352 – Ghosts (Second half)

Disclaimer:

I don’t guarantee a 100% perfect translation. Feel free to correct me in the comments. I know my chapters are not the best out there, but im really doing my best here. Each one takes a little over 4 hours, and the more effort i put on them, the longer each one would take, so please have that in mind.

 

Finally the end of the church chapters, i dont think i’ll TL a chapter today, this one i had it from yesterday since today is a busy day for me, just came back home to post the chapter, and im leaving again in a few moments.

I hope you enjoy it. And look forward to more Roland tomorrow.

Thank you all for your support.

 

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Originally…   this is what happened!

Mayne stared at the illusion, shocked.

The transformation ritual for the God Punishment Army was created by witches. In order to defeat the Devils, they were willing to sacrifice their own kind…   How many people will stand up and admonish her for such ruthlessness?

The final result was beyond his expectation, and even after some minutes passed, nobody stood up; even the witch who questioned the ceremony, had not openly objected to Akaris’ words, she just gritted her teeth and smashed her hand on the table. “It’s really ironic! Killing witches in order to save more witches, is there a more ridiculous thing!?”

“But she is right,” said an old witch, “we are born from mortals, and if mankind is destroyed, the witches will also perish.”

“Conversely, no matter how many witches are sacrificed in the transformation ritual, there will always be new witches to replace them. More mortals, more witches.” Elaine shrugged.

“Will the God Punishment Army be able to defeat the Devils?” Someone asked.

“That, I don’t know,” Akaris spoke once again, “No one knows the answer before trying. The failure of the past two Wars of Divine Will have already showed us many problems. The power of the Devils is far greater than ours, and the red mist is the only restriction they have, keeping them from moving further, meaning that even if we create a large number of God Punishment Warriors, we might not even taste the final victory.” She paused. “But you should know my methods.”

“Even if there is only a small possibility, we must do everything we can.” Elaine said with a smile.

“I’m willing to follow you.”

“For the preservation of the witches.”

“I don’t want to admit defeat after all this.”

The witches stood up and saluted the Witch Queen.

The witch who raised the objections finally stood up and said, “I hope you are right.”

“Then, it is decided.” Akaris nodded not surprised by this result, “Now then, go and persuade the other members of the Federation.”

“They may not listen to you,” said the older witch, “if you want to carry the ritual of the God Punishment Army without resistance, witches cannot be privileged, the Federation must dissolve, and everything that has happened in the past has to be completely buried.”

“I will spare no efforts trying to convince them.” Akaris said firmly, “If they cannot accept it, then the City of the Falling Star will push forward with the plan alone, and we will create a new order.”

Afterward the picture vanished…   The darkness swallowed up everything again, and when the light in the secret chamber returned to normal, Mayne found his back soaked wet with sweat, and his mind felt dizzy.

“You seem a little tired, do you need me to help support you to the exit?” Zero came up and asked.

“I don’t need it, just go and open the door quickly!” He was breathing heavily.

After the metal door opened, Mayne stumbled out of the illusion room. Covering his mouth as he arrived at the praying altar, he kneeled down in front of O’Brien.

“When the magic stone starts, it will automatically map your mind, so it’s normal to feel unwell,” the Pope spoke in a soft voice, “The first time I came to that room I was the same as you, I was only able to recover after I got some rest.”

“Why doesn’t it affect me?” Zero hugged the Pope’s arm and asked.

“Because you are a witch, your body has already adapted because of magic,” O’Brien gave a gentle smile, “whether is endurance or resistance, witches generally have more than most humans.”

After a while, Mayne regained his normal breathing. “Is this…   the origin of the Church?”

“Yes, Akaris later led the City of the Fallen Star against the witches of two other cities in combat, and finally achieved victory, developing a new rule where witches were no longer privileged individuals chosen by god, but instead people lured and tempted by the Devil. That war lasted for nearly a century and was called the War of Faith in the history books.”

“Did she live that long?”

The Pope shook his head. “Shortly after the establishment of the Church, Akaris died, along with another Transcendent. The second Pope inherited her will, and continued to command the army to fight, until they subdued the other two factions, but this war severely damaged the three cities, making them almost unable to maintain a ruling system. Those who did not want to participate in the war of the witches began to take root in this narrow patch of land, leading the locals in their construction, and gradually forming the Four Great Kingdoms of today.”

For some reason, the more O’Brien spoke, the more energetic he became, and his voice more coherent, no longer having the weak feeling from before.

“Although the Church repeatedly swept those remnants, including the humans not belonging to the City of the Falling Star, a secular pattern had already formed, causing the Church faith to become weak, therefore, failing to unify the mainland. All of this just because the Witch Queen died too early.”

“Natalia, who was regarded as her friend, not only did not accept her plan, but also suddenly attacked Akaris at the meeting, this was recorded in the complete Holy Scriptures.” The Pope let out a sigh. “If she were alive, the War of Faith would have ended in 50 years, after all of the witches had been taken in, allowing the Church to unify the mainland. Nobody would have thought this incident would drag us down even to the present.”

Mayne wiped off the sweat from his forehead, “Your Excellency, I still find something unclear, why were the first Popes witches, but all the other people after them were ordinary people?”

“Zero, you go back first.” O’Brien said after a moment of silence.

“Yes.”

After the Purified was gone, he slowly opened his mouth, “Because of cowardice and fearfulness.”

“What…?” He was startled, wondering if he had heard it wrong.

“No, child, you misunderstand.” O’Brien appeared to have seen through his thoughts with shining eyes, as if returning to a younger appearance. “In order to defeat the Devils, to regain the past glory of the witches, Akaris stipulated that the role of Pope must be held by an Exceed. But Exceed witches were very scarce, so later, outstanding ordinary witches served as the Pope, however, cowardice and fearfulness are like a serpent around your neck, once it grabs you, you can’t shake it off. The human Archbishop feared that someday, the oppressed witches would retaliate and directly usurped the position of Pope.”

Mayne stared with his eyes wide open, “So then, the later Popes were…”

“Yes, we are all cowards who stole the fruits of the witches’ sacrifice,” the Pope continued, “the Church will bury this secret, no matter what the future might bring.” He paused. “As for the truth of the War of Divine Will, it’s all recorded in the Cardinal Secret Temple, and now it’s to be shouldered all by you, as you move forward. Even if you decide to give up…   that’s also a wise choice.”

After saying all this, his body suddenly relaxed, like a heavy burden had finally been lifted, as he let his body lie in the cart.

Give up? If I give up, who else would take over this seat? But Mayne didn’t have time to think about that, he found the condition of O’Brien deteriorating rapidly all of the sudden, as if his spirit was briefly growing dim, like when one was about to die, and looking at his eyes, the light in them was vanishing making them murky.

“Your Excellency, Your Excellency O’Brien!” Mayne moved forward and shook the opposite party anxiously, but he just had an empty look in his eyes, with his lips slowly opening and closing, as if trying to say something.

At the last moment, Mayne seemed to have heard the other side whispering.

“Child, I’m sorry.”

 

 

 

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