Chapter 223: Prophecy of Apocalypse (1)
༺ Prophecy of Apocalypse (1)༻
These days, there was an increase of people raising their voices in the plaza of various cities including the capital city.
“The end is near!”
“A long winter will bring together famine and severe coldness, with no end to disasters!”
“The era of the wolf has come! The world will be engulfed in chaos and an eternal darkness will doom on the earth!”
“Beasts of darkness will start howling aloud! Their howls will raise the giants again!”
“Only those with true faith will be able to go to paradise through the apocalypse!”
At a glance, they sounded like fanatics of a heretical doctrine screaming out whatever they pleased.
However, people took them in more seriously because the ones doing them were from one of the two biggest religions.
– That prophecy. They’ve been saying that for two months, haven’t they?
– If the Xeruem is saying that... What do we do now?
The priests of the Old Faith, referred to as the Xeruem Order these days, were wandering around the whole continent revealing prophecies of the apocalypse, which shook the hearts of not only the believers of Xeruem, but also the followers of Zeon.
– The winter’s not ending. What if they’re telling the truth?
– It’s already March but the weather is still like this! Spring isn’t coming!
If it had been just a groundless theory of the apocalypse, people would have turned away from them no matter how big of an order they were.
However, time went by and it was already March. The weather, which should have warmed down already, had become even colder, and the harsh coldness was still freezing the whole world.
There was something wrong with the weather, but it wasn’t just that – it coincided perfectly with the continent-wide prophecy that the believers of the Old Faith had been yelling out for months.
– W, we need to pray.
– Pray to the lord.
– Only the believers will be saved...
A large number of people were deceived by the prophecy and heading to the Xeruem Order, but there were those who had been anticipating this turn of events.
“It’s... really happening.”
“How intriguing. Knowing about the enemies is one thing, but how did he know what they would do?”
“...”
King David.
Sword Emperor Garrand.
Duke Marde.
The three, who were respectively at the pinnacle of the kingdom’s authority, power and wealth, all thought back on what their future-son-in-law had told them 3 months ago.
[The winter will go on. The Old Faith will jump on the bandwagon and after that—]
A strange phenomenon of the unending winter and the Old Faith deceiving people with false prophecies. His hope to prepare for all that, was now proven to have been adequate.
“Sword Emperor. How are the swordsmen of the east?”
“They have finished their preparations for the winter under Lunia’s lead.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem then. Our biggest concern is the food.”
According to Korin Lork, it would take at least another month or so to resolve this winter, in which case they would have lost the timing for sowing the seeds, which meant they couldn’t expect anything much from this year’s harvest.
Considering how most of the population was involved in agriculture, this was bound to bring a great chaos to the people.
“We have prepared potato seeds that can replace our March crops. We also stopped exporting the food for the past winter, and they’re currently sitting in our warehouses.”
The one who had to suffer the most in this ordeal, was none other than Duke Marde.
As the one in charge of the enormous agricultural land on the southern plains of the continent, the duke had to make the decision of stopping all exports of food over the winter with nothing to believe in other than Korin Lork’s firm declaration.
Most of the crops produced in the south were exported to all sorts of kingdoms overseas. In the first place, they were producing more than what the continent required for the purpose of exportation, so any crops that couldn’t be sold in the winter was considered waste, because they would all go off.
The duke had to make a decision to reserve all those crops instead of exporting them. He was met with strong resistances and oppositions, but he nonetheless remained firm.
“So what’s left now is...”
“A cabinet meeting.”
The final claim from Korin Lork was the need for an expedition to the Northern Kingdom to the north, the harsh land of eternal winter, where the perpetrators of all this resided.
Somehow, they had to make people agree to this mind-blowing expedition, which no-one sane would even propose.
Also attending this cabinet meeting was the new president of the Central Guardian Association, Korin Lork.
****
“So because of the constant inflow of cold blizzards from the north—”
Scholars who could read astronomy and the climate ahead of time were valuable in any era, but their expectations this time had drastically missed the target. The reason for that was none other than the unnatural continuation of winter.
“What is your conclusion?” asked the Transport Minister.
The meteorological scholar replied after clearing his throat.
“Regarding this current abnormality in climate... it is highly likely to be a temporary phenomenon, so I would propose seeing how it goes. However, from a scholastic approach, I would also propose sending an investigation group to find out the origin of this strange phenomenon.”
“Investigation?! What if we end up prompting those barbarians in the north!?”
The minister replied with a shout. He was concerned about potentially prompting the barbarians into action, which was a justified opinion on his part.
“This abnormal climate is just a temporary occurrence. Is that all?” asked Duke Marde.
“Yes. That is the case.”
Since he was the one who suffered the most from the abnormal climate, the people gathered somewhat guessed what he would propose.
“We have missed our chance to sow seeds because of this winter. We can’t expect any crops apart from potatoes this year. To prepare against future repetition of this phenomenon, I also believe it is correct to send an investigation group.”
“What Lord Duke said would be a great arrangement.”
“I agree as well. It is important to compile data on climate changes.”
