CHAPTER 125
Bloody Crown. The Saintess, Harua.
To think that these two were Black Dawn’s targets.
Hearing this, I looked back at Lua.
“I can understand them targeting the Saintess, but why are they after that bastard Bloody Crown?”
“Just as there is a 1st Grade for the Light Attribute, there are 1st Grades for other attributes as well. Bloody Crown possesses the 1st Grade Dark Attribute.”
1st Grade Dark Attribute.
No wonder that bastard seemed extraordinary; he was cut from a different cloth from birth.
A headache flared up for a moment.
Personally, I couldn't care less what happened to that bastard Bloody Crown. But I couldn't let things go according to Black Dawn’s plans.
“Does the Saintess know of Black Dawn’s plan?”
“The Holy Church has ears in many places.”
She was saying she had ears even within the Regular Army.
There must be a faithful believer among them.
If so, it wasn’t strange that she knew about Black Dawn's Artificial Transcendent project.
"Things have gotten complicated."
Not long ago, the Regular Army had raided the Radiance Faith's headquarters. After learning that the Radiance Faith had revived the Sin of Gluttony as an Apostle, the Regular Army had begun pursuing them once more.
Would the Regular Army find Bloody Crown first?
Or would Black Dawn find him first?
Or…
‘A second war between the two groups.’
If the Regular Army was prepared, it might be a different story.
But if they clashed unprepared, the result would be irreversible.
“Are you telling me this because you wish for me to inform the Regular Army?”
“Yes, that is part of it. But Haru-nim, have you forgotten one important fact?”
I blinked.
An important fact?
"You, Haru-nim, also possess the 1st Grade Light Attribute.”
Ah.
Hearing that, the gravity of the situation finally hit me.
Black Dawn was targeting bodies that were closest to a Transcendent.
That meant that I, who was 1st Grade just like the Saintess, was also included.
"I'm used to that."
But for me, this was nothing new.
“Black Dawn is already targeting me anyway.”
As long as I possessed Resurrection magic, Black Dawn would continue to target me.
At this point, nothing had really changed.
Black Dawn was being pursued by not only the Regular Army but also the Imperial Family.
In that situation, their ability to reach me was limited.
“The situation changed drastically with the appearance of the Sin of Wrath, but Black Dawn will not seek a direct confrontation with the Regular Army. That implies that their military strength is, in fact, inferior to the Regular Army’s.”
In the first place, Black Dawn had been defeated in a war before.
Fifty years had passed since that war.
That was more than enough time for the victor to accumulate far more strength than the loser.
Therefore, it was hard to believe Black Dawn had surpassed the Regular Army.
“They are merely struggling to achieve their goal. In terms of overall power, they are severely lacking. Their strategy has always been to acquire items through terror and escape, not to engage in direct battle.”
They were scurrying around frantically during the lull created by the recent first war between the Regular Army and Black Dawn.
Of course, it might look like a tightrope walk, but even tightrope walking requires skill. Having walked that tightrope countless times myself, I could see the openings all the more clearly.
Black Dawn cannot act carelessly in the 1st World.
Especially now, after their forces were so greatly diminished by their last operation.
“So I was planning to form as many connections as possible before then, but…”
It seemed things wouldn't be that easy.
“If they have not one, but two reasons to target me, the risk becomes worthwhile for them.”
Resurrection magic.
A material for the Artificial Transcendent.
If they succeeded in capturing me just once, they could kill two birds with one stone.
I could clearly feel how tempting a prey I was from Black Dawn's perspective.
“Yes, that is what I intended to tell you.”
The reason Lua shared this with me was to make me aware of the situation.
They might be willing to take a great risk to capture me, specifically.
The fact that I was able to escape from the Sin of Wrath, Asheria Eve, was largely due to luck.
If she had known that I didn't have a heart, the situation would not have been so easy.
I was certain: there would be no next time.
The moment I was caught, even once, I would be dragged away without a chance.
They would lop off my head without hesitation and take it with them.
To prevent that, the only fundamental solution was for me to become stronger.

