Juan decided to venture out of the Vatican while he was still in possession of the Saintess’ body.

The layout of the Vatican was unfamiliar to Juan as it had been constructed only after Juan’s death, but he managed to find his way out somehow.

The guard was worried for the Saintess’ security as it was still early in the dawn, when the sun had not yet risen, but Juan had someone to protect and guide him.

“It’s fine. This guy will show me the way.”

The Black Priest followed Juan with a distorted look on his face. His broken hand had been treated, but he was having a hard time forgetting the pain. The scariest part was the fact that the Saintess’ expression remained the same when she had broken his finger.

“...It’s been a while. It has changed a lot.”

Juan muttered to himself with emotion as he looked at the huge city squares and buildings outside the Vatican. The capital didn’t have much meaning to Juan except for the fact that the Imperial Palace was located in it. However, Juan felt slightly nostalgic upon seeing the capital city after such a long time, even though he was borrowing someone else’s eyes to see the view. It looked very different from what he remembered, but numerous memories of the capital passed through Juan’s mind.

“Where is the Imperial Palace?” Juan asked.

“I-Imperial Palace? It’s northwest from here. It’s not too far away,” the Black Priest answered with difficulty.

He had been seeking a chance to leave, but Juan didn’t seem to have any intention of letting him go.

Juan headed directly toward the Imperial Palace. Juan couldn’t maintain the spirit transfer for a long time as there would be greater damage to his body, but Juan decided to check one thing while he was still moving around in Ivy’s body.

‘What would happen if I saw my body in person?’

Juan thought that even if he couldn’t transfer his spirit into the body, something might happen if he saw his body. If not, he could still see the state his original body was in. According to the stories Juan had heard, it was said that his body neither rotted nor dried from the day he had been stabbed. But Juan had a feeling that he would be able to tell whether or not it was preserved in an unusual way if he saw it with his own eyes.

‘Maybe I will be able to find traces of the day I died.’

Juan also had to look for a way to protect the Saintess. Unlike the other Priests who were granted different kinds of Grace, no Grace could be detected from her. The amount of mana she could handle was also slim. All Juan could do was control the Saintess’ small and weak body by force, but even that alone had limits.

‘It would be nice if I could use magic.’

There were many hidden magic items and potions in the Imperial Palace. Juan wasn’t sure if they would still be there, but he figured it wouldn’t be a bad choice to visit the Imperial Palace for all these purposes.

As the Black Priest said, the Imperial Palace was pretty close. As Juan began to approach the Imperial Palace, the view of familiar terrain and buildings filled his eyes. The Imperial Palace was still dark, quiet, and solemn, just like how it used to be in the past.

When Juan arrived at the huge square surrounding the Imperial Palace, he stopped. In front of him was a building that wasn’t very big or fancy, but was still quite elegant. Twelve towers surrounded the huge pyramid-shaped dome in a circle, and there were no walls around the building as the Imperial Palace itself functioned as a great defensive wall.

Juan looked down at the stone pavement on the floor of the square, which was engraved with runes. The stone pavement with the engraving of runes surrounded the Imperial Palace in a round shape. When Juan got close, a subtle golden wall appeared and blocked his view.

“S-saintess. You might have seen it for the first time, but this is the famous miracle barrier called ‘the Veil of Benevolence.’ Only those who are permitted can enter. It offers such a strong defense, that Harmon Helwin from the Six Apostates staged a four day sit-in alone after His Majesty’s assassination.”

“Four days? How did they enter after that?”

“The head of the Helwin family at the time and General Dismas, the third adopted son of His Majesty, entered and beheaded Harmon. No one other than His Majesty’s adopted children or the Imperial Guards living inside can enter even now. The same is true for His Holiness and the Regent…”

The Black Priest couldn’t even finish his words, as Juan approached the Veil of Benevolence and reached out toward it. The Black Priest shook his head on the inside as he thought it would be impossible to open the barrier, but soon felt like screaming.

The golden wall split open, and the door began to open. The Black Priest opened his mouth wide upon seeing the door open. He had never seen the Veil of Benevolence being opened from the outside—even the Pope who received all of His Majesty’s Grace, or the Regent who held the control of the entire empire and exercised authority that was no different from His Majesty’s could only enter the Imperial Palace after the Imperial Guard opened the door for them from the inside. However, the Saintess had opened the Veil of Benevolence as if it was the door to her own house.

“I’m glad it still works,” Juan said as he breathed a sigh of relief.

The Veil of Benevolence could only be opened by injecting a special pattern of mana into it. Because such a way to open the veil was impossible to replicate or imitate, Juan had given a magic item that could function as the key to the Imperial Palace only to his children and a few of the Imperial Guards. In other words, Juan could open the veil as long as he could use mana and only he could open it in this manner.

“The structure of the inside hasn’t changed, has it?” Juan looked back as if he was asking the Black Priest.

However, the Black Priest didn’t follow Juan—he was just simply bowing on his stomach outside of the Veil of Benevolence.

“What are you doing?”

“S-Saintess. I-I don’t d-dare to enter the Imperial Palace. Only the honorable chosen ones can enter the Imperial Palace, and you have proved your qualifications by opening this door yourself. P-please punish me for the impious behavior I showed earlier.”

Every single word coming from the mouth of the Black Priest was sincere. He had heard the rumor that the Saintess was extraordinary, but the Church’s absolute power was held by the Pope. The Black Priests were a private sanction group that only followed the orders of the Pope within the Church, and the Saintess was not too different from them, considering that she was nothing more than the Pope’s tool.

