Chapter 279: 147. In the Name of the Holy King -3 (Part One)
Chapter 279: 147. In the Name of the Holy King -3 (Part One)
Translate by A Passing Wanderer
Edited by RED
The gateway to Purgatory materialised right in the middle of the plaza. The empire’s subjects started screaming loudly in terror.
A world so horrifying and disgusting to behold, where lands were made out of writhing flesh and bizarre screams reverberated throughout the sky.
Zombies roamed around freely, devouring their own kind, while a ship of death was floating on the ocean of blood.
Unlike his screaming subjects, however, Allen was smiling deeply. He swept his gaze over the crowd. Their attention was completely focused on the Warp Gate right now.
This was what he had been waiting for all along.
“Now behold, my subjects!” Allen roared out as loudly as he could. “This is the world the vampires wish to create!”
What? What was he even talking about?
Count Timong’s gaze shifted over to Purgatory. That hellish place was so horrifying that not even vampires could survive there for long.
Yet, this boy was saying something about vampires wanting to create such a world?
“What these bastards want to see is our world turning into hell! I ask all of you, do you wish to live in a hellish world like that?!”
A sudden deathly chill ran down Count Timong’s spine just then.
‘Oh, my gods. This, this...!’
This was a trap!
This boy, he had deliberately allowed the gateway to Purgatory to open up. All so that he could turn every single vampire into an object of terror and drive that idea deep into the hearts of everyone in this world.
What this bastard was aiming to achieve right now, was...!
“We shall stop these monsters!”
It was to show to the world the scene of him closing the gate to Purgatory, and completely crushing the vampires!
It was to prove that the Imperial Family were the absolute beings!
“Nasus!”
The Lich named Nasus stepped forward, then it held its musket up to fire a projectile.
The gateway that was gradually opening wider was struck by the holy bullet and stopped growing. The Lich indeed stopped the Warp Gate’s expansion, but its effort wasn’t perfect.
The ancient runes, encrypted by Count Timong himself, were impossible to decipher in such a short period of time.
‘T-that’s right. It’s impossible, I tell you! It’s utterly impossible!’
Even if it was a Lich, all it could do right now was to buy some time. As such, now was Timong’s chance.
‘Seal the bastard away, now!’
“Fuu-woo...!” Count Timong raised both of his hands, and slammed them down on the ground with every ounce of energy he could muster.
That caused the gateway to the Purgatory to expand even further. It swirled and spun around as if it wanted to suck something in.
Countless hands made out of bones suddenly shot out from the gateway to grab at Allen’s body. Almost instantly, his body began breaking apart into tiny particles.
‘Yes, I did it!’
Count Timong’s expression brightened, but that lasted only for a short moment.
Allen was just standing there, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He wasn’t budging from his spot.
Timong was overcome with anxiety at this sight. ‘Just what’s making you feel so confident like this?!’
This was a sealing technique. Yet the bastard about to be sealed away wasn’t putting up any resistance whatsoever, nor did he even try to decipher the secrets of the Runes. No, he was simply... accepting it?
But, what could possibly be his reason...?
“Viscount Hans Jerurami!” the Holy King suddenly called out, and another human stepped out into the open. Count Timong’s eyes automatically shifted over to him.
This young man was accompanied by many Paladins, who were carrying a huge crimson jewel, the heart of Mist Calf, as they stopped before the Warp Gate.
‘What’s this?’
The human named Hans placed the heart of Mist Calf in front of the Warp Gate, then injected his Mana into the crimson jewel.
‘No, could it be...?!’
“Sir, I shall now start the decoding process. And then...”
Count Timong’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Hans continued in a confident voice, “I shall close the gateway to Purgatory!”
**
Hans was soaked in cold sweat right now.
His fear-filled face was all too clear for everyone to see.
The advice he gave to Allen back then, was this:
{Sir, please do everything you can to prevent the vampires from opening the gateway to Purgatory.}
That was to prevent the vampire bastards from activating the Warp Gate.
However, things had gone way past what was acceptable in his view right now. The Seventh Imperial Prince was putting up possibly the performance of his lifetime in front of all the gathered subjects of the empire.
{Let’s say a Warp Gate opens up. Are you able to close it?}, the Seventh Imperial Prince had asked.
Hans replied confidently with, “Of course, sir! Just who am I? Aren’t I a certifiable genius, sir?!”
He was being serious there. Sure, he might have lost to the vampires, but he still wanted to declare that he was a step ahead of those blood-sucking undead bastards.
The Seventh Imperial Prince grinned after hearing that reply. The end result of that grin was this development unfolding right now.
‘Aaargh, bloody hell!’
As expected of the Imperial Family! None of them were sane!
Hans heard a story from Alice during their adventure in Aihrance. She said that whenever they were dead sure about something, the members of the Imperial Family had this tendency to not ask any questions and simply bulldoze ahead.
The ‘Allen’ of right now neatly fit that description. There was a risk of him getting sealed away. There was also the risk of the Theocratic Empire falling into grave danger.
Allen knew all this, yet why did it look like he didn’t care about that and was enjoying himself at the moment?
‘Wait, he’s actually having fun?’
