52
That was the last missing memory.
I remembered everything that happened at the Dark Church, including how the Dark God threw my severely wounded body into the middle of the [Day of Grace] ceremony. Daniel was the first to use healing magic on me, and I couldn’t stop him in time. In front of everyone, I was rejected by the divine power of the God of Light. The situation happened so suddenly that Hilier couldn’t respond. He couldn’t lift the Dark God’s curse, and with more and more believers convinced that I had betrayed the Church, his only option was to rely on the prophecy. He sent me away from Kairya City to find the prophesied ‘Savior,’ hoping that by doing so, I could prove my loyalty to the Church.
I wasn’t the only one sent on the mission to find the ‘Savior,’ but during our rest in Xinchou City, I felt a strange disturbance one night. Unconsciously, I traced it to the outskirts of the city. After that, my memory became a blank until I met Luke.
Now, thanks to the codex’s storyline, I finally saw what happened back then.
…
Dim white light gathered, and translucent tendrils hung down like ribbons. One tendril lightly touched the forehead of the man kneeling on the ground. The tendril had no weight, and the body it was attached to, made of light, flickered in and out of view. The voice in his mind was just as faint, so soft it was almost impossible to hear.
[They all pray to me, wishing for their desires to be fulfilled. But you have never asked me for anything, why?]
The blonde knight commander closed his eyes wearily. “Because wishes have a price. And I no longer have anything to offer you.”
[No, you do.]
“…Do I?”
He had lost his strength, his identity, and his actions had shamed his faith. He had broken his promises again and again, his hands stained with the blood of innocents. He had no idea what could still be worth the attention of the God of Light. But he soon opened his eyes again, and the dim light reflected in his blue eyes, sparking a faint glimmer. “If I have anything left that’s worth taking, please take it all.”
The white light gently hovered, and the voice asked, [What is your wish?]
“…Please forgive them for the sins they committed to keep the Church alive.”
[And?]
Alvin paused, confused. “And…?”
[Your soul is worth many wishes.]
“So, it’s my soul…” He lowered his gaze, but a small smile formed on his lips, as if the answer brought him some comfort. He calmly responded, “That wish is enough. Please take it.”
[Alright.]
Countless tendrils rose and pressed against his body. The white light drew closer, almost enveloping him. The intangible light began to distort, with the tendrils intertwining, forming a shape similar to his. The scene was soon filled with radiance, and in the midst of the brightness, the gentle voice of the God of Light echoed.
[My knight commander, lend me your soul. The day I return it to you, you can make one more wish.]
[A wish for yourself.]
53
“Alvin? …Alvin!”
I was jolted awake by a strong shake, and when I opened my eyes, Cooper’s face was right in front of me. His brows were furrowed, but as soon as he saw me come to my senses, he sighed in relief and complained, “What are you spacing out for? I almost thought that ugly thing had swallowed your soul!”
“It’s not ugly, it’s beautiful.” I reflexively argued.
“What?” Cooper shot a disgusted glance at the demon lord and questioned, “Are you alright in the head?”
“…” I came to my senses and pressed a hand to my brow. “Why are you here? Where’s Luke?”
“I didn’t see him, just you.” Cooper replied. “The Dark Church folks have arrived, led by Asa. They’re just outside the canyon. He says they’re here to help… Ha.” he scoffed, “Todd sent me to find you. I think he’s just worried I’ll get into a fight with that redhead if I stay over there!”
“Asa brought people to assist?” I repeated his words, feeling both puzzled and that it somehow made sense. After all, demons are a threat to the entire continent. The Church of Light and the Dark Church had worked together sixty years ago, so it wasn’t impossible for it to happen again.
But just a few days ago, Luke and I had gone to Layton City and fought Asa. Neither Asa nor the Dark God seemed like the forgiving type…
I hurried back to the canyon entrance, but I didn’t see any Dark Church members. All I saw were rows upon rows of Bright Church tents. The camp, which could accommodate nearly thirty thousand people, seemed endless. It wasn’t until I reached the edge that I spotted a section of black tents mixed with the white ones, about… a thousand people.
A thousand people seemed like far too few, but after closer inspection, I noticed that all of them were level 70 or above—clearly elites. Even the Church of Light only had about two thousand people over level 70, half of whom were currently at the Eastern Canyon. So, when I did the math, Asa had brought about as many people as he could while still keeping the rear secure.
