Super Righteous Player
Chapter 711 - 252 Revelation of Truth _1

Chapter 711: Chapter 252 Revelation of Truth _1

The gray demon’s pupils suddenly contracted.

One side of his weeping visage still showed no reaction, but the other revealed a clear expression of agony.

In the depths of his eyes, a rainbow light slowly brightened:

All around him seemed to pause and rush backward at high speed... In the blink of an eye, Annan found his gaze beneath a sacred hall.

—It was the Ashes of Burial sacred hall.

Annan quickly recognized it.

This was the statue belonging to Grandma Ashes, the one that the Skeleton Duke had shattered not long ago.

And now it was being revered high above the hall.

The giant youth with white hair, white skin, and an amber cyclopean eye shining like the sun knelt on one knee.

He looked up at the statue of Grandma Ashes with a solemn face as if there were a light sparkling in his eyes.

—Midas Eternal.

My son. My heir... my successor.

The Eternal Duke of this generation.

Before the youth.

The Eternal Duke, wearing a solid gold mask and draped in pure white armor, held a dark golden Greatsword engraved with a string of runes and asked with a solemn bow:

"How will you... treat my subjects?

"How will you treat this nation?

"How will you treat yourself?"

Three profoundly weighty questions.

But the youth with amber eyes did not waver in the slightest.

The youth, without any hesitation and bursting with eagerness, recited to his father the oath he had long contemplated.

"I swear that I will always be compassionate toward all beings, caring for the weak;

"I swear that I will always be just and unbiased, strictly adhering to the law;"

"I swear that until my death, my heart will always be filled with Justice and love;

"I swear that I will be the remover of the greatest suffering, the creator of the greatest happiness;

"I shall be as a candle, I will burn out. But before I do, I will do all I can to dispel darkness for future generations;

"I shall erect monuments and bury the dead creatures not yet dead, in my sight, I shall allow no corpses to walk the earth;

"I will exert all my efforts until I turn to dust—and my bones will become the cornerstone for the resurgence of the Giant Race."

But only his father knew how difficult... how painful these vows would be.

—You will regret this.

He thought to himself.

However, he ultimately said nothing.

Respecting the will of the next Eternal Duke... this was the Curse Binding passed down through the Eternal family generation to generation.

"Then, as you wish."

The Eternal Duke said solemnly.

He lifted the Greatsword and tapped his son’s left and right shoulders with its sides.

Afterward.

He handed the Greatsword over to his son, turned around, and removed his cloak.

Rarely did anyone know.

On the back of the armor that the Eternal Duke wore, there was a slit like that of a pupil.

That spot was for...

"Farewell, father."

Midas murmured softly as he thrust the Greatsword at his father’s back—with all his might.

The moment the blade pierced the body, it burst forth with a sacred, intense heat.

Without resistance, without pain, the previous Eternal Duke turned to ash in the blink of an eye... and the sacred armor of the "Grand Paladin," scattered in pieces, fell to the ground.

Midas silently donned the platinum-colored armor that had fallen.

—As the Eternal Duke, he didn’t even have the right to gather a handful of ashes as a keepsake.

In that instant.

The moment the Eternal Duke felt self-loathing, a vague thought emerged in his heart.

"I want to... put an end to this abominable tradition."

So that his descendants would not even be denied the right to their father’s ashes...

And even more so for Justice and love.

"I shall be as a candle, I will burn out."

But before I do... I will strive towards benevolence to the best of my ability.

The next moment, the entire world turned to ash and white, freezing instantly.

"Do you remember, Midas?"

The only colorful Elle stood where Midas’s father had vanished, gazing at his gray, frozen figure.

"...Your very first dream was not about acquiring a physical body, nor was it about gaining a divine position. It was to end this tradition... and the grand benevolent vow that tragedies would not be repeated."

It was like the dream "I want to become a companion of Justice," simple yet noble.

It was a sincere wish, unstained and unblemished by any faults.

To purge the undead. To assist the weak. To help those who could be helped. To save those who could be saved.

These were... the deeds done by Midas during the first thirty years after inheriting the position of Eternal Duke.

Naturally.

He, too, was a mortal, and he could fall in love with another.

He would marry and have children... His son would eventually inherit his position.

But the initial trouble came.

His son... turned out to be a fool.

"—Your Majesty, I shall go ahead."

These were the last words of his wife, as she committed suicide with the holy sword [Ashes of Burial] after their son had grown up.

