Translator: Wan ED/PR: Fan
‘Someone among those bastards sensed the power of Darkness.’
Russell looked at the Light enveloping the whole hall and thought differently.
‘They didn’t perfectly detect that. They don’t know who emitted it.’
If they knew that the Darkness leaked from Lucion, that Light would have been fully directed at Lucion.
Bang!
The door was opened without any courtesies, and the emperor looked at the group that entered the hall with a hardened face.
‘… Shit.’
Lucion raised his head with difficulty, and stared at the last to arrive unpleasant guests.
Seeing the pure white robes they were wearing, they were priests.
‘… Those fuckers. Why are they scattering Light willy-nilly?’
Lucion thought his legs would give up on him at any moment because of the pressure of Light, but desperately endured.
“Your Majesty. Please forgive us for failing to come on time and being late.”
Just as a man among them spoke, an imposing red thread revealed itself.
“Aren’t you going to withdraw that power?!”
The emperor spoke fiercely.
In an instant, the ‘Light’ went out with a ‘tok’, and Carson, who was seated in his seat before, supported Lucion right away.
“Lucion! Breathe.”
Thanks to the Light disappearing, Lucion was barely able to take a proper breath.
‘… I almost died because of suffocation.’
“What are you doing right now!?”
The emperor burst into rage and glared at the priests.
“Your Majesty, we punish the Darkness. Besides our priestly duty, we do not do anything else.”
The man was pompous, not even thinking of folding in front of the emperor.
“Who gave you the order to pour out Light as you like in this palace?”
The emperor’s eyes turned sharp.
“Please forgive our rudeness, Your Majesty. We were ignorant and just emitted Light on instinct.”
The man glanced at Lucion.
‘… It was deliberate.’
Lucion gritted his teeth at that gaze.
[That’s the bastard who spread out his Light. He sensed your Darkness. However, he wasn’t quite certain, so he poured out his Light just now to find you.]
Russell’s expression was stiffer than before.
‘Didn’t you say it would be difficult to find out that I’m a warlock even by the Grand Temple priests if I don’t move Darkness?’
[I know you want to ask if it’s possible.]
Russell read Lucion’s expression.
[Like you, they are rare, but there are some exceptional people. Right now, the Empire’s Grand Temple is staying still, see? That bastard has to be a priest that is extremely sensitive to the Darkness. He probably felt it when your emotions were a bit agitated because of the emperor.]
The Darkness was immediately influenced by negative emotions.
‘Damn it…’
Lucion put great effort into his bubbling anger.
The red thread belatedly caught his eye.
Unlike usual, it looked sharp like a sword pointed at his neck.
Seeing Lucion’s expression quickly stiffen, he opened his mouth.
[Lucion. There is no need to worry. Like I said a moment ago, he wasn’t able to perfectly detect your Darkness.]
Lucion wasn’t nervous because of the priest.
It was because of the red thread that appeared in this situation.
In the novel, the incident that became a cause of Lucion becoming corrupted was similar to this one.
The incident where a priest dragged out the fact that he was a warlock into the light in a public place.
‘No. The current me is different from the novel.’
Lucion denied it.
Because he had the memories of Lee Haram, he properly learned black magic from Russell.
If he didn’t have that memory, he probably would have been suspicious of Russell, who was a ghost, and because of that suspicion, he wouldn’t have been able to properly learn black magic.
“Did you forget what day it is today?”
The emperor opened his lips.
“No such thing, Your Majesty. Isn’t it a place to inform us of the person who received the blessing of the Divine Beast and bless them?”
The emperor pointed at Lucion.
“You mean that even knowing that very well, you attacked the main character today? Apologize immediately.”
The man asked with a face of shock.
“… If I didn’t hear You incorrectly, You mean that the main character of this sacred day is that person?”
“Then do I look like I speak nonsense?”
“Your Majesty, I know it’s presumptuous of me, but can I say something?”
“We told you to apologize first.”
“Your Majesty! How can the person who received the Divine Beast’s blessing have a body that rejects divine power? That cannot be!”
Because he was so flustered, the man unknowingly raised his voice.
