The Bastard Swordsman Of The Imperial Guard [EN]: Chapter 188

[How can so much divine power gather in a single human? I can’t believe it….]

Whirring, whirring.

Saint began to vibrate more passionately than usual.

Seeing such an enormous reaction, Raelle couldn’t help but be concerned.

“Sorry, can you explain in more detail? What exactly is divine power?”

[Divine power is literally the power of God. It’s the power of God!]

“…I know that much. So, what can you do with divine power? Can I perform miracles now? Like, part the sea or feed 100 people with one loaf of bread?”

[No. Such miracles are impossible. But, divine power is the belief of the people. Now, you can achieve your own divinity, not just Gaia’s blessing.]

“My own divinity?”

[Divinity is the power that comes from believing in Gaia. The stronger your belief in Gaia, the stronger the divine power you can wield. But, you will be able to wield your own divine power! Do you really not know how amazing this is?]

Whirring, whirring, whirring.

Saint trembled violently, emitting divine power.

For a human to build their own divinity meant they were getting closer to God.

“Sorry, can’t you summarize that in one line?”

[…Your divine power will become stronger.]

“What. That’s it?”

Raelle shook his head.

In the end, it just meant his divine power would get a little stronger.

[That’s it?! Are you ignoring divine power?!]

“It’s not that. But, when I’m up against real monsters, my own strength is more important than divine power anyway. And now, all that’s left are real monsters.”

When facing Calliope, the reason Raelle could create an opening wasn’t because of divine power, but because of Reversal Heaven and the Heavenly Execution Sword.

The same goes for weakening Lucifer.

What devoured the demonic energy in Reine’s body wasn’t the divine power he possessed as a hero, but the power of Reversal Heaven.

‘It’s true that divine power has good compatibility with demonic energy… but I can’t defeat the Demon King with divine power alone.’

Even if water overcomes fire, you can’t extinguish a raging forest fire with a cup of water.

That’s the difference between humans and demons.

In the first place, demons are a combat race that can’t even be compared to humans.

The demonic energy they possess from birth is extremely poisonous to humans, and their combat abilities are incomparably stronger than humans.

Humans can only stand up to demons because they have the power of divine power.

‘So, the Heavenly Execution Sword Lord is a monster.’

The Heavenly Execution Sword Lord’s sword, which confronts the Demon King with swordsmanship alone, is all the more amazing because of that.

In order for Raelle to become stronger, he must awaken the 5th form of the Heavenly Execution Sword, Inverse Heaven.

[That’s nonsense! Unlike the divine power you borrow from Gaia, divine power is the power you possess. There’s no way it wouldn’t work against mere demons!]

“Is that so…?”

Swoosh.

Raelle gathered divine power in his hand.

And he pushed the divine power, which bloomed like a faint haze, into the sword.

Raelle narrowed his eyes as he looked at the sword energy blooming from the sword.

“But Saint, this seems weaker than divine power?”

[That’s because your divine power is still lacking. More people need to believe in the existence of the hero.]

“What… I feel like I’m becoming less and less human.”

Raelle sighed.

At this rate, even if the crisis on the continent disappeared, it seemed difficult to return to a normal life.

[Let’s go to the Pope right now! Statues of the hero Raelle must be made all over the Empire!]

“Don’t overdo it, Saint. Where do we have time for that right now?”

War could start as early as tomorrow.

In that situation, mobilizing people to make statues would only earn him criticism.

In the first place, if statues could make someone believe, the entire continent would have believed in the Gaia Order.

Belief requires action, not statues.

[I’m not overdoing it…! We need to gather divine power!]

“Okay. Wait. I need to go see Lucifer first.”

Lucifer, who was sealed in the Order.

He had to see that guy in person.

[Divine power is such a great power…]

Raelle ignored Saint’s muttering and headed to the Order’s headquarters.

*

The highest point of the Order’s headquarters is the Pope’s prayer room.

After crossing the long corridor, Raelle entered the prayer room for the first time in a while.

On both sides of the quite spacious room, countless prayers were engraved on the walls.

Among the statues and relics of Gaia on one side, he saw a familiar face.

“Raelle!”

“Cecilia. You were here.”

Raelle approached Cecilia, who was in the Pope’s prayer room.

In front of her, a huge crystal ball could be seen.

“I was injecting divine power into Lucifer’s seal. I have to keep an eye on it until the seal stabilizes.”

