The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 291 Thorn Soul Crown
Riding a snow sheep and following the old demon king for a while, Eric realized something was wrong.

"Your Majesty, could the Gate of Redemption be in that camp?"

The Demon King said that it was once where he studied souls, and the Gate of Redemption was also preserved underground.

"Can we go in as we are now?" Eric asked again.

The Demon King glanced back at him, understanding his meaning, "That place now belongs to me."

Eric pursed his lips. It seemed that in the two weeks he and Natalia had been gone, the Demon King's conquest had also reached the demon camp.

This also means that the Demon King has subdued Simago.

"Simmagu also knows we're here?" Eric asked.

The Demon King shook his head. "No, I only told him that a human had awakened me; I didn't mention your name."

Eric and Natalia exchanged a glance. "Hopefully, when the High Priest sees us, he won't just throw a spell at us."

The Demon King didn't care at all.

A short while later, the three arrived at the camp.

Eric couldn't tell if the demon guards at the entrance had been replaced, but several demon corpses were hanging outside the camp, indicating that the Demon King's subjugation of this place was clearly not as peaceful as it seemed.

The guards knelt and bowed to the Demon King. Eric and Natalia rode their snow sheep with him inside, dismounting only in front of the central tent.

It was Natalia's first time entering the place, so it was hard not to be nervous. The thought of seeing Simmagu next made her even more conflicted.

"It's alright, that madman doesn't care about us at all. He might even greet us if we actually see him," Eric reassured him.

“But I want him dead.” Natalia gripped his arm tightly, her body trembling. She now knew that the root cause of the rapid fall of the Black Ice Wall was Sinmag's research into the power of the old Demon King's remaining soul.

She felt no fear of Simagu, only hatred.

“Who wouldn’t want him dead?” Eric said, glancing at the Demon King walking ahead. “Only His Majesty wouldn’t.”

"Letting go of temporary grudges is meaningless." The Demon King didn't even turn his head.

“Ignore him.” Eric grasped Natalia’s hand. “Advising someone to be magnanimous is like being struck by lightning.”

The Demon King then turned to look at him, but said nothing.

Following the Demon King deeper underground through the passage, the three soon arrived at the underground hall.

Looking at the massive, mountain-like soul crystal in the center, Natalia's gaze turned solemn. She then noticed the humans around her, or rather, the humans looking at them.

Although Eric had been here once before, he hadn't shown his face that time, so this was the first time these people had seen him, and they all reacted differently.

Most people were simply surprised that the old demon king had brought two more unfamiliar humans, but a few of them recognized Eric and Natalia.

"Those two people are also... I'm not seeing things, am I?"

"There's no mistake, those are the Grand Princess and the Holy Maiden of the Empire."

"The Holy Maiden is...that Holy Maiden?"

“Hmm…the saintess who almost killed the high priest in Lutia more than half a year ago, Eric.”

The people were talking amongst themselves, but Sinmagu, who was among them, only squinted his eyes when Eric and Natalia first appeared, and then remained completely unresponsive and did not participate in their discussion.

The three of them soon arrived at the foot of Crystal Mountain.

"Your Majesty the Demon King——"

Led by Simagu, he and his followers bowed to the Demon King.

"I'm about to throw up." Behind the Demon King, Eric said expressionlessly, "You're changing bosses way too fast, High Priest Simago."

“Prince Eric is quick to act as well.” Sinmag said calmly, “The last time I received news of you, you were still in Castelfel, and in the blink of an eye, you appeared deep in the Demon Realm.”

He glanced to his side, "And Princess Natalia is with him."

Natalia stared at him coldly, ignoring him.

The Demon King ignored the three's reminiscing and asked Simmagu directly, "Are you ready?"

“The soul crystals Your Majesty requires are all ready,” Simagu replied.

After saying that, he had someone bring over a large quantity of soul crystals, dozens of them of various sizes, all of which appeared to have had their violent resentment removed.

However, the Demon King frowned after a few glances, clearly not quite satisfied.

He picked out a few pieces, purified them thoroughly, and then absorbed them himself before starting to purify the remaining parts in one go.

Simagu squinted, watching the Demon King's movements closely. As he gazed at the rising black smoke, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper until Eric suddenly reached out and waved his hand, interrupting his gaze.

Their eyes met, and Simagu remained calm.

"Is Rusdy still alive?" Eric asked.

Xinma Gu was taken aback, then shook his head. "I don't know."

"You even know about my situation in Castelfeld, but you don't know about Rusdy's?" Eric pressed.

"Your Highness has also found Rusdy?" Simmagu asked rhetorically, seemingly unaware of the situation.

“Not only did I find him, I also successfully persuaded him to give up helping you,” Eric said.

Xinma Gu frowned and looked at him for a while. "But Your Highness has also come to the Demon Realm and joined the Demon King's forces."

Eric understood. "So you really don't know anything yet. The information is so slow."

Simagu looked thoughtful. "Could it be that the people I placed in Castelfel took Rusdy away from His Highness? And His Highness's pursuit northwards has inadvertently awakened His Majesty the Demon King?"