“We.”
The emperor put power in his voice.
“Told you to apologize to Our subject.”
From how the emperor emphasized the words ‘Our subject’, Lucion realized that the power struggle between the empire and Nevast had already begun.
‘I think I know why the emperor did all those tests at the beginning.’
The divine beast was the symbol of priests, and the symbol of the Holy Nation Nevast.
What would happen if the body of the person, who received the blessing of the Divine Beast, couldn’t accept the divine power, and was an ordinary person without any kind of power.
In this world, which praises the Light, Light was special, and if the only chosen person could be targeted, the sacred meaning might blur somewhat.
The emperor was aiming for that.
After suppressing the power of the Holy Nation Nevast, which was on the rise, it would be necessary to confirm whether he was an ordinary person or not.
Especially Nevast would have to acknowledge him in the future, but as he was someone they didn’t want to acknowledge, he was exactly the right person for the emperor’s plans.
[I guess the emperor personally stepped out to protect you, and is trying to feed the Nevast bastard a fist with this.]
Russell giggled.
He didn’t like either the emperor or the Nevast priests, but if he was to choose who he hated more, Lucion naturally thought of the latter.
The man continued to be flustered, but there were too many eyes watching.
He finally bowed his head to Lucion.
“Son of Light. I’m one of the high priests of Nevast, Eol. I deeply apologize for the stupidity of myself who couldn’t show compassion to the pitiful You.”
The apology content was somewhat skewed, but it matched the flashy appearance and shabby conclusion.
Lucion wiped the blood from the corner of his lips with a handkerchief he prepared for such situations.
“No. I’m at fault for being unable to accept the blessing of Light. Even then, I was chosen by the Divine Beast, so I believe that the High Priest-nim could be mistaken.”
Lucion struggled to show a smile.
Anyone could see that Eol was the villain here.
“Are you okay?”
The emperor stretched out his hand to Lucion at the perfect moment.
The appearance of the benevolent emperor, which contrasted greatly with Eol, who not only was late for the ceremony, but also proudly gushing out Light in someone else’s country, drew exclamations from all around.
“There is no greater honor than having Your Majesty worry about me.”
Lucion also played his part in this skit.
“Your Majesty.”
At that moment, Eol spoke up as if he felt victimized.
“We didn’t tell you to open your mouth.”
The emperor looked at Eol with a fierce gaze.
Eol immediately bowed his head.
He bit his lips while thinking over and over how to escape this situation, where he felt like an uninvited guest.
“Your Majesty, forgive my rudeness and hear what I have to say.”
The emperor ignored Eol’s words, and was only concerned with Lucion.
“If you’re unwell, we can postpone the ceremony a bit, so speak comfortably.”
[I understand the emperor’s intentions, but it won’t be good if it goes on like this…]
Russell frowned while he looked at Eol.
It was a situation where the high priest’s pride was completely crumpled.
In addition, didn’t Eol sense that Lucion has the power of Darkness?
“I felt the power following the Darkness!”
Eol finally spit out the words which could turn the situation around.
Shaaa.
The atmosphere instantly sank.
[… Haa.]
Russell sighed.
“Did you mention a warlock just now?”
The emperor didn’t just ignore his words this time.
Those were unlike the other words.
A warlock crawled in the imperial palace, which boasted security on par, if not even better, than the Grand Temple.
“Unlike your words a moment ago, We do not have plans to just ignore those.”
The emperor’s eyes were fierce.
“That tongue of yours is heavier than We expected.”
“This Eol swears to Your Majesty and on the God of Light that I have never lied to You.”
It was a non-binding oath.
However, since the priest mentioned the God of Light, which could expel anyone, even the high priest, the emperor asked:
“Have you found them?”
Eol used Light right away based on the situation.
If there was a warlock here, he would have seen some kind of reaction.
“If You allow, I wish to check one more time.”
“Your Majesty.”
Carson spoke up at Eol’s words.
“Please allow my dongsaeng to leave for just a moment.”
Lucion was already hit by Light once.
He couldn’t allow him to be hit twice.
