Late at night not long before midnight…
There was a place giving off an even brighter light than the day. It was the Temple of the God of Death.
"I didn't expect you to come so quickly, Commander-nim."
The bishop looked calm but a thrill, sense of anticipation, anxiety, and other emotions were swirling inside his head.
Cale gently smiled at him.
'He's a decent person.'
The bishop in front of Cale seemed like a decent person based on the information crown prince Alberu had given him.
'Although he seeks power and fame… He is someone who properly completes his duties and maintains his foundation as a priest.'
The comments about the bishop were average.
< Someone who finds rules to be extremely important but looks at his personal benefits to be more important. However, he does have piety. >
Even someone who did not have any greed for power nor fame would start to have some once they rose to the position of running a kingdom's church.
The bishop in front of him had a balance of a decent level of piety against any greed for power and a decent level of goodness against his own desires.
"Bishop-nim."
"Yes, Commander-nim?"
The bishop's heart was beating quickly while looking at Cale, who had stealthily come to see him late in the night.
'It's obvious.'
The bishop could basically make out the relationship between Cale and the royal family, no, between Cale and the crown prince.
The information he gathered today helped him realize that the damage to the Royal Palace and the Duke's Estate was much greater than he had thought. No matter how hard they tried to keep quiet about it, this information will be sent throughout the kingdom and to both the Eastern and Western continents.
It was a misfortune that fell upon a kingdom that was seen as a future strong power.
'I'm certain that he will want to use the divine item to suppress the anxiety about the current situation and divert people's attention.'
That would be why the crown prince, whose reaction had not been so positive when they met, sent the Commander so easily to the temple.
'Either that, or this intelligent Commander personally stepped in to change the mood.'
The temple and the royal family… Cale and the bishop…
The fact that the two sides had some common ground in their thought process… The bishop could tell that was the case.
That was the reason he was waiting with anticipation as to what Cale would say.
It was a deal.
He wanted the upper hand in the deal.
"Bishop-nim, I will lay it all out for you."
The bishop easily held the corners of his lips from rising up.
'Lay it all out.'
What did that mean?
It was a shortcut to making a deal.
The bishop waited for Cale to speak and Cale responded immediately as if to meet his expectations.
Plop.
He pulled a black book out of his pocket and placed it on the table.
"I have already been hearing the words of the god."
"…Excuse me?"
The bishop became anxious.
"The god has requested a conversation and I have chatted with him as well."
"...."
The bishop was shocked, but did not react so stupidly again. He used his numerous years of experience to put on his poker face.
However, Cale had already seen the clueless look on his face.
Chh.
Cale reached his hand and slowly turned the pages of the black book.
"How do you think that I came so quickly from Puzzle City to the capital? Especially when my body is in such terrible condition?"
Chh. Chh.
The pages turned.
The bishop's gaze moved to the black book.
"…Huh?"
A clueless voice came out of his mouth once again.
"This is-"
He could not continue to speak.
This black book… He could feel something from it despite not thoroughly inspecting it.
The position of bishop was not something you could gain from political influence alone. Well, there were some people who did, but he was someone who could at least recognize this item.
Chh. Chh.
Cale had shown this book to Raon before coming here.
'Can you see it?'
'Yeah! Human, I can see these words too!'
The finger that had been flipping the pages stopped.
The bishop's eyes stopped on some words on a page.
< Huiss City >
"The god spoke of Huiss City, the Roan Kingdom's capital, and I came."
Cale had come to Huiss City and then the God of Death had written Huiss City in the black book. All these words did was to reveal Lee Soo Hyuk, or Sui Khan's location.
Of course, Cale simply changed the order of things to his benefit.
"Please, take a closer look."
Cale pushed the black book toward the bishop.
The bishop looked down at the black book without even being able to place his hand on the table.
A priest who was bestowed a small amount of healing power became a bishop and his healing powers still remained.
'This is definitely the power of our lord.'
The aura flowing out of this black book was definitely that of their god. So much aura of death was flowing out of it that he didn't even dare to touch it.
The bishop's eyes started to shake.
'Already-'
The Commander already had a connection to their god.
"Bishop-nim, I knew that the divine item had appeared even before I met you, and I am already aware of what it is and how to use it."
Lee Soo Hyuk had told Cale about the item right before he met the bishop and had shared more about how to use it just before Cale came here.
Either way, Cale did speak the truth.
'…Did our lord tell him about it?'
