Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 267



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Subject Here – Episode 267. The Will of Heaven is the Same on Earth (2)

The moment Isaac hatched a plan and decided to go to Lichtheim.

The situation was going much more extreme than Isaac had expected.

“The Emperor Baltsemer is excommunicated.”

The moment the celestial vicar, the man with the lamp-eye, the saint of the dawn, the Pope of the Code of Light, Horma Chmuel, solemnly declared, the atmosphere in the great conference room of the Holy See in Lichtheim, aka the ‘Holy See’, froze.

Originally, the Holy See had a large triangular table that could seat countless bishops, cardinals, and the pope, but now only the pope, two cardinals, and four secretaries in charge of keeping records were seated there.

When no one answered, Horma turned to the secretary who was recording the meeting. But before the secretary could move his pen to record the fact, Cardinal Juan spoke urgently.

“Your Holiness, I apologize, but please remember that Emperor Baltsemer is a man who is absolutely necessary for the great cause of the Millennium Kingdom.”

“Then you want me to watch that emperor manipulate the sacred cardinalate as he pleases?”

Horma said, pointing to an empty seat in the conference room with heavy eyes.

The Holy See, which decides on the most important matters of the church, must never be empty. Originally, Camille was supposed to sit in this seat, but after she became a monster, her name was not even mentioned.

And now the person most likely to take that seat was Bishop Katyn, whom the Emperor had strongly recommended and pushed for.

Juan did not like Catín as much as the Pope did.

The old hag who couldn’t be persuaded by money always looked at Juan with disgust. But compared to the nonsense Pope Horma was spouting now, she could have embraced Katin.

“Is there a law that says Bishop Katyn, who is supported by the Emperor, must sit in that position? Your Holiness? The candidate we recommended is also an excellent person. He is a priest who is not lacking in this position.”

Another cardinal, Rohen Otter, spoke calmly. Unlike Juan, he was a dignified priest with a lean body and a scholarly air. But Horma glared at him with a contemptuous gaze not much different from the one he had used to look at Juan.

“Do you take me for a fool, Cardinal Rohen? The candidate you have recommended is inferior to Bishop Katyn in every way, except that he is another of the Watchtower’s dwarfs. What on earth do you think Bishop Katyn’s character, learning, piety, respect, and good deeds are comparable to that of Bishop Katyn, and why do you recommend him?”

The Pope has used the entire Order of the Watchtowers, including the Horgelian Wandering Priests, in his own hands, because they are so useful. But apart from that, he has been reluctant to see them act like a small order within the Order.

Lohen did not tell Bishop Katyn that if he was so respectable, he should just appoint him a cardinal. That would not solve anything, and Bishop Katyn also did not like the council of sentinels.

Instead of getting angry at the Pope’s childish tantrum, he sighed.

“Would it be wise, then, to excommunicate the Emperor, who is bringing a hundred thousand imperial troops outside? If he is excommunicated, the Emperor will bring soldiers regardless of their faith.”

“There’s the Knights Templar! Just kill them all!”

Rohen muttered, looking at Horma.

“Are you a kid?”

Juan spoke hurriedly, astonished.

“The voice in my heart came out, Cardinal Rohen.”

“I made a mistake, Cardinal Juan. Your Holiness, I apologize for my rude remark. I will correct it. Are you a brat? First of all, because of the Dawn Army, most of the Paladins’ forces are on the border of the Black Empire, and if we clash with the Imperial Army now, it would be tantamount to giving up on the Dawn Army.”

Juan spoke cautiously, looking at Pope Horma’s distorted expression.

“That is correct, Your Holiness. A mere emperor cannot dare to oppose the power of heaven, but even if the emperor is burned with brilliant light, only ashes will remain. Other nobles may also apostatize for fear of the same fate.”

Horma knows too.

This was just an expression of his anger. But it was annoying that the cardinals kept refuting it even though they knew it.

To begin with, Rohen and the Watchers’ Council are the ones who stick to elitism within the religious order and play separately, and Juan is suspected of being an opportunist and colluding with the Emperor. If the balance of power seemed to be tilted toward the Emperor, he would quickly turn around and leave.

Then Juan spoke carefully.

