In My Second Life, I Rule from the Shadows

Chapter 165: Vacation (4)

Gallon For was a priest.

Even though the god wasn’t particularly famous across the continent, the religion had its faith, doctrines, believers, and churches.

However, unlike conventional religions, theirs was tremendously hostile toward the demonic realm.

“In our doctrine, there’s a saying like this. Even if you forgive a sinner whose hands are stained with blood, never forgive the demon dwelling in his heart.”

“Does that mean you see the person and the sin as separate?”

“That would be the standard interpretation, but some interpret the ‘heart’ literally as the organ. If you trace it back far enough, there were those who believed that you must extract and crush a sinner’s heart to repent and atone.”

“They were out of their minds.”

“My thoughts exactly. But the records say that was the kind of era it was. Our side had some influence back then, too.”

Yet an era ruled by extremists couldn’t last long.

As the times changed, so did the fate of his religion, eventually fading into nothing more than forgotten records.

“It was an interesting age. They even planned to invade the demonic realm, believing that if it ceased to exist, the demons in human hearts would vanish too.”

“How did that go?”

“They tried to capture black mages and open a gate to the demonic realm. But the Emperor of the Empire, horrified, captured and executed their leaders, so it was never realized.”

“A wise emperor.”

“Thanks to him, we still exist today. If a cult devoted to a god had succeeded in creating a gate to the demonic realm, we wouldn’t even be a joke now.”

With a bitter smile, Gallon finished drawing the pattern on the floor.

The workshop was located in the NOX headquarters.

On the floor were densely packed arrays of bizarre symbols drawn by Gallon.

It was a sacred spell passed down only in Gallon’s religion, summoning flames that eradicated evil and crushed sin.

“As I said, these flames are more of an insurance. If I judge that something’s gone wrong, I’ll use them without hesitation.”

“You called it Prometheus’ Flame. I just hope it doesn’t end up burning me.”

“I told you. It only burns evil and sin. Since it didn’t react to the Demonic Energy within you, it should be fine.”

They had already tested it against the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

Though the names were the same, the Demonic Energy of demons and that of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art were fundamentally different in nature.

“Well then, let’s begin. To be honest, I didn’t even understand half of what you said you were going to do.”

Gallon For tossed a cat’s-eye stone into the corner of the room.

Then, he lightly bit the tip of his finger and sprinkled a drop of blood onto the Bloody Stone placed in the center of the room.

“……”

At that moment, Carl sat cross-legged and exhaled deeply, operating the Primordial Unity Divine Art.

‘It’s basically a gamble.’

Gallon’s sacred magic, the arrays, and the Primordial Unity Divine Art.

All preparations were complete, and the purpose of bleeding onto the Bloody Stone was none other than to resurrect Barnavé.

‘Now’s the right time to extract information on Origin.’

Things would become extremely busy from here on out.

Personal training, the restructuring of NOX, a planned trip with the cadets, and afterwards, he had to respond to the summoning for Walpurgis Night, a Bavarian event.

Originally, he had intended to postpone it and take more time, but with Gallon returning to Leipzig on another mission, he seized the opportunity.

Ssssssssh─!

A misty haze began to fill the room.

A simple formation constructed with the cat’s-eye stone was activated, and the Primordial Unity Divine Art began to dominate the surroundings, establishing a new space.

‘Three-Star level of the Primordial Unity Divine Art.’

Its function lay in the creation of space.

Of course, that didn’t mean he could freely seize and manipulate the surrounding domain at will.

Perhaps once his level rose further, but at this stage, it still required a lot of preparation in various aspects.

“……”

Carl slowly opened his eyes.

What lay before him was a towering cliff and a breathtaking mountain range.

Behind, a powerful waterfall roared down through the thick mist.

“It’s been a while.”

Carl smiled faintly at the familiar scent brushing the tip of his nose.

It had been so long since he last saw the scenery of the Central Plains, it almost made him feel nostalgic.

Truthfully, he had wanted to create the image of a city or a marketplace, but due to his lack of familiarity with this harmony, creating a natural landscape was his current limit.

But eventually, even that would become possible.

Srrrrrk.

Sensing a presence to his side, Carl slightly turned his head.

Black ash began to gather atop the Bloody Stone lying on the ground, forming into a mass.

Carl turned his head back to admire the mountains.

According to Gallon, it would take a bit of time before a vampire could fully resurrect.

“……Hah.”

How much time had passed?

At the clear voice that brushed his ears, Carl unfolded his arms and turned around.

There stood a nude Barnavé, looking down at his hands and feet with a dumbfounded expression.

“You brought me back? You?”

“That’s right.”

“This place is…….”

Barnavé lifted his head and looked around.

“I don’t know. Is this the Forest of Rania? I can’t read it.”

He seemed to be trying to gauge where he was.

But since this was a space created by the harmony of the formation and the Primordial Unity Divine Art, there was nothing he could read.

Flap.

Barnavé conjured clothes from thin air and draped them over his body.

As the long robe fluttered behind him, he looked at Carl with crimson eyes and asked,

“Why did you bring me back?”

“Because I have a lot of questions.”

“Hah.”

