Chapter 215

El Dorado’s Spring (3)

"W-What in the world is that...?"

Cardinal Morgan, the Pope’s faithful servant, could not hide his bewilderment.

He had been startled when the turncoat Asella suddenly appeared as well, but that had been something they could handle.

The Pope had already considered every possible scenario that might arise. The Hero was one of them.

But that...

The statue looked easily two or three times taller than the surrounding buildings.

Statues were usually gray, but this one was an exquisite blend of gold and white.

Rather than a statue, it felt like they were looking at a living, breathing giant.

"I-Isn’t that Lord Cain...?"

"Judging by his appearance, it is Lord Cain."

Morgan had no idea what that was. He could not even begin to think of how to describe it.

The paladins were shaken as well.

And understandably so, for the statue’s appearance had been nothing short of a divine descent.

It had fallen from an empty sky and protected the Hero.

The wings on its back and the shield held in one hand made it unmistakably Cain.

The first paladin and a figure who appeared in every legend concerning the founding of El Dorado.

Even if he was only a statue, such a being had appeared before their very eyes. How could they not be shaken?

"E-Everyone, remain calm! That thing is also one of the Immortal—"

Cardinal Morgan hurriedly began speaking, only to falter.

Could he truly call that statue a remnant or servant of the Immortal King?

Cain, who appeared to have descended directly from the heavens in answer to the Hero’s call?

The Holy Sword embedded in the ground continued to shine brilliantly, while Cain stood firmly in their path.

Morgan could not think of anything suitable to say. It felt as if everything had gone awry.

Thud— Thud— Thud—

Meanwhile, Asella emerged from Cain’s embrace and walked forward.

As she approached, the paladins reflexively aimed their crossbows at her.

With tension hanging heavily in the air, Asella stopped before the Holy Sword embedded in the ground.

Shing!

She pulled out the Holy Sword and pointed it toward the Papal Palace.

The paladins flinched at the unmistakably hostile gesture, but quickly regained their composure.

Boom! Thud! Thud!

But as Cain began striding toward them, their morale inevitably plummeted.

The statue had effortlessly blocked not only arrows, but even cannon fire.

If that defensive power could be turned toward offense... they could not begin to imagine what would happen.

More than anything, they were troubled by the prospect of fighting a legendary hero.

After all, the paladins were citizens of El Dorado too. Hesitation began to worm its way into their hearts.

"A-All units, prepare to fire! Do not retreat!"

The commander desperately ordered them to prepare to fire, but their morale had already broken.

Some of the paladins openly lowered their crossbows, practically refusing his orders.

The commander screamed at the top of his lungs that they would be punished under military law and that the Pope would have them disciplined, but his voice was completely drowned out by Asella’s cry.

"Everyone, listen to me!"

Her voice was clear yet powerful.

Despite using neither magic nor any kind of device, her voice echoed throughout the entire plaza.

Fwoooosh!

At the same time, the Holy Sword began radiating a light as brilliant as the sun.

It was a light that illuminated everything, as though proving she was not a turncoat but the true Hero.

"Ares has answered our call! As proof, she has sent us the first paladin, Lord Cain!"

Cain’s statue had descended from the heavens at the moment of their greatest peril.

Although it was only a statue, no one could deny that it had been sent by someone’s will.

And there was no need to ask whose will it was.

It could only belong to the true master of El Dorado.

"Lay down your weapons! You have committed no sin! The guilt lies only with the one who ordered you to wield them!"

—She is a turncoat! Are you truly going to listen to the words of a traitor?!

The Papal Palace hurriedly shouted a rebuttal to Asella’s declaration.

But now that the goddess herself had chosen a side, it was perfectly clear who was righteous and who was wicked.

Many of the paladins had already harbored doubts about this entire affair.

And with Ares’s "will" manifested before their very eyes, they could no longer hold firm.

Clatter—

One paladin threw his crossbow to the ground.

That became the signal.