“It would be better to appeal to the lighthouse keeper and ask for a judgment… .”

“That won’t do.”

The authority of angels is absolute decision-making power.

Subject Here – The reason the sect can wield such great power is because it relies on the authority of the angels, but it is also because the angels have rarely intervened in the sect’s affairs since the Treaty of Licht.

Horma could not involve an angel in such a serious matter. A single word from the lighthouse keeper would have ended everything beyond repair. He honestly had no confidence that he would win if he received a ‘fair trial’.

The cardinals also secretly sensed the Pope’s intentions, but they did not point them out.

Rohen sensed Horma’s anger and felt that he had sufficiently admonished her, so he offered some helpful advice.

“Then let us not excommunicate the emperor and make it irrevocable, but let us admonish him using those we still have.”

“Who is in our hands?”

“The Emperor wants to make Bishop Katyn a cardinal. Let’s strip Bishop Katyn of his candidacy. Let’s demote him to the rank of a common priest and order the Dawn Army to go on a campaign. It may be a difficult journey for the seventy-year-old, but it will be a glorious one.”

***

“Removing Bishop Katyn from his episcopal see and demoting him to an ordinary priest?”

Emperor Baltsemer opened his eyes wide as he received the letter from the Pope. The knight messenger who brought the letter tried to act calm, but he hesitated as the flames burning from the Emperor’s horn became hot enough to shake the tents of the barracks.

“And you immediately ordered the Dawn Army to go on an expedition? Bishop Katin is a warrior who has already fought in the Dawn Army twice! Even among the bishops, there are many who call him their teacher! Is this the doctrine by which the church treats saints?”

“Participating in the Dawn Army is a glorious ordeal and reward in itself… … .”

“Shut up!”

Baltzemer swung his fist and tried to strike the messenger, but was stopped by Dietrich’s hand, which was urgently grabbed from the side. The knight stood upright, sweating profusely, and waited to hear the emperor’s answer.

Dietrich winked at the paladin.

“You have received the imperial edict, so go back.”

“I must convey His Majesty the Emperor’s reply to His Holiness the Pope… … .”

“Tell him I heard you.”

It was not enough to answer, but the paladin quietly withdrew, feeling that if he answered one more time he would lose the opportunity to convey a message to the Pope.

The Emperor’s attitude alone was enough to report.

Baltzemer slammed his fist against the table, intending to strike the paladin. The table shattered into pieces and scattered in all directions.

“You have endured well, Your Majesty the Emperor.”

“… … .”

Of course, Dietrich was powerless to stop Waldsemmer’s brute force. His ability to stop Waldsemmer must have felt weaker than grabbing a puppy by the scruff of its neck.

It was Baltsemer’s self-control that stopped the punch.

“Where is Bishop Katyn?”

“He is still in the barracks. A separate messenger came to see him.”

She may have received ‘special’ advice, different from that given to the Emperor: not to act rashly. But the fact that the messenger came to the Emperor as well as Bishop Katyn from the beginning was a warning message in itself.

If it were the normal religious order personnel procedure, there would be no need to report to the Emperor.

The Pope, in an effort to restrain the Emperor, trampled on Katyn’s life’s work.

“under.”

The emperor kicked the barrack door open roughly and went out.

The white city of Saint Lichtheim came into view, shining under the bright sunlight.

The Imperial Army was lined up in front of them, ‘defending’. The soldiers still thought that the Orc horde was invading and defending the castle.

Lichtheim, which stands out in a wide plain without any high mountains around it, has a pyramid shape that gets higher towards the center. When the lighthouse keeper Luaddin first arrived on the continent after leaving the Holy Land, it was this city where he began to spread his teachings and preach in this land filled with ancient gods and barbarians. Since then, countless people have come to seek his teachings, and it has continued to this day.

Even after Ruaddin died and became an angel, his corpse continued to burn in the center of Lichtheim. That was the undying flame, the ‘Holy Flame’, that was now rising from the top tower of Lichtheim.

As time went by, the tower kept getting taller and taller, symbolizing the authority of the Order of the Light. As a result, it was now so tall that it was hard to look up at. However, the brightest and hottest part was only the tip of the chimney, and the bottom was extremely dark, which exactly matched the derogatory nickname of ‘the blind.’

