The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 154

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 154

 

“…!”

 

My eyelids trembled. Thank goodness I was wearing a veil, or I would have completely failed to manage my expression in front of someone I might be making a deal with.

 

“Do you remember… even the smallest details? From the previous world…?”

The Demon King answered obediently again this time.

“No. The contract with time belongs to the previous world. Since time was turned back, it’s the power of someone unrelated to me… Right after returning, I remembered everything in detail, but memories are something that easily fade away.”

 

Fortunately, it seemed the one I killed didn’t remember my face.

 

Though it wasn’t even my real face anyway, but a customized one…

 

“…You must have written it down somewhere beforehand, right?”

 

The Demon King nodded. Then the future knowledge between the Demon King and me wouldn’t be much different.

 

What we both knew in common was the story of the second round, where I, as a <Player>, had cut off the Demon King’s head.

 

The system… In other words, except for my unique ability to use ‘prophecy’ based on divine power, the knowledge we both have would be similar.

 

“Yes, I watched the battle at Astrapolis well.”

 

“Did you make the monsters attack Astrapolis?”

 

“The Demon Race can command low-level monsters that can be tamed. Yes. Since I couldn’t know how much the future had changed, I sent them as a test.”

 

So the complete change from the original game story was ultimately the Demon King’s butterfly effect…?

 

‘I see. There was no attack on Astrapolis in my memory. Then…’

 

The point when the Demon King regressed must be the end of Chapter 1 and the beginning of Chapter 1.5 of the game story.

 

“Was the Emperor’s sudden death also because of that?”

 

“…That wasn’t something I did. However… what I can guess is that Lumensia, realizing I had returned, hastily withdrew the power from her contractor. The Emperor has traditionally received Lumensia’s power.”

 

I see. Then what Lumensia would be most wary of would be the Demon King, the regressor who had turned back time once.

 

Since Lumensia had never directly pressured me, she must have been busy keeping the Demon King in check.

 

“What has happened during this time?”

 

“Aren’t you asking too many questions?”

 

Jet-black whites and bright red pupils rolled as he glanced at me sideways.

 

I realized I was feeling a strangely peculiar emotion about the fact that the one I had killed was alive and talking to me.

 

Even though that was just a game… it was the kind of thing that bothered me for no reason.

 

“…Brother should ask questions too.”

 

“Never mind. I was just saying. You want to hear exactly what happened, right?”

 

“Things related to Lumensia. Things about the Forgotten God.”

 

“Yes. After I sent forces to Astrapolis, Lumensia began keeping me in check in earnest. The Demon Realm is currently frantic trying to fend that off. If the Empire were to attack… defense would be difficult.”

 

“…!”

 

“You’re ignorant of worldly affairs. Well, since you’re from another world, it can’t be helped… The Demon Realm has been under attack from ‘Angels’ sent by Lumensia ever since. Each one is quite troublesome. Thanks to that, the Demon Realm can’t manage properly and monsters are overflowing.”

 

Yes. Like me, the Demon King knew everything. Then he must have prepared something in his own way.

 

As much as I was preparing to strike Lumensia, the Demon King must have prepared even more than me to strike Lumensia and revive the Forgotten God…!

 

“Centa staggered once from undead attacks and drew friendly signs with the Empire. Are we next? A truce between Centa and the Demon Realm, the biggest countries keeping the Empire in check… This will make things quite interesting.”

 

D-does it work out that way? The way he puts it, it sounds like part of the Saint’s Empire unification plan.

 

No, that wasn’t my intention. It all happened somehow because of the holy relic… Well, that’s how it turned out.

 

“It’s true I came to propose a truce. Even if it’s just for a very short time. If we’re going to strike Lumensia, both you and I need to preserve our strength.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

“It’s just a brief rest for that purpose. There’s no meaning beyond that. Rather, if I were to stop the Empire, I would have stopped it.”

 

“I’ll consider it positively. I also need… preparation if I’m going to kill Lumensia.”

 

Phew. Fortunately, the Demon King seemed completely ready to cooperate with me.

 

‘Well, the only one who can be considered completely on the same side here is the Demon King for me, and me for the Demon King.’

 

Then the Demon King stared at me intently. With those blood-red eyes, gray skin, jet-black whites, and terrifying horns, he didn’t look human and was scary.

 

“Now… you’re collecting holy relics?”

 

“…Yes. I’m also building up my forces. Everyone in that room is… a master.”

 

“Hmm, is that so.”

 

The Demon King seemed unimpressed. That was natural. The Demon King was fucking strong. This crazy AI final boss had never been defeated by anyone except me.

 

“Then… what preparations have you been making, Demon King? You must have had a lot to do after returning.”

 

“Memories fade, and only my records remain. It’s almost like having a long dream with no sense of reality… At first, I couldn’t even tell if I had written this or not. After watching for a few months, the writing in my handwriting became reality. I started believing from then, so my preparations started rather slowly… Before I tell my story, could you tell me in more detail what preparations you’re making?”

 

“I collected holy relics. And I made followers. I’m building a foundation to deal with various aspects. And… Ife.”

 

Ife crawled out from my wrist. The Demon King was staring at empty air. He couldn’t see it, it seemed.

 

-{Kek. I’m going back in! The air here is too stifling…}

 

“You can’t see it, Demon King, but there’s a spirit I contracted with, a fragment of Servantis.”

