I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 646: The Power of the Holy Nation (1)

Every god commands apostles.

Each apostle possesses their own power, and those powers have unique properties that cannot be defined by magic or science.

In Nirva's case, he handled the world of dreams, and in Basara's case, he used the power to disturb human minds and stimulate all kinds of trauma.

In Helia's case, she created tangible illusions to even implement dragon's breath.

This demonstrates just how extraordinary an apostle's power can be.

Naturally, Lumensis also has apostles.

However, Lumensis' apostles were somewhat different in nature from other apostles.

Apostles are clearly transcendent beings, not humans.

Among such apostles, Lumensis' apostles were the only ones who were human.

Perhaps because of this, Lumensis had two apostles, unlike other gods.

Unlike other apostles, Lumensis' apostles aged and weakened as time passed.

Each time this happened, the apostle would pass their power to the next apostle.

It was like passing down power through inheritance.

And the more the succession continued, the stronger the apostle's power became.

However, debates about who should receive the apostle's power never ceased.

Occasionally, fights broke out over claiming the apostle's power.

The moment one obtained this power, they could rise to the highest position, surpassing all other competitors.

The church, unable to stand by and watch, made a choice to appoint the apostle as king and pass down the apostle's power to his bloodline and to place another apostle as his advisor.

The person who currently possesses the apostle's power is none other than Holy Emperor Salesin van Bretus.

His ability as an apostle was...

'Brainwashing.'

"500 years ago. The kingdom that became the predecessor of the Empire dared to rebel against the Holy Nation and conducted forbidden experiments."

As Salesin suddenly brought up this past story, Ivelon listened to his words attentively.

"Foolishly, they secretly joined hands with heretical elves to grow the World Tree and even went as far as to research relics. It was truly a dangerous endeavor. But as justice lives on, they ultimately failed because of the demons they themselves had summoned."

What happened afterward was predictable.

Bretus Holy Nation immediately dispatched holy knights and priests.

Even for a Holy Nation as powerful as Bretus, there would inevitably be resistance if they unilaterally replaced a nation's royal family.

However, the Bretus Holy Nation was able to do this because of the power of being an apostle: brainwashing.

This power did not have a strong effect on individuals, but it was highly effective on groups.

Imagine how powerful it must be when the people didn't even notice their king had been replaced.

It was a mind-bending power that could interfere with the memories of people at a national level and brainwash them.

For an apostle whose profession was religion, there could be no ability more optimized than this.

This was precisely why the Bretus Holy Nation had ruled the continent for such a long time.

Has there truly never been a country that stood against the Holy Nation until now?

There had been but they had existed but were erased by Bretus, who had the ability to manipulate history itself as they pleased.

This ability continued to work without filtration even in the current world.

"After the incident 500 years ago, the Empire was created. And the Empire firmly pledged through generations, leaving written records, never to oppose the Holy Nation. But as time passes, even the strongest iron fortress can rust, and now the Empire seems to be trying to walk a different path from the Holy Nation."

"I apologize. It's all because of my short-sighted sister."

"At first, I thought about punishing her as an example. But Second Prince Ivelon, after seeing you, I decided to change my mind. Thanks to you, the Exilion Empire will be able to maintain its legacy, so you can be proud."

Ivelon bowed his head deeper in gratitude.

With the power granted by Salesin, becoming the next emperor would be an extremely easy task.

Looking satisfied at this sight, Salesin nodded and continued.

"However, it seems that other countries have also committed too many irreverences while we were away."

"Are you planning to erase them?"

"Haha. I'm not that wicked. Erasing them would create too much work for us as well."

Salesin continued, saying, "Instead."

"We can implant some 'respect' for us."

The brainwashing power that Salesin wielded wasn't simply something to be inherited and passed down.

Just as Ivelon had subdued Aileen and Pasius, it was possible to momentarily 'grant' a similar power to others, allowing them to use this power on others.

And the priests who had been granted this power were likely now meeting with the leaders of each country on the continent.

"We're starting over. Our paradise."

