When the Villainess Died, the Male Lead Went Crazy - Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Divinity was the power granted by God. Magic, in that sense, was an evil power that was the opposite of God’s blessing.

That’s why when the power of the God of Death increased and they began to capture the sages of the Magic Tower, it was the priests of Death who took the lead. They became stronger through sacrifices, while the power of the sages weakened.

From the beginning, the victory or defeat of the battle was decided. Perhaps, when the priests of Death engulfed the Magic Tower, if another temple had helped the Magic Tower, the Magic Tower would not have suffered so easily.

The sages were recruited and used as materials, and the World Tree they held sacred was used. It was quite understandable that the tower was now in ruins, since the efforts that were made to transform Anais’ dead body into a living state by extracting all of the mana of Lionel, the Lord of the Magic Tower, were enormous.

“Uh…”

“I told you to hold my hand.”

“I can go up alone.”

The Magic Tower was quite literally a tower. There were devices that made it easy to climb the tower when there were still sages here in the past, however, none of them worked as the Magic Tower was in ruins.

So she had to climb the tower with her own two feet. Phileal took the lead and looked back at Anais several times as she struggled to follow.

He was still in a bad mood. He thought maybe it was the rage that his prey was stolen, but he wanted to help her.

“Why are you refusing my help?”

“Every time you help, you ask for something in return.”

“This is a favor.”

“How is it a favor when you salivate at the sight of your prey?”

“That’s right.”

He readily agreed with her words.

“You are really smart, but you seem to have no tact.”

“I wish you could just compliment me.”

“It’s a compliment. It’s easy to live without any.”

Anais stared blankly, wondering if he was mocking her. Then, knowing that he didn’t mean to mock her, she laughed.

“You’re really special too, Phileal.”

“Thank you.”

Anais laughed again because of his mischievous laugh. Climbing the tower was difficult. The Magic Tower was a purposefully large and tall building. If it had been in a good state and if the sages inside it showed how strong they were, the people of the empire would have felt reassured. The Magic Tower didn’t come forward in most cases, but it was more so because this was a place who would extend their great help only whenever the capital was in danger.

The mighty military power of the Cypnos Empire, the formidable Magic Tower, and even the temples of various gods. Before Kylian became emperor, it was an outwardly powerful, though corrupt, empire.

Of course, the empire would have collapsed sooner had Kylian not become emperor. Even if there were splendid and huge walls on the outside, there was no way to do anything if it was rotten inside.

That was the reason Kylian did not let go of the throne to save Anais as soon as he ascended.

Although it was rotten, the Magic Tower was the most useful thing to desperately save Anais if he were to use things in the empire.

“What was the first thing Kylian did after becoming the Emperor?”

“Didn’t you hear? Purging.”

Phileal stretched out his hand again, but Anais did not hold it. For some reason, she didn’t hold his hand, feeling that if she held it, she would become irrevocably closer to him.

That’s why it’s uncomfortable for people to be kind to people who don’t have much time left in their lives. The receiver didn’t want more people to have lingering feelings after they had died.

Besides, Anais knew that even though he casually talked about death, it wouldn’t be the real thing.

He was like a child. Even if he didn’t know it himself, he seemed like a person who would be more broken than he was now if Anais died after they got closer.

She thought that just one Kylian was enough to be ruined because of her. In fact, even that was so overwhelming that she didn’t know what to do.

“After the purge, he entrusted your body to the Magic Tower. Then he tried everything to bring you back to life.”

“…….”

“Sad, isn’t it? The only answer was to cooperate.”

He smiled like a child again, took his hand away, and started climbing the stairs again. Anais silently followed him.

“He didn’t do anything at first—until he rose to the throne. But after he formally became emperor, he completely replaced his officials.”

“…….”

“Just being a sword master doesn’t mean you already have the qualities of a powerful emperor, right?”

“…….”

“Besides, there was no other member of the Imperial Family left.”

“…….”

“As he ascended to the throne, he completely destroyed the forces of the Percival Duchy. There was nothing for him to be afraid of anymore.”

Phileal turned back to see if Anais wanted to hear more about the past. He somehow tried to stop his words when her face looked a bit dazed and sad. But as she was pulled out of her reverie, he smiled when he saw her clear eyes. He continued again.

“There was confusion at first after the ministers were replaced, but it quickly settled down, perhaps because he dealt with it perfectly. He went to war several times and proved his might.”

“…….”

“Even the Magic Tower didn’t resist at first. They went to war with the Emperor, and it seems that they felt sorry for the attachment he showed you.”

“…….”

“So they cooperated. The sages had tried many things in order to save you.”

He was now listening to the sound of her footsteps, making sure that she was following him well and that she was not struggling.

“It worked at first, though.”

“…….”

“Your body was kept intact, your breathing returned, and the doctors said that your body’s condition was normal.”

