Episode 1044
Chapter 249: The First Sortie of the Pluto Clan (11)
Preparing for the worst, Kaio gathered the three fallen priests. Holding all three with one hand, they looked like rabbits caught by a hunter.
Half of the solar orb, now in its solid form, was kept separately.
“If this is nonsense, it won’t be any fun, follower of the Solar Faith.”
“Of course not. I was quite a devoted believer… or rather, I was. That’s why, even though I wasn’t resurrected by grace, I was allowed to stay here in the First Temple. The priestess granted me considerable authority.”
“You were given so much power just for being ‘devoted’? If that’s true, your Solar Faith must be a pretty sloppy organization. You betrayed them so easily.”
The priest lowered his head in embarrassment.
“Once a non-combat priest like me enters the temple, it’s believed we won’t leave until the Solar God’s return… I truly believed that myself. Above all, the priestess emphasized the importance of ordinary believers like me, not the dead.”
“So the faith of the living is somehow tied to the Solar God’s resurrection.”
“Exactly, Ban. Outside the First Temple, especially in the Third and Fourth Temples, there are many ordinary believers like me.”
“I’ll offer them the same terms as you. Priestess Sanna—is she the leader of your faith?”
“No, she isn’t. The Solar Faith has no single leader. We worship only the Solar God. But compared to other religions, the priestess did act as a sort of leader. She heard the god’s voice and relayed it to us.”
“What kind of messages?”
“Laws that followers must observe… or the locations where the Solar God’s flesh sleeps. Then the high priests and combat priests secure those places. The sacred relic you’re holding now was obtained that way.”
They were gathering pieces of the dead Solar God’s flesh to resurrect him.
That was the method the Solar Faith chose to bring back Kinzello, the Solar God. That’s why the priestess had urged various factions to wreak havoc—to find those pieces.
“Do you know how many pieces have been collected?”
“I’m not sure. But recently, there was a major change within the faith. I only know that the priestess and the high priest received an important revelation from the Solar God regarding a certain living weapon they secured…”
Ban stopped walking. The phrase ‘living weapon’ was clear.
“The left arm of Temar… right?”
When rescuing Eltiot, Jin had confirmed the existence of Temar’s left arm and the golem made from it—the Temar Biment—in the underworld of Meisil.
The Solar Faith currently possessed both the Airan Biment and the Temar Biment, and Ban was aware of this.
A friend.
To Ban, Temar was practically his only companion. Though he had died a thousand years ago, his friend still hadn’t found peace—being used and tormented by enemies.
“Temar, the Solar God’s will has shown great interest in him regarding the resurrection. Considering Temar’s uniqueness, it makes sense. It was even predicted right after Eltiot’s ancestor was rescued.”
Ban nodded, calming his anger. The priest, glancing nervously at her and the Twin Kings, led the way toward the Second Temple.
“Ah, thankfully it’s not destroyed!”
There was an underground entrance in the temple’s southeast. The thick iron door was so dented from battle it was barely recognizable, but the teleportation device inside still glowed brightly. It was a teleportation device exclusive to the Solar Faith temples, existing in the interdimensional space.
The priest lightly tapped the device with his staff, and a brilliant white dimensional gate opened—leading to the Second Temple.
The Pluto Clan boldly stepped through the gate again. After a flash of light, they found themselves facing the same scene as in the First Temple—but this time, nearly everything in the Second Temple was burning.
A battle had already taken place.
The priest stared helplessly at the flames engulfing the temple, while the Pluto Clan quickly assessed the situation.
Especially Ban—upon arrival, she felt a familiar yet strange energy, her eyes widening as she shouted:
“Temar!”
The familiarity came from sensing Temar’s power, the strangeness from the Solar God’s power mixed in.
A fusion.
Ban immediately realized what had happened. A monstrous being, formed by the fusion of Temar’s left arm and the solar orb, was destroying the Second Temple.
“Ugh…!”
Ban, focusing on that energy, suddenly clutched her chest in pain.
“Twin Kings!”
“Are you alright?”
After battling Nirgan and Luke, the remaining solar orb was seeping into Ban like poison. She was aware but had judged it not to be a problem—until now.
“Temar—or rather, the monster using his body—is controlling the solar orb inside me.”
The solar orb that had just been taken from Luke was the most unstable. But Ban couldn’t abandon it; if she did, the orb would immediately threaten her brothers.
Calming her mind, Ban took command.
“Something’s wrong. There’s a dangerous being fused from Temar’s body and the solar orb. Brothers, avoid fighting it directly. Secure dimensional gates leading to other Solar Faith temples or the human world.”
“Understood!”
