The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 197

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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 197

“The Ascetic…!”

As soon as Celestia set foot on the earth of the human realm, she screamed as she looked up at the sky.

However, the fragments of the divine realm that had been hellish just moments ago were nowhere to be seen, and the sky above was sickeningly clear and peaceful.

This unrealistic silence sent a chill across her skin.

“Calm down. There’s no time, so it would be better to execute the Ascetic’s plan that you just understood.”

Celestia bit her lips. Even if I become a Transcendent, I still can’t stand beside him.

Even after catching up to half of what a Sage, called the pinnacle of mages, could do, the fact that nothing had changed and she was still just following the Ascetic made her feel utterly powerless.

The Commander asked.

“What is his plan?”

“Go to the Demon Realm and join with the Demon King. Then activate the trap we set up before.”

Celestia explained the plan with her eyes fixed on the ground and her face deeply furrowed.

“The Ascetic… plans to go directly to the divine realm and capture Lumensia by making her fall.”

The Commander narrowed his eyes slightly.

Setting aside Celestia’s ability to grasp the Ascetic’s plan from such a brief eye contact.

Even if he, a Transcendent, joined forces with Celestia and the Demon King, killing a god was practically impossible even in the realm of mythology.

“The odds of success would be slim.”

The Commander calmly discussed the odds and laid out the scenarios for defeat on his staff.

“That’s right. We lack the strength. Originally, the Ascetic who became a god should also join forces, but… there’s no choice. We can only try.”

The Commander nodded briefly.

Even if he didn’t know about the Demon King, he and Celestia had fought life-or-death battles to become Transcendents.

He calculated that a joint attack could yield decent odds against Lumensia even without the Ascetic.

Alderion and Erendor, who had regained consciousness, got up holding their heads. Alderion spoke with a haggard face.

“Please include me in the fighting force. If I add the authority I possess… the odds will surely improve.”

“Sorry, but who are you?”

“I am the head of House Alderion.”

“I see. A noble who learned swordplay, it seems.”

The Commander, whose temperament had actually mellowed after becoming a Transcendent, harbored slight hostility at the mention of being an Imperial Citizen and replied.

“Explain what use you might be.”

Despite having seen that overwhelming fighting spirit earlier, his reaction was purely due to his twisted feelings, but Alderion responded earnestly without showing any sign of displeasure.

“My use… honestly, I’m not sure yet, but I could be called the last Apostle of the God of War.”

When Alderion said that, Erendor, whose spirit transformation had been released, opened his eyes wide.

He pointed with his finger at the sword that Alderion had been carefully holding in his hand until he lost consciousness and asked.

“Then, could this possibly be.”

“Ah… Yes. The Ascetic directly told me to try pulling it out.”

Alderion answered awkwardly while lifting the sword to show it.

“The sword left by the God of War, which only those who are qualified can draw.”

“Pieta.”

Erendor continued the words while trembling.

For him, who had spent his entire life wandering in pursuit of power, it meant more than just a holy sword.

“Could I hold it just once?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Celestia was angry that they were conducting pointless tests in such an urgent situation, but the Commander remained calm.

“Wait just a moment.”

He knew how strong Erendor’s obsession with power and weapons was, and how much resolving that craving now would affect the upcoming battle.

Celestia didn’t wait and left to scout the surroundings.

“…”

Erendor tremblingly grasped the sword hilt that Alderion handed him. However, the sword didn’t move an inch.

It was as heavy as if it were connected to the earth as one, as if it contained the weight of the world.

Even when Erendor exerted force until his veins bulged and tried spirit transformation again, he couldn’t even lift the sword from the ground.

The sword remained motionless and simply heavy.

It rejected Erendor.

Saying he wasn’t qualified.

“…Right. That’s enough now. Thanks for giving me the chance, friend.”

He let go with an expression that was both hollow and clear.

“I hope this became an answer to something for you.”

Alderion smiled seeing Erendor’s expression. It was the face unique to those who could leap over the vague, unknowable walls that blocked them.

“…Yes, that’s enough now. Sorry for the delay, everyone. Let’s move to the Demon Realm now.”

While they were testing the sword, Celestia, who had found Austin Gerard, came walking with him hanging at her side while casting continuous healing magic.

“I didn’t see any demons.”

“They must have fled. Small fry disappear when things get big.”

Erendor, who had quickly regained his composure, strapped his greatsword back behind him and answered with relief.

However, none of those present had ever thought of demons as small fry.

No one responded to Erendor’s words, and they gathered those who were still unconscious.

“The Commander will handle transportation. I’ve used too much power so far.”

The Commander nodded and whistled. The sharp sound tore through space.

Whoosh-!

Space tore open and the group instantly fell into the heart of the Demon Realm. The Demon King’s castle.

The moment Celestia, who had landed gracefully before the Demon King, opened her mouth to explain the plan, the Demon King raised his hand.

“I know the time has come.”

