The Evil God Beyond the Smartphone - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: A religious order (2)

A beautiful dagger clad in darkness

It was a grace from God, visible to all.

Gulp.

Facing the dagger, Roan involuntarily swallowed his spit.

The moment Roan tried to approach the dagger, which was placed on the altar like that.

-Quaaaaaaan!

A streak of lightning struck from the sky.

“Whoa!”

“What, what, what! Is it lightning?”

The sudden appearance of the lightning that fell suddenly caused the congregation who were spectating it to scream.

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The lightning that fell on the altar sent sparks for a moment, and was soon absorbed into the dagger.

Everyone around the altar solemnly looked at the scene, which happened so quickly.

But that was not the end of the mutation that occurred on the altar.

As soon as the aftermath of the lightning that shook Roan’s ears had disappeared, a succession of lightning bolts fell from the sky.

Qua’an! Quaran!

The deafening thunder rang out again and again.

The congregation was now deafened by the violent thunderclaps that shook their heartbeats.

“G-God!”

“Great One!”

Strong thunderbolts pierced the ground one after the other.

Each time an enormous luminary flashed before their eyes, a thunderclap rumbled in their ears.

It was a sight that only a transcendent being could create.

Many shouted out their gods at the astounding sight created immediately after the ceremony.

Quaan!

Each time the lightning spear collided with the dagger on the altar, a dark energy erupted, swallowing the remaining current.

Once, twice.

Many times lightning fell like a divine punishment.

Finally, the last celebratory blow that marked the end of the ritual, the lightning barrage that had been falling on the dagger, was over.

“This, there’s no way……!”

An astonished voice escaped Roan’s mouth, who had been watching this whole spectacle.

The final moments of the ritual

Their god gave a definite answer back to his followers.

– Creak!.

Subtle electric currents flowed from the dagger that had absorbed the lightning’s magic power.

It was a sight that mere mortals could not imitate.

The previous conversation he had had with Euthenia passed through Roan’s mind as he gazed at the dagger placed on the altar.

‘Try to directly practise ritual of offerings that you learned from me, because I am sure that the Great One will answer you.’

Euthenia said this to Roan.

‘Surely there will be a response that the Great One will give to Roan.’

Then that dagger on the altar was for Roan.

Roan approached the altar and looked at the dagger.

The dagger from which the darkness had flowed was tempting Roan with its beautiful appearance.

A refined looking sword body and a gorgeously decorated handle.

There was nothing to like about any of it.

“O Great One! If this is your will for me, I humbly accept your will.”

Roan grabbed the dagger with trembling hands.

As he grasped the dagger that he had received from God in a crude stance, enormous power was transmitted from the hand that touched the blade.

What Roan was gripping was no mere object.

A magic sword that swallows magic and returns it.

That was the true identity of the Edonos in Roan’s hand.

When Roan realized the true identity of the magic sword in his hand, he looked at Ednos and murmured.

“Ednos…I see. That’s the name of this item”

Just holding it filled him with an omnipotent feeling of being able to wield a powerful force.

An artifact bestowed upon him by the god who takes care of them.

It was truly a treasure worthy of being called a divine artifact.

This Ednos would be the symbol of Roan’s authority from now on.

Did he understand the meaning of the dagger given to him?

Roan, who had received grace from ‘God’ called Ednos, Euthenia, who had been watching closely, congratulated him.

“You have received a wonderful souvenir. Congratulations, Roan.”

“It’s all Thanks to the apostles.”

“You are as humble as ever.”

A hand extending from the shadows lightly patted Roan on the shoulder.

Ton. Ton.

It was a hand of encouragement to Roan.

After patting Roan on the shoulder, Euthenia asked him with a smile.

“Isn’t there something remaining for the Archbishop to do?”

“Yes, I do. I have a lots of work to do.”

“I will support you.”

“…Yes.”

When the shadow’s hand was withdrawn, Roan advanced again to the front of the altar.

He then turned back and looked at the kneeling congregation.

Each looked at Roan with a mixture of different expressions.

Fear, awe, jealousy.

Roan faced each of these emotions together and lifted Ednos in his hand.

“I now proclaim in the name of Archbishop Roan-Hebrith here and now.”

The Ednos in Roan’s grasp began to glow.

The congregation spontaneously bowed their heads in the dazzling glow.

“We are going to build a temple here! A temple to the Great One!”

A temple to honor their God.

That was his most important plan upon becoming Archbishop Roan .

Build a temple to worship God.

And gather a congregation of faithful believers to worship God.

That was the only way to repay the authority Roan had received.

“Applaud, all of you! For the Great One!”

A sparkling glitter shot out from Roan’s blade tip as a thunderbolt spear.

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Quaaaaaaan!

The magic launched by Ednos flew and crashed towards the mountain right next to it.

A cloud of smoke billowed up with an enormous crashing sound.

The congregation, who had been watching all this miracle, spontaneously began to applaud and cheer.

Cheers and applause

The whole mountain erupted in loud applause .

Roan smiled with satisfaction at the sight.

Archbishop Roan Hebris.

It was the moment of the birth of the Church, led by him.

***

Holy Land, Crossbridge.