As soon as Duke Marde finished sharing his opinion, the officials affiliated under the ‘Voices of the South’ also shared their agreement. Hearing the agreement of one of the biggest political factions, some of the officials showed signs of being convinced.
That was when the Sword Emperor also chimed in.
“The winter is going longer than expected, so the Northern Kingdom will have a shortage of food as well. Wouldn’t it be wise to send troops and fortify the northern border ahead of time?”
Sword Emperor Garrand Arden.
“Saintess Estelle?”
“Saintess!”
Saintess Estelle of the Zeon Order.
According to the original plan of the Old Faith, the New Faith was supposed to take part in this apocalypse prophecy. Half of the cardinals as well as the pope had been on their side, so the chaos within the kingdom would have been achieved much faster with their assistance.
But all of that was ruined by that one woman.
She suddenly turned crazy and killed the pope, half of the cardinals and bishops, which was a shocking turn of events for the Old Faith.
Plus, there was more.
The New Faith, re-instituted under the lead of the Saintess, began talking about increasingly strange doctrines.
Bishop Renault felt goosebumps on his skin upon recently finding out that the basis of that was related to the Danann faith. In any case, it was within their expectations that Estelle would try to do something about the prophecy.
“It has been a while, Your Highness.”
Bishop Renault gave a bow and referred to her as ‘Your Highness’, but not as ‘Your Holiness’, signifying her status as a saintess, which revealed his contempt towards the New Faith.
“Who were you again?”
“...”
There was no way that she wouldn’t know about him, a future cardinal candidate. It was clearly a provocation but Renault still couldn’t help but grit his teeth.
“What brings you here, Your Highness?”
“I heard someone was talking about the prophecies of the apocalypse.”
The pink-haired saintess said while looking down at Renault with a smile. Her smile was so frightening and crafty to be that of a true saintess.
“The prophecy is about an inevitable future that the lord has revealed to us about. This is an unavoidable disaster, and we must prepare ourselves for it.”
Renault thought about the possible things the saintess would say in response. The New Faith would probably try to deny the prophecy and say that there was no such thing as an upcoming apocalypse, and that they should calm down and go back to their normal lifestyle.
But that wouldn’t work. The prophecies will come true one by one, which will drop the integrity and authority of both the New Faith and the Saintess.
It was a shame that they couldn’t receive the assistance of the New Faith due to an unexpected massacre, but Renault didn’t see any possible room for failure.
“Don’t tell me... Are you denying the prophecy of the lord, Saintess?”
There! Tell us whatever you want to say!
No matter what you say, the prophecy will come true. The world will be infused with chaos and—
“Yes. The prophecy is right.”
“Fufu. Let’s wait and see...... Huh?”
What? What did this woman just say?
– Ahh, even the Saintess...!
– Is the prophecy true? No!!
– It’s over! Everything’s over!
The people lamented in despair. Words of a bishop were drastically different in weight compared to that of the saintess.
Through their countless experiences, the people were truly aware that Saintess Estelle was a being connected to the god.
She could make her prayers come to life. She was the child of god who could shake the universe and cure illnesses.
Her confirmation of the apocalypse was distressing.
“W, what are you...”
“Beloved believers! I am sure you must have heard about the recent prophecies going on around the kingdom!”
Ignoring the bishop, Estelle faced and directed at the crowd. Her voice spread far and wide with the support of her divine energy.
“The prophecy is true. This winter will be long, the era of the wolf will come, light will vanish and the world will be enshrouded in darkness.”
‘Why the hell are you saying it’s right...?’ Renault Lusignan looked on with a frown.
Despite just confirming the prophecy of apocalypse, Estelle still faced the crowd with an ever-so-bright expression and locked fingers, while intentionally creating a halo of light with her divine energy.
“However, this is all but a trial given to us by the lord!”
“What?”
– A trial?
– The prophecy is a trial given by the lord?
The crowd turned rowdy again, and Estelle did not miss the chance.
“That is correct. When we overcome all these trials, a ‘New Sun’ will rise at the end! This is the glory our lord has prepared for us; our salvation!”
“T, that is utter nonsense!”
Renault was shocked by Estelle adding additional prophecies to their prophecy of apocalypse.
“What do you mean by that, Bishop Renault?”
“How can you distort the prophecy like this! This is pure nonsense!”
“Distort? I have no idea what you’re talking about. I heard it with my own ears.”
“What...!?”
Estelle solemnly declared while pointing at the sky.
“I have talked to the lord, and that was the plan he conveyed to me! The lord said he will not discard his beloved children! That is correct! This is just a trial and a preface to the new Sun!”
– R, really?
– The Saintess is saying that herself! It has to be true!
– The new Sun will save us all!
Estelle gave the infuriated Bishop Renault a smile and gestured with her eyes.
‘You? Nothing but a bishop.’
‘And me? The saintess.’
There was a line in the scripture which stated that false prophets would rise up and deceive the people when the end was near. In that sense, both of them were false prophets.
“You must believe in what I said. Be grateful to the merciful lord who loves his children! He will grant us the new Sun!”
It was just that Estelle was even more vicious of a false prophet.