Chapter 44
"Looks like I've caught you off guard."
She opened her mouth quietly.
Looking down at the shaken Raonel, she calmly told him the truth.
"You followed Gawain's orders, prepared to be infected, believing he would come to save you. But the one you're so desperately waiting for has never had any intention of saving you from the start."
"Th-That can't be..."
"If you die of the disease like this, the evidence will disappear cleanly."
The plaza fell silent as if doused in cold water.
Breaking the silence where not even a breath could be heard, someone murmured.
"...Orders? Evidence? Are you saying that priest spread the epidemic?"
Odelia turned her head and looked at the crowd.
"That's right."
And she calmly added in a steady voice.
"It's a deliberately created disease, and he personally put it in the well and spread it in this village."
If someone unrelated to Cardel had suddenly appeared and said this, no one would have believed it.
But it came from the mouth of a 'Cardel family member.'
Moreover, it was coming from the mouth of Gawain's youngest sister, a direct descendant of the Cardel family.
At first, they thought it was absurd, but it slowly began to change into anxiety that 'maybe' it was true.
A murmur quickly spread through the crowd.
"I saw that priest suspiciously wandering around the well a few days ago..."
"Yeah, I saw it too."
"As soon as the epidemic spread, he immediately took care of the patients and did relief work... Was it all a show?"
"Did he spread the disease to us and then act like a savior?"
The crowd froze in shock.
Raonel was the one who had been instigating people, saying that Gawain Cardel would come to save them until just now.
Fierce gazes all turned to Raonel.
The one who had been inciting people until just now, saying, "The great Descendant of the Dragon will come to save us."
His suspicious behavior was brought up again, and people's doubts solidified into conviction.
"It's a lie!"
Raonel was momentarily stunned by the relentless exposure, then screamed, veins popping out of his neck.
"The heir would never do such a thing! He will come... He will, for sure...!"
"Yes, he will come. After you die."
Odelia stated coldly.
"And after the disease spreads uncontrollably and the order to burn the city is given, he'll appear like a savior, ta-da!"
He probably knew it too.
That Gawain would never come to save him.
Was he desperately denying the truth?
The moment Raonel accepted reality, tears of blood streamed down his face.
As despair deepened, thick Demonic Energy began to wriggle and rise from him.
Demonic Energy feeds on human despair.
It digs into the gap where hope is broken, faith is shattered, and betrayal occurs, sucking the life out of humans.
"He said it was just a trial. That I was just carrying out God's mission... That I was the one opening the way. Then, everyone would be saved..."
Raonel lost his balance and knelt down.
Then, the Demonic Energy in the air wriggled like a living creature and enveloped him.
What Gawain created was not just the Demonic Energy or disease of simple Monsters.
An artificial disaster born from combining 'Monster Demonic Energy' and 'disease.'
If infected with this, the body suffers from disease, and the mind collapses from despair.
As a result, it reproduces and spreads on its own.
Multiplying endlessly.
"If I just do what he, what he tells me to do, everyone can be saved... But why doesn't anyone, why doesn't anyone come..."
Raonel muttered with blurred eyes.
With crimson tears, his last remaining hope also flowed down.
"If not... then am I just a murderer... just a murderer...? I am..."
Not even able to save my sister, not even myself...
And, he muttered in his fading consciousness.
What came out of his mouth was regret, fear, and despair.
And it was at that moment.
Golden energy began to flow from Odelia's body.
A wave of light that quietly spread beneath her feet.
"Goodness, that's..."
"Ancient magic... right?"
A murmur arose from the crowd.
Those familiar with Cardel's 'plays' recognized the shape and color.
Ancient magic.
The symbolic ritual of the Cardel family.
But this was different.
There was no ceremony, no incantation, no symbolic uniform.
She didn't bring a group of mages in a crowd, and she didn't make grand gestures with a solemn expression.
Unlike what they knew, it was happening so quietly.
The Demonic Energy that had completely covered Raonel writhed like a living creature.
It twisted its body and tried to escape, but it was only for a moment.
When the golden Purification touched it, the Demonic Energy began to disappear as if retreating on its own.
That's how 'Purification' began.
All the Demonic Energy that filled the streets was rushing as if being sucked into the ground beneath Odelia's feet.
Within the swirling golden energy, the power of Purification was pulsating quietly but strongly.
The child's temperature, which had only been rising, returned to normal, and the old man's cheeks, which had turned blue, regained their color.
The woman who had been vomiting blood opened her eyes, and the dying man coughed and took a breath.
"The fever is gone."
"The, the cough stopped. I can breathe."
"I'm alive. I'm alive...!"
At first, people who couldn't believe it began to touch their bodies one by one to check.
The crowd was gradually filled with excitement and emotion.
'Purification.'
It was as if the contaminated was returning through self-purification, according to the laws of nature.
Everyone there looked at the traces of golden Purification that had spread from Odelia.
The light was creating a fantastic scene, as if sprinkling stardust.
The crowd could only gasp, unable to take their eyes off the overwhelming energy of light.
No one could move.
The scene was a miracle... and salvation.
In such silence, where not even the sound of swallowing could be heard—
"...She's the true savior."
"That person is the true Descendant of the Dragon..."
The silence didn't last long.
Emotions that had been suppressed exploded all at once, erupting into shouts.
"God hasn't abandoned us!"
"Not Cardel, but her. She's the real hero...!"
Praise and admiration spread like wildfire.
The miracle was no longer in prayer.
It was right in front of them, and those who had crossed the boundary of death and returned were directly proving it.
And the priest Raonel too.
He, who was about to die, was quietly revived while being enveloped in her golden Purification.
He looked at Odelia with a face that couldn't believe this situation.
That Odelia had such abilities.
And even if she had such abilities, that she saved him, a sinner.
He opened his mouth but couldn't say anything, and tears began to well up in his eyes.
"...Thank you, benevolent one."
He finally knelt down.
He put his trembling hands together and murmured as if praying.
Like someone who had finally seen the real God after a long wandering.