In the most influential of the six temples, the Temple of Abundance, there is a saint who is respected by everyone in the Holy Land.

The name of the girl who prays piously to the heavens with her hands folded in the air is Serena Edelant.

A saint who leads the Temple of Abundance, she is also the closest being to God in the Holy Land.

In the silence, the sound of Serena’s prayer echoed softly as she closed her eyes.

A faint light was seen coursing through Serena’s body as she prayed.

“O Goddess of Abundance, who sees through all people -”

Beside Serena was the presence of a single holy knight, with a sword attached to his side.

The most important person in the Holy Land, a saint, would have a suitable person as her escort.

Holy knight, Lian-Crost.

He is a Holy Knight chosen by the White Holy Sword, as well as being the Deputy Commander of the Order of Holy Knights.

Lián was looking at Serena, who was praying piously, and was alert to the surroundings.

How long had it been since Serena had begun to pray?

When the light that had circled around Serena’s body disappeared, Lian, who had been protecting Serena along with the Holy Sword, moved.

“Phew, you’ve finally finished your prayer.”

After finishing her prayer, Serena stood up and looked at Lian.

Serena’s body staggered slightly for a moment as her legs relaxed, probably because she had been in the posture for so long.

Lian did not miss that small gap and approached the staggering Serena, supporting her.

Serena, caught in Lian’s hand, looked at him for a moment, then quickly straightened her posture and smiled at Lian.

“I think I have a surprisingly sloppy side too.”

“Be careful. If Serena gets hurt, everyone in the Holy Land will be worried.”

“Thank you, Lian.”

“It’s no big deal. By the way, have you heard anything from the Goddess of Abundance?”

Although it was a regularly scheduled prayer time, Saint Serena sometimes received divine revelations.

Divine revelation. Also known as an oracle, it was something only she, as a saint, could hear.

Lian’s question to Serena was also in response to a trust given by the goddess of abundance.

– Mm-hm.

Upon hearing Lian’s question, Serena nodded and said.

“Yeah. The oracle has come down.”

“Oracle ……, I see.”

“Are you curious about what it is?”

“Of course I’m curious. What is it?”

According to the rule, the contents of the ‘Oracle’ were not to be disclosed to anyone except those involved in the core of the Holy Land.

However, Lian was a knight escorting the saint and also the deputy commander of the Holy Order of Knights.

He was also the person who usually worked closest to Serena.

Serena was well qualified to disclose the contents of the ‘Oracle’.

Therefore, Lian did not hesitate to ask Serena about the contents.

“It is said that a new hero will appear in the temple shortly.”

“A new hero? Don’t tell me… that an evil god has started to intervene in this world?”

Lian’s eyebrows furrowed upon hearing the word ‘hero’ from Serena’s mouth.

Hero.

It was a name that referred to the host of the Six Divine Artifacts that appeared with the oracle.

There is only one condition for a hero to appear.

The appearance of an evil god who disturbs the world.

The six gods who watch over the six temples in the Holy Land do not exert influence on earth, except for certain exceptions.

And the appearance of the evil gods was the condition that corresponded to the exception in which the six gods began to move actively.

To Lian, who was surprised to hear the hero’s name, Serena replied in agreement with a calm face.

“The evil gods are on the move. No, actually, it looks like they started moving long before we expected them to.”

Evil God’s movement

That alone was enough to put the entire Holy Land in a state of emergency.

However, to think that the Evil Gods would move long before Lian’s prediction.

Lian asked the question again to the bad news that was heard one after another.

“What exactly does that mean?”

“For some reason the causality rate was initialised. That’s why the ‘Oracle’ has come down later than usual.”

“….”

“The karmic balance is fair to everyone, so if it doesn’t tip enough, the Divine Artifact won’t be released either.”

Lian’s complexion darkened as he recalled the recorded appearance of the Divine Artifact.

Without the power of the divine artifact, most heroes were merely gifted human beings.

No matter how much of a chosen existence a hero may be, without the divine artifact, they would be unable to even handle receiving Lian’s sword.

For a hero, a divine artifact was something that contained many meanings.

And the words that flowed from Serena’s mouth were in line with the story that for the time being, the heroes’ Divine Artifacts would not be able to display their full power.

“It’s a complicated story. For the time being, the Elders are going to have quite a headache.”

“Yes, indeed. The headache starts with getting the hero here safely.”

“What are you going to do, saint?”

“From now on, we must enjoy our freedom.”

“Freedom…?”

“The Inquisition and the Holy Knights will take over the search for heroes anyway, so I can afford it for the time being, can’t I?”

If the temple was busy preparing to welcome a hero, Serena’s schedule as a saint would decrease.

This was Thanks to the interruption of official events as the majority of personnel were mobilized externally.

Hearing Serena’s words, Lian smiled lightly.

Serena turned to him and laughed at Lian’s smile, which he usually didn’t show much of.

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“So lazy.”

“What! I can’t believe you called me lazy. Rest is like preparation for dealing with an evil god anyway.”

“Of course I didn’t think you would be without any excuses.”

“I guess I’m no match for Lian, after all.”

Beyond each other smiling, they gazed at the shadows of the Evil Gods hanging over the continent.