Rudger spent several days in a sealed prison without a single ray of light.

'We're moving.'

This wasn't an ordinary prison but a special Bretus Holy Nation prison designed to transport criminals.

The subtle shaking and movement of the prison over the past few days wasn't just a simple illusion.

Finally, the prison door opened, and light poured in.

"Criminal Heathcliff. Come out."

Rudger glanced at the fierce-looking holy knight and stepped out with light footsteps.

Seeing this, the holy knight frowned.

'This guy.'

Rudger's attitude was far too natural.

It seemed unlikely for a captured person to behave this way.

It would have been better if he was just pretending to be fine.

The knight had seen this reaction before—a frightened human desperately trying to compose themselves.

But from the knight's perspective, Rudger wasn't pretending; he genuinely seemed unconcerned.

Judging by his expression, he appeared to be truly at peace.

"How dare a heretic like you hold your head high and strut around in this place!"

"Despite appearances, this place is like my hometown, so isn't this level of reaction acceptable?"

Blood vessels rose on the holy knight's forehead.

"Y-you dare to utter such nonsense with that foul mouth of yours?! Do you even know how many of our brothers and sisters you've killed to speak like that?!"

"Well, I haven't counted, so I don't know. But I think I've killed at least thousands."

Rudger answered in a nonchalant voice that made it hard to believe he was someone who had committed a massacre.

"You...!"

Shwing!

The holy knight drew the sword hanging at his waist.

Just as he was about to swing it at Rudger, Rudger stared at the holy knight and said,

"If you're going to cut, make it a clean cut with one stroke."

"..."

"Though you won't be able to, of course."

At those words, the holy knight's lips trembled, but in the end, he couldn't swing his sword.

He wanted nothing more than to draw his sword and immediately cut off Rudger's head but criminal Heathcliff couldn't die here.

He had to be executed as a heretic in front of all the people of the Holy Nation.

"Seeing your intense reaction, it seems someone close to you died by my hand. I'm sorry about that."

"...Do you not even feel any guilt?"

"Guilt? Even if I were given the chance to go back to that moment again, I would make the same choice. Is that answer enough?"

"..."

The speechless holy knight seemed to lack even the energy to be angry as he sheathed the sword in his hand.

"Let's see if you maintain that confident expression right before your execution."

"Looking forward to it."

"What are you all doing! Take him away now!"

Rudger surveyed his surroundings with eyes now adjusted to the light.

Through a window in the corridor built with white marble, a white castle could be seen in the distance.

'So I've finally come this far.'

The white castle Galahad, standing tall in the center of the capital of the Bretus Holy Nation.

Though it looked like marble, it was built using Holy Stone, a special ore with high holy power conductivity, causing it to emit a soft glow by itself.

With spires rising here and there, and a structure of outer and inner walls that would remind one of a hexagram when viewed from above.

Around Galahad, waterways spread like a spider's web.

It was a beautiful and marvelous structure that looked like a sacred ancient castle from mythology.

'If I can see Galahad, this must be the First Checkpoint City.'

The Bretus Holy Nation is an island nation.

But what's unique about this island is that it has a complex coastline due to the numerous deep bays scattered throughout.

As a result, waterways crisscross the entire island like countless spider webs.

Castle Galahad was built at the center of this water maze.

There were not only land routes and bridges leading to the castle but also waterways, making the capital, including the castle, known as the city of water.

And where Rudger was now was the First Checkpoint City, from which the capital and castle could be seen at a glance.

It was a city built based on the myth that believers had to cross three steps before reaching the land of Lumensis in the past.

"You will be staying here."

The scenery disappeared, and what welcomed Rudger was a cold, chilling prison.

True to its name, the First Checkpoint City was a place to fend off external enemies and imprison suspicious individuals.

Because of this, such facilities for imprisonment were far superior to those in Castle Galahad.

'I thought we'd go straight to the castle, but it seems they want to end things here.'

Rudger sat down with a thud.

Under strict surveillance, Rudger simply sat still, letting time pass.

But he hadn't given up.

His mind was rotating faster than anyone else's.

