Ch.877Apostle Council

# Forgotten Gods’ Church

“You’ve all heard the rumors, haven’t you? That the ‘Variable’ burned down the eastern capital. It seems that the ‘Third’ who was lurking there couldn’t escape the flames either.”

In a group meeting of apostles conducted through magical communication devices, Peiryus, who had summoned the other apostles, informed everyone present of the death of the third apostle.

“So she was killed after all… that’s unfortunate.”

The second apostle, Paulus, expressed his condolences.

Though they had parted ways due to differences in opinion, they had still worked together as apostles for over a decade.

“Is she really dead? I thought that woman would stubbornly cling to life hiding in some sewer or something.”

The fourth apostle’s question was thick with sarcasm. There was even a hint of joy in his voice.

Normally, Peiryus would have pointed out such an attitude, but this time he made no comment.

When they were both apostles, he had no choice but to mediate between them as the first apostle, but…

‘Not anymore.’

Meiharin had long since betrayed her duties as an apostle. There was no reason to take her side anymore.

“Her death is certain. The Variable’s purpose for invading Ordos was only her from the beginning, and having achieved this, he chose to return.”

“You seem to know quite a lot. Is this a report from the ‘Seventh’?”

“…Let’s just say it is.”

It wasn’t.

The seventh apostle, Eleonora, was bound by Haschal’s surveillance network and couldn’t move an inch. She was in no position to make reports.

The same was true for the eighth apostle, Valenstein, who had been assigned as her escort.

Peiryus could be certain of Meiharin’s death not because of Eleonora’s report, but thanks to a spy he had planted in the sorcerer group she led.

A spy who had barely survived the catastrophe that burned all of Ordos to ashes, and relayed everything to him.

Thanks to this, Peiryus was able to fully understand what Meiharin had been planning, how it had proceeded, and how it had failed.

Even the result of her failed attempt to summon the first Heavenly Demon, summoning Rotholandus instead, and ultimately granting the ‘Variable’ the ability to cut through space.

“That makes two already. The title of apostle is becoming meaningless, isn’t it?”

The fifth apostle, Bernard Feiler, clicked his tongue and muttered provocatively.

For someone who had taken Peiryus’s hand at the promise of becoming stronger, the deaths of the 8th and 3rd apostles were not at all welcome.

Because he was convinced that Peiryus didn’t place much value on the lives of individual apostles, and because of the strange anxiety that his turn might come someday.

“Moreover, both their deaths were caused by the ‘Variable.’ Can we call this a coincidence?”

“Are you suggesting that woman knows our identities… something like that?”

The sixth apostle questioned Bernard’s meaning.

“That’s unlikely. If that were the case, the seventh apostle would have been killed first.”

Eleonora, who had become not just Haschal’s monitor but the regent of Hestella.

The fact that she was still alive was proof that Haschal was not fully aware of the apostles’ identities.

‘…Though he seems to have his suspicions.’

Peiryus swallowed those words.

If he was entrusting her with such an important role as regent, she must be one of his closest confidants, yet he still assigned monitors to her.

It didn’t seem like he had realized that Eleonora was the seventh apostle, but he wasn’t blindly trusting her either.

As a result, Eleonora was not only unable to act as an apostle, but was being worked to exhaustion with her hands and feet practically tied.

That was something Peiryus had no way of helping with.

“He might know and be leaving us alone.”

“That’s just baseless speculation.”

The sixth apostle refuted, speaking as if representing Peiryus’s thoughts.

“I don’t want to sit quietly and be struck by lightning from above.”

“So, you want to strike first? The ‘Third’ said the same thing. I hope your end won’t be the same.”

“…Like a true merchant, your tongue flows smoothly. Do you think I can’t find you?”

Bernard threatened the sixth apostle in a low, growling voice.

“Well, would that be faster than me discovering your identity? An ‘human’ positioned at the core of the Dragon Kingdom’s Heavenly Demon Palace… I can already guess who you are.”

The sixth apostle didn’t back down either, responding with a sharp tone.

Perhaps because of the bad news of two apostles being killed, both were unusually aggressive compared to normal.

“Ah, ah. Enough of that talk. So, what are we going to do now? How will we fill the vacant apostle positions, and when can we break the next barrier…?”

As if saying they shouldn’t waste time on useless talk, the fourth apostle cut off their conversation and calmed the heated atmosphere.

“I’ve already prepared a suitable being for the third position.”

Peiryus, who had been quietly listening to the two apostles’ argument, answered.

“Is that so? I’m curious who it is. Is it another Ka’har?”

“No. The east is already beyond our control. They’re split into tribes and engaged in civil war, so there’s no point in our intervention. Not until a powerful figure emerges who can unite them.”

Following Orhan’s death, the collapse of Ordos and Meiharin’s death, the Great Plains had returned to the chaos of the pre-unification period.

Powerful tribal chiefs each claiming to be Khan and waging war daily.

Unless someone strong enough to subjugate them all appeared, they would continue killing each other and staining the plains with blood for at least the next decade or so.

“Then Dane…?”

“Dane is also not the time to intervene. The current king of Dane became king through the Variable’s intervention and the death of an apostle. Even if we approached him, he wouldn’t move according to our intentions.”

‘Then who is it?’

The 4th apostle inwardly clicked his tongue and closed his mouth.

Every suggestion was met with a negative response, so why would he feel motivated to continue speaking?

“The one who will replace the dead 3rd apostle as the new apostle is not human.”

Only after the 4th apostle closed his mouth did Peiryus finally reveal the identity of the new apostle.

“The fairy guardian Eirnesia. A major figure among the guardians, considered an elder.”

“A fairy guardian…? No, how did you…?!”