The Marquis of Lyon approached him.

Subject Here – “What do you think, Dietrich, Delia?”

“Isn’t that what you expected?”

Delia Lyon said with her arms folded. She had expected the Pope not to step down easily. In fact, this was the most defensive move she had expected.

“I’m surprised you didn’t excommunicate me.”

“Then, a tribunal may be called… … That means the Pope is also scared.”

The three smiled like accomplices.

This made it clear that the Pope could not call upon angels at will, for there was no guarantee that they would be on their side. The fact that the Emperor was a Eucharist was just as disturbing to their confidence. It was clear that even the Council of the Watch was not convinced.

The Emperor looked at Lichtheim and opened his mouth.

“The time has come.”

***

Since the Treaty of Licht, heaven and earth have been separated. But not sufficiently separated.

Still, greedy and incompetent priests tried to interfere by pretending to be the gods, and shook the empire with their own secret doctrines. While the countless nations and monarchies of this land fought over a single sliver of power, the Church of the Code of Light simply sat there and looked down on them.

But now it’s different.

“The priests are too incompetent to uphold the will of the Code of Light. While the angels have been benevolently covering their incompetence, the Order has rotted away. Now is the time to cut out that rotten part.”

Although it was more sudden than planned, the Emperor looked relieved after saying those words.

It would be less disruptive to change the Pope before the war than during it. This was an unexpected opportunity that arose thanks to the activities of the Knights of the Grail and the sudden death of Bishop Camille.

The church is not as in control as it thinks it is.

There are many knights and priests who believe in the Code of Light but do not feel the need to be loyal to the corrupt upper echelons of the church. In the meantime, the demoting of Bishop Katin, who is respected even within the church, to a priest was a great self-destructive act by the Holy See. There will surely be an explosion of discontent.

I couldn’t miss this opportunity.

As the Emperor spoke, his entourage approached him. The Emperor slowly turned to them and declared:

“From now on, we will ‘escort’ Bishop Katyn to the Holy See. The Imperial Army must do everything in its power to ensure that the elections are held fairly and safely.”

Up to this point, this was the ‘official’ doctrine of the Imperial Army.

But from now on, it was a declaration that would be known only to those close to him.

“Immediately after the election of the Cardinal, I depose the corrupt Horma Khmuel. He is not our Pope, nor is he the representative who will bring glory to the Code of Light. I will remove the common man Horma Khmuel from the Holy See and initiate the process so that the Church can quickly elect a new Pope.”

Despite the shocking words heard, the reaction to Emperor Baltsemer’s declaration was diametrically opposed to what was happening in the Holy See.

All of the Emperor’s entourage were pounding their chests.

Duke Dietrich Brandt, Chairman of the Northern Alliance, Marquis Delia Lyon, Representative of the House of Nobles, Commander of the Imperial Knights Feltron, Commander of the Knights of the Esselhart Guards… … all shared a stern gaze and looked at Emperor Baltsemer.

Their eyes were burning with longing for a moment they had been desperately waiting for.

Baltzemer stood up together, his horn flame burning.

“Let’s go. It’s time to bring the blind hidden under the lamp into the light.”

The Emperor took out his spear and prepared to move. His entourage also began to move quickly.

The Emperor looked up at the eastern sky, suddenly remembering the one person who had helped him reach this point.

Without him, I would not have thought of drawing the kingdom of Elil and the furnace of the world.

Bishop Juan would not have become a cardinal, Cardinal Camille would not have died suddenly, and the secrets that would have caused the decline of the authority of the Church would not have been discovered. Above all, through him, the Emperor was able to raise the bar of what ‘human’ can achieve.

It showed that it was possible to reach heights that I thought I would never dare to challenge.

Heaven for God, earth for man.

‘But I can’t send even a single troop to the Grail Knights who are struggling in the east.’

The eastern part of the empire may already be under siege, but Isaac only wants to be safe. If you go to help him now, you will continue to be held back.

The emperor had no choice but to turn a blind eye to small things.

Only by gaining control of the Pope could the Empire become a unified force.

And that power was something only he could control.