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Chapter 367

“Has it already been three years? When I was one of the Seven Mages, I visited here as the representative of the Magic Tower during the cultural exchange…” Theta quietly mumbled. He shook his head. “I can still vividly remember His Holiness welcoming me… I really didn’t expect the Great Temple to be in such a state. People say to the vilest criminals that heaven will punish them and that they should fear the wrath of god. Although we mages don’t believe in god, to be honest…” Theta gazed ahead. “...At this moment, I want to believe that there is a god because if there was, god would punish these evildoers right away.”

Lilith’s eyes turned cold. “Even if god exists and doesn’t punish them, it doesn’t matter since I’ll make them pay myself.”

Theta smiled bitterly. “Then are you requesting that we aid you?”

“No, I’m not.” Lilith shook her head.

“…Huh?”

“We need to rebuild the Great Temple first.”

“Are you serious?” Theta asked, baffled.

“Of course.”

“You aren’t thinking rationally. What is the point of the Great Temple now anyway?” the mage asked her, utterly baffled. “The Martial Emperor is gone now, but his followers are still in the Empire. You know that, don’t you?”

“That is why we need to do it,” Lilith insisted.

“What?”

“Since you mages only pursue truth, you may not know this, but the power of religion is greater than you think. Faith can be used to unite the people of the Empire.”

“Using religion for politics, huh?” Theta shook his head. “It’s hard to believe that I’m hearing this from a citizen of the famously devout Hubalt Empire.”

“It’ll be better than getting humiliated again.”

“…I can understand your reasons though. The war ended quickly, but the power struggle is still ongoing. Even the citizens of the Empire don’t know what to do, so if we restore the Great Temple to how it was right before everything started…”

“Yes.” Lilith nodded. “The Martial Emperor’s remaining subordinates will be forced to make a move—any move.”

“They’ll definitely not just sit by and watch the Great Temple getting rebuilt. I never thought I’d become bait.”

“Please understand,” Lilith begged, genuinely apologetic. “We’ve finally found an opportunity, and those small fries are almost in our grasp. We can’t let them go, can we?”

“No, I think the Silver-Haired Grim Reaper wants to punish the sinners herself,” Theta said with a grin. Lilith shut her mouth, and Theta shrugged. “The best method would be to take care of everyone on the Emperor’s side at the same time. Even if they don’t make a move, the people on the pope’s side will gain more power.”

“…We did threaten to dethrone the Emperor, but everyone knows that it’s impossible. We can’t gain the citizens’ trust that way, so my final goal is to make the Emperor a puppet.” Lilith smiled faintly.

“I understand. Well, since we’re just side characters in this incident, not the main characters, we’ll follow your instructions.”

Lilith’s face instantly brightened. “Then…?”

“We’ll take the request.”

“Thank you!” Lilith delightedly shouted.

Iceline chose that moment to join their conversation.

“In that case, I don’t have to stay here, right?” she asked with her clear, elegant voice. “Since the Martial Emperor’s mana hall has been closed, you won’t need a Class 8 mage and a Class 6 mage at the same time.”

“Do you have urgent business to take care of?”

“A little,” Iceline replied without an ounce of hesitation.

“Hmm…?” Theta smiled slyly at Iceline. “Like… Avalon?”

“You already know.” Iceline nodded, unexpectedly and quickly.

“Huh?” Theta looked at Iceline, surprised. He did not get the reaction he was expecting. “To help your beloved, of course?”

“Think whatever you want.”

“…Hmmm?”

“I’m really worried. I can’t stand it anymore.”

Even Lilith’s eyes widened.

“Yo-you’re really going to Avalon?” Theta asked, astonished.

“All this time, he’s helped me for nothing in return—so rather than feeling worried in a faraway place, I’m going to help him myself. Thus…” Iceline’s ice-white cheek turned slightly rosy. “...please allow me.”

* * *

It didn’t even take a day for Joshua to arrive at his destination—only took half a day.

There were only five dukes in the Avalon Empire, and the great Duke of Agnus had been the most influential out of the five.

Joshua had spent most of his previous and current life in this place. When he had first miraculously regressed, he had woken up in the Agnus’ barn and reunited with Lugia, the Demonic Spirit’s spear. This place was the start of everything.