The fourth apostle expressed his shock. A guardian? It was truly an unexpected appointment.

“She was being transported as a broken prisoner, and I thought it would be a waste to leave her be, so I extracted her.”

The culprit behind the Faelrun-Hestella package loss incident was revealed.

As Haschal had suspected, the culprit was Peiryus.

The fairy guardian Eirnesia, estimated to be over fifteen hundred years old.

Without the constraints of Heaven’s Wall, she would have been a formidable opponent for the current Haschal, but she was being dragged away in a completely broken state, unable to resist.

Once he knew this, how could he just let it pass?

Peiryus sent undead created through necromancy to attack the escort procession, seized Eirnesia, and made her his subordinate.

It wasn’t a difficult task at all.

If she had been in a normal state, it might have been different, but Eirnesia had been so damaged by Faelrun’s torture that her self-identity, formed over more than a thousand years, was completely shattered.

Just looking at the marks left on her body, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that every torture that could be inflicted on a fairy had been compiled on her single body.

Subjugating such a being’s soul and forming a contract of obedience was an extremely simple task for Peiryus.

“…If she’s broken, isn’t she useless?”

“That’s easily fixed. It’s a simple matter.”

Limbs, eyeballs, skin, and teeth could be replaced by cultivating and transplanting homunculi, and depleted life force could be replenished by converting the soul of a half-fairy in her womb into magical power.

Even her shattered self-identity could be forcibly restored, given that a contract of obedience had been established.

Only one problem remained.

“However, regenerating her ears will be a bit tricky. If the connection with the World Tree is restored, that tree might notice our tampering.”

Peiryus had absolute confidence in his techniques, but his opponent was a divine entity possessing divinity, albeit in the form of a tree.

If it detected the contract of obedience he had implanted, it could immediately intervene and break it.

Therefore, regenerating her ears was a matter that needed to be handled with caution.

“I’m not sure. Whether it’s worth all that trouble…”

“The value is sufficient. If I can perfectly subjugate a guardian-level fairy, I might find a way to bring down Alvheim, which the World Tree protects like an iron fortress.”

That was why Peiryus had kidnapped Eirnesia and made her an apostle.

To closely examine the mental connection between the World Tree and fairies, and to find a way to influence the World Tree through fairies by tracing this connection.

If successful, he could temporarily sever the connection between the World Tree and fairies, reducing all fairies to powerless beings as if their ears had been cut off.

If he could maintain that state for even half a day, bringing down Alvheim wouldn’t be such a difficult task.

“The Empire’s new weapons are surprisingly powerful, but they alone would struggle against ‘high-level spirits.’ So, we should also devise appropriate measures.”

Peiryus paused briefly, then declared with a confident tone:

“The barrier will soon break.”

The destruction of the fourth Heaven’s Wall.

# Five and Six

“…So, don’t you think I’m right?”

A rough voice like sandpaper scraping against metal.

After the apostle meeting ended, the fifth apostle Bernard Feiler made a private call to the sixth apostle.

It was a secret communication not disclosed even to Peiryus.

“Indeed… he’s different from before. So different. Almost like a completely different person.”

The sixth apostle clicked his tongue in response.

Unlike during the apostle meeting where they had growled at each other while discussing their identities, his voice now contained no hostility.

“In the past, he would have immediately mediated when conflicts arose between apostles… but you saw it earlier. He just remained silent.”

“Yes. He did. It was good that we deliberately started an argument.”

Their quarrel had been intentional. A performance to see Peiryus’s reaction. And Peiryus had shown exactly the reaction they had expected.

A response of silence and disregard.

“The harmony of the apostles… at least, he no longer feels the need to ensure we don’t clash with each other. Unlike before. What do you think that means?”

“…When hunting season ends, hunting dogs are no longer needed.”

The sixth apostle answered with a bitter tone. Being discarded after use. There seemed to be no other reason.

From the beginning, he didn’t care what happened to the other apostles, so whether they fought or not was of no concern to him.

Just look at his attitude when discussing the deaths of the eighth and third.

The other apostles showed emotional reactions to their deaths. Whether shock, mourning, or joy.

But what about Peiryus?

He simply relayed their deaths to the other apostles in a businesslike manner, and without any sign of disturbance, immediately brought in a new apostle.

Almost as if he had been waiting for it.

‘…Moreover, these newly recruited apostles are beings whose very souls are subordinate to Peiryus.’

Valenstein, who took the eighth position, and Eirnesia, who would take the third position.

Both apostles had soul-level subordination contracts placed on them, meaning that if Peiryus wished, he could manipulate and even stop their breathing or thoughts at will.

Unlike the other apostles who were bound by looser relationships like gratitude or cooperation contracts, allowing them to betray Peiryus if they could handle the consequences.

What could that mean?

“He plans to remove apostles who oppose his will using the ‘Variable,’ and fill those positions with slaves who absolutely obey him.”

“…Yes. So, we too should prepare.”

Bernard whispered in a low tone.

After a long silence, the sixth apostle expressed agreement.

Though they couldn’t be certain yet, they needed to establish some safety measures in case Peiryus decided to discard them all.

“…What about the ‘Fourth’? Do you plan to persuade him as well?”

“How could I trust that frivolous fellow? He’s excluded. He’ll live or die according to his own fate.”

To the sixth apostle’s question about bringing the 4th apostle into their fold, Bernard firmly expressed his refusal.

Saying how could he trust such an important matter to a young man who openly displayed his short-sightedness and arrogance.

“That’s fortunate.”

The sixth apostle agreed. With a tone suggesting it was extremely fortunate.

Arrogant and haughty humans tend to be isolated and ostracized from groups. This was no different for the apostles.

After all, they too were human.