The Lich of Glory Knight Spirit: Moving towards Krimasha!
Chapter 64 - 47: Judgment (Second Update)

Chapter 64: Chapter 47: Judgment (Second Update)

In Elf History Fourth Epoch 11266, which was also late summer in Human History Holy Calendar 10753, the Battle of the White City that occurred in the Isaac Kingdom at the southern end of the continent made the name Gray Gruglu appear in human history books for the first time.

With his own strength, he forced back the forty-thousand-strong army of King of Isaac, Baird VI, creating a miracle in human military history.

After the war, King of Isaac, Baird VI, was deposed, Count Caspar of Beishier Duchy and Earl Field were dismissed, and Yilin Beabella Beisher, the sole heir of the Beisher Family, smoothly succeeded to the title of Duke Beisher with the full support of the church, becoming the new Duchess.

As for Gray Gruglu, he was also granted a new title, becoming the second Count Gruglu of Beishier Duchy.

In just a few months, starting from nothing, he quickly climbed to the position of Earl with his own power, something rare in the entirety of human history. However, his enfeoffment met with no objections, and on the contrary, everyone believed it was well-deserved—his deeds spread to every corner of the continent, being held up as the epitome of the knight spirit, used to educate newly promoted knight squires.

In October, the over eighty-year-old Bishop Anthony III personally went to the Holy Sect to report the causes and consequences of the Battle of the White City.

In November, the Holy Sect officially announced Gray Gruglu as the 769th Holy Knight, and the only remaining fifth Holy Knight.

Indeed, across the entire continent, only five Holy Knights remained. The other four were personally nurtured by the Pope. Gray was considered the only exception in the Holy Sect’s millennia-long history. Additionally, Gray’s insignia was granted a gold-edged cross, rather than the silver-edged cross like Yilin’s.

Strangely, although Gray Gruglu was enfeoffed, he was not summoned. This left many commentators quite baffled.

In December, the political turmoil in Lion King City, caused by the deposition of King of Isaac, Baird VI, finally came to an end. Prince Benedict II ultimately emerged victorious and gained the throne. He issued a decree inviting Duke Beisher Yilin and Count Gruglu Gray to his enfeoffment ceremony and promised to formally bestow upon them the titles that rightfully belonged to them, along with new territories.

At this moment, the event was unprecedented, with flowers and applause, and Gray Gruglu was once considered the greatest knight on the entire continent.

This was an unforeseen and sudden change, although in fact, compared to his subsequent legend, the achievements he had garnered at this moment seemed almost insignificant.

What no one knew was that the most intense upheaval did not actually occur in the Human World.

...

Two months prior, a month before Gray’s official enfeoffment as a Holy Knight by the Holy Sect.

Another dimension.

In a blaze of white light, clouds, and holy songs, amidst a radiance that seemed capable of melting everything, an endless suspended walkway with red carpeting trimmed with gold stretched indefinitely.

The two angels who had initially tracked Gray walked slowly upon it, continuing on and on.

Occasionally, other angels glided by.

At the walkway’s end, they finally halted. In front of them, the walkway seemed to abruptly break off, suspended in mid-air. Around them, there was nothing but white light and clouds.

Catherine knelt on one knee, placing her hand on her chest, saying, "Second-class Angel Catherine, here to see the Holy Spirit!"

The male angel beside her also knelt on one knee, "First-class Angel Abod, here to see the Holy Spirit!"

It was silent all around.

After a long while, a voice responded to them.

"I heard you aided a Lich." The voice was deep and resonant, impossible to discern its direction. Rather, it seemed to come from all directions simultaneously.

"Yes." Catherine spoke loudly, "I was the one who intervened; it had nothing to do with Abod. The situation was urgent. If I hadn’t acted, that Lich would have ultimately self-destructed due to his faith in us."

"Because of faith in us? Are you serious?"

"Yes, that Lich is devoutly faithful to the Holy Spirit, even willing to sacrifice everything for his faith. Though he is naive, Catherine believes he is a rare, steadfast adherent of the Holy Sect and also a great knight who upholds the knight spirit. Catherine has already taken it upon herself to promise to become his Guardian Angel."

"Are you sure? Becoming a Guardian Angel for a Lich, a creature whose lifespan is as long as ours."

"Yes, my Lord!" Catherine replied firmly.

The voice fell silent.

After a while, it spoke again, "Abod, you were there too, correct?"

"Yes, my Lord!" Abod replied.

"Then I’d like to hear your judgment. Is that Lich truly devout?"

