I Became a Mythical Hunter After Killing the Golden Goblin - Chapter 116

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 116. Holy Spirit Festival (3)
“Hmm~~ what a wonderful atmosphere.”
Cardinal Aoira gazed down upon the entire Kingdom from the Grand Temple, his expression serene and benevolent—a smile that reflected satisfaction both within and without. He nodded gently to himself.
Cardinal Batroy, hailed as the mightiest cardinal, had discovered his true identity, and contrary to his plans, the fragment of that great being had awakened prematurely.
It could be called a minor setback or a grave complication, yet in the end, the Holy Spirit Festival had commenced as scheduled without any real obstacles.
‘Batroy has been properly dealt with, and there’s no way some mere child could defeat the puppet and the fragment of that magnificent being.’
Even if fortune stacked upon fortune and he somehow prevailed, it mattered little. The death of the fragment would not erase the power it possessed.
Primordial Demons could not truly meet their end. Even if slain, they would resurrect—they could never perish easily unless their very source was completely stripped away or the main body commanded their annihilation.
So there was nothing to fear. That was what Aoira believed. He remained ignorant that in the fifth underground level, the fragment he so desperately desired—the most crucial piece of his entire plan—had been completely absorbed by Shin Ju-ha.
“The great ritual draws near.”
Aoira retraced his thoughts and began organizing the details in his mind—everything concerning the festival he had orchestrated through the puppet.
The festival would span five days in total.
The first and second days would overflow with events and celebrations that all could enjoy—regardless of age, gender, nationality, or station. Everything one would typically see at a grand festival would unfold across these two days.
Simple parades, fireworks, celebratory performances, and countless food stalls. Rather than living up to the grandiose name of Holy Spirit Festival, it was simply a time for merriment.
‘How pathetic.’
To him, it was merely a period to gather more sacrifices. A preparation phase for the great ritual, one might say.
The true Holy Spirit Festival would begin on the third day. That day would host the Holy Spirit Combat.
It was a sacred ritual and event to display the most holy and powerful souls to the gods—a Colosseum tournament open to all who had registered during the preceding two days.
Of course, conditions applied.
As the ritual was meant to reveal one’s true self to the gods, the most fundamental requirement was that no participant could be serving any deity.
Second, to exclude the mediocre rabble, one had to possess a minimum level of ability and pass a qualifying test.
Finally, one must be capable of wielding Holy Power. Though admittedly, this condition was somewhat lenient. Even those of common rank could qualify if they possessed at least one item or skill related to Holy Power.
In other words, one didn’t necessarily need Holy Power as an actual stat. If someone fought with such items and caught the gods’ attention, they might even receive Holy Power.
Well, Holy Power as a stat was somewhat unique in that it could be possessed simultaneously with Mana. Yet it remained a difficult stat to obtain, so the requirement was natural.
The constraint was simply that Holy Power had to be used at least once per match, so the condition was mandatory to meet.
Needless to say, the victor would receive magnificent rewards along with the title of Honored Holy Knight Commander, bestowed by the Holy Kingdom itself.
It was a title that granted the authority to establish a Knight Order under the Holy Kingdom’s banner whenever desired. Essentially, the Holy Kingdom would become their backing.
A Knight Commander wielded power and influence equivalent to those directly beneath the cardinals.
Ordinary small Knight Orders rarely had a commander title conferred upon them. Even the Knight Order that had escorted Shin Ju-ha and his merchant company, despite being reasonably substantial in scale, had no commander—proof enough of this fact.
‘To fight for such pathetic things. If only I could display my struggle to the great Demon King, I would receive far greater blessings.’
It irritated him that this event had been born from his own intellect and hands, but he endured it. After all, the blood spilled here would eventually contribute to that being’s descent.
And the fourth day. As the word “festival” implied a sacred ceremony or celebration, this day would feature grand sacred rituals on a massive scale.
Beginning with prayers offered at the Grand Temple to the countless gods who existed in this Abyss and watched over the Holy Kingdom, ceremonies would continue throughout the day as people prayed to their respective deities.
And on the final evening, at the Colosseum—the venue of the Holy Spirit Combat—monsters harmful to the world would be randomly summoned, slain through collective effort, and offered to the gods in ritual.
Naturally, they would not summon calamity-class monsters. There was no desire to summon things beyond their control and risk unforeseen complications.
‘Though I wish I could unleash those things from the depths.’
It was unmanageable. If those were released, the sacrifices meant for the Demon King would be swept away, and the Holy Kingdom—indeed, Stage-1 itself—might face annihilation.
‘Especially that thing on the fourth level.’
That colossal and magnificent being’s fragment was something even the Demon King could not guarantee victory against. Aoira himself could only wonder why such entities were sealed beneath the Holy Kingdom.
It was the same question that had troubled him when he first learned of that being’s fragment existing in the Holy Kingdom Underground.
None of that mattered. The fourth day was truly the beginning and end of the grand scheme he had orchestrated.
The fifth day held the final selection tournament for the Saint, but they would never reach it.
It was inevitable. The moment the summoned monster fell, he would use it and all the sacrifices he had prepared as a conduit to summon the Demon King into this world.
