Chapter 97

Bread that symbolized God's flesh and wine that symbolized God's blood.

The outdoor tables under good sunshine and white flower decorations looked like a tea party gathered for a change of mood.

The nobles guided to their seats honored God while eating soft white bread and drinking wine.

After the meal, they offered prayers and filled their remaining hunger with tea and sweet snacks.

Sharing conversations, accompanied by fragrant tea or low-alcohol drinks, did not feel like a sacred ceremony at all.

More like a play with just an outwardly convincing appearance.

Free conversations flowed at each table, from self-introductions and updates on each other's recent situations to this year's Eucharist mass.

"I participated last year. The priests and clergy who conducted the mass then seemed to have more dignity."

"The Central Temple must be short on priests to dispatch?"

"Still, it's fortunate that white bread was served at this year's Eucharist. Really, the meals prepared by the temple in the old days were terrible."

"I wonder why they prepare such trivial food. Doesn't His Highness the Crown Prince eat the same food?"

"It's a temple event. It would depend on what food the temple prepared for His Highness the Crown Prince. Duke Hartmann, who is having a private audience with His Highness the Crown Prince, must be quite fortunate. What kind of conversation would they be having?"

But what most people wanted to know was actually something else.

What conversation would Crown Prince Yurik and Duke Hartmann have?

They didn't know anything about what was happening inside the royal palace's private room.

* * *

The corridors of the royal palace hadn't changed from what he had seen before.

Crown Prince Yurik had said that they should have the Eucharist alone, dismissing Russel,

So in the end, he had Russel wait and was now on his way to the Eucharist ceremony room with only Yurik.

"I thought you wouldn't like events like this. But you seem to be in a good mood."

"Why did you think that?"

"Don't the temple and the royal family check each other?"

If the temple was the ruler of the spiritual world, the royal family reigned over the material world.

But those two worlds were closely connected, and the rulers of both sides could cause harm to each other.

It was natural for the temple to prohibit secular things and criticize power, wealth, and pleasure.

Moreover, the temple could independently maintain forces not affiliated with the state.

But only the royal family could find fault with the temple's operations.

The royal family and the temple were forces that opposed each other both politically and ideologically.

The periodically held Eucharist or dedication ceremonies were customs that had continued from ancient times,

But from the royal family's perspective, they wouldn't be very welcome events.

Yurik had a strangely positive expression.

"Although it's said that the relationship between the royal family and the temple is not good, I also agree with their long-standing traditions."

"Did you frequent the temple when you were young?"

"Of course not. If I had, I would have aimed for a temple-friendly royal family."

In the original work, not a single line about Yurik's past setting had appeared.

Despite the fact that it hadn't reached its conclusion, there should have been at least a line about his childhood actions,

But Yurik had this appearance from the moment he appeared.

The appearance of an evil, perfect villain.

It even seemed as if the existence of Yurik itself was born to become a villain.

Yurik continued.

"Duke, do you know anything about the god worshipped in the temple?"

"God is God. Is there a need for another explanation?"

"Do you know what kind of entity that god is and what he oversees?"

Come to think of it, he hadn't received any detailed explanation about God.

"Isn't it just a monotheistic deity, a creator or something?"

"Besides that?"

"Is there a need for explanation besides that?"

Being an atheist, he really didn't know.

Yurik giggled and then stopped in front of a door.

It was a place so tucked away in a corner that it was embarrassing to call it the Eucharist ceremony room.

"The essence of faith in God lies in the reason and acceptance of birth."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that humans created God and myths out of fear after realizing that there was no reason for human birth itself."

"You're undermining the authority of the temple. Are you aware of that?"

"Should I be generous about a god arbitrarily created by the temple? But I am positive about the customs practiced by the temple."

"What do you mean by that?"

Speaking as if he didn't believe in God, yet saying he liked the customs.

Yurik opened the door himself.

"I've seen God, you see."

...Was Yurik also crazy?

But Yurik calmly smiled and gestured for him to enter.

Cautiously taking a step in, he saw a room that was completely dim with only a few candles lit.

In the faint light, there was a table slightly large for two people.

On it, several silver dome-shaped covers were placed.

"You say you've seen God. If someone hears that, they'll think His Highness the Crown Prince has gone mad."

"Yes, how did you know? I've been mad for a long time."

Wait, really?

Yurik first found his seat.

Inevitably, he also took his place opposite him.

He continued speaking as he removed the black lace gloves he was wearing.

"One reason the temple doesn't depict God is to prohibit idolatry. But haven't you thought about this? The thought that they're prevented from drawing because it's a form that they dare not draw."

