Chapter 980: Altanus (17)


    <em>‘Damn it.’</em>


    It was stronger than I thought. It was such a huge explosion that it damaged the inner part of my precious ear, and the mes that spread afterward were on a different level from the fire an ordinary ck mage could make.


    Actually, I wasn’t even sure if a ck mage was the one behind this.


    Interestingly, the explosion spread out immediately like a wave of darkness and devoured everything. If I were to exaggerate a bit, I''d say that it had a mind of its own.


    Before I could even scream, the fire that had its own will struck me like a wave.


    <em>‘Ah, is this… how…’</em>


    Was this the end of the Saint of Sacrifice, who had lived his entire life for the sake of others? Was the light that fought for the greater good going to disappear here like mist?


    Fortunately, Bahamut wasn''t going to stand by and watch the saint’s final moments.


    He covered me with his towering frame, and I saw hisrge arms wrapping around me. My vision went dark, and it was all because Bahamut had blocked the fire by embracing me. I was struggling to breathe; the mes had burned away the oxygen.The explosion covered a pretty big area, as it wasn’t just a simple terrorist attack.


    It filled the entire room, and I could hear screams everywhere. To make things worse, the fire had squeezed through the opening in Bahamut''s protection and attacked me.


    Bahamut had a massive frame, but there was no way he could protect me perfectly.


    “<em>Ack!</em>”


    I forced myself to swallow my screams because I knew that Bahamut was in more pain than me.


    “<em>Ugh…</em>”


    Despite that, I couldn''t stop myself from groaning.


    <em>Kaboom!</em>


    I heard something fall, and I assumed that the ceiling was copsing.


    Afterward, I heard a high-pitched noise, and then…


    “...!”


    “...!”


    The surroundings seemed to move backward as if everything was a tape that had been rewound.


    “<em>Ah…</em>”


    I saw a horrible sight before me.


    The Underground Temple, which had managed to maintain its long history, culture, and knowledge, waspletely destroyed.


    Lady Lucifer’s holy temple was destroyed as well.


    It was fortunate that the explosion had urred far from the social gathering hall.


    However, it seemed like the pitch-ck fire wasn''t going to go out anytime soon. To make matters worse, it was spreading while devouring everything in its path as if it were a demon.


    “Mr. Bahamut? Are you okay? Mr. Bahamut!” I shouted. I was worried about the person who had decided to protect me rather than my surroundings.


    “...”


    “...”


    “Are you hurt anywhere, Mr. Bahamut?” I asked.


    He wasn’t badly hurt. I wanted him to have burn scars, but his Endurance was pretty high, so I wasn''t expecting any of that. He could have internal injuries, so I became hopeful and examined him.


    Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be the case.


    <em>‘Still, I’m sure it was painful; he’s just pretending that he''s not in pain.’</em>


    He''d look bad if he were to make a fuss about pain.


    Regardless, I had to act like I was worried about him by exaggerating more than him and asking anxiously whether he was okay or not.


    Of course, it would be more effective if I was hurt because I could pretend like I was worried about him without realizing my own injuries.


    There was already a scar on one of my arms.


    The fire had enveloped him, so there could be burn scars like this all over him. At a nce, the injury looked excruciatingly painful, but I only cared about Bahamut right now.


    I could see some burn marks on him, so I mobilized my holy power.


    “O-Oh no…” I said shockingly.


    It wasn’t an ordinary burn injury, and it had to be purified as soon as possible. I was afraid that the mes had a horrifying side-effect simr to a gue. More importantly, I needed him to be aware of the work that I was putting in.


    “Father…” Bahamut mumbled.


    “Are you okay, Mr. Bahamut? If you wait a moment, I’ll…” I paused.


    “...”


    “I have to purify…”


    “Father!” Bahamut shouted.


    I finally realized that one of my arms was injured.


    “<em>Ah…</em>”


    <em>''Wow, I’m just too nice, but that pain isn''t as important as Baha-whatever’s injury.''</em>


    My voice shook as I replied, “I-I’m okay. More importantly—”


    “You have to get it treated right now,” Bahamut interrupted me.


    “What? B-But…”


    “Please hold on a little longer. I think it’s best to patch you up first,” Bahamut suggested.


    “Okay…”


    <em>‘At least he knows how to treat wounds.’</em>


    “...”


    “Your arm,” Bahamut requested.


    “Okay.”


    Once he was done patching me up, we left in a hurry.


    There were some difficulties due to the debris from the explosion, but Bahamut shoved them away with hisrge frame. The pitch-ck mes on the debris were clearly after the Priest of Prophecy.


    After putting out the fire that was reaching out toward me, Bahamut said, “It’s still dangerous.”


