Seal Release (3)

The man had already been running for three days and nights.

If he were an ordinary person, it wouldn’t be strange if he had collapsed and died.

Yet, he squeezed out holy power to dull the pain and

Forcibly bent and stretched his creaking joints as he ran and ran.

He had to arrive before it was too late and pray for the child.

Otherwise,

“Oh God…”

This is what would happen.

“Is it already too late?”

Ordinary people might not be able to see it, but

To his eyes, as a former paladin and now a high priest,

He could clearly see the red and black malice draped like dark clouds above the mansion.

“It has been released.”

He hurried towards the mansion.

Fortunately, the mansion’s owner had spread a veil to prevent the evil energy from leaking out.

“You were a good person. Thank God.”

Holding the cross in his left hand and placing his right hand on the veil, he offered a prayer.

-Crack!

A small crack appeared in the veil.

The man immediately threw his body at it.

-Whoosh!

Passing through the veil and striding towards the source,

He shouted at the mansion’s personnel who were in the midst of battle.

“Everyone, step back! I’ll handle this!”

“???”

Of course, Ethan and the children looked at him with expressions that said ‘Who is this person?’

But the man focused only on one person.

“Ciel, stop this at once!”

His target was the black-haired, red-eyed woman.

Then,

“Ah, what! Why is the old man here?”

“Return to your place obediently! Do you want to taste pain again!”

“No! I don’t want to!”

“Return!!!”

He raised his cross and chanted a prayer.

“Aaargh!!!”

At the same time, the priest instructed a brave-looking boy:

“You there! Give me Elyssia’s necklace!”

The boy handed over the necklace without a word.

While raising his own cross with his left hand,

He placed Elyssia’s necklace on his forehead with his right hand and muttered.

“I hate you, old man! Hate! Hate!!!”

Even more powerful skeletons rushed at him all at once to stop him, but

As soon as they touched the bright holy light spread around the priest, they collapsed.

The light spread, purifying the murky energy.

“Hiyah!!!”

“Come down and crawl!”

“Really!”

Ciel, who was gradually getting closer to the ground,

“I won’t hold back anymore!”

Just before touching the ground, she shook off the constricting holy power and

Emitted even greater evil energy.

“What!”

As the pitch-black mist rushed towards the group,

“Borka! The veil!”

“Yes!”

The small girl deployed high-level magic.

-Boom! Thud! Thud!

No sooner had she done so than a mass of skeletons rushed in and pounded on the barrier.

However, it didn’t break through, so they gained a moment to catch their breath.

Thud thud thud.

The boy walked over.

“Who are you?”

He glared at him with an annoyed expression.

‘At least his eyes are alive.’

He thought he must be a servant employed by the mansion’s owner who was entrusted with Elyssia.

Or perhaps an apprentice knight.

Whatever he was, he seemed ridiculous to the former knight.

‘He seems to be just a greenhorn, he should know how lucky he is.’

So he decided to overlook this one instance of rudeness.

“…A priest of the Holy Spirit Realm.”

“I can see that at a glance. I asked who you are.”

‘Look at this guy?’

Emboldened by his master’s radiance,

Even though he answered that he was a priest of the Holy Spirit Realm, he was impudently prying into personal matters.

“Do I have to tell my name to a blood clot like you?”

“What? Oh come on…”

Just as the boy was about to say something with a dejected laugh,

-Crash!

The veil shattered.

“Let’s argue later.”

The priest focused his mind and

Chanted the prayer again.

But in the face of the endlessly surging evil energy,

It was no more than a handful of sand castle erected before the waves.

‘What’s the deal with this guy?’

Ethan felt his anger rising but held it back.

He could have calmed it with his composure stat, but

‘Why should I?’

This time, he decided to express his emotions instead of suppressing them.

Of course, the stat activated and calmed him down before he could blurt out curses in his anger.

It seemed to apply automatically to prevent unconscious rash actions.

Just as he was about to argue a bit more,

Borka’s veil couldn’t withstand the intensified evil energy’s erosion.

-Crash!

“Let’s argue later.”

Still, thanks to the priest, they were able to buy some time.

‘Right, let’s deal with Ciel or whatever first.’

