The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 164

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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 164

 

“This isn’t exactly a situation where you can crawl out, is it.”

 

Well, that’s probably right.

 

Escaping this prison with its triple barriers and all this chaos to prevent my escape – wouldn’t that be impossible unless you’re Tom Cruise?

 

“The items?”

 

“Two. It was difficult to obtain more than that.”

 

Oh, an unexpected harvest. I thought I’d be lucky if even one was properly obtained.

 

“Thank you.”

 

The Demon King with his ominous ether swept away the iron bars rolling around at his feet and approached me, removing my blindfold. Then he knelt down and placed a box in front of me.

 

When the Demon King opened the box, I saw a cracked, worn Gothic mirror and a flute made of silver. From those objects, I could feel the distinctive ether and divine power of the Forgotten Gods.

 

They were undoubtedly authentic.

 

“With this… the preparations are complete.”

 

“Are you really planning to die like this?”

 

“It’s awkward having the person who wants me dead the most suddenly ask such a question.”

 

The Demon King crossed his arms and clicked his tongue.

 

“Can’t be helped, can it? I’ve staked the fate of the Demon World on that silver tongue of yours.”

 

“That’s true too.”

 

“Don’t fail. This is the second world, so you know well that we can’t turn the clockwork once more.”

 

The Demon King lowered his voice with a subtle growl. He too seemed on edge, having made an uncharacteristically large gamble.

 

“We can’t contract with time in the first place… And our world no longer has enough possibility left to turn it three times.”

 

“I’m well aware this is the last chance.”

 

The Demon King seemed quite anxious. Even though I kept reassuring him, he had essentially entrusted everything to me, so his unease was understandable.

 

The Demon King and I are similar types – perfectionists with paranoia and obsessive-compulsive tendencies.

 

If psychiatrists existed in this world, I’d go get medication first and send the Demon King, Kalebrin, and all the Harmony members to psychiatrists too.

 

“So don’t worry so much – the future will flow according to the prophecy.”

 

“Arrogant. Those who glimpsed the future always met miserable ends because of that tongue.”

 

That’s probably going to happen soon.

 

“Not this time.”

 

“It better not.”

 

The Demon King disappeared smoothly again.

 

I stared blankly at the holy relics, then brought out my ether hand to pick them up.

 

I made the two holy relics mine. Along with a feeling of fullness, I felt something churning inside me.

 

“Ugh…”

 

I felt the stuffy sensation you get when climbing high mountains and the feeling of your lungs shrinking when diving deep underwater, all at once.

 

‘Is it because I consumed two at once?’

 

If I hadn’t been restrained, I would have rolled around on the stone floor in pain. My eyes stung painfully, my joints ached as if I had a severe cold, and my head felt heavy.

 

“Hck, heu.”

 

The blood I shed flowed along the cracks in the stone floor.

 

[Number of holy relics collected so far: 6.5]

 

[Note: Since the God of Darkness is treated as one body with Lumensia, the Veil is not counted in the holy relic numbers.]

 

[Note: The ‘Sage Series’ that the Ascetic calls is marked as 0.5 since the staff has not been collected.]

 

System Message windows filled my vision.

 

The whispers in my head grew louder, and I knocked on my skull a couple times.

 

The more holy relics I consumed, the more I felt the egos inside me growing. It was something I had to endure to some degree, but the feeling was absolutely terrible.

 

[Time until next holy relic recovery: 1 year]

 

The penalty time had become generous too.

 

Was it because I collected two at once, or because I collected nearly three in a short period…

 

It felt like bugs were crawling around in my head talking to me.

 

‘Cel, manage the Forgotten Gods a bit. At this rate I’ll die from my body bursting. And it’s noisy and giving me a headache.’

 

[Yes, understood. I’m suppressing them as much as possible, but your vessel is reaching its limit, Ascetic.]

 

Just 6.5 Forgotten God powers. Even with contracts with the God of Darkness and Ife, this was my limit – if I hadn’t made those contracts, I might have burst like a popping game trying to accept the power.

 

‘I know. So I need to finish this quickly.’

 

I broke out in cold sweat and slumped down, putting my body weight on the restraints. My lips were torn from gritting them in pain.

 

Every muscle in my body screamed. Whether my brain was thoroughly cooked or what, I wanted to press my head against the cold stone floor, then felt chills.

 

My heart beat strangely hard as if it would pop out through my ears, and just the heartbeat seemed to shake my whole body, making me want to stop my heart.

 

Probably there won’t be a next time, but anyway, absorbing two at once seemed like a poor choice. Damn.

 

Thud, thud.

 

Not long after the Demon King left, heavy, authoritative footsteps echoed.

 

Not a secret visitor like the previous two. Someone boldly opening the main gate and entering.

 

“What a sight to behold, Ascetic.”

 

It was a Cardinal from the Central Church in splendid robes. The bastard who always regarded me as a thorn in his side. I’m sure he wasn’t a Cardinal back then – did he get a new position when I stepped down?

 

‘What was his name again?’

 

I forgot because he wasn’t worth remembering.

 

He looked down at me like an animal through the bars with a fishy smile.

 

“Thanks to you, the world has become quite noisy. Instigator of war, destroyer of peace, fallen saint… The names they call you outside are quite colorful.”

