The Protagonists of the Novel Escaped

I’m planning to boom the envoy from the Holy Kingdom along with the Valtarian Imperial Palace in an explosion.

It was clearly bluster.

They must be trying to make me back down like this.

They’ve taken the Holy King and the candidate Saintesses hostage. It was a rotten method suited for a disciple worshipping the Disaster God of War.

Gael gritted her teeth and glared at Edanant.

“Are you really thinking of blowing up the Valtarian Imperial Palace like this? If a massive explosion occurs, the humans residing in the Palace, including those from the Holy Kingdom, will suffer countless casualties…”

Unless it’s just bravado.

What if he actually means it?

The Earth Mother Gael is a benevolent Goddess who truly loves all her believers.

So she couldn’t help but feel terrified by Edanant’s threats of mass destruction.

“Do I look like I’m just joking around?”

Click.

Edanant raised the trigger and spoke.

Then Gael screamed internally and stepped back.

“W-wait…! Are you really going to blow it up?!”

“Of course. When I think about the humiliation you put me through today… I want to pull the trigger immediately.”

The standoff between Gael and Edanant felt like watching a terrorist and a negotiator.

He’s going to blow it up.
Please, reconsider.

A tense situation unfolded in the silent courtyard of the Palace. No one dared to guess that the Apostle of the Disaster God and the avatar of the Earth Mother were on the brink of disaster.

“Lierre is great!”

“Stop!”

Gael instinctively screamed as she imagined the candidate Saintesses blossoming beautifully like jewels, horrifically sacrificed.

No way.
I can’t let my children be sacrificed…!

Even if it’s for a greater cause, sacrificing beloved believers was unacceptable. I would gladly sacrifice any external pests from the Disaster God.

‘That bastard…! With that look in his eyes, he’s serious! He really plans to blow up the Valtarian Imperial Palace!’

His golden eyes were oozing dangerous madness.

It’s serious.
He truly intends to self-destruct.

Click.

The trigger made a chilling metallic sound.

He partially pressed it.
Just a bit more, and the high explosives wrapped around him would bang!

This isn’t exaggeration or bluster.
Gael gasped for breath under the pressure of a hostage crisis determined to decide the fate of countless lives.

“Why did you choose me as the hero? Speak honestly.”

“Th-that’s…”

“When I first heard the Oracle, I thought it might be a plan for mutual destruction with the Saintess Party… but later, I thought something was off. If you truly aimed for mutual destruction, you would have already exposed that the Saintess Party is trying to resurrect the Disaster of Death to the kings of various nations.”

“…….”

It doesn’t add up.

If you aimed for mutual destruction with the Disaster God of War and the Saintess Party, it seemed too clumsy.

What’s the real plan?
Gael pondered, recalling the Oracle proclaimed by Holy King Boerun.

The doubts she had been thinking about were proven true as Gael, bombarded with questions, swallowed.

The only God sensed the Apostle of the Disaster God’s inner thoughts, showing a trembling rage at her words.

“Mutual destruction? I would never sacrifice Beatrice!”

“…….”

“My aim is singular. I intend to use you—a foreign substance that has flowed in—to prevent the world’s end. Then I should be able to save Beatrice.”

“…That’s a child’s reasoning.”

Could it be a common trait of the deities belonging to the Creator Deity?
Gael genuinely loved her believers existing in the mortal realm, just like Broyan cherished his creations, Luinongs, like treasures.

But boundless affection always leads to tragedy.
Just as Broyan, through excessive overprotection, locked the Luinongs in Paradise, Gael sought to constantly intervene in the mortal realm to save the believers of the Holy Kingdom, elevating her status as the one true God.

‘If Lierre were from the same generation, she would have lived for thousands of years… but her mental age is merely that of a high school girl. How could she have driven all deities out and taken the throne of the One True God?’

There wasn’t a hint of divine majesty.
The Earth Mother Gael evoked the image of a girl with her head filled with flowers.

Could it be that the author of “The Young Lady of White Blessings” created Gael as their persona? They say it’s common for authors to infuse their traits into their works.

*

The Alliance Conference concluded safely.
The Oracle of the Earth Mother was quickly spread by the kings of the various nations as they left the conference hall.

A new hero of the Holy Kingdom was born.
Before long, the Demon King of Death will resurrect from the cursed land.

The crowd that received the Oracle recalled the fear wielded by the Demon King and vomited in terror.

And they began to exhibit anticipation while elevating the new hero who shrank from the Demon King as a great hero.

