Chapter 136

Ch.136 Apostle of the Goddess of War

“Your Apostleship. The preparations are complete.”

A dark morning. Jien, her face peeking in with a faint light. With her cat-like face, she crept in quietly and finished her report to Sion.

Jien, waiting for Sion’s next command with her round eyes, felt her heart pounding even though she had just woken up.

‘He’s handsome even in the morning. Did he offer prayers? I should pray at this time from now on too.’

Sion, who had just finished his morning meditation, straightened his back and stood up.

“Let’s depart.”

It was time. As planned, they would track Loenhaughter’s traces.

“To summarize, Loenhaughter headed west, correct?”

Sion asked Jien, who was following him closely. She made no sound when walking. The posture of a young swordswoman who paid great attention to her footwork.

“Yes. The last sighting was him leaving the port on a ship. After that, he should have reached an archipelago in three days, but there’s no word of his arrival.”

Jien answered crisply.

She had quickly gathered and repeatedly verified the information provided by Chairman Apur overnight.

She fully performed her role as Sion’s aide.

Sion didn’t forget to thank her. Jien blushed and silently followed behind.

Sion thought to himself.

‘Even though he’s someone whose disappearance wouldn’t be surprising…’

Loenhaughter was someone who would normally maintain steady, close contact. Being a veteran with no gaps in this regard, it couldn’t be anything but strange.

Coincidentally, Chairman Apur was also worried. It was good for him too that Sion was stepping in.

After all, the one who needed Loenhaughter most right now was none other than Sion.

‘The Guild Master also said it would be fine to take Sir Loenhaughter if we can persuade him.’

There are many capable aides.

Loenhaughter is exceptionally capable, but it was a waste for such talent to rot under a merchant.

This was something Apur also acknowledged.

‘Even for the sake of the Church of War’s information power…’

He was a talent they absolutely had to secure.

As they entered the port, a sailor found Sion as if he had been waiting.

“I heard from Chairman Apur. You are the Apostle of the Church of War?”

“Yes.”

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Rontel.”

“I’m Sion. These are my attendants, Set and Jien.”

Rontel made eye contact and nodded. He was a sailor with a face full of scars. He exuded the scent of a tough male. Seafarers.

“Over there. The ship with the red flag. We transport Chairman Apur’s goods to the Akimaderli archipelago to the west.”

“So Sir Loenhaughter disappeared there?”

“Not exactly. The plan was to meet Mr. Loenhaughter there and return to Foils port…”

But they never met him.

They waited a few more days, but there was no news. There’s a record of him boarding, but no record of him disembarking.

‘As if he evaporated on the ship.’

Sion boarded following Rontel’s guidance. The crew moved busily to set sail. Rontel was the captain of the ship with the red flag.

Sion looked towards the end of the sea and communicated with the Goddess.

[This also seems unusual.]

‘Do you sense something?’

[Yes. And it doesn’t look very good.]

If the Goddess Achille said so, then it was so. Sion also had to prepare himself firmly.

‘I’m wondering if I should send the members back even now.’

[You must rely on them too, Sion.]

‘Understood, Goddess.’

Achille gave Sion advice, which was rare for her. When necessary, she fully performed her role as a Goddess guiding her Apostle.

A light shone in Achille’s eyes.

The divine power of War was also increasing exponentially due to the growing number of believers.

Her authority and insight were gradually approaching their peak.

Since the heavenly gates were closed, she couldn’t become stronger than before, but if she became as strong as she was then, she would have no match.

[Then I shall return to Elim for a while.]

‘Are you going to deliver an oracle to Kaili?’

Achille drew an arc with the corner of her mouth as she answered.

[That’s right. It will be effectively the first official oracle given to my priestess.]

Just thinking about it made her happy. The first oracle given to the resurrected Church of War is to build a church in another city!

‘I look forward to it. I never thought a Church of War would be built somewhere other than Elim…’

Achille covered her mouth and laughed.

[That is all thanks to my Apostle.]

‘That can’t be. It must be the Goddess’s grace.’

[Huhu. The discernment that chose you as my Apostle deserves praise.]

‘Of course. Even thinking back, it was a miracle.’

The Goddess and Apostle exchanged compliments and laughed.

The reason they could keep smiling even in a world without light was probably because they had someone to rely on.

[I’ll be back soon. My authority has strengthened, so my movement speed has increased too!]

‘Yes. Give them my regards.’

[I will.]

Sion finished the conversation, using the Goddess like a messenger pigeon.

Before they knew it, the ship was leaving the port. Looking beside him, the two country bumpkin knights, seeing the ocean for the first time, were chattering excitedly again.

A few hours later.

“Bleeeeh!”

“Sa, save me… Please save me… Your Apostleship.”

The two novice knights had met a powerful enemy called seasickness.

“Urp.”

Sion was no different.

He already missed the Goddess.

***

Loenhaughter opened his dazed mind and crimson eyes, looking at the fanatic guarding him.

He appeared intoxicated by demonic energy. He was undoubtedly a demon.

Now that he had regained his senses, he could properly see his surroundings.

It was an ordinary noble’s room. The bedding was neatly prepared, and there were separate clothes racks and a bathroom.

If it weren’t for the monstrous demon guarding the door, he could have thought he had gotten dead drunk and woken up after sleeping at some noble’s house.

‘What kind of place is this?’

Loenhaughter quickly gathered information. He cautiously got out of bed, watching his surroundings.

The demon moved its pupils, following Loenhaughter’s movements. It didn’t seem to particularly affect his movement.

Loenhaughter asked.

“I suppose leaving is out of the question?”

