Hard Carry Support

Chapter 151 - Twist (3)

‘Louise… is she an Angel or a Demon?’

Hyun had never asked himself that question because he'd always been sure that Louise was an Angel.

In the event video, Louise had lost her crystal wings due to Deception.

He was so distracted by that video that he never thought of the other option.

'If that scene didn't exist...!'

Hyun recalled everything that had happened until then.

Hyun remembered their first meeting when Louise was locked inside the Twilight Temple. That temple belonged to the Heavens, so that meant that she was locked inside a temple of the Heavens.

Louise's body was covered with Demonic Energy in the video they showed after the update.

Louise had once said, "I'm not sure why, but it seems like most people think of me as a Demon."

But she wasn't aware that she was a Transcendent when they met on Iluna, right?

She'd lost her memories, so she didn't remember anything except for her name. No, maybe that wasn't her name.

'The job and the Demonic Energy…'

The crystal that was in the Abyss's Repository was an object that allowed you to find a target that had Demonic Energy, which meant that Louise's necklace had Demonic Energy.

'They're all related to a Demon!'

Not only that, but Louise's element was wind... She couldn't use lightning or ice, which were the elements of the Heavens.

He still remembered Louise with her arms wide open, covered by a strong current of Demonic Energy.

After going through his memories, he realized Louise had more in common with Demons than Angels.

The fact that Louise couldn't see the sun wasn't weird if Louise were part of the forces of 'Darkness.' Great Demons and underlings of Darkness often couldn't stand below the sun.

'Wait, then what were those Angel wings?'

In the footage he'd seen after clearing the evil's seed, Louise had clearly lost her wings and was screaming in pain—that's why he’d thought she was an Angel.

Hyun searched for the video that he'd saved in the capsule's memories.

He had more money, so he was able to save up all of his plays until that point.

He started from the part when the Great Demon of Deception placed her hands on top of Louise…

The moment Louise lost her crystal wings, she screamed in pain.

He thought Louise was screaming in pain because Keidrial was forcibly planting the seed of darkness inside her, but that time, he tried to see things from another point of view…

While thinking of Louise as a Demon.

Louise seemed to be about to cry while looking at Keidrial.

After a while, Hyun noticed something he hadn't done before.

'She isn't scared.'

He'd seen her more frequently, so he knew the expression she made when scared.

When Louise is scared of something, she became stiff. She didn't frown like that.

'Then… what's up with this situation?'

Just what happened in the Heavens? He felt frustrated because he couldn't see Louise's expression very well.

He wasn't getting any results, so Hyun closed the video.

'I'll have to follow the quest...'

Hyun looked at the quest window.

- Find the Runes of Darkness that are somewhere underground. The key to freeing Louise might be there.

The main quest always gave him hints about Louise.

Why was Louise with Deception?

Why did Louise have Angel wings?

Who was Rutia? The one who called herself Louise's guardian.

As the quest progressed, he would probably get all of the answers to those questions.

'For now, Louise... She seems closer to a Demon than an Angel.'

Ting-!

A new quest window was generated when Hyun concluded that.

Translator - Daniel Shin

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

Midnight in the Holy Kingdom…

The Pope's eyes widened after hearing the bishop’s report.

You wouldn’t believe he was old from his eyes alone.

"Is that true?"

"Yes."

"Hmm... Just at this moment..."

The Pope let out a sigh.

What the bishop said wasn't good news.

"We lost the Kaidan castle and a knight..."

"Yes..."

The Pope tried to calm down, but he couldn't relax because another person came running through the hallway.

"Pope...! We got another oracle!"

When he turned his face, he saw a high-ranking Priest wearing a robe that had a logo with three bolts of lightning on it.

He wasn't someone as important as the Pope or bishop to be in such a hurry at that hour.

But after seeing his expression and hearing the word 'oracle,' he knew something abnormal had happened.

"I… I'm sorry for my rudeness!"

You have to maintain your composure in a place where Angels are present. He realized his mistake and bowed his head.

But the Pope was more interested in the oracle than that, so he just waved his hand and asked him to continue.

"There was an oracle?"

"Yes."

"From who?"

Was it an oracle from Truth again? But the answer he received was totally unexpected.

"It's from Light."

"What?! Light?!"

"Yes. We all saw the sculpture of Light shining at the moment we received the oracle."

Truth, Light, Order…

Those three were the pillars of the Heavens.

But usually, save for Truth and the Angels under her, they weren't very interested in humans.