Before Eric could answer, he dismissed the possibility himself, "No, you couldn't have gotten from Castelfel to the depths of the Demon Realm so quickly."

"—He was teleported here."

The Demon King suddenly spoke, his voice icy, "Shinmag, your preparations have disappointed me. These soul crystals simply do not meet the standards I need."

"Your Majesty the Demon King..."

Simagu lowered his head, no longer bothered about how Eric got there. "The experimental subjects used to absorb violent resentment are all in very poor condition. We spent too much time on them."

The old demon king glanced at it and said, "But what you prepared before was much better than what you have now."

“That’s because the test subjects who ‘produced’ those soul crystals were selected by Toynbee and their conditions were adjusted by his potions,” Simmagu replied. “Now that he’s dead, this work has to be handed over to others. But no one can do it as well as he did.”

The Demon King glanced at him twice more, but said nothing, returning his gaze to the soul crystal in front of him, which was waiting to be completely purified.

Eric watched all of this unfold, still unsure of what the Demon King intended to do.

Looking around, he couldn't see the Gate of Redemption that the Demon King had mentioned.

The Demon King continued purifying the soul crystals on his own. Eric glanced at Simago, then, with Natalia in tow, began searching for the Gate of Redemption in the underground laboratory.

Natalia stopped beside a dead demon corpse. "I've seen it before. It brought us food. I vaguely remember its face."

“These test subjects are the demon villagers from the other village,” Eric said. “Sinmag used them to absorb the violent resentment in soul power; if they absorbed too much, they would die.”

“How pitiful.” Natalia shook her head, suppressing her discomfort. “No one will come to their rescue. No matter which demon lord it is, they won’t take their ‘sacrifice’ seriously.”

“Demons are demons. Just because they can communicate with us doesn’t mean we should treat them as the same kind of beings as us,” Eric said.

“However, some humans are now no different from demons,” Natalia added. Sinmag, who was not far away, could obviously hear her, glanced at them, and ignored her.

The two continued to wander around the area, and no one dared to stop them.

As they circled around the massive central crystal mountain, almost to the other side, Eric and Natalia simultaneously noticed an ancient stone gate standing in front of it.

“The Gate of Redemption!” Eric recognized it at a glance.

According to the scriptures, the prophet Raphael and his disciples built eleven gates of salvation, each named after them.

The Gates of Redemption, named after the ten disciples, were taken back by the church after fulfilling their mission and are now enshrined next to the tomb of the ten disciples in the Holy Mountain Cathedral. Eric has been to the Holy Mountain several times and, out of interest, remembers the appearance of the Gates of Redemption very clearly.

And the only Gate of Redemption that had been left outside was now right before his eyes.

As it is indeed the Gate of Redemption named after the holy prophet who founded the Church of Jeha, this stone gate looks at least one size larger than the Gate of Redemption of the Ten Apostles. Its appearance is rough and simple, with almost no embellishment.

According to the holy scriptures, as long as one prays sincerely and begs for Yela's salvation, the stone gate can be opened, and one can be instantly teleported to the holy city of Lessier...

"Don't go too far, Eric," the Demon King suddenly called out to him from the other side.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Eric replied immediately.

Not only Natalia beside him, but also Sinmagg cast a glance at him, her brows furrowing slightly. "...Eric?"

"What's wrong?" Eric asked Natalia.

She looked at him for a while, shook her head, but still felt strange.

The two returned to the Demon King's side, who seemed to have almost finished purifying the soul crystals that Sinmag had prepared.

Judging from the Demon King's expression, he looked quite weak and seemed to be worried about something.

"What does Your Majesty need these soul crystals for?" Eric asked.

"These are all prepared for you," the Demon King said, catching his breath.

Eric was taken aback, but Sinmag spoke up instead, "Your Majesty..."

The Demon King glanced at him, and he shut up again.

"Is this His Majesty's farewell gift?" Eric didn't believe the old Demon King would be so polite, giving him so much pure soul power all at once; there must be some ulterior motive.

“That doesn’t count.” The Demon King shook his head. “This soul power is only to ensure that you can receive my real gift.”

"Does opening the Gate of Redemption also require a large amount of soul power?" Eric thought of the meteorite beneath the Star Origin Academy.

The Demon King simply smiled and did not answer.

Looking at the dozens of soul crystals in front of him, he waved his hand, and the crystals transformed into pure soul power, flying towards Eric.

"Don't resist it, it's similar to the absorption you did in your soul state before."

Hearing the Demon King's voice, Eric allowed the soul power to flow into his body.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Xinmagu staring intently at the soul power that flew into his body, his expression indescribably complex.

Eric quickly lost interest in him. As his soul power was continuously absorbed, his level rose steadily, with notifications of level increases for both sub-classes appearing before his eyes.

Keep in mind that he is already an eighth-tier warrior and priest, yet leveling up is as easy as drinking water for him.

He quickly finished drinking—his level had reached its limit.

As planned, Eric quickly switched to both professions, raising his rank directly to level nine, and his level continued to rise.

Just as he was about to reach the tenth rank, all the soul power was absorbed, and the increase in his level finally stopped. Eric sighed with regret.

