Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 426 - Towards the Demon Empire

With the conquest of the Dawn Temple, Ethan had essentially cleared almost all the quests related to the Dawn Council, which was the main quest of MePan.

‘This is actually the main scenario of MePan.’

Eliminating the threat to the continent and stopping the stronghold of the Dawn Council is treated as the ending for clearing this main scenario.

‘Of course, not everything ends just because you clear this scenario.’

However, Ethan is not simply a user playing MePan now.

He is Ethan Whiskers, living in the world of MePan.

‘Besides, I’m currently in the middle of the quest to survive as Ethan Whiskers.’

This means that Ethan’s main scenario is different from MePan’s original main scenario.

‘I don’t know how it will end.’

But there’s one thing for certain.

‘I’ll know when I get there.’

After clearing the quest, Ethan took a deep breath.

The Black Sword unit was waiting for Ethan behind.

The moment he turned his body towards them after dealing with the chief priest,

Suddenly, a powerful blue energy began to surge like waves from the chief priest’s body.

“!”

Shwaaaak-!

The surging blue energy rushed towards Ethan. Ethan twisted his body to avoid the energy and swung his sword, but this was a force that could never be avoided.

-Moon Mother curses you!

Despite being dead, the chief priest managed to land an attack on Ethan at the very end.

However.

-It has been nullified by the power of Moonforce.

“She’s not the Moonforce of old.”

This is not the Moonforce that had been forgotten by the world, retaining only fragments of her power.

“Do you know how many believers there are now? It’s already been reversed.”

There are no longer any believers of Moon Mother left within the Holy Empire.

Even the strongest believer and leader, the chief priest, is dead.

“What meaning does a god without believers have?”

On the other hand, Moonforce’s believers, including Ethan, were countless.

The time when Ethan alone was Moonforce’s believer, apostle, religious leader, and descendant had already passed.

That’s why even if Moon Mother cursed Ethan, Moonforce could nullify it completely.

Ethan pushed the body of the Dawn Council’s lord far away. Then, the chief priest’s body slowly disintegrated into powder and disappeared.

“With this, I’ve eliminated everything unsettling within the Holy Empire.”

And he also learned about a new fact that he had only been speculating about.

It was about the relationship between Moon Mother and Moonforce.

“I thought there would be some connection because their names are similar, but the relationship was deeper than I expected.”

Moonforce and Moon Mother were said to be entities that were once one and then separated, like the Dawn Council and Cross Society.

‘If you think about it, it could be considered the most powerful force that can block Moon Mother’s power.’

Moonforce’s power comes from Moon Mother, and at the same time, Moon Mother’s power comes from Moonforce’s power.

‘Now all that’s left are the 1st and 2nd Apostles.’

Ding-!

-You have received a new quest!

-This is the last main scenario quest.

-Quest rewards will be given along with the clearance.

* <<Dealing with the Remnants>> Rank [S]

[You have single-handedly brought down the Dawn Council. Now only remnants remain in the Dawn Council.]

[Reward: Savior of the World]

‘Dealing with the remnants?’

With the death of the Dawn Council’s lord, the Dawn Council was essentially disbanded, so the remaining believers should be considered remnants.

However, despite its name, the quest rank was as high as S.

It was natural. Although it’s a quest to deal with remnants, these remnants are the 1st and 2nd Apostles who might even be stronger than the chief priest in the Dawn Council.

‘It says dealing with remnants, but…’

Normally, the correct order would be to deal with the 1st and 2nd Apostles and then deal with the Dawn Council’s lord, but the order wasn’t that important for quest clearance.

After all, the ultimate goal of the quest is to eliminate the Dawn Council from the continent.

‘Officially, it’s the Dawn Council’s lord who leads the Dawn Council. Since the Dawn Council’s lord is gone, the remaining believers can be considered remnants, but they still have some conscience as the rank is S. If the core shifts a little, the 1st Apostle could even replace the Dawn Council’s lord.’

