Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 346 - Conditions for Enlightenment

Drip-. Drip-.

Water fell from the ceiling.

The walls were covered with moss in many places, and mist was rising in several areas.

Broken walls.

Cobwebs were strewn across the walls here and there. As soon as Ethan saw the cobwebs, he looked up at the ceiling.

At the same time, a spider-like monster descended from the ceiling. It was quite large, big enough to swallow a human whole in one gulp.

Ethan lightly swung his Frost Sword and cut down the monster.

“What a mess.”

That was the best way to describe it in one word.

There were a few ornate statues standing here and there, but overall, it was a mess.

Who could think of this place as a temple to worship a god?

It was the result of being abandoned from human touch for a long time.

Creeeeak-!

Ethan opened the door leading to the first-floor corridor.

Whoooom-.

As soon as he entered the building, the map Ethan was holding started to vibrate. When he immediately unfolded the map, it began to draw itself as if a magic circle was being formed.

This was a massive building with a total of 10 floors.

Ethan was currently on the first floor.

The map soon displayed the detailed structure of the first floor.

“So I need to visit each floor for a detailed map to be drawn. As expected.”

It was just as Ethan had anticipated.

Ethan’s gaze stopped at the top floor as he examined the map.

While other floors only had numbers displayed without any other information, the top floor had a crown shape drawn on it.

There must be something there.

“A crown… I should head to the top floor.”

Ethan started to wander around the first floor, setting the top floor as his primary destination.

“It must have been built as Moonforce’s temple initially. Then, due to some event, it started being used for a different purpose. I need to check what it was used for and how far the goddess Moonforce was pushed back.”

Ethan had three things to do here.

The first was to find Moonforce’s shrine that should be in this building.

A place that was once used as Moonforce’s temple. Even if it had been taken over by someone else, the shrine must still remain.

Finding that shrine and activating it was the top priority.

The second was to find the one who had pushed Moonforce out and become the new owner of this place.

‘More precisely, finding something like a tomb.’

And the third was the Desert King’s treasure.

But the second and third goals were essentially the same.

‘The one who pushed Moonforce out must be the Desert King. If I find the Desert King’s tomb, the treasure should be inside.’

It was a very simple plan.

“The plan is simple, but…”

As Ethan wandered around the first floor, he discovered a huge colonnade.

“Solving it doesn’t seem like it will be simple.”

A powerful soul energy could be felt from inside the colonnade.

It wasn’t as tremendous as the countless souls he had felt when fighting the 3rd Apostle before, but there were still many souls here.

‘These must be souls that possessed great power when they were alive.’

That’s why the soul energy was so palpable.

Ethan drew upon his Ghost Power.

“If souls are gathered here, it means there’s a high chance something is here. Maybe the tomb is here. The crown mark on the top floor could be a fake.”

Ethan took a step into the colonnade.

-You have received a quest.

-Please check the quest [Remaining Souls].

Ethan received a quest as soon as he entered the colonnade.

-There are souls living unable to forget the past. Return them to where they should be.

‘Return them to where they should be.’

In other words, it was a quest to help them attain enlightenment.

However, there were no conditions on how to help them attain enlightenment.

‘This seems to be a Moonforce-related quest, alright.’

This was the characteristic of Moonforce-related quests.

Not telling the method. Leaving everything entirely to the one carrying out the quest and giving differentiated rewards accordingly.

‘It’s always been like this so far.’

“It means I should choose the best method, I guess. I can forcibly make them attain enlightenment, or I can persuade them or resolve their regrets to help them attain enlightenment.”

Ethan pondered for a moment and then examined the souls he could sense.

‘They all have different attire.’

At a glance, they all seemed to be people from different eras.

There were those wearing splendid golden armor, those wearing seemingly new iron armor.

People wearing robes suitable for the desert, people wearing clothes embroidered with elaborate patterns.

Their gender, class, and era were all different.

Interestingly, they were all repeating certain actions.

Some were brandishing weapons as if someone was in front of them, while others were gesturing as if inviting someone in.

‘Usually, souls that can’t attain enlightenment have lingering regrets.’

Ethan had learned a lot through Princess Baridegi’s video.

‘It was the same when clearing the trial quest.’

The guard who protected the princess was still moving to protect her even though the war had ended.

It was the same for these souls.

They keep repeating their actions due to regrets over things they couldn’t accomplish before dying.

If no one tells them, they will repeat those actions forever.

‘Hmm.’

Ethan sat down. Helping them attain enlightenment was an easy task.

After all, he had the power of Princess Baridegi and Bihyeongrang, the most powerful forces for souls.

‘The correct answer is already set.’

Forcibly making them attain enlightenment is obviously a bad move.

The best move would be to inherit their will and resolve it, just like he had inherited the will of the souls that were detained by the 3rd Apostle before.

‘I need to think about what kind of reward I can get for doing that first.’

Let’s go back to the fundamental reason.

Why did he come here in the first place?

