Ch.210Monarch (2)

Forty years ago.

‘Yeshua Immanuel.’

A man blessed by the stars and who dedicated his life to God.

He was a figure who performed countless miracles and set the record as the youngest cardinal in history.

Anyone involved with the church at that time would have known his name.

He was a legend without precedent.

‘Star of Radiance.’

Yeshua was called by many names.

Star, Saint, Savior… always accompanied by honorable titles.

A name is, by nature, a calling card given to those who are qualified.

True to his splendid titles, the man’s path never shied away from goodwill.

His faint light culminated in faith, and his devotion bore the fruit of nobility.

From all directions, people praised him as the second coming of the Messiah.

‘A true believer.’

A frugal lifestyle and an attitude of gratitude in all things.

Faith that never faded regardless of circumstances.

Additionally, a firmness that never discriminated based on wealth or beauty.

Yeshua became a role model for countless clergy and believers.

Even the Emperor of the empire at that time commended his holiness.

“I merely followed God’s will.”

“May all glory in life resound under His name.”

“I pray that everyone may greet their own morning, even in the darkest dawn.”

“I pray for this.”

Yeshua was a devoted believer.

A believer who achieved countless sacrifices and acts of goodwill based on God’s will.

He offered prayers in times of suffering and anchored himself in faith during perilous moments.

He never lost his nobility, befitting his position as cardinal.

‘However.’

The church was different.

Water that had stagnated after accumulating for a long time.

Like a pond that doesn’t flow, the interior of the church was filled with corruption.

Perhaps it was because of the complacently cast shadow.

The upper echelons of the church were teeming with maggots.

‘The times… have lost their way.’

Lips that coveted gold instead of the gospel.

Prayers that no longer contained compassion.

Whispers punctuated by false confessions.

Believers who desired personal gain and ultimately became prodigals.

The deeply accumulated ills of the church were walking a path of misguided goodwill.

God did not respond.

‘This cannot continue.’

That’s why.

Yeshua, who was a cardinal at the time, spoke up.

He must have thought that things couldn’t continue this way.

“We have lost our way.”

“It is time to turn away from desire and move toward true radiance.”

“The constellation of the night sky… God is watching over us.”

“Even in darkness, light shall guide the lambs.”

A voice pleading for faith.

However, the sincere resonance didn’t reach anyone.

From the perspective of the upper echelons, Yeshua’s existence was merely a thorn in their side.

The Pope dismissed his opinion, and the other cardinals remained silent in apparent agreement.

There was no one on Yeshua’s side.

“Yeshua Immanuel.”

“While being a believer, you engage in reckless discord.”

“We will revoke your position as cardinal and exclude you from the assembly.”

“Step down from your position and focus on nurturing future scholars from now on.”

“This is the decision of our upper echelons.”

Not stopping there, they even demoted Yeshua.

By disparaging his well-intentioned advice as discord.

Thanks to this, the once-shining star was covered with a dishonorable stigma.

Yeshua was banished to a branch at the border of the empire.

“I see.”

Though it was under the pretext of nurturing future scholars, it was actually exile.

Yeshua lost his voice as a price for speaking with loyalty.

The man sought the Lord in his dawn meditations.

Of course, God did not respond.

“Lord, always keep me from wavering in the gospel.”

“Give me the calling to correct what is wrong.”

The star did not despair.

He believed that even this was God’s arrangement or will.

He simply willingly walked the thorny path given to him.

Moving away from corruption, he devoted himself to nurturing talent.

Teaching children was quite rewarding.

“Everything that cultivates the world is His will.”

“I give you teachings, and you are dyed in that spring.”

“Later, share the love you received from me with the wanderers.”

“That is the love of a believer.”

Yeshua found meaning even in his fallen place.

Embracing the still immature lambs and making them contemplate faith and love.

His guidance resonated with essence and produced several outstanding talents.

The star would say as if it were a habit.

“Do not lose faith.”

“God will not abandon you.”

Will, or meaning.

Was it such pure sincerity that reached them?

The disciples often followed their master well.

“Master! What are we learning today?”

“Tell us another Bible story!”

“Fool, he said we’d be moving forward with the curriculum today.”

“Who are you calling a fool? You can’t even use holy magic as well as I can!”