Clatter— Clunk— Clang—

Crossbows, swords, shields, and more.

The paladins threw all their weapons to the ground and surrendered.

Lastly came the cannons. Their barrels were sealed shut.

"Y-You bastards...! Do you truly mean to...?!"

"Enough."

"W-What?"

The commander burst into fury at the sight, but it did not last long.

One of the paladins cut him off.

"It’s already over. Lady Ares has revealed her will."

"You bastard...!"

"Even if you order me to fight, I will not obey."

Just as the commander was about to resort to violence...

"..."

He shrank back beneath the dozens of gazes pouring in from all around him.

A commander, by definition, needed knights or soldiers who would follow him.

Without anyone to obey his commands, he was nothing but an empty title.

In the end, even the commander tightly shut his mouth.

There was no one left who could issue orders.

"O Ares..."

"Please forgive us our sins..."

There were only those making the holy sign and praying.

Every paladin knelt and began to pray.

Asella smiled joyfully as she watched them surrender.

Now...

The winter of El Dorado had been both short and long.

It’s finally... over.

The time had come for warm spring to arrive.

***

After Cain’s descent, the situation was resolved in no time.

The paladins lost all will to fight, while the protesters’ morale soared.

"B-But wasn’t the Hero a turncoat?"

"Who cares?! She protected us!"

"The real traitors are those bastards in the Papal Palace! I’m sure the damn Pope was behind the whole thing!"

The false accusation of treachery against Asella naturally fell away.

From the protesters’ perspective, she was unmistakably the Hero.

Cain himself had protected her. Who could possibly call her a traitor now?

Thus, the protesters made their way inside the Papal Palace and expelled everyone involved.

"Ugh..."

"Uncle Hans!"

"Cleric! Is there a cleric anywhere?!"

"This place is crawling with clerics."

While clearing out the palace, they were also able to rescue Hans, who had been subjected to all kinds of interrogation.

But he had apparently been treated quite brutally, as there was hardly an uninjured part of his body.

After receiving basic treatment, Hans was taken to a temple.

Temples served as hospitals, so that was where he needed to go.

"Unhand me! Do you know who I am?!"

"What should we do with these bastards?"

"Who knows? I’m sure the Hero will decide."

"Can’t we just throw them into the Forest of Four Seasons?"

"That doesn’t sound too bad, but how about each of us hits them once first?"

"Good idea. Though I think there might be too many people for that."

The Pope still seemed incapable of grasping the situation, struggling even as he was dragged away.

"This is all a conspira—Gurk!"

Smack! Thud! Pow!

Of course, he soon fell silent after taking one blow from each of the protesters.

The citizens wanted nothing more than to hang him from a rope immediately, but they restrained themselves.

Simply because it would not be right.

His crimes had to be weighed and judged in a different manner.

Just as Asella had said, the citizens of El Dorado were almost too kind for their own good.

"What are you going to do about the paladins?"

"For now, we’ll have to remove all the commanders. Then we’ll reinstate the commanders purged by the Pope."

"You’re going to be busy. Can you handle all of that yourself?"

Asella nodded with a gentle smile.

The Papal Palace had committed so many atrocities that there were problems everywhere in need of correction.

In particular, the mass purge of Ludwig’s faction had left a gaping hole in their military strength.

She intended to reinstate them if possible, but there was nothing she could do about Ludwig himself.

"Once everything has stabilized... I’ll go find my teacher. And our savior as well."

"Our savior? You don’t mean that man, do you?"

"Yes. If it hadn’t been for him, the Holy Nation would have been destroyed."

A group that lost sight of its purpose was bound to stagnate, and stagnant water inevitably rotted.

As demons became more culturally advanced, conflicts naturally decreased, and the title of Demon King lost its former significance.

Yet El Dorado clung to its outdated customs, driven by the belief that it must eradicate the Demon King at all costs.

In the end, however, that very belief had set El Dorado on the path to becoming a Demon King itself.