Anais was getting increasingly out of breath as she climbed the tower’s stairs. Noticing that she was out of breath without looking back, he gradually slowed his pace.

“Everybody believed that you would survive. Until they instilled magic into your body.”

“…….”

“It seemed like that the amount of magic going inside wasn’t enough.”

“No way.”

“Yes. They pulled out all the magical powers of the mages at that time and poured it on you. Even the Lord of the Magic Tower, Lionel.”

“…….”

“And in the end, even the World Tree was uprooted.”

When Anais paused, he stopped and looked back. He couldn’t fathom all the emotions she was feeling. However, it was difficult to face her anymore because it vaguely seemed to be self-reproach mixed with guilt.

He pretended not to see her and started walking again. Then, as she had come to her senses, she started walking after him again.

“If the Magic Tower disappears, the power of the Cypnos Empire will weaken.”

“All the kingdoms with the power to stand against the Cypnos Empire have already disappeared.”

“…….”

“The only thing left is the appearance of someone else with the blood of the missing Imperial Family. Even that doesn’t hold a likely probability.”

“…….”

“Then Lilith Isadora came back.”

“Come to think of it, where was Lilith after I died?”

Anais suddenly remembered that Lilith was not around on the day of the coup. She was supposed to be by Anais’s side, but she was nowhere to be found that day.

However, since it had to be done on that day, she couldn’t stop the coup even though she knew that Lilith was gone.

“I don’t know where she was when you died. But after that, Lilith Isadora disappeared for a while and then came back.”

Phileal, trying to continue his words, became anxious and stretched out his hand. Anais caught her panting breath and did not hold his hand.

“I’m okay.”

“Hold my hand and I’ll continue to talk. Or I won’t at all.”

“…….”

Anais sighed again and took his hand. Philleal’s anxious mind for a moment seemed to improve when he held her hand. He didn’t even know why he was feeling this uneasy.

“I think I really want that body.”

“…….”

“If I had your body now, it would be easy to become the Chief Priest and be by the High Priest’s side.”

“Right.”

As he uttered those words, he somehow seemed to be making a promise to himself, so Anais loosened her grip. Then, with a very firm grip, he turned around and started walking, looking in front of her.

“The saintess of Goddess Julias brought us to the Imperial Palace.”

“I heard that.”

“Do you know what she said to draw us in?”

“No.”

“She said she would put all the gods to rest and make the God of Death the only god.”

“…….”

“My God was, of course, pleased.”

Anais paused in shock. Lilith was not the kind of person to say such a thing. But Lewarren, who she had trusted the most, had already betrayed Anais. She didn’t want to assume that because of Lewarren’s betrayal, Lilith did the same, but the whole situation made her suspicious behavior unconvincing.

And if she had acted like that, Goddess Julias couldn’t have left her alone. Just for the goddess of life to collude with the God of Death would be an insult to the goddess.

As Anais thought, he tugged on her hand again as if he was worried.

“And Lilith Isadora really settled us in the Imperial Palace. Then she disappeared.”

“…….”

“At first we did everything she said because we needed her. Now…”

“You’re using me like this because you don’t need me now?”

“Yes.”

At his casual reply, Anais realized again that she could not expect anything moral from the priest of Death.

“We don’t even need you right now. If you have divine power, it’s useful. But you are good enough as a living sacrifice.”

“…….”

She followed him without saying anything further. He didn’t say anything anymore, just continued to hold her hand.

“We are almost there. Endure a little more.”

Phileal gave her a little energy through the hand he held. Then she struggled upward, regaining her strength.

“Ack…!”

“Anais!”

As she climbed the stairs, her legs buckled and she nearly fell. It had been a long time since she felt that she couldn’t endure, but she held back and managed to lift her legs and move her body.

She couldn’t react quickly, perhaps because of her dazed head and dull body from the shock. He quickly hugged her. But he wasn’t a knight, so they both fell down the stairs.

With a thump, Phileal’s back felt the hard impact of the stairs.

“Are you okay, Anais?”

“Ah… It hurts.”

Even though she fell down on Philial, it hurt terribly. Anais seemed to have become more sensitive to pain, perhaps because it was not her body. Feeling that her sprained legs were recovering little by little, she tried to get up slowly, receiving the energy he gave her again.

“What are you doing?”

“You said it hurts.”

As she was about to get up, she paused as he fixed the stola back on her head.

“The stola is crooked.”

“Please cover it well.”

“Yes, wait a minute.”

At that time, a familiar voice came from the upper floors of the tower.

“I asked how you twisted the priest, did you do it in such a vulgar way?”

“Your Majesty.”

Kylian was coming down from Lionel’s room on the top floor. Unknowingly, Anais was holding the stola that Phileal was fixing.

“What a spectacle.”

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