'There are no more attachments left to bind me.'

Thinking this, Rudger shook his head.

'No. Is this just my personal wish?'

Just because you try to shake something off doesn't mean you can.

Rather, the more you try to discard it, the more tenaciously it clings and refuses to let go—isn't that the natural order of things?

Rudger quietly closed his eyes.

The watchers observing this scene from beyond the prison snickered, thinking Rudger had given up on everything.

"Hmph. In the end, for all his talk about being a heretic or whatever, once captured, he can't even move."

"To think someone like him carried the blood of the great Holy Emperor. It's truly shameful."

Rudger lightly ignored the mocking voices seemingly intended for him to hear.

As time passed, night eventually fell.

Though the prison was dark, the moonlight hanging brightly in the sky gently seeped in.

In the prison that had turned bluish as if covered with cold frost, Rudger quietly opened his eyes.

A crow had perched on the high bars of the window through which the outside sky could be seen, staring in his direction.

Feeling that staring gaze, Rudger couldn't suppress a chuckle that was about to escape.

"Heehee."

"What?"

"Did he just laugh?"

The watchers who heard Rudger's voice glared at the inside of the cell with fierce eyes.

Even though they knew Rudger couldn't escape from a prison surrounded by holy law no matter what magic he used, his laughter made them uneasy.

"Maybe he's gone mad because he might die soon."

"This is why we shouldn't be with heretics."

Regardless of the two of them chattering, Rudger muttered softly towards the crow.

"I thought even one or two people remaining was plenty."

The moment Rudger's muttering ended.

-Crash!

One wall of the prison collapsed with a thunderous sound, and a massive explosion engulfed the watchers.

In the midst of the dusty haze, the watchers coughed.

"Cough! Cough! What on earth is going on!"

"An attack? Within the Bretus Holy Nation?"

Despite the collapsing debris, they remained unharmed thanks to the white coats imbued with holy law they were wearing.

Just as they were about to respond to the sudden terror, a black shadow rushed in and instantly took down the two watchers.

-Crunch!

The holy law in the white coat shattered under a bare fist, and a solar plexus caved in.

The large figure who subdued the two watchers revealed himself from the smoky haze.

Rudger smiled as he saw Pantos.

Near the prison, there were continuous explosions accompanied by shouts and screams.

The commotion didn't last long.

In the chilling silence that followed, people began to appear one by one.

"You fools."

Rudger asked as he confirmed the faces of the people who had come for him one by one.

"I assume you're prepared to become enemies of the world?"

The secret organization created by Rudger [U.N.Owen]

All the executives of Owen, to whom he had personally given code names, had gathered here.

The night sky stretched beyond the broken wall.

With that night sky as a backdrop, the members of Owen lined up in their respective positions.

"If it weren't for you, brother, we wouldn't have been able to come this far."

Hans, who had pulled back his hood fluttering in the night breeze, stepped forward as a representative and spoke.

"And yet, to leave only you here and tell us to each go our separate ways if we want to. If we had any shame, we couldn't do that. No, we absolutely couldn't."

"Is that something the one who was the most nervous and fidgety, like the biggest coward, should say?"

Violetta retorted with disbelief, and Sheridan chimed in.

"That's right! Didn't you say you were going to live a lavish life with the money you pocketed!"

"W-when did I ever say that!"

"I think I heard something like that too, but who cares? In the end, we've all gathered here again, haven't we?"

Alex intervened with a wink.

Pantos nodded with an "hmm" while folding his arms, and Bellaruna also chuckled and nodded.

"Let's go together, teacher."

Finally, Arpa smiled brightly at Rudger and spoke.

"I see."

Rudger shrugged as an uncontrollable smile escaped.

"As expected, you are the fools I personally gathered."

With a refreshed face, Rudger said.

"And I, who lead such fools, am also a fool."

At those words, everyone in Owen grinned.

"Yes. Since we've come this far, we should go as far as we can. Are you ready?"

"Not just as far as we can go."

Alex shook his head.

"We're going all the way to the end."