Chapter 324
The Nest of Jephar, somewhat distant from the battlefield.
Archbishop Glashalabolas, guarding the place, growled as he gnawed at his own flesh. Blood spilled forth. At the same time, a transformation began.
Crunch. Crack—.
A cell mass swelling from the severed surface.
As it gradually changed into the shape of a living being, it soon developed a mouth and spoke.
“Kekeke. Alicia… you turned out to be an even better specimen than I thought. I might have missed you this time, but I will surely bring a knife to your body soon.”
Having completed cell division, Jephar took on its full form. Jephar was now separated from Glashalabolas, and soon the wounds of Glashalabolas bubbled and healed.
“Grarrr.”
Suddenly, Glashalabolas turned, adopting a vigilance mode.
To protect its master, Jephar, it radiated murderous intent towards the stranger.
Jephar also sensed this presence and spoke first.
“I have no memories of allowing intrusion… how should I take this? Executor. Are you thinking of killing me while I’m weakened?”
For some reason, Jephar’s voice seemed a bit excited.
As Vargan approached closer, until his face became visible, he replied with a sly smile.
“That would be an utterly ridiculous statement. I am like a guardian who protects the Cardinals. I have no intention of sullying the name of the Executor. Moreover… ‘that flesh’ isn’t even your true form, is it, Jephar?”
Vargan’s gaze turned towards Jephar’s completed body.
Despite it being quite a sensitive remark, Jephar chuckled.
“Is such trivial detail written in the Scripture?”
Within the Goddess Church, Vargan is known to be both an Executor and someone who has read the entire Scripture.
However, he was like a superstition; no one could precisely grasp what kind of power he held or what contents he had read.
“The Scripture is not all-powerful. What I read in the Scripture was merely from the distant past before Bael was sealed. Regarding the present, you could say I am as blind as a bat.”
“Kekeke. Not revealing anything about the Scripture but still speaking so well.”
“While I occupy the position of Executor, I am still merely human flesh born from the beginning. In a situation where my neck could be chopped off at any moment, I cannot easily show you my cards.”
With Beled wielding power over the Goddess Church, Vargan’s assassination would be akin to a suicidal act.
Killing Vargan is like committing suicide, no matter how you slice it.
Knowing that, Vargan shamelessly kept talking.
Jephar demanded to know why he had come, and Vargan continued his tale.
“Currently, Archbishop Amon is gathering all the followers of the Formists and Formless Faction.”
A group created to operate within human society.
A faction within the moderates, made solely of humans.
“The altar and offerings are prepared, so the ritual will soon be held.”
Two grand battles have already taken place.
Amon plans to fulfill the remaining conditions by sacrificing them and bringing Bael back.
『I suspected that would be the case, but it seems you’re in a bit of a rush. You must really want to get rid of Pope Beled. Yet, is it truly necessary for a busy Executor to come find me just to say that?』
Jephar pressed Vargan to get to the point.
Vargan shook his head with a faint smile.
“As you said, I am not so leisurely. With Altife Army surrounding the Central Church, I came here because I urgently needed to convey something.”
Jephar figured as much. He relaxed the tension from Glashalabolas, who looked like he might tear out his throat at any moment.
Vargan expressed a small gratitude for the Cardinal’s consideration and continued.
“After Bael’s resurrection, I would like to assist you, Jephar, with your ‘plans for execution.’”
Jephar’s eyes brightened at Vargan’s unexpected statement. He let out a sentence filled with curiosity and speculation.
『The reason you didn’t use honorifics for the great being… is it out of respect for the current Pope, Beled? No, considering the context of your statement, it seems there’s more to it…』
“There are no hidden motives, so interpret it as you wish. As you know, it is impossible to stop the reincarnation of the former Pope with the blood and mana that has seeped into the land for so long.”
Whether early or late, Bael will set foot on this land.
Vargan, favored by Beled, pointed that out.
“However, I serve not Bael but Pope Beled. Therefore, if anyone threatens her position, it’s my duty to stop them by any means necessary.”
『…That’s an interesting statement. The conservative Amon might get extremely angry and discuss execution over this.』
Words filled with distrust and disloyalty.
However, Vargan emphasized that the ultimate being worshiped in the Goddess Church is not Bael but the Goddess.
Thus, this is not an insult to the Goddess, but a claim backed by an extensive history.
“Throughout history, power struggles and petty conflicts within the Goddess Church have been frequent. I don’t think it’s right to doubt our faith just because the aftermath reached the Pope.”
Vargan used the excuse of maintaining Beled’s power to impose some restrictions on Bael. For this, he needed the help of Cardinal Jephar, which would benefit them both.
『The fact that the Executor came here means that Beled’s will is the same. But where did this information leak from? Scripture? A spy? Hehe. It’s puzzling. Very intriguing…』
“Well, isn’t that interesting…”
Jephar, eyeing Vargan like a snake ready to strike its prey, continued speaking to himself as Vargan interjected.
“From what I’ve observed about your actions, Jephar, it’s easy to predict that you wouldn’t welcome Bael’s return. Your ideal scenario seems to be creating an environment for unfettered experimentation. That doesn’t align with Bael’s desire to annihilate humanity.”
