The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 295 Treasure House
Eric woke up again around the afternoon, his consciousness returning to full alertness in an instant, but his body was still not under his control.

He found himself back in the saint's chamber in the monastery, with Natalia sitting beside him. Because he couldn't make a sound or move, it took him quite a while to realize that he had woken up.

“…Eric!”

Natalia leaned closer to him, looking into his eyes. "Are you... still conscious?"

no respond.

Eric could only sigh inwardly as he watched her anxiously make various attempts.

He had realized that forcibly connecting to the Thorn Soul Crown would greatly deplete his mental energy, and he estimated that after exchanging a few words with Natalia, he would fall into a deep sleep again.

“…Can you hear me?” Natalia grabbed his hand and kissed him repeatedly on the face and lips, but he didn’t respond.

After trying everything to no avail, she could only turn to Alena and ask if she could restore Eric to his senses through divine magic.

"No... His Highness's body rejects our divine magic."

Although Natalia had heard Alena say this before, she still felt confused. But then she suddenly remembered, "Druid magic can work on him. We can try asking a druid!"

Alena, who was looking at Eric, was taken aback by his words. "Druid... a Nature Druid?"

“Yes, there was a druid who traveled with us before, and her divine spells could work on Eric!” Natalia quickly said.

"In other words, as long as it's not a divine spell from the Yela sect, it can work on Your Highness..."

Alena glanced at Eric again and said, "Lesser has been out of contact with the outside world for a long time, but now that the demons have retreated, we are working hard to re-establish contact. I will have people do their best to find them."

She left to make some arrangements before returning to the saint's bedroom. Natalia sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at Eric and the black crown on his head.

"Is it this crown that controls His Highness?" Alena asked.

“I don’t think so,” Natalia shook her head. “What controls Eric is the Demon King’s command, and this crown is filled with evil power that can drive people… insane. I guess it’s this madness that suppresses Eric’s original consciousness.”

Alena glanced at it twice, "Can't you take it off?"

Natalia looked at Eric, her mind replaying the experience before escaping the Demon Realm. "This was put on him by the Demon King himself. It seems to be rooted to his head. Look, it's even floating... I don't know how to take it off."

Alena paused for a moment and said, "The nun who found His Highness said that His Highness spoke to her when she tried to touch the crown, telling her not to."

Natalia responded, then suddenly realized what she meant and turned to look at her: "You mean..."

Seeing the two of them looking up at the thorny soul crown above his head, Eric couldn't help but shout in his heart.

Don't mess around...

When the two actually reached out their hands, he actually cried out.

"Don't touch it!"

With his consciousness connected to the Thorn Soul Crown, resisting the erosion of the violent resentment, Eric grabbed Alena's outstretched hand and tried to keep the conversation as brief as possible.

"I can't control my body, but I can hear sounds. This state is taking a huge toll on my mental energy. Please find something that can boost or restore my mental energy..."

Alena was in a daze when the hand that was holding her suddenly lost its strength and fell down.

"Your Highness!"

"Eric!"

Alena and Natalia called out to Eric a few more times, but he did not respond. His eyes were still open, though, so he seemed to be conscious for the time being.

“His Highness can hear us,” Alena said, “but he can’t control his body, so he can’t respond.”

Natalia nodded, her gaze then falling on the crown atop his head. "It must be that it's suppressing Eric's consciousness, preventing him from properly controlling his body."

"Your Highness, please don't try to touch that crown again. I feel that Her Highness was greatly weakened by her condition just now," Alena reminded her.

Natalia paused for a moment, then quickly nodded.

Alena also remembered that Eric had told her to find something to enhance and restore her mental strength, and to leave this place and have someone go find it.

“Something to enhance and restore mental power?” A monk from the Apostolic Palace thought for a moment. “There are quite a few such things in the treasury of the ancients beneath the Apostolic Palace.”

Alena looked at him. "After the Papal Tower collapsed, all that's left are ruins. Is it still possible to go in now?"

"The main body of the Ancestral Palace suffered some damage, but the collapse has stopped, and the underground area remains unaffected. Getting inside shouldn't be a problem," the cultivator replied, pausing for a moment. "As long as there are orders."

Alena did not hesitate: "In the name of the Holy Maiden, I issue a decree: Go to the ancestral treasury beneath the Papal Palace to search for relics of the ancients related to spiritual power, to help Her Highness regain her senses."

"Yes!"

The monk left the Holy Maiden's Courtyard with a hint of excitement, taking several fellow monks with him.

Alena went up to the Tower of the Saintess and looked out over the inner city of Lessier.

After the Papal Tower collapsed, this became the highest point in all of Lessier.

Perhaps because the cut was facing the square, the main body of the collapsed Papal Tower crashed onto the Holy City Square, while the lower part of it destroyed a significant portion of the Papal Palace. Several figures were heading in that direction and soon disappeared from sight.

Alena's gaze fell again on the surrounding ruined city walls, and she sighed.

When she returned to the Saintess's Palace, Natalia was explaining to Eric the dramatic changes that had taken place on the continent over the past month, based on information she had gathered from intelligence reports from various places.

