Ⅱ
Never exchange pleasantries with anyone from the Blood Clan.
For although they looked human, their hearts were cold.
So Mrs. Smith got straight to the point-
"This conspiracy first appeared as early as the Holy Age.
It might even have had its beginnings in the Imperial Age.
It is a thousand-year conspiracy.
And its architect is Hoxiugel.
Of course, that bastard has gone by many other names. He was once a scholar, an adventurer, a Bard, and even Master Herke's student.
He also created the Ode to Life, which people hailed as a miracle.
And on that foundation, he created the Healing Art.
Through those two creations, he became Pope.
The Pope who launched the Shadow Expedition.
But none of that matters!
What matters is that he is the true traitor. He betrayed the Tower of Mist, betrayed the Theophat Psychic Order, and even betrayed the Twilight Monastic Order.
His betrayal tore the Tower of Mist apart.
His betrayal left the Theophat Psychic Order unable to recover.
His betrayal turned the Twilight Monastic Order into the Clock Tower.
The Shadow War!
The Holy War!
The Seven-Year War!
The three wars he instigated killed over a hundred million mortals and brought down more than a hundred deities, including the great Harvest, War, Life, and Death.
He collected that immeasurable mass of deathly aura.
Just when everyone thought he would seek the seat of Death, they suddenly realized that he was using it as an opportunity, turning everything into a performance to leap toward Deception, one of the supreme original sins. Unfortunately for him, your forebear stopped him-the Blood Marquis!
Coveting that deathly aura, the Blood Marquis chose to take a desperate gamble.
The Blood Marquis both succeeded and failed.
Hoxiugel did not obtain Deception, which should have been his.
He