Immortal's Ascending Path-27
Episode-27. Witch's Sacrament.
It referred to a religious rite performed by humans.
The number of them was truly vast, from praying for rain when it didn't come, to wishing the deceased a smooth journey to the afterlife, to dedicating oneself to the heavens and receiving Priest status.
Since the Public Church, commonly called the Pantheon, was an aggregation of many different denominations, the number of rites was bound to be large. However, there was a fact that even those with different words acknowledged.
It was the answer to the question of which sacrament was the most important.
There was no sacrament that wasn't important, but the Infant Sacrament was the best among them. Why? Why the Infant Sacrament? Because it was the ritual that connected the Creator and the created.
When the gods used their power to create life, the power emitted from heaven to earth was mana. Mana scattered throughout the world, creating life and promoting growth according to the solemn will of God.
Even after the gods left and the order of heaven collapsed, mana remained in the world. As proof that the Creator was once in our world, and that all things were made with a certain will.
The Infant Sacrament was the rite that granted the qualification to wield that mana.
Occasionally, a special child could freely wield mana without receiving the sacrament, but that was only in special cases where it was believed that God had given the child. The vast majority of humans, even if they were highly skilled, would find it difficult to even feel the existence of mana without receiving the Infant Sacrament.
There were very few humans who did not receive the Infant Sacrament. They received the Infant Sacrament as early as immediately after birth, or at the latest before the age of two. It was always received when the baby's body was believed to be able to fully accept mana.
Therefore, there were virtually no humans who could not feel mana. There was only a difference in degree. All humans felt mana in their daily lives and realized the existence of God.
But what if you couldn't feel mana?
"How, h-how could this happen..."
Oksana Narses gasped for breath as if she was about to pass out.
She collapsed on the ground, her legs twisted grotesquely from the fall, her leg bones tearing through her flesh and spewing blood. The pain was indescribable, and she contorted her face, sweating profusely.
However, a pain greater than the physical pain came to her mind. She felt a fatigue and weight that she had never felt before. It was a sensation she had never felt even after staying up for days and nights.
Looking at her hands, the skin that had been taut until just now was teeming with wrinkles. It was as if she had reached the end of aging, and she knew why. She had returned to her original form.
Just as Oksana had transformed the daughter of Lord Matthias into something other than human, she had straightened her own body, but when the power she wielded disappeared, she returned to her original form.
She hurriedly covered her face with both hands. She could feel the wrinkles. She could feel her sunken cheeks. Her eye sockets were also hollow. The years she had so desperately tried to hide were revealed as they were.
"No... I, that I am so... so miserable...!"
She tried to move the flow of mana several times, but it was difficult to even feel it. As if she suddenly couldn't see, couldn't smell, and couldn't feel anything, she couldn't feel mana.
"Answer my words! Answer my call!"
How could this be?
Even if the flow of mana was cut off or interfered with, the relationship between mana and people could not be severed. As far as she knew, no one could do that. The moment one received the Infant Sacrament, that life was registered in the heavenly realm.
Who would dare to take down a name that had ascended to heaven? The authority of the Public Church, the Pantheon, and the Priest was recognized because they were agents for registering names in heaven.
How could this happen when even the Cormilius clan, who claimed to be descended from the first emperor, and the Pope himself could not dare to do so? She couldn't understand.
Was she being punished as if God was looking down on the earth and punishing sinners, like in the stories of ancient mythology? If so, why her? Why now? There was so much evil in the world, so why her?
"Oksana."
She flinched and raised her head.
"What has been given to you is not a right."
A young man stood before her, looking down at her. Just as the clouds receded and the moon revealed itself, it hung behind him, casting a deep shadow. His face could not be seen.
"It was mercy. The mercy of heaven, which could have been taken back after the world prospered, but left it as it was out of pity for the things of the earth. But you have forgotten."
"Ah, no..."
"I have seen with my own two eyes how you have misinterpreted mercy and defiled the name of Narses. What shall I do with this?"
Oksana trembled like an aspen. Words would not come out. She opened her mouth to say something, but only trembling breaths came out instead of words. She was so surprised that she forgot to even speak.
Who could understand her feelings? Who would know what she had realized? Everyone here was mistaken. They would all be making ridiculous guesses, thinking that she alone had caused the problem because the flow of mana was twisted.
It didn't make sense, but it was natural. How could others understand a reality that even she, who had borrowed the name of the sage Narses, found difficult to accept?
Only Oksana knew. Because what he said was pointing out the fact that she had not understood.
"Life is an experience, and I have so much experience that I know it is futile to forgive you. Even if you shed tears and confess your sins right now, you will eventually return to your original path. That is why I have taken it back. What was not originally yours."