No matter how thick the defense, an opening can always appear.
The only thing that could close that gap was my own skill.
"Black Dawn will target Bloody Crown first."
“Because that’s the path of least resistance.”
Bloody Crown was already a fugitive.
The Regular Army had already turned the Radiance Faith upside down.
More importantly, Black Dawn had past ties with the Radiance Faith.
They would be better equipped to hunt them down than the Regular Army.
Therefore, Bloody Crown was the easiest target.
"But if they fail there…"
She pointed at me with a slender finger.
“The next will be you, Haru-nim.”
The Saintess, Lua, does not leave the Holy Church.
Furthermore, she resides in the place where the power of the Embrace of Holy Light is strongest in the world.
No matter how capable Black Dawn was, there was no way they could break through this and reach her.
“Haru-nim, I wish for you to remain safe and sound.”
My safety was directly beneficial to the Holy Church.
From the moment we agreed to share my Resurrection magic, there could be no greater benefit for them.
“That is why I also have a mind to keep you bound to the Holy Land.”
“If that was your intention, you shouldn’t have assigned Lord Aigis as my escort.”
“She is the optimal choice to protect you.”
Lua smiled warmly.
I wouldn't deny that fact.
“There is one reason I am not stopping you. Many people will gradually gather around you, Haru-nim.”
Resurrection magic has allowed me to form many connections.
And as word of it spreads, those connections will only grow.
That was the direction I was aiming for as well.
From the moment I made a name for myself as the Saint, this was the influence I could exert on the world as a Transferee.
It was also why I had no intention of staying in one place just to be protected.
“Your name, Haru-nim, will spread further and further, and in the end, you will wield great influence with that name. I believe that influence will change the world in many beneficial ways.”
This must be why Lua wasn’t trying to tie me down to the Holy Land.
“Isn’t it because we share a name, so as my fame spreads, so does Lua’s? Is that why you approve?”
“Heehee, now that’s an amusing thought.”
The Saintess laughed easily at my joke.
"Of course, if that were all, it would be a mere pipe dream."
The world is too chaotic to dream of only ideals.
“Bait can be used more than once.”
The bait that gets away is the one that lingers in the mind the most.
The same went for Asheria Eve.
That woman would definitely come after me again.
“Bait has to be in the water to lure the fish; they won’t come if it’s safe on land.”
My role as bait wasn't over yet.
Until I could swallow up both Asheria Eve and all of Black Dawn, I had to play this game of cat and mouse with them.
“I still have a lot of debts to repay, you see.”
If the world is going to be destroyed while I sit back and do nothing, I might as well use this life that can't die to its fullest.
At my straightforward smile, Lua laughed as well, as if she couldn't be helped.
Come to think of it, this was something my old self would never have considered.
I, who had always prioritized my own safety, had changed so much.
And I probably wasn't the only one who had changed.
Like me, more and more people were changing.
A path that splits into hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of endless roads.
For the moment when all those paths finally become one.
I, too, would simply do my best.
"I suppose that's all for our talk."
I had heard all the warnings from Lua.
I could just have Lululio relay this information to the Regular Army.
“No. There is still one thing left.”
There was more?
As I rose from my seat in a half-standing posture, she stood up first.
Then, her long skirt trailing behind her, she slowly walked toward me.
“Haru, would you hold out your hand?”
I faithfully followed her instruction.
As I extended my hand toward her, Lua parted her crimson lips.
And then, with those small lips, she bit down on my finger.
It happened in an instant.
While I stood there with a dumbfounded expression, Lua suckled on my finger.
I could distinctly feel her tongue moving along my finger.
As I was feeling an indescribable sensation, her mouth soon opened.
A long string of saliva connected her lips to my finger.
After Asheria Eve, I never thought a day would come when I'd be thankful I didn't have a heart.
Lua wiped away a droplet of saliva that had landed on her cheek with her hand.
“With this, the Embrace of Holy Light has also bestowed his grace.”
“Uh, huh?”

Snapping back to my senses, I examined my finger and felt a new kind of power flowing into it.
This was a different Divine Power from the ones I already had.
Seeing my blank expression, she smiled warmly.
"Did you perhaps think that the Divine Power you were handling before was bestowed by the Embrace of Holy Light?"
Until a moment ago, I did.
“That power was bestowed by another. Currently, the powers of three beings reside in your body, Haru-nim.”
Without my knowledge, my body had become a three-family household.
“...Is there a point to this act?”
I held up my finger, still slick with Lua’s saliva, and she laughed bashfully.
“The place where my divine power is engraved is my tongue.”
Lua stuck out her tongue slightly, revealing the mark engraved by the Embrace of Holy Light.
"I have to make contact to engrave the Divine Power. Of course, I could have done it on other places, but I thought a finger would be the most acceptable.”
Her gaze flickered up at me.
"If you wish, shall I do it somewhere else?"
What was she aiming for?
I was worried if it was okay for a Saintess to act like this.
“I’m fine.”
“What a shame.”
She didn’t look the least bit disappointed, but Lua wiped her lips and cleared the path.
"Our business is concluded. I will permit you to leave now."
“Still, thank you for summoning me. It was very helpful.”
“Don’t mention it. Ah, right.”
Lua told me she had one more important piece of news.

"It seems there is a guest for your companion outside. Be careful."
A guest for my companion?
I had no idea who she could be talking about.

I said I understood and left the Golden Garden, where Aigis was waiting.
"Did your conversation go well?"
"I have learned the terrifying nature of the Saintess."
"She is indeed an unpredictable person."

I shuddered at the fear I had personally experienced and left the Golden Garden with her.
Outside the Golden Garden.
For some reason, one person was missing.
“Lululio, where’s Babiyen?”
When I voiced my question, Lululio looked slightly troubled and scratched her head.
“Uh, um, well, about that-ssumda.”
She glanced around as if checking her surroundings and whispered quietly.
“Her family came to the Holy Land to request Babiyen’s resurrection.”
Ah.