Asa was leaning against a tree, not wearing his hood, with black mist still swirling around him. I now knew that this mist was the Dark God, and it put me on guard. Perhaps sensing this, Asa sharply turned his head and glanced at me, waving. “We meet again, Captain~”
As he spoke, the black mist around him stirred, and a few tendrils quietly stretched toward me, creeping along the ground.
I warily watched the spreading mist, still unsure how to respond when Cooper suddenly drew his spear and stabbed downward, pinning the fastest tendril to the ground. He stared at the writhing appendage in disgust and asked, “What is this gross thing?!”
Me: “…”
Asa: “…”
Cooper’s spear was one of the Church’s inherited weapons, also blessed by the God of Light. I wasn’t sure if it could harm the Dark God directly, but it was clear that He couldn’t easily break free—just like how Abel’s Holy Spirit had pierced the Dark God’s tendrils with [Dawn].
This gave me a strange feeling.
The Dark God didn’t seem… as strong as He appeared.
Under my gaze, that tendril struggled for a few seconds before going limp, and then more tendrils shot up—aimed straight at Asa.
Asa’s smile almost faltered.
I cleared my throat. “Cooper, put away your spear.”
Cooper glanced at me, said nothing, and obediently pulled the spear out of the ground. The tendril, now free, quickly retracted.
Asa pretended like nothing had happened and, for once, seriously bowed. “Sir Alvin, I have come under orders from His Holiness, the Pope, hoping to form an alliance with the Church of Light to seal the demon lord together.”
I didn’t respond immediately.
He seemed to see through my doubts and reined in his posture, smiling as he added, “Perhaps I should put it another way… My teacher said he ‘accidentally’ did something excessive to you, Captain. To avoid conflict between the Light and Dark Churches, he specifically sent me with an apology gift. Would you be willing to accept it?”
Lais…
I still had my doubts, but Asa’s stance was so low that I could only retreat a step as well. “I was the one who stole the prophecy first, so from the perspective of an enemy, it wasn’t exactly excessive…”
“Oh?” Asa interrupted me, pretending to be surprised. “So if I were to steal the original scriptures of the Bright Church and unfortunately get captured by you, would you also lock me in a dungeon, torture me for two months, curse me to wish for death, and then find a way to ruin my reputation?”
Me: “…”
Okay, maybe it was a bit excessive.
“…Regardless, thank you for coming to our aid.” I tried to ignore the gazes around me and calmly ordered Todd to arrange a camp for the Dark Church members. Todd gave me a long look, for once without any banter, and cheerfully went to chat with the people Asa had brought.
Asa seemed overly content with the arrangement, not even bothering to check on his subordinates, waving them off to follow Todd while he remained behind me.
Since we had formed an alliance, I couldn’t very well chase him away, so I asked, “Is there anything else?”
“I’m curious about your plan, Captain,” Asa said, his gaze sweeping over the rows of tents. “Or perhaps I should ask… how many people do you plan to sacrifice this time?”
“…”
I stopped walking and turned to look at him.
Asa fiddled with the ring on his finger and casually added, as if discussing the weather, “The ‘apology gift’ from the Dark Church is at your disposal. As for the conditions… well, that’s between your God and mine.”
“They’re the elite of the Dark Church.”
“Yes, the Church has carefully nurtured them for so long. It’s time for them to be put to use.” Asa replied with a smile, but his eyes were cold.
I didn’t know what to say and could only stay silent.
—Sending warriors onto the battlefield while hiding the fact that their fate was sealed wasn’t much different from what Asa was doing. What right did I have to criticize him? Besides, I couldn’t deny that a part of me was tempted by his offer. If I could sacrifice their souls, perhaps the Church of Light could reduce its own losses…
“Sounds nice, but you’re not planning to flee at the last minute again, are you?” Cooper suddenly spoke up, interrupting my thoughts. He nodded toward the Dark Church members and sneered, “If you’re not prepared to die here, then just follow your cowardly god and scram, instead of dragging us down!”
Me: “…”
Asa: “…”
I kept a wary eye on the black mist surrounding Asa, worried that the Dark God might strike at Cooper. But after a moment of swirling, the mist didn’t react. I began to wonder if it was even the Dark God at all or perhaps just a part of Him, like the relationship between demons and the demon lord?
