The Papal See had been built upon the highest plateau of the continent.

The dome ceiling, crafted from transparent crystal, embraced all starlight within itself to form a celestial sphere, while at the center of the dome, an ashwood statue stretching toward the cosmos wrapped itself around the Holy Seat.

The Pope sat beneath it.

“...So Kyrie has become the Imperator of the extermination force.”

The Pope’s face could not even be clearly seen, obscured as he was by light and shadow.

The voice of Soleil XIII was neither light nor heavy, yet every single word carried enough force to make those listening unable to breathe freely.

“And I hear the elixir of sacred radiance was unanimously recognized as well. What a truly absurd affair.”

“I beg forgiveness.”

The man prostrated beneath him released a trembling breath.

Valaxis.

Golden hair and golden eyes.

Dignified features and a massive physique.

For the moment, he was the man serving as king of this nation.

“I have committed a crime deserving death a hundred times over, Your Holiness. I have no excuse to offer.”

“A crime?”

The Pope stared down at him for a long while before twisting the corners of his lips.

“Whose crime is it? Yours? Or mine?”

“Y-Your Holiness!”

“Even if our truth were revealed, do you believe the Papal See would collapse first? No, your royal family would collapse before us. Therefore there is nothing for which you need apologize. Both the rights and the responsibilities belong to your family.”

The king trembled in humiliation as he stared only at the crystal floor.

“...Then should we not simply kill Kyrie?”

“Kill him?”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Soleil XIII tapped the armrest with two fingers.

“And how exactly do you intend to bear the consequences? You would make enemies of only Erica and Andromeda? Peleus, the chosen one, still yet breathes. The twin guardians of Flammerios remain alive as well. I can already vividly imagine the royal army being swept away like fallen leaves while you crawl to me trembling, begging for aid. Why would I permit such a thing?”

“......”

Valaxis bit his lip and lowered his head.

“So cease your idiotic prattling. Until the Hall of Purity is exterminated, we shall merely make use of that lightning-like man.”

“Your Holiness.”

“After all, lightning ends once it has struck.”

The Pope’s voice rang coldly like a written sentence of judgment.

“I shall obey Your Holiness’s command.”

The king remained bowed in silence for a long while before carefully withdrawing.

Then the Pope leaned his body forward.

The face revealed beneath the shadows possessed an inhumanly mystical aura.

White hair flowing to his shoulders and vertically gleaming golden eyes pierced through Valaxis.

“Do not forget who made your family royalty.”

“I remember it well, Your Holiness.”

Valaxis pressed his sweat-soaked forehead against the floor once more as he answered.

Inside the returning carriage.

The king let out a deep breath in rhythm with the shaking wheels.

Yes. You were the ones who made us royalty.

He raised a pen and began writing two letters.

Now another house will ensure we remain royalty.

The first letter was addressed to Valherios.

The second was addressed to Pierre II of the Hall of Purity.

His eyes were steeped in terrible fear.

Valherios.

Yet firm determination also remained within them.

I cannot ask you to become a puppet king like your father. Never.

A secret laboratory somewhere within the corpse-waste plains.

The one called the “supervising professor” sat at the head of a long table, while doctor-class invasive entities lined both sides.

“It would seem our first experiment ended in success.”

As the supervising professor spoke, one doctor nodded.

“We consumed more specimens and manpower than expected, but the results are more than satisfactory.”

“Indeed.”

Another doctor wearing spectacles chimed in.

“They may claim they saved the world through contracts with the stars, but they will no longer be able to raise that shield again. Our truth shattered that ancient, decaying shield.”

“We did not merely shatter it!”

Another doctor with tightly curled hair added his voice.

“We have cast aside the veil that concealed us as well. Now is the time to reveal the truth to the world.”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The supervising professor slowly tapped the table with his fingers.

“Truth, hm. Very well. We are doctors who have grasped truths of our own, so perhaps it is fair to say that our consensus itself is truth. Therefore we possess both the duty and the right to establish truth properly.”

The lips of the doctors twisted upward all at once.

“We remember your words well.”

The doctor seated at the lowest position slowly opened his mouth.

“We are not bachelors or masters still learning truth. We already possess truths of our own. Therefore we must produce reproducible results, for reproducibility itself is truth.”

“The fusion of five doctoral candidates made for a splendid dissertation topic. If there were reviewers, then the entire world would serve as them. Now it is their turn to conduct the review.”

The doctor seated near the head laughed along as he spread his hands.

Creeeak.

“The Elector Princes are approaching.”