“This is Lucifer….”

Inside the crystal ball, which shone faintly with holy light, a demon was trapped.

Lucifer, with his horns sprouting from his head and his ornate wings, was sealed as if time had stopped, with a look of agony on his face.

Raelle carefully placed his hand on the crystal ball.

“I can still feel a faint demonic energy.”

“Yes. I’m constantly injecting divine power, so it will be fine soon. Thanks to that, I’m so exhausted that I can’t do anything else.”

Raelle looked at the prayers and relics around him.

They were not the main components of the seal, but rather things that assisted the seal.

The main component of sealing Lucifer was Cecilia’s holy magic.

“Is this seal also a type of holy magic that the Saintess has cast? I can feel a much stronger divine power than before.”

“Yes. Since Raelle became a hero… my divine power has also become stronger.”

“Really? That’s amazing.”

The Saintess and the Hero are originally one.

Could it be that the Saintess became stronger as the Hero appeared?

[There’s no such thing. Your divine power only gets stronger through faith.]

Whirring.

‘Then what’s the reason for the Saintess’s divine power getting stronger?’

[Who knows? Maybe her faith has become stronger. Your existence may have helped, so it’s not entirely wrong.]

“Hmm…”

Raelle nodded appropriately and stared intently at Lucifer.

In fact, it wasn’t that important that Cecilia’s divine power had become stronger.

What was important was Lucifer’s seal.

He checked with his own eyes to see if there were any problems, but there didn’t seem to be any.

‘But this seal itself is amazing.’

Even though Lucifer had been weakened by having his demonic energy taken away, he was still a Demon King.

He was not an existence that humans could easily seal.

‘If it’s holy magic that sealed Lucifer, can’t it also stop the Ghoul King?’

Suddenly, that thought occurred to him.

Raelle immediately asked Cecilia a question.

“Cecilia. Is there any holy magic among the holy spells that weakens evil?”

“Evil?”

“Yes. Holy magic that weakens the gathering of human evil.”

“If it’s that kind, you seem to be talking about purification… I think it’s important how strong that evil is.”

“How strong is it… um.”

It’s probably strong enough to turn the Empire upside down on its own.

There’s a high probability that it’s stronger than Lucifer before he was weakened.

‘I don’t think it’s going to work.’

The process of purification requires a lot of divine power.

At least, it would require more divine power than the evil you’re trying to purify.

Cecilia’s divine power, which is already exhausted from maintaining Lucifer’s seal, is not enough.

“Purifying the Ghoul King is not possible with divine power alone.”

At that time, Pope Chunma, who had been quietly praying, approached Raelle.

“…”

“Hero. Don’t look at me with that expression. I just want to help the Hero and the Saintess.”

“Tch, didn’t you say you didn’t know how to kill the Ghoul King?”

“Yes. That’s why I’m telling you. Purifying the Ghoul King is impossible with divine power. The Pope is an existence born from the process of creating divine power. Divine power is not effective against her.”

“What nonsense is that? You need divine power, but divine power doesn’t work, so are you saying we should believe in another god?”

Raelle asked, puzzled.

In the original story, the Ghoul King is defeated by the Hero and the Saintess together.

Lukas and Cecilia clearly used divine power in that process.

“That’s why she is an existence that the Ghoul King cannot touch. The easiest way is… to fight after the rampaging Ghoul King has exhausted some of her power. At that time, divine power will also be effective, and that’s why the Empire sealed her in District 5.”

“…”

Raelle frowned at the truth he knew.

It was Tia and the Heavenly Execution Sword Lord who cut down the Ghoul King’s power. And the humans in Districts 4 and 5.

Perhaps if it weren’t for their sacrifice, they wouldn’t have been able to catch the Ghoul King in the original story either.

‘But I can’t let the Ghoul King rampage now. So, I need another way….’

[Statues! Make statues! If your divine power increases, you can do things like that!]

Whirring.

At that moment, Saint began to tremble.

Saint seemed to feel that this was an opportunity and began to emit divine power.

“Raelle. Saint is trembling.”

“This is… haa. It’s like this sometimes.”

The crazy scrap metal is acting up again.

But, what he said wasn’t entirely wrong either.

There’s no reason not to use a method that can increase his power.

‘Asking them to make statues is a bit much… but I can tell the Order people to spread the word.’

