Ch.569The Council of the Eight Apostles

# Forgotten Gods’ Church

“The seal of the third Holy Grail has reached its limit. Everyone should prepare.”

Feirus, who had summoned all apostles after a long time, informed them of the approaching new upheaval. It must have been a truly sudden declaration for the apostles beyond the crystal ball.

“Wasn’t there still time left?”

The 4th Apostle expressed his doubt.

The 4th Apostle couldn’t leave Baryachrus as he was busy monitoring Oleg, the new Werebeast King, so he was unaware of news from south of the Sky Mountains.

He was completely in the dark about what Haschal, the variable of fate that the apostles were watching, had done in the Holy State.

“That would have been the case, but… damage was inflicted not on the Grail itself but on Heaven’s Wall, and I can no longer suppress it with my power.”

“If Heaven’s Wall is damaged, could it be…?”

“Yes. I heard the evil god of jealousy, Invidius, attempted to descend. It seems he was blocked by Heaven’s Wall and only managed to manifest one arm.”

The apostles’ exclamations of shock came clearly through the crystal ball. Well, even Feirus couldn’t hide his surprise at this news.

He had thought it would certainly fail, yet hearing that the descent succeeded, even if it was just one arm, was shocking.

He wished he could resurrect and interrogate the dead Valkers about what method was used. But that was impossible since the man’s soul would no longer exist.

“My goodness, to think such a thing is possible already… No, more importantly. Isn’t the south in chaos right now? Even if it’s just one arm, a god’s descent should be enough to devastate at least one country.”

“Surprisingly, nothing happened. The fragment of Invidius that successfully descended was eliminated by Median after dozens of minutes of battle.”

The 2nd Apostle, Paulus, answered instead.

Due to wanted posters spread throughout the Holy State, he currently couldn’t even move around freely, but he still hadn’t neglected gathering information.

While the upper echelons of the Holy State tried to downplay the incident as merely Mains and monsters running wild, there were so many witnesses that it wasn’t difficult to collect detailed information.

“Isn’t this dangerous? Until now, we’ve left him alone as a ‘variable,’ but to eliminate an evil god’s arm? He’s become too strong.”

“Moreover, this variable doesn’t necessarily work in our favor. No, isn’t he actually our enemy? My work in Panam was completely ruined, and the 3rd Apostle’s work in the east and the 2nd Apostle’s work in the Holy State don’t seem to be going in our favor either.”

The 4th and 7th Apostles subtly suggested that they should eliminate Haschal soon.

Even the martial apostles among the eight would hesitate to face an evil god’s arm, yet he had managed to eliminate it. This was no ordinary feat.

His growth rate was too fast. If left alone any longer, he would become uncontrollable.

Moreover, judging by Haschal’s actions, it was obvious that he couldn’t coexist with them. If the apostles’ identities were revealed, they would face a monster they couldn’t possibly defeat one-on-one.

“I’m against it. If we eliminate that girl now, who will stop Orhan? When the third Holy Grail breaks, monsters will increase, and if the Great Wall falls too, the Empire won’t be able to hold out either.”

The 3rd Apostle, who was in charge of the east, expressed her opposition. While she also harbored nothing but antipathy toward Haschal, she couldn’t agree with killing her now. From her perspective, Orhan was more threatening than Haschal.

Unlike Valenstein, who perished just before the Hero’s Gate opened, Orhan had crossed the wall smoothly and was growing stronger at an unbelievable rate. He had changed so much that he no longer seemed like the same person.

“I think the same. Though the variable’s growth is unbelievable, without that strength, the current Empire cannot be sustained.”

“Besides, how would we kill her? A warrior of that caliber won’t die easily, and we can’t directly intervene.”

Other apostles also opposed assassinating Haschal.

In the current situation, where the balance of power in the world was precariously maintained, breaking one of the pillars supporting humanity could cause human society to collapse like dominoes.

It wasn’t because they loved humans or had loyalty to the Empire. If they had such feelings, they wouldn’t have attempted to destroy the Holy Grail, which presupposed tens of thousands of deaths.

They worried about the Empire’s downfall because the apostles were also human.

As long as human society was maintained, they could operate without problems, but if humanity itself perished, the apostles would lose their power base.

Like Paulus, who lost his foundation in the Church of Menes after being killed by Agnes.

No, it would be even worse. Paulus could at least hide his face and blend in among other humans, but if humanity itself became slaves or prey, even that would be impossible.

“Hmm…”

“That’s certainly…”

Even the 4th Apostle, who was cooperating with Oleg, and the 5th Apostle, who was a guest of the Dragonic Kingdom, couldn’t be optimistic that Oleg or the Dragonborn would treat them well if human society collapsed.

In the end, the proposal to assassinate Haschal was rejected.

—-

Afterward, the apostles shared information and reported on their situations.

“I’m thinking of leaving the Holy State. I can no longer move here.”

The 2nd Apostle, Paulus, was being hunted as an ancient god’s priest who had killed Paulus and stolen his face.

