Chapter 329 – Shining (4)

Nobody dared to open their mouths. They could only look at each other with their eyes wide open.

'What did I just hear?
No, what the hell is going on?'

The gazes that were looking around headed back to the front.
They could see Sir Bernard start to speak.

"Saint-nim, it has been a while since we last met, but I do not know what you mean."

He did not seem flustered.
He had a stiff expression as if he could not understand what Jack was saying.

"You think that I am the Tower Master? That does not make sense. I am just a knight who wishes for the peace of the Empire."

Bernard shook his head toward Saint Jack who still had his hand reached out.

"And we've been waiting for you, Saint-nim. You and the Holy Maiden-nim-"

Sir Bernard's finger pointed toward the darkness.

"-Caused that."

It had been the place that was said to shine the brightest.
The Western continent's oldest Church of the Sun God.

That Church had become desolate and could only be faintly seen in the darkness.
The person wearing the Tower Master's robe stepped forward at that moment.

"Saint-nim, you can shake hands with me."

It was the supposed Tower Master who had a stubborn-looking face. He sighed before looking toward Saint Jack in frustration.

The Cat Knight Sir Rex slowly moved and stood behind Jack after seeing the supposed Tower Master's reaction.

Sir Bernard, the Tower Master, Saint Jack, and Sir Rex. The four of them were facing off against each other.

– Human! Is it okay to leave it like this?

Cale, who had been watching this from the top of the Bell Tower, heard Raon's voice in his mind.

– Human! The Saint could be in danger! The Saint is a good person, but he's kind of a doof! You know this too. Why don't you send the crazy sword master-

Raon who had been shouting had to stop.

"Who is a doof?"
– …Hmm?
"Who is a doof?"
– …Umm, the Saint is a doof! Am I wrong?

Cale started to smile.

"Cale-nim."

Choi Han approached him with concern. The Dark Elf Tasha was behind him.
Cale did not look at the two of them as he started to speak.

"This is his house."
– Hmm?
"Excuse me?"

Jack and Hannah, the Sun God twins.

The two of them seemed to be completely opposite of each other.
The innocent Jack with his healing abilities.
The violent Hannah with her fighting abilities.

However.

"How many ceremonies do you think the Empire's Church of the Sun God had until the incident two years ago?"
"Cale-nim, what are-"

Cale didn't even look back at Choi Han as he continued to speak.

"I'm sure there were a ton."

The Mogoru Empire's Church of the Sun God was the largest one on the Western continent.
The Pope, Saint, and Holy Maiden must have participated in a large number of rituals and ceremonies.

"He probably had to face people more times than even the Emperor or the Imperial Prince."

He would have approached the people more times than the Emperor, who only showed his face for special occasions.

"Jack is strong inside the Empire."

'They think he is a doof?'

It could seem that way.

"Saint Jack is a good person and is pure."

He had grown up as a good person even while being suppressed and abused by the Pope since he was young.

Was that because he didn't know anything?
Absolutely not.

"He's not an average person."

He could hear the Dark Elf Tasha's voice.

"Hannah does not have divine powers, however, Saint Jack has divine powers even if he is only a half-Saint."

Choi Han turned his gaze from Cale to Tasha.
Tasha had her arms crossed as she looked toward Saint Jack. There was an odd expression on her face.

"A person with the power of the Sun God must destroy any race or people with the darkness attribute."
"Mm."

Choi Han let out a groan. However, Tasha was smiling.

"He would not be able to survive if he does not kill them."

The smile then disappeared from her face.

"It is because of their god's orders. It is almost like an instinct."

Why had crown prince Alberu asked Cale to go to the Dark Elf city and get the bracelet to protect him on his trip to the Empire?
It was so that he could avoid the Saint and Holy Maiden, but to be more accurate, it was so that he could avoid danger from seeing Saint Jack.

Choi Han's expression turned odd.
It was because he realized something.