‘The man responsible for turning all of it into a giant mess. The Dark God—no, the man secretly known as Heimdall—must be here too,’ Joshua thought.

He now knew that his regression wasn’t a miracle and that Kaiser hadn’t been his true enemy in his previous life. It was Aden von Agnus. Joshua’s biological father had manipulated Kaiser, a mere fourth prince, onto the throne. Aden was Joshua’s true enemy and the man Joshua needed to kill.

“…Just wait a little longer.” Joshua clenched his fists.

Just as he was about to enter the castle, he detected numerous incoming presences. No one should have been in front of Joshua, yet a group of people were approaching him nonetheless. The presences quickly resolved into dozens of shadowy figures.

“You were…?” Joshua muttered.

“Joshua Sanders?” Porth Arietta, Heimdall’s fourth apostle, was the first of the figures to respond, having met Joshua before.

“What? This boy is Joshua Sanders?” Marco, the third apostle, asked disbelievingly.

“I heard a lot about him, but he’s much younger than I thought. Wait,” Jabel, the second apostle mumbled, frowning, “did he know we were here and waited for us?”

While the apostle murmured confusedly among themselves, only one person, the first apostle known as “First Irregular,” quietly examined Joshua.

“Everyone, wait,” Arietta abruptly said.

“What, Arietta?”

“There is an order for everything. Let me fight him first—I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since that day.”

Jabel’s frown deepened. “What nonsense—”

“Jabel! You aren’t seriously considering all of us attacking him together, right? Besides, at first, you had no intention of listening to the First Irregular’s suggestion at first.” Arietta narrowed his eyes at Jabel. The other man flinched, eliciting a grin from Arietta. “I’m on the same page as you, you know. My pride won’t allow it. On top of that, no senior officer fights first. It’s usually a junior officer that fights first so that the senior officers can figure out the opponent’s strength.”

“Hmm…” Jabel groaned.

“Is it okay?” Arietta turned to look at the other apostles.

“You’re volunteering to take care of a cumbersome task, so I’m fine.” Marco shrugged.

“Boss?” Arietta asked, an unusual departure from his typical manner of address.

“…Do as you wish,” the First Irregular muttered.

“Yes!” Arietta shouted excitedly and stepped forward. “Anyone whose number is below mine, shut up and stand back! That’s my prey!”

The remaining apostles backed away. Arietta licked his lips, his eyes glued on Joshua.

“We’ve met before, right? Let me introduce myself again. I’m Porth Arietta, Heimdall’s fourth apostle.”

Joshua didn’t even budge, but Arietta slowly drew up his power. “Keep in mind that Slager is the fiftieth apostle, and I’m the fourth apostle. It’s impossible, therefore, to compare our powers…”

The entire sky shook with Arietta’s energy. A lion always tried its best even if it was going after a rabbit—no, Joshua anything but a rabbit since he brought down two Skies.

The desire to win grew and adrenaline rushed through Arietta’s veins. He intended to give his best from the very beginning. All his power was going into a single strike by using Aura Overlay.

The air around them twisted, and the ground shook from the menacing energy radiating off of Arietta.

“It’s… an honor to finally meet the renowned Martial God, you greenhorn!”

The moment “horn” left Arietta’s lips, he sprang forward as fast as his body would propel him, audibly driving the air in front of him. Up until now, Arietta had pierced every opponent with a single charge. That was how he gained his nickname, “Piercing Arietta.”

Seeing how Joshua hadn’t moved at all, Arietta became certain that the Joshua Sanders wasn’t really that different from anyone else!

Slash!

‘…Slash?’ Arietta wondered. Just as he had expected, he heard the sound of human flesh parting—but he should have heard a stabbing sound, not a slashing sound, because his sword technique was mainly about stabbing the opponent.

‘What…?’

A moment later, he began to wobble. When he pulled himself together, he was already on the ground. That was his last thought as his consciousness faded.

Silence fell as Arietta’s head rolled across the ground.

“Pathetic guys always talk big… If the mere fourth apostle was enough to waste my time, the people of the continent would laugh at me. They’d say, ‘How can such a man be called the Hero King or the Martial God?’” Joshua calmly said.

Arietta’s headless corpse began to spew blood into the air. Meanwhile, Joshua had already created an aura spear and beckoned at the apostles.

“I don’t have much time. Come at me all at once.”