Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 475

De Gaulle was a priest who did small jobs at the temple. He cleaned the temple and went to bed as usual.

He always prayed to Anima, the god of fire and food, and he prayed tonight too.

That day, he felt unusually good after his prayer, as if something special was about to happen.

And that night, he had a very strange dream.

He dreamed of a giant with red skin, surrounded by fire.

It looked like a huge Orc, a monster race now only found in the southern mountains.

Even though it was a scary dream, he felt no fear.

A voice in the dream said, “Someone is causing trouble. We have no choice. You must do it. Even if it costs us something.”

He didn’t understand the words, but they filled him with strong emotion, and he cried.

He instinctively realized that the giant was Anima, the god he served.

The god looked different from what he expected, and this made him feel very emotional.

“Will you accept me?” the god asked.

As the god spoke again, a small red object, shaped like a hall, called Flamma, appeared.

How could he refuse?

De Gaulle nodded very hard, showing he accepted the god.

He hoped that the god would know how happy he was.

And then, he slowly reached out his hand towards the relic.

The moment De Gaulle finally held the relic, he screamed,

“Kraaah!”

He died in terrible pain, the worst he could ever imagine.

A moment later, a voice said,

“Not as strong as I hoped. Tch.”

De Gaulle rose from the bed with a bizarre voice.

“This body is too weak. Humans are weak…”

Crack! With a loud noise, his bones changed, and red energy burst out and covered his body.

Instead of the aged De Gaulle, a muscular giant nearly 2 meters tall appeared, with brown hair and shiny red skin.

Anima, now in De Gaulle’s body, looked at his new form. It was nothing like before. He tilted his head and looked up for a moment.

“It seems Adga came down earlier, but why can’t I feel him? Strange.”

As he spoke in a strong, young voice, a message came from far away, as if answering him.

[Anima, have you come to the temple?]

“Yes, Ayon. I will move the Holy Kingdom as planned and then join you.”

[I will be waiting.]

The apostle, who had finished talking with his friend who came down earlier, jumped off the roof and flew into the sky above the temple.

And then, he shouted,

[Listen to me! God’s will is here! Servants of God, obey his will!]

This powerful message, which all priests had to listen to, echoed across Noviens.

Anima’s voice echoed clearly in Ilia’s mind. She was sleeping lightly, worried.

She knew what this strong feeling meant.

“This is bad!”

This is the worst thing that could happen.

Even though she had stopped two people who might become apostles, now a real apostle had come to the temple.

‘Out of all the temples and priests in the world, why…?’

She sighed. But she had also been ready for this.

‘I can’t run away now.’

Ilia bit her lip and got out of bed, determined.

She always wore her robes, so she didn’t need to change.

‘Is this my end?’

She didn’t want to run. She just wanted to stop the apostle from taking over the temple.

She knew it was almost impossible to survive fighting a god.

‘I’m sorry I can’t help more, Your Majesty Logan. Please do your best for my sake, Lord Haman.’

However, she only felt a little regretful about the things she had not yet accomplished.

Sadness showed on her face, full of regret and apology.

‘I’m sorry, Lord Viktor.’

She remembered Viktor’s bright smile.

‘We won’t be able to meet again.’

She realized how deeply sad she was, without even knowing it before, and this surprised her.

Suddenly, someone shouted,

“Your Holiness! The apostle has come! All the priests of Anima are saying it’s true!”

These words should have made the Pope happy, but to her, they sounded like she was going to die.

But she had no other choice now.

Ilia hurriedly wiped away the tears and answered calmly.

“I understand. I’ll be out soon.”

“Yes, Your Holiness.”

Ilia slowly left her room, her steps heavy.

The apostle shouted,

“In God’s name, I say Logan McLain is God’s enemy! Destroy him and everything he has done!”

The apostle’s words sounded violent.

But before they felt fear, the priests were very confused by these words.

All the priests looked at Ilia as she came out of the temple. She was Ilia Gabon, the Pope and Saintess, the one who had called Logan McLain a hero from God.

“Your Holiness, what is going on!?” one priest asked.

“Please tell us. The apostle is saying one thing, and you said something different!” another priest pleaded.

“Your Holiness Pope!” another priest exclaimed.

People say that when an apostle comes, all priests must obey him completely and do what God wants.

So, the fact that the priests were asking Ilia, even after hearing the apostle, was unusual.

Austin, the former Pope and high priest of Anima, who could have become an apostle himself, looked at her most intensely.

“Your Holiness, what is going on?” Austin repeated.

Ilia closed her eyes, seeing the confused faces of the priests.

This was probably because they respected her so much, but the situation was too serious for her to feel good about that.

‘It’s a death that was already scheduled anyway. It’s just been brought forward a little.’

Now that it was happening, she would tell everyone the truth and die.

“The truth is…!”

But as Ilia began to speak, something unexpected happened.

[You are an enemy of Amun. Just do what I say. Then you will be saved,]

the apostle’s voice echoed only in her mind.

“!?”

Ilia’s eyes widened at the unexpected story.

What…? Forgiveness?

[Your mistakes will be judged in the coming war. So, do what I say. If you obey me, you can be saved too.]

Lies!

‘Salvation? No. It’s more like they are eating souls.’

Ilia was surprised. She didn’t mean to say bad things about the gods out loud. She knew some powerful people could read minds, like King Logan. She wondered if the gods could too. But the Apostle’s face stayed the same.

