Survival Story of a Sword King in a Fantasy World

The Order of Kybriel (3)

Leon Hart spoke confidently to the troubled Kibie.

“If we show them miss Effir’s intelligence, they’ll be disillusioned. Everyone will believe it.”

He continued to say that they wouldn’t have any problems.

“How can there be such a miracle without the power of a Goddes? If you had told me who she was from the beginning, I would have believed you right away.”

Kibie corrected his mistake.

“Well, I didn’t do that.”

“What?”

“She was already originally smart. I didn’t do anything to her.”

“… What?”

All creatures bore the seeds of change and evolution.

That was what the six Goddesses were mindful of when they created life in Latna.

Effir was just a mutant born from one of those seeds.

“Wasn’t that due to the power of incarnation?”

“No, there’s no such thing.”

“…”

But Leon Hart told her to insist it regardless.

“Even I didn’t doubt it. The same should go for the others.”

“What if they bring other Wyverns and ask me to give them intelligence?”

“You can say you can only do it once. Showing evidence with the Sacred Heart of Darkness could only be done a single time.”

If there were other Wyverns like Effir, only then could they doubt her.

However, Leon Hart’s testimony was different from the story.

Besides, Saltus was captured alive so he could prove Kibie’s identity as well.

“If three pieces of evidence appear at the same time, their suspicions would be cleared.”

* * *

It was just as Leon Hart had said.

All of the believers under the Pope knelt in unison.

“She deserves to be served.”

“Your saints ask a favor to your incarnation.”

Looking down at everyone, Kibie walked softly.

“My faithful saints.”

A graceful voice entered the ears of the saints.

“In the name of Kybriel, I will tell you the truth of the present Latna.”

Kibie revealed the sins committed by the Top Three in detail.

She also added the information they gained from Gabe.

Gabe’s suicide was in vain.

Kibie had a shadow-reading ability to read residual thoughts.

His body didn’t disappear like the Aliens, so his corpse was enough to serve as a source of information.

They found out that Gabe deliberately let the Sword King die, and he also found out that it was the plan all of the Top Three all along.

Kibie felt ridiculous after learning of it.

‘Baotolt died because of him?’

It was the first time a dog’s death didn’t feel pitiful.

She then addressed the identities of Ryu Han-bin and Artis.

Leon Hart said she should hide their identity, but only from an unspecified majority.

If she hid it from the Pope, the Saintess, and other leaders, it would only become a problem later.

Of course, they were surprised at first.

“He’s an Alien?”

“D-Dragon?”

However, their fear subsided quickly.

Like Leon Hart, all gathered there was the backbone of the Darkness Church and the hands of Kybriel.

As long as Kibie was the incarnation, there was no reason to doubt those she trusted as well.

No, could Kibie be even more convincing that she was the incarnation of Darkness?

“It’s Kybriel!”

“Without the power of Goddess, how could she have made a wicked Alien and a Dragon see the goodness of the world?”

Ryu Han-bin and Artis felt a bit discriminated against as they listened to them.

‘I wasn’t such a bad guy in the first place.’

‘Me too.’

He was dissatisfied, but the situation was going well, so both of them just let it pass.

It didn’t take long for Kibie to finish her explanation.

“That’s why I came to earth as an incarnation…”

Looking back at everyone, she spoke solemnly.

“My saints, let the world know of their sins and set the will of the Goddess on this earth right!”

It was an order from the very Goddess they served and followed.

It was a religious order that no follower of Kybriel could break.

Nevertheless, Castalo II and Sermen didn’t immediately respond.

The same was true of the other high-priests.

Kibie’s complexion hardened slightly.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

Sermen fixed her posture.

“I must follow the rule of dealing with incarnations, not Goddesses.”

She continued in a serious tone.

“Incarnation of Darkness, Kibie. It’s not as simple as you say.”

* * *

“We should judge carefully to let the world know their sins.”

“The Top Three are the rulers of the world.”

“If it becomes known that they have the power of the Goddess, there is a high possibility for them to increase their strength and influence.”

The High Priests said Kibie didn’t convince them.

“Why? It’s about setting the will of the Goddess right. Is there room for worldly power to be involved in this?”

Sermen answered calmly.

“You can’t expect everyone to judge the Goddess right. Isn’t that part of the free will that the six Goddesses gave us?”

Kibie was frustrated.

“Free will? At this rate, Latna will be destroyed!”

Kibie couldn’t understand.

It didn’t matter how sweet the world’s wealth and honor were if it fell.

Wasn’t it only possible to enjoy any of that wealth and honor if they were alive?

“And yet there are those who side with the best three?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Sermen shook her head.