Asa’s hand stilled on his ring, but his expression didn’t show any anger. He smiled as usual and replied, “Yes, my Lord isn’t as self-sacrificing as yours, pulling all of you along into the sacrifice… Ah, how admirable. Unfortunately, my Lord cherishes us. Every follower is precious to Him, and He can’t bear to use us the way you do.”
Cooper’s lips curled in a sneer. “Ha, your god sure has some special tastes, but hasn’t anyone told Him that no matter how much you cherish trash, it’s still just a pile of stinking garbage?”
Asa: “…”
I quickly intervened. “Cooper, don’t…”
“I didn’t use any bad words!” He snapped back before I could finish.
“You…” I glanced at the black mist and hurriedly came up with an excuse to send him away. “I’m here, so go check with Becken on the ballista setup.”
Cooper rolled his eyes dramatically, making sure I saw it before finally turning to leave.
Me: “…”
A sense of helplessness washed over me. I took a moment to steady myself and refocused on the task at hand. “The dark element conflicts with the light element, so they can’t be integrated into the Church of Light’s forces. Someone needs to lead them separately. I’ll assign your deployment soon.”
Asa stared at Cooper’s retreating back, lost in thought. After a few seconds, he suddenly snapped back and looked at me in surprise. “…Captain, you’re not seriously thinking of using them against the demon lord, are you?”
“There are no sacrificial lambs here, only warriors. That includes them.” I met Asa’s eyes. “I know we can’t defeat the demon lord, and I can’t promise you how far we’ll get, but any damage we can do to it is meaningful.”
The God of Light has fallen and has never answered my prayers, so I never believed that anything could be done by simply paying a price and expecting the gods to fulfill it for me. Every time I come to the Eastern Canyon, I see those statues and the knight commander who was backed into a corner. I understand more than anyone the gap between human strength and the demon lord, a gap created by the difference between species and natural enemies.
Only the gods can fight the demon lord.
But before a miracle arrives, there are still things that humans can do.
Asa’s vertical pupils dilated slightly before he smiled. “I’m only responsible for delivering the Dark Church’s ‘apology gift.’ How you use it is entirely up to you, Captain~”
“Alright.” I quickly calculated the current defense setup in each direction and asked, “Tell me how many people you have in each profession. How many of them have experience fighting demons, and what are their specialties? How many can operate magic-powered ballistae, and how accurate are they?”
Asa: “…”
His smile froze.
I suddenly had a bad feeling.
Sure enough, a second later, Asa raised his awkward yet dazzling smile again and said, “I have no idea!”
Me: “…”
You really are just here to deliver them, huh.
I took a deep breath, about to say something when I saw Cooper returning out of the corner of my eye. He was walking quickly, his expression tense, which made my heart sink. I hurriedly asked, “What happened?”
Cooper glanced at Asa before frowning at me and saying, “Selina’s here with a group from the Free Alliance. She specifically asked to see you. And a few mercenary groups came with her. They said they accepted a bounty from the Mercenary Guild—one gold coin for every demon they kill.”
Not all humans join the Church, and the Free Alliance is mostly made up of non-human races. The Mercenary Guild, like the Trade Association, is a neutral force among humans. Its members are scattered across the continent and lack cohesion, to the point where they can’t even count their own numbers.
The Mercenary Guild usually avoids issuing bounties on demons because there’s no profit to be gained from them, making the risk not worth it. This was the first time I’d heard of them offering bounties on demon hunting.
I thought for a moment and first asked Cooper, “How many people did Selina bring?”
Cooper answered loudly, as if worried Asa wouldn’t hear, “Not many, just five thousand—only five times as many as the Dark Church brought!”
Asa’s slightly improved expression immediately fell again, and he let out a disdainful laugh.
Me: “…”
“Understood. I’ll head over now.” I nodded to Cooper. To prevent another conflict between them, I firmly instructed him, “There’s nothing else here. Go help Becken with the ballista setup—”
“No need, I’ve come to find you.” Selina’s familiar raspy voice drew closer, accompanied by the sound of hooves. In the blink of an eye, she was right in front of us.
Cooper gripped his spear tightly and demanded, “Who let you through?!”
Selina ignored him, fixing her gaze on Asa with her eyebrows raised high. She snorted through her nose. “Why is this shameless redhead everywhere?”
Asa returned her sneer. “You recovered quickly, Commander. Did you trade your brain for it?”
“Answer me, criminal!”
“Adults are talking, so be quiet, brat!”
Me: “Stop arguing—”
“Shut up!”
Me: “…”
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