Chapter 180

Prophet Marqion (2)

‘Madam Lamor left earlier. I don’t see Hester Ward either.”

People casually stepped on the body of a fallen person, stomping their feet. Something was weird. Kleio managed to catch up with the movements of the people around him as he watched Guilard Eclipsi.

A thunderbolt of purple ether erupted around the roaring Guilard, his arms outstretched on the platform, making the sight seem fearful and sacred.

“… The firebird dries the river, and the city melts in the heat of punishment!”

As he looked into the air and began to recite another prophecy, a statement from another world, Kleio’s Promise heated up.

[―Disturbing the output format of the Word.]

[―Disturbing the output format of the Word.]

[―Disturbing the output format of the Word.]

‘Okay, I understand. Guilard can read something like Melchior or me.’

“I’ve seen the spires rising into the sky, turn to ashes in the round clouds. One city disappears with a sphere of fire, and the people are melted. It is the end to come for us too.”

Guilard’s voice grew louder and louder. Now, it seemed he was yelling right next to him. At the same time, there was a static burning sensation in his ear.

‘…This!’

In a world where no theory of relativity had yet been thought up, there was a more serious problem than shouting the consequences of a nuclear warhead drop. His words were spilling into people’s minds like Melchior’s charm!

‘He put ether in his voice!’

Reflexively, he activated Separation. Guilard’s magic, which had become even more powerful, was now threatening even for Kleio, who had ether sensitivity. Kleio shouted at Cel.

“Block your ears with ether! Quickly!”

His voice was drowned out by the people’s cries, but Cel quickly caught his warning. When Cel pulled out the dagger tied to her ankle and used [strengthen], the prophet pointed at her.

“Here is a person who would call us unbelievers! I will show you all my true divine will!”

His fingertips reached out for Kleio and Cel. Blue-purple lightning descended from the ceiling at both of them. The first strike, however, was blocked by the golden light that burst from the tiplaum gauntlet Cel was wearing. The purple ether encountered the complex magic formula of [defense][amplify][reduce], wriggled like a serpent with a severed tail, and escaped Guilard’s control. Then, Cel leaped toward the platform, cutting off the ethereal energy. However, Kleio couldn’t withstand it and was thrown to the floor, smashing into solid stone. In the midst of the confusion, Kleio felt a small bit of relief.

‘… I’m glad I didn’t bring the twins this time.’

The number of invitations was reduced, so the twins waited for a signal in Ezra’s laboratory. Guilard’s magic smashed Cel’s [reinforcement] and magic tool defense. Cel stiffened with a blade in hand, staring into the empty air. Kleio, too, soon fell into a vision.

The silent landscape that greeted him was from a world of the past that Kleio was familiar with. It was an image he had seen a hundred times in apocalypse movies. A white mushroom cloud blotted out the sun with fire. Then, the fallout. The bridge and subways were torn up. A skyscraper was turned to ash as the city around it broken down. It was vivid, and even Kleio, vaguely familiar with the spectacle created, was fascinated for a moment.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, Kleio was caught by the people around him and pushed onto the platform. Guilard grabbed Kleio and pulled him up with one hand.

“Did you see it? One of the poor people with no faith without miracles. I will give you fire to consume your disbelief.”

The back of his head shone with a halo, and even though his whole body was wrapped in ether, Guilard smelled of ominous blood. It was a sign of overload. Kleio opened his eyes properly.

“Guilard…”

The sky blue eyes, exactly the same color as his hair, stared back at Kleio from beyond the mask. It was the gaze of one who was satisfied at the achievements they had accomplished and the madness of one who began to believe in themselves as a real prophet. Guilard grabbed Kleio’s collar with greater strength, causing a groan to come out of him.

“You recognized me, too.”

The voice was filled with pride, causing a wave of nausea to pass over Kleio.

‘Can’t we create a healthier society and prevent excessive closeness…? Ugh.’

Guilard crossed his hands on Kleio’s neck. Above him, ether soared like fire.

“Look, my summons was successful. You are the proof. Ahaha.”

Guilard’s thumbs found their way to Kleio’s vocal cords. Kleio scratched at his foe’s hands and groaned at his nonsense. He held back from Editor’s Authority, which he tried to trigger reflexively.

There were answers he hadn’t heard yet.

‘How did you open the passage between the worlds?’

Guilard understood his question only by the movement of his lips.

“With magic revealed to me. I am the real prophet, and today, God’s grace and blessing will be combined by the one who has been chosen by God.”

