Ch 318: The Chosen One

Aioan, listening to the wicked voice from the darkness, still pursed his lips, remaining silent and expressionless.

The words from the darkness continued incessantly, the chilling malice penetrating everywhere:

“The founder of the Emerald Covenant.”

“The Inquisitor of the Religious Tribunal.”

“A lackey of the evil Ashmore.”

“The feeling of yearning for the power of the gods, yet being abandoned by them, and finally having to surrender to evil, is quite painful, isn’t it?”

“Looking at your current state, neither human nor ghost, you are extremely ugly, no better than I am…”

“Clearly, you were the one who discovered the Emerald Tablet, but the tablet did not choose you, but that child instead.”

“Your heart, I’m afraid, has long been scorched and riddled with holes by the flames of jealousy, hahaha…”

Aioan, unable to bear it any longer, spoke in a low voice:

“Shut up.”

The whispers from that dark corner continued, seemingly taking pleasure in enraging and provoking Aioan, occasionally emitting twisted and sinister high-pitched laughter, which was very eerie.

“That child, ah, was clearly your loyal follower, yet he unknowingly died at your hands, so pitiful~”

“If it weren’t for that child named 『Theodore』, how could you have so easily ‘borrowed’ the power of the tablet?”

“As a result, after you squeezed out all the value of that child, you still had to refine his flesh and blood as materials to nourish the ‘Sacred Body’—”

“Tsk tsk tsk, you are truly an utter beast. Just like me, I admire you so much.”

Aioan seemed accustomed to the voice’s provocations, suppressing his hidden anger, and gritted his teeth:

“If you look down on the ‘Sacred Body’ I created, you may leave on your own. Or, I will immediately suggest to Ashmore that you be ‘removed’.”

That strange voice giggled mischievously, feigning panic:

“Oh dear, I’m just joking. I sacrificed an entire village to Lord Ashmore, including my own body. If you remove me, I won’t live long!”

Aioan snorted coldly.

The fleshy tentacles connected to his body suddenly trembled, then calmed down again.

…

Aioan’s conversation with that voice continued.

In the corner, Theodore, who did not exist in this space-time, quietly held the glowing Emerald Tablet, silently paying attention to Aioan’s conversation with the voice from the darkness.

Both Aioan’s strange and terrifying appearance and the information revealed in his words greatly shocked Theodore.

In this shock, he had become completely numb.

However, he vaguely felt that perhaps it was the Emerald Tablet that had taken him back to a past space-time.

These scenes were what the Emerald Tablet wanted to tell him.

So, Theodore suppressed the successive shocks and the huge mental impact in his heart and frantically turned his mind.

Trying to collect and sort out all the information clearly.

Although Aioan was usually taciturn, the incessant whispers in the darkness revealed a lot of information.

Theodore then recalled his experiences in life and quickly connected the whole thing together.

Aioan… that is, Garnam.

His true identity was the son of a noble in another capital city. He was defeated in the succession battle and exiled by his opponent who took the throne, forcing him to leave his home.

His pursuit of power and his desire for revenge had reached a fanatical level.

By chance, Aioan discovered the existence of the Emerald Tablet in an ancient ruin.

The Emerald Tablet was engraved with the commandments of the gods, containing the power of ancient deities.

Aioan was obsessed with the Emerald Tablet, but he could not find the key to unlock it, unable to comprehend the tablet’s proverbs, and unable to obtain the power of the gods.

Because not everyone could interpret the tablet and obtain the gift of the gods.

Only those chosen by the Emerald Tablet could comprehend the commandments of the gods.

And Aioan was not chosen by the Emerald Tablet.

At that time, he had already been driven mad by the desire to become stronger and take revenge.

He was unwilling to give up the powerful force contained in the Emerald Tablet, no matter what.

Later, he was entangled by the evil god Ashmore.

At that time, Ashmore had retreated into dormancy because his vitality was greatly damaged.

Ashmore taught him the secret to seize the power of the Emerald Tablet.

The price was to sacrifice his body to create a new physical foundation for Ashmore, that is, the 【Sacred Body】.

Aioan agreed without thinking.

From then on, he became Ashmore’s servant.

The entity whispering in the darkness was also one of Ashmore’s servants.

However, he had already completely sacrificed his body, and only his divine soul was attached to the Sacred Body created by Aioan.

Ashmore asked Aioan to find those who had been chosen by the tablet and make them followers of the Emerald Tablet.

At that time, he would use these “followers” to catalyze and derive the power of the Emerald Tablet.

And use this power as energy to activate a sacrificial ritual that had been arranged in advance.

Sacrifice all the followers’ bodies to become nourishment for creating the “Sacred Body”.

In this way, the power of the Emerald Tablet could be retained in the Sacred Body built from the flesh and blood of the followers.