The door opened, and a doctoral candidate rushed inside.

“This time they truly seem intent on sweeping away the corpse-waste plains completely. Several houses are even preparing additional conscription within their territories.”

The room fell silent for a moment.

“So they dream of encirclement and annihilation.”

The supervising professor slowly tilted his head.

“Yet it is not an unforeseen variable. And a variable that can be predicted merely enriches the experiment.”

“Professor. Then shall we commence the social experiment?”

One doctor slowly rose while smiling slyly.

“Commence it.”

The supervising professor rose slowly from his seat and answered theatrically.

“I wonder greatly who shall first reach our secrets, and who shall first attempt to deny the truth.”

The doctors all bowed simultaneously.

Their movements carried not obedience, but pride.

“We are researchers, and thus creators.”

“We shall obtain immortality through truth.”

“We shall return humanity to the form it was always meant to possess!”

Their cries shook the underground chamber.

“Yes. We shall return humanity to its original nature.”

The supervising professor smiled coldly.

The outskirts of the corpse-waste plains.

Kyrie’s encampment.

Kyrie recalled everything that had happened over the past few weeks.

After that day, Rebellion had descended into utter chaos.

A city of eight hundred thousand citizens had transformed into a battlefield overnight.

The dead numbered in the tens of thousands, while hundreds of thousands more had gone mad after being struck by the gigantic mutant demonic beast’s mental waves.

Even after the highest-ranking clergy exhausted themselves using divine power, the numbers remained brutally clear: they could not heal everyone.

And beyond that lay an even greater political shockwave.

“I heard the Hall of Purity tried to launch a rebellion during the Elector Princes Council and failed.”

“A gigantic bone tree stretching all the way into the heavens appeared...”

The name Hall of Purity spread throughout the Empire through the screams of refugees, the footsteps of merchants, and the boasts of mercenaries.

All the prisoners committed suicide, so no more detailed information could be obtained.

The only thing learned was that they possessed a twisted sense of humor involving titles like bachelor and master.

The ones at the top must be the supervising professors or the deans.

However, the true damage the Hall of Purity inflicted upon the Elector Princes of the Empire of Stars had not been physical.

Very few of the superhuman noble warriors of each house had actually died.

Yet the shockwave far surpassed the deaths of a few Blue Knights.

This country was built upon perfect legitimacy.

The Empire of Stars had been founded after the Ancient Empire of Evil was destroyed by the wrath of the Myriad Star, when the founders of the great houses who contracted with the guardian stars vowed to protect the world.

That is why it became such a rigid society, where no one could cross the line. Put differently, it became a society where there was no need to cross the line.

It was a nation where no one starved to death.

Because the Ancient Empire of Evil had once been that way.

Taxes so absurd no one else could possibly collect them.

At the same time, it was a nation where no one could ever rebel.

Because the families protected by the stars who had saved humanity from the Ancient Empire of Evil ruled it.

And thus thousands of years passed.

Yet they crossed the line.

The Hall of Purity had nevertheless rebelled.

Why?

It was impossible not to wonder what sort of justification they possessed to attempt rebellion.

But often, the method matters more than the reason.

Kyrie believed even that question itself had been intentionally planted by the Hall of Purity.

It is as though they are trying to tell us something. Just like those titles—bachelor, master, and the rest.

He cast aside his stray thoughts and crossed his legs.

In Kyrie’s opinion, legitimacy and military power complemented one another.

If one possessed overwhelming legitimacy, a slight lack of military strength could be tolerated. If one possessed overwhelming military strength, a slight lack of legitimacy could be tolerated.

And Kyrie intended to acquire overwhelmingly powerful military force.

Saaaaaa.

An intangible aura spread throughout Kyrie’s body from his heart.

A shimmering sky-colored haze wrapped itself around him, overlaid with sharp white lightning to form Kyrie’s lightning reinforcement.

Kyrie circulated the lightning reinforcement throughout his body several times before releasing his seated posture and rising.

He drank the elixir of sacred radiance placed upon the table.

The speed at which mana capacity increases through drinking the elixir of sacred radiance or our family’s elixirs is incomparably faster.

He sat once more and resumed cultivating lightning reinforcement.

But only by repeatedly performing this cultivation can I improve control over lightning reinforcement. To strengthen both body and sword properly, cultivation itself must also be mastered well.

Several dozen minutes later, Kyrie opened his eyes.

Crackle!

He gathered lightning reinforcement into his hand.

A pale blue-white static glow swayed lazily.

