His charm was otherworldly, a sculpted perfection that sent shivers down Rudolph's spine. Long, silver hair, the color of moonlight, cascaded down his back in shimmering waves. It framed a face that defied limitations.
A heart-shaped face with high cheekbones and a sharp jawline. He was classically handsome, yet his features held a touch of fey.
But what truly stole both Percy and Rudolph's breaths away were his eyes. Bright golden, like molten gold, they held an unsettling depth. They were beautiful, yet a creepy coldness lurked within them. They seemed to pierce through Rudolph, judging, assessing, and devoid of any warmth.
There was a hint of cruelty in the way the corners of his lips were slightly upturned, a stark contrast to the delicate curve of his heart-shaped face. He radiated an air of aloofness, seemingly utterly untouchable, cold, and distant as the winter frost.
After a long time, Jacob showed his face, and what was baffling was Rudolph had the same face as him except for his eyes, strange charm, and creepy coldness, not to mention the sheer height difference between them. Nonetheless, anyone who saw them would think they were identical copies of each other, with the only difference being Jacob was a towering giant, while Rudolph was a Faery Human with a 2.4-meter-tall slim frame, and Percy was experiencing just that!
"I-Impossible! You dare to impersonate me, you sacrilegious vermin!" Rudolph roared in utter disbelief and horror as he didn't dare to even think about a certain possibility since it was simply too absurd, and although Jacob had his face or 'his' face, his entire body was telling otherwise.
Percy finally snapped out of his stupor with Rudolph's high-pitched roar, but his expression was still filled with uncertainty and apprehension as he looked at the giant with Rudolph's face.
But for some reason, he couldn't help but think about another boy with the same face who always had a cheerful, warm smile on his face, and he had a kind heart. However, despite his strange thoughts, he knew what he was thinking was virtually impossible since this giant was in stark contrast to the boy that he remembered.
In fact, because of his mastery of holy magic and his eyes, he could sense a terrible vile and murderous aura seep into the very bones of this giant as if he were crawling out straight from the depth of hell.
Nonetheless, despite his instincts screaming at him to run away, he didn't and stepped in front of Rudolph, who was behaving as if he had gone completely insane.
The biggest reason Rudolph's mind suddenly became chaotic was not Jacob's similar face; instead, it was when he used his eyes to discover and even attack the intruder.
At that time, he suddenly saw something that he couldn't describe with words. It was as if he had used his eyes again, something extremely superior, just like the God they serve, and provoked something that left his mind greatly weakened from that terrible backlash.
Moreover, after experiencing Jacob's power, suffering his life's most pathetic defeat, and finally seeing Jacob's face, it turned into a permanent mental trauma because of his unstable mind.
"What are you trying to do by impersonating Holy Child!? If you don't stop whatever you're about to do, then you will have the entire Cardinal Spirit Temple hunting you down." Percy grimly stated as he started to regain his calm.
He coldly said, "I'm not lying. If you know about our Spellbind Holy Eyes, then you should know that every person who possesses them is connected with our legacy treasure, the Spellbind Mirror. One of its abilities is that it can record everything the possessor of a Spellbind Holy Eyes can see!
"I and Holy Child here both have the Spellbind Holy Eyes and if you do anything, everyone in the main temple would know about it. Even if you're disguising yourself to mislead others, I can promise you that the Spellbind Mirror will track you down no matter what kind of disguise you wear!
"So, as long as you tell me your reason for doing this and who compels you to do this, you can leaven, and you can have my words that no one will look for you! You don't want to mess with followers of Holy Justice, God, for the Divine Judgement will be endless!"
Percy started to regain confidence after seeing that Jacob wasn't attacking or doing anything. He was listening to his every word with an impassive look on his face, so he thought Jacob was hesitating, and there was a chance to turn this around.
"Are you done? I'm only putting up with your nonsense because I'm waiting. Oh, and I know you're also lying about something!" Jacob's dismissive yet cruel words sent a shiver down Percy's spine, "But since you were kind enough to reveal this interesting thing about these Spellbind Holy Eyes and Spellbind Mirror, then I want to send a message to the Faery Humans.
"Listen well, don't mess with me, or it'll be the end of you all, followers of God or not. I don't know if the Divine Judgement will come or not, but know this: I'll come!"
Percy was horrified seeing Jacob's completely unwavering glare when he just literally threatened the entire Faery Human Race as if they were nothing but some common goblins.
However, before Percy could say anything, he suddenly felt as if powerlessness enveloped his entire being before darkness started to creep into his eyes and icy chillness replaced the warmth of life.
At this moment, Percy's emotional face suddenly became stoic and emotionless, and he said, "What he said is true, but not entirely. The Spellbind Mirror has a limited number of slots, and they are reserved for some of the extremely talented and precious members of the Faery
Human Race.
"Although Percy was considered the Great Grandson of the current Pope, he was actually a contender for the previous generation's Holy Child. However, he rejected that status because he wanted to live here in peace and serve God by preaching his dogma and enlightening others.
"But the Edgar clan didn't look too kindly upon simple ambition, especially his father, and since he didn't listen to their advice, he ended up losing everything. However, despite his lack of ambition, Percy was still a genius who had awakened the Spellbind Holy Eyes and earned the right to compete for the Pope position by becoming a Holy Child.
"So, he did something no one had ever expected from someone like him who had no ambition: He created a never-before-seen optical ability of the Spellbind Holy Eyes on his own, which were powerful enough to alert the Bishops of the Temple.
"However, because of what his clan had done to him, he didn't reveal his ability's secret to them, no matter what kind of trick they tried to pull. He even rejected the offer to register himself with the Spellbind Mirror. Because he knew that once he was registered with the Spellbind Mirror when he died, his entire life memories would enter the Mirror archives, and they would get what they wanted, and he would lose his leverage against them.
"So, before they could do anything more extreme, he simply made a deal with them: in exchange for this position of Church Priest of the Cardinal Spirit Church, he'll teach his techniques and even theories about the Spellbind Holy Eyes that helped him to achieve that impossible feat.
"However, his only condition was there can only be one successor in each generation because he said his technique were special. So, the temple had no choice but to agree to his demands!" Jacob was astounded when he heard the vague yet interesting history of Percy, who dared to rebel against his powerful family just because he wanted to live peacefully and serve his God like an actual priest without any malicious thoughts or benefits. Furthermore, he was resolute and genius enough to achieve that dream.
But alas, this genius and kind Priest was now nothing but a shell for a fantastic insect!