"You mean..."

"Everyone would lose their minds if they drew it. Paintings, music, dance. It would be the same even if they just heard about it and imagined it without seeing it directly."

Similar to the description of demonic beasts.

But to say that one would go mad just by imagining it.

"Is it God?"

"It's God. What your family serves is also God, and what I saw is also God. It's just that what the temple venerates is drifting away from God."

"How did Your Highness see God?"

"Because he was my father."

"Your Highness, are you in your right mind?"

Every time he spoke, it felt like his own mental strength was being shaved away because there was nothing sane about what he said.

Currently, Yurik's adoptive father was known to be the king.

But it was true that he had never heard who his biological father was.

Yurik's attitude was as if he had faced a completely expected reaction.

This guy had really gone crazy.

"If God created Your Highness directly, then are you a prophet?"

"I've never considered myself a prophet. But I might be at least his son. I've seen my father create humans with my own eyes."

Dark red liquor was poured into the glass.

Somehow, he was starting to feel bad.

"Let's stop talking about this."

"It's a pity to honor him with just bread and this measly alcohol. Father is a much, much more hideous mass."

One cover was lifted.

On the silver tableware that faintly reflected the yellow candlelight, indescribable masses of flesh were piled haphazardly.

Even just looking at it, disgusting juices had pooled at the bottom of the plate.

"Near my father, there were primitive life forms that couldn't even be imagined. Flowing flesh, dangling organs, tape worms crawling on top, eyeballs that ate the tapeworms. All were my father's children."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"One day, my father created me, and I helped him create something. I gathered and raised the small lives that my father's body created on its own. As the years passed, they grew larger, became more complex, and began to have their own design structures."

"Your Highness!"

"Some returned to the sea. And some settled in mountains and fields. They continued to change to survive while breathing air full of sulfur. And... at this point, something that could be called 'human' was born."

As if he hadn't heard his voice, he looked down at the table intently.

The second cover was lifted.

Inside, there was a mixture of mushy, blood-colored mucus and jelly.

An unpleasant fishy smell wafted strongly.

"After that, my father created many more things. Some of them actually operated outside. They did what could be called intellectual activities instead of my father, who didn't move and just stupidly gave birth to children. It was a good time. But everything disappears in an instant."

"What are you talking about?"

"...Only I remained. On this land, me and the less evolved humans."

The third cover was lifted.

Hideous things that could no longer be called food were placed on the plate.

Still alive, ceaselessly moving and writhing, it was disgusting to look at.

"I have only one wish. I just want to see my biological father once more. But he said he would only open his eyes after all life existing on this land disappears."

"That means. So, Your Highness."

The destruction mentioned in the novel.

The day when black mud floods from all directions, and the demonic beast species rejoice at the liberation of the alien god whom they follow as their master.

Helpless humans become mere prey for demonic beasts, and the moment angels dancing in the sky announce the descent of god.

Yurik is portrayed as a villain who leads the destruction and massacres humans.

The reason for that.

"...You're saying that to see that monster you call father, you're going to kill all living beings on this land."

Such a trivial reason.

Whether Yurik was a middle-aged man who had lived for a hundred years or a creature born from a mythical being didn't matter.

What mattered was what Yurik would do from now on.

But Yurik boldly declared before him.

That to see the one called father, he would eliminate all the characters existing here.

"Why?"

He couldn't understand.

He couldn't understand any of his words or actions.

The chair was pushed back and rolled on the floor as he immediately stood up from the table with the disgusting Eucharist.

But Yurik looked at him with a detached face.

"Your Highness, you are the Crown Prince of a country and hold many things. Among them are the lives of the kingdom's people. Yet you're doing this just to see your father. Why are you doing this?"

Hearing his question, Yurik burst into laughter.

After laughing for a while with his shoulders shaking, he finally said after a long time.

"It's love, Duke."

"...Pardon?"

For a moment, he thought he had misheard.

But Yurik kindly repeated it again.

"I said it's because I love my father."

"This is insane. Why are you telling me this? Why me of all people? Aren't there many others you could tell this to?"

"I've been thinking a bit, and even after getting Leandros, I wasn't particularly satisfied."

"What?"

"He once filled me with such anticipation. But my thoughts have changed. Lately, the person who irritates me has changed."

"Who is it?"

"Duke."

Yurik smiled brightly.

"It's you, Duke."

The creature with a terrible father complex declared that he would destroy the world for his father.

And to him, of all people.

Yurik, the one and only mad dog in the novel, had marked him, not Leandros, as his opponent.

Damn it.

His life was being ruined in real-time.