Ch.2121. Baptism of Blood

Vilius Parlo was an ordinary citizen residing in the capital city of the Rom Empire.

He was a citizen with political participation rights (middle class), but…

The recent political climate of the Rom Empire had been shifting in a way that made it difficult for ordinary middle-class citizens to enjoy wealth.

Unfortunately, Vilius’s family was caught in this tide. Their generations-old construction business collapsed completely, scattering the family members,

and Vilius ultimately became a mere day laborer with only his citizenship remaining.

He was barely maintaining his citizenship by paying taxes with what little assets remained, but even this would be depleted in a few years.

Moreover, knowing that the bankruptcy of the Parlo family was caused by the active machinations of a massive construction company backed by the Pantheon,

Vilius had been seriously contemplating ending his life, but…

It was then that the “Order” approached him.

This Order, which secretly approached him at the business of Gracchus where he worked as a laborer,

was a religious group—known as the Revenge Order—that aimed for nothing less than the collapse of the Empire and the downfall of the Pantheon.

For Vilius, who had been seriously considering suicide, the Order was not only a savior that gave him a new purpose in life,

but with the famous “Gracchus” as its leader, it was difficult to dismiss its potential.

Therefore, Vilius passionately participated in various religious events held by the Order,

had serious conversations with Gracchus, and delved deeper into the Order, but…

The deeper he went, the more he felt an inexplicable emptiness growing in the depths of his heart.

Most members of the Order were just fools burning with blind anger and vengeance.

Moreover, given that its size wasn’t even that large, the idea of overthrowing the Rom Empire with such meager resources began to seem utterly foolish.

As if experiencing a moment of clarity, he was starting to consider withdrawing for his own safety.

‘Yes, I’ll report this as my final act. Then the Pantheon might reward me with something.’

Upon hearing news of a gathering of all Order members in the catacomb (underground cemetery and temple) beneath Gracchus’s mansion,

Vilius decided to report this to the Pantheon after the gathering and headed to the catacomb where the meeting would be held.

‘Two hundred… no, maybe three hundred people?’

In a vast cavern covered with red cloth bearing the symbol of the Revenge Order etched into the rough stone walls.

They sat in designated places, solemnly facing the central podium marked with a cross—the symbol of the god worshipped by the Revenge Order—with a skull engraved in its center.

Among the followers who had received red robes with skull masks and hoods to conceal their identities,

Vilius also knelt down and decided to at least pretend to pray as part of the ritual.

‘Ma-Duk who watches over us, by your grace we are saved… please—’

Though he intended to report them, he was still one of those who had been saved, so his prayer contained sincerity,

and thus Vilius was offering a prayer he had learned from Gracchus, the priest of the Order, with genuine feeling.

And just as his prayer was coming to an end.

“I would be grateful if you would look at me after finishing that prayer, my brothers and sisters.”

With the sound of shoes clicking, Gracchus, dressed in simple and modest clothes, walked out from among the people saying those words,

climbed onto the podium, and quietly waited until everyone was looking at him.

And when everyone was quietly gazing at him,

Gracchus, seeming somewhat excited, suddenly descended from the podium, sat down in an empty space, knelt, and—

“Rejoice, brothers and sisters! Our great Lord has said he will visit us directly!”

‘…What?’

The moment Vilius doubted his ears, suddenly, a red and majestic light began to pour forth from the empty space above the podium.

The intense presence was similar in nature to what Vilius had once felt from a lesser deity he had glimpsed in passing,

but in terms of intensity, this red light exuded an overwhelmingly powerful presence.

Moreover, the red light somehow had the effect of drawing one’s gaze, making it impossible for Vilius to look away even for a moment.

And from within that light—

☆

《Fear not, child of vengeance. I am here.》

As a voice—resonating with the soul—emanating a deep red presence echoed loudly enough for everyone to hear, the “God” descended upon this place.

It was not a sound.

Nor was it a light visible to the eyes.

