Chapter 56
〖 Still too weak 〗Negary stood casually on top of the bone-filled grounds. Even now, he was still suppressing his strength, yet these people were unable to make him feel pressured at all.
There were only six people left to face him right now: the legendary adventurer, Chris Modo; the Cardinal of Divine Grace, Augustin; the Cardinal’s disciple, Luen Donner; the Knight of Divine Grace, Myerson; the Royas Last God squad captain, Smick Lancher; and the avenger, Jason Todd.
All six of these individuals had their own desirable personality characteristics and could be considered elites among humans, although Luen and Myerson were still a bit green.
〖 Your determinations are still far from enough 〗Negary commented. These people could be considered the top among the humans of this world, according to the intel he had gathered, the only one who could be above them was the man called Eldridge who ruled over Royas.
〖 If the top is merely this much, then my journey would not reach far 〗Negary sighed, after so many years of growth, he could already sense that barrier, the unbreakable obstacle. In the end, this was only a low-magic world.
〖 Then let me raise the stakes a bit! 〗Negary slowly declared: 〖 You must’ve already noticed, in Reystromia, most diseases do not exist. The reason for that is because most causes of these diseases are perfectly controlled in my hands 〗
〖 Every year, the merchants who came to Reya and stayed for a certain period of time would take with them some of Reya’s specialty, that is my blessing 〗Negary spoke with complete seriousness: 〖 Normally, these blessings stay dormant and are completely harmless to humans, in fact, they make it so that they are always healthy 〗
〖 But once I order them to become active again, they will regain their true forms as diseases and infect their hosts——– the merchants who wander this continent will become moving progenitors of diseases and spread the plague wherever they go 〗
〖 And there are currently six of you left. For each one of you that cannot satisfy my needs, I shall activate the germs within ten of these merchants. Trust me, this is more than enough to create a plague of disastrous proportions 〗
〖 Although this will cause my sources of food to dwindle greatly, that is perfectly fine, it is a trade-off that I can make. But what about you? Are you prepared to pay that price? 〗As Negary spoke, his glance fell onto Myerson, the Knight of Divine Grace, perhaps it was because he had just destroyed his comrade’s body, but he remained especially silent.
〖 Naturally, there is an option for you all to surrender yourselves to me and help me take control over more territory 〗Negary smiled: 〖 It was under my guidance that Reya grew to the prosperity it has today, those who live here would not be troubled by the majority of diseases, and the only thing they have to pay is a few sacrifices 〗
〖 Think about it, compared to the number of people who die from plagues and diseases each year, the sacrifices that I demand are significantly lower 〗Negary tempted them: 〖 Your very choice of attacking me was already the wrong decision 〗
“Spare us your deception” Chris was stunned for a while and remained silent until he spoke up again: “It is unfortunate that so many people die from diseases, but sacrificing people is surely nothing but wicked. Using good results to justify wicked acts might look good, but I whole-heartedly believe that this is nothing but an error, and I will never accept an error as anything else but that”
〖 If you disagree with it so much, then exert more of your potential and show me your determination! 〗Negary laughed, and pulled his gaze away from Myerson. He knew that the young man had already fallen into his trap without any hope of escape.
By taking Negary’s words into consideration by itself, it would seem to make sense, by paying a significantly smaller price they could eliminate the big problem of most diseases. But at the same time, Negary’s own influence would grow greatly. Perhaps most diseases would indeed be eliminated, but it would be at the cost of more disadvantages.
But Myerson wasn’t Chris, and he hadn’t been through nearly as much as the adventurer. Furthermore, the deep impression left from his childhood of the poor people of the slums being tortured by their diseases, in addition to the grievance of having to ‘kill’ his comrade’s corpse created a hole inside his mind. He suddenly felt that their actions of going against Negary itself was wrong.
〖 If you feel something is wrong, go and make it right yourself, child 〗a voice seemed to be coming from inside his mind, causing Myerson to blink in confusion: 〖 Just look, you were forced to fight a tough battle against the corpse alone, but the Cardinal never extended a helping hand, yet as soon as Luen was in danger, Augustin managed to help him with time to spare, this is the difference between a peasant and a noble 〗
〖 It was because of his birth that Luen could become Cardinal Augustin’s disciple, while no matter how hard I work, I would never be able to achieve my dreams. Until now, when I see a different path 〗
〖 Perhaps to other people, this path is an error, but to me, this is nothing but correct 〗such thoughts were sprouting nonstop in Myerson’s mind.
Although his status as a poor-born peasant made Myerson’s personality a bit deeper than others, no one could deny that he was a decent youth who wanted nothing but to do good things. Unfortunately, the one he faced was Negary, under the constant mental guidance of Negary’s will, what was originally some meaningless emotions were infinitely magnified and turned into the last straw that overwhelmed Myerson’s heart.
As Myerson raised his sword to use his Grace, he felt that all of his Grace had become dim without a single light, the corner of his lips raised up to form a self-deprecating smile: “So even the Lord had given up on me”
“Myerson, what are you thinking about? Hurry!” Luen was breathing heavily as he endured a headache and forcefully used his Grace of Salvation to purify the surrounding germs again. As the eldest son of the Donner family, the future heir of a noble family as well as a possible future high-ranking member of the Church, he was frightened by an Evil Spirit to the point of being unable to move. This shame could only be made up by defeating it.
Glancing at Luen, Myerson raised his knight’s sword and the germs in the air slowly gathered towards Myerson.
Augustin had been constantly using his Grace of Understanding and suddenly felt a clear ominous feeling encroaching his mind, truthfully, this feeling had already faintly existed since a while ago, but Negary’s presence was so overwhelming that this feeling was interfered with and drowned out.
It was only now that Augustin could clearly tell where this ominous feeling was coming from. As he turned around, he immediately saw Myerson gradually turning black as he raised his sword towards Luen’s neck.
Myerson’s gaze appeared to be hesitant, but more germs were constantly being poured into his body, magnifying Negary’s will and causing Myerson to become fallen even further. At the same time, due to using his Grace too much, Luen’s mind was a bit sluggish, unable to notice the danger coming from behind.
“Grace of Temperance!” Augustin used the Grace of Temperance again to restrain Myerson’s actions, then felt pain coming from his chest. A hand had pierced through and was holding his still-beating heart.
〖 Too much concern leads to mistakes, so you only amount to this much in the end, Cardinal Augustin 〗Negary appeared disappointed, although his faith was firm, he was still only human, and he had weaknesses.
“My Lord… Sacrifice…” Augustin spoke those words with great difficulty before he erupted in a blinding white light.