 

-{Ascetic! Can I go back in? That guy can’t even see me anyway.}

 

“Servantis… Wasn’t that the Guardian Serpent? That kind of guy. You’re saying a fragment of such a being is here?”

 

The Demon King poked my palm with his long nail. Ife wasn’t even there.

 

“If I gather many holy relics and many followers, I can revive the Forgotten Gods.”

 

“You can?”

 

“Yes. And according to the Sage’s book… there’s a way to half-seal Lumensia. It’s still incomplete though. I’d like you to cooperate with that plan.”

 

The Demon King blinked slowly. His long eyelashes like a camel’s fluttered. Probably the air in the Demon Realm wasn’t very good, so as a result of evolution, his eyelashes grew long like that…

 

While I was briefly thinking of other things, the Demon King opened his mouth.

 

“You say the Forgotten Gods will be revived if you collect holy relics?”

 

“Simply put, yes.”

 

“I see. So that’s how it was…”

 

The Demon King fell into thought by himself again. I was turning my head around when I gave plenty of ether to the baby serpent coughing from the stifling air of the Demon Realm.

 

Then I realized I had the pendant Teacher had asked me to deliver in my pocket.

 

“Do you know about the Widow, Demon King?”

 

“A woman who lost her husband.”

 

He didn’t seem to know.

 

“She asked me to deliver this.”

 

I took the pendant from my pocket and held it out to him. The Demon King accepted it with a stoic expression, then raised his eyebrows slightly.

 

His thick, large hands opened the small pendant.

 

When the family photo of three people entered his red irises, the Demon King’s facial skin twitched. With his uncomfortable mood, the very air in the Demon Realm felt like it was pressing down on me.

 

-{Kkeuk!}

 

No, it was actually pressing down!

 

“…Demon King.”

 

“….”

 

“Kuk… Demon King…!”

 

The crushing pressure. It was like being crushed by gravity itself. Even more than the leader of Harmony…

 

“Cough.”

 

Finally, only after I coughed up blood did that pressure disappear.

 

“…Sorry about that. I received something completely unexpected…”

 

“Yes… What is this that made you react like that? I just received a request to deliver it…”

 

No. She just told me to take it to the Demon Realm. It was purely my choice to show it to the Demon King.

 

“I knew Lumensia’s little rat was sneaking into the Demon Realm… but she’s doing quite amusing things…”

 

Crash!

 

The pendant shattered into pieces and disappeared. I don’t know what he did, but without even clenching his fist, it became black sand and flowed down between his fingers.

 

“I’m worried I brought it for no good reason.”

 

“It’s not the Ascetic’s fault… not at all. I was just a little uncomfortable. I apologize for making you bleed. I forgot that you’re weaker than a small Paljo.”

 

For reference, Paljo is just like a sparrow wandering around the field map.

 

“….”

 

So he’s saying I’m not even as good as a baby sparrow right now?

 

Why is this bastard suddenly scratching at me?

 

Let me endure it. When I was a Player, I cut this bastard’s heart.

 

“I see. Thank you for considering the fact that I’m small and weak, weaker than a newborn Paljo. By the way, was it okay to destroy the pendant that made you angry enough to do that to me?”

 

“Yes. It’s useless now.”

 

In this sealed place where not a breath of wind entered, a breeze began to blow gently. Then the sparkling powder on his palm was blown away by the wind and disappeared somewhere.

 

“The one called Widow is a name I’ve never heard in the second round. Do you know her real name?”

 

“I don’t know. But she was my teacher.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

It seems that in the second cycle that he and I knew, there was no teacher.

 

Then how is Teacher holding real power in the Empire and doing Lumensia’s bidding in the third cycle?

 

How exactly?

 

If Teacher also knows about the time that was turned back…

 

And where did she get that family photo pendant that made the Demon King so furious?

 

What is that thing that made him so angry? Could that family have been the Demon King’s family…?

 

“Was it your family, Demon King?”

 

“…It wasn’t my family.”

 

He looked troubled. I could sense it keenly just from the aura emanating from him.

 

‘Not his family. Then someone else’s family? Was it the family of someone precious to him? The people in the pendant looked like ordinary humans.’

 

The Demon King swept back his jet-black bangs that fell between his horns. The junction between his horns and skin was fascinating. The Demon King’s customization was really well done.

 

“So, Ascetic, you’re collecting sacred relics now, aren’t you? To oppose Lumensia.”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“What exactly are sacred relics?”

 

“They contain the power of the Forgotten Gods.”

 

I removed my veil and handed it to him. The veil in the Demon King’s hands looked as small as a handkerchief. The veil that contained the universe and covered my entire head was being handled this way and that in his hands.

 

“I see. Then you’re the only one who can absorb this power and oppose Lumensia?”

 

The Demon King asked again as if double-checking.

 

“Yes.”

 

“What happens if someone other than you obtains a sacred relic?”

 

“It wouldn’t be used to its full potential. They would only use the sacred relic’s inherent power and wouldn’t even be able to oppose Lumensia. By gathering the power of the Forgotten Gods contained in the sacred relics, I will resurrect the Forgotten Gods.”

 

“I see. Then is that the body you’ll resurrect them in?”

 

The Demon King poked Sernuan’s chest. His sharp fingernail pressed firmly against the chest.

 

“Since you’re the vessel of the Forgotten Gods, your body will be used as the material for that resurrection.”

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