“You seem confused.”
She quietly spoke.
Looking down at the shaken Raonel, she calmly told him the truth, one piece at a time.
“You were probably willing to follow Gawin’s orders even if it meant getting infected. Because you believed he would come to save you. But the man you’re desperately waiting for never intended to save you in the first place.”
“N-no, that…… That can’t be……”
“If you die from the disease like this, all the evidence will disappear neatly along with you.”
The square became as quiet as if someone had poured cold water over it.
Breaking the silence in which not even a breath could be heard, someone muttered,
“……Orders? Evidence? Are you saying that priest spread the plague?”
Odely turned her head and looked at the crowd.
“That’s right.”
Then she calmly added in an unwavering voice,
“It was an intentionally created disease, and he personally poured it into the well and spread it throughout this town.”
If someone unrelated to Cardel had suddenly appeared and said this, no one would have believed them.
But these words had come from a member of the Cardel family.
More specifically, from Gawin’s youngest sister, a direct member of the Cardel family.
At first, they thought it was impossible.
But little by little, that thought began to turn into an uneasy ‘What if?’
Whispers quickly spread through the crowd.
“I did see that priest hanging around the well suspiciously a few days ago……”
“Right, I saw him too.”
“As soon as the plague spread, he immediately started caring for the patients and helping people…… Was all of that just an act?”
“Did he spread the disease among us and then pretend to be our savior?”
The crowd froze in shock.
Raonel had been the one inciting them only moments ago, telling them that Gawin Cardel would come to save them.
Sharp gazes all turned toward Raonel.
The man who had just been stirring up the people, saying, “The great heir of Cardel will come to save us.”
His suspicious actions were brought up again, and the people’s doubts gradually hardened into certainty.
“I-it’s a lie!”
Raonel was stunned by the sudden revelation for a moment before shouting, veins standing out on his neck.
“The heir is not that kind of person! He’ll come…… He definitely will……!”
“Yes, he’ll come. After you’re dead.”
Odely stated coldly.
“And only after the disease spreads beyond control and the order to burn the city is given. Then he’ll appear with a ta-da― and play the savior.”
Deep down, he probably knew too.
That Gawin would never come to save him.
Had he simply been desperately denying the truth?
The moment Raonel accepted reality, tears of blood streamed from the corners of his eyes.
As his despair deepened, thick evil energy began to writhe and rise from him.
Evil energy fed on human despair.
When hope was broken, faith shattered, and betrayal struck, it crept into that opening and fed on human life.
“He said it was only a trial. That I was only carrying out God’s mission…… He said I was the one who would open the way. That everyone would be saved…….”
Raonel lost his balance and fell to his knees.
The evil energy in the air writhed like a living creature and wrapped itself around him.
What Gawin had created was neither ordinary monster evil energy nor a disease.
It was an artificial disaster created by combining ‘monster evil energy’ and ‘disease.’
Those contaminated by it suffered from disease in their bodies, while their minds collapsed under despair.
As a result, it reproduced and spread on its own.
Multiplying endlessly.
“If I just do what he tells me to, everyone can be saved……. Then why is no one here? Why is no one coming…….”
Raonel muttered with unfocused eyes.
Along with his dark red tears, his last remaining hope slipped away.
“If that isn’t true…… then am I just a murderer…… who slaughtered all those people……. I……”
I couldn’t even save my younger brother, or myself……
And as his consciousness began to fade, he muttered.
What spilled from his mouth was regret, fear, and despair.
And then it happened.
A golden current began to flow from Odely’s body.
A wave of light quietly spread from beneath her feet.
“My goodness, what is that……”
“Ancient magic…… right?”
Whispers spread through the crowd.
Those familiar with Cardel’s ‘performances’ recognized its 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 had not brought a whole group of mages with her, nor was she making grand gestures with a solemn expression.
Unlike what they knew, it was happening so quietly.
The evil energy that had completely covered Raonel writhed like a living creature.
It twisted its body as though trying to escape, but only for a moment.
As the golden purification touched it, the evil energy began to disappear as if retreating on its own.
And so, the ‘purification’ began.
All the evil energy filling the streets was drawn toward the ground beneath Odely’s feet.
Within the swirling golden current, the power of purification pulsed quietly but strongly.
The child whose body had been burning with fever returned to a normal temperature, while color returned to the cheeks of the old man whose lips had turned blue.
The woman who had been coughing up blood opened her eyes, and the dying man exhaled with a cough.
“My fever’s gone.”
“M-my coughing stopped. I can breathe.”
“I’m alive. I’m alive……!”
Even those who could not believe it at first began touching their bodies one by one, checking for themselves.
The crowd gradually filled with excitement and emotion.
‘Purification.’
It was as if something contaminated was returning to its natural state through the cleansing process of nature itself.
Everyone there stared at the traces of golden purification spreading from Odely.
The light created a fantastical scene, as though stardust had been scattered through the air.
The crowd could do nothing but stare at the overwhelming radiance and hold their breath.
No one could move.
The sight was a miracle……
And salvation.
In that silence, where not even the sound of someone swallowing could be heard—
“……She’s the true savior.”
“She is…… the true descendant of the dragon……”
The silence did not last long.
The emotions they had been holding back erupted all at once into cheers.
“God has not abandoned us!”
“Not Cardel. She is the one. She is the true hero……!”
Praise and amazement spread like wildfire.
The miracle was no longer something found only in prayer.
It was right before their eyes, and those who had crossed the boundary of death and returned were proving it themselves.
And Priest Raonel, too.
He had been on the verge of death, but he quietly came back to life, engulfed in her golden purification.
He looked at Odely with an expression that showed he could not possibly believe what had happened.
That Odely possessed such power.
And even if she did possess such power, that she had saved a sinner like him.
He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Tears began to well up in his eyes.
“……Thank you, merciful one.”
At last, he fell to his knees.
He clasped his trembling hands together and murmured as if in prayer.
Like someone who had finally seen the true god after years of wandering.
Comments (0)