“With all due respect, I must dare ask.”

She looked calm.

“When those heretics become new Gods and Goddesses, what happens to Latna?”

Kibie answered firmly.

“It’s impossible. It’s not something that mortals are allowed to be.”

“But they insist it’s possible. That’s why I’m asking.”

The Pope, Castalo II, followed by a question.

“What happens if you ‘assume’ that it’s possible?”

Kibie blinked her eyes.

If that’s possible, what happens to Latna?

What’s the matter?

“… Everything would be fine, right?”

Nothing changed as the spirituality of Darkness had found its place.

It was just the way the world was now.

“I suppose so.”

Saintess Sermen nodded, saying she knew it.

“Those who follow the Top Three believe that.”

Only then did Kibie realize what the problem was.

Human beings only saw what they wanted to see and heard what they wanted to hear.

If they fully trusted the Top Three, they didn’t have to believe that the world would collapse.

In other words, there was no reason not to betray the Goddess.

Furthermore, according to Gabe’s memory, the Top Three promised special rewards to those who followed them.

If they became deified, the faithful servants would also be blessed with new Gods and Goddesses.

“It’s a pretty good temptation for stupid people.”

Kibie’s complexion grew darker and darker.

“Umm…”

Meanwhile, Ryu Han-bin watched from the sides while pondering around his thoughts.

‘I see. I wondered why the concept of God in this place is so similar to the Earth yet so different…’

Han-bin might’ve found out the reason behind it.

The Earth’s concept of God was considered as an absolute and omnipotent being.

That was because they were ideological beings, and humans didn’t know whether they existed or not.

On the other hand, no one on the Latna continent doubted the existence of the six Goddesses.

They existed.

Maybe that was why?

Goddesses were arguably high-dimensional and transcendent, but they weren’t considered absolute and omnipotent like God was on Earth.

‘It’s like medieval times in sync with the God-king.’

Of course, it had a more solid position than that.

The Goddess must have had divine power.

Goddesses in Latna were somewhere between the God-king and real Gods.

That was how he perceived it.

‘That’s funny. If God exists, he won’t be treated like a god?’

Technically speaking, that was the truth behind how Latnains treated their deities.

Kibie was infuriated and asked Castalo II.

“Then what should I do? Does that mean you can’t punish them?”

“No way.”

The Pope shook his head firmly.

Punishing the Top Three was something they needed to be achieved.

There was no choice in that.

However, they had to choose the means and methods of doing that.

“To punish them, we have to follow the humane way.”

* * *

Upon welcoming the Darkness’s incarnation, the Church of Darkness immediately began to prepare to deal with the Top Three.

It might sound natural, but that preparation couldn’t be made overnight.

It was necessary to make thorough plans and gather enough forces.

Thanks to that, Han-bin’s party also had a few months of free time.

And Leon Hart had no intention of wasting that time.

“Ryu Han-bin, it’s best to improve your skills for now.”

“I’m going to do that anyway.”

There was a pressing need for time to properly grapple with the increased Aura due to the Sacred Heart of Darkness.

The swordsmanship of the Sword King had to be thoroughly mastered.

Now that he had the support of the Church, he could finally get enough support.

“I wish I had a good teacher to teach me how to use Aura. I’ve studied by myself so far.”

Although Effir was a good teacher, she was a Magic Swordsman.

Force and Aura might be similar in overall operation, but they differed significantly in detail.

There was no problem in martial arts, but there was a clear limit to her teaching him how to operate Aura.

“Don’t worry about that. I have something in mind, and…”

Boastfully, Leon Hart looked at Kibie.

“Kibie, you need to become stronger, too.”

“Huh? Me?”

Kibie blinked.

She thought she had enough power.

Leon Hart clicked his tongue.

“It’s hard to be an incarnation at that level these days.”

Aura users in level 80s would have been treated as powerful beings hundreds of years ago, but at the current time, they couldn’t even give out their business cards to anyone in the world.

Leon Hart’s eyes began to glow fiercely.

“Don’t worry. I have a lot of experience teaching my students, Hoohoo.”

“Whoa, your eyes are a little scary…”

Kibie took a backward step.

No, how hard do you want to train me?

“I’m Kybriel. She’s the Goddess you serve.”

“Aren’t you an incarnation?”

Well, Leon Hart didn’t seem to take it easy.

“You, too.”

Leon Hart’s blazing eyes turned to Artis and Effir as well.

“You should take care of the incarnation of the Goddess. However, what can you do with your soft power?”

The duo sweated without realizing it.

“Of course, if I could be stronger, there would be no reason to refuse…”

“I feel a little ominous…”