Chapter 169
“…”
At the deity’s resolute answer, Alice’s mouth hung open in bewilderment.
‘After all my efforts…’
Indeed, the reason Alice had thought to buy time was because she couldn’t eliminate the Dark Specter herself.
If the only solution was for the Chief Deity to exert his power directly in the mortal realm, then buying as much time as possible until a human who could handle his spirit was found was the best she could do.
That’s why she had negotiated with Count Latrang and even fought with Kylus, trying various approaches and doing her best…
‘He found someone so quickly?’
Alice couldn’t shake a feeling of emptiness, as if she had been putting on a show for nothing.
But that didn’t last long before her expression filled with dismay.
“Um… wait. If you’ve found that person, then the Empress shouldn’t be driven out of the Empress’s Palace at this point either…?”
The deity sighed softly, “Hmm,” and nodded.
[That’s right. The host needs to diligently offer sacrifices to the specter so it will break the seal and emerge as soon as possible. If the Empress is driven out… that time will be extended. Moreover, I’ve already made preparations, so the longer we delay, the more disadvantageous it is.]
“Oh, what the…”
Alice barely suppressed the curse that had risen to the tip of her tongue.
She had made all the preparations to bring down the Empress, and now she would have to completely overturn those plans.
Finding the true culprit who poisoned the First Prince was important, but eliminating the Dark Specter was far more important for this world.
Besides, the First Prince had been revived anyway.
The problem was that rumors about the reinvestigation of the First Prince’s poisoning case had already begun to circulate, making it difficult to simply pretend nothing had happened.
And of course, Count Latrang, who had already secured evidence, would not readily back down.
‘What should I do?’
Alice’s mind became tangled. Then she asked the deity.
“About breaking the Dark Specter’s seal. Does it absolutely require sacrifices from a host? Is there no other way?”
[Hmm, there is. Either I break it directly, or if blood from someone who has strongly received my power falls onto the magic circle, the seal will naturally break.]
“Then wouldn’t my blood work too? I’ve received an enormous amount of holy power from you, Lord Helios!”
Alice exclaimed with renewed hope.
“Then instead of the Empress, if I go first and drop my blood…”
[Then even if the seal breaks, the Dark Specter will absolutely not come out from inside, but will borrow the host’s body and hide somewhere.]
The deity interrupted Alice. Alice’s face, which had brightened momentarily, clouded over as she asked again.
“…Why?”
The deity exhaled and explained.
[Think about it. You are someone who has received my power strongly. What would it mean if such a person came to the magic circle first and broke the seal? Wouldn’t it be like openly declaring war, announcing that you’ve come to capture it?]
“Ah…”
Alice let out a short sigh.
She had been so focused on breaking the seal that she hadn’t thought about what would happen afterward.
“…Is there no way to forcibly draw out the Dark Specter?”
[For that, I would need to manifest. But as you know, the plan this time is for me to descend to this land hidden behind the aura when the Dark Specter breaks the seal with its own power. Therefore, the Dark Specter must break the seal and emerge on its own.]
“On its own…”
Alice’s thoughts became complicated.
For the Dark Specter to break the seal on its own, it needed a host to offer sacrifices.
But the Empress… was about to be driven out.
Even if they delayed the First Prince’s case as much as possible, what if the specter couldn’t break its seal and come out?
From the beginning, they didn’t know how much power the Dark Specter had accumulated.
In other words, they didn’t know how many more sacrifices the Empress needed to offer.
But they couldn’t create a situation that would allow the Empress to obtain numerous sacrifices just to break the seal.
Alice grabbed her hair tightly, finding no solution to the situation.
She had been in such a good mood when she came to the temple.
She had thought she had accomplished something significant.
Only for things to become complicated instead.
The deity exhaled a small sigh as he watched Alice disheveling her hair.
But he too couldn’t think of a particularly good solution.
The deity spoke as if to himself.
[Originally, after finding a human who could handle my spirit, I was going to have you visit the Empress…]
“Visit the Empress…?”
[Yes. If you went to the Empress and left her with suspicions—saying you sensed an unusual dark power from her, that you noticed it wasn’t just ordinary black magic, something like that.]
“And then…?”
When Alice stopped ruffling her hair and asked, the deity clicked his tongue, “Tsk,” and answered.
[The host, the Empress, would inform the specter that someone suspicious had appeared. Naturally, the specter would hasten to break the seal before I noticed its existence.]
“…That makes sense.”
