Chapter 277: 146. In the Name of the Holy King -2 (Part One)

Translated by A Passing Wanderer

Edited by RED

**

The Bone Wyvern flew low to the ground to scan the empire’s subjects before passing them by.

The holy undead held their flag poles and muskets high, as if they wanted to pierce the heavens above.

“The Seventh Imperial Prince, hooray-!”

“Hooray, His Majesty the Holy King, hooray-!”

“Our Theocratic Empire will last forever-!”

The citizens continued to cheer on.

Before long, large snowflakes falling from the sky dyed the pilgrimage road white. My Bone Dragon stomped through the snow created out of divinity.

{“Please make it very noisy. And also as flashy as possible, sir.”} That’s what Hans told me.

{“What we’re looking to achieve is ‘prevention’, sir. In three days’ time, those bastards won’t be able to do anything. Three days.”}

The expiration date for using the heart of Mist Calf lasted until today, the day of the coronation. It would lose its power to open up the dimensional gateway after that.

That’s why… “Hopefully, this much will be enough.”

Seated on the throne mounted on the Bone Dragon, I rested my chin on the palm of my hand.

We would be arriving at the main plaza pretty soon. All I had to do was to pray for around five minutes to the massive statue of Goddess Gaia located there, then return to the Imperial Palace.

“Man, I’m starting to ache already.”

Judging from all the ominous squirming of my body, I figured that painful muscle aches were in store for me later tonight.

Alice was using her Resonance, while I resorted to activating the Aztal Rune, the Throne’s Armrest, Amon’s Grimoire, and even Summoned the Bone Dragon, too.

The pilgrimage should go on for another twenty minutes or so. In other words, I had to keep this up for a little while longer.

I activated [Mind’s Eye] and continued to scan the throngs of onlookers. But there were just too many people here, and that made differentiating them difficult. Some even had their faces covered, as well.

Either the vampires were not here in the first place, or were about to flee after witnessing this spectacle. If there were not here, Hans and my worries were probably for nothing.

While I was thinking about stuff like that, the statue of the Goddess Gaia in the distance finally entered my vision. The thing was at least twenty metres tall.

We finally reached the front of the imposing statue of our dear goddess. At Charlotte’s command, the Paladins already on standby began the preparations for the prayer ceremony.

Meanwhile, my holy undead surrounded the perimeter of the plaza, standing there in rank and file.

The Bone Dragon came to a stop in front of the statue and lowered its head.

I stood up from the throne and walked down the Bone Dragon’s spine, its neck, and lightly jumped off from its skull.

My gaze slowly drifted up the goddess statue.

The goddess had long, straight hair, a helm with plumes sticking out was on her head, while an intricate yet extraordinary armour covered her figure. Finally, a sword was hanging from her hip.

I gotta say, from what angle does she look like the goddess of love and mercy, or the goddess of life itself?

Man, even the goddess herself looks like a battle maniac.

As expected of a violence-loving religious organisation. What a bunch of bloodthirsty savages, if you ask me…

Charlotte walked up to me and whispered in my ear, “Please offer your prayers, and we will be finished after that.”

A gorgeously decorated altar was placed before the statue, while an impressively gilded holy book was resting on top of said altar. Decorations made from countless flowers were lined up on the left and right of the altar, too.

I silently walked over there and stood tall before the goddess statue, prompting the loud cheering of the crowd to gradually die down. The atmosphere became solemn rather quickly.

Only Alice’s singing was ringing out gently in my surroundings.

I brought my hands together, locked my fingers, and went down on one knee.

The holy undead, the Paladins, and even the citizens all knelt to offer their prayers, as well.

In the middle of my prayer, though, I cracked my eyelids open a sliver.

‘It’s now. The only chance the vampires would get if they want to attack. So, what are you all going to do now?

Will you risk your lives in a suicidal act, or get frightened out of your wits and withdraw?

Whatever you choose to do today, it’ll still be…

“…the confirmation of your defeat.”

I curled up the corners of my lips and closed my eyes again to continue with the prayer.

**

(TL: In 3rd person POV.)

Marquis Kirum was hidden among the huge crowd, kneeling down as well. He interlocked his fingers and bowed down to pretend that he was praying too.

How humiliating this was!

Getting terrified by the Holy King wasn’t humiliating enough, but now, he even had to kneel and bow his head to the goddess of life.

He felt like shedding tears of blood from the misery of it all.

“It’s now…!” He heard a quiet whisper within this still silence. Marquis Kirum flinched in surprise and turned his head.