‘When he opens his eyes, all these repulsive, nauseating bright things will be dyed in darkness and death!’
The Demon King would descend with far greater power than he had originally anticipated. After all, the body and soul of an unexpectedly formidable being had fallen into his hands.
‘I’ve reshaped the summoning circle using Bartroy as the second core.’
While impersonating Cardinal Aoira, he had drawn an immense summoning magic circle spanning the entire Holy Kingdom—covertly yet audaciously, undetected by anyone.
His original plan was to use the body and soul of a great beast as the core, channeling life-draining sorcery through the summoning circle to siphon the vitality of all living creatures throughout the Holy Kingdom and thereby summon the Demon King.
Then, as the descended Demon King ravaged the kingdom, the circle’s third effect would activate, further restoring his original body’s power.
Finally, he would absorb that being’s fragment and return to the Demon Realm to challenge the vacant throne of the Demon God itself!
The Demon King he served would surpass all others and claim dominion!
Of course, the plan was already half-failed. Shin Ju-ha had absorbed the fragment and become the successor to the Demon God.
Since he was human and had not met the specific conditions, he could not absorb it himself—his grand scheme was doomed to failure by any measure.
But he did not know. He did not know that Shin Ju-ha had not died, that he was crawling up from the Underground, that he had absorbed the fragment.
How could anyone have imagined that such a mere boy would be undertaking a Quest to inherit the King’s legacy?
In any case, the tournament would not continue, whether his grand scheme succeeded and the Demon King withdrew or not.
Such was their agreement. The Saint would help him use the delectable sacrifice of a Saint candidate as the third core. In return, he would use the Saint as a sacrifice to destroy the Holy Kingdom, ensuring it could no longer influence her, making the title of Saint completely hers to bear and pass down directly as she wished.
Mutual benefit. Cardinal Aoira gazed upon the Holy Kingdom, where people ate, drank, and reveled as if everything were flowing so satisfactorily, and continued wearing his duplicitous, nauseating mask before turning away.
In that moment of his carelessness, three beings revealed themselves in the Underground Prison.
***
The Underground Prison was designed so that escape from within was impossible. Given what slumbered here and the criminals it held, this was only natural.
But when I had entered, I had copied the key to the prison door from the bundle of keys I had borrowed from Knight Commander Barclay, so it posed no great problem.
“…So one of the guards is also one of Aoira’s puppets?”
“Yes. We must dispose of him before he realizes you’ve escaped. He’ll notice you’re gone, but he won’t be able to see me or this magnificent being. You slip out and quickly eliminate all the guards. They’re all essentially under Cardinal Aoira’s command anyway, so killing them won’t cause much trouble. Right now, he cannot afford any disturbance.”
I nodded at Nabilung’s words, drew the Eternal Demon Sword from my inventory, inserted the key into the lock, and turned it.
Click.
The moment I heard the door unlock, I kicked it open and moved with purpose.
“What?!”
“How?!”
“A prisoner is esca—!”
The guards, drowsy with apathy and boredom, never dreamed an enemy would emerge from behind them. They panicked, then were sliced down in an instant.
Among them, the most notable was undoubtedly the puppet master’s creation.
“Kekekek! Astonishing! Truly astonishing! Could it be that his fragment never awakened? Could you have actually survived that? Fortune smiles upon you, but you will die nonetheless.”
“Perhaps. But you’ll die before me. Keep your neck ready. I’ll be coming for you soon.”
Slice!
The moment my blade severed its neck, the puppet’s head tumbled away, then swelled grotesquely before detonating—an explosion I had witnessed once before.
Blood sprayed everywhere as the blast echoed through the chamber.
“Tsk. Disgusting to the very end.”
In a flash, I transformed Man-byeon into a massive shield, blocking the blood from coating my entire body this time. I clicked my tongue and surveyed the surroundings before sending a signal inward.
“Whew—that was rough, wasn’t it? Got a little excited there?”
“O divine one….”
I furrowed my brow. That wretched Fallen Angel and her scheming. And Nabilung, you shouldn’t look at me like that either.
“It wasn’t me. The Puppeteer detonated the puppet. He realized I’d escaped.”
“It’s unavoidable. Slipping away unnoticed would have been impossible.”
“Right, so let’s move quickly. People will come running once they hear the explosion.”
I needed to hide my presence and uncover exactly what the Puppeteer’s plan was. We slipped out of the Grand Temple immediately.
Since the Underground Prison itself existed in such a remote and concealed location, we managed to escape without major incident.
“Hmm….”
Normally I would have headed to Cardinal Batroy’s office, but from the circumstances, it seemed he’d been turned against Aoyra instead….
‘It must be betrayal.’
Either there was a puppet among his subordinates, or otherwise I couldn’t fathom how that monster would lose to something as trivial as a puppet.
I swept my gaze across the area when I felt a familiar presence and turned my head. In a small, secluded room on the outer edge of the Grand Temple—those people.
“We go there.”
The auras of Min Cho-rong, Gun-dan, and one unfamiliar person.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————