Ethan swallowed his pride.

“Priest.”

“Don’t talk to me, it’s distracting.”

“That necklace, do we just need to put it around her neck?”

“It’s not that simple! Getting close to Ciel is a task in itself. First, we need to endure the evil energy and when Ciel lets her guard down, in that moment-, hey, you!”

Ethan snatched the necklace.

He immediately ran out.

‘Kids, let me ask for a favor.’

[The World Tree’s root confidently says to leave it to them.]

[‘Maintenance’ swears to do its best for the user!]

The World Tree’s energy flowed from the <Armor of Earth>.

Even the evil energy that tries to fly and adhere when it detects life force backs down before the World Tree’s energy.

Ethan, advancing while cutting through the evil energy,

“Kenny! The golem!”

“Yes! Hayang!”

While the other golems stopped functioning as their mana was drained by the evil energy,

Hayang, who had received Elyssia’s blessing and was imbued with strong holy power, was fine even in the flood of evil energy.

-Boom!

Hayang knelt on its right knee and stretched both arms upward like stairs.

‘As expected of Kenny. We’re on the same wavelength, aren’t we?’

“What are you up to!”

The enraged Ciel sent some skeletons to pound on it.

Hayang wouldn’t be able to endure for long.

Ethan ran straight to the golem and leaped.

“Wh-What!”

Ciel tried to move away quickly.

But it was too late.

Holding the necklace properly,

He prepared to put it around Ciel’s neck.

But then,

“N-No!!!”

‘This is…’

A cry as if writhing in pain.

Ethan, in his <Thought Acceleration> state, thought,

‘She’s rejecting it too desperately?’

That appearance was too human-like.

Although emitting and freely controlling large amounts of evil energy was like a demon,

Ciel’s actions were just those of a young girl.

‘If I put the necklace on her like this, she’ll calm down, right?’

But if we do that,

We won’t know why she suddenly burst out and caused this mess.

After careful consideration, Ethan came to a conclusion.

“I won’t put it on.”

“…What?”

“I’m not going to force the necklace on you.”

Instead,

-Bonk!

“Ugh!”

He lightly tapped Ciel’s crown with the end of the cross necklace.

A so-called holy bonk.

Ciel fell like a fly hit with insecticide.

The girl fell limply.

However,

-Soft.

“Phew, are you okay?”

“Y-Yes.”

With Ethan tightly hugging Ciel,

They landed lightly on the grass field that Borka had raised.

So no one was hurt.

“H-Hey, boy! It’s dangerous to hold Ciel…”

“How is this child dangerous?”

“This is no joke! Let go of her immediately!”

Now that he had strengthened the seal with prayer,

If only the necklace was put on, it would be over.

But the boy arrogantly didn’t put the necklace on.

Poke poke.

“Hey, big brother. Why are you okay?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“No, everyone who touched me was in pain or suffering.”

Instead, they were having a normal conversation.

‘It’s true. How?’

Even most cardinals can’t have more than three exchanges with Ciel.

That’s what it means to have inherent evil in one’s very existence.

Every word and action contains evil energy,

And even if Ciel didn’t intend it, it easily corrupts people.

But the boy was fine.

“Oh, that?”

He answered with a slight smile.

“Let’s just say I’m a bit special.”

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

“No.”

“You don’t hear voices in your head saying things like ‘Kill!’ or ‘Burn the world!’ either?”

“Nope.”

Ciel, nestled in Ethan’s arms, clasped her hands together,

And looked at him with sparkling eyes.

“Hey, you said your name was Ciel, right?”

“Yes!”

“Should we put those skeletons back in place first?”

Ciel nodded obediently, surprisingly.

With a few gestures from her, all the skeletons turned around.

The sight of the skeletons walking back to the depths of the backyard was somewhat creepy, but

At least the problem was resolved, so they could breathe a sigh of relief.

“How old are you, by the way?”

“Ten! I’m twins with big sister.”

“Big sister?”

“I mean Elyssia. I know, we don’t look alike, right?”

Not just ‘not alike’, they looked so different you wouldn’t even think they were twins.

‘No, come to think of it, should I say they’re opposites?’

