Chapter 54: God, Grant Me Guidance! |
Just as Nemus was testing out his newly acquired traits, the old priest was growing increasingly impatient as he waited.
Opper had been gone for quite some time. Logically, the task was not complicated, and he should have returned with the mutated whale specimen long ago.
Yet, there was still no sign of movement.
"Something went wrong," the old priest stated, opening his eyes and ceasing his meditation. It was clear that his mind was already in turmoil.
"Opper wouldn''t dare run away." The old priest was highly confident about this. Years ago, a few issues had occurred during his experiments, causing several Nest Beasts to escape.
That was exactly when Opper had been parasitized. At the time, Opper had only just come into contact with the Warlock Meditation Method.
Because he practiced the Summoning System, his perception of energy fluctuations was exceptionally sharp. That was how he discovered that the Nest Beast parasitizing him had originated from the old priest.
Unfortunately for him, while Opper excelled at perception back then, he was terrible at hiding his presence.
His overly obvious mental fluctuations caught the old priest''s attention, and he was forcibly dragged into the old man''s schemes.
If Opper wanted to resolve the physical damage caused by the Nest Beast, he ultimately had to bow his head to the old priest.
Under such circumstances, the old priest could not think of a single reason why Opper would flee.
What the old priest did not know, however, was that the arrival of Nemus had shattered this entire dynamic.
First were Nemus''s subordinates. They displayed his power and the assistance he could provide them.
The growth of Downs, the lowly shepherd, was simply the perfect advertisement.
Second was the effect achieved by the sheer aura radiating from Nemus''s entire being.
That aura was born from multiple fusions.
It was a threefold amalgamation: his true Heterogeneous Demon Body, the genius Holy Knight of his past life, and his new identity in this present life.
In addition to that, there were the numerous traits Nemus had acquired through his Divinity and Precepts.
Most notably, his Qi Instrument possessed a trait known as Father''s Protection, which amplified abilities related to presence and aura.
These traits complemented one another, settling upon Nemus and propelling the exponential growth of his aura.
Ultimately, under Nemus''s active manipulation, this aura took on an exceptionally unique and oppressive weight.
If Nemus did not possess a fragment of Divinity, even he could not have manifested such an astonishing aura with such tangible effects.
In short, the imposing Nemus had thoroughly intimidated Opper in this manner. He made the village chief realize that he could never wash his hands clean of his deeds nor escape, revealing the sheer lack of choice he truly had.
Then, using his overwhelming aura, Nemus suppressed Opper''s restless Nest Beast, convincing the man that he, too, had the means to help him control the monster.
All of these factors combined were what ultimately led to Opper''s betrayal.
Although the old priest was powerful, he could not predict everything.
At this moment, he could only vaguely guess that someone had intercepted Opper and his group.
''Did Isabella convince Nels to join forces with her?'' the old priest could not help but wonder.
Isabella hailed from a secretive family possessing Dragon Blood. Although that family had currently sealed away its own reputation, the old priest knew exactly how terrifying they could be.
And Nels...
''Has his Saint''s Essence truly awakened?'' The old priest recalled the changes Nemus had undergone recently.
The very moment Nels became Nemus—transforming into someone sunny, cheerful, and proactive in life—the old priest had formed numerous theories.
These included his body being possessed by a Demon, or the awakening of his Saint''s Essence.
A so-called Saint was a being who had received a divine blessing from a god.
After receiving such grace, these Saints became the earthly Spokespersons of the divine, possessing various god-like qualities.
The old priest had studied Holy Blood for a very long time and had even attempted to artificially create a Saint Child.
He discovered that even a Saint Child created from Holy Blood would be no different from an Ordinary Person if their essence could not be activated. However, once a certain degree of that essence was awakened, not only would their power increase dramatically, but their personality would also undergo specific shifts—at the very least, they would become remarkably righteous and noble.
Therefore, after confirming through the Holy Chant that Nemus was not a Demon, the old priest began leaning toward the theory that his Saint''s Essence had awakened.
That was why the old priest had immediately agreed when Nemus chose to become a Precept Holy Knight.
However, this assumption quickly ran into problems.
Specifically, the probing test involving Opper.
He had deliberately informed Nemus about certain matters so that Nemus would, in turn, notify Opper.
If he were a true Saint, Opper would have been kept entirely in the dark.
Unfortunately, Nemus failed that particular test.
Because of that, the old priest had given up on testing Nemus any further, at least until all these recent variables came into play.
"God, grant me guidance!" the old priest pleaded, his heart heavy with anxiety. Yet, rather than heading out to search, he closed his eyes and began to pray in deep meditation.
Just as his prayer ended, a commotion echoed from nearby.
A pitch-black head poked out from the adjacent woods.
It was followed by the body of a wild boar.
Big Black, the failed experimental subject that the old priest had locked beneath the Cathedral, had seized the body of a wild boar after its escape and tracked the old man down.
"As expected, God is guiding me," the old priest muttered upon seeing the creature, his inner conviction solidifying.
He had merely been unwilling to accept failure, but the necessary conditions were being met time and time again, pushing the progress of his experiment forward.
Under these circumstances, it was absolutely impossible for him to abandon his life''s work.
"Therefore, I am not wrong! I am truly atoning for my sins in accordance with God''s will!!" the old priest repeated to himself over and over again.
"Come here," the old priest commanded. As he observed Big Black, he quickly extracted a sufficient amount of information from the creature.
"Spells of the shaping system, along with transcendent Sword Arts."
"Both of these juniors are brilliant talents of the Church."
"However..."
The old priest stood up, his hunched body suddenly radiating terrifying mental fluctuations.
"Why must they hinder my experiment?!"
"As your senior, it seems I have no choice but to teach you a lesson." With that, the old priest clamped his hand directly onto Big Black''s head.
Before Big Black could even let out a shriek of agony, massive clusters of black threads were violently extracted from its skull.
These black threads then merged with the ones binding Jacques a short distance away. A massive, squirming black mass completely enveloped Jacques and the wooden rack behind him, before shuddering to life.
The writhing black monstrosity followed close behind the old priest, trailing after his staggering footsteps as he marched off into the distance.
"Father, it''s rare to see you out for a stroll," a villager called out from behind a window, completely blind to the wriggling black abomination trailing behind him.
"Ah, yes, it is," the old priest replied, nodding with a kindly, benevolent smile.
"Elder Priest, what was that loud noise earlier?" another person asked, inquiring about the massive crash that had come from the Cathedral.
"I am heading over to take a look right now," the old priest answered with another polite nod.
Yet, after finishing their conversations with the old priest, these villagers couldn''t help but feel a faint, prickling pain across their bodies. However, the moment they turned away, the sensation completely slipped their minds.