Finally, the evil god could obtain the resurrected Sacred Body.

And because this Sacred Body was based on Aioan’s body, Aioan could also use the powerful force within the Sacred Body.

Using this power to take revenge was just a small matter.

Aioan knew very well that this was a trap set by the evil god Ashmore. Once he agreed to become Ashmore’s servant, he would be deeply trapped and doomed forever.

But… driven by powerful force, he was still willing to sacrifice himself.

So—

Aioan took the Emerald Tablet to identify and select those who could resonate with the tablet.

That is, those chosen by the Emerald Tablet.

He used the methods taught by the evil god, using various means to strike, persecute, and force these people into desperate situations.

Then, he appeared as a “savior”, rescued these lonely people, and made them join the Emerald Covenant without any suspicion and with utter loyalty.

In addition, to cover his tracks, he also became the Inquisitor of the Religious Tribunal of the most authoritative church in Telt Capital.

Using the power of the capital, the nobles, and the church, he arrested and imprisoned all these followers in the dungeon under legitimate pretenses.

And under the pretext of “eliminating heretics,” he carried out the sacrificial ritual, triggering the power of the tablet, sacrificing the flesh and blood of all the followers, and creating the “Sacred Body.”

In that sacrificial ritual, more than a hundred followers, including Theodore, all perished in the dungeon.

As for what happened after that, Theodore guessed that Aioan had probably gone to a new place and recruited a new group of followers…

As for why the tablet shattered and where Aioan went afterward, Theodore did not know.

…

When Theodore sorted out the whole thing clearly.

All the images and sounds in front of him disappeared.

He came to a deep and dark place, and did not continue to trace back to the next space-time.

Only a fragment of the Emerald Tablet in his hand still emitted a faint cold light.

Perhaps, these were all the things that the Emerald Tablet wanted to tell him.

He, Theodore, was once a person chosen by the Emerald Tablet.

Even, according to Aioan and another servant, Theodore was the most talented and promising person among this group of followers to comprehend the commandments of the gods.

However, throughout Theodore’s life following Aioan, Aioan never handed the Emerald Tablet to him, allowing him to personally touch and comprehend the tablet.

He only distributed some vague and ambiguous rubbings of the tablet’s scriptures, asking these followers to interpret them.

Whenever Theodore handed over his understanding of the tablet rubbings to Aioan, Aioan would always sigh.

Then, he would look at him with care and gently say:

“Your interpretation is still a little off… but it doesn’t matter, just keep working hard. I always see your efforts.”

Theodore was often frustrated.

He had always thought that he had been rejected by the Emerald Tablet and would probably never be able to comprehend the commandments of the gods on the tablet.

However, although frustrated, Aioan patiently comforted him and cheered him on.

He even customized a set of exquisite bishop’s mitre, robes, and a scepter for him.

Aioan promised Theodore that one day, when the Emerald Covenant became famous, he would make him the only archbishop of the Emerald Covenant.

Before Theodore died, he solemnly put on this set of bishop’s robes.

He and all the followers, in desperation, helped Aioan comprehend the so-called “Art of the Gods” according to Aioan’s guidance…

However, the truth was.

Once Aioan handed the Emerald Tablet to Theodore for personal interpretation early on—

Then Theodore would immediately master the Emerald Tablet and become the chosen one to comprehend the commandments of the gods.

And Aioan would completely lose control over Theodore and the Emerald Tablet.

This was naturally something he could not accept.

Therefore, the Emerald Tablet chose Theodore, but Theodore never had the chance to respond to the Emerald Tablet’s choice.

Until… he had become a skeleton, and the tablet was shattered into fragments, buried in the ancient battlefield for countless years.

If Shen Chi had not summoned him from the dungeon, he would probably have continued to sleep.

Now, he finally held the Emerald Tablet in his hand.

Theodore carefully held the fragment of the tablet in his hands, his thoughts extremely complicated.

At this moment, a wisp of inextricable connection seemed to have been established between him and this shattered Emerald Tablet.

Just then…

He returned to the original mission hall.

He stood on the high platform at the end of the hall, while Shen Chi was still standing under the platform, patiently waiting for him.

It seemed that his tracing back to past space-times was only a moment.

But…

The difference was that there was also a “guest” waiting for Theodore in the hall.

—Aioan.

At this moment, Aioan no longer had the gentle, polite, and approachable appearance. Instead, he had merged with the “Sacred Body”.

An irregularly shaped, enormous mountain of flesh squirmed in the empty hall, and countless fleshy tentacles stretched out, falling to the ground and climbing in all directions.

Aioan’s head stretched out from the mountain of flesh, facing Theodore, staring at him fiercely.

Then, he said in a gloomy whisper:

“Theodore.”