NOVEL WEB Chapter 20
“Get ready, everyone! The final highlight scene is coming up soon!”
Finally racing towards the climax of the religious play, [Exodus].
The magician behind the stage issued commands while preparing the magic effects.
Amazing and realistic special effects, a pride of the isekai theater!
To manage this, each theater company typically hires a specialist in illusion magic, and here was one.
“Once I give the signal, activate the device immediately! This is the most important part of today’s play!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Understood!”
Clear responses as the crew scattered.
The magician chuckled lightly while envisioning the ultimate ‘miracle’ being demonstrated.
‘I really don’t get how this Phantom guy comes up with such delicate concepts.’
Since ancient times, attempts to fill in the gaps in scriptures with research and imagination had always been active.
Regardless of the proof of God’s existence, the deeds of the prophets and saints from long ago were often shrouded in mystery.
Could this influence be the cause? Creating plausible plays based on a minuscule amount of revealed information is a long-standing tradition.
For instance, if there’s a record of someone walking on water by relying on divine power, they would spin an entire mystical narrative around that single instance.
Such scripts, typically aimed at teaching and preaching, often pass through with somewhat rough and clumsy development.
The core is delivering the message of the scriptures, not crafting a flawless narrative.
Even if some exaggeration or adaptation was added, creating something entirely out of nothing was out of the question.
“……”
However, Phantom’s script was similar to past works yet crucially different.
Phantom’s narrative was intricately woven like a well-crafted fabric, and each line sparkled with a holiness as if it had really received hints from God.
The most impressive part was undoubtedly the climax of the piece.
‘It clearly seems to have been written based on some obscure prophet drying up a section of the sea…’
The magician himself had heard this legend before.
But he never imagined that such a fragmentary tale could be reborn in such a magnificent manner.
The story of Moses penned by Phantom wasn’t merely a script.
It boasted a mysterious charm that made it hard to doubt that a similar event had indeed occurred in the shrouded past.
At that moment, the urgent lines of an extra echoed from outside the stage.
[Moses! Moses! It’s a big deal! The Pharaoh has broken his promise! He’s leading his soldiers to kill all of our Hebrews!]
“Great! It’s starting! Everyone move to your positions! Don’t mess up!”
The signal to immediately enact the final scene of [Exodus].
Upon hearing this, the magician hurried his companions.
And then he murmured, channeling the incantations of the illusion magic for the next sequence.
“W-what, what did you just say-!? Chasing after those who were set free after breaking his promise?!”
“Ugh, Pharaoh! That cowardly and ugly pagan!”
The paladins, with a flushed look reflecting their surprise, grew excited.
Being deeply faithful, they seemed especially sensitive to the breaking of promises.
A promise between person and person is an honorable vow that must be upheld.
To break this on a whim and deceive others was viewed as an extremely vile act according to Heavenly Church standards.
……However, despite Pharaoh’s betrayal, Moses remained utterly unfazed.
Thundering, CRASH-!!
Suddenly, dark clouds covered the sky, thundering, and the world turned dark.
Then, in the next moment, a pillar of fire blazed down from the heavens like a spear, piercing the ground.
The legion of Pharaoh, who had broken the pact of releasing the Hebrews.
They were blocked by the fierce flames.
[The, the pillar of fire!]
[Ah, our God! Our God!]
[But there’s still no way! Behind, Pharaoh’s army is coming, and in front is the vast sea! How can we escape?!]
Though they temporarily blocked the Egyptian army, they still found themselves in a deadlock with nowhere to go.
While the Hebrews were panicking and didn’t know what to do, Moses quietly approached the waves of the Red Sea.
[Moses, my Moses.]
In a moment of crisis, the holy voice of God echoed from the void.
[Do not be afraid.]
[You will perform a miracle with this staff of yours.]
[……]
Hearing this, the actor playing Moses, Renoir, grasped his staff with both hands and closed his eyes.