"Yes, I cannot be sure whether he will remain so devout in the future, but at this moment, he is clearly devout. And if you allow Catherine to become his Guardian Angel, I believe he will always be as devout as today."

"Does he have any prior record?"

"No. His name has never appeared in the records of the Underworld."

"Has he ever done anything to violate our contract with the Lich or the teachings of the Holy Sect?"

"No. Not only has he not violated our contract with the Lich, nor the teachings of the Holy Sect, he hasn’t even violated any moral codes. At first, Catherine and I also hoped to find evidence of his guilt since we were sent to either eliminate him or return him to the underground. But regrettably, we found none. In fact, he has even done many good deeds. If you wish to award him a medal, I am willing to testify on his behalf." Abod laughed as he spoke.

The voice fell silent once more.

Realizing his mistake, Abod quickly bowed his head and respectfully said, "Please forgive my disrespect, my Lord."

It was a long time before the voice spoke again, "A devout Lich... This is a species we have never seen before. Indeed, in our understanding, a devout Lich is almost an impossibility. With an infinite lifespan and acute magical perception, they are one of the two most powerful naturally occurring creatures in this world, along with the Dragon Clan."

"Such a being has no need for our power. In fact, they cannot harness our power because their magical nature is entirely opposite to ours. Our power only harms them. In all wars against the underworld, we have never considered them as allies. They have always been allies of the underworld, though their friction with the underworld is not less than with us."

"Given the unanimous evaluation by two angels, I do not doubt his devotion. What I contemplate is the significance of our actions. Is it worthwhile to assign a Guardian Angel to him? Moreover, humans have an inherent fear of death, and our teachings even exploit this aspect. Once his true identity is exposed, how should we handle it? Can you answer this question?"

There was silence, a long silence.

Catherine and Abod both lowered their heads, remaining silent.

The voice pressed further, "Without our support, he is merely a Lich posing as a knight. Even if his identity is exposed, it would have no impact on us. But if we support him, even assign him a Guardian Angel, he becomes a Lich Knight recognized by us. Once his identity is revealed, our stance on good and evil becomes very ambiguous. Humans are narrow-minded and dull-witted. They have difficulty understanding our definition of the sacred."

At this moment, another voice spoke, older in tone, "But regardless of the outcome, Catherine has already made her stance clear, hasn’t she? Everyone witnessed the Lich having a Guardian Angel. We shouldn’t blame Catherine because she made her judgment based on pure faith, and that is not a fault. Our fault lies in how we’ve had to distort our faith under unavoidable circumstances. Compared to your indecision, I think this is an opportunity."

"An opportunity?"

The two voices began to converse in the air.

"Yes, I think this is an opportunity. In thousands of years of fighting the underworld, we have made no progress. We have tried countless methods and still made no progress. Some methods have even bogged us down, causing us heavy losses. Perhaps the problem is not in the method, but in the faith."

"Are you questioning our faith?"

"Not exactly questioning. I just think... Hmm, maybe we need to be more open-hearted, to choose to accept rather than initially judging and rejecting beings who may share our faith. Otherwise, how are we different from humans? This could be a good experimental opportunity. Of course, it could fail, but it would just be one of our many failures. Right? I propose Catherine be allowed to act according to her own ideas."

Catherine humbly bent down, prostrating herself on the ground in gratitude.

"I second the motion."

"I second the motion."

"I oppose."

"I abstain."

"I oppose."

"I second the motion."

...

Voices of varying tones sounded off one by one.

The Holy Spirit was not solitary. There were nineteen Holy Spirits, more than the sculptures displayed in the church.

"9 votes for, 9 votes against, 1 abstention. According to the deliberation rules and the scope of this matter, the decision will enter the observation phase and be decided by the adjudicator."

"I have a proposal." The voice that had cast the abstention spoke up, "We can set a constraint on the Lich: he must not reveal his identity. Until then, we will support him. But if he exposes his identity and human beings hunt him down, we will also initiate a hunt against him and deny everything he has done, cutting all ties with him. Of course, if he can reveal his identity without being hunted by humans, then congratulations to him."

"This does nothing to mitigate the losses his identity revelation could cause us in the Human World."

"This is merely a deterrent. If you agree to this suggestion, I will change my vote to support it, allowing the resolution to pass before it enters the adjudication phase."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

...

"10 votes for, 9 votes against, the resolution is passed. Catherine, you may report to your Holy Knight at any time."

"Thank you, my Lord." Catherine bowed respectfully.

Towards Krimasha Vol. 1: Lich Knight [End]