Chapter 78 – Founding the Holy Knights (1)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Exchanging Knowledge and Chewing Wisdom were quite heterogeneous gods even within [Last Comet].

These two originally came from the Church of the Cycle, but after the Armed Church was established, they were gods who voluntarily transferred their registration.

The biggest feature was that these two did not provide direct bonuses in combat or taking care of survivors.

Instead, a unique playstyle was provided that informed the player of lost technologies and methods to deal with enemies as civilization collapsed.

Therefore, it was a Divine Name counted among the top three for users with solid fundamentals, but conversely, it was not recommended for newbies.

Even if there were gimmicks where you had to die if you didn’t know, it was natural because you ultimately needed to be good at fighting to survive the early game.

However, if you survived the difficult early game, that evaluation was bound to skyrocket.

Especially in a highly randomized game, the legacy left by Exchanging Knowledge had a simple but overwhelming effect.

Activation of all maps, confirmation of the constraints placed on the Sun God, and the locations of the surviving gods.

If the user was Exchanging Knowledge, these were also the choices provided under the pretext of recovering power.

The flaw was that when using other Divine Names, you could only choose one of the three…

But the moment you obtained even one of the three, it was a massive benefit that could instantly turn the game around.

Furthermore, if you could communicate with those lingering thoughts, you could spur on the sluggish progress.

However, unfortunately, the time given to me was too short.

Moreover, the phenomenon of lacking combat power was also slowly becoming prominent.

An angel with high self-esteem, even if she whined, came to me first and complained of the difficulties.

The first guest who visited me, who had gone up to the watchtower after having a meeting with Ryugen, was Anniel.

“Godfather of Stars, please graciously listen to our request. I am not doubting your great power. I have come to confess our helplessness.”

“Helplessness?”

“Ceciel-nim still seems to think she can hold out… but through this raid, I realized. We alone cannot protect the people.”

Through the words and actions Ceciel showed, I knew the angel named Anniel.

She had appropriate flexibility, but she was not an angel armed only with affection and tolerance.

Because of that, her degree of accepting the difficulties of reality seemed unusual compared to other angels.

“Even if I bring all my colleagues who chose to stay in Elysium, it will be the same. There is not even any will left in them anymore. If they are exposed to an offensive of a similar scale to this raid, they might run away again.”

If it were a time when I was certain my power was enough, I would have refused flatly.

Unfortunately, the enemies’ attacks were becoming more insidious and fatal.

Anniel threw a topic of conversation as if she had seen through my worries.

“Star Creation, we desperately need those who can lend even a single hand. We can only stand against them if those who will not run away join us.”

“You are saying to drive the people we must protect into deadly frontlines.”

“There is no place left in this world that is not a deadly frontline. Great One, you must know that there is only one reason the living are holding out until now.”

The reason I didn’t create angels and the reason I intentionally didn’t bestow power to humans were all the same.

I didn’t want to drive the people who had suffered enough to face terrible fear again.

What they needed was comfortable rest, peace, and the leisure to enjoy themselves.

I wished they could occasionally look up at the sky, envy the stars, and anticipate life and death, as well as their destiny after death.

“The living are holding out tenaciously until they can go to the paradise promised by the god they served.”

“…”

“Because I stayed in your Elysium, I know. Even if you bring up a little story about that place, the living will willingly sacrifice their lives.”

So please guarantee their afterlife so they will not fear death.

For they themselves will give meaning to a meaningless death.

Although she didn’t say it out loud, Anniel was continuing her words through her thoughts.

“Those are words and actions uncharacteristic of an angel who holds mercy and tolerance as virtues.”

“The final mercy that can be bestowed upon the living is life in Elysium. Sadly, this world does not permit tolerance beyond this.”

It was a fact I knew, but hearing it head-on was bitter.

I hoped that even life would be considered light, but the people had already given up hope.

A world where life slowly withered away while dreaming of a paradise after death, not their own life.

“I will think about it.”

Reserving it instead of denying it was the only resistance I could offer.

***

My mind was restless.

To think I might have to drive the people I must protect into danger.

Could there have been a greater irony?

Even after parting with Anniel, the storm in my heart grew fiercer day by day.

Eventually, I went down among the people to shake off my thoughts even a little.

The bubbling sound of soup boiling in a pot.

A man who was smacking his lips and lifted a ladle immediately distorted his brow as soon as he took a sip.

“Ugh, how many salt berries did you throw in? It’s bitter.”

“Really? Let’s see… smack. Damn it, the soup has to be at least this much to be seasoned right.”

“You really don’t know how precious salt is.”

Even while grumbling, he slurped down the remaining broth.

I smirked at that sight and moved my steps.

The city was still smashed up, suffering from the aftereffects of the raid.

However, the people’s reactions were not as helpless as before.

“Uwaaah! Mom, I scraped my knee!”

“It’s just that much for a kid. They say Debra didn’t even show it when her arm was broken and only went to Star Creation-nim later. Be a bit braver if you’re a boy.”

Instead of making a fuss when bleeding profusely, they ripped their sleeves *riiiip* and bound their wounds.

