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“Are we doing it right?”
Pavan turned his head toward Sina upon hearing her question.
Sina was quietly looking at the burning stove as it made a crackling sound; her eyes sparkled whenever the firewood in the stove cracked and let out a spark.
“What are you talking about?” Pavan asked back.
“I’m talking about Dismas.”
“Of course we are not doing it right. We need to kill him as soon as possible, but those who are dying instead of him are the people of the empire.”
Pavan still looked displeased at Juan’s decision.
“But His Majesty has a point. If there really is no way to stop the Cainheryars right now, the empire will eventually suffer from irreparable damage. Think about it this way—the Cainheryars that are spread throughout the empire will be gone after a week if His Majesty can convince Dismas,” Sina said as if she was warning Pavan.
“But one more day of destruction will be added for every single day if we don’t kill Dismas,” Pavan derided and made a cold smile.
Sina didn’t answer Pavan, but instead, she tried to approach the matter from a different perspective.
“What I was talking about was not Dismas or the Cainheryars, but about Dismas and His Majesty. We all know that Dismas is a human being who doesn’t deserve to live. But… I’m afraid that we are asking His Majesty for too much.”
“Too much?”
“Yes. I mean the filicide.”
Pavan did not answer. Although he did think that Juan was being too generous with Dismas, he hadn’t once considered how hard it must be for Juan to kill his own child.
“I don’t think I would have considered killing Dismas a difficult thing to do if I was placed in His Majesty’s shoes,” Pavan said.
“That’s easy for you to say, Captain Pavan. But I would like to believe that His Majesty is a different person from you.”
“Are you saying that it is okay for someone who is the ruler of everything to be unable to make the right judgment just because of a family issue? Especially when they aren’t even related to each other by blood?”
“...I believe that His Majesty will make the right decision; he always has. In fact, I know that he will make the right decision in the end. But I just feel that we are pushing His Majesty too hard. His Majesty is already making many sacrifices—he is shedding his own blood for the empire right now, not to mention all that he did in his past life. Even his corpse is being used against his will. But now, we are asking His Majesty to kill his son with his own hands.”
Pavan frowned and closed his mouth.
There was nothing wrong about Sina’s words. Juan was sacrificing too many things for the sake of the empire. Not only had all of his family members sacrificed themselves for the empire, but all of his acquaintances had either betrayed him or died. He had also lost two colleagues recently at the hands of his own child, and now he had to punish his own child with his own hands.
Pavan thought that this was only natural, that it was something Juan had to bear as the emperor. But it was also true that it was too harsh on Juan.
Pavan opened his mouth, almost as if he was trying to make an excuse.
“Nevertheless, Dismas deserves to die.”
“But His Majesty has no reason to go through such a harsh ordeal.”
Pavan squinted his eyes at Sina.
“What are you trying to say, Dame Sina?”
“His Majesty said that those who have the emperor’s essence aren’t immortal. Then why should HIs Majesty execute Dismas with his own hands? I think it would be best to suggest to His Majesty to allow us to take care of him,” Sina said in a calm manner.
***
“What did you say? You want to meet Dismas?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Saintess Ivy Isildin approached Juan, who had been wandering around the hallway in front of the prison after interrogating Dismas.
After hesitating for a long time, Ivy carefully approached Juan to tell him that she wanted to meet Dismas.
Juan had an unwilling expression on his face.
“Just because Dismas is restrained right now doesn’t mean that he can’t kill you. He can easily pierce your neck by breaking his teeth and spitting them out.”
Juan recalled thoroughly checking where the piece of iron that brushed against his cheek earlier had come from. As a result, Juan was able to find out that Dismas had pushed that piece of iron down his throat and forcibly threw it up when needed.
Juan figured that Dismas wanted to annoy him, since they both knew that he couldn’t kill Juan.
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However, things would be very different if Ivy was the one meeting Dismas. In Juan’s eyes, Ivy looked so vulnerable that she could die simply due to Dismas coughing.
“I’m… I’m going to be okay. I don’t think he’s going to kill me.”
“Do you know each other very well?” Juan asked.
Ivy hesitated to answer, but soon nodded.
“He is from the West. Not only have I seen him from afar, I’ve also met him a couple of times after I was appointed as the Saintess. He was always very polite to me. If he respects me as the Saintess as much as he respects the Pope, then I might be able to persuade him.”
“I feel like he would see you as a traitor instead.”
Juan looked around, but Lenly, who always followed Ivy like a shadow, was nowhere to be found.
“Did Lenly agree to this?” Juan asked.
Ivy shook her head, causing Juan to nod as if he already knew it.
‘Of course. There is no way he would agree with this.’
But that was none of Juan’s business. Juan’s command of protecting the Saintess had already ended at the time when he had arrived in Torra, and Lenly was the only one who was still obsessed with that past order.
“I can see that you want to be alone when you talk to Dismas, considering that you didn’t bring Lenly with you. It’s your own decision, so I won’t take responsibility for your life. Is that okay with you?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Ivy answered in a trembling voice.
Juan was worried, but also somewhat relieved. No one other than Ivy wanted to talk to Dismas; everyone just wanted to kill him. The optimal result would be for Ivy to successfully persuade Dismas into stopping the Cainheryars.
“He is a good liar, so do not trust him easily. And make sure that you don’t touch him under any circumstances. All right?”
Ivy nodded upon hearing Juan’s warning.
Juan opened the prison door to where Dismas was locked and stepped aside to allow Ivy to talk with Dismas on her own.
When Ivy entered the prison, Dismas rolled his eyes to look at the entrance. His expression changed rapidly upon realizing that it was the Saintess who had entered, but he soon calmed down.
“Saintess, I had thought that you were in Torra.”