“Your Majesty, no one here can be excluded right now. As You know, among the people who reject divine power, are those who can’t accept divine power and follow the Darkness.”
But Eol objected to it.
The empire’s priests’ mouths itched at that rudeness, but seeing the emperor’s gaze, they couldn’t open their mouths.
“High priest Eol. I can’t overlook your rude words any longer.”
Carson dropped the honorific address.
The position of a high priest in Nevast was high, but this was the empire.
The charity of politely addressing the person, who wasn’t even a noble, disappeared a long time ago.
“Hyung-nim.”
Lucion spoke up.
“It’s okay. It’s only a quick check. Won’t we have to check later anyway?”
According to the declaration ceremony procedure, they would have to check whether he was a warlock or not anyway.
Only the opponent changed from the empire’s high priest to the Nevast’s high priest.
He heard Russell sigh.
[Yeah. If you didn’t come out like this, it wouldn’t be you.]
However, it wasn’t something he couldn’t do.
Lucion’s accumulated Light resistance was 4 out of 20.
He already jumped one phase further from phase 3.
“But isn’t your condition already bad?”
The emperor was a bit surprised by Lucion’s permission.
As to whether to check if he is a warlock or not according to the procedure, he already told the Grand Temple to roughly get over it.
It would be complicated if the person who received the Divine Beast’s blessing disappeared on the day of the announcement.
“Your Majesty.”
Lucion bowed his head towards the emperor.
“Speak.”
The emperor gave Lucion the opportunity to speak.
“Heaven forbid, I can’t let everyone watching this harbor any doubts. If High Priest Eol-nim checks me, all the other countries also won’t press it any longer.”
Lucion thought it turned out well.
No matter what, it was obvious what words would come out if he was checked by the empire’s high priest.
In that case, it would certainly be better for Eol to examine him.
Moreover, Lucion wanted Eol to swallow that enormous bait.
‘You bastard Eol, you will have to walk around with the words you have said like a dog tag for the rest of your life.’
Lucion looked forward to Eol’s dog tag that wouldn’t disappear for the rest of his life while waiting for the emperor’s answer.
[Latta, just quietly listen. Don’t say anything.]
Russell looked at Lucion’s shadow, and spoke.
The examination the priests were talking about uses a different Light than what Lucion has been hit with until now.
The method they used was to pour it little by little, slowly, to deliberately lure Darkness into reacting.
But Lucion didn’t know about this method.
If the disciple didn’t know, it was the master who had to inform him and help him.
[That unlucky priest will pour in his Light, and you, Latta, have to control the Darkness to not move. If Lucion’s Darkness moves right now, it will be detected right away, so you, Latta, have to do it.]
Rather than Lucion directly controlling the Darkness, it was safer for Latta to control the Darkness.
[Light will enter little by little for a long time, but I’ll be with you, so don’t worry too much.]
Russell smiled widely towards the shadow.
After Lucion motioned ‘I permit it’, Carson’s expression stiffened.
How uneasy he felt about this place, to say something like that?
“High priest Eol.”
The emperor called out to Eol before answering.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Your appearance has already greatly upset Us. If you do something dishonorable, Eol, We’ll chase you out right away.”
The emperor’s one word was heavy like a tiger quietly growling.
“So, do your duty and make sure this declaration ceremony proceeds safely. As I already showed you enough mercy.”
After warning Eol, the emperor called to Lucion.
“Lord Lucion Cronia.”
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
“I permit it.”
“I am thankful for Your Majesty’s great kindness.”
Lucion approached Eol with the help of Carson.
Perhaps because of the emperor’s comment, Eol’s face was tainted with worry, unlike a moment ago.
“Please take care of me.”
Lucion smiled widely first and spoke to Eol.
In the instant, Eol’s eyes shook.
‘Yeah. You were suspicious of me from the beginning, right?’
Just looking at Eol’s expression, he could guess what he wanted.
But he had no idea about some things.
Light resistance.
Latta and Russell.
‘If you’re going to try it, try it.’
Lucion was confident.
*~*~*
Translator’s note: Imagine being one of the royal family members here, having to pretend that you have no interest in all this shit that is going down here.
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