Immortal's Ascending Path - 34
Episode-34. Kunkan's Gift
Crash! A table overturned with a loud noise. The man had hurriedly stood up, knocking the table over. It was Tapio, the man who had guided Ulrich's party to the cabin, displaying a strong sense of vigilance.
However, now, Tapio was trembling uncontrollably. Far from vigilance, his face was filled with shock, doubt, and fear. The two men and women beside him were the same, as were the dozen or so people behind them.
Because their secret had been exposed. Because a truth that should never have been revealed had come to light, they could see the future that awaited them.
"Ru, run—"
Someone opened their mouth.
"Where else would you run to from here?"
But Ulrich's words cut them off.
Roberta watched it through the gap in the window. Peeking into the house, dimly lit by candlelight, from the outside, she placed her right hand on the sword at her waist.
"Priest," Fritz whispered beside her. He seemed to be asking if they shouldn't go inside as well. She thought for a moment, then shook her head.
Tapio and his gang showed no hostility. They had only stepped back in surprise. They had no weapons, and even if they did, it would be meaningless. Who would threaten Ulrich, a man who even the monsters of the Ice Peninsula couldn't handle?
'Perhaps, I might see a different side of him.'
Besides, Ulrich had never solved a case alone like this before. How would he unravel the story in a place where she wasn't present? She was curious. Perhaps a story he hadn't shown her, a story he hadn't told her, might emerge.
Roberta studied Ulrich's expression. It was calm. He was simply looking at each of the three humans and the dozen or so strange beings in front of him. His gaze showed no interest, surprise, or disgust.
After a long standoff, Tapio spoke first.
"...What are you going to do with us?"
"That depends on what you do."
Ulrich pulled over a fallen chair and sat down. He leaned back against the chair and clasped his hands together. Tapio seemed to relax a little at his leisurely demeanor, letting out a long breath.
"I know what you're worried about. You're worried that I'll call you monsters and punish you here, or that I'll leave this place and report it to the diocese, aren't you?"
Tapio nodded slowly.
"You are—"
"Armin."
He stated his name briefly.
"Armin..."
Tapio hesitated, then continued with honorifics.
"You're not going to dispose of me and these children?"
"Why should I?"
There was no answer. His expression was speechless.
"Is it because these children are monsters? Is that what you want to ask?"
"...I thought you would naturally think so."
"It's not natural for me."
Ulrich shook his head.
"Kunkan, isn't it? The one who made you like this."
The group gasped in surprise.
"No... it's not. We're just affected by the swamp—"
"Don't lie."
Cutting off the excuse, Ulrich continued.
"There's a flow. You may not feel it, but I do."
He faced Tapio, who was gasping for breath.
"On the day the authority was manifested from heaven to earth, Kunkan was also present. Therefore, his influence remains even now that he's gone. In the form of mana, like that of other gods."
Kunkan, he was an evil god, but he was a key figure in the creation of the world.
He was the twin brother of Dieus, the king of heaven, but he was the creator who became the master of hell.
He was the evil one who rebelled when the gods discussed how to protect the pitiful life below in heaven.
He rejected the resolution of heaven and seduced Takna and Galpa. The three tried to enforce their will but were defeated. They were banished to the world that the scriptures named hell.
Afterward, the three of them were called evil gods by the creations of heaven.
"The gods of heaven each have different flows. I can distinguish them. The flow I feel from you is his."
"..."
"He has always been interested in humans. Because Hestio is human. Just as Ganymea showed mercy to the offspring of both races, he also showed mercy in his own way to humans, whom he regarded as brothers more than his own brother."
'It was mercy only by his standards,' Ulrich muttered to himself. The house was quiet, and the night outside was so still that even the sound of insects had stopped, so Roberta heard it clearly.
'Brother, did he say?'
The fact that the evil god regarded Hestio as a brother made her recall an apocryphal text she had locked away deep in her memory. Because what Ulrich was saying was similar to the content of a certain apocryphal text.
The name of that apocryphal text was Knolser.
It contained the moment when the gods of heaven departed for heaven.