"With a new king ascending the throne in Arsha, the situation is still unstable. Although the new king, Alaric, has considerable prestige, his control over the entire kingdom is still insufficient. By launching a decapitation strike, assassinating the king, and controlling his brother Albert, while simultaneously sending a large army to the border, I can quickly take control of all of Arsha. Especially since the Holy Maiden and the Grand Princess just visited there and mediated the so-called misunderstandings and conflicts, Arsha will not be too wary of me now."

“‘But I didn’t expect the assassination to fail. Alaric didn’t die, only seriously injured, and that second prince Albert was able to quickly take control of the situation and even mobilize troops to defeat the army I sent out… Now Arsha’s anger is beyond quelling, their army is advancing like a whirlwind, and they are about to reach Tallinn City. My plan has been completely ruined… Sterling, you must prove to me that my desire to take back Arsha was only to obtain more troops to resist the demons.’”

"...These are the so-called original words that Governor Igor of Dorne confessed to Governor Sterling of Cogano before his suicide. Sterling compiled them and handed them over to the Military Council in an attempt to exonerate himself from this series of upheavals."

Seeing Eric's lack of response, Natalia sighed.

"This is also the main reason why the South was quickly defeated and unable to resist the Demon Clan."

When Eric returned from the Demon Realm and saw that Lesser had fallen, he had already guessed that the situation was deteriorating, but he did not expect it to deteriorate to this extent.

Governor Igor of Dorn is trying to reclaim Arsha?

Was this plot present in the previous life's "Thorns and Crowns"?

Eric thought about it carefully and was sure that it wasn't true, otherwise the relationship between the Kingdom of Arsha and the Empire in the game would be even more tense.

The timeline of the transition in the Arsha royal family is not much different from that in "The Crown of Thorns". The real difference may come from the situation that he and Natalia changed.

In the game, the demon army is pressing in, and although the offensive has been paused, the empire is actually teetering on the brink of collapse.

In this world, even Lutia has not been completely lost. Through his continuous communication with Natalia, the forces resisting the demons have grown stronger and stronger, and the situation has largely stabilized. They could even launch a large-scale counterattack against the demons after a few more years of military buildup.

Perhaps it was this overall positive situation that gave Igor a glimpse of an opportunity.

However, reality is quite the opposite.

Now that Igor is dead, the situation is beyond saving. Except for the inner city of Lesel, Tebnit has completely fallen, and according to intelligence from the past ten days, most of the imperial granary, Guradia, has fallen. It is probably now completely occupied by the demons.

Was the old Demon King Digot throwing him back to Lysel at this moment specifically to stop the Demon King Latrell's unstoppable attack?

Eric couldn't help but speculate, even though he thought it was unlikely.

The Demon Realm is remote and treacherous, and news travels slowly. As the human most valued by the new Demon King, Xinmagu didn't even know that he had almost taken Rusdy away. Clearly, he hadn't received any news from the mainland yet. And the newly awakened old Demon King, even with greater personal strength, couldn't gain the upper hand in terms of information from such a distant place.

It must just be a coincidence...

"But things are different now."

Natalia continued her previous topic, "You alone can change the course of the battle, if you can control yourself."

Eric looked at her.

Natalia reached out and stroked his face. "The best option now is to send you to the battlefield in Gradia..." "Your Highness cannot leave here now," Alena said immediately. "Your Highness is in such a state that you can't even control yourself. The risk is too great."

Natalia glanced at her. "If His Highness wants to leave, will you stop him too?"

“That requires Your Highness to speak up,” Alena said firmly.

Natalia then looked at Eric, "What do you think?"

Eric, of course, remained silent as always.

Natalia paused for a moment, then quickly added, "Tell me when you're in the mood to answer."

Alena was deeply worried.

The people sent to the treasury of the ancients hadn't found anything by nightfall, so Natalia gave up on her plan to speak with Eric again that day and went to rest in the room arranged by Alena.

Eric was also preparing to rest—it seemed to be something he could control; when the will falls asleep, the body follows.

Before going to sleep, Alena came to his room and gave him a report on the overall situation in Lesser.

"...Lessier's garrison was almost wiped out, and the Knights of the Faith were nearly all destroyed. The remaining twenty or so were seriously wounded and are receiving treatment, but we can guarantee that they will survive."

"In the city of Lessier, the Pope and the entire College of Cardinals perished during the breakout, and the Papacy was effectively destroyed. More than half of the monks of the Apostolic Palace were killed or wounded, and the Convent of Saint Mary also lost more than forty nuns."

"The Papal Tower has collapsed, and the eastern wall of the inner city has essentially crumbled. For the past two days, monks and nuns have been clearing the ruins within the city, and are temporarily unable to rebuild the walls. The monks sent out to re-establish contact with the outside world have not yet returned, and no news has reached Leselle. As soon as a messenger arrives, the news of Her Highness's return and that Leselle has not completely fallen will be able to spread..."

Eric couldn't respond, but at least he was awake. Alena continued talking to herself until she had nothing more to say.

Finally, she took Eric's hand, held it for a while, but ultimately did nothing too outrageous, and instead tucked it into the blankets.

