episode_0297

—Cheo-jeo-jeo-jeok! Jjeo-jeok! Jjeo-jeo-jeo-jeo-jeo-jeok!

Ea, having swallowed the Goddess’s Holy Sword, clung on in a grotesque form.

Suckkkkkkkk…! Suckkkkkk…! Suckkkkkk…!

And then, as if sucking up life force, it began to suck up the entire Holy Sword.

—Paaaaaaaahhh…!!!!

Afterward, having seemingly achieved sufficient energy intake, Ea transformed along with the Holy Sword, still in its swallowed state.

“It’s complete. The Thanatos Holy Sword.”

Shuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…!!!

The creature ultimately transformed the Holy Sword into a bizarre form.

The changed Holy Sword is named Thanatos.

“Good, then let’s test my qualifications one last time…”

Thud, thud, thud,

Antoine, still gleaming with golden light in his eyes, slowly approached Thanatos.

The Holy Sword can only be drawn by those who have received the Goddess’s revelation and possess the corresponding qualifications.

The Thanatos Holy Sword is the same. Just because it has transformed into the Thanatos Holy Sword doesn’t mean anyone can draw it.

It’s just that the qualification requirements have changed.

“For this day, I abandoned my benefactor, I abandoned my friends, and I abandoned my family.”

That qualification is like Judah Thanatos, the cursed hero.

It requires a person who possesses impure thoughts deep within their soul.

Only the opposite of a sacred hero can be chosen by the Thanatos Holy Sword.

Grab!

Antoine Dessel Oublian finally gripped the hilt of the Holy Sword Thanatos.

—Paooooooooohhhhhhh!!!!

Then, the divine power within Thanatos soared like flames.

—Hwi-oooooooohhhhhhh!!!

Then, it devoured the body of Antoine, who was gripping it.

“Kkeueueueueueut!!!!”

It was tremendous energy, aggressive energy filled with animosity.

“I am your master, Thanatos! Follow my command! Follow this twisted ego’s soul!!!!”

Clenchhhh!!!

Thanatos, in the form of flames, was trying to devour Antoine, who dared to try and seize it.

Antoine imprinted a clear hierarchy upon such Thanatos, unleashing tremendous force.

—Paaaaaaaaaaat!!!!

At that moment, a flash of the Holy Sword Thanatos, as if exploding, filled Paramis’s Sky Altar,

Whooooosh…! Whooooosh…! Whooooosh…!

As the flash subsided, what covered the screen again was an energy storm with a vortex-like feel.

“Keu keu keu keu keut…!”

The silhouette of Antoine, who had drawn the Holy Sword Thanatos within the energy storm,

His body’s silhouette changed.

“For the first time in a thousand years, a hero has been born!”

This is because the hero’s brilliant armor was draped over Antoine’s body.

Antoine, who had taken the meaning of the Judah clan and had been preparing and longing for this, finally became a hero against the will of the Goddess.

“Sister! What’s wrong!!????”

And at that point, the eyes of Bishop Sister Charlotte flashed with golden light, emitting radiance.

Eugene Schneider was startled, having been by her side.

He immediately took care of his beloved older sister.

“Could it be…?”

Unlike Eugene, Elf Priscilla seemed to feel an unusual sense of déjà vu from Charlotte’s appearance.

[A hero… is born… a hero who defies the will of the Goddess…]

Soon, Charlotte, emitting golden light in her eyes, announced the birth of the hero as if reciting a prophecy.

“Charlotte has entered a stable state, Eugene. And this mother has confirmed that she has fallen asleep.”

Duchess Marianne, in her pajamas and hastily throwing on a fur coat, spoke to Eugene Schneider, who was standing there anxiously.

Charlotte, reacting to the hero’s descent and announcing that fact, soon lost consciousness.

This was a phenomenon created because tremendous energy acted on her body momentarily.

“I see. That’s a relief, Mother… My sister’s appearance as she collapsed was so breathtaking…”

“Yes, it can be like that for someone seeing it for the first time. But it’s okay. It’s a common occurrence for nuns when their spiritual experience rises, even if it’s not like this.”

“By the way, Mother, you must be very tired, I’m so sorry… I woke you up completely…”

“Hohoho! This mother is just feeling good to be looking at this beautiful early winter night sky with our son, right?”

Immediately after Charlotte collapsed, Duchess Marianne rushed out of her tent.

Because she possessed such tremendous divine power, she was able to catch the abnormality in her eldest daughter’s divine power even while sleeping.

“I see, the descent of a hero.”

Eugene Schneider, having confirmed that Charlotte was safe, informed his mother, Duchess Marianne, of the news of the hero’s descent.

“The hero’s descent was only a matter of time, and I’m more concerned about the additional details than that, Mother. The words ‘a hero who defied the will of the Goddess.’”

However, from Eugene’s perspective, the key keyword in the current situation seems to be a hero who defied the will of the Goddess.

“A hero who defied the will of the Goddess?”

Hearing those words, Marianne’s eyes widened as if she had a sense of déjà vu.

“Is there something you have in mind, Mother?”

Eugene naturally asked about the reason.

“When sealing the dimensional rift at the Paramis Sky Altar… Ulysses and I heard a mysterious voice in the process of the dimensional rift disappearing.”

The story that Duchess Marianne brought up in response to Eugene’s question was an episode from the Paramis Sky Altar.

That was none other than the voice of a Demon God.

