The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 183

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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 183

“I found a way to get to Nebria!”

A few hours after Gretchin underwent his body examination, Celestia delivered good news to the group.

“To use a teleportation circle like we did to get here, we need help from that Violin and Viola or whatever with their unknown ulterior motives, right?”

“Right. That’s quite a prejudiced statement, but anyway, yes.”

“My teleportation circles put a heavy burden on the body… If we want to move, we have no choice but to ask those two for help. But I want to keep those two separated from the Savior just like I’ve been doing until now.”

Celestia spoke with a frown, muttering as if to herself.

“Why do you separate those two but leave me, who’s from the same origin, alone like this?”

Erendor shrugged his shoulders. Since the research on the Savior had become almost incomprehensible once it reached the middle stages, he had given up, but now he could understand her feelings. So that’s why those two were nowhere to be seen – Celestia had separated them.

“First of all, just being able to see spirits was helpful. You don’t seem like you’d cause trouble, but those two are obviously full of schemes!”

While he wasn’t sure about Violin, Viola was definitely full of schemes, so this reaction was somewhat understandable.

“The Ascetic made a contract beforehand, so they probably won’t torment the Savior or anything.”

“That may be true, but there are various ways to work around contract terms without violating them. Even now, they’re not in the Magic Tower but wandering around the Empire gathering intelligence, aren’t they? Those two. It’s unsettling.”

“If the great Archmage says so, then it must be so.”

Celestia now seemed to regard Erendor’s words as less than the sound of wind. She casually brushed it off and spoke with a tired but bright smile.

“But when I asked Antonio and the Young Lady… they said Nebria has corridors that were used for war in the old days. They’re closed now, but if the Young Lady gives permission, we can travel through there! There’s an entrance to the corridors near the Magic Tower… Problem solved!”

“Wow, that worked out well.”

Erendor clapped his hands mechanically without enthusiasm. Yelena gave her assessment with a slightly tired but calm expression.

“Things worked out well.”

“Should we start packing now?”

“Yes! Now we can go to Nebria, perform the ritual, and restore the Savior!”

“Anyway, once we return just the heart, everything will be fine, right?”

“Yes. That’s why we need to be even more careful. Especially when going to Nebria! Someone who hears this news might kill Gretchin or do something bad to the Savior!”

“With our current strength, there’s no one bold enough to attack us, and the only people who know this information are those here. There’s no reason for anyone to ambush us, right?”

“Either way, let’s be careful.”

Celestia said this while looking at the Savior who was gazing at the fake sky. Professor Ellara clapped her hands to gather everyone’s attention.

“What are you doing? We need to prepare quickly! Toward the truth!”

*

Those who safely arrived at Nebria through the corridors were amazed at how little time it took compared to the distance.

“How on earth do they make something like this, and why?”

“I wonder.”

The condition of the Savior, who had been dragged along by the hand, also seemed reasonably fine. Only the edges of the veil, which crumbled like withering flowers as time passed, appeared pitch black.

Professor Ellara acted as if this were some great adventure, maintaining a constant smile even while walking through the damp corridors filled with water.

Everyone was in a mess from wading through water that reached their calves. Walking while groping along the damp, humid walls made the arrival itself exhausting.

Celestia used her magic to clean herself up. She also cast magic on Cardil and Gretchin. A calm, rigid voice and a quiet voice like a small mouse lightly expressed their gratitude.

Erendor asked Ifrit to dry the moisture, becoming fluffy and dry. Professor Ellara also took care of herself. Only Yelena, who could neither use magic nor spirits and could only resort to brute force, looked like a drenched mouse.

“Celestia, me too.”

Perhaps because of her reluctance when they suggested using heretical methods, the relationship between Celestia and Yelena was not as close as before and had become awkward.

However, they were all busy people facing a great task, had lived through many years, and were not foolish enough to dwell on such emotions.

The Archmage lightly waved her new staff to dry the moisture completely.

Since the gift from the Ascetic had been destroyed while blocking Lumensia’s attack, she couldn’t perform additional mana operations just by holding a staff, but this one wasn’t bad either.

Of course, it was indeed a good item, more than adequate for any mage other than an Archmage…

Rustle, rustle.

Several figures walked through the tall grass. Only the tall figure standing among them looked out of place. It felt as if something that shouldn’t exist in this world had been cut out and pasted here in chunks.

The path leading to the cavern in Nebria was rough. Perhaps because the walk through the corridors hadn’t taken very long, dawn mist was thick, and the sun was rising, scattering through that mist.

The sounds of insects could be heard, and birds were chirping. It was so early in the morning that even the voices of diligent serfs couldn’t be heard. Though it was a refreshing morning, they were no longer people who welcomed the rising sun.

Even those who had been talking fell silent, making the journey very quiet. Gretchin went without saying.

The sinner seeking punishment was pitifully drenched in cold sweat and trembling in all his limbs. Celestia, who couldn’t bear to watch, cast a spell on him.

Despite being gripped by extreme fear, Gretchin walked without falling behind. No one was watching or restraining him, but he had returned to Nebria on his own feet.

“Where’s the entrance?”