Yelena and the Harmony members, who had awakened during transport, gasped for breath while grasping the situation.

“What is this…”

“Damn.”

The Demon King looked them over indifferently and then spoke.

“Perfect timing, I’ve just finished preparing to kill a god.”

Celestia shook her head.

“It’s not just the god we need to be wary of, but demons too. Even if we don’t know about Lumensia, if demons join in, we have no chance of winning.”

“The demons won’t appear.”

The Demon King was calm as if stating a known fact.

“…How do you know that?”

“Because the demons want Lumensia to die. Or the Ascetic.”

“Setting aside how you know that, why? The demons should be on Lumensia’s side.”

“In the end, demons are just demons.”

The Demon King slightly bowed his head while fidgeting with his pendant.

“They will eliminate all gods supporting this world, devour our possibilities, then wander to find other dimensions with intelligent beings to consume other possibilities.”

“Huh.”

Viola, who had gotten a taste of the world’s secrets, exclaimed in wonder.

“Commander, I really won’t be of any help. Even now, Violin and I could go back to headquarters…”

The Commander didn’t even pretend to listen.

“To them, it doesn’t matter who wins this fight.”

“Then…”

“Right. The demons will appear right after we finish fighting and are exhausted, at our most vulnerable moment.”

Rumble-

A sound like a dry thunderstorm shook the entire Demon Realm, making the windows of the Demon King’s castle tremble.

Outside the small windows of the castle, the corpses of several angels that the Demon King had already slaughtered lay scattered, their milk-white blood flowing toward the stream.

The Demon King, sitting loosely in his large chair, looked at the things outside the window with dry eyes.

Rumble- Crash, Bang!

Lightning flashed several more times. The Demon King turned his head.

“Keep that fact in mind as you fight.”

*

Each time he stepped forward, the marble foundation of the divine realm screamed and collapsed beneath him.

Though his momentum seemed ready to crush me at any moment, I actually became calmer.

I staggered and straightened my back.

Lumensia seemed to have abandoned any pretense of looking down with noble mercy. In his grasp, a final strike was already being woven together.

It was a spear that would surely hit, an unstoppable flash grenade, and now thin lasers that would deliver fatal wounds began forming in the air like raindrops.

“Didn’t you think it was unfair for gods to be responsible for humans?”

“How dare a mere insect discuss my heart!”

“I saw it in the gods’ memories. You always felt sick disgust at the reality that gods must sacrifice and perish for humans simply because they possess power.”

“What do you know!”

“I understand. If I were in that environment, I would have thought the same thing.”

“…What are you scheming?”

“Then. I should grant that wish of yours.”

Hesitation.

Lumensia’s movement to throw the spear faltered for a moment.

The lasers that had been round like raindrops then elongated like thin needles suddenly disappeared.

“Are you begging for your life now that death approaches?”

When the sun’s heat subsided in bewilderment.

I slowly lowered the reed I was holding.

“No. Just…”

The tip of the reed pointed not at him, but at the foundation of this unequal world we stood upon.

“Let’s collapse together, fairly.”

I put strength into the hand gripping the reed and struck the ground.

Thud!

Starting with that impact, Lumensia’s missed attacks began causing cracks like dominoes, collapsing the foundation.

Rumble—!

Crack— Crackle—!

The white sky of the divine realm began shattering like cracked glass.

Whoosh!

The fire that had died down across my body blazed with several times its original intensity before disappearing.

Shock showed on the expressionless sun.

“You madman! Are you trying to destroy the divine realm!”

The massive golden halo that had protected his back twisted and distorted.

The marble stones of the pantheon that had been beneath his feet for a lifetime scattered as powder, and the great cosmic law of falling tried to drag even gods down to the ground.

“Didn’t you wish for a fair world that makes no distinction between gods and humans? That happened to be what I wanted too.”

The white marble floor beneath our feet cracked, and through it, the blue landscape of the earth began to show.

No, it was too vast to call a landscape.

Above the sky where boundaries had collapsed, clouds from the human realm and fragments of the divine realm swirled together.

I began falling through the air, having already exhausted all my strength.

He instinctively struggled to stand on the air, but wherever he stepped only became fragments of the divine realm scattering as dust.

A god without a world to support him was no longer a god. Just something a bit strong, but not human.

His servants, the angels, grotesquely swelled up and burst.

I smiled from within my robe’s hood.

Thanks to the radiance Lumensia emitted, my face, without a single shadow cast upon it, would be more clearly visible than ever.

My voice pierced through the noise of the divine realm’s collapse and struck his ears.

Lumensia screamed and reached out to me, but we were already plummeting toward the earth, our bodies surrendered to tremendous acceleration.

“Fall, Lumensia. Together with me.”

Piercing through the clouds of the human realm, two divine beings plummeted toward the earth.

Crash—!

The sun had fallen.

Finally, the age of gods began its fall toward the end.

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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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