I'm the Only Totem in Another World - Chapter 174

Chapter 174: Escape from the Spirit World No. 1 （5）

Early lunch, Paladins gathered in the plaza of the Symphony castle. This time, it wasn’t for a meeting.

“Brave Paladins. Thank you for your efforts for victory.”

The Saint, looking slightly haggard, bowed her head before the Paladins. She had been tormented for two days by Ishtania’s call for help, who was in danger because of Karon.

Every time she tried to sleep, Ishtania would appear in the Saint’s dream and continuously deliver a prophecy telling her to ‘persuade the Paladins and the Tribal Federation to go to the Capital,’ so persistent and tenacious.

Still, perhaps because she had become Malak-nim’s kinsman, she was eventually able to resist.

“Phew.”

As if to shake off bad thoughts, the Saint shook her head once and continued speaking.

“It’s late, but I wanted to express my gratitude separately. Nominally, I am the highest authority of the Goddess Religion.”

The Possessed felt a sense of goodwill towards her polite attitude, beautiful appearance, and the way she spoke, which gave off a fluffy feeling like cotton candy.

In fact, the Saint and the Paladins had never met like this separately before. To begin with, the natives and the Possessed didn’t live together.

This was because the leadership of the Tribal Federation, concerned about potential conflicts arising from differences in values and other factors, had created a separate area for the Paladins to live in.

Among the Possessed, the only ones who had met the Saint in person and knew of her abilities were Close-Range Spy and Dina, who participated in the leadership meetings, Noah and Siu, who had been with the Tribal Federation for a long time, and Choseon.

“These are cookies baked with the children. It’s a small token of appreciation from the residents here.”

A guard behind the Saint brought several bundles. The Saint herself moved and distributed the cookies piled up in the bundles.

“We were able to win because of the Paladins.”

She didn’t forget to shake the hands of the Paladins firmly while expressing her gratitude.

“I don’t really like cookies.”

“That’s okay. I’ll just accept your feelings.”

The Saint even approached those who refused and insisted on shaking their hands. All the Paladins ended up shaking hands with the Saint in a daze.

“…!”

Close-Range Spy and Dina, who had been cautiously exchanging glances since earlier, glanced at the Saint. The Saint pointed her index finger at five Paladins.

Among them was Bella, who was looking around with an anxious expression.

“It’s them.”

As soon as the Saint finished speaking, Close-Range Spy, Dina, Noah, and Siu drew their swords.

“Don’t move!”

“Put your hands above your head.”

“Stay still!”

“Just try to grab a weapon.”

They moved quickly, each taking on one person.

“Tsk!”

Just as Bella was slowly backing away and trying to draw her sword:

Clang!

Hanna’s sword knocked Bella’s sword away.

“Don’t try anything funny and stay still.”

Hanna looked at Bella, who was glaring at her, with an expressionless face. She had been half-convinced that Bella was the traitor, so she had been sticking close to Bella from the beginning.

“Those bastards, they were trying to destroy the totem by joining hands with the Overlord of the Dead!”

Close-Range Spy explained the situation to the bewildered Possessed who were observing the situation.

“What?”

“Crazy.”

“Those lunatics!”

Eventually, the traitors, including Bella, were restrained.

“You, what did that corpse-loving bastard tell you?”

Hanna asked Bella.

“Did he promise to bring your sister back to life? As a zombie?”

Hanna clicked her tongue.

“Or did you want to go back to Earth? Did he say he’d send you back to Earth if he destroyed all the totems? Do you believe that? That crazy…”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“What?”

“My sister is gone. There’s no point in going back.”

Bella’s eyes gleamed menacingly. Hanna recalled that Bella had grown up in an orphanage with her sister.

“It’s not fair. I lost everything…”

Her gaze turned to the citizens who were quietly watching from afar.

“Why are they fine? They were hiding in the castle when my sister died, how can they hold their heads up high?”

“What the…”

It was bullshit. It was utter bullshit.

There must have been combatants among the families of those who had taken refuge. Even if there weren’t, they too had surely lost a lot.

How could there be anyone who hadn’t lost anything in this apocalypse?

“Ha…fuck…”

Hanna shook her head.

Bella hadn’t made any deals with Karon. It was more like the desperate flailing of someone who had lost a loved one and was suffering from delusions of persecution.

“You stupid bitch.”

It was heartbreaking because she was a comrade who had fought back to back with her. Hanna left without another word, as if there was nothing more to say.

