The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 173

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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 173

 

She had suffered critical injuries, her upper body nearly severed by her daughter’s halberd. In that moment, as the last breath faintly escaped from between the blonde Archmage’s lips.

 

The God, who had been frozen like a stone statue, slowly began to move.

 

It was an unreal and graceful movement, as if unbound by gravity’s constraints, like a magnificent ornamental fish swimming through water.

 

He approached Celestia, who was crossing the threshold of death, and gently pressed his forehead against her cold one.

 

Paaaa…

 

A familiar pattern emerged from the point of contact, and warm golden particles bubbled up like spring water, enveloping her entire body.

 

“Heoeoook-!”

 

Celestia’s eyes snapped open as she drew in a great breath of life. With trembling hands, as if unable to believe it, she frantically felt around her chest.

 

The terrible wound that had exposed bone was nowhere to be found, and only her torn Magic Tower uniform remained as proof that there had been an injury.

 

A miracle.

 

Divine mercy.

 

It was the salvation of God that humans cry out for.

 

The God gazed down deeply at the believer he had first saved since awakening, then slowly rose to his feet.

 

{Enough…}

 

A voice that resonated through space. A strange incantation that seemed like a child’s, yet also an elder’s, a mysterious blend of male and female, spread softly.

 

The yellow light burning through the veil seemed to waver like tears for just a moment.

 

The God slowly turned his head and stared at me, standing there in a daze.

 

{I said that the powerful should not torment the powerless…}

 

A small, grotesque widow wearing a black veil.

 

A towering God with a pure white veil draped beyond his feet.

 

It was a starkly contrasting scene, like a frame from a black and white film. I burst into hollow laughter along with a subtle sense of déjà vu.

 

“Ha… Yes. The divine power you possess wasn’t something like darkness after all.”

 

Fairness.

 

For the weak, for those ostracized by society!

 

It was a divine power that clearly reflected his life from when he was human.

 

It wasn’t the destruction or chaos I had wanted and hoped for.

 

I weakly lowered my head and swallowed my anger inwardly.

 

This wasn’t why I had left him alone all this time.

 

What I wanted now wasn’t power that struggled to save lives that would die anyway if left alone, but what I wanted. So I could live freely. Power to live as I pleased.

 

This.

 

Isn’t what I want.

 

At all.

 

Cel, Cel, Sernuan. Damn Sernuan, so this was what following the plan meant. All that obedient compliance to this teacher’s words, remaining detached and aloof until the very brink of death, was all to screw me over like this.

 

The torn body was sewn together with black liquid-like threads. Using my own spider silk to mend my torso, I filled the wounds my daughter had carved with anger as my flesh.

 

*

 

Then, Kalebrin crawled across the floor and clung to the God’s sleeve.

 

“Cel, Cel! Your memories… Have your memories returned…?”

 

I cried out with desperation.

 

But the God remained cruelly silent. Instead, he raised his large hand and gently placed it on top of my red curly hair.

 

Pat, stroke.

 

A rough but affectionate touch. It was exactly the same feeling as when the Ascetic would sometimes stroke my head in praise or comfort.

 

That touch healed my minor injuries completely, but the tears flowing from my eyes didn’t stop.

 

How miserable.

 

My hand gripping his sleeve slipped away powerlessly. I bowed my head at the God’s feet like a sinner and wailed.

 

“Please… You’re in there, aren’t you…? Right…?”

 

My lips trembled on their own. I couldn’t bring myself to speak and bit my lips before they quivered. Then I gripped the God’s veil with desperate eyes.

 

“Huuuk… I didn’t… I didn’t ruin something again… Tell me I didn’t destroy you… Please…”

 

Afraid that the body I had created had erased him. Afraid that my greed had sent him away forever.

 

The Sorceress wailed in terror.

 

The atmosphere grew heavy.

 

The God’s hand hesitated in the air for a moment. For an omnipotent God, he looked like a clumsy adult struggling to comfort a crying child.

 

No matter how incompletely he had been resurrected, a God was still a God. But he was still their ‘Ascetic.’

 

{Child…}

 

The God knelt down and carefully stroked the crying Sorceress’s head once more.

 

Pat, stroke.

 

A rough but affectionate touch.

 

It was a habitual gesture he had shown to those close to him in the past.

 

Stroking heads was his long-standing behavior.

 

{Do not cry…}

 

{Did I not say that no fear, no sorrow… would be allowed to harm you…}

 

Affectionate actions and words meant for others.

 

That figure performing miracles to save me and comforting me as I cried. That was definitely the Ascetic I knew.

 

But…

 

‘No… That’s not right…’

 

An unidentifiable sorrow welled up from somewhere in my heart.

 

The Ascetic I had seen closest, nearer than anyone else… wasn’t someone who was merely a ‘Saint’ who only cared for others.

 

Of course, he was someone whose life of caring for others had become like a habit.

 

But I had come to feel he was human too when…

 

I saw him worry and suffer and agonize, hesitating to continue forward, struggling under the weight of responsibility…

 

In his casual words, I could tell he was genuinely anxious.

 

Those days when he would subtly bring things up, hoping I wouldn’t notice those words, yet perhaps also hoping I would…

 

“Ah…”

 

The strength drained from my hands. The God’s garment I had been holding slipped through my fingers.

 

“I… I ruined everything… Again, I, I…”

 

Celestia approached and knelt to comfort me. Yelena also came over and hugged me tightly as I lay prostrate.

 

Though it should have been the warmth of precious people, deep despair devoured my heart.