It was the story of Kunkan appearing and persuading Hestio when Dieus tried to take Hestio to heaven. Hestio did not succumb to Kunkan's temptation and ended up staying on earth, waiting for the return of heaven.
However, the content was too heterogeneous. The evil god who had been banished to hell returned to heaven for a moment, and the relationship between Hestio and the evil god was depicted as intimate.
It was natural that the Pantheon defined Knolser as an apocryphal text and burned it. Roberta had only seen it once when she was educated at the Sacred Doctrine.
Her memory dredged it up.
Knolser wrote Kunkan's words like this:
"I regard and understand you more closely than Dieus, who was born with me. My brothers and sisters love you, but they do not understand your will, so can you be happy with them?"
Fritz glanced at Roberta.
Her expression was stiff.
"Therefore, Kunkan's authority, or rather mana, is lenient to humans. Even humans without talent can easily approach it if they call it in Hestio's name."
At the word 'call,' Tapio's face turned pale.
"That's why you have your current appearance. In today's world where the foundation of heaven is empty, the authority of the gods does not come on its own. Someone among you called it, so it was drawn to you. Kunkan answered your call."
"No, no! These children are not followers of the evil god!"
Tapio shouted desperately. He had no choice but to do so. There was nothing more terrible than being regarded as a follower of Kunkan.
The Pantheon was wary of all evil gods, but Kunkan was different. Whenever his minions appeared, they always left a huge mark.
Who brought the age of the fairies to an end? It was Kunkan's minion. And who brought the first age of humans to an end? This was also Kunkan's minion.
Therefore, the Pantheon did not hesitate to lay hands on anyone who had even the slightest connection to Kunkan. It was better to be excommunicated.
"Yes. I know. You wouldn't have called him willingly."
Ulrich walked towards the group.
As he took a step, the group took a step back. But they were in the room, and there was only one door. Since Ulrich had his back to the door, they couldn't leave without passing him.
"What would you gain from calling him anyway? Kunkan seeks chaos. He is the one who rejected the order of heaven and left. There are few people who desire the power left by such an existence."
The group, who had embraced the mana of the evil god Kunkan, were cornered against the wall and could no longer escape. Ulrich stopped in front of one of them and knelt on one knee. Yet it was a small monster, no, a child, that he had to look down upon.
The child had hardly any human features. Its lower body was that of a goat, its face had a cat-like snout, and deer antlers grew above its ears.
"Look. This is the gift of the god of chaos, Kunkan. You unwillingly embraced chaos, and you had no power to control it. It's natural to face change."
Ulrich stroked the trembling child's head with a gentle smile, as if to tell it not to be afraid.
"And the one who called the chaos must be the sacrament."
He added the word 'false' to the sacrament.
It was a sacrament performed by someone who had not received the Priest's blessing.
"Because a child who cannot become a bridge became a bridge between heaven and humans, that bridge allowed an existence that could not originally be crossed to cross. The authority of Kunkan, not Dieus, Ganymea, or Keme, was contained within."
'Am I wrong?' Ulrich looked at Tapio.
#
Tapio gasped for breath. He was so surprised, so afraid that his heart was pounding and his face was red. He looked at the nameless young man, Ulrich. Ulrich's gaze met his as he knelt before his friend's son.
When Tapio had guided the three people to the cabin in the late afternoon, he had not paid attention to Ulrich in front of him. He couldn't even if he wanted to. Because the Priest of the goddess Ganymea was with Ulrich.
This village had a secret, and that secret should not be shown to the Priest. Or to anyone else, but they at least had a chance to be persuaded. Not the Priest.
The residents, who could hardly be called human, formed a village. The reason for their appearance was that they could not receive the Pantheon's approval. Therefore, they had to hide it.
"There were many like you. I have seen many regret clinging to false sacraments, knowing that they are futile, but having nothing else they can do."
But the truth had been revealed.
The young man, who they had assumed was a young master from some family, enjoying a noble journey with a female Priest, had realized the village's secret. He had even realized the truth that the village did not know.
'It's over, it's over, everything is.'
No, maybe it's not over.
