listen. The Great Goddess has declared war against those who serve demons. Prepare for the holy war.]

“An oracle has descended! She commands us to prepare for the holy war!”

“Prepare for the holy war to destroy all evil!”

“War against those who serve evil beings, those who serve demons!”

All religious orders, including the Great Goddess Order, declared war against the Demon Cult, and consequently, ability users who had received powers from the gods began to emerge to the surface.

“Following the will of the Sun God who gave me power, I will participate in the war against demons.”

“I was able to become like this because of the power He gave me, so now it’s time to repay that grace!”

“I’ll sweep away all those evil ones and bring peace to this land!”

“Hehe, I’ll beat up all the bad guys. Then I can rest comfortably!”

The ability users gathered for different reasons, but they were all those who had received gifts of power from the gods.

Therefore, they began to gather one by one for the war against the demons, who stood in opposition to those gods.

“Our academy will also prepare for war against the Demon Cult. Therefore, for the time being, written and practical classes will be conducted in parallel, and you will learn how to survive in war.”

“An academy student has fallen to the Demon Cult, shouldn’t we avenge them?”

“The Count who did so much for us has fallen. As people who know gratitude and appreciation, we will fight for his revenge. And for the safety of this world.”

At Glesius Academy, professors and students also began full-scale war preparations, burning with hostility toward the Demon Cult.

Although the academy was a place of education and not suited for war, everyone here had received help from Pathos at least once.

Thus, because of one man’s death, the entire world was uniting as one.

And this was absolutely not the situation the Demon Cult had wanted.