Count Timong was glaring at the Seventh Imperial Prince kneeling before the goddess statue with bloodshot eyes.

Judging from how he was shuddering away like that, it was rather clear that his rationality had failed to keep up with his surging emotions.

‘Dammit, Count Timong has lost his rationality!’

Right now was the time for them to withdraw, yet Timong had become completely blinded by his desire for revenge.

Count Timong tried to get up, but Marquis Kirum quickly reached out and grabbed the enraged Alchemist’s arm, silently shaking his head.

The moment Count Timong stood up, they would pounce on him without mercy!

‘Take a good look!’

It might not be the case with the others, but at least with the holy undead, they were all just pretending to be praying right now. They might be kneeling and bowing their heads, but their hands had never let go of their weapons.

Even the Bone Dragon was scanning the crowd with its brightly-glowing eyeballs. It was like they were searching for any vampires.

Everyone was on their knees, praying. Standing up in such a place would instantly paint a target on your back.

“No matter what, I’ll still end up dying, marquis.”

When he heard that reply, Marquis Kirum’s gaze shifted over to the hand gripping Count Timong’s arm. He distinctly felt the sensation of flesh melting away underneath the loose-fitting robe.

The powerful divinity was still melting the vampire’s whole body down and gradually killing him. He even had to listen to a Saintess singing a sacred hymn, so his demise was pretty much guaranteed now.

“As such, I choose to struggle, even if it’s all by myself.”

The light of determination burned fiercely in Count Timong’s eyes. He was determined to land at least one sucker punch to the bastard, even if doing so would cost his life!

It seemed to be impossible to change his mind at this stage. It couldn’t be helped anymore.

Marquis Kirum quietly closed his eyes. “Very well. In that case, Regis, Beramin, Grawn…” he called out to the other Progenitors hidden within the crowd using Spirit Speech filled with demonic energy.

Progenitor vampires that were hiding among the onlookers in various locations flinched in surprise. Matching the new disturbance, the holy undead responded in unison.

Hundreds of holy undead and the Bone Dragon glared at Marquis Kirum. They had detected the flow of demonic energy!

“Marquis Kirum?” Count Timong’s eyes opened wider in shock.

“This is an order.” Marquis Kirum used Spirit Speech once more.

The holy undead all stood up, and gripped their weapons tighter.

“Hurry up, and attack Holy King Allen Olfolse right n…!”

CRUNCH-!

Count Timong’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

That was because, in less than a blink of an eye, the Bone Dragon’s large maw had ripped Marquis Kirum’s upper torso in half!

“Ah…” Count Timong gasped out in shock.

At this time, the empire’s citizens near Marquis Kirum finally sensed that something was off. They began cracking open their eyes a little.

The sight greeting them was the remnant of someone’s lower torso going up in bluish flames. They were initially dazed by this scene, but blood-curdling screams resounded out soon after.

“K-kyaaaaaaahk?!”

“A p-p-person is on fire?!”

The prayer session came to an abrupt halt. All the nearby citizens screamed and fell into a bout of panic.

Count Timong clenched his teeth.

This was his opportunity. The sole opportunity Marquis Kirum managed to create by sacrificing his own life.

Right at this moment…!

“I shall seal the Holy King away!”

Timong glared at Allen currently kneeling in front of the goddess statue. Even though the vampires had revealed themselves and the citizens had all fallen into a panicked state, he didn’t pay any heed and had not moved from the spot.

Complete indifference.

It looked as if he was continuing his prayer, as dictated by his deeply pious heart.

At the same time, he was clearly looking down on the vampires right now, too!

“B-bloody hell?! My body, it’s moving on its own…?!”

The hidden vampires began raising up their demonic energy against their will after Marquis Kirum’s Spirit Speech affected them.

That focused the attention of the holy undead to them. The eerie creatures gripped their weapons tightly. They glared at the vampires with burning eyeballs, then took aim with their muskets.

“W-wait a minute…!”

Holy bullets containing healing magic were fired in a loud cacophony, and the vampires hidden among the citizens were killed off after turning into beehives, all full of holes.

Their entire bodies were riddled with gunshot holes, and their corpses went up in flames.

“We don’t have a choice now! Attack the Holy King-!”

They had been discovered already.

Marquis Kirum had been blessed with a type of Divine Aura called [Glib Tongue of Bedazzlement]; this skill exerted a power that none of the vampires, brainwashed by him for a long time, could disobey.

“Let’s go-!”

The surviving vampires leapt up from their spots. The glares of every undead were locked on them in the next instant.