“No,” Ivy’s lips trembled, but she carefully continued to speak. “I have met His Majesty and have decided to follow him.”
Dismas remained silent instead of answering Ivy. He quietly closed his eyes, and Ivy cautiously approached him.
At some point, upon seeing the pieces of iron embedded everywhere on his body, Ivy tried to reach out her hand toward Dismas without even realizing it.
But at that moment, Dismas suddenly opened his mouth.
“Please do not touch me, Saintess.”
Ivy flinched.
“I am dirty and covered with blood and dust. I don’t want your hands to get dirty.”
Ivy was relieved to hear Dismas’ words. When Ivy confirmed that Dismas showed no sign of hostility toward her, she went closer to Dismas; however, she was still not touching him.
Meanwhile, Dismas was trying to avoid making eye contact with Ivy.
“Have you talked to His Majesty?” Ivy asked.
“Do you mean the fake emperor?”
‘The fake emperor…’
Ivy lost a little bit of her confidence when she saw Dismas’ determined attitude.
“He is the real emperor who borrowed my voice to convey his will through me. I have experienced it many times even after meeting him in person. I have also gotten advice and help from him.”
Despite Ivy’s words, Dismas looked at her expressionlessly.
“Yes. All the Saintesses have delivered His Majesty’s words. The Saintess announces the will of His Majesty and His Holiness acts upon the will of His Majesty. I am nothing but their agent, so how would I ever know the will of His Majesty?”
“Doctrinal General Dismas. I’m just…”
“I know that you believe in him, Saintess,” Dismas answered in a quiet voice.
Ivy grew impatient as soon as she heard Dismas’ words.
“Then can’t you just trust me and believe in him? There is no reason for us to fight in the first place. We are all in a position to support and serve HIs Majesty, aren’t we? We should be working together as one to serve His Majesty, not trying to consume each other like this…”
“Saintess, what do you think will happen if I show my loyalty to him now?”
Ivy closed her mouth.
The harm that Dismas had already done to the empire was indescribable. Even if he surrendered now, there is no way he could avoid an extremely harsh punishment, since the anger and resentment of the people of the empire was fierce. To tell Dismas to surrender now was no different than telling him to kill himself.
“But we can at least reduce the damage if you surrender now. If even one less person dies, that alone is worth it. Dismas, I’ll talk to His Majesty and try my best to convince him. You might be able to avoid the most extreme punishment if you put everything down and humbly accept the punishment.”
“Saintess, you are trying too hard,” DIsmas smiled. “If he really were the emperor, what value would you, the Saintess, hold when he has come back to the empire on his own? Now, you are nothing more than an ordinary maiden who is beneath him. How are you going to persuade the emperor? Do you intend to loosen your hair and beg from under his feet?”
“If that can persuade him, then…”
“If you want me to trust you, you should also be willing to trust me.”
“What do you want me to trust you with?”
Dismas struggled to twist his neck with difficulty and turned his head toward Ivy. At that moment, his firm eyes met with Ivy’s.
“Please listen to my secret. Then I’ll think about accepting your offer.”
“Go ahead and tell me.”
But instead of answering, Dismas looked toward the door.
Only then did Ivy realize what Dismas was worried about. While she suddenly remembered Juan’s warning, Ivy decided to lower her head toward Dismas after a short hesitation.
Ivy felt that giving up her own life to change Dismas’ mind was worth it.
When Ivy’s ear got close to Dismas’ mouth, he whispered in her ear.
“I’m going to kill everyone here, except for you, Saintess.”
Ivy’s face turned pale as soon as she heard Dismas’ whisper.
At that moment, Juan hastily broke through the door. But it was too late—Dismas was already biting Ivy’s neck.
Ivy stepped back with a scream, but Dismas did not let go of her. When Dismas and Ivy fell down together as a lump, Dismas muttered.
“Burn it up.”
When those short words were muttered by Dismas, Juan felt a strong wave of power, along with a beam of light—it was the same power that had forced Entalucia to fall from the sky.
But this time, Juan was not perplexed, since he had already been preparing for a situation like this from the moment he had captured Dismas on the battlefield.
Juan used out the power of Kelegranon, which he had wrapped around himself. The power of the mana-eating devil quickly stretched out, while Juan adjusted the power of Kelegranon as much as he could in order to prevent any innocent victims.
At the same time, Juan’s body started overflowing with flames, causing the people in the fortress to feel an intense burst of heat for a moment.
But Dismas’ attack was powerful—the moment the flash penetrated into the fortress, screams broke out from all directions.
Juan’s eyes widened when he found out the identity of the alien sensation he felt when he was attacked by the same beam of light back at the Loen Basin.
This attack was no simple magic.
“Telgramm…!”
Juan was surprised by the unexpected magic contained within the beam of light. Within that beam of light, Juan could detect Telgramm’s magic, which had completely melted into it.
But what was even more surprising was how strong the beam of light was. This type of strength could only be extracted from Telgramm if Juan was the one wielding it and squeezing out all its power for a one-time use.
But it was already the second time Dismas had used this beam of light.
‘Does he have at least two or three Telgramms with him?’
But there was no time to find an answer to his question.
Juan gritted his teeth upon seeing that his surroundings were melting like the inside of a furnace. However, thanks to Juan’s defensive magic, the number of victims seemed to be quite small.
However, at that moment Juan inadvertently realized that his defensive magic wasn’t the only reason why the damage was not as severe—for some reason, the attack made using Telgramm’s power was on an entirely different scale from the previous attack at the Loen Basin.
Instead, the attack was aimed at the ground at an angle, and was much more concentrated, almost as if it was someone sniping a target.
‘I wasn’t the target.’
The target was at the place where Dismas was standing.