At that moment, a mass of questions that had not been resolved until now was resolved.
She realized how the Duke of Ditmarsken could live for hundreds of years and still be young, why the Hilderson clan hated the Pantheon, and why the Pantheon tried to make him king.
"You areâ€""
But that was it.
He knelt down on one knee and extended his right hand to her. She was frightened and tried to run away, but her broken and bleeding legs did not budge.
Soon, when his hand touched her head, the senses she had lost returned for a moment. However, joy did not arise. Instead, fear arose. The mana that remained in her body began to drain away completely.
The life that had been supporting her was disappearing.
"Ah, ah...! Please! P-please, forgive me!"
She struggled to remove his hand.
"This is the last mercy I can give you. Child who borrowed the name of Narses."
Drowsiness came over her. She tried not to close her eyes. It was a sleep she would never wake up from. She pushed with both hands, turned her head, and resisted only to survive. But his hand did not fall.
Soon, a rough breath made a deflating sound, and her head went down.
#
'What's going on?'
Roberta stood at the entrance of the stable and blinked.
She saw the Lord's wife, the witch Oksana, running away from Roberta. The witch transformed into a crow and flew into the sky, and it seemed that she would be missed because there was no way to stop her.
'Why did that witch fall?'
But the situation changed rapidly. Oksana fell to the ground and transformed into an old woman. No, she had returned. Her young appearance was a lie, and her old appearance was real.
'She messed up the flow of mana so much that she was about to strike lightning, but suddenly the flow of mana returned to normal. It's like mana is rejecting the witch's call.'
After that, Ulrich approached the witch and said something incomprehensible, and the witch died at his hands without being able to use mana until the end. It was a strange process and result.
Why did Oksana collapse?
She shouted that mana was not answering her call. There was no way that a magician who had borrowed the name of Narses would have made such a basic mistake. There was another reason that Roberta didn't know.
'It's definitely related to the Lord.'
She didn't know what it was, but the circumstances were clear.
And then, there was a rustling sound behind her.
"Ah..."
A girl was lying on the straw, and she rubbed her eyes, breathing as if waking up from a long sleep. Moonlight streamed through a hole in the stable ceiling, illuminating the girl who was not wearing a single thread.
The girl raised her upper body and looked at Roberta with hazy eyes. The late summer night was warm even with the breeze, but the girl shivered slightly. Then, she stroked her shoulder and widened her eyes.
She slowly lowered her head and looked at her body. The girl, who had turned into a young horse, had regained her original form. She wasn't wearing anything, but she didn't feel ashamed. Instead, she gave a foolish smile. She also shed tears.
"Marika!"
Lord Matthias ran to his daughter. He hugged his daughter with a distorted expression. He realized the truth, so he felt the pain that the truth gave. Even though he didn't commit a crime, he felt guilty. The depth of his guilt would be as deep as his love for his daughter.
"Has the magic been undone?"
Roberta approached Ulrich and asked.
"To be precise, the fixation has been undone."
"Yes. I heard that. The witch fixed the shape differently with magic. But the reason it was undone was because Oksana died?"
Ulrich shook his head.
"No, it's because all of Oksana's actions have lost their effect."
Lost their effect?
"Oksana's death has nothing to do with it. Didn't she say something similar? It was a difficult problem unless she moved mana with her own will."
"Thenâ€""
Just as she was about to ask how the magic was undone, Ulrich approached Lord Matthias.
"It's good to bring in magicians, but when you get close to them, always keep someone in the clergy by your side. Even if they are not a formal Priest, someone who is sensitive to the flow of mana must keep them in check."
"I think I was too naive."
The Lord, who wrapped his daughter in the cloth he received from Fritz, let out a deep sigh. Looking back, the witch Oksana's actions were reckless. As Ulrich said, if someone in the clergy had been nearby, she would have been caught immediately. Of course, Oksana knew this and had other plans.
"As you know, our relationship with the Pantheon has been severely strained. Especially since the summons order was issued recently, the number of clergy remaining in this country is too small. Even the investigator who was originally here has left."
He wore a bitter expression.
"That's why I trusted Oksana even more, but I never thought it would turn out like this..."
"Wait a minute! What are you talking about? You issued a summons order?"
There was bewilderment in Roberta's voice. A summons order? Not just one or two people, but throughout all of Osnover? She was in a position to oversee a diocese, but she had never heard of such news.
"Haven't you heard? The Emperor has convened a council to discuss the right to elect the Pope. It's to divide the election rights that the Cormilius family has monopolized. Osnover agreed to it, and the Pantheon retaliated by issuing excommunications and summons orders."