White hair and black hair, blue eyes and red eyes.

Pure smile and seductive laugh.

Weren’t they contrary in every aspect?

Yet,

“No, you do look alike.”

There was a subtle resemblance.

“Really?”

“Yes, the atmosphere from your way of speaking is similar. If Elyssia became a bit more of a tomboy, she’d be just like you, Ciel.”

“What~ That’s not good.”

“Is that so?”

Then, a bit differently from before,

Ciel smiled with an expression that seemed unsure of what to do.

“But thank you!”

She curled up her body tightly and then sprang up like a spring, hugging Ethan tightly.

Ethan gently patted her back.

[Character Information: Ciel]

‘As expected, she has a story too.’

He turned on <Thought Acceleration> and quickly skimmed through the story.

「In a small village called Martiville on the hill of St. Martinus in the Holy Spirit Realm,

A mother gave birth to twins and died.

The villagers mourned but were also very curious because

Despite both parents having brown hair, one child had white hair and the other black.

It was as if the story from the scriptures where light and darkness were born from the same being.

The twins grew up like a myth.

The white-haired child, Elyssia, always made the villagers laugh with her warm atmosphere.

The black-haired child, Ciel, unlike her sister, was somewhat gloomy and timid, making people frown.

Of course, until then, there was no major problem for the twins’ family.

The year the two children turned six,

A group of bandits called the ‘Red Armband Gang’, repelled from Ligrion, crossed the border and invaded Martiville.

The village burned, and the children’s father died fighting while blocking the entrance after hiding the two children in the basement.

By the time the church’s priests and paladins drove out the bandits, the only survivors in the village were the two children.

Elyssia, taken in by the church, was recognized for her innate abilities and moved to the church-affiliated orphanage in Saraville.

Ciel gained a place to live on the side thanks to her sister.

However, just as her sister was born with excellent ‘holy adaptability’,

Ciel also had an innate talent from birth:

The ability to handle evil energy.

The year they turned nine,

Ciel couldn’t handle the evil energy that had gathered and condensed inside her body, and went berserk.

In the cemetery on the hill opposite the orphanage, the dead entangled in Ciel’s evil energy woke from their deep sleep and marched on Saraville.

This was Ciel’s ability, named ‘The Great March of the Dead’.

The church leadership thoroughly discussed the danger of the ability and what would happen if Ciel was tainted by demons and blossomed into a demon race,

And reached the serious conclusion that ‘the church’s power cannot stop it’.

In response, the Pope, cardinals, and high priests unanimously resolved to seal Ciel.

They lured Ciel through Sir David, the sisters’ patron, and successfully sealed her after mobilizing 12 holy relics with prepared cardinals and high priests.

Her body was sealed in the basement of the Papal Office surrounded by holy relics,

And her soul was separated and sealed in Elyssia’s body, which possessed strong holy power.

Afterwards, they erased the existence of her sister from Elyssia’s mind.

As long as the seal was maintained, the world would be safe.

The Holy Spirit Realm leadership was quite optimistic at that time.

…

Time passed and the Great War ended.

In the factional conflict within the Holy Spirit Realm, the Papal faction was defeated and the Bishop faction took real power.

The first thing they did was to shift all responsibility for the Great War onto the Papal faction.

The icon of the Papal faction was none other than the ‘Pure White Saint Elyssia’.

By poisoning the confined Elyssia, the Bishop faction raised the curtain on the great purge.

But soon they realized their mistake.

Ciel’s soul, sealed in Elyssia’s body, was released from its restraints with Elyssia’s death.

Ciel returned to her body enshrined in the basement of the Papal Office and woke from her long sleep,

“Aaaaaaaargh!!!”

She screamed in agony.

Ciel, who had experienced fear, despair, and death inside her sister’s body, went mad.

As key personnel were purged when the Bishop faction seized power, all beings capable of stopping the enraged Ciel had disappeared,

And in less than a week, the entire Holy Spirit Realm turned into a vast cemetery.

All of this was according to the calculations of the great demons and demon race.

…」

“???”

Realizing something was wrong, Ethan blinked his eyes.

‘No, what kind of story is this…’

The stories after the ending were all garbage without exception.