The bishop recalled Cale saying that he had chatted with their god and gulped. However, the inside of his mouth was dry.
'This-'
This was the real deal, something greater than power or politics.
'Yes, it is obvious if I think about it.'
A god had given a divine item and a Divine Oracle while directing it to a single person.
"Bishop-nim."
He heard a gentle voice. The bishop looked away from the book and at Cale.
Cale's voice was gentle but his gaze was cold, similar to death.
This person who had connected with their god looked at the bishop without an ounce of warmth in his eyes and spoke.
"Do not use it."
The bishop felt his heart sink.
He thought about every way he tried to use this divine item from the moment it appeared in a temple under his management.
The person who had connected with their god was saying that he knew all about the bishop's inner thoughts and to not do it.
The bishop raised his head at what he heard next.
"It will all naturally happen even if you don't do that."
The bishop's face reflected in Cale's dark brown eyes.
The bishop's focus was not on the Commander's gentle voice, but rather his cold gaze.
"Bishop-nim, whether death is fancy, sacred, or pitiful… Death will approach us no matter what and is always by our side."
The bishop couldn't avoid Cale's gaze that was looking right at him.
"That is why we fear it even if nobody talks about it."
'Mm.'
The bishop gulped.
Something we fear even if nobody talks about it.
Those words echoed in his mind.
"It seems as if the temple wants to have a grand ceremony to bestow the divine item."
The bishop quickly tried to respond to Cale. He had a feeling that he needed to say that it was a misunderstanding. Cale seemed to be getting bigger in front of him and was giving off the aura of someone great.
"That-"
"It's not bad. Such a ceremony that is."
The bishop sighed in relief at Cale's comment. Cale continued to speak while using the Dominating Aura.
"However, I do not think that this is the time for that right now. Please only quietly inform the Vatican. Then the news will spread on its own."
"That was my plan, sir. The kingdom's situation is not so good right now."
"That is correct, Bishop-nim. In return…"
The gentle smile disappeared from Cale's face.
The bishop felt even greater pressure from Cale. This was something he had not even felt from the Pope.
He had thought that he could be in the Pope's position when looking at the Pope, but this existence in front of him right now was something he could not even fathom, something he thought that he couldn't even think about reaching.
The bishop heard a cold voice.
"In return, please inform the Vatican of the following. Tell them not to go through any useless procedures for the divine item."
The bishop clenched his eyes shut.
The Vatican was not the type to not do useless procedures because they were told not to do so.
They would try to do something with the divine item and Cale the more the bishop tried not to do anything.
He heard a relaxed voice at that moment.
"This divine item is mine, is it not?"
This divine item could not be said to belong to the temple as it was bestowed only on Cale Henituse.
He was right about it being his.
It was his if they looked past the benefits of the temple and followed the will of their god.
'I don't think that the Pope will see it that way.'
The moment that thought was visible in the bishop's eyes…
"Bishop-nim."
Cale called out to him.
"I only want to work through you, bishop-nim."
"Ah."
Cale smiled and continued to speak as the bishop gasped.
"Then you should be able to earn everything you can earn even without using it, right?"
The bishop finally understood the feeling he got about Cale earlier.
The gentle voice and cold gaze…
'The Commander is similar to me. He also knows all of my inner thoughts. He is at a higher level than me.'
The bishop's face relaxed the moment he realized that.
"Commander-nim, there will be no instances of you being used."
A gentle voice came out of the bishop's mouth and Cale nodded his head.
There was only one thing you needed to show a person like the bishop.
'I am like you but I am at a higher level.'
The bishop looked at Cale, who could tell all of his inner thoughts, and answered honestly.
"However, I will use the situation."
Cale spoke again in a gentle voice.
"The god spoke to me."
The bishop sat up straight. He had never sat up so straight even in front of the Pope.
However, this was something someone who had spoken to their god and brought another divine item, potentially the lost divine item of the church, was saying.
No matter how greedy he was for power, he was a priest at the core.
The bishop, who believed that his desire to raise the Church of the God of Death to a higher level was because of his piety, waited for Cale to speak.
The words of their god reached the bishop's ears.
"The path you are walking is the path."
Of course, the God of Death never said anything like that to Cale.
"So walk that path without any hesitation."
He also never said that.
However, Cale wasn't worried about that.
'Didn't he bestow the divine item so that I can do as I please?'
In addition, although he knew it wasn't the God of Death's fault, the fact that he seemed to be doing things similar to what the God of Death wanted made Cale want to thoroughly use the God of Death.