But this Saintess was different. A Saintess who could open the Veil of Benevolence on her own had never appeared in history. The Black Priest had no choice but to beg for forgiveness while bowing down for having had bad intentions toward her.

“I have nothing to say even if you try to get me executed. But if you give me a second chance, I’d like to serve you and sacrifice my life for you, Saintess. With mercy and forgiveness, please show me His Majesty’s Grace and…”

The Black Priest inadvertently raised his head slightly as he couldn’t feel any presence. There was no one in front of him—the Saintess had already left, and the Veil of Benevolence had long since closed again.

The Black Priest tried to stand up upon seeing the empty square, but sat back down. He felt like he had a dream.

***

The Imperial Palace was exactly the same as before Juan died—it looked just like it looked before he left to go to the northern front and meet his comrades who had been protecting the capital. He even felt that he could feel the breath he exhaled at the time.

At the time, the Imperial Place had been noisy with many nobles, chiefs, officials hired by Harmon, tough knights and many more. However, it was now nothing more than a dead space where the flow of air had stopped and had no trace of human life; it was a space which had completely separated from the present era.

Juan could feel where his body was located—it was in the middle of the Imperial Palace, where the throne was located. Juan headed toward the throne as if he was possessed by the voice of his body calling for him.

‘Kennosis.’

Juan could see the sculptures and murals engraved with the history made by the emperor among the large and magnificent stone pillars; the murals of the gods, the demonic beasts, the demons, and the devils all had stories attached to them. They all looked down on humans with arrogant eyes and persecuted them, but ended up being horribly murdered by the emperor.

God decided to destroy Man and Man rebelled against God in retaliation. 

An emperor arose in this land as a result of the rebellion. 

The emperor cut the gods to pieces and scattered them across the mountains, rivers, and fields.

The history of the slaughter was engraved on the mural. Reading the epic on the wall that praised the great emperor, Juan continued to walk as if he had become a dog that was being dragged by a chain.

Who could resist this glory.

Who could relinquish this power.

Come!

Upon reading till the end of the epic on the wall, Juan arrived in front of the huge iron gate. It was the place where the ending of the emperor who once saved and led mankind was recorded—the place where the Eternal Rule began.

Such an iron gate wasn’t there during the era when Juan had still been alive. It seemed like it had been built after the Eternal Rule began, and it looked more like a castle gate rather than an ordinary door considering its size. Juan was doubtful whether the door would open or not, but it was so well managed that not a grain of dust could be found.

Juan felt strong mana and power beyond the iron gate. He found the power to be more comfortable and cozy rather than feeling threatened. He felt that he would fall asleep, almost as if he was lying on his home bed. There was a huge iron gate between him and the original body, but that alone caused Juan to start losing control.

He wanted to enter.

He wanted to enter the room and become one.

He wanted to become a part of this huge amount of mana.

Juan looked at the painting engraved on the iron gate—it was a painting depicting the emperor. It was the face of a middle-aged man who sat on the throne and looked down at the ground with a heavy expression.

The solemn and authoritative face somehow felt very distant to Juan. Juan noticed that something which appeared to be a black branch was piercing the chest of the man in the painting—and Juan recalled his memory.

The memory of the day that Gerard stabbed him, and the memory of a black blade that penetrated through his chest and stretched out like a thunderbolt. Juan remembered everything, including the blood that spurted out of his body as well as the face of Gerard Gain who was looking at him with despair. Juan placed his hand on the iron gate as if he was possessed.

It was then.

“Who are you?”

Juan heard a voice from behind his back and quickly came to his senses. He was surprised at the fact that he hadn’t been able to notice the presence of someone approaching him at all. By the time he returned to his senses, his mana was leaking out of the Saintess’ body at a fast rate. Cold sweat ran down Juan’s back.

Come.

Let’s become one.

‘It wants my spirit and body to become one again.’

Juan’s body and spirit wanted to merge, and Juan would have been sucked into his body if he had lost his mind and ended up entering the iron gate. Even now, Juan felt like he was being pulled and that it was hard to escape. It would only be a matter of time to get caught by the pull if he didn’t immediately cut off his connection with Ivy. Even if Juan’s spirit entered his original body in its current state, he wouldn’t be able to regain his body. There was a high possibility of losing himself and becoming just a mass of mana.

“I asked who you were.”

Upon turning his head toward the person asking the question, Juan saw a shabby man holding a bucket and a mop in his hand. The man seemed to be wearing something closer to a rag rather than clothes.

‘Is he a janitor?’

Juan tried to identify him, but it was difficult to hold onto his consciousness that had been maintaining the connection with Ivy. Even now, his power was being sucked into the original body. It would only be a matter of time for him to lose every bit of mana that had been maintaining his new body if he continued to hold out in this state.

“If you don’t answer, I’m going to assume that you are here to harm His Majesty,” the shabby man asked again.

However, Juan didn’t have much time left to have a long conversation with him. Just about when he tried to disconnect with Ivy, he thought that the Saintess might be suspected by others for entering the Imperial Palace. Although he had made one of the Black Priests submit, it was unclear whether he would continue to protect Ivy.

Left with no other choice, Juan used the last of his strength to speak before he disconnected from Ivy’s body.

“Protect…this woman.”

The man opened his eyes wide at the emperor’s voice coming from the Saintess’ mouth.

Juan soon lost his connection.