Had Saint Jack ever tried to harm Mary or the Dark Elves ever since he came to the Super Rock Villa?

Never.

At least Choi Han had never felt anything.
There weren't any signs of it at all.

Was that easy for him to do?

Choi Han's realization came out of Cale's mouth.

"Saint Jack's instincts, the orders from his god, are probably going off in his mind hundreds of thousands of times."

Get rid of that Dark Elf.
Purify Mary.
Kill your younger sister.

"However, he did not kill anybody and only used his powers to heal the wounded."

'He is someone who suppresses his instincts.
A doof?
Being good is different than being a doof.
Being innocent is different from being indecisive.'

"Although he may be lacking in physical strength, his mental strength is probably stronger than anybody else."

Cale looked down at Saint Jack who was looking at Sir Bernard and the person wearing the Tower Master robe, before continuing on.

"Choi Han, Raon. Saint Jack was also with us throughout this battle."

Raon and Choi Han's gazes followed Cale and Tasha's gazes down. They could see Saint Jack close his eyes. Cale gave an order at that moment.

"Head down."

Tasha and Choi Han quickly disappeared into the Bell Tower.
Cale raised his head and looked at the night sky. He could see the airship and the dark sky.

Saint Jack was also facing a darkness right now.

"Saint-nim?"

He could hear Sir Bernard's voice.
However, Saint Jack still had his eyes closed.

Images were flashing through his mind.

The trees of Section 7 of the Jungle that had turned black.
Both of his hands had been shaking when he saw those things cover the ground.
That was why he had clasped his hands together.

His instincts had been telling him something.

Purify it.
Get rid of it.
Destroy it.

His instincts were ordering him, the weakling with nothing but healing powers, to use his body to smash into the trees and get rid of them.

'…That was similar to-'

It was similar to when his younger sister Hannah had been healed by the necromancer Mary. His instincts, the will of the Sun God, wanted him to get rid of them.

But Jack had seen it.
He had seen the trees turn white, as well as Mary, The Dark Elves, and the sunlight shining down on them through the trees.

That was the first time he had heard a voice.
It was not the voice of the Sun God.

It was his own voice.

'That is what light is supposed to be.'

He had thought of Cale's actions as being good many times. He had seen goodness in the others as well, making him come to his realization.

However, the meaning in his own words was different than that realization.

"I can do it."

He could make that kind of light as well.

"Saint-nim, what are you talking about? What are you doing in the middle of our conver-"

He could hear Sir Bernard's voice.
Saint Jack slowly opened his eyes.

He remembered what the ancient Dragon Eruhaben told him.

'If he really is a Lich, it would have been difficult for you to figure it out. You might think I'm rude for saying this, but your skills are not at the level where you can figure out his identity just by being near him.'

Sir Bernard.
Saint Jack did not have many reasons to meet with the Alchemists from the Bell Tower when he had been in the capital. Only the leaders of the Empire were allowed to meet with the Saint.

However, he had met Sir Bernard before.
It was because he was always with the Emperor.

'But there is a way to reveal his identity.'

Eruhaben had told him that there was a way to find out.

In that case, he just needed to reveal the truth.
He just needed to light it up.

He just had to show the light. ( Reveal and to light up are homophones in Korean. So these three lines don't really make as much sense in English. )

'That is something I can do.'

"Saint-nim."

Jack took one step forward once he opened his eyes back and saw Sir Bernard's face.

'Jack, your healing powers come from the Sun God.'

'I am weak.
But I am not weak as well.'

He recalled the ancient Dragon's voice once again.

'Touch him.'

He took one more step forward.
Jack was running forward without stopping.

'Touch the Lich.'

People started to shout as Jack started to run.

"Saint-nim!"
"What are you suddenly doing?!"

Sir Rex quickly reached his hand out toward Jack.
However, Rex was a bit too late as he had been shocked.

Bang!