“The Cathedral? He’ll destroy it, of course! But there’s a way! Ka, Karon said that once he has complete control over the Evil God, he can open a dimensional gate to Earth!

It was the Evil God who opened the dimensional gate and let the demons come in the first place! It’ll take some time, but he said it’s possible!”

“Malak doesn’t have the ability to send us back to Earth! Only Ishtania and Shamishur have powers related to dimensions!”

“Karon, that guy isn’t a demon or a monster, right? He, he did control the Earthlings, but that was only to fight the demons. Of course, I know it’s an unacceptable act.

But he has his reasons. He’s not going to kill us all. Think about it. He kicks out all the gods, we go home, it’s a win-win, right? There’s no reason for him to kill us.”

“Right! I know! It’s hard to believe. But in the end, Karon is the only one who can send us back to Earth! I, I have three daughters! I have to go home!”

Not everyone was trying to take revenge like Bella. The remaining four were Possessed who had joined after the all-out battle or had been persuaded by those who had already joined.

These people had claimed to have fled from Karon, but in reality, they had been persuaded by him and had come to destroy the totem.

Had they been brainwashed by Karon? Or was their desire to return to Earth just too strong?

To most of the Possessed, they just looked like idiots.

“Did Karon suck your dicks or something? Look at how you’re defending him.”

“You have to believe the right person. Is this the average Karon fan?”

Siu and the Monkey Man spat at the same time. Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Maybe the Overlord of the Dead did something to their brains or bodies? Like planting a self-destruct device.”

Close-Range Spy looked at the four Possessed with worried eyes.

“There’s no sign of that. I would have noticed right away if there was.”

The Saint affirmed. The only beings her abilities wouldn’t work on were immortals who had their souls in the spiritual realm, like the Spirit World or Heaven, in other words, divine beings.

Karon was a powerful being, but he wasn’t unkillable.

“There are collaborators besides the Possessed. The parents of the children who were exiled to Bolvano have joined hands with them.”

“Okay, arrest them all.”

At the Saint’s words, the soldiers guarding her dragged the parents over and tied them up next to the traitors.

“Ungrateful bastards!”

“This is why they say you shouldn’t take in blonde-haired beasts!”

It was the moment when the parents’ execution was confirmed, accompanied by the accusations of the watching natives.

“Th, then these cookies…are they okay to eat?”

The Possessed cautiously held up the cookies the Saint had given them. They felt uneasy because they were cookies received during the traitor hunt.

“Ah, it’s true that I baked them with the children. It just so happened that the situation aligned.”

The Saint took out a cookie from the bundle and put it in her mouth. The cookie crumbled with a crunch.

“…”

The Paladins silently gathered up the bundles.

“What are we going to do with these bastards?”

“Even if they’re low-level, they’re still Paladins, basically superhumans, so prison won’t work.”

While everyone was pondering what to do with the traitors, Rake appeared.

“Is it over?”

“Yes! These are the ones who joined forces with Karon!”

Noah said.

Rake glared at the traitors. The traitors trembled under the pressure of the demigod’s aura.

“Malak-nim said not to kill them. He said to show them some respect since they came to another world to save the Earth.”

This was a lie, for the sake of the Possessed’s morale. It would be a seed of conflict if they saw their fellow Earthlings being executed.

And Malak had a way that was more terrifying than execution.

Rake lifted Totem No. 3.

“You are all exiled. Spend the rest of your lives reflecting on your sins on a deserted island.”

They had been lucky with Bolvano, but this time it would be certain.

“De, deserted island?”

“No way?”

“The one where Maljukgeoriboksangsa was?”

The traitors’ mouths dropped open. Rake used a downgraded version of the ‘Follower Summoning’ blessing. Her hand glowed gold.

“I’ll send one every 10 minutes. Don’t blame me if I send you to a strange place by mistake, or if you arrive missing limbs. I’m still getting used to it.”

Rake grinned.

▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄

[Petit Noah: We’ve dealt with the traitors! （ﾒ` ﾛ ´）︻デ═一 ]

[What’s with this yakuza-like emoticon?]

[Good job]

Good. One problem solved.

I checked and quickly closed the personal message window. I had to focus on the person in front of me.

“I am Mera, daughter of Ail and Ter. I am currently the leader of Gabun-nim’s Followers’ Assembly. I have heard you well.”

A woman adorned with ornate jewelry greeted me.

…This person, she’s Karon’s older sister.