[What will you do? Will you burn here as someone against the gods, your soul on fire? Or will you do what I say?]

‘What is happening? Did he read my thoughts?’

It can’t be kindness. She knew how angry the gods could be. She was tired of their anger.

‘He can’t read my mind? Is it impossible for gods? No, that can’t be right. Maybe… is Amun’da’s soul inside me, changing me?’ Ilia thought about all the reasons. She tried to think quickly. Then she realized, ‘No matter why, this is my chance.’

He had felt Amun’da’s feelings. The gods were clearly very upset about what happened.

‘If they are so upset, maybe they are in a hurry?’ If so, it made sense why they didn’t punish her right away. If the Pope changed again quickly, the Holy War, or whatever it was, would be late. Thinking this, Ilia slowly got on her knees. She hated doing it, but she had to for now.

“I am sorry, Apostle,” Ilia said. “I made mistakes. I did not understand the gods’ wishes well. It is my fault. I will work hard for the Holy Temple.”

Ilia said words she didn’t mean. She tried hard to hide her real feelings.

‘You won’t get everything you want,’ she thought angrily. She thought she saw the Apostle smile coldly for a moment, far away. She pressed her teeth together and made a promise to herself.

[Good.]

“Ugh!”

Right after the Apostle spoke, she felt burning pain on her hand. It was the holy symbol, glowing brightly. She knew it well, but now it looked twisted and ugly on her hand.

– Because the new Pope will do what I want, I give her this new holy mark.

“Waaah!”

As the Apostle finished speaking, the priests watching Ilia cheered loudly. A Pope, the Saintess of one god, chosen by another god! It was something no one had ever seen before. They were so amazed that tears came to their eyes.

But the voice in Ilia’s head was not what the priests thought.

[If you don’t do what I say, your soul will burn in pain.]

[Remember. You are bad.]

[Only if you win the Holy War can you become good again.]

Damn gods, Ilia thought angrily, biting her lip hard.

– Listen!

The Apostle’s voice spoke again, loud enough for everyone to hear. All the priests looked up at the sky again.

– Tell everyone who follows the gods: Destroy Logan McLane and everything he has done. And especially, kill all of the ‘forsaken’ people. This is what the Nine Gods want!

The Apostle disappeared after saying these things. Everything changed right away.

– Not the Empire, but Logan McLane!

The Holy Army, ready to attack the Empire and the Cashel Magic Tower, now had a new place to go. But because the Apostle left so fast, there were problems.

“What are these ‘forsaken’ people?” one priest asked.

“Well,” another said, “they are people who are not touched by the gods’ power.”

“People like that exist?”

“Yes, sometimes. But now there are many more of them, especially in the east. They say there are a lot of them now…”

“So, we have to kill children?” a priest asked, sounding worried.

“……I guess so…” another priest mumbled.

“……I don’t feel good about this.”

“But it is God’s word.”

“Still, I’m not sure…”

The priests were not happy about the order to kill the ‘forsaken.’ Because of this, when Ilia started to find problems with the Holy Army and delay when they would leave, the priests didn’t argue as much as she thought they would.

“Excuse me? Again?” Austin asked, surprised.

“I heard the food is not good enough,” Ilia said. “We need to wait three more days until the food is ready.” As soon as she said that, Ilia felt terrible burning pain inside her.

‘Ugh, damn god…’ she thought, her face still calm. She remembered being destroyed and brought back to life. Even with the burning pain, Ilia kept her face calm.

“But, Your Holiness, the Apostle said…” Austin started to say.

“He didn’t say exactly when, did he?” Ilia asked back. “Isn’t that right?”

“……That’s true,” Austin agreed, stepping back, looking unsure. Ilia spoke strongly, “This is a Holy War. A very important war. So, shouldn’t we prepare very carefully?”

“……That’s right,” Austin said again.

“Then do it that way,” Ilia ordered.

“……Understood.” Austin nodded. “Oh, but should we tell everyone that Logan Wang is against the gods? People are already talking about it.”

“……No, keep that quiet too,” Ilia said quickly.

“Yes?” Austin asked, confused. “If people hear rumors, they will get ready,” Ilia explained. “It’s better if our enemies don’t know until the last moment.” Just then, the burning pain got much worse. Ilia’s face twisted in pain.

“Ugh!”

“Your Holiness! Are you alright?” Austin asked, worried.

“It’s nothing,” Ilia said, trying to smile. “Just tired.”

“……Ah, yes. Of course. You must be.”

“So, don’t tell anyone about Logan Wang yet. Okay?”

“Yes, understood.” Austin nodded, even though he felt something was strange. Hadn’t the Pope been marked by another god? Austin believed the Nine Gods were perfect and without mistakes, so he couldn’t understand more than that.

Ilia watched Austin leave, biting her lip again. ‘I can still find more reasons to delay the Holy War,’ she thought. ‘Food now, then weapons next, then the soldiers’ training…’ But she knew she couldn’t delay it for too long, maybe not even for a whole month. Even if she could stand the burning pain in her soul every time she went against the Apostle.

‘King Logan,’ she thought sadly, ‘I’m sorry. But this is all I can do.’ Hiding her dark secret inside, Ilia prayed to Logan with all her heart. Logan McLane, the Saint of McLane. She hoped he could somehow find a way to win.