“Sigh… are you really in the graduating class? Just listening to you talk, it’s like you’re in kindergarten.”

“Master, let’s just have class and ignore these idiots.”

Before long, Yeshua became a respected leader.

He had carved his own path despite the trials.

Still, God did not respond.

“Master.”

One day, as he was going about his daily life.

Yeshua heard strange rumors from his graduated disciples.

It was about the upper echelons, which had been showing strange signs all along.

The young ones, who had grown into proper priests, said:

“Master… the atmosphere in the church is strange.”

“The upper echelons are all rotten to the core.”

“Moreover, nobles are coming and going, seemingly plotting something.”

“Since we’re still apprentices, we couldn’t hear the details…”

“But is it right to leave the current situation as it is?”

“Honestly, I’m scared.”

Children immersed in anxiety.

Yeshua, while equally concerned, reassured his disciples.

Adding the words he always used to whisper as if it were a habit.

It seems he hadn’t let go of his faith until then.

“God will provide an answer.”

“Soon He will defeat injustice and move the vessels of goodwill.”

“So do not be afraid, my child.”

“Everything will be alright.”

Yeshua also had his doubts.

He was the very person who had been exiled outside the capital for exposing the corruption of the upper echelons.

As such, he knew better than anyone about the atrocities of the upper echelons.

But he did not doubt.

“Lord.”

Because he believed in the doctrine.

Because he believed that God would provide an answer, that He would not abandon His lambs.

Yeshua simply waited on his knees to be called by the Master.

If God desired a sword, he would be a sword; if He desired a shield, he would be a shield.

But despite his desperate waiting, God did not respond.

Tragedy came as if seeping into that void.

“Y-Yeshua, Your Excellency… it’s terrible!”

“The cultists have made their move.”

“Several branches located at the border have been attacked!”

“I don’t know how the barrier was breached, but the damage is enormous.”

“Moreover, at those branches, your disciples…”

The cultists had launched an attack.

And at the branches where his graduated disciples were working.

Yeshua brushed aside all restraints and headed toward his children.

God did not respond.

“What happened to the children…!”

Yeshua hurriedly arrived at the branch in question.

However, it was already too late.

Most of the children had died during the attack or been kidnapped.

Of all his many disciples, only one survived.

Her arms and legs had been severed, and bizarre tentacles were growing from the cut surfaces.

Wriggle, wriggle—. A grotesque appearance as if chimerization was progressing.

The broken girl looked up at her master who had arrived too late.

“Mas…ter…?”

Eyes that had turned pitch black.

What was once a disciple recognizes her master.

Tentacles moving of their own accord grasp his arm.

The Demonic Energy spreading murkily has an acidic quality.

Hiss—!

Though the flesh where they touched was melting away, Yeshua did not push his disciple away.

He simply embraced that fragile body as if telling her not to cry.

The girl spoke while coughing up black blood.

Stumbling, stumbling, searching for words.

“Everyone, is dead. Every single one, all of them.”

“Stomachs torn open, tentacles growing, bodies bursting, being devoured…”

“Aah… cough, hack! Something’s growing from my arms, from my legs too…”

“It hurts, it, it hurts, Master. Help me, sob, it hurts!”

“Inside my stomach, something is eating my intestines.”

“No, no… it hurts, I don’t want to die.”

The girl’s body seemed already possessed by Demonic Energy.

Her mind was crumbling, and tentacles were eating her flesh from inside and out.

There was nothing Yeshua could do.

All he could do was hold her.

“Why… why on earth.”

“You said God would not abandon us…”

“After saying that, you liar.”

“It hurts, stop… please stop.”

Returning resentment.

The last remaining disciple looks up at her master.

With eyes devoid of any hope, light, anything.

And then, she asked the cruelest question.

“Your Eminence.”

“Is even this God’s will…?”

Yeshua could not answer.

He simply infused holy power into his fingertips and pierced the girl’s heart.

The squelching sensation, the temperature, the writhing that continued until the pulse stopped.

He remembered every moment of the girl’s life fading away.

Something, whether blood or tears, flowed down his cheek.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry.”

Ending her breath so she wouldn’t become a chimera.

In the situation at that time, it was the best Yeshua could do.

The star waited until that fragile heartbeat ceased.

Even then, God did not respond.