Barnavé let out a shallow laugh.

“You think I’ll answer just like that? I admit I was surprised that you use divine power, but other than killing me with it……”

Thud.

In an instant, Carl stepped in and reached toward Barnavé.

Barnavé, unwilling to simply let it happen, crossed his arms to block it.

“……Tch.”

But as he caught a glimpse of the azure divine power brushing the air, he grimaced deeply and retreated.

Sssssssss.

Even just brushing against that faint trace caused his clothes and skin to melt.

Barnavé raised his head, his face twisted in pain, as he stroked his arm.

“You don’t feel like someone with faith. Yet you wield divinity—what exactly are you?”

“Can vampires even sense something like that?”

Carl showed interest.

Could vampires truly discern one’s faith?

Barnavé let out a quiet laugh, healed his wound, and continued.

“It’s all in the eyes. Those who blindly follow a god usually have a crazed look in their eyes. But you’re not the type to worship or believe in someone.”

“I see.”

Carl chuckled.

It wasn’t absolute, but it seemed like insight gathered through experience.

“Fine, then I’ll refrain from using divinity.”

Carl waved his hand.

With that, the power of Kylos dispersed, and the brilliant blue divine flame vanished.

“……?”

Barnavé frowned as he watched.

The reason he had lost to the man was because of that unexpected strike of divine power.

‘Is he bluffing?’

Unless it was an energy compatibility issue, the advantage was his.

With that conclusion, Barnavé slowly lowered his stance.

He didn’t know what was going on, but if he could just defeat the man before him, freedom wouldn’t be far off.

Boom─!

Waves spread along the cliff as Barnavé’s body soared into the air.

His robe flared open, and streams of blood poured out, beginning to engulf the surroundings.

Flash.

Carl lightly clenched his fist and threw a straight punch toward Barnavé.

Immediately, the Demonic Energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art surged upward and struck everything along the path of his punch.

Boom!

The cliff crumbled.

Twisting his body to evade the impact, Barnavé opened his eyes wide as he saw the pitch-black flames engulfing Carl.

“Demonic Energy again!”

“It’s Demonic Energy, yes, but fundamentally different from yours.”

Carl extended his finger forward.

The raging Demonic Energy condensed, forming into a small sphere before him.

Bang─!

Shot like a bullet, it pierced the air in an instant and embedded itself into Barnavé’s body.

Thud! Bam-bam-bam!

A technique that imbued magical bullets with hardened qi and earth energy.

Blood erupted as Barnavé’s body crashed to the ground.

“……Guh!”

Blood vessels burst in both of Barnavé’s eyes.

He’d been struck by that Demonic Energy before, but somehow today, the weight of it felt entirely different.

‘Is it because I’m weakened by divinity?’

He had only just resurrected from the Bloody Stone, so he hadn’t fully recovered yet.

But even putting that aside, the opponent’s power felt far heavier than before.

“Hm.”

Carl flicked his fingers and walked toward the fallen Barnavé.

‘Thanks to the breakthrough, both the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and the Bright Heaven Divine Art have advanced in level.’

While achievements in the Heavenly Demon and Bright Heaven Divine Arts had only a slight influence on the Primordial Unity Divine Art, the reverse had a significant impact.

Even though the Heavenly Demon Divine Art was at the same level, the density of qi had risen to a whole new dimension.

Crunch.

Carl stepped on the writhing Barnavé and spoke.

“I don’t need your cooperation. What I want is the memory inside you.”

“……What?”

Grab.

Before Barnavé could question him, Carl placed a hand on his head.

He immediately cast the Soul-Seizing Technique of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, causing Barnavé’s eyes to roll back.

“……Aaaaaaaaaargh!!!”

A thunderous scream echoed across the cliff.

‘As expected.’

Carl nodded.

The Soul-Seizing Technique, which should not have worked, began to slowly penetrate Barnavé’s mind.

If he used excessive force, Barnavé would become a vegetable.

But Carl didn’t particularly care, so he raised the technique’s intensity to its maximum.

Flash─.

At a certain point—

Barnavé’s scream abruptly stopped, and Carl’s consciousness linked to somewhere else.

At first, he thought the technique had succeeded and he had entered Barnavé’s mind.

But he quickly realized something was off.

‘This place is…’

It wasn’t inside the formation, nor was it Barnavé’s consciousness.

He wondered if Barnavé had somehow been pulled into his own mental image, but judging from the foreign energy, that didn’t seem to be it either.

“…It’s been a while.”

“……”

Suddenly, from behind came a voice both familiar and unfamiliar.

Carl released his grip on Barnavé’s head and slowly turned around.

A man wearing a mask, just like him, was watching him.

In a low voice, Carl uttered his name.

“Ascalon.”

It had already been five years since they last met.

Back then, he’d been at the First-Star level of the Primordial Unity’s Single Pole and had been utterly defeated.

But now, having reached Three-Star, things were different.

“……”

Ascalon seemed to recognize it too and only stared at Carl with narrowed eyes.

“We’ll meet soon enough.”

There was no need for many words between them.

Ascalon spoke briefly, and Carl nodded.

“I’ll come find you.”