Ulrich had not proven anything. He was just making claims. They had to insist that it was not the evil god but the influence of the swamp, that they had never performed a false sacrament.
They had to be determined and take action. What if Ulrich met the Priest like this? What if the Priest left the village? The village would be finished. The Pantheon would dispose of them. Without any forgiveness.
"...That's right."
But Tapio confessed.
"I performed the sacrament for them."
He lowered his head powerlessly. It was to avoid their gaze. The moment he met Ulrich's gaze, he couldn't do anything. There was clearly no expression on his face. His tone was also calm. But Tapio felt an unbearable pressure.
He took out a palm-sized circular seal from his pocket and showed it to Ulrich. The symbol of Dieus, the king of heaven, was engraved on it. He received it and nodded.
"An apprentice Priest, then. You never received the Priest's blessing, did you?"
"No... I didn't have the opportunity to hold the ordination ceremony."
Tapio explained that there was a civil war going on.
"As the civil war dragged on, the Priests of the Public Church were not guaranteed safety. It was a time when apostates disguised themselves as bandits and attacked temples."
The temple where Tapio had served was also looted at that time. Even in a world where the existence of God was clear, greed made a mockery of it. While the Head Priest was being murdered, Tapio barely managed to escape with his life.
He had not anticipated that the civil war would last for 32 years, so he decided that he should take refuge for a while. So, instead of leaving Osnover, he looked for a safe base within the kingdom.
That place was this village beyond the swamp.
"This place, which is always foggy, has had strange rumors since ancient times. Thanks to that, there was little traffic, and it received almost no attention throughout the civil war."
But that wasn't always a good thing.
They avoided the flames because they were forgotten, but they did not receive help because they were forgotten.
"The problem is... the diocese didn't pay attention either. They said that they were in the middle of a civil war and that apostates were running rampant, so they were being cautious. Even when I risked my life to ask for help, they only postponed it."
A year, two years, the years passed without a Priest visiting.
Eventually, it became six years.
"Think about it. They haven't performed the sacrament for six years."
It was impossible, and it should not have been. If there was no Priest, who would connect heaven and humans?
"People who are facing death must confess their sins to wash them away, but they can't do that, and children who are born must have their names registered in heaven, but they can't do that either. This situation has continued for six years."
The Public Church teaches that heaven and hell exist.
Heaven is where the good gods have left, and hell is where the evil gods have been banished. The Public Church taught that the faith and good deeds that a human being accumulated during their lifetime determined the afterlife.
"At least, people who die without confessing their sins can receive the sacrament for their souls after death. Isn't that what the Pantheon taught?"
'That's how they taught it,' Ulrich muttered.
"But what about the children? Do you know how different the growth of babies who have received the Infant Sacrament is from those who have not? Besides, this place has the Demon Realm next to it."
Tapio pointed in the direction of the swamp. Before the civil war broke out, it was just a swamp that occasionally sent fog, but after repeated battles, corpses piled up and mana solidified, it affected the surrounding area.
The village suffered from several epidemics. At least the adults had received the sacrament, so they only suffered from nausea or fever. After an epidemic struck once, they became immune, and it was not a big problem.
The babies were different. Babies who had not received the Infant Sacrament crumbled.
"Of the children born during those six years... not a single child survived to see the seventh year without a Priest. Because of a phenomenon that we don't even deserve to call an epidemic!"
Tapio raised his voice as if venting his frustration.
"So you performed the Infant Sacrament. Knowing that it wouldn't work?"
"...Yes. I did. Or what should I have done? Should I have just accepted the sight of life passing away in vain?"
The civil war showed no signs of ending. There was no promise of a Priest's visit. They could not live without receiving the Infant Sacrament. Tapio thought. If death was inevitable anyway, why shouldn't they perform the sacrament?
"The people here did not understand the words 'Priest who has not received the Priest's blessing.' They could not accept why they could not register their names in the heavenly register while wearing the Priest's robes."
Tapio received a request. To perform the Infant Sacrament.
He refused for six years, but in the seventh year, he accepted.
And Kunkan answered the call.