The demon crossed its arms and responded.

“Just breathe quietly. I don’t want to get involved in troublesome matters.”

“Where is this?”

“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t know.”

“I doubt that. I’ve been to every place in the Empire’s continent and archipelagos in my lifetime.”

The demon snorted. As expected, it even dismissed Loenhaughter, a human.

“Then it’s definitely a place you haven’t been to.”

The demon smirked viciously.

“Hmm.”

Loenhaughter, as if he hadn’t expected anything, quickly turned and headed to the window. He thought he might be able to deduce where he was from the scenery.

But.

“Huh?”

Outside the window stretched extremely rugged mountain ranges. Below them, a fertile basin was widely formed.

Loenhaughter was utterly bewildered.

‘I definitely boarded a ship.’

His last memory was clearly on a ship. He must have been kidnapped while enjoying cheap alcohol, watching the wavy sea.

Yet the scenery before him now was a mountainous region. And a deeply remote one at that.

Based on Loenhaughter’s knowledge, no such place existed anywhere in the western continent or archipelagos, no matter how hard he searched.

Loenhaughter, blinking his dazed eyes, turned around and asked.

“What’s the date today?”

“Curious about how long it’s been since you were kidnapped before waking up?”

Loenhaughter nodded nervously.

“Three days.”

“What……?”

His breath quickened involuntarily. His heart raced along. Blood that had cooled turned hot and boiled.

“Impossible!”

Only then did the demon chuckle.

“See. I told you you wouldn’t have been here.”

“……”

Loenhaughter’s mind went blank.

‘Where is this? There’s a place I don’t know?’

As he stood bewildered, muttering to himself, moving his lips.

“You have arrived.”

Someone with a faint, indistinct form opened the door and entered.

“Guh!”

The moment Loenhaughter perceived that existence, he fell face down on the floor. He vomited uncontrollably.

‘That thing’ slid forward silently and looked down at Loenhaughter.

“Ugh!”

Loenhaughter continued to vomit the contents of his stomach. Having eaten nothing, he only spat up bile.

::It is you.::

A psychic wave shook his mind. Loenhaughter’s expression stiffened rigidly. His face looked almost like that of someone about to die.

His soul felt like it would corrupt from the horrifying voice.

::The remnant of Light.::

“……!”

Loenhaughter reacted immediately. He clenched his teeth, trying to bite his tongue.

“Kkhuk!”

However, ‘that thing’ did not permit his desperate struggle. A wavering shadow bound Loenhaughter’s limbs and seized his tongue.

“Ek! Kkaak! Let go! Let gooo!”

Ssu-suseut.

The shadow grew in size. The voice transmitted to his brain also became enormous. The spiritual pressure was palpable.

::The living Akasha left by Eru.::

::The everything and the ancient text of the Round Table.::

The shadowy existence laughed as if scratching Loenhaughter’s brain.

Kkeuheu, heuheuheuheu.

::Your head must contain where the Light fragment is.::

Loenhaughter began foaming at the mouth. No matter how hard he tried to endure, the terrifying, curse-like demonic energy twisted around his very soul.

There was no escape now.

::Give it up! The flesh and soul of that damned thing!::

Kuuuoong!

The room shook heavily. Cracks even began to appear on the walls. The demon guarding the door also couldn’t withstand it and had to kneel.

“Y, you wish…!”

Loenhaughter resisted, black blood flowing from his eyes and ears.

“My information… is for the future to come… I bequeath it. That… is the reason for my existence…!”

Swik!

Kwaaaang!

The shadow threw Loenhaughter against the wall. Loenhaughter fell unconscious.

The shadow-cloaked existence slid towards him.

Then, it began extending the world’s most ominous demonic energy into his mouth.

“Kkuk.”

Loenhaughter trembled, still unconscious. His eyes rolled back, showing only the whites, and his back arched like a shrimp.

Thud.

The shadow, having injected something ominous, turned back.

It spoke before the prostrate demon.

::Watch him well. Report every moment of his corruption process without taking your eyes off him.::

The demon bowed flat to the ground and answered.

“I will guard him with my life! Goddess of Darkness.”

The shadow disappeared through the door. The spiritual pressure weighing down the room vanished simultaneously.

“Hheuk.”

The demon finally exhaled.

The demon, holding onto its trembling legs, approached Loenhaughter.

He had just woken up, only to fall unconscious again. The thought of carrying him back to bed and laying him down was immensely bothersome.

But the demon quickly shook its head and dismissed the blasphemous thought.

It should only feel gratitude for receiving this sublime duty. It engraved it in its eyes and pledged it in its heart.

“Hurry and confess. Ugly byproduct of Light.”

The demon mocked him as it dragged the unconscious Loenhaughter by his ankles.

***

Sion sat at the bow and meditated. He continuously circulated the divine circuit, purifying his divine power, again and again.

On his left and right, his attendants sat side by side, engrossed in meditation training, just like Sion.

Emulating Sion’s busy, almost excessively diligent schedule, they participated in not wasting a single moment.

Rest time was meditation, and loosening up the body was swordsmanship training.

The  Apostle of War’s desire to become stronger, even just a little faster, was being passed down through the generation.

“……?”

Sion opened his eyes, which he had closed.

He had sensed something ominous.

It felt as if the wind was being pushed away. More precisely, the remnants of divine power scattered in the atmosphere.

‘South. East.’

He sensed an incongruity simultaneously in multiple places. Sion moved his lips.

“Set.”

“……Huh? Bro? No. Yes.”

“Tell the Captain. Ask him to stop the ship for a moment.”

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