Hans stared at Allen before shaking his head.
That couldn’t be it. The Seventh Imperial Prince was less than enthusiastic about becoming the Holy King. So there was simply no way that a person like him would be having fun while doing something this dangerous.
This whole thing must’ve been him trying to perfectly wrap up this loose end, the mistake he made by letting Count Timong escape with his life earlier. Yes, that had to be it.
‘His Highness has entrusted me with this mission.’
Hans stared at the mouth of Purgatory. A portion of Allen’s head had disintegrated into particles and was getting sucked in there.
Even in the midst of that, Allen was staring at Hans without any wavering in his eyes.
Trust. Only that could be sensed within the light burning in his eyes.
‘Yes, yes! I’ll do it! Dang it, you can only overwork someone to a degree until it’s no longer acceptable, you know?!’
Hans clenched his teeth and put on a pair of goggles. He then quickly put on the next part of his attire, leather gloves and a lab apron. His clothes flapped in the winds.
While glaring at the mouth of Purgatory, he extended his left hand towards Mist Calf’s heart and his right in the direction of the Warp Gate.
‘However, I won’t be satisfied by the peerage of viscount, sir! You better bestow the rank of Count, no wait, Marquis or even a Duke, sir! Because I will be...’ Hans’s brows shot up high. ‘...accomplishing a feat good enough for it!’
He immediately got down to decoding the Warp Gate.
He saw through the flow of demonic energy using his trusty goggles. The encrypted rune letters flowed freely within.
He pictured a certain image in his head. It was of him staring at a doorway. Its sturdy lock had been encrypted. Hans grabbed his imaginary set of keys and began slotting them into the keyhole, one at a time.
It didn’t fit.
Next.
Didn’t fit, again!
Next!
He slotted what seemed like countless keys in the keyhole over and over again. More cold sweat trickled down his skin.
In the meantime, about half of Allen’s body had been sucked away.
‘No, this measly little thing won’t...!’
A key slotted itself perfectly into the keyhole.
‘It fits!’
He undid the lock and opened the door.
The authority to control a portion of the demonic energy flowing within the Warp Gate was now given to him.
‘Next.’
Hans opened the door and stared at the next locked doorway.
One door after another, he continued to forge ahead and deciphered the code. Not only was he swift, he was sure-footed as well. He was precise and showed no openings.
Hans’s eyes became bloodshot and blood began trickling down from his nostrils from the fatigue.
—
‘Is he... really human?’
Astonishment quickly filled Count Timong’s expression.
That human was systematically solving the encrypted codes that had been layered on top of one another!
—
‘...This is the last one.’
Hans stared at the last set of encrypted Runes. It was like he was staring at a massive fortress wall.
He grit his teeth and extended both of his hands, waving them around in the empty air. He was now trying to control all the Runes and the flow of demonic energy.
The demonic energy of Mist Calf aligned with his Mana and they moved together.
‘Faster. Much faster!’
The time span of only a few seconds felt like several hours. It was moving so very slowly.
Hans’s hand movements as he deciphered the code suddenly came to a halt. Charlotte’s eyes shot open wider at this sight, but Allen watched silently.
Hans’s hands limply fell to his sides. His shoulders slumped even lower, and his whole figure plopped down to the ground. While panting with some difficulty, he looked up at the Warp Gate with a lost and tired expression on his face.
—
Count Timong had become dazed for a short while just then, but he suddenly exploded into a fit of laughter. “Hah, hahaha! T-that’s right, it’s impossible for the likes of you!”
The trembling eyes of the vampire were glaring at Hans.
“A mere human can never decipher the ancient Runes that I personally came up with. One and a half millennia, that’s the length of my life! You, you thought you could decode my life itself?! Utter nonsense! It’s your loss today!”
Hans winced at that, and stared at Count Timong.
“Did you say ‘loss’?” While saying that, he raised his hand. “You know, that’s my line.”
He then snapped his fingers.
“It’s your loss, you damn vampire.”
Black hands suddenly emerged out of nowhere and grabbed the mouth of Purgatory opened up by the Warp Gate.
Timong’s eyes grew wider in an instant.
It was the Mediators! They were forcibly closing the Warp Gate!
Hans shifted his gaze back to Count Timong and retorted, “Knowledge accumulated over one and a half thousand years, is it? Indeed, you bastard probably do possess a knowledge base as vast and impressive as that number suggests. However! You see, I...”
He grabbed Timong by the collar and slammed his forehead against the latter’s head.
“I am the possessor of the pool of knowledge passed down through the generations of my ancestors. Tell me, between dozens of my ancestors and a single vampire, which side do you think is stronger? Stop looking down on us humans, you stinking vampire!”
Count Timong’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “...You, you bastard, just what are you?!”
Hans straightened his back, and replied confidently. “I’m an Alchemist from a rural backwater. And now...”
He turned his head and glanced at Allen. As the Warp Gate closed, the Prince’s body, which had been breaking apart in particles, began regaining its previous shape once more.
“I’m Viscount Hans Jerurami, who serves His Majesty the Holy King, Count!”
“...”
“This has been a good battle, vampire. And today, you have lost to a human.”