Chapter 360

However, no matter how hard Roan looked at Vicius’s face, where the unwrinkled area appeared smaller than the wrinkled area, it was extremely difficult to read his true thoughts from that alone.

“If it is you, Darc… it is a different story…”

Vicius began to explain with great fervor why Roan was ‘not impure.’

“You possess the Bell of Eternity… you have captured countless black mages at a young age… you lead your friends honorably… and even have the Mark of Light… to suspect such a child is a sin…”

Hearing those reasons, Roan was dumbfounded.

‘I really did cause a lot of incidents!’

Listening to Vicius’s words, it felt as if even suspecting himself of being a black mage was a sin.

If Roan were in his shoes, he would feel the same.

The priest next to Vicius also nodded firmly as if those words were indeed correct.

There were other people in this world to suspect; who would dare to suspect Roan Darc?

‘Still, I have lived my life quite well.’

Roan felt satisfied, realizing that his life of numerous humiliations, patience, and pain had not been in vain.

Woong─!

[As expected of a black mage! In times like this, a proper human would feel guilt!]

‘And if they found out my identity, would they treat me like a proper human?’

[W-Well, that’s true…]

The False Divinity, who had flown into a temper initially, was left speechless by Roan’s retort.

Since they wouldn’t treat him like a proper human in the first place anyway.

Roan feigned an apologetic expression and said to Vicius,

“I am truly sorry. I have shown you a shameful sight.”

“No… there must be a reason you cannot fully concentrate… and I feel I might know that reason…”

He knows?

Vicius had been speaking in quite an enigmatic manner since earlier.

Then again, if he really knew everything, he would have arrested him already rather than just talking like this.

Although he appeared to be an old man who could barely move, he was strictly the former Pope.

Roan was still far lacking in terms of skill.

“This weekend… is your mind not occupied by the place you must go…?”

Yet, Vicius had of his own accord provided Roan with a clue to resolve the situation.

“Ah… that too is embarrassing.”

Roan quickly seized upon Vicius’s words.

Just as Vicius said, it was scheduled for him to travel to the Ehadan Estate, where Darc Castle was located, this weekend.

Roan didn’t think much of it, but it was enough to make any young boy feel anxious.

“The place you must go, Roan?”

Sion, who was listening nearby, tilted her head and asked.

Roan slightly ignored her, thinking it would only cause annoying trouble if she found out, and answered Vicius,

“The Professor’s words are indeed correct. I will now collect myself and offer my prayers.”

“Yes… do your best…”

Vicius slowly returned to the podium, supported by the priests once more.

He had clearly moved from his spot because of Roan, which was also proof that Vicius thought of Roan that specially.

‘It makes it tricky to act if Vicius is directly observing me…’

Roan grumbled internally after sending Vicius away.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to pray now, so I would appreciate it if you kept quiet.”

“Hmph…”

Sion glared and expressed her disappointment to Roan, but he had already clasped his hands and assumed a praying posture.

The World of Prayer class was a so-called ‘easy class.’

One where if you just closed your eyes and pretended to pray, it would end on its own.

However, that was only the case when dealing with ordinary priests.

A person of Vicius’s caliber could not be deceived by mere acting.

Therefore, although he was a black mage, he had to offer a prayer for now to finish without any issues.

‘A black mage manifesting Holy Light? What nonsense.’

Roan worried that he might experience an identity crisis (?) at this rate.

Thump─

[Why? Other black mages all seem to believe in religions well, though?]

Ludiac spoke in this manner, but Roan ignored him completely.

Because it was a fact Roan also knew.

Thump─!

[Why are you ignoring me!]

Ludiac shrieked when Roan did not show any reaction.

Even after that, he muttered this and that, filled with complaints.

‘Hmm, which god should I pray to? A god who seems reasonably uninterested in the mortal world, and who would let me drag things out for a long time…’

Roan was merely focusing on the strategy to endure this class.

Just then, a voice slightly resembling Ludiac’s drifted over from his side.

“But if you pray to Lord Hiloa, will Holy Light manifest?”

It was Demona, of course.

Roan didn’t bother responding, as it was nonsense not even worth answering.

Hiloa had already been disconnected from the human world for thousands of years.

There was no response even to Harden’s prayers.

‘There’s no way Hiloa would manifest Holy Light. He doesn’t even grant revelations.’

Roan was thinking this, when he suddenly tilted his head.

For some reason, from the moment he held the name ‘Hiloa’ in his thoughts, a tension felt as if someone were minutely pulling his hair strand by strand.

A subtle anxiety, as if thorns were growing beneath the soles of his feet and slowly digging in.

Roan, truly instinctively,

faced a massive crisis approaching him.

To use a metaphor, he felt as if he were facing a giant danger whose full form could not even be seen.

It was that feeling.

Woong─? Thump─?

[Huh? You?]

[Master?]

The authorities also showed highly ambiguous responses, as if they too felt an instinctive ominousness.

‘No, no, no, wait a minute.’

Roan, uncharacteristically flustered, calmly assessed the situation.

‘I haven’t even prayed yet, though?’

Prayed? Nonsense.

He hadn’t even chosen the god to pray to yet.

Yet, there had been only one other time Roan felt this level of crisis.

The descent of Jelsroin.

No, that was just the closest comparison, but in truth, it could not be compared to her either.

Would it feel like this to face a giant battleship floating in space, which one had only seen in movies, right in front of one’s nose?

Woo─! Woo──! Oh───!!! Wi─────!!!

The resonance of the sacred relics rang like the background music of the Nerchiora Grand Temple.

The tone, which was always holy and peaceful, changed to a tense and intense melody.