Alice answered slowly, feeling like she was on the verge of realizing something.
[But as you said, if the Empress is about to be driven out of the Empress’s Palace, no matter how much they hurry… it would be difficult to gather numerous sacrifices at once. Especially in such a cornered situation.]
‘The Empress might cause even greater sacrifices if she tries too hard to gather them.’
The deity added in a low voice, as if concerned.
But at that moment, Alice’s muddled thoughts suddenly cleared, and a brilliant idea flashed in her mind.
The Empress who knew about Alice’s extraordinary holy power, the Empress cornered because of Alice.
And finally, blood that could break the Dark Specter’s seal, chosen by the Chief Deity.
These three facts combined perfectly in Alice’s mind.
But for this to succeed, two premises were necessary.
Alice hurriedly asked the deity.
“Lord Helios. Does the Dark Specter know that if there’s blood from a human who has received the deity’s strong power, it can break the seal without sacrifices?”
“Of course it knows. In the past, it used the blood of my priests to open magic circles and summon nefarious entities. And if it didn’t know that, would it hide when you went to break the seal? It would just come out.”
The deity gave her a look that said ‘what nonsense are you talking about,’ but Alice couldn’t see anything right now.
Because she felt her plan would succeed.
Alice asked the deity once more.
“The Dark Specter must also know that Lord Helios hasn’t given oracles to the mortal realm for 100 years, right? And that was quite an exceptional thing?”
As if urging him to say yes, Alice’s eyes gleamed, causing the deity to hesitate before slowly answering.
[…Yes. It probably knows. It must be constantly watching my side.]
The deity, finding Alice’s sudden excitement strange, narrowed his eyes and continued.
[Until now, there has never been a time when I didn’t give oracles for 100 years… this is the first time. Because I couldn’t due to the forced regression.]
‘That’s it. That’s it!’
She had finally found a way to break through this complicated situation.
Alice exhaled a long “Whooo—” as if to calm her rising excitement.
Watching her, the deity finally frowned and asked.
[But why are you suddenly asking about these things? What exactly are you thinking? Whatever you’re thinking, please make a rational judgment.]
The deity spoke as if afraid a deficient child might cause trouble.
But Alice had already worked out the entire plan.
Alice spoke with sparkling eyes to the anxious deity.
“Lord Helios, I’ve found a REALLY good way for the Dark Specter to break its seal in a short time.”
[A really good… way?]
To the deity, who looked uneasy as if he couldn’t quite believe it, Alice answered with a deep smile that resembled a mischievous fairy.
“Yes. A perfect strategy.”
The next day.
From early morning, a strange rumor began to spread at the Temple of the Chief Deity Helios.
Last night, High Priest Prion had received an oracle from the Chief Deity alone in the chapel.
And the content was reportedly momentous: a hero who would soon save this world would appear, so help him root out the evil forces.
Because the temple was already unsettled due to the absence of oracles for 100 years, this news spread faster than ever before.
By the afternoon, High Priest Prion had been summoned by the Pope.
To ask if he had truly received an oracle.
But Prion firmly denied it. However, he admitted that he had gone to the chapel in the middle of the night.
When it wasn’t time for regular worship, high priests usually offered prayers in their personal prayer rooms.
Yet he had deliberately visited the chapel again after all services had ended?
Alone, and spending quite a long time in the chapel, too long to just be offering prayers.
Prion firmly denied receiving an oracle, yet admitted everything else.
Quite suspiciously.
However, since Prion had neither violated the temple’s rules, nor was he the instigator of the oracle-related rumors, the Pope couldn’t press him further.
Though quite uncomfortable, all the Pope could say was that he understood and dismissed him.
But the conversation between the Pope and Prion quickly spread throughout the temple.
Because of this, all the priests thought like the Pope.
That Prion had received an oracle but was hiding it.
For whatever reason.
But since the Pope had already backed down, other priests were curious but dared not ask Prion.
After all, Prion’s personality wasn’t particularly amiable when dealing with official matters.
So everyone just watched cautiously, and as evening approached, a knock sounded at Prion’s door.
“High Priest, it’s Ezeto. Do you have a moment?”
Prion, who had been reading Helios’s doctrine, paused and raised his head.
Ezeto…?
He’s coming to see me…?
After briefly tensing his face, Prion eventually answered toward the door.
“Please come in.”
The door opened, and a man with soft reddish hair entered.
It was Holy Knight Ezeto, not a priest, with a foxlike impression from his elongated eyes.
