Whispers of a Scheming Demon - Chapter 96

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈

Chapter 96: Misunderstanding

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The Great Saint’s Holy Power overflowed through the Forbidden Archive.

The surroundings burned a brilliant white.

Within the radiant sacred flames, Shaperia swung her sword.

Sacred radiance rippled in the wake of her blade.

Holy Flame that burned away malice crashed over Gawain like a wave.

Black smoke rose from his entire body.

A piercing scream echoed out.

“S-Stop!”

Gawain had no means of resisting Holy Power.

His body was bound by countless restraints, and the Sacred Power invading him was far too pure.

At this rate, Gawain would crumble into dust and disappear.

Within the blazing Holy Flame, Shaperia shouted.

“Your Highness! Please forgive this disloyal servant!”

She continued to swing her sword.

Gawain had to die.

If he was not stopped now, he might bring calamity upon the world.

Johan must have known that well. That was why he had used the Brilliant Covenant Sigil at the cost of his own life.

Shaperia could not allow Johan’s sacrifice to be in vain.

She pushed her Holy Power to its limit through Consecration.

The condensed Holy Power turned blue.

It had become moonlight.

Wrapped in moonlight, Shaperia brought down her sword.

A blue blade aura rushed toward Gawain.

The space around him brightened blue.

Demonic Energy and malice were submerged beneath the moonlight and vanished.

Gawain raised his arms as if to block the approaching light.

“W-Wait!”

It was a meaningless resistance.

“...I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

The blade aura swallowed Gawain in an instant.

The moonlight burned away the evil.

Not even Gawain’s form remained.

There was not even a final scream.

Only black ash scattered where the malice had burned away.

The exorcism was complete.

Shaperia collapsed to her knees.

Overwhelming exhaustion and drowsiness suddenly overcame her.

Perhaps it was because she had used Holy Power for the first time in so long. She could not endure the fatigue battering her mind and body.

Shaperia painfully turned her head.

Her gaze fell on Johan.

“...Baron.”

Johan lay on the floor with his eyes closed.

He was probably dead.

From the backlash of using the Brilliant Covenant Sigil.

Shaperia clenched both fists tightly.

“I will not forget your sacrifice. Saint Marziel.”

After that brief prayer, she too collapsed.

Her consciousness sank back into reality.

* * *

It was an unfamiliar sight.

A dented ceiling and partially broken walls came into view.

Everywhere she looked bore scorch marks.

Was this the middle of a battlefield? Shaperia wondered as she raised her upper body.

She slowly looked around.

“...A bedroom?”

She was sitting on a soft bed. Every piece of furniture before her was broken or shattered, yet the bedding alone was clean as if it were brand-new.

It looked as though someone had hastily brought in a new bed and blankets for a half-destroyed bedroom.

Shaperia held her head.

A terrible headache washed over her.

She could not clearly remember why she had been lying here.

As she groaned, a familiar voice reached her.

“You’re awake?”

Shaperia immediately turned her head.

Her pupils widened.

Johan was entering the bedroom.

“B-Baron!”

The instant she saw him, her memories returned.

What had happened in the Forbidden Archive flashed through Shaperia’s mind.

Gawain turning into a demon, Johan using the Brilliant Covenant Sigil, the radiant sacred flames and rippling moonlight...

No matter what, Johan should not have been alive.

Shaperia sprang from the bed.

She rushed forward and grabbed Johan by both shoulders.

She looked as though she had seen a ghost.

In contrast, Johan was completely calm.

He spoke as if it were nothing.

“I entered your room without knocking. Please forgive the discourtesy. As you can see, there is no door.”

Only the doorframe remained where the bedroom door should have been.

Shaperia nearly screamed.

“T-That doesn’t matter! More importantly, Baron, how could you possibly...”

“You mean, how am I alive?”

Shaperia quickly nodded.

“Yes. You clearly used the Brilliant Covenant Sigil right in front of me, did you not?”

The Brilliant Covenant Sigil was a sacred relic that summoned the Great Saint’s Holy Power by burning the user’s soul.

Anyone who borrowed the power of the Brilliant Covenant Sigil was bound to die.

Johan wore a troubled expression.

“To be honest, I don’t know either. Why the Brilliant Covenant Sigil did not take my life.”

Shaperia found it difficult to accept reality.

Using the Brilliant Covenant Sigil was directly linked to death.

It was recorded in the scriptures and the Sacred Relic Compendium.

There was no chance that the Sacred Relic Compendium’s records were wrong.

The Sacred Relic Compendium dealt only in reliable, officially recognized information.

Every piece of knowledge written within it was an unwritten law.

And now, that truth was being denied.

Shaperia was utterly confused.

“...Even with my limited knowledge, I cannot understand the reason.”

After considering it briefly, Johan spoke.

“Just in case, could the Brilliant Covenant Sigil I used have been an inferior version?”

There were replicas of sacred relics.

Shaperia immediately denied it.

