Chapter 72: Second Miracle (3)

A Little While Ago

The Holy Kingdom

National Holy Treatment Center

One of the Apostles of Alia, Apostle Radan, poured all his holy power into the patient lying in front of him.

A disease where the body rapidly petrifies, turning into stone, leading inevitably to death. Even with treatment from a high priest or a saint, the chances of survival were extremely low—a most dreadful disease.

And this man, receiving treatment from Radan, was no exception.

“Wake up….”

Sweat poured down his face as he infused more holy power, but the man showed no signs of opening his eyes.

“Wake up already…!”

The man lay motionless, like a corpse. At a glance, one might think he was already dead.

“…Such a pity,” murmured a priestess who had been assisting him, wiping his sweat.

“What is so pitiable?” 

Radan, focused on his treatment, asked with a sense of curiosity.

The priestess picked up the patient’s personal records that lay nearby. “This patient has been married for just a year. He’s a newlywed.”

“A newlywed, huh.”

Less than a year into what should have been the happiest time of his life, after reaching the blessing known as marriage, this man faced death, struck down by the accursed disease.

“So what does that matter?”

Radan didn’t find this patient particularly pitiful.

“There are many cases far more tragic. You’ve seen them, too, haven’t you?”

This National Holy Treatment Center, which Radan oversaw, was the frontline for treating the common people of the Holy Kingdom.

He had encountered many patients whose circumstances were far more tragic than the man before him.

And most of them did not survive.

‘No matter how great the holy power of Alia that accompanies me, there is a limit to the lives I can save.’

Though he had spent a long time trying to save this patient, even if his treatment failed and the man died, even if his young wife became a widow, Radan would not feel sorrow.

He would soon forget about it, for even more tragic cases would continue to pour in.

“But there’s more… Just yesterday, this patient’s wife gave birth.”

“…?”

The flow of holy power, which was flowing from Radan’s hands into the patient’s body, briefly faltered.

“A child… was born?”

Could she have given birth alone, even as her husband lay on the brink of death from this petrifying disease?

“A healthy daughter, they say. The patient himself is unaware of it, though…”

Radan felt a knot form somewhere deep in his chest.

“…Get up!”

With a sudden burst, he released a dense concentration of holy power into the patient.

“I, Radan, Apostle of Alia, command you to rise from your bed!”

He was now biting his lip so hard it began to bleed.

“You must rise and see your daughter! Watch her grow and see who she marries, isn’t that what you want?”

“S-Sir Apostle! Your lip…!”

The priestess hastily wiped the blood from Radan’s lips with a cloth, but she couldn’t bring herself to heal the wound, fearing it might interfere with his treatment.

Then—

A twitch.

“…!”

The body of the man, which had been still, moved.

“Yes! That’s it! Rise!”

Radan continued pouring holy power into the man for a long time. He had hope that the man would soon open his eyes.

But…

“…”

Even after a long while, the man showed no signs of awakening.

“Sir Apostle… perhaps it’s time to let go.”

“You have done all you can. This man is beyond saving…”

The priests who had been watching his desperate treatment came to urge him to stop.

The man’s revival seemed hopeless.

With a heavy thud, Radan slumped into a chair, his eyes vacant.

‘My treatment is the last hope in the Holy Kingdom. If I cannot save this man, his life will simply end.’

Other priests would pass their most severe patients to a higher priest if they could not save them.

But when he, the Apostle at the pinnacle of the priesthood, gave up on a patient, there was no further recourse.

“I…”

Radan could not bring himself to declare the end of the treatment.

“Sir Apostle!”

At that moment, a young priest burst into the treatment center, holding a device in his hands.

“I have found a way!”

All the priests’ eyes turned toward the young priest.

“…A way?”

Radan, who had been hanging his head low, lifted it slightly.

“Are you saying there is a way?”

“Yes!”

The priest presented the device he was holding to Radan.

“…Rudera’s Connection Device?”

Even Radan, busy with his duties, had heard about Rudera, the hottest topic on the continent.

“At midnight today, in about ten minutes from now, Rudera’s GM will personally heal those who are connected to Rudera!”

“GM will provide healing…”

Radan stared blankly at the device.

“Do you have any sense left in you? You’re blessed by Alia, and now you want to believe in some strange god?”

The head priestess scolded the young priest.

“But this patient has no other options! If we can save him, shouldn’t we try anything?”

“Such decisions rest with Alia! Relying on the gods of heretics is itself a heresy and an act of apostasy!”

As the priests’ argument grew heated—

“Let’s try it.”

Radan, still holding the device, muttered quietly.

“…What?”

“Yes, Sir Radan!”

He slowly approached and placed the connection device on the patient’s head, activating it.

A soft hum filled the air as the unconscious patient began to connect to Rudera.

Radan gazed blankly at the patient.

This was a choice he would never have made under normal circumstances.

He had devoted his entire life to Alia, healing patients with her holy power. 

Even if he had to give up on a patient, he would never have turned to another god.

And yet, Radan had made the choice to use the device, as if grasping at straws.

Even if it meant becoming an apostate, he desperately wanted to save the patient before him.

‘On what they called the [Day of Miracles], I heard many were healed by the benevolence of the GM.’

On that day, when those with Rudera’s potions were cured, many of Radan’s patients also recovered.

‘Maybe, just maybe, it could happen again.’

After a brief wait, the time announced by the GM arrived.

“This is unbelievable!”

“It’s a miracle!”

“Oh, Alia!”

The petrified traces on the man’s body began to dissolve, revealing healthy skin beneath.

It wasn’t forcibly melting the stone skin away.

It was restoring the corrupted skin back to its original state and allowing new flesh to grow.

‘A true miracle… one even an Apostle cannot achieve.’

Even Radan, who had healed countless patients, found this sight hard to believe.

The light of the GM had indeed brought true healing.

The priests present cried out the name of their god, Alia, but they all knew the truth.

The one who had brought forth this miracle was not their god, but the GM.

The Next Day

Radan sat in his chair, staring blankly at the sky.

When the man suffering from the petrifying disease was healed, not only him but everyone who had connected to Rudera was cured.

Unlike the paltry treatments he had provided, they had been freed from all diseases and disabilities.

‘What have I been doing all this time?’

Radan clenched and unclenched his hands repeatedly.

‘My Alia has never performed such a healing.’

He had dedicated his life to her, risen to the position of Apostle, and tirelessly worked to save those who believed in her.

‘But so many I could not save.’

Many patients had survived thanks to his healing, but just as many, if not more, had died despite his best efforts.

Despite being chosen by an almighty god, he could not save them all.

Yet the GM had brought salvation to the entire continent.

He saved everyone who believed in him and entered Rudera.

Unlike Alia, his god.

Those who believed in the GM and connected to Rudera were all healed, while those who did not remain afflicted by their ailments.

Many of Alia’s devout followers did not connect and thus did not experience the miracle.

Could Alia, whom he had worshiped all his life, truly be the answer?

Might there be another answer?

‘If so…’

With a rustling sound,

‘I will find that answer.’

Determined, Radan picked up the connection device.

“Forgive your unworthy servant, Alia.”

With a hum, the device activated.

Once the most devout servant of Alia, Apostle Radan.

He threw himself into the realm of the heretics’ god, the GM.

And then…

As he wandered through Rudera, searching for answers to his faith,

“It’s good to see you, Kenyon.”

“I go by Canyon now. It’s been a long time since we met in person.”

He met a kindred spirit on the fifth floor of the Tower of the Labyrinth.

Someone who had also questioned the god they once served.