    He was right. It was still dangerous here, and he was probably worried about another round of terrorist attacks. He was calm—no, it was like he was trying his best to remain calm.


    “It wasn’t an ordinary me. Hellish mes… that’s darker… than the abyss…” I muttered with an edgy tone of voice.


    “...”


    “How could something like this happen in the Underground Temple… The others… Do you think the people at the social gathering hall are safe?” I asked.


    “I’m not certain. I hope I’m wrong, and I’m sure you felt it as well… but there aren’t a lot of demons capable of wielding this kind of fire. There''s probably a ck mage who had made a contract with the priest of Rembil. I don’t know how they entered the Underground Temple—”


    “No,” I interrupted him.


    “...”


    “T-This… isn’t the work of Rembil''s priest. We’ll have to wait and see, but…” I trailed off.


    “...”


    “The ck mage who has made a contract with a demon lord,” I continued.


    I suspected this to be the work of a ck mage who had made a contract with a demon lord or a squadron leader in a legion. The hellish me looked so ominous for it to be a simple terrorist attack.


    The shocking truth was finally revealed, and it was someone I could have never imagined.


    “<em>Blech…</em>” I started retching.


    “Are you okay?” Bahamut asked.


    “The stench…” I said.


    “What?”


    “The stench of the pitch-ck fire…” I rified.


    It was a nauseating stench that ordinary people couldn’t smell.


    Bahamut was confused, but I could smell it. It smelled of pure evil, and it had an ominous power that seemed capable of devouring everything.


    It was a deep, dark evil that made me tremble.


    “Are you all right?” Bahamut asked.


    “I’m not… really sure. Why…”


    And that was when I made one of my eyes shine…


    “Again…” I mumbled.


    <em>''I’ll stumble a bit here.''</em>


    Bahamut definitely knew what was going on, as I had told him that I''d sometimes see strange things after receiving Lady Lucifer''s divine message. I also told him that perhaps the strange scenes were the future.


    Bahamut told me that he believed me, and he had decided to trust my words after I mustered some courage and told him about it.


    <em>‘That’s the current situation.’</em>


    The Priest of Prophecy was looking at the future right now.


    “<em>Ah…</em>”


    “Father Lee Ki-Young,” Bahamut said.


    “N-No,” I stuttered.


    “What?”


    “No…” I said.


    I stretched out my hands as if I were having a nightmare.


    My eyes were full of tears, and I had already forgotten the wounds that the ck mage had inflicted on me.


    “No… Mr. Bahamut… please…” I begged.


    “Father?” he said.


    “Please…”


    I could see darkness devouring him.


    He was so drunk and overwhelmed with power that he epted that power—a demon''s power.


    “Don’t ept that power…” I said.


    “...”


    “You can no longer…” I mumbled.


    I needed to talk as vaguely as possible.


    “I…”


    Of course, I gave him hints so that he''d be able to solve the puzzle himself. I mumbled things like, “Don’t ept that power,” “It’s dangerous,” and “Don’t get swallowed by darkness.”


    I was sure he was anxious right now.


    <em>‘Did I…’</em>


    Be corrupt? He was probably asking himself that question right now.


    <em>‘Why?’</em>


    The light that I was emitting was just too holy tough off. No one would think that I was acting. Who''d think that these tears of light were fake?


    <em>''Can you see that I can''t speak because I’m choking up? You can see the trembling of my jaw, hands, and feet, right?''</em>


    <em>Boom!</em>


    <em>''Perfect timing.''</em>


    “Father!” Temr Genny shouted.


    I was sure the other Temrs were with him.


    <em>“F-Father?”</em>


    <em>''Yeah, I’m sure I don''t look so great. Can you see these scars caused by the ck me?''</em>


    <em>''I know what you’re thinking, and yep, he might be the one behind this.’</em>


    “Let go of Father Lee Ki-Young!” Temr Genny shouted.


    The trainee had just shouted informally at hismander, and he even pointed his sword at Bahamut. He looked pretty hostile the way he red at him with his sword out.


    I doubted him a bit, but Temr Genny was really on my side.


    “Calm down, Temr Genny. There’s an intruder in the Underground Temple. There’s a ck mage who made a contract with amander-level demon. The wounded—”


    “But… F-Father… your arm…” Temr Genny stuttered.


    <em>''Yeah, my arm.''</em>


    “Your arm…” Temr Genny repeated.


    “I’m fine. More importantly… please… take me to the wounded…” I told him.


    <em>''I’m fine, so take me to where the wounded are. It’s… It’s time to make a sacrifice.''</em>


    “Your arm…” Temr Genny said.


    “Take me to them!” I shouted.


    <em>''My dreams are scary, damn it!''</em>