In the game, he has many max-level accounts, but that's completely different from raising his rank to level ten here.

On the continent, seventh-tier professionals are not common, eighth-tier professionals are even rarer, ninth-tier professionals are extremely rare, and as for tenth-tier professionals, apart from those moon elves who have lived for countless years, Eric has never seen any others.

"Eric."

As he checked his own panel, the old demon king was also sizing him up.

"Now, your soul is incredibly powerful, far surpassing any human. This is true, pure power. You must learn how to use the power of your soul as a weapon to control everything."

Eric looked at the Demon King, and as their eyes met, a flood of information suddenly rushed into his mind, all of it about how to use the power of the soul.

"Well……"

Almost instinctively, he forcibly severed the mental connection that was giving him a splitting headache, following the instructions in the text.

"..."

The connection was interrupted, but the Demon King looked at him with almost delighted surprise, "Eric, you really didn't disappoint me."

Eric was still having a headache when he received the next order.

"Sense the location of the Thorn Soul Crown." The Demon King looked at him. "Then, retrieve it for me."

Eric looked at the giant crystal in front of him and almost instantly "saw" the Demon King's Crown hidden inside.

Then, he leaped up and landed on Crystal Mountain, where he remained motionless.

"Eric!"

Natalia was shocked. She remembered clearly that he had told her himself that these soul crystals were full of soul power and violent resentment, and that even a small piece of them could drive people mad before they were purified.

Now, he has direct contact with an entire crystal mountain...

"Eric," the Demon King said, his voice booming despite his apparent weakness, "retrieving the Thorn Soul Crown for me!"

On the deep purple crystal mountain, Eric suddenly turned his head to look back, his face contorted with rage, his eyes blazing with madness.

After a silent stare, he turned and continued climbing, his steps faltering, until he finally stopped in the middle and began to cut the soul crystal in front of him with his sword.

"Eric!" Natalia shouted, "Get down here!"

“It’s no use,” Simago suddenly said. “He’s being attacked by countless violent resentments right now, so he can’t hear your voice at all. Not to mention, he was already the Demon King’s soul servant before he even went up there.”

"Impossible!" Natalia exclaimed incredulously, "The Demon King can't control his soul!"

“That was certainly true before,” the Demon King said, looking at Eric. “Half of his soul is a part that I cannot see through or understand. You can’t understand it either, can you, Simmagus?”

“I don’t understand, Your Majesty,” Xinmagu said, bowing his head.

"But that is not the whole of his soul."

The Demon King smiled. "Make his soul stronger overall, and dilute that part even less. It used to be half, but now it's less than a tenth... As long as the vast majority of the rest obeys my commands, let that part go."

So this was the reason why the Demon King generously gave Eric that soul power. Natalia opened her mouth, "What exactly do you want Eric to do?"

Xinmagu didn't understand either. "If His Majesty wants to remove the Thorn Soul Crown, there are other ways. Even if Eric successfully removes the Soul Crown, such a long period of contact will drive him completely insane... Then all the soul power His Majesty invested in him will be wasted."

"Trust in his will," the Demon King said simply, his gaze never leaving Eric.

Meanwhile, Eric had already cut a hole in Crystal Mountain and climbed inside.

After a short while, he emerged, a black crown perched on his sword.

"..."

Natalia instinctively held her breath. It was almost a living crown, covered in black thorns that stretched outwards like tentacles in a strange pattern.

The Demon King gazed at his crown, his face showing no reminiscence, but rather a deeper curiosity.

"Most of the soul power within the Thorn Soul Crown has been lost."

He then gave the command, "Get down, Eric."

Stepping on the soul crystals beneath his feet, Eric paused almost every step, his expression shifting between pain and ferocity. After taking two difficult steps, he suddenly raised his sword and placed it against his own neck, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

“Eric!” Natalia screamed in terror.

The sword was already pressed against her throat. Eric glared at her fiercely. "Go...go now! The Gate of Redemption!"

"What a tenacious will!"

The Demon King couldn't hide the admiration in his eyes. "This is the truly powerful part of his soul. Only this powerful will can satisfy my needs."

Xinmagu pursed her lips, as if she had realized something.

"Come down, Eric," the Demon King commanded Eric again.

He trembled, lowered the longsword from his neck, and suddenly leaped up, landing in front of the old demon king. He held the sword horizontally and offered the thorny soul crown attached to it to the demon king.

Once he was separated from Crystal Mountain and his direct connection with those violent resentments was severed, Eric's own will quickly took over, and with a flick of his wrist, his longsword pierced straight towards the old demon king.

The sword tip was already at his neck, just inches away, but the Demon King remained calm and said, "Stop."

"..."

Eric stopped moving immediately.

The demon king removed the black crown from the sword, revealing a fierce and menacing expression on his face.

Suppressing his destructive urge to tear everything apart, and with the last shred of unwavering clarity, he put down the Thorn Soul Crown and placed it on Eric's head, who was already out of control.

"It's yours."

"No—" Natalia shouted, but it was too late to stop it.

The black thorns on the Soul Crown instantly wrapped around his head like tentacles, and then, as if taking root, completely penetrated his body.

(End of this chapter)