He had considered contacting followers within the Church of Menes while Haschal and Agnes were away in the Empire, but abandoned the idea due to Feirus’s objection that it might be a trap.

It could be said that he had fallen into quite a pitiful state in his old age.

“Orhan is busy conquering the Great Plains, and Targiyan is hunting my subordinates while searching everywhere. It’s a good thing I operated in a cell structure. Otherwise, I would have been in danger too.”

The 3rd Apostle’s identity hadn’t been discovered by Orhan, but due to complications with Amin’s situation, her subordinate organizations were being annihilated by Orhan’s warriors.

Considering that it was the 3rd Apostle’s subordinates who had instigated Amin, this was quite an ironic retribution.

At this point, perhaps Amin should be called a hero of humanity.

“Oleg has declared himself the second king of Baryachrus and is suppressing Werebeasts who oppose him. It doesn’t seem like it will take long for him to reach Rurik’s level. Even if he reaches that level, it will take a long time before he comes south.”

The 4th Apostle was full of complaints.

Being in charge of Werebeasts meant he alone had to stay in a freezing land where even urine froze, living among beasts.

As a high-level mage, the 4th Apostle could maintain his body temperature somehow, but that didn’t eliminate his dissatisfaction.

“The Dragonborn are busy killing each other, so they won’t turn their attention to other countries for the time being.”

The 5th Apostle talked about the civil war in the Dragonic Kingdom.

The civil war in the Dragonic Kingdom, named the Orthodox Great War, was a conflict arising from different interpretations of dragons.

It was a civil war between the existing faction, which claimed that controlling violent nature through mental discipline was the path to becoming a dragon, and the violent faction, which argued that following primal impulses was the way to reach dragonhood, so one should nurture rather than suppress ferocity.

The 5th Apostle belonged to one of the latter organizations, the Demon Cult. Being human rather than Dragonborn, he was merely a guest.

“The leader of the Demon Cult, a heretical sect, has reached the level of a semi-dragon and calls himself Celestial Demon, a demon who will ascend to heaven, rampaging on the front lines. Though the orthodox faction has numerical superiority, our side has the advantage in individual skill, so the war situation is evenly matched.”

“Celestial Demon…?”

The 3rd Apostle showed interest in the 5th Apostle’s statement, specifically in the term “Celestial Demon.”

“Is there a problem?”

“No. I just didn’t expect to hear that term from the Dragonic Kingdom. It was originally a title for the Grand Sorcerer of the Ka’har.”

Though it was closer to legend than historical figure, the 3rd Apostle at least knew the title.

“Heaven’s Death, Heaven’s Demon, Devourer of Heaven… I heard he was a Grand Sorcerer who brought calamity to the Great Plains hundreds of years ago, then suddenly disappeared. It’s a curious coincidence that a semi-dragon from the Dragonic Kingdom would claim that title.”

“I see. It is indeed a curious coincidence. Perhaps the mindset of those who reach enlightenment through violence and slaughter is similar everywhere.”

The 5th Apostle nodded with a smirk.

He also found it an interesting coincidence. There was a difference—the Ka’har’s Celestial Demon was one who opposed heaven, while the Dragonborn’s Celestial Demon was one who sought to ascend to heaven.

—-

The 6th and 7th Apostles didn’t have much information to report, so they briefly shared their situations.

The 6th Apostle, a merchant traveling between Panam and Himmel, was compensating for losses from the trade suspension with Himmel by selling weapons and mercenaries to Panam, while the 7th Apostle was virtually under house arrest on an island.

Though his identity hadn’t been discovered and the purpose was protection rather than confinement… he could hardly move around freely, so it could be called house arrest.

The 8th Apostle was a warrior of Dane, waging war by invading Panam.

The news that the Kingdom of Dane had acquired rune magic was quite interesting to the other apostles. Feirus already knew, but it was news to the others.

Originally, only four apostles knew that rune magic was the primordial magic taught to humans by the ancient god Alfodhr.

‘Ruins of rune magic…’

The 4th Apostle, one of those four, was deeply interested in the ruins discovered by the Kingdom of Dane, but unfortunately, he couldn’t visit them now.

To reach Dane from Baryachrus, one would have to traverse the continent almost vertically.

—-

“So, what will happen when the third Holy Grail is destroyed?”

After everyone’s reports, the 7th Apostle asked a question, and Feirus thought for a moment before answering.

“According to the revelation left by Him… significant changes will begin from the third Holy Grail. Tectonic movements will occur, dungeons hidden in dimensional cracks will appear, and monsters will increase even more than now.”

“The world will become more chaotic.”

“Yes. And this is my speculation, but… after the third Holy Grail is destroyed, the World Tree’s voice will directly reach the elves. Unlike other gods, that god has a strong connection to the ground as its roots extend into the lower world.”

This was a characteristic unique to the World Tree among the celestial gods. Unlike other gods who had completely ascended, the World Tree maintained its physical form as a massive tree, straddling both heaven and earth.