Thoughts flashed by Kleio’s mind at a tremendous rate. If the Goddess could’ve given him a magic formula, it would’ve been possible for Guilard too.

‘But then, the Goddess dropped the ball and let this one become a pseudo-religious leader. Tsk.’

If the sole purpose were to bring Kleio to the world, Guilard was only for one-time use. Not all humans in this world were born equal. In the narrative, the hierarchy and role of characters were clear.

‘Guilard, who once tasted grace…he wanted to have a stigma, the evidence of one chosen by the Goddess.’

His excessive self-consciousness might not have been able to understand the unequal strictness of God. By the time he reached a conclusion, the power tightening around his breath was growing. The oxygen circling through him became thinner, and it felt like his heart was beating in his ears. The magician, his voice blocked, was helpless.

“So tonight, I will be great. The greatest wizard and prophet of this generation will be revealed. You’re not a messenger of God who will be the rock of the savior. You are just a rejection of the world that I called out! You are without a name!”

Guilard was convinced that Kleio was just the name he received as an agent of God.

‘Ah.’

One without a name. His name was □□□ – a word that could not be read. As he continued to be strangled, a hazy feeling mixed with weakness instead of pain or tension came over him. Even though he felt he had to use Editor’s Authority, he couldn’t control his thoughts or movements at all as he was immersed in other thoughts.

The previous world and this one weren’t completely disconnected from time and space. Guilard was right. His summoning was a success, and that was proof the two worlds were connected.

If so, was it possible to go back there? Was it a one-way street or a two-way? Why did the Goddess make a place for him while taking such external actions? The ether that exploded from Guilard completely robbed the people around them of their frenzy. They collapsed, leaving none standing. In the ruined gardens, even their screams subsided, leaving only Guilard’s ether. All of the faces exposed under the stripped masks were stained with frantic smiles.

“[The heavy body is put off on the earth, but our souls will enjoy eternal salvation in the city of God. Will we become one in this glory?]”

The mantra took the form of a question, but none could answer it. Now, the circle filled with blue-purple ether seemed to burst. Kleio couldn’t even see Guilard as he was strangling him. His eyes relaxed as his trembling eyelids closed. Eventually, his head, which lost strength, turned to the side. The last thing he could see in his blurred vision was a strand of ether that crawled like a snake, engulfing the fallen.

Kleio, convulsing, reached out unconsciously as the serpent of ether penetrated the fallen people.

“[Let’s go to heaven one step earlier toward our common happiness. It is the bliss of the chosen ones.].”

An old man lying closest to the platform laughed, vomited, and convulsed before growing still. His corpse shriveled as if all moisture was being drained from it. His skin contracted, his bones twisted, and eventually, he turned into purple ash. At the same time the traces of that life disappeared, Guilard’s circle widened. It was magic that grew by taking humans as a living sacrifice.

Kleio, almost unconscious, stretched out an arm desperately.

‘Editor’s Authority!’

[―Unique skill: Uses Editor Authority. (2/3)]

[―Remaining time/time limit:

00:04:59/00:05:00]

The movement of ether was fixed. The prophet’s billowing robes stopped, and the victims convulsing on the ground halted. The purple circle’s expansion stopped, but Guilard didn’t. The strings of his mask broke, the white plaster frame revealing Guilard’s face. Inside was a face covered in wrinkles and age spots, unrecognizable as a young man of a little over twenty years old. He was no longer looking at Kleio. Instead, he was gazing at the manuscript that had appeared from thin air. The man threw Kleio down.

“Hahahahaha!”

Kleio curled up as he coughed. Guilard saw the palimpsest and quill floating in the air, reaching out for them greedily. However, neither could be held by his hand.

“Ha, this is God’s choice! This sweet thing!”

Guilard’s eyes were stained with a greedy light as he looked around. He stretched out his hand and grabbed Kleio, who was trying to hold the quill with enough force to break his neck. A blue-purple ether emerged and began to wrap around Kleio’s body. His conscious was cut off, causing the quill to disappear.

[―Remaining time/time limit:

00:00:03/00:05:00]

Editor’s Authority was blocked. When the light that announced the time limit went off, Guilard burst into a spout of mania.

“Ahaha, I won against the messenger of the Gods. This is the true power of prophecy.”

Guilard stopped laughing and began to recite a magnificent mantra as Kleio’s ears began to ring.

“[You know in part and prophesize in part; when something perfect comes, what you did in part will be destroyed] 1)

1) 『Kai Korean Version of the Bible』 「1 Corinthians」 13:9-10.