 

‘I wanted to become someone the Ascetic needed. I’ve been trying so hard for that… And yet…’

 

The Ascetic who had become a God… No, he probably wasn’t even an Ascetic anymore, just watched this situation.

 

At times like this, the Ascetic would usually…

 

-‘Kalebrin, why are you crying? What’s so sad? Should I buy you some candy?’

 

And when that didn’t work.

 

He would watch me intently with a caring expression…

 

-‘Lina must have been very sad. It’s good to cry when you’re very sad. Cry to your heart’s content. Don’t worry about your eyes swelling. I’m here. Come, tell me all about what made you so sad while you cry. I’ll listen to everything. After you’re done crying, let’s stop by that candy shop you like and buy some candy.’

 

He would even awkwardly call me by that clumsy nickname while trying his best to comfort me…

 

I looked up at the God standing there blankly and asked one last time.

 

I had a feeling this might be the last words I’d say to him.

 

Without stammering, as clearly as possible.

 

“Um… Do you know who Lina is?”

 

{…?}

 

The God tilted his head slightly.

 

There was no emotion, no joy in those eyes. Just pure curiosity, like a machine that had received an unknown input.

 

“…”

 

Even after waiting a long time, the answer I hoped for didn’t come.

 

“Yeah… That’s fine then…”

 

The Ascetic had left without keeping any promises – not his promise to return my forest, not his promise to create my lost family.

 

He had left without keeping any promise at all.

 

So my leaving would be of no concern to him whatsoever. He would have forgotten everything and let it slip from his mind…

 

I stood up. I could feel Yelena and Celestia watching me with worried eyes from beside me.

 

I gave a faint smile to the God standing quietly and bid him farewell.

 

“Take care.”

 

No additional words like “be happy” came out.

 

Because you had already become a perfect being who knew neither pain nor sorrow.

 

Because I had ruined you.

 

“Ka, Kalebrin… Where are you going?”

 

I turned around without answering. Celestia hurriedly blocked my path.

 

“That’s right, Kalebrin. If we stay together, his memories might return. That’s how you convinced us, wasn’t it…? If you leave, it’ll disrupt that plan.”

 

“…Sorry. I, I can’t do that. I don’t have the… qualifications for it either.”

 

“At this rate, that woman might just send an assassin to kill you!”

 

“What’s the point now? She wouldn’t do something so inefficient.”

 

The Widow who had been pointed at tilted her head arrogantly. She was right. Now that a God had been born, killing one fleeing defeated soldier would be wasteful.

 

In the first place, she had tried to kill me as a warning to put a leash on me. If he had completely forgotten his human memories as Cel, there was even less need for that.

 

Celestia tried to grab me once more, but I was already crossing the plaza. I heard the Magic Tower Master’s urgent voice from behind me.

 

“Miss Yelena, is it really okay not to stop her? You’ve known her longer than I have, haven’t you?”

 

“That’s right. But…”

 

Yelena’s voice trembled. She was watching my retreating figure, unable to take a step forward.

 

“If you see that expression, you’ll know that I absolutely cannot stop her. Even if we stop her now, she’ll leave eventually…”

 

Celestia let her shoulders drop. Yelena added bitterly.

 

“Right now she just needs time. Then, she’ll eventually come back.”

 

But I would not return.

 

How could I face him again, carrying the guilt that the God I created had devoured the person I loved?

 

*

 

Until Kalebrin’s figure became as small as a dot and disappeared beyond the plaza.

 

The Ascetic, no…

 

Their God did not move from the podium like a preserved statue.

 

As if stopping a departing believer was not the role of a God. Or as if he couldn’t even feel a reason to stop her.

 

Only that indifferent silence filled the empty plaza.

 

In the plaza where silence had settled frighteningly, only the groans that the injured barely let out could be heard.

 

The God who had been blankly soothing his fatigue slowly moved his steps.

 

Swoosh.

 

He took slow steps.

 

Wherever his feet touched, golden particles bloomed. Torn flesh mended, broken bones aligned, and the expressions of people twisted in pain smoothed into peace.

 

It was a procession of merciful miracles, but the God performing those miracles only carried out the work mechanically without saying a word.

 

Until all the injured in the plaza were freed from pain, no one could open their mouth.

 

“…Where did the Sorceress Lady go?”

 

The silence that seemed like it would last forever was finally broken by Erendor’s indifferent question.

 

“She left.”

 

Yelena answered briefly with a dark expression.

 

Crack, snap.

 

When Erendor turned his neck and shoulders, the sound of bones aligning rang out.

 

Complex fractures of limbs, collapsed ribs, orbital crush fractures. He had even been in a fatal condition with broken bones piercing his organs, but now he had a perfectly healthy body from just one touch of the God’s hand.

 

He tapped his body curiously, then stretched his body with his spirit and asked.

 

“Where did she go? Is the escort mission over now?”

 

On Erendor’s shoulder, the fire spirit Ifrit looked down at Yelena with a tearful expression.

 

Though they couldn’t communicate, it was a creature that had grown quite fond of Kalebrin in the short time. It looked like it would burst into tears at any moment.

 

However, Yelena, who couldn’t see the spirit’s expression, only moved her lips but couldn’t bring herself to explain the reason.

 

“…I’ll take care of the people.”

 

She turned her head as if fleeing and headed toward the Knights and Priests standing in a daze. Perhaps reading the bitterness emanating from her retreating figure.

 

“Tsk.”

 

Erendor clicked his tongue and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

 

Though he had fainted once in the middle due to shock and hadn’t properly grasped the situation, even with his socially oblivious nature he could tell that this matter hadn’t ended well.

 

“This feels really unsettling.”

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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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