“Absolutely not. Those sacred flames were undoubtedly the Great Saint’s Holy Power.”

The purer Holy Power became, the closer it came to moonlight.

The Holy Power Shaperia had experienced moments ago had truly been moonlight itself.

An inferior version could not even imitate the faintest glimmer of moonlight.

Johan swallowed a groan.

“If it was not an inferior version, then no other possibility comes to mind.”

Shaperia fell into thought for a long time.

After quite some time had passed, she spoke.

“One hypothesis remains.”

“What is it?”

A strange certainty filled Shaperia’s eyes.

“Johan Myatro is the Messenger of the Great Saint. There is no other explanation.”

A Messenger of the Great Saint referred to a Holy Hero chosen directly by the Great Saint.

They were not bound by truth, unwritten laws, or Prohibitions. Mere earthly rules could not bind a Messenger of the Great Saint.

A Holy Hero was a being who followed only the Great Saint’s divine mandate.

If Johan was the Messenger of the Great Saint, then it explained how he had survived after using the Brilliant Covenant Sigil.

Johan barely held back a laugh.

He found this quite satisfying.

Shaperia’s train of thought was proceeding exactly as he had planned.

He was glad he had designed the illusion so well.

Johan pretended to be troubled.

“Lady Shaperia, a Messenger of the Great Saint? Someone like me?”

Shaperia shook her head.

“You possess many extraordinary qualities, Baron. Not only your abilities, but also your spirit of sacrifice and sense of duty. You would not be lacking in the least even if you were chosen as a Holy Hero.”

Johan had cast aside his own life to prevent Gawain from being unleashed upon the world.

The sight of him sacrificing himself so calmly remained vivid in Shaperia’s mind.

Johan looked visibly embarrassed.

Of course, it was an act.

“I hardly know what to do with such praise. I can only thank you for thinking so highly of me.”

“I have merely stated the truth. Anyone would agree with me. Rather than standing around here, we should go to the Great Saint Church’s headquarters at once.”

Johan looked puzzled.

“The headquarters?”

“Yes. The moment this incident is reported, the barony will fall under the Great Saint Church’s protection.”

Johan spoke with a skeptical expression.

“Church interference will follow along with that support.”

“...Surely you do not wish to hide what happened today?”

“To be honest, I find the Great Saint Church somewhat uncomfortable. And His Highness’s issue has not yet been resolved.”

Confusion filled Shaperia’s face.

“Has His Highness not already met his end?”

Gawain had clearly disappeared beneath the moonlight.

“No. He is alive.”

Shaperia was greatly startled.

“H-How can that be?”

“Since he had not completely transformed into a demon, it seems he was able to survive even such dense moonlight.”

Shaperia found it difficult to believe Johan’s words.

She had witnessed Gawain’s disappearance with her own eyes.

“...May I see His Highness myself?”

“Of course. Let us go down to the Forbidden Archive now.”

Johan and Shaperia immediately headed for the Forbidden Archive.

* * *

At the very center of the Forbidden Archive, a human sat bound to a large chair.

It was difficult to identify him.

Chains were wrapped tightly around his entire body, and countless talismans were plastered across his face, leaving not a patch of skin exposed.

He looked like a sealed mummy.

Shaperia swallowed hard.

“I-Is this His Highness?”

Johan nodded.

“It is a disloyal act, but I had no choice but to bind him. There is no telling when he may awaken and lose control again.”

Shaperia understood Johan completely.

It had not even been a few hours since she had experienced Gawain’s malice.

She swallowed a groan.

“What are we to do with His Highness now?”

Johan spoke calmly.

“We must cure him. Just as originally planned.”

The two had initially intended to cure Gawain.

That purpose had not changed.

“Is there a way?”

“As I said earlier, we must go to Narak.”

Suddenly, a better way of resolving this issue came to Shaperia’s mind.

They could simply kill Gawain here.

There would be no need to accept the risk of Narak.

Whether Gawain lived or died, Johan had justification.

Gawain had already become a demon.

Shaperia quietly watched Johan.

“Forgive my impertinence, but may I ask one thing?”

“Please, ask freely.”

“Why are you trying to help His Highness, Baron?”

Johan replied in a calm voice.

“Repay kindness. Do not turn away from those in pain. Even if the path is longer, choose justice. Those are all words spoken by the Great Saint. As the Watcher of Narak, I merely follow the divine mandate.”

As far as Shaperia knew, Gawain had been cursed while helping Johan.

That was why Gawain was suffering, and why Johan had a duty to save him.

He had to repay kindness through a just method.

Johan followed the Great Saint’s divine mandate without compromising even an inch.

He was more faithful and devout than anyone Shaperia had ever known.

He truly was a man worthy of being a Holy Hero.

Shaperia murmured softly.

“...I have been waiting for someone like you.”

Johan did not hear her.

“What did you say?”

Shaperia brought her hand to her waist.

Her sword left its sheath with a heavy sound.