Now, if he just deals with the remaining two, the main scenario quest would be cleared.

‘There are threats to various continents, but I’ve already eliminated the Primordial Evil and the evil god of the Gaister Desert.’

Since Ethan had essentially blocked the quest for the gate of the demon realm along with Kethrun, all that remained were the 1st and 2nd Apostles.

Now, all that was left was to deal with the remnants and completely clear the main scenario.

“Master Ethan.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

The Black Sword unit bowed their heads.

“We didn’t do much. We just caught a few monsters and one beast.”

Black Sword bowed his head.

But Ethan knew well.

‘Some of the demon race were trying to go out right away. If they had gone to nearby cities, it would have been a big problem.’

Moreover, those were noble demons that were different from ordinary demon races. The Black Sword unit had dealt with those noble demons.

‘If it wasn’t for the Black Sword unit, it would have been troublesome. As expected of the Black Sword unit.’

The demon bastards had clearly seen Ethan’s face, so if they had escaped, they would have tried to harm Ethan even if they had to wait for a long time.

‘Demon bastards basically live long lives. They would have tried to take revenge somehow by finding a gap.’

It was indeed the right answer to request support from the princess and bring the Black Sword unit.

“I’m glad I asked for your help.”

It was an ordinary expression of gratitude, but the Black Sword unit seemed quite proud of those words.

***

At the border of the Holy Empire.

Ethan was preparing to cross over to the Demon Empire.

Now the 1st and 2nd Apostles in the Demon Empire have no place to return to.

The Dawn Council’s lord is dead and the Dawn Temple has collapsed.

The very connection of the Dawn Council within the Holy Empire has disappeared, so even if the 1st and 2nd Apostles send believers from the Demon Empire to the Holy Empire, there’s nothing they can do.

“Only you two are left.”

In Ethan’s hand was a piece of parchment. This parchment was a guarantee certificate given directly by the emperor.

“I went through quite a bit of trouble for this legal entry permit.”

But it was worth the effort and there was a sense of achievement.

‘In MePan, I entered illegally and became a wanted person on the Holy Empire side.’

Because of that, I even ended up in prison and had to raise my character again.

Crossing from the Holy Empire to the Demon Empire was not an easy task.

“I will verify His Majesty’s guarantee certificate!”

Vitra, the captain of the border guard in charge of border defense, read the emperor’s guarantee certificate aloud.

The content was to allow the bearer of the guarantee certificate to pass through to the Demon Empire, and that the Holy Empire emperor would take responsibility for all actions caused by him.

Only with this guarantee certificate could one legally cross over to the Demon Empire. This is because the Demon Empire side would have no choice but to let them in if there was a definite aspect to it.

‘The demon emperor was quite a generous person.’

He had such a gentle impression that it was hard to believe he was the emperor of the Demon Empire. Of course, as he was responsible for one axis of the Three Gods, his skills were extraordinary.

‘But there were many secretive aspects about him.’

According to one theory, there was a quest related to the demon emperor, but Ethan had never entered that quest.

“I hope you have a safe journey, Master Count Ethan Whiskers!”

The captain of the guard bowed his head.

***

-You have taken your first step into the Demon Empire!

-You have achieved an achievement!

-You have received likes for achieving the [New Empire] achievement!

-You have received ’15’ likes!

Ethan achieved an achievement as soon as he set foot in the Demon Empire.

As it was quite difficult to officially cross from the Holy Empire to the Demon Empire, the likes received as a reward were quite numerous.

Ethan took a breath.

“The unique smell of the Demon Empire is thick in the air.”

The Demon Empire was characterized by its uniquely gloomy weather.

Fog is frequent and it rains often.

Because of this, when you set foot in the Demon Empire, you could feel that you’ve entered the Demon Empire due to its unique smell.

“The smell of rain.”

Swoosh-.

As if welcoming him, it started to rain.

And beyond that, someone could be seen approaching quickly.

“Master Ethan Whiskers.”