It resembles the royal family’s sword aura reinforcement. Far too much.

He clenched his fist and withdrew the lightning reinforcement once more.

Perhaps... no. As expected.

Lastly, Kyrie pondered two more things.

If he were to reveal it, when would be the right time?

And whether it should be revealed at all—or concealed.

【Hero’s Journey, Stage 12】

【Stage 6: Military Exploit】

【Detailed Objective 2: Great House】

【Receive personal recognition from the representatives of the great houses】

【Reward upon success 1: Thunderbolt Body +100%】

【Reward upon success 2: Electromagnetic Railgun cooldown reduced by one day】

【Punishment upon failure: Thunderbolt Body -100%】

How exactly he should accomplish this similar, yet different, objective.

“Kiri-Kiri! I’m coming!”

“Come!”

Nereus was absent from the encampment, having gone to clear the way for Grand Prince Regent Andromeda.

However, Kyrie possessed an outstanding swordsmanship partner and electric arts partner.

Whoooom!

Frey swung his greatsword, wrapped in dark-blue lightning reinforcement, in a massive arc.

Whoosh!

At the same time, his small body leapt lightly upward as though dragged along by the greatsword.

Swaaaaaash!

Vertical Radiant Wheel.

The rotating downward trajectory shredded the atmosphere itself.

Insane.

Kyrie lowered the tip of his sword and calmly settled his posture.

Cloud-Dragon Style.

A sword art that redirected the opponent’s flow rather than confronting it directly.

Boom!

The instant the greatsword struck the earth, Kyrie twisted his body and redirected the force aside.

“Oooooh!? Not bad!”

The sword’s tip grazed past his shoulder, while he blocked Frey’s rolling follow-up and rising strike with his blade, stealing away the trajectory once more.

Frey’s movements were rough, yet dazzling.

Leap, spin, roll, leap again.

Using lightning-reinforcement bodily enhancement, he chained his swordsmanship together with utterly impossible breathing rhythms.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The massive greatsword slammed down from every direction.

Kyrie calmly turned his body while reading the flow.

The sword tip stayed low, the movements long.

Like a dragon ascending through the clouds, he accepted the opponent’s momentum and returned it.

Every moment they seemed about to clash head-on, he dispersed the force and altered its direction, redirecting the weight Frey created.

This brat truly is a genius when it comes to swordsmanship.

Not because Kyrie wanted to think so, but because there was no other possible conclusion.

Whoosh!

Frey suddenly planted his foot into the ground hard.

“Yah!”

His military boot dug deep into the earth, and his body shot skyward upon the recoil.

The twisted trajectory descending from the air flew like an arrow aimed directly at Kyrie’s skull.

It was the leaping technique Heat Wave.

Impossible!? He kicked empty air?

Kyrie closed and reopened his eyes as he wrapped lightning reinforcement around his entire body.

Crackle!

The lightning reinforcement spreading from his heart like waves seeped into bone and muscle alike, becoming a foundation capable of amplifying the bodily enhancement of electric arts severalfold.

“Hup!”

Kyrie charged forward immediately.

The earth beneath his feet exploded as his body launched forward.

Krrrrrk!

He blocked Frey’s greatsword head-on and forced it back.

KWAANG!

The clash of strength against strength did not last long.

The greatsword was flung away, and Frey’s body was hurled backward.

“Eek?!”

Frey rolled across the ground before barely regaining his footing.

Kyrie lowered his sword and steadied his breathing.

“The match is over!”

Vane raised his hand.

“Senior Kyrie wins! Five to five. Shall we proceed into overtime?”

“Frey’s tired. Let’s stop here.”

Frey brushed dust off himself while pretending to act cute.

“So am I. Even using lightning reinforcement, repeatedly using bodily enhancement still strains the body.”

Pretending not to notice, Kyrie gestured toward Vane.

“I’ll prepare it.”

Crackle!

Vane released bright yellow sparks from the crown of his white hair.

Rumble!

Yellow flashes flickered within the clouds above.

The omen of Lightning Strike.

“Oh.”

Kyrie sincerely admired it.

Even originally, Vane had been an outstanding Blue Knight with enough mana capacity that sacrificing an arm for him had not been a waste.

Now, after the elixir of sacred radiance and training in lightning reinforcement had increased both his mana and his control, he was beginning to surpass even the wall itself.

It was deeply gratifying.

The part I find gratifying is cutting off his arm? Have I gone insane too?

Momentarily startled by the thought, Kyrie prepared Guided Lightning.

Chapter 219

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