“Lord Edanant is the hero of the Valtarian Empire who defeated all the Apostles of the Disaster God, right? Surely, he will also prevent the resurrection of the Demon King!”

“The Earth Mother said so, so it must be true!”

Kings from various nations gathered on the outdoor terrace of the Palace praised Edanant.
He had defeated Meiros and rescued the Platinum Princess.
He protected the Imperial City of the Valtarian Empire from the Apostles of the Disaster God.

Edanant’s achievements thus far sufficiently demonstrated his noble qualities as a hero. Hence, the kings felt overly confident as they praised his accomplishments.

‘Little do they know…!’

If it were any other time, she would have nodded along with the praise for Edanant, feeling a sense of vicarious satisfaction.

But this time it was different.

Ludmilla, leaning against the balcony and watching, grimaced in displeasure.

She foresaw the catastrophe brought about by the Oracle of the Earth Mother.

‘Edanant and the Saintess Party are destined for a sharp-edged future where they’ll be at odds with each other. The mastermind behind trying to resurrect the Disaster God of Death… is the Saintess Party itself.’

She had heard from Edanant about the suddenly missing Saintess Party trying to resurrect the Disaster God of Death in the demon realm. Though she hadn’t heard the specific reasons for it.

Edanant, appointed as the hero of the Holy Kingdom.
The Saintess Party, who seeks to bring back the Disaster God of Death whom they had exterminated.

They must kill each other.

With the Oracle of the One True God decreeing it, it became an unavoidable fate.

The holy One True God surely knew that Edanant was serving the Disaster God of War.

Of course, they knew.

That’s precisely why they delivered such a cruel Oracle.

It was a scheme to deal with both the Disaster God of War and the Disaster God of Death.

Ludmilla deeply cursed the cruelty of the One True God, who was determined to make Edanant a sacrificial lamb.

‘Even if he has to fight Maximilian… Edanant would surely bear the curse of fratricide. Covered in the fresh blood of his comrades.’

Why?

Why must Edanant bear the curse of the God?

I don’t understand.

No matter how much I think about it, I can’t grasp the faithful intentions of the One True God.

Edanant, who desperately fought against the brutal cultists to save countless crowds, deserved blessings—not curses!

However, the benevolent One True God, for some reason, poured down nothing but dreadful curses, as if refusing to allow even a shred of happiness.

It’s absurd.

What greater injustice could there be?

Edanant, who should have been happy for being recognized for his good deeds, was the opposite.

Ludmilla felt her heart gradually sinking into a dark hatred.

Yet still, she couldn’t stop hating the Earth Mother, who forced her beloved to bear the curse.

“…Lowly insects.”

The dark hatred soon flowed out as a chilling voice.

Hatred and contempt.

Arrogance that looks down upon all beings except for herself.

Gathered at the Palace, the crowd merely rejoiced, having no idea of the intricate situations, praising the Earth Mother, and congratulating the selection of a new hero made her blood boil.

She felt bile rise when seeing the kings, leisurely toasting and dreaming of rosy futures.

-Endlessly scorn them. Endlessly hate and loathe them.

A voice echoed.

It was the same voice she had heard when she was chosen by the Red Dragon.

But something was different.

The respectful and noble voice of the Red Dragon transformed into loathsome anger.

No—

It couldn’t be that it had changed.

It was merely the disaster that had fallen from the Earth Mother’s puppet returning to its original form.

“…!”

She felt the splitting headache penetrating her skull and the nausea twisting her insides.

Her head was spinning.

She felt as if she could collapse any moment, and her steps were wavering.

In response, Ludmilla rushed into the dressing room, as if chased by something, and slammed the door shut.

“What the hell…?”

Breathing heavily, Ludmilla raised her head.

At that moment, she glimpsed her own reflection in the mirror of the dressing room.

Her eyes were blackened.

Her pupils sparkled red, like fresh blood.

The transformation Edanant experienced after channeling the status of the Disaster God floated before her eyes.

Staring at her eyes, now turned black, Ludmilla trembled her lips, seemingly at a loss for words.

-At last, I’ve been freed from that damned curse. It must be thanks to the continuous contact with Lierre.

The reflection of Ludmilla vanished from the mirror.

In its place appeared a hideous monster surrounded by crimson scales.

Nine eyes.

A grotesquely split mouth on both sides.

The monster even had three heads hanging ominously.

There was no trace left of the noble guardian dragon representing the Valtarian Empire. The Red Dragon, freed from the One True God’s curse, showed its true ugly form.

“Disappear…! Now!”

Ludmilla slammed the mirror.

As the horrifying visage vanished, her previously blackened eyes returned to their original state.

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