Having already grasped the storyline of Bael’s appearance through the original work, Vargan couldn’t be unaware of Jephar’s plans.
What he desired was the complete subjugation of humanity.
It would be problematic if all humans to be used as experimental subjects were wiped out.
As Vargan momentarily paused, Jephar seized the opportunity to interject.
“The total annihilation of humanity… You speak as if you’ve seen Bael yourself. There is no guarantee that he’ll succeed in wiping them out.”
“No. I can tell because I’ve read the past. Bael’s goal is humanity’s destruction. He will certainly act to fulfill the meaning of ‘Shalom’ written on the last page of the scripture.”
The true name of the goddess, Shalom.
And on the last page of the scripture she held, it was written:
“I wanted to eradicate every last one of the traitors.” That one sentence is what turned Bael into the tyrant Pope of the time.
For a while, the two exchanged glances.
As Jephar averted his gaze, claiming they couldn’t accept that past because they didn’t remember it, Vargan quickly added, “Jephar. No, Lafez. Why did you tear out the pages of the scripture that recorded the goddess’s death?”
『…….』
“Don’t say you don’t remember. Even if it was just one page, you, who held the scripture, couldn’t have forgotten the past.”
After the clash of the scriptures, all records left in the scripture were lost, but the memory of Schugenharz, who met his demise right after, remained intact.
Bael, who held onto the scripture until the very end, was the same. Upon succeeding in his resurrection in the original story, he immediately began the massacre of humanity.
In other words, the scripture is connected to the preservation of memories.
While it’s uncertain how effective a single page can be, it’s worthwhile to pursue.
Then, Jephar said,
“It seems that the claim of having read the past may indeed be true.”
He acknowledged it rather willingly.
Then he pondered Vargan’s name before entering the Goddess Church, considering other possibilities.
“Schugenharz Troa Vargan… Schugenharz. Or perhaps Schugenharz prepared something before his death? Whatever it is, it’s astounding.”
As the conversation grew longer, Jephar’s smirk widened.
He pondered countless possibilities while imagining different scenarios.
Then, Jephar, lost in his own world, looked at Vargan.
“The curses that occasionally afflict the descendants of Schugenharz… Questions. Questions… Why… That means I didn’t have any clue as to the reasons. I still can’t discern whether I read it in text or saw it in visuals, and if so…”
As if a switch had flipped, Jephar mumbled for a while.
He, who had been speaking rapidly like a busy machine, suddenly stopped as he arrived at a conclusion.
He spoke like a machine, but then suddenly stopped at his conclusion.
His gaze seemed to look far away. He said,
『Is it the Unique Spell of Schugenharz?』
“Jephar.”
『Ah, right, right. You had a question? Why did I tear out the pages that recorded the death of the Goddess?』
Jephar, barely regaining his composure, immediately began pulling various Items from the depths of his pocket.
The size and quantity of what he pulled out were utterly unbelievable. This had to be some spatial manipulation tool he had long relied on since ages past.
Even while searching for a specific item, Jephar continued speaking.
『I must clarify, lest there be a misunderstanding— I did not kill the Goddess. It’s true I visited her chamber to see her, but she had already lost her life by then.』
Tap—. Thud. Clatter.
As he rummaged through what seemed to be a very deep pile, items began to pile up messily around him.
『But the reason I didn’t announce her death right away and instead tore out the page of the Scripture? That’s because the content recorded there was utterly absurd. If Bael and the believers saw it, they wouldn’t just start a war; they’d have cut off my head too. How could I leave that be?』
Although Vargan said nothing, the floodgates opened for Jephar, and he continued to spill out information before eventually asking,
『You said the last line of the Scripture read, ‘I wanted to annihilate the traitors without leaving a trace,’ right? When I tore out the page, such a line did not exist. That was the last page I took.』
He stated.
The words inscribed in the Scripture were unchangeable by any Magic or Technique, and even inscribing new words on a blank page was impossible.
He was sure of this, having confirmed it through his own experiments.
『Thus, my hypothesis gains even more credibility. Heh heh heh. I’d been suffocating without being able to tell anyone until now, but finally, I have someone who understands me!』
Having finally found the desired item from his magical tool, Jephar displayed a piece of paper that seemed to be made from high-quality materials.
『Take a look. This is the lost page of the Scripture you were looking for.』
Vargan quickly read the letters on the page he presented. It was a separate history that hadn’t disappeared despite the collisions with the Scripture.
The most striking part was the last line written.
It felt almost abstract.
—Shalom committed suicide.
There was no connection to the preceding content whatsoever.
There was no mention of why, when, or how.
While other contents detailed actions down to the tiniest details, this was overly dry.
『Didn’t you just mention a sentence I didn’t know was written? Indeed…. The Scripture clearly possesses a will. It used the Magic Instructor and Bael to instigate a war of blood…!』
Jephar’s eyes were intoxicated by some sort of madness.
While speaking of tragedy, he seemed overly delighted and excited.
『The death of the Magic Instructor wasn’t recorded in the Scripture. Rather, because her death was recorded, the Magic Instructor took her own life.』