He couldn’t bear the shame of having his statues erected all over the continent.

Besides, Raelle didn’t think that people would believe in the Hero because of statues.

Divine power would naturally increase as he fought demons.

“Tch. I wasn’t going to say it, but… Pope. Come over here.”

“Yes. Hero.”

Chunma carefully approached Raelle.

Seeing him talking to the ego sword, Saint, he felt respect for the Hero rising within him.

“Is there anything you feel when you see this power?”

Swoosh.

Raelle raised divine power on his hand.

“Ah, ah… this is…?”

Chunma closed his eyes without realizing it.

After he became Pope, the first time he felt he had reached Gaia.

When he completely entrusted himself to Gaia.

It was that warm light that he felt then.

“The holy sword Saint says this is divine power.”

“Divine power….”

That was truly the perfect name for that warm light.

If what emits such light is not the power of God, then Chunma would deny everything he had done so far.

“The Order’s help is needed to increase this power. The more people who believe in the Hero, the more divine power increases, so please pass that on to the branches. Tell them to say even one more word about the Hero during prayer time.”

“Ah…”

Thud.

Chunma knelt down as he was.

Cecilia was surprised to see Chunma suddenly kneeling, but Chunma didn’t care.

“What is the Hero’s goal? What do you want with that power?”

Raelle blinked as he looked at Chunma, who had suddenly knelt down.

However, seeing his serious expression, he answered.

“Didn’t I say it? It’s to protect my precious people. For that, I have to kill the demons.”

Raelle’s goal was always one.

To protect his home.

To do that, he had to destroy the threat itself.

“…If that is the Hero’s will. I will gladly follow it. Gaia-men.”

Chunma bowed his head and prayed to Gaia.

He remembered the words he had heard from the holy knights who fought for Lucifer’s seal.

‘I felt hope from the Hero.’

Perhaps that is the power of divine power.

It was Chunma’s job to help that.

‘No matter what I have to do, I have to use all the power of the Gaia Order to help the Hero.’

What is the most helpful way for the Hero?

Chunma fell into deep thought.

*

After leaving the Pope’s prayer room.

Cecilia smiled faintly as she remembered what had just happened.

“I was surprised that His Holiness the Pope suddenly knelt down.”

“You can say that again.”

Raelle also nodded.

No matter how much of a fanatic Chunma was, there were times when he was too much.

[Raelle, you don’t know the greatness of divine power. Pope Chunma, he may be immersed in wrong teachings, but he is a great being as a religious person.]

‘Shut up. I told the Pope as you said.’

Since he told the Pope directly, he would at least contact the Order’s branches.

Raelle was satisfied with that much.

“The Ghoul King… a monster created in the Holy Land. That person is also a victim of the Gaia Order.”

He had explained to Cecilia about the Ghoul King to some extent.

Before becoming a Saintess, she was a priest who was active in District 4, so she knew about the Special Guard [a division within the Order dedicated to containing threats].

“Yes. Preventing the Ghoul King from rampaging is also my goal.”

“…I see. I will definitely help too. Raelle.”

“I appreciate your thoughts.”

Saintess Cecilia no longer had any reason to go to the lower districts, but her heart was still the same.

He was grateful that she said she would help even though it wasn’t her job.

“It’s not my job. Raelle’s work is the same as my work.”

Cecilia smiled.

She remembered what Raelle had said to the Pope in the Pope’s prayer room.

‘You have to protect your precious people, Raelle….’

Cecilia strengthened her will as she thought of Raelle’s words.

Who would be the precious people to the Hero of the Gaia Order?

Of course, it’s the Saintess.

Since she heard those words in front of her, she had to work harder too.

“I’m thinking of going to the training ground, what are you going to do, Cecilia?”

“I’m going to go to the prayer room and pray to Gaia. For even stronger divine power…! It was nice meeting you today. Raelle. I’ll come back with even brighter divine power next time.”

Cecilia nodded with determination.

After giving a light greeting, Cecilia turned around with a determined face.

“Why is Cecilia like that again? Anyone would think she’s going to war.”

Raelle, who was watching her back, blinked and muttered to himself.

[She also felt the holiness of divine power, and a proper Saintess can’t help but be moved by that power. As expected, the Saintess is also a great religious person.]

“Is that so?”

Well, Cecilia has always been sensitive to divine power.

Raelle nodded and walked to the training ground.