The solemn aura leisurely seeped into every pore of his body.

He was momentarily overwhelmed to the point of forgetting where he was,

what he was doing.

The strange divine energy, which no mere mortal could comprehend, distorted the senses of everyone present.

Smelling incense with his eyes, seeing with his nose, feeling touch with his ears, and through his skin, voices… the trembling of the soul took the form of sound and seeped into Vilius’s body.

“Kuh, kuhh… kuhhehheuk…!!”

His breath was choked. His vision blurred, everything but “Him” disappeared from his sight, and only “He” remained in Vilius’s vision.

A being beyond human comprehension, transcendent and seemingly not meant to exist in the mortal world.

The “God” that Gracchus had so fervently called upon appeared in this humble underground church, surrounded by a holy and ominous red light.

No one could breathe.

No one could take their eyes off Him.

With the sensation of becoming a mere consumable component of the world, the “God” who had merely existed there—

《Perform the baptism, Gracchus.》

Left only those words and vanished from the world as if He had never existed, and only then did those who had been overwhelmed show their respective reactions.

“Huh, huh, huh, huh, huh…”

“AlmightyMa-DukprotectmewithyoureternalvengeanceAlmightyMa-DukprotectmewithyoureternalvengeanceAlmightyMa-DukprotectmewithyoureternalvengeanceAlmightyMa-DukprotectmewithyoureternalvengeanceAlmightyMa-Dukprotectmewithyoureternalvengeance…”

“…Ugh!”

Some inhaled sharply after being unable to breathe,

some became slaves to faith, frantically praying to the god,

some may have even wet themselves, as the smell of ammonia could be detected, but…

No one could blame those who had lost control.

Everyone present understood that with such an overwhelming divine presence, the weak-minded might even faint.

And in the midst of this chaos, Vilius suddenly noticed a small bone chalice that had not been there before, now left on the podium.

The chalice, emanating a faint divinity, was clearly an object bestowed by the god, and naturally, other followers who noticed it were already bowing toward it.

And just then.

Click, click, click, click…

With the sound of shoes striking the floor, Gracchus approached the podium, maintaining a solemn attitude, swinging an incense burner with a string that he had taken out from his bosom, approached the chalice,

peered into it briefly, and then—in a voice that was small yet audible to everyone’s ears—quietly said:

“Dear brothers and sisters. Our great Lord has promised baptism and grace. I shall move among you and bestow His grace upon you.”

Speaking with a confident voice as if he had already been informed of something, Gracchus,

with extremely reverent movements and posture, lifted the chalice and slowly carried it, then stood before one follower.

Splooosh…

He tilted the chalice to pour its contents—blood—over the follower’s head.

Strangely, not a single drop of the sacred blood splattered; it was absorbed into the follower’s body, and the follower who was covered in blood soon wore an expression of ecstasy.

And as the baptism proceeded one by one starting with that follower, Vilius, having recovered from the earlier shock, harbored a rational suspicion that this baptism might be a form of brainwashing, but…

It was already too late.

‘Al-already my turn…?’

Before he knew it, Gracchus, having quickly completed the baptisms, was standing in front of Vilius, and the moment Vilius realized this, Gracchus tilted the chalice and poured the blood over Vilius’s head—

‘Kuh, aaaaaaaaaaaaah—!!!!!’

The blood that seeped into his frozen body upon contact

gave Vilius a terrible, searing pain as if boiling bronze had been poured directly onto his body.

Pain was felt even in his soul and mind, followed by a strange and painful process comparable to his body being disassembled and reassembled.

As if knowing that he had intended to betray them, a sensation like a “punishment” was transmitted to his soul through the pain that continued for a while.

“Huh, huh, huh, huh…”

Vilius, barely recovered from the pain, took deep breaths inwardly and thought:

‘If this is the price for attempting to betray you… I willingly accept it.’

With a completely changed mindset from before, Vilius quietly recited a confession of faith that no one else could hear.