Chapter 286 - Nephram (5)

Chapter 286 - Nephram (5)

According to Hoosler, only a small number of people could be chosen by the Demon God as Messiahs.

Since they could physically tolerate having just as much demonic energy as demonic creatures, that meant Messiahs had the power to control most demonic creatures.

‘So that’s how he used Klever to speak to me back then.’

Henry only then realized that the voice inside the Chest belonged to the Messiah.

But that was the extent of the Messiah’s abilities. One was born to be a Messiah, so they didn’t start from the bottom like other believers. Thus, they were blessed with the ability to communicate with the Demon God and had enough demonic energy to control the demonic beasts, but that was the pitiful extent to their abilities.

On the other hand, the leader of the Nephrams was different.

Listening to his story, Henry learned that Hoosler had originally been an intermediate Warlock serving an intermediate demon. However, when the Church of Peace hunted down all the Nephrams, the Pope spared one single cowardly Warlock to look for the Messiah—Hoosler.

‘That explains why Hoosler is so pitiful and cowardly.’

In any case, ever since his life had been spared, Hoosler had been helping the Messiah slowly work toward summoning a new Demon King into the world, and the Pope had been secretly supporting them all this time.

As Henry was listening to all of this, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind.

“Wait a minute... Then is the Pope also a Warlock?”

“Sorry? What do you mean?”

“No, wait, let me rephrase it. Did the Pope steal some of the Warlock's powers by keeping you guys alive?”

“N-no... No matter how ambitious Ross is, I’ve always known him as a devout follower of Irene...”

“Really?”

Hoosler had nothing more to lose, and he was at Henry’s mercy, so Henry didn’t think he was lying. However, if the Pope was indeed a loyal follower of Irene, why had the Shalka’s needle pointed to the moon when he had used it?

‘I need to figure out what’s going on when I get back.’

Regardless of anything, the Pope had to be brought before a court, and Henry would save his questions for when that time came.

“Hoosler, then everything here—the poison, the magic barrier, the skeletons, the Death Knights—all of this must’ve been your work, right?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Being the coward that he was, Hoosler feigned ignorance as though he didn’t want to further upset Henry with the facts. ReAd latest chapters at n0v(e)lbin.co/m Only

However, Henry insisted on his interrogation.

“There’s no point in lying to me. If what you’ve been saying is true, the Messiah couldn’t have created all those things, which means you came up with all those traps in order to protect him. Am I wrong?”

“...”

Henry’s explanation was spot on, so Hoosler could no longer deny the facts. Having been an active intermediate Warlock, Hoosler had been forced to grow stronger in order to find ways to protect the Messiah, who spent most of his time sleeping, completely vulnerable to all kinds of threats.

Henry wasn’t trying to condemn Hoosler. He was giving him another chance by acknowledging his hard work and dedication to become stronger.

“The creation of Death Knights, huh... You’re not even a necromancer, and yet you’ve managed to create such things. Isn’t that right, Hoosler?”

“Y-yes...”

“Heh, it didn’t cross my mind that that’s what the Pope meant by cycle of life and death. All right, Hoosler, I have a job for you.”

“A-a job?”

“That’s right.”

Just after Henry mentioned the creation of Death Knights, Hector cried at the top of his lungs.

“Squawk! Squawk!”

***

“So that’s what happened.”

“That’s right. Sir Palo, we must deal with him right away.”

“With whom again?”

“Who else? That bastard Henry!”

He gripped the dagger in his pocket tightly and thought to himself, ‘That’s right, I haven’t been neglecting my duties, and with the effects of the elixir I’ve been drinking, I should be able to take care of this soldier by myself...!’

But the closer the soldier got, the more anxious Caughall became.

‘Wait, but what if he’s not a deserter? If you follow this path straight ahead, it leads to our estate, and our family head and commander Barren are also there, so if he reaches our estate, he won’t be able to do anything. Just who is this guy?’

Caughall noticed that the soldier’s appearance was quite shabby, which was why he thought the soldier was either a deserter or a straggler. However, as he thought about it more, Caughall managed to convince himself that the soldier wouldn’t be able to do anything even if he had bad intentions.

Moreover, he realized that it would be beneficial if he went ahead and asked the soldier some questions.

‘Maybe he’s here to tell me I’ve been drafted...’

Given the current situation, that was definitely a possibility. If that soldier was indeed here to serve him an imperial draft order, Caughall would pack up right away and flee the estate in a heartbeat.

No matter how much he had trained and how many elixirs he had drunk, Caughall hated the idea of risking his life in some imperial war.

Having his mind finally made up, Caughall emerged from the bushes and called out to the soldier approaching the estate.

“Hey!”

The soldier was surprised when he spotted Caughall.

***

“Sorry? An obituary?”

“Tha-that’s right.”

It turned out that this soldier had come from the Caliburn Fortress to inform him that Henry was dead. He handed Caughall the obituary and a box filled with consolation money.

As he took the obituary, Caughall’s face went blank.

“I can’t believe Young Master is dead...”

“Officer Henry was a great soldier, but he tragically died trying to contain the recent outbreak of demonic beasts.”

The soldier continued to explain everything even though Caughall looked completely dazed. When he finally said everything he had to say, the soldier removed his helmet, gave a salute, and slowly walked away in the direction he had come from.

“I can’t believe it...!”

Caughall ran straight toward the estate in disbelief to deliver the news of the death of Young Master Henry.

***

“That should do it.”

Henry watched Caughall from a distance as he was running toward the estate. He also saw the shabby-looking soldier walking away from Caughall.

After a while, the soldier stopped in front of Henry.

“I’ve delivered the obituary and consolation money just like you told me to.”

“Good work.”

Snap!

The soldier had carried out his task perfectly, so Henry snapped his fingers, causing his appearance to distort and turn into that of an old man.

The soldier was none other than Hoosler.

Henry had disguised Hoosler as a soldier from Caliburn Fortress to deliver his obituary to the Morris family so that Baron Hans would think he was dead. He thought that since he didn’t intend to restore the relationship with Hans anyway, it was better to put an end to it and not make Hans wait endlessly.

Of course, this fake obituary would crush Hans’ heart at first, but Henry didn’t think that he and Mrs. Morris would grieve that much for him. If their son, their actual son, was still with them, they would’ve treated him like an animal, leaving him behind and neglecting him until the day they died.

‘This should do it.’

Of course, Henry had a bit of sympathy for them, but he decided not to let it bother him.

“Let’s get going, Hoosler.”

“Y-yes!”

Having cut ties with his forgotten family for good, Henry cast Teleportation.

Flash!