The only Archangel that really cared for humans was Truth—that's why the sculpture of Truth was always in the middle.

"To think that Light would give us an oracle..."

Since the beginning of time, Light had never descended, nor were there any records about Light in the myths and legends.

But Light had given them oracles a few times in the past… when the Darkness was about to appear.

The bishop’s face became pale.

"Light... Don't tell me, is Darkness getting closer...?"

Every person that belonged to the Heavens’ faction knew the story of the saintess that saved the world thousands of years prior.

The one that almost destroyed the Heavens at that time was Darkness.

Without the oracle from Light, the Great Demon of Darkness might have devoured the entire world.

And then…

The moment the Pope and the bishop heard the contents of the oracle, their hearts began beating faster.

"It's Darkness!"

The word 'Darkness' became stuck in the Pope’s head.

Light was only worried about Darkness.

If Light gave an oracle, that meant that the seed of Darkness was growing somewhere in the world!

The Pope kept reading the rest of the oracle with trembling hands.

The oracle of Light explained in detail the process of destruction.

First, it was the report of the Kaidan castle, and then it was an oracle from an Archangel. The Pope’s legs began shaking at the unexpected consecutive development of things.

"How could such hardships happen now…?"

"Pope, please calm down..!"

"How could I calm down? Darkness has appeared!"

"Light has given us the way to stop it!"

The Pope came back to his senses.

He realized that the expression of the high-ranking Priest still had some hope.

"A way to stop it?"

"Yes, although I haven't been able to decipher it completely..."

"Say it!"

As the bishop also was impatient, the high-ranking Priest read part of the oracle.

It was a part that was so clear that it didn't need any special clarification.

"Underground?"

Everyone present there knew that word didn't refer to simply ‘underground’.

After they heard the oracle again, color returned to the faces of the Pope and bishop.

"Yes. Hadn't we already planned to go underground? I heard that most of the preparations were done."

If the Holy Kingdom was preparing to invade the underground, that meant they were preparing for the appearance of Darkness.

After the high-ranking Priest finished his explanation, the Pope and the bishop looked at each other.

Didn't they lose the Kaidan castle? That was the starting point from where they were planning to go underground.

After the Pope finished thinking, he spoke.

"Is it too much to go underground right now?"

"Yes... We're lacking in terms of preparation. If we forcibly execute the plan, there will be lots of sacrifices."

The bishop shook his head at the Pope’s question.

They needed some time to prepare for a new base.

"No. We need to start moving right now. It will be too late when Darkness comes to the surface."

The bishop's shoulders shrugged at the Pope's firm affirmation.

Was he willing to sacrifice people? Although it was inevitable if they wanted to stop Darkness.

The bishop was thinking that when the Pope said something else.

"If we use users... Could we finish the preparations?"

"Yes? Users?"

The Pope thought of the strategy used by Truth.

She took advantage of the users’ ambitions and tilted the balance between the forces that hadn't changed for hundreds of years to their side.

Users weren't afraid of dying, and that meant that they could become a fearsome power for the Heavens.

"We must do everything we can."

"I know that..."

"To defeat Darkness, you must sometimes make decisions like this."

The Pope looked over the horizon.

It was about to become morning.

"Think of a way to use users."

On the surface, where the sun shone over, there wasn't a place for the Darkness to stand.

The Pope was determined to engrave that fact in history.

* * *

Ting-!

[You're looking back on the cause and effect!]

[You've fulfilled the condition, 'Trust'! (153 days ago)]

[You've fulfilled the condition 'Faction'! (19 days ago)]

[You've fulfilled the condition 'Realize'! (1 second ago)]

The moment Hyun realized that Louise could be a Demon, Hyun received numerous messages.

[A link with Darkness has been generated!]

[Unique Skill : 'Blessing of Darkness' has been generated!]

"Why are you staring off again?"

Hyun came back to his senses after a while.

It would have taken him more time if it weren't for Ain's voice.

"Huh...? Me?"

"Yes. You've been doing that frequently recently."

"It's nothing important. It's just that there were some things I had to think about..."

Hyun just realized something important regarding Louise.

They said that the second-generation AI was only used on beings like Archangels or Great Demons at the festival.

He understood why he felt such a desperate emotion while being chased by the sun on Iluna when he was «Assimilated» to Louise.

'Yes, it was Darkness...!'

The biggest piece of the puzzle was put together.

He'd believed that Louise was an Angel for a while, but in reality, she was the complete opposite.