With one swing, it could clear a swath of the undead ten miles wide.

And yet, the most common use for such a holy sword... was for suicide.

In that instant, Midas experienced an unprecedented—resistance to [mission] and [oath].

And...

Resistance to [death].

Giant kind should not harbor such thoughts.

For their emotions run shallow, and they need only to live for themselves. Even the most weary of the Eternal families are "specially pardoned," needing only to live forty years... Once their children come of age, they can pass on the armor and greatsword to the next generation.

From this perspective, even the Eternal Duke... holds the same view of life and death.

However, at the very moment his wife died.

A sense of mission, nearly absurd, emerged in Midas’s heart.

If he were to die... Could his son truly inherit his path?

But as he keenly realized that by himself he could never fight against the heavy "tradition" accumulated over a millennium of history... Duke Midas cowardly took a step back.

...He was not without options.

Twenty years after he inherited the position of Eternal Duke, in the year his son turned sixteen.

The white-haired youth entered the secret chamber with the Eternal Duke once more.

As before... only the slightly mad Eternal Duke emerged.

But no one knew.

The one who died this time was not the previous Eternal Duke... but his foolish son.

"Perhaps it was then... your original wish was changed."

—To kill his own son with his own hands.

In any country, it is undoubtedly the most unforgivable capital crime.

After having gained "twenty years" by killing his son, as well as a new wife and son... Although this son was smart, his abilities could never surpass those of Midas, who had already ruled for forty years.

"I must be the candle flame, I must burn out... but my life, is a little more valuable than theirs."

Thinking thus, Midas once again killed his wife and son.

In this way, generation after generation... he killed all his offspring and spouses, playing the role of "Eternal Duke" with different characters.

At last, he encountered the greatest limit.

—The invisible wall called [lifespan].

The "limit" the Giant Race almost never touched.

By then, the undead were nearly extinct... The elves’ empire had also contracted its political power by ceasing the use of curse energy technology. It was undeniably a turning point for the Eternal Principality...

The reluctant Midas ultimately chose the greatest taboo.

The nation of holy knights, the enemy of the undead, the land of immortality, the land of burials and dirges—in a country where everyone saw the undead as enemies, their Eternal Duke, the most revered holy knight, turned himself into an undead.

Ignoring morality. Overstepping laws. Betraying loved ones...

He committed all the forbidden acts.

"Dreams are the fierce poison that clouds the mind of the righteous and drives the wicked mad..."

Annan murmured softly.

When did it start...

The youth with the sparkle in his eyes... when did he begin his fall?

"In the end, you were betrayed by your own dreams. Your talents exhausted, your spirit drained, abandoned by all... you ultimately betrayed your own dreams.

"That is Elle’s sacred covenant. It transcends time and causality, confirming the truth of [Betrayal] at its very root—namely, on you, the Eternal Duke.

"From the very start, you were living under Elle’s curse... and the most ridiculous part is, Elle came into being because of your fear and regret towards ’skeletons’."

"The dreams you betrayed have become your greatest curse, your deepest nightmare, haunting you for a lifetime... making you regret everything you’ve abandoned for the rest of your life.

"Even now, ’the creator killed by his own creation’... This is the highest sacrifice ritual of the God of Betrayal. And now, the God of Betrayal is dead, only one being remains. You will in turn become the nourishment for Elle—The ritual specifications for sacrificing you, cast with malice in days past, that killed Elle, will now completely bury you."

If the God of Betrayal did not intend to seize Elle’s body.

Then his death at the hands of Elle would be enough to make him the true God of Betrayal—precisely because of his instinctive abhorrence of "skeletons," he lost his body and also his ability to respond to the ritual.

And now...

"Here, the reason of [Betrayal]... is fully proven."

Annan opened his eyes and returned to the shattered world full of sand and dust.

The next moment, at the fingertips of "Elle," a rainbow-colored radiance coalesced.

Under the gaze of a weary, grey demon pierced by countless rainbow chains.

A fierce rainbow brilliance surged forth.

"Elle’s" voice was filled with a thunderous echo.

"As you yourself said... What you fear is not ’death is coming’, for you have long known ’death will inevitably come’. Just as you swore, ’I must be the candle flame, I must burn out’.

"You have been searching in the wrong direction from the start, tombstone...

"You will burn out right here."

A radiance coalesced in Elle’s hand.

That is the Book of Truth that carries the principle of [Betrayal].

—[Book of Atonement].