Wasn’t it for the growth of his class?

If so, then what he needed to choose for the growth of his class was clearly defined.

Ethan grinned and stood up.

Ding-.

“Before helping them attain enlightenment.”

Ethan shook the bell strongly.

“I need to make them all believers of Moonforce. Even if they’re dead, the strong are still strong. If strong individuals believe in Moonforce, Moonforce’s influence will grow and…”

Moreover, Ethan’s power would also grow.

Ding-! Ding-!

“Oh souls.”

Ethan raised his Ghost Power to the extreme.

It was on a completely different level compared to when he first acquired Ghost Power.

The sixty-six thousand souls that were bound by the 3rd Apostle.

Ethan’s Ghost Power, which had inherited their will and power, was incredible.

Hundreds of souls, which normally wouldn’t have even glanced at him, simultaneously looked at Ethan.

“What is it that you desire?”

-Who is it?

-Who are you?

-What we desire, you ask?

-What I desire is…!

Hundreds of souls answered Ethan’s question at once.

‘As expected, it’s too complicated. It’ll be difficult to help them attain enlightenment by resolving their regrets.’

It might be possible if he took his time. But Ethan didn’t have that much time.

“Your regrets are things that cannot be fulfilled.”

Ethan said forcefully. Instantly, the souls’ reactions became intense.

-What?

-What?

-That can’t be. That can’t be.

-I haven’t finished what I needed to do.

Despite the violent reactions, Ethan didn’t mind.

“It’s all over already.”

-No.

-No! It’s not over yet!

-I’ll end you who says it’s over!

Boom-!

At that moment, Ethan drew his sword. It was the Ghost-Slaying Sword.

“Your regrets cannot be fulfilled, but your will can be inherited.”

‘It’s impossible to fulfill their regrets and desires to help them attain enlightenment!’

So he uses a bit of force.

‘Using the power of ghost slaying.’

Ethan instantly kicked off the ground hard and jumped into the midst of the souls.

Slash!

Then he swung the Ghost-Slaying Sword once.

All the souls were cut by the Ghost-Slaying Sword as it drew a circle.

“The goddess Moonforce will blow away all your regrets. So don’t worry.”

-Moonforce?

-Moonforce…?

-Lady Moonforce…?

Some souls reacted to the name Moonforce.

“I am the messenger of the goddess Moonforce and her descendant. So you have nothing to worry about.”

Ding. Ding-.

Words are ambiguous. With words, you can do anything, but at the same time, you can do nothing.

But now, Ethan’s words carried power.

‘This is the timing.’

Ethan drew upon Moonforce’s power.

Whoosh-.

The cold air spread around, showing off Moonforce’s unique power.

-Ah…

-Goddess…!

-You didn’t abandon us. No, that’s not it. We abandoned the goddess.

-I’m sorry. Sob, I’m sorry.

Among the souls, there were some who knelt down and cried.

Basically, the souls were transparent, but those who were crying were even more transparent to the point where their forms could hardly be seen.

‘Does it differ according to transparency? If they’re transparent, they’ve been dead for a long time, and if they’re opaque, they’ve died recently.’

Those who had died recently didn’t react when Moonforce was mentioned.

Ethan approached them.

“What is it that you want?”

-I want to turn back time.

-The evil god took everything away.

-I don’t know where it suddenly appeared from.

-Give it back. Give me back my time.

-If not that…

-I have family at home! I need to go… There’s no one else to protect them…

They all started pouring out words to Ethan as if vomiting them.

‘Evil god?’

Ethan heard a word he couldn’t just ignore.

But for now, calming the souls was the priority.

‘I can’t accept all of this.’

Ethan used Ghost Power to calm their excitement.

Whoosh-!

The souls sat down right there as if all their strength had left them.

“The goddess forgives everything and wants to give you a new chance. I will inherit your will and resolve it, so please rest in peace.”

Ding-. Ding-.

Ethan rang the bell two more times.

“Soul Guide.”

Whoosh-!

-Thank you for saving us…

-We are eternal… goddess’s…

-Believers…

The souls started to attain enlightenment one by one. Starting with those who originally believed in Moonforce to those who became new believers of Moonforce, they all attained enlightenment at once.

-You have cleared the quest!

-You have cleared the quest in a special way! Your fame increases greatly!

-The reward is upgraded!

-The goddess Moonforce opens her eyes wide at your method.

-After contemplation, the goddess Moonforce praises your method.

-You have received the goddess’s blessing.

-Your Strength stat increases by ‘1’!

Whoosh-.

-Moonforce’s believers have increased.

-As the number of believers increases, your class grows!

-All stats increase by ‘1’!

“As long as you reach the capital, it doesn’t matter if you go the long way around.” (+) ^[1] TLN: Or, you can say, “all roads lead to Rome”.

Ethan smiled and started ascending to the second floor.

• 1. TLN: Or, you can say, “all roads lead to Rome”.