'What the hell is that fool going to do about it?'
The God of Death apparently turned into 'that fool' in Cale's mind.
The bishop realized something from the message Cale just delivered.
'Something else is going to happen. The name of this Commander is going to rise even higher.'
The bishop was now full of anticipation.
One was anticipation at the fact that his own authority would rise the more Cale's name rose.
The other was…
'I'm curious.'
Not as the bishop, but as a priest of the God of Death, he was full of anticipation to see how bright the future of someone who has connected with their god would be.
It was possible that he was with someone who would be recorded in the history of the church.
"There will be nothing that hinders your path, Commander-nim."
The bishop was saying that he would make it so that neither he nor anybody within the church would get in Cale's way.
"That sounds great."
A relaxed smile appeared on Cale's face. It was the same for the bishop.
"But Commander-nim."
"Yes, Bishop-nim?"
"Are you perhaps the Sa-"
"No, Bishop-nim."
Cale sternly shook his head.
"I am not the Saint. I have neither healing powers nor devotion. I can only hear the god's voice every so often."
'…Isn't that what a Saint can do? You seem like an even greater Saint than most Saints. Doesn't that make you a prophet?'
The bishop had a lot of things he wanted to say but held himself back because Cale was coming off extremely stern.
'I'm sure I'll find out eventually.'
Of course, it was basically an established fact in his mind.
"Then may I go look at the divine item?"
"Yes, of course. It is secured on the altar as we could not touch it."
The bishop immediately escorted Cale to where the divine item was secured.
There wasn't a single person along the way. It was because the bishop had everybody empty out in advance.
– Human, there are people here and there!
Of course, there were hidden individuals on guard.
'He's good.'
Cale decided that he would thoroughly use this bishop, who seemed skilled at stealthily taking care of things, as he headed toward the center of the temple.
In an open white area…
There was an altar in the center of this area that seemed warm rather than holy or cold.
"Right here, sir."
The bishop pointed to the top of the altar.
"Here is the divine item and the parchment with the Divine Oracle."
Of the two pages of the parchment, Cale's eyes landed on the first phrase of the one written in Korean.
< Cale Henituse, look at this. >
'Haaaaa.'
Cale held back a sigh and ignored the parchment.
He turned his gaze toward the divine item instead.
"We tried to investigate it and find out its use while determining if it was dangerous, but… We couldn't even touch it..."
The bishop's voice trailed off.
A strong aura of death would appear whenever they tried to touch the divine item. They could not touch it because they were scared that they would die.
"…Commander-nim!"
The bishop called out to Cale in shock but Cale already had the divine item in his hand.
– Human, what is this mirror? It looks… a bit overly splendid.
Cale thought to himself while ignoring the invisible Raon's comments.
'What a funny god.'
Cale's hand moved. He knew how to use it as soon as he held the divine item in his hand.
Paat.
"My goodness, a light coming from the divine item!"
The bishop was unable to hide his shock and looked at Cale as if he was looking at a marvelous existence.
"You know how to use it, sir."
'Of course.'
"…I feel like I've always known how to use it."
"As I expected."
Cale looked at the divine item in his hand.
'It's a mirror.'
It was a mirror with an extremely fancy handle decorated in gold.
'He gave me something that looks like this on purpose. This damn bastard of a god.'
Cale's thoughts about this god were getting worse and worse.
"Oh oh, something is appearing! I don't know this language though-"
The mirror did not reflect Cale's face. The bishop knew that it was a divine item because it mysteriously did not reflect anything.
That divine item glowed as soon as Cale touched it and something was now appearing on it.
Cale knew of an item that had a similar appearance to this.
'It looks like a laptop or a tablet.'
An image that was similar to those appeared.
The wallpaper was some desolate black ground. Red lava was flowing through it.
Cale saw the only notification that was on the screen.
"I can read it."
That mysterious language was Korean.
"My goodness."
The bishop mumbled extremely quietly and could not hide his astonishment and admiration toward Cale.
Cale read the notification.
< Invitation for Dimension Travel >
There was an envelope-shaped icon and some writing underneath it.
< The Xiaolen World has sent an invitation. Xiaolen is a place with a long history... [See more details] >
< Will you read the invitation? >
There was something else at the bottom.
< PS. I heard from the God of Death. I heard that you like money? I will also give you money. How about a mine? >
'…Looks like I might be able to get along with this world?'
—
Translator's Comments
Ahh our first new world