“Ban, I know the devices in the Second Temple well! The western area seems intact, so I’ll check the remaining devices there with these people.”
Ban immediately sent the brothers and the priest westward, then advanced, reading Temar’s energy.
Along the way, they stepped over the bodies of fallen believers. Like those in the First Temple who had been defeated by Ban, these too seemed to have died without resistance.
The closer she got, the sharper the pain in her chest became. Soon, Ban saw a golden-winged golem, Temar Biment, hovering in the temple’s center like a veil.
In his right hand was a sword identical to Barisada’s; in his left, the corpse-like Airan Biment.
Below him, the wounded priestess screamed.
“Temar Biment, you golem… what are you doing?!”
“Accept your destruction, priestess. You wouldn’t have stopped the intruder today even without me.”
Temar Biment didn’t even glance at the priestess, instead fixing his gaze on Ban.
Until just moments ago, the priestess had sensed trouble in the First Temple and was preparing to escape. Suddenly, Temar Biment, who had been ‘blessed’ in the basement, began attacking the temple.
It was incomprehensible to her.
The priestess had received a revelation to prepare for the Solar God’s resurrection centered on Temar Biment, and Temar Biment had shown no resistance to receiving the sacred relics gathered by the Solar Faith.
In fact, he had seemed satisfied—until he suddenly turned hostile.
“Temar Biment! The Solar God blessed and revealed himself to you, a lowly golem. And now you reject that grace… Gah!”
With a snap, Temar Biment waved his hand in the air, and the priestess’s legs twisted as if bound together.
“You’re blind fools. That’s why you’ve been so easily defeated. The being you worship stands before you, yet you still see me as a mere tool you were lucky to obtain.”
“If you are the Solar God’s manifestation, the one who truly spoke to me, then why… why betray me?”
“Priestess, wait for the world’s completion. Then everything will flow as it should, and all will be in its place.”
At those words, the priestess’s eyes widened. The doubt, distrust, and anger in them quickly faded.
Soon, only faith remained in her darkened gaze.
Crawling on the floor, she approached Temar Biment, ignoring the pain in her bound legs, her face radiant with joy as she prayed.
“I offer you all that I have.”
Her body, bathed in golden light, began to dissolve into particles. The particles scattered like dust and were absorbed by Temar Biment. Those particles were the pieces of the Solar God’s flesh she had carried.
Temar Biment’s eyes remained fixed on Ban, showing no interest in the priestess who had just sacrificed herself.
Ban steadied her chest and focused her mind, trying to understand what he was—what kind of being.
Not Temar, but a part of Kinzello, the Solar God, manifesting through Temar’s body.
In other words, a facet of the one true god who created the world at the beginning.
“You seem displeased that I use the name Temar, Ban.”
He immediately read Ban’s feelings.
“The body you’ve manifested was my friend’s, who should have rested long ago. You’re only borrowing Temar’s body, not him.”
“To you it’s a moment, but to me it’s long ago. Call me Bligietra. I don’t want to use a mortal’s name.”
Bligietra—that was one of the ancient names for the Solar God.
“A considerate god. Kinzello was already more of a title than a name, so you avoided it.”
“That was my failure, and the ugliest name of all. It’s unfortunate. Ironically, the mortals who worship me still use that hated name.”
Ban kept her attention on Airan, held in Bligietra’s hand.
“You talk like the greatest, the only god, but in the end, you still need that body and the corpse of the Airan Biment.”
“Embarrassing, but unavoidable.”
Every time Bligiet spoke, it felt as if his heart was shattering into pieces. Beyond the pain, Ban sensed something else—half of him recognized in Bligiet a presence akin to a witch.
“I don’t fully understand, but you’re a mortal who’s caught my attention more than Temar, the true master of this body. If it weren’t for Solderet, I would have manifested in this world through you.”
Sigmund drew his sword from its sheath. But Bligiet had no intention of fighting her.
“Do you think that blade can cut me? You know better than anyone that it can’t. From now on, I’m going to break the constraints Airan Biment left on this body. Ironically, this worm holds all of me captive…”
The moment Ban heard those words, a certain group came to mind. Ziphl. It seemed Bligiet was planning to seek them out.
“Is that so? Thanks for the heads-up.”
Shh! A streak of blue energy shot toward Bligiet. Though it didn’t reach him, it sliced through the Airan clinging to his left hand like a fruit in one swift strike.
The severed lower half of the Airan fell to the ground.
“That’s strange. You shouldn’t be able to attack me.”
Bligiet shook his head, clearly shaken. Ban wrapped his blade again in a swirl of energy, ready for what came next.