42 – Before Death (2)

“Come on in.”

With the help of the priest, we were able to enter the church easily.

If there were acquaintances inside, even a paladin wouldn’t block it that much.

As we entered the church, the priest who had summoned us seemed to have noticed something and whispered quietly.

“Are you here to see the Bishop? Please follow me.”

I’m glad I didn’t need an explanation.

After following her, we came to a room with a slightly different atmosphere.

He showed his will to preserve the bishop’s life with all his heart.

The numerous blessings and holy powers that covered him are proof of that.

However, it had no meaning in front of the devil’s curse.

The bishop’s appearance was older than he had ever seen before, and he was approaching death.

On the back of the hand, the traces of the devil’s curse are very clearly visible.

“Can we be alone here?”

“I can’t afford to relax for a long time.”

“It will only take a moment.”

Against my strong will, the priest bowed his head and went outside.

I finally gave you an environment where you can do anything.

I took out my dagger.

“Now, wait a minute. Is that what I think, Argal?”

“You’re not doing something like saving the bishop after you die, are you?”

The two girls rushed like deukdals.

Of course I didn’t mean to.

“It’s because you need a minimum amount of magic to touch the devil’s curse. At that level, it is enough to use only the magic contained in the dagger.”

“Is that so? If you stab me suddenly, then I won’t let you go.”

“Don’t worry, it won’t happen.”

Even without doing anything special, demonic energy flowed from the dagger.

I started to analyze the devil’s curse through Magi.

It didn’t take long.

The curse was closer to a concept than complexity.

As long as you could read and interpret it, you could see how it worked.

It was definitely a curse that could not be lifted in a normal way.

The phenomenon contained in the curse had the will to be released only when one person dies unconditionally.

I couldn’t help it.

I had to move the curse on me for Haeju.

With that intention, he put his hand on the back of the bishop’s hand.

Put a strong spirit here.

To shift the bishop’s curse onto me.

Magi was intensively manipulated.

The devil’s mark on the back of his hand was gradually shaking.

However, something unexpected happened.

A great holy power covered the surroundings.

Flash!

“Suddenly, a strong light… !”

I lost consciousness under the intense light.

I felt a force pulling me down.

And when I open my eyes again

The Bishop of La Vega was sitting facing me.

“Nice to meet you. Benefactor.”

It was quite different from the way he had just been lying in bed.

A middle-aged man who was perfectly correct existed in a mysterious world.

I saw it somewhere.

It is a place where a transcendent being invites a lot when he wants to talk alone with another person.

So take it out of your mouth.

“Is this your image world?”

“You know right away.”

It was a bit embarrassing.

The bishop’s image world.

It was one of the special powers that only transcendents possess.

Does that mean that the bishop has become a transcendent?

…that’s probably not it.

If he had truly become a transcendentalist, would the bishop have fallen under the devil’s curse?

As if the bishop had read my thoughts, he gave me an explanation of this world.

“It’s not that great. It’s just that after I collapsed, I contemplated myself, and this world just unfolded.”

“…is that the case?”

“It’s okay, so I’m facing you like this.”

If you really made it possible, there was nothing else to say.

Even in the face of death, the bishop demonstrated his ability to the point of nonsense.

That’s why I was curious.

How did the bishops implement this world?

Even if I had reached transcendence in the past, my mind, broken by madness, could not create such a world of images.

Even if the bishop did not become a true transcendentalist, if he materialized the world of images, he was a transcendentalist in his mind.

Asking and answering questions with him here could be said to be like having a conversation with a transcendental person.

Only the mind must have reached transcendence, so the amount of information that could be obtained while lying down would have been diverse.

“What happened?”

“Heh heh, I moved too hastily.”

The bishop slowly unraveled what had happened.

In order to hold the guilty royal family accountable, they sent letters to influential people from all walks of life and did their best in the given task.

“…But the shadow I had to cast was too great.”

It wasn’t just the royal family.

It is also rotten inside the church.

As usual, the bishop moved as the church commanded, but what returned was the devil’s curse.

I have a question here.

The existence that stayed in the holy place called the church was cursed by the devil.

Also, there were too many conditions to be satisfied for a cleric with resistance to curses to be caught.

“I am curious about that. Why did the bishop fall under the devil’s curse?”

“At the command of the church, I wandered outside for a while to treat the weak and injured.”

Then it would have been possible.

If he had escaped from the church and the priest had used up all his holy power for healing, he would have been in an optimal state to be cursed.

Then I had to bring up another story.

I knew why the bishop was cursed, and I knew who the curse was and who intended it, but in the end it was the bishop who died because of the curse.

The situation was still not good.

“Do you know that Bessia was framed?”

“…I know that. The child’s unfair appeal is still being heard.”

“Then is there a solution?”

The bishop was smiling a little relieved.

It is an expression that feels familiar somewhere.

That is the face prepared for death.

“For a moment, there is a way to overcome the curse and move. But if I do, I will surely die. In the meantime, we’ll be able to clear Bethia’s false name.”

“…is that the only way?”

“I have something to leave behind, and if that plan is carried out, it will surely lift some of the darkness over this kingdom.”

…But Bishop.

I didn’t mean to let you die.

I couldn’t even let the being who had reached the transcendent spiritual body, who embodies the world of images, die like this.

He held out his hand.

“There is another way.”

“What is that.”

“Put the bishop’s curse on me.”

Surprise lingered on the bishop’s always calm face.

He had a face that he couldn’t understand at all about the sacrifice I said.