However, while they expected to find that cavern Antonio and the Young Lady had told them about after just a short walk, they had been wandering around this grassy field for quite a while without seeing anything.

“Hmm, it’s not here.”

“It’s not here. My intuition tells me there should be something here though…”

The Inquisitor’s sharp intuition stared at the empty grassland. The grass reaching up to their shins was trampled. Two hands were placed firmly on hips.

“Maybe there’s some special barrier? Call a spirit to check.”

Erendor followed that suggestion. Ifrit emerged and flew around the area, fluttering above the empty field.

“Looks like it found something.”

“As expected.”

Yelena treated Ifrit like a high-performance truffle-hunting pig and diligently followed behind Erendor. Everyone followed behind him in a line.

“There really is a barrier.”

Only when they got close could they observe the subtle rippling caused by light refraction.

“Break it, Yelena.”

There was no need to draw her halberd.

“Yap.”

Air followed her lightly extended fist. Celestia, smoothing her fluttering hair, looked at the revealed entrance to the cavern.

“It looks like the entrance was once collapsed, then someone opened it again to enter and set up this barrier. Judging by how much effort was put into it, either a skilled person made it or they used an artifact made by someone good.”

“But it breaks this easily?”

“Normally, you wouldn’t even be able to find it. It’s a barrier made by maximizing concealment and light properties. They put minimal effort into defensive power. It’s a clean, precise formula.”

The Archmage’s eyes quickly scanned the barrier and determined what properties it had and how skilled its creator was.

They descended into the cavern entrance while talking.

“If it’s an enemy?”

“Hmm… Slightly annoying at most? Though it’s hard to determine just from this.”

Crumbling stones fell and rolled inside. The cool, damp air characteristic of underground spaces touched their skin.

“Ugh, the smell of blood.”

Yelena, who entered first, looked around. Celestia, who had conjured a light orb, illuminated the cavern.

Corpses piled in a corner, a strange magic circle, and an altar sitting prominently in place.

It was quite a familiar scene to Inquisitor Yelena. She walked over to the corpses and began investigating.

“They seem to have been dead for roughly several months to about a year. They’re wearing heretical insignia. And the corpse next to them… looks like a civilian, but doesn’t seem to have been dead long. Judging by the degree of decomposition, it’s been less than three months at most.”

“Can you tell what the corpses were used for?”

“Various things. Heretics mostly kill people horribly to summon strange things, enhance their abilities, or create cursed artifacts.”

“Hmm.”

“That’s for later – what’s important now is restoring the Savior, right?”

Erendor redirected the two women’s attention. As soon as Gretchin entered the cavern, he lost his voice and his face turned white as a sheet.

The 3-meter-tall God who entered the cavern stood in this cramped space with his upper body awkwardly bent.

“Now that I look at it, the altar is quite large.”

Grooves carved around the altar. Dried blood between them. Pits dug as if to catch the blood flowing from sacrifices.

It was truly a disgusting and horrible place. Yelena grimaced and drew her halberd blade.

“There’s one altar. Are you sure we just need to put Gretchin on it? Doesn’t it seem too heretical…”

“Ancient texts don’t remain for no reason, and if old methods have been passed down to this day, there must be reasons for it all. Anyway, perform the ritual.”

Professor Ellara gently took Gretchin’s hand and led him to the altar.

“Don’t be too afraid. Perhaps the awakened Ascetic might revive Gretchin, who gave his heart, don’t you think?”

“…What? Ah, yes. Um…”

“Are you scared?”

“Yes… I’m sorry.”

“What is there to be sorry about? This situation becoming like this is all unavoidable fate.”

“Then should I hate fate…? That my ending is like this – should I just run away and refuse it?”

“Even so, you’ll eventually return to this ending. That’s fate and inevitability. Just accept it.”

“You’re telling me to accept that this is what I become?”

“If it’s your fate to end up like this no matter what you choose, wouldn’t it be better to just accept it? Even if it means cursing the world.”

Gretchin looked displeased.

“Now, lie down here.”

The Ascetic stood before the altar. Only Celestia, who had insisted she would remove Gretchin’s heart herself, was beside him.

“There won’t be any pain. I’ll cast magic on you. Just think of it as taking a nap.”

She gripped the sharp dagger borrowed from Erendor. Though it might have felt short in his hands, it looked like a longsword when it came into Celestia’s grasp.

“…Is there anything you want to say?”

“I only want to apologize to everyone. So many people died because of me… It feels like I’m only causing trouble before I go. Maybe it would have been better if I was never born at all if this was my fate. It seems like everything was decided even before I was born.”

His words seemed like fearful muttering without a clear subject.

“That’s not wrong!”

Professor Ellara broke the solemn atmosphere. Gretchin lay on the cold altar and only turned his head to look at the Savior.

Rustle.

An alien presence was felt from somewhere. Yelena followed her instincts.

She stretched her legs wide. With just one stride, she reached Celestia’s side from far away. Then she drew the halberd from her back, spun it once in her hand, and struck at something invisible with its broad flat surface.

Clang-!

Even Yelena only realized after blocking it that the ‘something’ was a dagger thrown from somewhere.

“Enemy!”

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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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