“The mysterious voice said to the two of us like this. ‘This will create the foundation for the descent of a hero who defies the will of the Goddess…’”

The Demon God had been prophesying the descent of a corrupted hero to Ulysses and Marianne in their younger days.

“Really, Mother???”

“Yes, that’s right, Eugene Schneider…”

Eugene Schneider asked again with a sense of disbelief, and Marianne nodded slowly, confirming it.

‘This seems like too fatal a problem???’

The reason why Eugene Schneider couldn’t believe it,

When he heard the story of the Sky Altar dimensional rift from Marianne last time, he said that the Guangmyeong Goddess Society side quietly brushed it over, being secretive.

However, if the descent of a corrupted hero was actually prophesied and Marianne had reported it to the Holy See, it seems clear that there would have been a very big uproar.

“They reported that to the Holy See, but did they just let it slide over because of the Guangmyeong Goddess Church’s status???”

So, Eugene Schneider immediately confirmed with Marianne.

“…..”

At that moment, Marianne was silent for a moment.

“The Holy See did not know that fact, Eugene. Because this mother did not report it separately.”

Afterward, Marianne revealed an unexpected story in a low voice.

‘What is this again????’

Eugene Schneider’s eyes widened even more because of this.

Marianne in her younger days, whom he knew, was a fervent nun beyond Charlotte.

She was literally an FM nun, so if she heard the prophecy of the corrupted hero’s descent, wouldn’t it have been obvious that she would immediately report it to the Holy See to take action?

“I decided to remain silent on my own because I was worried that a big spark would fly on Ulysses, who carried out the mission with me, Eugene…”

In front of Eugene Schneider’s expression of disbelief, Marianne slightly closed her eyes and conveyed her intentions in a candid tone.

“To Father…?”

Eugene Schneider’s expression changed from the widened eyes of before to a questioning look at the unexpected reason.

“At that time, Ulysses, who had just become a Sword Master, was beginning to gain fame and was facing the opposite public opinion.”

Marianne slowly began to reveal the reason for her decision at the time.

“One side was expectations and praise for Ulysses, who was pursuing a new format, and the other side was connecting him with the Divine Nation and viewing Ulysses as a heresy. In particular, the Guangmyeong Goddess Society did not express it outwardly, but it leaned heavily toward the latter.”

Past Sword Masters were born from those belonging to the Imperial Knights or the Holy Knights of the Holy See.

Ulysses was an oddball among oddballs, and not just any Sword Master, but the youngest ever, and furthermore, the strongest Sword Master. In other words, the public opinion of the Holy See surrounding him was truly close to a time bomb.

“In that situation, if I reported what I experienced on the field as it was, Ulysses, who had no power at the time, would have been in great trouble for a long time. This mother didn’t want to create such a situation.”

Among the radical public opinions related to Ulysses, there was also content that because he was a member of the cursed Atlantis race, he would one day bring a great disaster to the Elysium Empire as well.

At the time, Ulysses’s acceptance of requests such as the Paramis Sky Altar and the Enklema Demon God’s solar eclipse was also for the purpose of dispelling such public opinion.

“Hmm… I see, Mother…”

Nod, nod, nod,

Eugene Schneider, having heard Marianne’s candid recollection, nodded slowly.

‘I think Mother was more friendly to Father than I thought at the time? Isn’t it difficult to make such a decision right away unless you’re that friendly?’

It was a nod that suppressed the surging curiosity.

Last time, when he heard briefly that 20-year-old Marianne had been offered a joint mission with Ulysses, Marianne was already quite friendly to Ulysses.

However, even taking that into account, the fact that she independently silenced it because Ulysses might be in trouble seems to be more than Eugene thought.

“Is there something else you don’t understand…?”

At that moment, Marianne also noticed Eugene’s state of doubt and reacted cautiously.

“Ah! Then, in the end, are Father and Mother the only ones who know about that incident? Have you ever told it to anyone else since then?”

There were a lot of questions, but Eugene thought that it wasn’t that important in the current situation, so he hurriedly glossed over it and asked another question.

“I kept it a secret for a while. Then there was an opportunity to tell one person.”

And judging from the expression on Marianne’s face when she received the question, it seemed like this question was what she wanted.

“Could it be…?”

Eugene also had a hunch about what was happening due to Marianne’s reaction.

“Yes, Eugene. I told the Duke. I had to ask for his understanding as I started researching dimensional rifts.”

As expected, another person who knew about the prophecy of the hero who defied the will of the Goddess was Marianne’s husband, Antoine Dessel Oublian.

“The Demon God’s crystal has shown a reaction. It seems that a hero has descended.”

Demon King’s Castle,

This is a space that Mephisto Bellator devoted a long time to, believing in prophecies.

He reported the current situation he had collected to his lord, Demon King Mina, who was enshrined there.

The Demon God’s crystal is a giant prophecy stone passed down through the Bellator family.

[Through the mental eye that the Demon God engraved, I too felt the descent of the hero.]

Demon King Mina, sitting on the Demon King’s throne, looked out the window of the Demon King’s castle and answered.

[He is a person who threatens not only my life but also you, my family, and even the demon people.]

Sighhh…!

Demon King Mina rose from the Demon King’s throne.

[Then this will be sufficient justification to raise troops. I will build the glory of the demons once again on the Fedon Continent.]

Demon King Mina will fulfill the long-cherished wish of the demons that has been going on for 1000 years.