“Why do you want to die? Benefactor, it is absolutely unacceptable for you to die in my place.”

“…There is no need to worry about that. I am immortal.”

I was prepared from the moment I entered the world of images.

The idea of revealing the secret of immortality to the bishop.

In the first place, I thought that a bishop’s personality would not allow my sacrifice, so I decided that it would be better to light up the fire like this and save his life.

The bishop tilted his head as if he was puzzled.

The words that came out of him were shocking.

“Did you say immortal?”

“That’s right. bishop.”

“It is a little strange. I think you are.”

The existence that has reached the spiritual transcendence affirmed that.

“…A normal person with only one life.”

“…Yes?”

“Why are you immortal? Why do you believe in it?”

Before returning, he was an undead who endlessly repeated death.

Even now, even if I die, I still have the feeling that I will not die, so I was so sure.

At the bishop’s words, I considered a possibility that I had never thought of before.

Actually, if I died and reached death.

If he actually died, but was really revived by Bessia’s miracle.

…because the road I’ve walked so far isn’t strange no matter how many times I die.

For a while, my mind was confused.

Was I really not an immortal?

“…however.”

I caught my shaking spirit.

I’ve always believed that, but it couldn’t be otherwise.

In fact, even if I hadn’t gone through the ritual of immortality, even if all the power I had had evaporated after returning.

As much as immortality remains with me.

Even if I have not yet felt the experience of immortality that I can be sure of.

I am an immortal.

An immortal who never dies.

“I will not die.”

“…You have a firm belief.”

The bishop nodded in my conviction.

He suggested another way.

“Then let’s use a slightly safer method. I will share some of the curse.”

“Then Bishop, I cannot save you.”

Sharing the curse only prolongs life, not reviving a bishop who is approaching death.

There couldn’t be a solution.

“We offer a more fundamental solution.”

As the bishop waved his hand, there was a connection that was connected from far away.

Certainly, if only the mind had reached transcendence, the omniscient power gained was amazing.

He was able to find out where the target that had cursed him was, from where he lay.

In the world of images, I could see her vaguely.

“The owner of the Dark Magic Tower who cursed me. Do you know?”

“…Tiagris.”

“Please get rid of her.”

The bishop waved his hand once more, and there were beings approaching like fate.

He could see Bessia, the hero, and the swordsman who were not here.

Frank and Raeliya will of course participate in this, so in fact all the protagonists who have overcome the danger of the practical exam are gathering to defeat the Black Tower Master.

“You and your colleagues will make this possible.”

“It definitely is.”

When I held out my hand, the bishop didn’t seem to want it, but in the end, in response to my strong will, he slightly moved the curse.

On the back of my hand, the devil’s mark is lightly engraved.

At the same time, he collapsed in terrible agony.

The moment I opened my eyes, escaping from the world of blurry images, I heard the screams of Raeli and Fran.

Fran held on to the fallen me and spoke hastily.

“Priest, call the priest!”

“Al, I see!”

So I passed out.

…If the curse was moved a little bit to the point of fainting, I think I would have died instantly the moment I received the curse completely.

My body is really weak.

**

“Ah, Argal, wake up soon!”

Frank blamed himself.

why didn’t you expect this

If it were Argal, he would surely have put the curse on himself to save even the bishop, who was prepared to die to save others.

overlooked this.

In the end, what was in front of her was Argal, who fell after receiving the curse.

“What’s going on?!”

The priest ran.

Perhaps she knew the urgency of the situation, the priest hurriedly healed Argal and grasped the condition, but only worse results came out of the priest’s mouth.

“No, is your body more damaged than it was then?! How did you walk all the way here?”

“…if it’s all broken.”

“Not only is the whole body damaged, but the curse is rapidly drying up the vitality of the body. So, if you do not do well, you will die soon.”

“Yes, yes?”

Bad stories broke out all the time, so Fran didn’t know what to do and had to roll her feet.

Are you saying Argal is dead?

Argal, who barely survived then?

The memory of that time came alive like a nightmare.

Fran’s teeth trembled, and he remembered the image of Argal, who was stabbed in the heart by a high-ranking demon.

“Oh, no. You can’t die.”

Right before the terrible trauma revived, Argal’s body, fortunately, moved.

“…Don’t worry, I won’t die.”

When Argal, who had been on the verge of death a moment ago, awoke, Fran calmed her trembling heart and at the same time raged like an active volcano.

It was reasonable because the patient who could not stand even a little mana was transferred to the devil’s curse.

“What is not dying! Why the hell are you doing that?!”

“I know who put the devil’s curse on the bishop. If you defeat the Black Tower Master, the Bishop will wake up and you will be able to clear Bessia’s reputation, so it took time to do so, so I temporarily transferred the Bishop’s curse.”

“Yes Yes? Then, just defeating the Black Tower Lord will solve this problem?”

“Yeah, I’m thinking of going there too… .”

Fran held onto Argal’s body tightly.

I couldn’t tolerate it at all.

A human who would collapse just by strengthening his body would accompany him to defeat the Black Tower Master who cursed the Bishop?

“No. Absolutely not.”

“…He’s a human I can’t easily catch if I’m not there. I’d rather make meaningless sacrifices… .”

match-!

Fran’s hand hit Argal’s cheek hard.

Frank, who clenched his teeth tightly, put into his voice the complex emotions that were gnawing at his heart.

“…If Argal dies there, is that a meaningful sacrifice?”

“…”

“Answer, do it. Argal.”