Ark Undead

"it is good."

...

The two decided to talk in the staff lounge of the medical department.

Shining first asked the Undead to sit down, then put down her staff and turned to make him a cup of tea.

"What would you like to drink, tea or coffee?"

"It will be all right."

He'll accept anyone who doesn't die, but he probably won't even take a sip anyway.

While making tea, Shining took a moment to organize her thoughts. By the time she returned to the Undead with two cups of tea, she was back to her usual calm self.

The former pardoner from Kazdel sat opposite the undead and pushed the tea in his hand toward him.

“I thought someone would come looking for me, but I didn’t expect you to come first.”

During her time on Rhodes Island, Shining was no longer like she had when she first met the Undead, with only a superficial understanding of him as a "war knight".

The doctor had several conversations with her, during which he intentionally or unintentionally revealed information about her identity as an immortal.

Shining is a smart person, and she was naturally able to perceive the deeper meaning in the Doctor's words.

In particular, as the intensity of the flames within the bodies of the undead increased, Shining was able to sense just how terrifying this power from ancient times truly was.

Now, this hero is sitting right in front of him.

"This is not a trial. Don't worry."

The Undead noticed that Shining was taking the conversation very seriously and seemed a little nervous, so he tried to calm Shining down.

“I know you are a pardoner. But I also know that you are different from them.”

Shining's body and soul essence had not changed; to the senses of the undead, Shining's state was no different from that of a normal Sarkaz.

"I've heard your story."

The Undead plan to start by examining the Shining's past experiences.

“You are not merely a pardoner. You are skilled with the sword.”

"To mention one's martial arts skills in front of the Undying Man is really like showing off one's limited skills before an expert."

Shining shook his head.

"In the past, I was indeed obsessed with correcting my mistakes. At that time, I didn't even realize that I had made many mistakes. By the time I finally woke up, I could no longer hear the call of the sword in my hand."

At this point, Shining's eyes showed a hint of helplessness.

“I died as a pardoner the moment I laid down my sword.”

It's clear that Shining isn't proud of his past; in fact, he seems to have some worries and a desire for redemption.

The immortals became somewhat curious.

The Absolutioners weren't called that during the Age of Fire. However, they were indeed followers of the goddess of sin, Belga, and most of them possessed superb combat skills.

At that time, the followers of the Goddess of Sin were skilled in rapiers and magic, and even possessed the power to block their opponents from casting spells, forcing them to take up arms and fight them in close combat.

Why would you give up this identity?

The immortal continued to ask.

"Because it will be transformed?"

To date, all the absolutists the Undead have ever seen are creations of the Abyss, their bodies and souls long since corrupted and mutated.

Hidden beneath the black robe was not the beautiful and elegant body of Shining, but the carapace of an insect and its twisted, multi-legged form.

"It's not just that..."

Since this point has already been brought up, Shining might as well just say it directly.

"The work of the Pardoners was not originally to provide combat capabilities as a martial arts faction, but as a research faction, wielding special Originium Arts and providing advice to the king on political matters."

"But with the Ten Royal Courts scattered one after another, the Pardoners have become almost the only reliable force that Theresis can use."

"That is why most of the pardoners, when swearing allegiance to Theresis, may have received extremely generous rewards and positions from Theresis."

"However, all of this comes at a price."

Shining paused for a moment.

"We need to change our beliefs."

The Undead had originally intended to ask what the Ten Kings' Court was. But Shining's last question immediately piqued the Undead's interest.

"Abyssal faith?"

"Yes."

Shining nodded.

“We can no longer worship the goddess of sin, Belga. Instead, we must use our own bodies as a nest to worship the offspring of the gods of the abyss and become their believers.”

“At that time, the vast majority of our people were unwilling, and we even tried to rebel.”

This is normal. In the worldview of the Absolutioner, changing one's faith is equivalent to reshaping one's life.

This means that everything done so far has been in vain and has been completely negated.

"But the result was devastating. We didn't even have the right to look up at him. Only a few who upheld the oath of allegiance sworn by the Absolute Master gritted their teeth and accepted the faith of the Abyss in the first place."