Wigen White, who had appeared as the representative teacher of Vogue Academy at the inter-academy exchange, approached and greeted Ethan.

“Even though we met not too long ago, it feels like it’s been a while. Have you been well?”

“Teacher Wigen. It’s nice to see you, Teacher Wigen.”

Ethan greeted Wigen.

Although Vogue Academy was located in a neutral area, it was closer to the Demon Empire, so it was much easier to move towards the Demon Empire than the Holy Empire.

Wigen could also be considered a native of the Demon Empire if you think about it.

“What brings you here? It doesn’t seem to be a coincidence.”

At Ethan’s words, Wigen bowed his head apologetically.

“Yes, I knew in advance. It’s not often that someone officially crosses the border like this. Because of that… not just me, but numerous others have their eyes on Master Teacher Ethan Whiskers’s visit.”

Having their eyes on him.

It was an intriguing phrase, but Ethan could understand it immediately.

What kind of place is the Demon Empire?

‘It’s a place where the law of the strong rules as much as the demon realm.’

Because of this, the Demon Empire was a place that worshipped strength.

If it’s the words of a strong person, they would accept even the most absurd words, and sometimes those words would even become law.

No matter what kind of personality one has, as long as they’re strong, they receive definite recognition.

Someone has officially crossed over from the Holy Empire to such a Demon Empire?

‘My rumors must have spread to the Demon Empire.’

Even if it hasn’t spread throughout the entire Demon Empire, rumors would have spread through word of mouth.

In those rumors, Ethan was a supernova representing the Holy Empire and a strong among the strong.

Such a strong person is crossing over to the Demon Empire?

‘It’s bound to attract attention. Everyone must be curious.’

It meant that not only the high nobles of the Demon Empire but also numerous strong individuals were targeting Ethan.

‘To explain it simply, it’s like this. There are many people who find the purpose of life in fighting with strong individuals, like the principal of Freya Academy.’

This meant that just Ethan’s entry alone would surely cause various disturbances.

“I heard that you came to the Demon Empire to cure that disease.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

That was Ethan’s official reason.

“So you came to help.”

“Yes, although I’m not in a position to represent the Demon Empire, I was really impressed and learned a lot during the exchange festival.”

Wigen was a meister teacher.

As a great teacher recognized in the Demon Empire, he had infinite confidence because of that.

But after suffering an overwhelming defeat to Ethan at the exchange festival, he realized the reality.

He was a frog in a well.

He was a pathetic person who had stopped, loving the inside of the well too much despite having the power to escape the well.

But he realized after seeing Ethan.

Depending on how the teacher acts, students can change dramatically.

If you show them a wide world, they grow believing that the world has no end, and if not, they think the world has limits.

He had been intoxicated with the title of meister and had only been showing them the limits of the world.

“Thanks to you, I was able to change.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“It’s alright. The realization I gained from seeing you is entirely mine. I only feel gratitude towards you.”

Wigen smiled.

“Let’s go quickly. I’ll guide you. If you stay here, you’ll get into trouble. If you get into trouble, you might be stuck at this national border entrance all day. I’m sorry to say this, but even if you refuse, it will never end.”

Although someone of Ethan’s caliber could refuse as much as he wanted, this is the Demon Empire.

Moreover, among those who would come this far, there isn’t a single noble who is easy to deal with.

“Especially if you get caught by the four great families, it will be a big problem. They’re probably rushing here as soon as they received the information. I received the news relatively quickly.”

Wigen tried to quickly take Ethan away from this place. Once they leave this border, even if others want to fight, they won’t be able to find Ethan easily.

However, at that moment, the ground trembled.

Thud-! Thud-!

“……”

Wigen narrowed his eyes.

In the distance, along with a cloud of dust, the flag of a family stood tall.

“Huh.”

It was the flag of one of the four great magic families.

Clop clop clop clop-.

Sounds were heard from another direction. There was another flag standing there.

“It seems it has already begun.”