“Is this the dragon they talked about in the temple?”

“If we pull out the teeth, we can use them instead of awls or knives. We could even make spears with those.”

“I wonder if the skin can be used instead of leather bags…”

Sitting around the dead dragons, they were even pulling off this and that with pieces of stone and evaluating them.

Some were carrying hammers and walking around relatively intact houses.

At first, they wouldn’t even look at them saying they were ominous, but after being raided once, their reluctance seemed to have completely disappeared.

Among them, familiar faces were also mixed in.

“Den, when you pull out a nail, pull it gently so it doesn’t break! We might use it later!”

“Yes sir!”

“After pulling them out, bring the bucket they’re in too! They said they’ll come separately to collect the planks later, so you can just leave them!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

When I saw him before, he was groaning, but now he used the hammer with familiar hand movements.

Perhaps he had gained an appropriate knack for work, he even hammered the nail right away if it bent while pulling it out.

Bang, bang.

The cartwright who was listening to the hammering sound burst into laughter as if pleased.

“Being so young and already knowing how precious nails are. If my apprentice was like that, I would have made him my son-in-law.”

These were sights I couldn’t see when I was floating high in the sky and keeping a lookout on the surroundings.

The tough disposition and strength that could only be seen when you came down to the ground, squeezed in between them, and walked together.

I walked around for a long time and captured this sight in my eyes.

It was right at this moment that a husky voice was heard nearby.

“How is it, the ones you guide.”

An old knight with a rough impression approaching with her arm resting on the hilt of her sword.

Hwen was staring into empty space, not at me, with sparkling eyes.

“…No? The old man said you were here. Are you perhaps playing a trick on me because of what happened before?”

“Hwen.”

“Oops! Y-You were here!”

Because going around hiding my presence was a daily routine, this kind of thing seemed to happen.

Hwen almost fainted, then barely took a deep breath and corrected her posture.

“Bartol looked for me?”

“The old man said you’ve become much stronger than before, but you’re still agonizing over something, so I asked him. I came because I thought it was a worry I could resolve.”

After saying this, Hwen began to look around.

Everyone who was doing their best to perform their roles in their respective areas was looking this way.

The moment they noticed my presence, they took action.

“”….””

They knelt and bowed their heads to pray in a heavy silence that felt reverent.

In an instant, the fluffy cupcake-like sweetness overwhelmed my senses.

The only exception was Hwen right in front of me.

Hwen alone was staring clearly this way.

“Star Creation, do you know what humans fear the most?”

“….”

“Helplessness. We fear and hate the most the helplessness of not being able to do anything in the face of impending situations.”

Then she knelt.

To persuade me with earnest pleading and desperate petition.

“Godfather of Stars, young father. Please bestow upon us the power and opportunity to fight as well. In your name, take away the fear we harbor and punish the enemy we hate the most.”

“Those words. Bartol prepared them.”

I could see Hwen flinching her shoulders, her sore spot hit.

“…The old man is good at these kinds of words. Tsk, I shouldn’t have fallen for his trick.”

Of course, just because someone else prepared the words didn’t mean they were meaningless.

Even though a complaint full of personal feelings followed, I knew it was sincere.

I had to acknowledge the sincerity harbored by everyone gathered in this place.

“Good.”

I recalled the advice given by Bearing Responsibility and Tinting Leaf.

Do not immerse yourself only in creating stars.

Looking at it now, it was a phrase with many meanings.

I shouldn’t have tightly wrapped the child in a cradle, in a blanket.

I had to hold both their hands and raise them up so the child could stand alone and move forward.

A father was not a being who merely bestows a name and embraces them, but a being who helped them stand on their own.

Even if you had to brace yourself to let them go someday.

***

After making the decision, it was fast.

After ending my long hesitation, I borrowed the power of souls and Elysiums that I hadn’t made into stars until now.

“I thought you all had suffered enough. That’s why I embraced you, and intentionally excluded you from the fight.”

The people looking down from high in the sky were so small.

So I might not have seen the resolve and wishes they harbored.

At first, I walked together with them and clearly captured them in my eyes, but…

Perhaps I had become infected with the arrogance of being a god myself and treated them insignificantly.

“Since I realized that it is another form of suffering, I will hesitate no longer.”

…It was time to use all the miracles I hadn’t used until now, all the powers I had intentionally turned away from.

The moment the stars in my flesh orbited and drew a Y-shape.

-Bestow Miracle, Rising Seed.

Golden dust sparkled and left my fingertips.

Rising Seed was a miracle that planted the seed of divine power in a believer.

The longer they kept the commandments required by the god, the stronger their divine power became day by day.

Naturally, I hadn’t used the Rising Seed until now.

Because it was obvious that a human harboring divine power would fight to the death.

My involvement in this fight was strictly a relief effort, never a war.

I had never once considered it a war.

“If you want to fight, come to me. I will give you as much power as you want. But keep this in mind.”

However, if the opponent and my people also want war.

“The moment you come to me, you will stand on the battlefield with me.”

I will not avoid it.