And the next moment, as he slowly lifted the staff towards the sea.
SWOOSH-!!
Before everyone’s eyes, the vast sea parted to the left and right.
A grand coastline portrayed using illusion magic and isekai stage techniques.
The once calm waters surged high into the sky,
And soon after, a massive passage was created for countless people to traverse.
“The, the sea! The sea……!!”
“Ah, aaah, aaahhh……!!”
The sight before them left the paladins dumbfounded.
Some began to shed tears that blended with sweat, involuntarily crossing themselves.
They too knew that ‘the shepherd who crossed the sea’ somehow led people across the vast ocean.
But precisely how that miracle allowed so many to cross was squarely in the realm of speculation.
Every time the papal council was held, fierce debates among theologians erupted over this issue, didn’t it?
‘What remains now is just a snippet saying a part of the sea was dried up.’
Yet the expression ‘a part of the sea dried up’……
If you think about it differently, it could be interpreted as ‘the sea parted to the left and right,’ couldn’t it?
“T-this is……!”
“The miracle that God bestowed upon the shepherd who crossed the sea……?!”
“Oooh, ooooh-!!”
Paladins trembled with excitement at the novel ‘reinterpretation’ of [Exodus].
Of course, they weren’t unaware that this was merely a play.
They certainly recognized that the parting of the sea was all just special effects using magic and mechanical devices.
However, for those worn down by the long campaign life, that wasn’t the important part.
What truly mattered was that in a creative work based on the religion they believed in,
The Hebrew people they identified with received salvation, and all in a grand, touching manner too.
[The slaves escape using wicked magic!]
Ultimately, Moses led the Hebrews to flee through the parted Red Sea.
Yet despite everything, Pharaoh didn’t give up on the pursuit.
He raised his scythe-shaped khopesh and commanded his soldiers.
[Chase them down and kill them all! Leave not a single one alive!]
Pharaoh wasn’t the only one blinded by hatred.
The soldiers under him had all lost their first-born sons because of the plague summoned by Moses.
Thus, they jumped into the parted Red Sea without a shred of fear.
But that was an irreversible, catastrophic mistake.
[Pharaoh! The foolish and cowardly lord of Egypt!]
The moment the Hebrews successfully crossed the water.
[Look closely, unbeliever! This is the true power of God-!!]
Moses struck the parted sea with all his might using the staff.
SWOOSH-!!
With a loud sound, the waters merged back together just like when they parted.
It engulfed the pursuing legion of Egypt in an instant.
Thanks to that, Pharaoh’s army, which had been chasing the Hebrews, vanished without a trace.
Not even a chance to scream or leave a final gasp.
In an instant, they were literally swallowed by the deluge.
As the raging waves calmed and the magically recreated Red Sea settled down.
“……”
“……”
A deep silence lingered in the audience, as still as a mouse.
No one spoke a word, sitting in a daze.
[……Thus the Hebrews, led by Moses, advanced to the land flowing with milk and honey.]
Cutting through the heavy silence, the narrator, the actor assigned to that role,
Gazed around at everyone and, in a soft and soothing tone, told them as if reading a fairy tale.
[Although the journey was arduous and not without hardship, the Hebrews eventually reached the land of promise they had dreamed of. There, they established a nation blessed by God, Israel, and lived happily ever after.]
……Honestly, it was a stark oversimplification.
To liken it to reality would be like saying, ‘Because of failing the art exam, Hitler committed suicide?’
But considering the intent of Exodus, such adaptation is just right.
After all, this piece was written to reignite the faith of the paladins.
‘Now that the play is over, shall we see some reactions?’
Thinking that, the magician crossed his arms and surveyed the audience.
Suddenly, one paladin shaking his shoulders let out a single groan.
“……Ugh.”
Ugh?
“UOOOOOHHH-!!!!”
In the next moment, the entire audience sprang to their feet and unleashed a chorus of fanatic roars as one!