ALL NOVEL Chapter 19
“Let the second act of Exodus begin!”
“Everyone, take your seats! Get ready for the show!”
The officer called the Paladins together to announce the play’s resumption.
As the theater company members murmured among themselves, Paladin Marc, one of the audience, sat with his heart racing.
It had been a long time. Really, a long time since he felt such vibrant excitement about something.
“……”
Honestly, when Marc and his colleagues first heard about the church planning a relief play, they didn’t feel much excitement.
It would probably just be as dull as the religious shows they had seen since ancient times.
Repeating the same predictable story, trying to inject artificial energy into their weary bodies.
Even just before the curtain rose on the Exodus stage, that was the sentiment shared among all the gathered Paladins.
But this play was definitely different.
‘It’s clearly the shepherd’s story of crossing the sea, something I’ve heard countless times…’
The various elements inserted by playwright Phantom to bolster the empty records.
It was gripping him like magic, pulling his interest in.
What’s the best way to describe this?
It felt so vivid and realistic, it was hard to say they just filled empty spaces with imagination?
‘At this level of quality, I’d believe it if they said they unearthed all the lost ancient records to write this play.’
Comparing to past religious plays that focused solely on spreading doctrine and awkwardly skipping story development, the current performance of Exodus was irresistible.
However, there was a true reason why the Paladins were becoming more engrossed in the play.
‘It resembled us.’
It looked so much like them.
Not the protagonist Moses, but as they observed the Hebrew people under Egyptian rule, Marc unconsciously felt the pain of shared suffering.
The Hebrews in Exodus were suffering due to an endless darkness.
Living each day with a heavy heart, desperately hoping for a glimmer of light in life, weren’t they?
Just like how they themselves were slowly crumbling both physically and mentally in the ongoing holy war.
‘…It feels like a prophet really came to embrace us.’
Despite being just an ordinary religious play, Marc and his companions were gradually sinking deeper into it.
The intricate story created effortlessly by playwright Phantom.
While they slowly started to mistake it for a vivid reality.
They gradually found solace for their weary hearts, overlaying their own situations onto the unfolding drama.
“Pharaoh! Ruler of Egypt, king of the pagans! Let my people go!”
After returning to Egypt, Moses wasted no time seeking the palace as commanded by God.
He asked Pharaoh for freedom for the Hebrews to serve the true God, the one and only who was not the false pagan gods of Egypt.
“Dare you issue commands to me, Moses?”
But, as expected, Pharaoh didn’t even scoff.
Instead, he mocked Moses’ insolence while exacerbating the suffering of the Hebrews.
“I will double the labor of the slaves! Command that they gather their own mud and straw for the pyramid construction! If anyone dares to ask why, make sure they understand that all of this is because of Moses’ foolish tongue!”
Thus, the Hebrews faced a dreadful calamity overnight.
Their anger, now suffering even more under the burden of the increased labor, naturally turned towards Moses.
“Damn it! Moses, this is all that bastard’s fault!”
Dismayed at the outcome, the Hebrews hurled blame at Moses.
“Why did you have to make our lives even more miserable with useless antics?”
“Exactly! When did the guy who lived luxuriously as Egyptian royalty ever become one of us?”
“When did we ever ask you to be our leader? Did we ever request you to be our judge?”
In the end, Moses couldn’t breach the wall of reality that was Pharaoh.
And it wasn’t just the helpless Hebrew extras who were disappointed in this.
“……”
“……”
The Paladins, who were subtly hoping for Moses to show some cleverness, also gazed with anxious expressions at the protagonist.
What the audience silently yearned for was the exhilarating catharsis that comes when those in a desperate plight receive salvation.
After all, according to the established plot, the ‘shepherd who crossed the sea’ is supposed to perform some miraculous miracle to take the oppressed nation away from the pagan kingdom, right?
But unexpectedly, their expectations were deflated, so it was no surprise they felt let down.
“Moses, my Moses! Do not despair.”
But God comforted Moses, urging him to wait for tomorrow.
Reminding him that it was only natural for Pharaoh to ignore Moses’ advice.
“When morning comes, lead my people to the Nile River.”
“Surely, you will see my miracles strike upon Egypt.”
Then time flowed on, and as the stage backdrop transitioned from night to dawn,
the ten plagues of Egypt, a terrifying divine punishment, were about to descend.
And the first plague to appear was…
bubbling, gurgling—!!
“The, the river?!”
“Blood! It’s blood! That’s blood!”
“Oh my God! The river is turning completely red!”
Through the illusion magic displayed on stage, the long, beautiful Nile River
suddenly boiled and transformed into a crimson river of blood.
Upon witnessing this, the Paladins started to panic and stirred restlessly.
Even they, who had lived a lifetime in faith, never anticipated that God’s wrath would be depicted in such grotesque and horrifying form.
“Do not be alarmed, people of the Lord!”
“The Almighty has promised your labors will bear fruit, and you will be delivered from all tribulations!”
Meanwhile, the actor playing Moses, Renoir, who had just revealed the first plague, scanned the audience, effectively targeting the Paladins with his speech.
“He has utterly seen your pain, and He has surely promised to lead you to the path of salvation!”
“Now, behold, lambs of the Lord! See what divine punishment befalls the faithless who dare to thwart the salvation of God’s people!”
“Whoa, whoa…!”
“Ahhh…!”
The Paladins began to be drawn into Renoir’s intense performance like cloth soaked in a gentle rain.
It became increasingly clear that they were not merely consuming the Exodus as a simple play.
They were almost losing themselves in identifying with the Hebrews.
Right at this moment was the perfect timing for the choir selected by the church to shine.