"From now on, this nation will no longer be able to use the name El Dorado."

"...What kind of insanity are you spouting now?"

"The name has been sullied."

El Dorado was originally a name bestowed upon the nation by Ares herself.

But now that the name had been tarnished by this incident, it could no longer be used as the name of the country.

Thus, Ares had judged that a new name was necessary.

"This isn’t something I can decide on my own. I plan to gather the citizens’ opinions."

"You do understand what changing the name of a country means, don’t you?"

"Yes. I do. It means being reborn as a new nation."

There was a reason people used the term "predecessor state."

Even so, they would not completely abandon El Dorado’s identity. They would continue believing in Ares.

Just as a pupa shed its casing and became a butterfly, the Holy Nation would undergo a similar transformation.

"But before that..."

Asella raised her head.

When she looked up, the colossal statue was still standing watch.

Cain’s statue currently stood proudly before the Papal Palace.

Adults and children alike were eager to catch a glimpse of him.

For safety reasons, however, the crowd had been moved back, leaving only Asella and Reina by his side.

"Lord Cain, what will you do now?"

At Asella’s question, Cain lowered his head.

Even that simple movement exuded a terrifying sense of pressure.

It also confirmed that the statue possessed a mind of its own.

She did not know whether he was truly the Cain who had once lived, but she imagined he was probably much like him.

[I shall return to the place where I once stood.]

As expected.

Asella could not hide her disappointment at Cain’s answer.

She wished he would remain here and continue protecting the Holy Nation, but that would be asking too much.

"Will you help us again someday?"

[I shall always answer the call.]

That alone was reassuring.

Asella smiled.

From now on, Cain would remain the eternal guardian of the Holy Nation.

A guardian who would answer their call whenever a crisis arose.

Flash!

At that moment, a colossal pillar of light descended from the heavens.

The pillar was large enough to envelop Cain’s entire body.

The people who saw it were greatly alarmed, but Asella remained calm.

"You’re leaving."

[Indeed.]

"Could you tell me where you’re going?"

[You already know.]

She already knew.

There was one place she could roughly guess.

Just what kind of place was it?

Simply hearing it described as a forbidden realm beyond human understanding had once been enough to deter her from ever approaching it.

But now she was curious.

It was a land where the existence of mythical beings had already been proven.

Whoooosh—

Cain’s massive body began rising within the pillar of light.

Asella slowly lifted her head and quietly watched him depart.

[As I have always said.]

Just before leaving, Cain looked at Asella and spoke.

[I shall answer the call.]

Those reassuring words promised that he would always answer whenever they called—

Whoooosh!

Cain shot into the sky atop the pillar of light.

Asella watched until he vanished into the heavens, then murmured softly.

"...Thank you."

"Whew. What a pain in the ass. Are you finished down there?"

"It’s done."

I was busy repairing the spot where the statue had shot upward—in other words, the roof.

It had launched so quickly that the hole it left behind was enormous.

I couldn’t even patch this one with bricks, so I had no choice but to cover it roughly with logs.

Why am I going through this crap on such a freezing day?

But it was over now.

The work was finished, so all I had to do was climb back down.

I had just picked up my tools and was about to jump down into the cave when—

Whoooosh!

An ominous noise came from above.

Hearing it, I looked up.

Something small was plummeting straight toward me.

That wasn’t a meteorite, was it?

While that thought was still crossing my mind, the meteor-like object crashed into the cave.

KABOOOM!!!

It smashed apart the entire section of ceiling I had worked so hard to repair.

Since it had fallen from the sky this time, the hole was even bigger than before.

The statue was embedded in the floor, rattling in place.

Beside it, Namu ppareumbo was staring at it with an expression that seemed to ask, What the hell is this thing now?

Fortunately, Wonmo, who was directly beneath it, had not been hurt.

He was still sleeping soundly.

...Should I just throw this damn thing away?

What the hell was wrong with it?

READ MORE ChapterS HERE : https://beastnovels.com/