Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 348 - Shine One

-……

Lesar remained silent.

At the time when the evil god was being sealed, Moonforce didn’t possess such great power either. Her power truly soared high into the sky only after sealing the evil god and when her followers greatly increased in number.

But still, Moonforce is a god.

Ethan is saying he will do what such a god couldn’t accomplish.

Of course, Ethan is Moonforce’s Descendant. He’s the one who officially inherited Moonforce’s power.

Even so, Lesar thought Ethan’s words were lightweight.

But for some reason, he couldn’t find words to refute them.

He should say it’s impossible.

He should tell him to aim for sealing instead, but the words wouldn’t come out.

“I will make the desert people followers once again and make the outstanding ones among them apostles. With that, the Moonforce Order will be able to spread across this desert once more.”

-Do you really intend to eradicate it?

“You want to ask if I can eradicate it, right?”

Ethan looked at Lesar.

If it were the Ethan of the past, he would have first said he’d seal it.

“We won’t know unless we try, will we? If we don’t try, we won’t know if it’s possible or impossible.”

Worrying about the danger comes after trying.

“If it doesn’t work, we’ll try again.”

It’s fine even if it’s dangerous. As long as they don’t die, it’s okay.

If they challenge and challenge again, surely a different outcome will be waiting at the end.

‘We’ll know by trying.’

-Descendant……

Lesar smiled benevolently.

-I suppose… I can entrust everything to you, Descendant.

Then he began to disappear, turning into particles.

-I leave it to you. I’ll watch over the new Moonforce Order that you, Descendant, will create from the afterlife.

-You have cleared the quest!

-The goddess Moonforce bids farewell to her last apostle.

-Your class has grown!

Ethan looked at his fist.

“I can feel myself getting stronger.”

Crunch-.

Ethan clenched his fist tightly.

“It’s probably best to close this place for now.”

From what he had heard, this place symbolized Moonforce’s decline.

It would be best to close this place and move only the important items to the first floor of the temple.

“I’ve also confirmed that the Desert King’s treasure is here.”

He also learned that the treasure was in the tomb.

Probably the crown marked on the map meant the Desert King’s tomb.

“I should go straight to the top floor.”

Ethan demolished the hidden Moonforce temple in one go.

***

The top floor of the temple.

There were quite a few souls on the way up too. Ethan, who had heard all the details from Lesar, could understand better the traces left here and there.

‘I could tell how strong the evil god was.’

The traces of resistance and the deep regret and helplessness remaining in the souls.

As he went straight up, he could see many loyal subordinates of the Desert Kings throughout history.

Their souls were still clear despite the long years that had passed.

‘The regret must have remained that strongly.’

The top floor.

Ethan faced a massive iron door.

“Hmm.”

Even when pushed hard, the iron door didn’t budge.

“It’s not that magic has been set up.”

It meant the iron door itself was heavy and solid. Ethan held up Frost Sword and Thunder Sword. Then he applied force strongly.

Ethan Swordsmanship First Form

Frost Thunder

Shwaaang-!

With a thunderous sound, two lines were drawn on the iron door.

Crack-.

Kwagagagagak-!

With a roar, the iron door split in two.

Ethan pushed aside the iron door and entered the top floor.

As soon as he entered the top floor, the map began to be drawn.

“This is the top floor. And the tomb is inside.”

The crown mark moved back and was positioned at the very end of the top floor map. And another mark appeared on the map.

“A sword.”

It was a simple sword mark. And this sword mark was right in front of the crown mark.

“I see.”

Clank-. Clank-.

The sound of full plate armor clashing could be heard.

As the sound gradually approached, the sword mark on the map began to move as well.

There’s always a guardian at a tomb.

Just as there was a guard knight watching over the princess’s tomb, there was also a guard at the Desert King’s tomb.

However, there was a crucial difference.

“I thought if someone ever entered this place, it would be the evil god. But a living human? Surprising.”

The guardian watching over the Desert King’s tomb still had his reason intact.

“What business do you have at His Majesty’s tomb? You who are neither of the desert people nor a shaman. What business does one from the central continent have here?”

Towering height.

Full plate armor and a massive shield.

And judging by the sharp sword, he seemed to be the knight the Desert King trusted the most.

‘He’s not alive.’

Ethan glanced slightly above the knight’s head. There was something pitch black there, and the knight was connected to that black thing with a thread.

Every time the knight moved, the black thing moved too, as if it were controlling a puppet.

‘It’s similar to the magic used by necromancers.’

But what they use is just necromancy that creates rotting corpses at best.

‘Is it a variation?’

What’s certain is that it’s magic unknown to Ethan.

“You have good eyes, I see.”

“You already knew.”

“Of course. How could I not know? It’s the fate I’ve accepted.”

Clank-.

The knight pointed his sword at Ethan.

“You must be quite skilled to have come this far. But you’ll never get what you want.”

Ethan looked at the tomb entrance behind the knight. There wasn’t much of an entrance to speak of, but magic protecting the tomb was spread out. And that magic was clearly connected to the knight.

‘If I kill the knight, I’ll never be able to enter the tomb.’

This tomb is one that must be opened directly by the knight. The magic is designed that way.

‘I need to persuade him.’

Clang-!

Ethan suddenly raised Frost Sword to block the knight’s sword that suddenly flew at him. It was quite a heavy blow.

“Why are you guarding this place?”

“……”

“You haven’t forgotten the reason you’re guarding it, have you? You’re just suspicious of me, right?”

Ethan smiled kindly.

“I’ll clear your suspicions.”

Clang-!