 

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

 

“A compliment? Your single bombardment caused 90,000 casualties and you call that a compliment!”

 

That’s somewhat shocking.

 

“That’s regrettable.”

 

“Regrettable? Just regrettable? You came to this world to end people’s suffering, but instead you’re producing suffering – what do you have to say about this situation? You’re arrogant to the end. Do you even know how much this Empire had to bow down because of that bombardment you caused!”

 

Whack-

 

The Cardinal kicked my head. Ringing filled my ears. My vision spun as the blood-stained stone floor came toward my face.

 

‘…Ha, at this rate I’ll be beaten to death before the execution.’

 

My mouth burst and I tasted fishy blood. As I coughed and spat out bloody saliva, the Cardinal brushed off his robes as if looking at something dirty and sneered coldly.

 

“Those Centa bastards too, such transparent merchants. Taking that massive compensation in exchange for handing over one mad saint.”

 

“…”

 

“That’s right. That Centa you helped with everything you had. Oh, the Demon Realm demanded compensation too. Haha, how does it feel to be betrayed by the country you so desperately wanted to protect?”

 

No matter how much compensation is paid, the lives of those already dead won’t return.

 

Considering that, I have nothing to say.

 

“They said they’d wage world war if the saint wasn’t killed. Your life stopped a war. If tens of thousands live because you alone die, isn’t that exactly the peace you so fervently preached? Uhahahaha!”

 

As expected, just as I thought.

 

The Empire didn’t want war either. They just wanted justification for my execution. And the Central Church seized the perfect opportunity to deal with troublesome me.

 

A dirty political game where mutual interests aligned. And I’m placed as a sacrifice in the center of it all.

 

The fact that 90,000 people were hurt and killed because of just my life really doesn’t sit well with me.

 

But since I’m going to die anyway, I hope they’ll forgive me in their own way.

 

“How wonderful. That the world becomes peaceful with just my life – there’s no greater glory for a saint.”

 

Now I’ll truly walk the path of asceticism like an ascetic, without deceiving everyone…

 

When I spoke with a smile, the Cardinal couldn’t contain his anger and scowled. Then he beat me several times, spat on the floor, and left the prison.

 

“Ha…”

 

[Are you alright, Ascetic?]

 

“To think I’d live to get beaten like this.”

 

I’d been beaten before, but being beaten while restrained like this really made my skull ring.

 

I used ether for self-healing, but perhaps due to the aftereffects of consuming two holy relics earlier, my nosebleed wouldn’t stop.

 

After that, several more sets of footsteps were heard.

 

Most were high-ranking Central Church officials who came to mock me, curse at me, or observe my miserable state.

 

I spent time giving them appropriate responses. Apart from prison visitors, not even a mouse passed by, so it was too boring.

 

Though it was only 20 days of confinement, being tied up alone unable to do anything nearly drove me insane.

 

If not for my abilities to limitedly peek through believers’ vision through the system and speak through voice transmission, I would have gone mad long ago.

 

Having restrictions on movement is truly torturous.

 

Occasionally nobles wanting my healing beam would offer meager flattery, saying they’d move me to a better prison for my remaining time if I cooperated…

 

I rejected them all.

 

If someone had weighed their sins on the scales and done some good deeds, I could have shot them a Heal Heal Beam out of mercy before they died, but…

 

‘What kind of trash have I been seeing…’

 

The Ascetic’s system knows everything~ Whether you’re a scumbag or a good person~

 

Everyone who came to visit was a scumbag.

 

At this point, I suspected that selectively sending only scumbags to my visitation to burst my patience might be the Cardinal’s sophisticated torture method.

 

‘…I feel sick.’

 

Was it because I had swallowed too many sacred relics of the Forgotten Gods?

 

In the past, I would have moderately played along and looked out for my own interests, but now just facing evil people made me feel physiologically nauseous.

 

I wasn’t originally someone who distinguished between good and evil so particularly. Whether the gods within me were rejecting them, or my soul had worn thin and become sensitive.

 

It seemed even my personality had changed to their liking.

 

‘Is this the synchronization the Demon King talked about?’

 

The more sacred relics I absorbed, the more my human self disappeared and I became a god.

 

Fortunately, I was able to meet my ‘family’ before going completely insane.

 

Celestia, who handed me the stolen staff with a face covered in tears.

 

Yelena, who suppressed her anger and sadness, listened to my final request, and left.

 

Those two brief farewells that came on that pitch-black night were the only anchor keeping me as ‘Sernuan.’

 

Or as Hanbul Park.

 

I realized just before dying that precious people can become sturdy trees for those going through difficult times to lean on.

 

Now all that remained was waiting for the approaching time of death.

 

Time flowed indifferently, yet quickly. The cold air of the prison pierced my lungs, and loneliness that seemed to gnaw at my flesh continued for several days and nights.

 

When I had grown numb to pain and accustomed to darkness. The people’s condemnation, curses, and cheers heard from outside. When all that madness had ripened and swelled to the point of bursting.

 

Creeeeak-.

 

The rusted iron door screamed as it opened. Brilliant sunlight poured into the pitch-black darkness. Soldiers standing in the backlight pointed their spears and shouted.

 

“Come out, criminal Sernuan Lumiere.”

 

Finally, that day had dawned.

 

[Execution Day D-day]

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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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