“…What is this…?”

It was something even Vicius was experiencing for the first time.

─ P-Professor!

─ The sacred relics are unusual!

Naturally, the attendant priests panicked in terror, causing an uproar.

However, Vicius did not respond to the priests’ calls.

Slightly─

He looked up at the sky with affectionate eyes for some reason.

“He is coming…”

─ Yes?

─ He is coming? Who do you mean is coming?

The priests asked, but Vicius did not answer.

He simply muttered once more.

“He is truly coming…”

At that moment, the priests felt a strange sense of incongruity watching him.

Although he was extremely elderly, Vicius was always filled with wisdom and human warmth.

But right now, somehow…

An alien feeling, as if he had slightly reached a point transcending the human state, was felt.

Sion had also felt the abnormal signs likewise.

Right after the relics’ resonance changed, she felt a sensation as if she were being choked for no reason.

No, it felt as if not only her throat but her entire body was being pressed down by something transcendental.

Gasping roughly, she instinctively grabbed Roan’s shoulder.

“Roan, open your eyes…! Something is strange…!”

However, despite Sion’s desperate call, Roan—who appeared to be praying—showed no reaction.

At least outwardly, he seemed completely immersed.

Sion had an intuition.

“Roan…!”

At the cause of this absurd phenomenon,

that Roan was right in the middle of it.

It was at that moment.

──────!!!!!!!! Winters!!!!!!!! ──────!!!!!!!! (Wait! There was no Winters in the raw, let me fix this line!)
Wait, let’s fix that string:
`──────!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ─────!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!`
Yes, let’s make sure it’s the exact same string as in raw.

It was a roar, but not a sound.

It was a massive vibration, but not a resonance.

It was a blinding brilliance, but not light…

“O-He has arrived!”

Vicius, astonishingly, raised both arms high and shouted this.

But he was the only one who could take any action.

The rest did not even have the time to realize what on earth this situation was.

Only Sion, who was holding onto Roan’s shoulder, clearly saw with her own two eyes that something which was light yet not light had begun above his head.

Boom─! Boom──! Boom─!

While everyone remained unable to come to their senses, a distant explosion echoed from outside.

The sacred relics that normally resonated were bursting one by one due to overloading, unable to withstand such a massive power.

So Roan, who was right in the middle of it,

‘If I had at least done something, I wouldn’t feel this aggrieved…!’

found it extremely unfair as to why on earth such a disaster was happening to him.

The False Divinity, which normally would have been working frantically to protect Roan’s body, had long since been cast aside.

Ludiac had gone silent without a trace after leaving behind a single cry, [Ugh, it’s bright!].

It felt as if his life would end at any moment in the ocean of holy power, like a small boat swept up in a violent storm.

Surprisingly, even as his consciousness grew faint, Roan did not feel a threat to his life.

There was only one guessable reason.

The owner of this massive holy power did not seem to wish for his death…

The Holy Light emanating from Roan soon filled the Nerchiora Grand Temple, becoming large enough to be seen from the outside as well.

By this point, anyone would be able to know even in their sleep that something completely absurd had occurred at the academy.

Naturally, those who could be called ‘transcendent beings’ in Acherandir began to rush in.

“What on earth is going on!”

In an instant, Harden broke through the wall and entered the small prayer room.

His face was filled with shock unlike usual,

and the playfulness or boredom that would usually be present could not be found anywhere.

However, no one was explaining the situation to Harden, the leader and symbol of this academy.

No, to be precise, there was no one who could explain it.

“…”

Harden silently checked Roan’s figure submerged in the massive Holy Light.

And soon,

[Harden! Who on earth is it?! This energy is definitely…!]

Almost the only being who could call Harden by his name.

Flutter─

Professor Diar also opened the wall with Divine Language and appeared in the small prayer room.

But he too could only be speechless upon seeing the situation unfolding inside the small prayer room.

He had wanted to see the face of whichever bastard had triggered such an absurd Holy Light so outrageously,

[Is it Darc again?]

“…As you can see.”

A Holy Spirit and a book looked at Roan with complicated expressions.

First, Diar spoke.

[Is he receiving divine punishment?]

[It looks like it, doesn’t it?]

Harden also replied via Gospel.

If the person inside were an ordinary priest, it could be called an absurd sacred phenomenon,

but since he was a black mage, there was absolutely no excuse.

[I knew he would end up like that someday. He brought it upon himself, he brought it upon himself. Tsk, tsk.]

[Just how harsh were the words he spoke to make Lord Hiloa react like this. Tsk, tsk, tsk.]

The Holy Spirit and the book, whose combined age exceeded 15,000 years, clicked their tongues in unison.

However, unlike at first, their mood regained a fair amount of leisure.

Since they naturally knew it was not divine punishment,

[How on earth did that Darc fellow make it so that even we cannot intervene?]

[Let’s just wait for now.]

Because this situation, where the god’s holy power and Roan’s dark mana were already intricately intertwined, was difficult for even Harden and Diar to touch.

Harden sent a Gospel message in a bewildered tone.

[Truly absurd. Dark mana still remains even while surrounded by that holy power?]

And for good reason, it was the holy power of Lord Hiloa of all beings.

Although a god’s holy power was different from a human’s and could not be called the complete polar opposite of dark mana, they were still incompatible by nature.

Yet, Roan’s dark mana emitted a small but clear presence even within it.

Nay, it was rather growing even stronger, like a stepped-on worm squirming.

Harden smacked his lips as he watched that sight.

‘That’s all coming from my secret warehouse, though…’

He decided to take comfort in the fact that, at least, he wouldn’t need to ventilate (?) the warehouse this month.