"The remaining pardoners are either missing or under house arrest."

When this part of history was mentioned, Shining's eyes flickered with a strange light.

“My luck… was perhaps due to the mercy of the goddess of sin. At that time, I was feeling remorse because of Nightingale and was trying to send her out of Kazdel. It was also at the time that my kin were forced to betray the gods one by one.”

"The only member of my clan who escaped attacked me after seeing me."

Shining gripped the cane that was resting on the table.

"So I killed him with my sword."

On that very day, her last kin, in a brief moment of lucidity, told Shining what had happened in Kazdel.

Shining was able to escape Kazdel and wander around with Nightingale until they finally encountered Nearl, who had also been expelled from Kazimierz because of the Infected.

"You know what happened next."

The Shining nodded to the Undead.

Later, Shining and Nearl formed the Apostle organization and used their combined strength to try to save the Infected. Eventually, they made contact with Rhodes Island and reached a cooperation agreement.

The Undead leaned back in his seat, looking down at the teacup in front of him, lost in thought.

To be honest, this story has given him a lot of information.

Theresis made a deal with the Abyss long ago. But the Exorcists did not follow Theresis voluntarily.

This already speaks volumes.

"As for the Ten Royal Courts."

"The Shining said again."

"You may not have heard of it, but the Ten Royal Courts are actually ten powerful bloodlines that have been subdivided from the Sarkaz race. They have sworn allegiance to the Sarkaz kings throughout the ages and are the main force protecting the entire Sarkaz race."

"However, you have already made contact with two of the royal courts."

"The Patriot who died in the Battle of Chernobog in Ursus was the last pure-blooded Wendigo of the Wendigo clan in the Ten Kings' Court."

"And Mr. Logos, who accompanied you to Iberia to explore its secrets, is the youngest sorcerer in the Banshee Royal Court, and also its only heir."

"The remaining eight royal courts should have reacted immediately after Theresis seized the throne. But they remained surprisingly silent."

"There are rumors that it was because one of the Ten Kings' Courts, the Cyclops Kings' Court, attempted to glimpse the future and made a prophecy after the War of the Two Kings."

"However, this prophecy, which was meant to be told to the Sarkaz King, was secretly sent to other royal courts."

"Therefore, the ten royal courts fell silent one after another, turning a deaf ear to Theresis's summons."

The specific content of the prophecy is unknown, but Shining has heard some rumors about it.

Although she wasn't sure if the information was true, it was still valuable as information.

"There is nothing in the prophecy, and even the bloodline of the Cyclops cannot foresee the future. The only explanation is that Theresis died long ago, even before the War of the Two Kings."

The immortal looked up in astonishment.

Is Theresis already dead?

Who was that Therese he saw?

"But I had contact with him several times."

"Immortal asked in confusion."

"He is still alive."

"Perhaps, the person you've been in contact with isn't Theresis himself anymore."

Shining shook his head.

"The reason why the Ten Kings Court did not intervene in the war between the two kings, or even take sides, is because in the past, everyone believed that both of them had the potential to become kings, and their ideas each had their own merits."

"The Ten Kings hope to use this war to establish the dominant position of one of them. Then, this new generation of twin stars will lead the Sarkaz into the future."

"However, the power that Therese displayed in this war far exceeded everyone's previous understanding of him."

"Those colossal beasts from the abyss terrify even us pardoners. The Cyclops royal court must have been secretly conducting prophecy rituals for this reason."

As Shining spoke, she made no attempt to hide her worry.

"To be honest, I found those monsters strange when I first saw them. But because he was a candidate for king, I didn't pay any attention to it."

"Now he has even subdued all the pardoners, and I can't even imagine what he has become."

Although the rumors that Shining learned of were quite outrageous, they also had their own unique rationality.

The Doctor and Kal'tsit had mentioned to him that although Theresa and Theresis' relationship in the past wasn't exactly good, they definitely had contact, and they even acknowledged some of each other's power.

The current Theresis has no trace of kingly demeanor, and no one respects him.

If Theresis had died long ago and her identity had been switched by the Abyss, that would explain why the two siblings would suddenly become enemies.