Chapter 546 - 16: The High Priest’s Plot
Chapter 546: Chapter 16: The High Priest’s Plot
Prince Odoruo followed the High Priest, the two of them winding their way through the manor, making one turn after another.
At first, Prince Odoruo was confused. Then, the High Priest suddenly led him down a narrow path and into a garden.
"What is this place?" Prince Odoruo asked, looking around.
The garden was a riot of color, with flowers in full bloom. ’How have I never known about this place?’
"High Priest."
Several Purple-blooded Beastmen were already waiting there.
"Campbell..." A look of delight crossed Prince Odoruo’s face.
He recognized most of the Purple-blooded Beastmen before him. Some were the children of influential ministers, while others were from the Royal Family.
"Your Highness," the Purple-blooded Beastmen greeted with a bow.
The High Priest nodded, then turned to a stone slab and began chanting something under his breath.
After a flash of blood-red light, the stone slab rumbled and collapsed.
"Quick! Go inside and don’t stop walking," the High Priest said.
’My manor has a place like this?’ Prince Odoruo wondered.
"It was a contingency plan left by Kemal. I never thought we’d have to use it. Now, hurry," the High Priest urged.
The Purple-blooded Beastmen entered the passageway one after another. Prince Odoruo hesitated for a moment before turning to look at the High Priest.
"High Priest, take care of yourself."
Another crow flew over, letting out a "CAW."
"There, there. It’s not a certain death sentence. The Eldest Prince has made thorough preparations. What if we end up winning?" the High Priest said with a smile, stroking his beard.
Prince Odoruo’s expression froze. After a moment of silence, he walked into the passageway.
The High Priest turned back and looked at the crow. Its pupils were a deathly white.
Seeming to notice the High Priest’s gaze, the crow prepared to fly away.
The High Priest smiled and tapped the crow on the head with his Sacrificial Staff. The crow transformed into a small piglet with wings, now completely unable to fly.
...
"Hurry! Get moving!"
「Meanwhile, at Eldest Prince Widam’s manor.」
The manor, which had been silent for countless nights, was now a hive of activity. Nearly a thousand elite Purple-blooded Beastman Warriors moved in and out, the entire estate brightly lit and filled with a tremendous din.
Widam’s Guard Officer, Brook, directed the Soldiers as they transported suits of armor.
Few people likely knew that nearly a thousand suits of armor were hidden within Eldest Prince Widam’s manor!
Nearly a thousand! Anyone with even a shred of political understanding would know what such a terrifying number implied.
Of course, all this armor had been recently gathered, thanks to donations from a few old, loyal ministers.
"The High Priest is here."
"Make way, make way..."
Hearing those two words, Brook turned his head. A squad of a dozen or so Warlocks was heading in his direction.
"High Priest!"
Brook went forward to greet them.
"Hmph."
"How is Widam? Is he ready?" the High Priest asked.
All the Beastmen on Madar Mountain believed the Eldest Prince had already been killed in a plot by the Skull Council.
They didn’t know that the Eldest Prince was not, in fact, dead. Instead, he and the High Priest were preparing for one last war, a final, decisive battle against the Skull Council.
"His Highness the Prince awoke this morning, but..."
"But what?"
"He can’t move. He can’t even speak," Brook said.
Hearing this, the High Priest’s heart sank.
"I’ll go up and take a look," the High Priest said.
"Please," Brook said.
The Eldest Prince’s manor was a Magic Tower, and he lived at its very peak.
The High Priest opened the door and glanced inside, but the bed was empty. Eldest Prince Widam was nowhere to be seen.
He scanned the room and saw him: a three-meter-tall Purple-blooded Beastman standing with his hands clasped behind his back. His hair had turned black, flowing freely behind him. He was bare-chested, revealing a torso of solid, knotted muscle.
"Ah!"
Seeing this figure, the High Priest’s eyes filled with astonished joy, and he immediately fell to the floor in prostration.
The other Priests all knelt as well.
Brook, who had followed them, was utterly confused. ’Should I kneel or not?’
"Your Majesty."
The Purple-blooded Beastman turned his head.
"So it was you who summoned me?" the Purple-blooded Beastman asked.
"Forgive us for disturbing you, Your Majesty, the Beast God," the High Priest said. "This servant’s crime is worthy of ten thousand deaths."
’The Beast God!’ Brook was stunned.
’The Beast God has descended? Is this real?’
Brook didn’t hesitate for long before he, too, dropped to one knee.
It was almost certainly real. The Empire’s most revered Sacrificial Corps was prostrated at this being’s feet.
’No wonder, no wonder...’ Brook thought back to the strange stirrings in the Royal Capital.
’No wonder the Eldest Prince hadn’t fled. The High Priest and the others had actually managed to summon the Beast God to possess him!’
"Your summons was successful. It seems the time has come again," the Beast God said.
"We were not certain ourselves. It was His Majesty the Emperor of the Elf Empire who guided us down this path," said the High Priest.
"The Elves..."
"This body... where did you find it?" the Beast God asked, changing the subject. His eyes betrayed his disdain.
"This is no Beastman’s body. It feels more like something concocted by those humans and demons.
It’s too foul. I can hardly exert my true power."