Ethan Swordsmanship First Form

Frost Thunder

Ethan unleashed his swordsmanship while diving in front of the knight.

‘There’s no need to persuade with words.’

Even if the knight dies, it won’t be a big problem.

‘Not being able to enter inside is because of the magic set up, but can’t I just undo that?’

If even the evil god broke the seal and came out, there’s no way Ethan couldn’t undo that magic set on the tomb.

Clang-! Clang-!

Ethan swung his sword fiercely.

The knight was rather flustered as the slender Ethan overwhelmed him with brute force.

Clang-! Clang-!

There was no room for counterattack, let alone time to breathe.

All the knight could do was block. During this, the knight could instinctively realize.

That his opponent was holding back.

“…Didn’t you say you’d clear my suspicions? This doesn’t seem like such an action.”

“I thought there was no need to clear them with words. And I intentionally held back a bit to clear your suspicions. You must have felt it.”

Ethan fully opened Moonforce’s power.

But the knight seemed not to notice Moonforce’s power, being too focused on finding a chance to counterattack.

‘Can’t be helped.’

“If you don’t realize even with this, well, there’s no need to persuade you.”

“Didn’t you already realize? If you can see the curse above my head, you should know what to do. If you kill me, this tomb will be closed forever. It can never be opened.”

“That’s right.”

Ethan said with a smile.

“That’s what you thought because I wasn’t here then. You thought it would be closed forever.”

“……”

For a moment, the knight’s movement stopped. Inside the helmet was surely a surprised face.

He had forgotten what to say or do in the face of Ethan’s tremendous confidence.

“Then try to defeat me and open the tomb.”

Shwaaak-.

Ethan scattered Moonforce’s cold air and then put away Frost Sword.

‘Still, it would be better to keep him alive to obtain the treasures inside smoothly.’

“It seems you’ve really forgotten about Lady Moonforce. There’s no meaning in fighting further.”

Even though Ethan had put away his sword, the knight didn’t stop.

Bullet Time.

Ethan lightly avoided the knight’s attack and then opened his mouth.

“I know you’re blocking this tomb to seal the evil god.”

“…!”

Only then did the knight’s movement completely stop.

“How did you…”

“Well, because that evil god’s seal has been broken.”

“Broken…? His Majesty sacrificed himself to seal the evil god eternally. But you say the seal is broken?”

“He tried to seal it eternally but failed. You must have expected that the seal would be broken someday.”

“……”

The knight put down his sword completely.

“Who are you?”

“I am Ethan Whiskers. I am the Descendant of the goddess Moonforce whom you all once believed in.”

***

The knight didn’t recognize Moonforce’s power, but he knew well who Moonforce was.

“It was our mistake. We shouldn’t have. We should have known what Lady Moonforce was protecting us from, but we didn’t know. We tried to reverse it somehow, but… by then, everything was too late.”

The knight sighed.

“I am the guard knight of His Majesty whom everyone calls the Desert King. It’s awkward to say it myself, but I was the knight who received the greatest trust from His Majesty.”

The Desert King had one outstanding knight.

Shining even among the blooming canola flowers, that knight earned the king’s trust and everyone’s praise.

Standing at the forefront of every battlefield, he always achieved brilliant victories with outstanding performances, so everyone praised him as the chosen one and called him Shine One.

But as time passed, the brilliant era came to an end.

The evil god awoke, and the brilliant era faded.

The land that was full of flowers became a desert, and entire cities disappeared.

Those who fled established a temporary city called Lyubin, but it was impossible to properly build buildings in the barren desert.

It was just a place where people gathered and lived in tents.

‘So this knight is the Shine One that Scorpion mentioned.’

“His Majesty discovered an ancient document. It was a method to seal the evil god. But it required numerous lives as a price. His Majesty’s life alone wasn’t enough. So……”

“500 people.”

When Ethan stated the exact number, he looked surprised.

“How did you……”

“I came knowing everything.”

Of course, it was only visible through Ghost Power, but with those words, the knight completely discarded his distrust of Ethan.

“Yes, 500 people sacrificed their lives to seal the evil god. But you must be curious. Why didn’t I, who received the greatest trust from His Majesty, participate in that ritual?”

Ethan looked at the black something hanging above his head.

“Yes, this wasn’t placed by the evil god, but by His Majesty. Ironically, it has become an even more powerful curse binding me to this world after His Majesty passed away.”

The king entrusted the rear to Shine One, whom he trusted the most.

“His Majesty probably didn’t know either. He couldn’t have thought that those words would become a curse binding me.”

The Shine One shrugged his shoulders.

“I was surprised too when I realized I couldn’t die.”

“How long have you been here?”

“Quite a long time. But there was no need for my mind to break. Fortunately, I could sleep.”

Because he was alive but not alive, there was no need to eat or drink. And he received one blessing that allowed him to maintain his sanity.

The blessing of being able to sleep.

“That’s how I’ve been protecting this seal. But you say the evil god has been released? What does that mean?”

The Shine One was angry.

“I thought the seal might be broken. But it’s too early. It’s far too early a time.”

“A lot of time has passed, Shine One. Hundreds of years have passed.”

“……”

He blinked his eyes at Ethan’s words.

“That long?”

“Yes.”

“…Then I have no choice but to open it.”

He stuck his sword in the ground and went in front of the tomb.

“I hoped I would never have to open this door myself.”

Ding-!

-You have cleared the quest.

-You have received the quest clear reward.

-You can now enter the interior of the Desert King’s tomb.

Kuguuuung-!

With a thunderous sound, the Desert King’s tomb opened.

-You have discovered the Desert King’s tomb!