Saint Jack had slammed into Sir Bernard.
He could feel the strong armor underneath Bernard's robe.
It hurt.

"…Saint-"

Bernard started to frown and tried to push Jack away, making Jack start to smile.
The original Jack would not have been able to charge into Bernard like this.
He was a Saint who had to always maintain his elegance and holiness.

However, he had already learned a lot of things from his friends.
There were times you had to charge in.

He opened his mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Open the doors!"

People saw a gold light as he shouted.
They heard a different noise at the same time.

Screeeech-
Screeeech-

It was the sound of a door opening.

However, the only thing people could see was a sudden burst of light.
A wave of light enveloped the people outside.

"Ah, ah-"

Someone kneeled down.

Saint Jack.

There was a bright light filled with healing powers flowing out of Jack. It was not just a slightly bright light, but it was as bright as if the sun had appeared in front of him.

Although he might only be a half-Saint, his healing powers were unmatched.

Eruhaben had said the following to Jack.
It had to do with once he touched the Lich.

'Use your healing powers. It has the power of the sun in it.'

The sun was the most destructive attribute toward the darkness attribute.
Jack saw a hand reaching toward him.

"Ugh!"

He let out a groan.
He could see a hand around his neck.

"M, my goodness!"
"How is that possible?!"

The gold light slowly disappeared, and people could see again.

They saw that Saint Jack was floating in the air.
Someone was grabbing him by the neck.

"W, why would Sir Bernard?!"
"Look at that! Look at Sir Bernard's hand!"

Sir Bernard's hand started to turn black. Jack grabbed onto Bernard's hand that was choking his neck.

A sizzling sound could be heard as Jack's hands that were covered in the gold light touched Bernard's hard.

Siiiiiiizle-

Bernard's skin started to burn.
It then turned black.

The Saint could see the frown on Sir Bernard's face.

"…You bastard-"

The Saint smiled after hearing this swearing that was only loud enough for him to hear.

He had never heard anyone say such a thing to him before, however, seeing the calm expression on the Guardian Sword's face changing to a frown as his eyes slowly turned dark made Jack continue to laugh.

"…A half-shit like you dares to!"

Bernard's burning hand returned to normal. The effect Jack's healing powers were having on Sir Bernard was lessening.
Jack continued to laugh as he said something at that moment.

"Hurry over."
"What?"

The doors fully opened as Bernard asked back.
The doors had opened at the Saint's order.

Screeeech-
Screeeech-

The people in the area turned their gazes toward two spots.

Some were looking at the sky while others were looking at the ground.

The door on the airship in the sky had opened.

Birds made of white bones appeared from inside the door.
Tens of these large birds started to flap their wings as they spread out across the sky above the capital. The citizens pointed to the sky.

"…Those are the birds from the footage!"
"The Holy Knights! It's the Holy Knights!"

Knights wearing white armor were standing on top of the white skeleton birds and pointing their swords up toward the sky.
They then slowly gathered together on top of the Alchemists' Bell Tower.

As for the ground…

Screeech- Bang!

People turned their heads.
The main door to the Alchemists' Bell Tower that had been closed shut had opened. They could see darkness coming from inside the Bell Tower.
However, there was someone charging out from that darkness.

"T, that person is…!"

There were many who didn't recognize the person, however, some of the people's eyes opened wide as they realized who it was.
Sir Bernard could see Jack start to smile.

"You're here."

Sir Bernard then had to let go of Saint Jack. He had no other choice.

"Damn it!"

An aura that was a mix of gold and black charged toward Sir Bernard.

The sword master Hannah.

The woman whose face was covered in black veins smiled brightly.

"Hi-ya. You don't know how long I've waited for this."

Both of the Sun God twins had shown themselves in the Empire.
The aura that was a mix of gold and black slashed down at that moment.

Baaaaaaaaaang!

Hannah's sword slashed down at the center of the spot that had been full of healing powers as a loud bang filled the plaza.

That spot was destroyed.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]