"From any perspective, His Highness is the last hope for Lessier and the Convent of Saints... The Holy City is preserved because of His Highness, and the monks and nuns have chosen to stay here because of His Highness's return."

Alena looked at him for a while longer before getting up and leaving the saint's bedroom.

Eric understood what she meant; she wanted him to stay for the sake of the Convent of Saint Mary and the survivors of the Holy City, to rebuild the Holy City, both physically and in their hearts.

Natalia wasn't wrong; he alone could change the course of the battle. If Gradia hadn't completely fallen, sending him to face the demon army might still be enough to salvage the crumbling situation.

Leselle is only temporarily safe; Eric doesn't really have a second choice.

He only hoped that Alena and the monks and nuns would understand his decision.

Consciousness is dormant, the body is asleep.

The next day, when Eric woke up, it was already bright. Alena and Natalia were by his bedside, and they both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that he was awake.

Eric could understand their unease; after all, he looked no different from dead when he was asleep.

Then he noticed a pile of scepters, necklaces, rings, and other jewelry by his bedside, each with a purple tag floating around them, almost blinding him.

“These were all found in the treasury of the ancients in the Papal Palace,” Alena explained. “His Highness asked us to find some things to enhance and restore spiritual power, and everything we could find is here.”

A treasure trove of ancient sages?

Is it the treasury beneath the Papal Palace?
Eric had only heard the old saint mention it once, and she had been a saint for over sixty years without ever going inside, let alone him.

Can we just take the treasures from the treasury of our ancestors and leave them at will?
Eric quickly remembered that the entire Vatican, from the Pope to the College of Cardinals, was completely wiped out.

Whether in name or in fact, he is now the person with the highest power and status in the entire Holy City, without exception.

—The treasure trove of the sages is now his treasure trove.

Eric felt a surge of excitement, but it was quickly overshadowed by the current situation.

"So……"

Alena and Natalia exchanged a glance, then looked at him. "We'll start putting these things on Your Highness now. If it works, Your Highness can regain control of your body."

The two stood on either side, adorning his hands, legs, and neck with the treasures. He wore four or five rings on one finger, two or three bracelets on his wrists, and the necklace around his neck was almost tangled up in knots.

Besides these, there was also a scepter orb that was directly shoved into his hand. The semi-transparent crystal ball clearly looked more like a mage's equipment, so it was unclear why it was in the Holy City's treasury.

The effects of these treasures were remarkable; Eric could clearly feel that his consciousness had become clearer than ever before.

As Alena tried to put another leg ring on his foot, Eric couldn't help but say, "Forget about the foot ring."

“Yes,” Alena replied, then suddenly looked up, “Your Highness…”

Natalia, on the other side, looked at him and asked, "Eric... are you alright?"

"It's just that there are no problems for now."

Thanks to the effects of these spiritual treasures, Eric is temporarily free from pressure. However, the pressure won't disappear; it will only shift. The translucent crystal ball he's holding in his right hand is rapidly turning black.

"I'll keep it short."

He looked at the two of them and said, "Once Lesser's condition improves, find a way to send me to the battlefield in Guradia."

“Okay.” Natalia straightened up, while Alena pursed her lips.

“Once Gradia falls, the demons will immediately launch another attack on Lesser, and we still won’t be able to hold this place.” Eric looked at Alena. “Do you understand?”

"……I see."

Eric thought for a moment, "We still need you here. Gather everyone at the cathedral; I need to see them and reassure them."

Alena paused for a moment, then quickly nodded, "Yes!"

As she left, Eric glanced at the crystal ball in his hand; it was now completely stained black.

He put down the crystal ball and picked up another one. The same thing happened again, but the crystal ball he put down slowly faded in color, only much more slowly.

The rings, bracelets, and necklaces he wore also changed.

Eric looked at Natalia and said, "After you send me to Guradia, you need to find a way to get back to Lutia and tell them everything you know."

“I understand.” Natalia nodded, but as she looked at him, tears streamed down her face. “Eric, I thought you would never be able to speak again.”

Eric forced a smile. "This is all my own fault. These things were probably destined when we awakened the Demon King. But I'm not dead yet, nor have I gone mad. I won't give up, so don't worry too much."

He paused, then added, "Of course, that's one thing, but you should also be prepared."

"What preparations?" Natalia asked instinctively.

"Prepare to kill me."

"..."

Eric temporarily released the scepter from his hand and took her hand in his.

"There is another preparation."

Alena quickly returned to the saint's bedroom and found that Eric had already gotten up, while Natalia looked grave.

"Take all these treasures with me, I'll use them in rotation... Luckily, I'll gradually recover once I let go, otherwise all these treasures would become disposable props, and even the past popes would be furious."

With the help of his mental energy equipment, Eric arrived at the cathedral outside and met the few remaining survivors in the holy city.

"Lesser will not perish—"

He raised the golden scepter in his hand, and under everyone's gaze, the entire scepter quickly turned the same color as the crown on his head.

Eric didn't care, threw away the scepter, and picked up a new one.

"I will not fall."

(End of this chapter)