If any outsider had heard this, they would have cried out that it was utter blasphemy!
Eldest Prince Widam was, after all, of the direct line of the Purple Blood Royal Family!
But the High Priest, who had summoned him, knew the Beast God spoke the truth. He had seen true Beastmen, and their blood was no different from that of humans or elves.
"It was difficult to find a pure vessel on such short notice."
"Now, the Emperor has died in battle, and evil has defiled the Holy Mountain..."
"Enough. Say no more. I have already learned what I need to know through this body."
"This vessel is too fragile and foul. When the full moon passes its zenith, I will dissipate. Whatever must be done, do it quickly."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
...
Within the Eldest Prince’s manor, Soldiers were still busy transporting weapons and armor. Most of them had already finished donning their gear.
"Move faster! Do you want to see the Holy Tomb defiled?"
"Faster! What are you staring at?"
"It’s just... Ovid, look over there..."
A bright light suddenly flared on the high platform. The Purple-blooded Beastmen, who had been busy packing, all stopped what they were doing.
A three-meter-tall Beast God, and an old man in a worn-out sacrificial robe.
"The Eldest Prince! The Eldest Prince is awake!"
"Was the Eldest Prince always this tall?"
The Warriors’ spirits soared at the sight, though a few were perplexed.
A height of three meters was extremely conspicuous. Even among Purple-blooded Beastmen, it was a shocking stature.
"That’s not the Eldest Prince. It’s His Majesty the Beast God..." one of the Priests explained.
"His Majesty the Beast God? You’ve got to be kidding me..."
"His Majesty the Beast God is His Majesty the Beast God! The black hair, the three-meter height—that is His Majesty the Beast God!"
"Warriors!"
As the crowd murmured amongst themselves, the High Priest’s voice boomed out, amplified by Magic.
"His Majesty the Emperor has fallen in battle! The armies of the Human Race encroach upon our grasslands!"
"In this time of peril, evil fiends have dared to extend their reach to the Holy Tomb, attempting to defile the heroic spirits of our Empire! Fortunately, His Majesty the Beast God has answered the call of his children!"
"If we retreat any further, there will be no place left for us Purple-blooded Beastmen on these vast plains!"
"Tonight, we follow His Majesty the Beast God! We will purge Madar Mountain with blood!"
The High Priest’s words were like a surging storm. It was as if he had shed his aged body, brimming with the same vigor and pride as when he and Emperor Kemal broke through the gates of Barishik.
The Beastman Warriors listened, their faces flushed with excitement, and raised their battle axes high.
"Purge Madar Mountain with blood!"
"Purge Madar Mountain with blood!"
The Beast God looked down at the impassioned Warriors below. A flicker of something crossed his eyes as he raised a hand, releasing a crimson, blood-like energy that dispersed in all directions.
’I don’t know what that is,’ the High Priest thought. ’Perhaps it’s the true Beast God’s Blood. All I know is, it certainly can’t be a bad thing.’
"Purge Madar Mountain! March out!"
...
"For His Majesty the Beast God!"
"Purge the evil cult! Purge Madar Mountain!"
The Eldest Prince’s army, carrying torches and clad in fine armor and weapons, charged down the mountain, shouting the name of the Beast God.
However, despite their cries to purge the evil cult, they weren’t heading in its direction.
The High Priest had long known of the Skull Council’s plot. They planned to use an immense amount of blood energy, accumulated over nearly two years, and a tenth-rank Array to "awaken" all the Beastman Warriors buried in the Holy Tomb.
There were tens of thousands of skeletons in the Holy Tomb, if not more.
But knowing this was one thing; the High Priest had no intention of being foolish enough to charge straight in.
The Skull Council openly had more than three thousand Warriors, not to mention any they kept hidden in the shadows.
To fight the Skull Council, they had to mobilize all the Beastmen on Madar Mountain. And to mobilize them, they needed a figure with sufficient rallying power.
This was the entire plan hatched by the High Priest and the Eldest Prince: summon the Beast God, make a tour of force down the mountain to rally the people, have them storm the Holy Tomb, and finally, destroy the Skull Council.
"The Beast God has descended! Purge Madar Mountain!" the High Priest bellowed, his voice amplified by Magic.
"Welcome the Beast God! Purge Madar Mountain!"
...
The army’s movements were so great they seemed to light up all of Madar Mountain.
Meanwhile, the members of the Skull Council had already reached the Holy Tomb.
At the Holy Tomb, a group of Red Robed Mages was chanting.
The Skull Council’s forces had surrounded the Holy Tomb since morning. After Emperor Kemal’s death, they had thrown all caution to the wind.
Philian, his face pale with panic, rushed to the scene. He ran up to a Black Robed Mage who was monitoring the movements of the Array.
"My lord! This is bad, my lord!" Philian said, his expression fraught with anxiety.
"What is it?" the Black Robed Mage asked with a frown.
"My lord, that Sacrificial Corps! They’re claiming to have an incarnation of the Beast God with them. They’re charging down the mountain with over a thousand Warriors, heading for the Madar Mountain Defense Army’s camp by the looks of it," Philian said.
"They went down the mountain?"
"The Beast God!"