“Oh foolish pagan king Pharaoh, heed the words of the Lord~♬”
As the segment about the ten plagues officially began, so did the choir’s song.
Starting with a gloomy and chill atmosphere, the chorus began to rise, transforming into a majestic and terrifying requiem.
“For you dare refuse to let the Lord’s people go, so God has unleashed the plagues~♫”
“He raised His hand to strike Egypt, declaring there is no other god on earth~♪”
“As payment for your arrogance and folly, all the people of Egypt shall weep bitter tears~♩”
Set against the backdrop of the requiem, the latest technology and magic from this world manifested Yahweh’s divine punishment on stage.
In the original scripture, the ten plagues occur in sequence over time.
But I adapted it by imitating the musical segment “The Plagues” from the movie “The Prince of Egypt.”
The entirety unfolds in a spectacular fashion, as if everything happened all at once.
‘This way, they won’t have time to be bored and will be captivated by the story.’
Indeed, the reactions of the Paladins were exactly as I expected.
“Oh God!”
“That is the punishment the Lord lays upon the foolish non-believers!”
“That is the resolute will of God to save His suffering people!”
The overwhelming special effects would not be exaggerated even compared to today’s CGI.
As the Paladins emitted gasps in unison, their eyes sparkled with awe.
Before them, an immense swarm of frogs erupted, covering all the land.
Flies and insects swarmed throughout Egypt, while pestilence and disease spread, causing livestock and humans to collapse.
Thunder and flaming hail rained from the sky, and a horde of starving locusts consumed all the crops.
Confronted with a barrage of plagues, the authority built by mere humans was being utterly obliterated.
And the ones forced to bear all the suffering were the innocent people of Egypt.
“Pharaoh! King of the pagans!”
The Egyptians wailed in terror and agony from the relentless plagues.
Pitying them, Moses urged Pharaoh to relent.
Standing at the right edge of the stage, bathed in spotlight, he shouted.
“Let my people go! Do not torment your people any further; free my people whom God has promised salvation!”
But the proud Pharaoh would not bend.
“Do not be absurd, Moses! False prophet returned from wandering the wilderness!”
Standing tall at the left edge of the stage, symbolizing Moses’ opposition, was Pharaoh.
He raised an arm, pointing at Moses and the Egyptian people in defiance.
“I am Pharaoh! The embodiment of the sun god and the living divine! Do you think I will bend to the tricks of a desert deity without roots and release your slaves?!”
“Y-you arrogant—!!”
“How dare you oppose the Almighty God—?!”
“Grrr, Pharaoh! How dare you-!!”
The Paladins seethed at the actor’s tirades against Pharaoh.
From their perspective, it felt like blasphemy, and they were deeply offended.
Feeling the righteous anger swelling within them, I couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat.
‘…It was a phrase I often used in the real world too.’
Why should a man in his 30s, with no real faith, worship Yahweh?
I only inserted it recalling experiences from online communities, but the reaction was more intense than expected, causing me to feel a pang of guilt.
At least they were blaming it on the playwright or actor rather than projecting their anger elsewhere, thankfully.
“Oh, Pharaoh! Foolish and woeful one!”
Even after the plague of darkness, where Egypt was shrouded in darkness for three days, the proud king would not relent.
Watching this, Moses declared with a sorrowful expression.
“Then do as you wish! Your arrogance will surely return to you a thousandfold as divine punishment!”
Indeed, Moses’ prophecy turned out to be accurate.
The last of the ten plagues, the slaughter of the firstborn,
as death angels descended from the heavens, taking the lives of all firstborns in every household across Egypt.
…Including Pharaoh’s own son and heir.
Now, Pharaoh could no longer endure.
Once again, the cries of Hebrew parents losing their babies echoed on stage.
This time, it was the cries of Egyptian parents mourning the loss of their firstborns that filled the air, leading Pharaoh to declare his surrender weakly.
“…Let the Hebrews leave Egypt, I grant it.”
Finally, the decree of liberation for the Hebrew slaves fell from his lips.
Turning his back on the despairing Pharaoh, Moses led the Hebrew people out of Egypt.
And at last, the Hebrews relished the freedom they had always dreamed of, joyfully following Moses without regard to age or gender.
“O glorious Lord, we will praise you, the victor~♩”
“O glorious Lord, we will praise you, the victor~♪”
The beautiful hymn of the choir began to play,
and listening to the song celebrating God’s miracles, the Hebrews took a step toward the promised land flowing with milk and honey.
And the Paladins in the audience also rejoiced in the liberation of the Hebrews.
“O Lord, among the heavens, who is like You~♬”
“O Lord, who is holy and majestic like You~♬”
“You have led Your people by Your love and bestowed the grace of liberation~♫”
“Oh, Hallelujah…!”
“Immanuel! Immanuel…!”
Tears began to flow from the Paladins in the audience as they watched the whole scene.
With the supreme choir’s music and the actors’ passionate performances combined, they simply cannot detach themselves from the overwhelming emotions.
Surely, it was because they were projecting their own situations onto the Hebrew people’s plight.
Hoping that their own suffering would one day be rewarded,
believing that God was not silent but watching over them all.
‘But getting overwhelmed with emotion this early is not good.’
The real ‘climax’ still has one part left.
As the scene transitions, at last, when Moses and the crowd of Hebrews arrive at the Red Sea and rest,
BBAAM-!!
From the other side, the sound of military trumpets announcing battle resonates.
“Moses! Moses! It’s bad! Pharaoh has broken his promise!”
Followed by a panicked extra rushing to convey urgent news.
“He is leading the soldiers to kill all of our Hebrews!”