Chapter 46: Caridad Catacomb (1)
Hesterica, Inquisition Headquarters.
The group that boasts the greatest power in the church along with the Holy See located in the Holy Land.
And the room located in the deepest part of that place.
Chairman Markel Pavlino, the person in charge of the Inquisition, was silently staring at the person in front of him.
“Bergecia Plain…… Are you saying right now?”
“That’s right, Anton.”
At the Chairman’s words, Chief Inquisitor Anton Lebecht looked down at the plain table with no decorations and said.
“It is clear that the Caridad Catacomb is the weakest of the seven heretical forces. But you know that doesn’t mean we can eliminate them on our own, don’t you?”
“That’s right. No matter how low their position is, they are clearly one of the seven Catacombs. They are the servants of the real Great Demon, on a different level from other riffraff.”
Anton slightly raised his head at the Chairman’s words and asked.
“Have you found any evidence to be sure that now is the best time to attack them?”
“There were many sacrifices of Brothers. Of course, the opportunity was provided by the facts about the suspicious movements of the Caridad Catacomb that Brother Luciel-nim brought twice.”
“……”
Anton’s hand twitched very slightly. It is a well-known fact that the main target of the Inquisition is the Caridad Catacomb.
Attacking the weakest point first was a very basic strategy.
Therefore, finding areas suspected of being the entrance to the Caridad Catacomb was something that happened occasionally, that is, once every few years. Aside from the truth of it.
Of course, despite the persistent attacks so far, those guys were still mocking God underground.
But now there was a strange certainty in the Chairman’s voice. A tone that seemed convinced that this time was different. Anton looked down at his hand quietly.
Well, recently, the Caridad Catacomb had shown blatant movements as if they didn’t care if their location was revealed. As if they had something more important than the church or other Catacombs.
Once the Chairman’s order was given, no, even to confirm whether the evil signs found in a place called Bergecia Plain are real or not, it is common practice to prepare to leave immediately.
But Anton was still not getting up from his seat.
“You know we can’t open the entrance on our own, don’t you?”
Words in a calm tone. It was a plain fact.
To open the entrance to the Catacomb, you need to know how to handle Magi. It was the reason why there was no proper subjugation even though we knew some places presumed to be the entrances to the Catacombs.
Of course, if you have power beyond the level of an ordinary human, comparable to an Archangel, you might be able to forcibly break open the door of the Catacomb, but now that God’s response has become faint, there was no one on the continent with such power, at least as far as he knew.
Of course, if you concentrate all kinds of holy relics and the power of the priests, you might be able to imitate that level, but if you waste your power like that, the other six Catacombs would not stand still.
“Take this. You will need it.”
Swipe.
As if he had been waiting for those words, Chairman Markel Pavlino took something out of his arms and handed it to Anton.
Seeing it, no, feeling the energy emanating from it, Anton’s face hardened.
“……!”
An object with an energy that does not match the Chairman’s room with no decorations. Furthermore, it did not match the entire Inquisition at all.
A small sealing formation made of holy letters was drawn on the outside to block the energy, but Anton could easily feel the energy faintly flowing from within.
Magi.
A faint but clear emotion on Anton’s face. It was close to anger and condemnation.
It’s probably an object with the ability to open the door of the Catacomb. He didn’t even want to know the detailed origin and story.
Anton looked up and looked straight into the Chairman’s eyes and said.
“I need an explanation.”
The Chairman was silent for a moment, as if trying to choose his words.
What Anton is asking is not an explanation of the object, but an explanation of the situation. He was famous for not compromising with heretics under any circumstances.
Markel Pavlino lowered his head slightly and looked at his hands clasped together on the table. They were full of traces of time.
If it had been the old days, that is, when he was young, he would have had a heated debate about the necessary evil and its justification. In fact, these two often clashed in the past over similar issues.
But now he was old and the blood of those days was long gone. Instead of arguing over a similar issue again, the Chairman looked straight at Anton and slowly opened his mouth.
“It is clear that those guys are up to something. I’ve never felt such blatant movements before.”
A strange heat swirled in the Chairman’s blue eyes. He continued in a resolute voice as if passing a sentence.
“We can’t leave them alone like this, Anton. Never.”
🔹🔹🔹
Thud.
The Black Mage’s body collapsed helplessly. I looked down at the corpse of the Black Mage who died without putting up a proper resistance.
Not a very high level. He seemed to be a Black Mage of a similar level to the guy I dealt with in the Ashitan Kingdom last time.
Of course, thanks to the fact that this guy didn’t receive the same disgusting procedure as that guy, I was able to cut his throat at once.
“……”
I turned my gaze to the darkness ahead.
The stairs we have passed so far are only a passage connecting the ground and the Catacomb. The real Catacomb realm started from here.
‘Something is happening.’
Even considering that Inquisitors do not come down to the underground of the Catacomb, this was an unnatural vacancy of personnel.
I should probably go further inside, that is, to the ‘Corpse Garden’ to find out more details.
Swipe.
I put on the robe the Black Mage was wearing. It wasn’t a very good feeling because it was partially torn and covered in blood because he was ambushed by me.
Of course, I didn’t expect that this simple disguise alone would allow me to sneak through the Corpse Garden, through the long corridor, and to the altar located in the innermost part of the Catacomb without being noticed. However, it would be of some help until I reached the Corpse Garden.
I moved towards the passage that was faintly visible beyond the darkness ahead. Darkness that seems to be staring at me from all sides. Familiarity and unpleasantness were felt at the same time.
Wooong.
The strange vibration resonating from the wall became clearer. The garden must be not far away.
Sure enough, I felt a slight presence ahead.
It’s a passage that stretches straight in one direction anyway. I moved towards it without hesitation, without showing any suspicious signs.
“Is that Robson? Damn bastard, why are you so late?”
A Black Mage glanced at me approaching in the darkness and then turned his head forward again.
“Now the order is for all the patrolling personnel to go to the garden. Hurry up.”
A Black Mage who spoke bluntly without even looking at me. But judging from the fact that there was not much urgency in his movements, it seemed that he was not very willing to walk.
“A while ago, some of the magical beasts in the garden got out of control and ran wild, so the Gardener is in a sensitive state. On your way, catch a few sacrifices alive and─”
Squeak.
The Black Mage’s words couldn’t be continued. It was because a pair of sharp teeth that suddenly appeared in the air flew towards the back of his neck.
“Keugh, Keugh─!”
As I waved my hand lightly, huge teeth made of Magi dug deep into the back of his neck.
Crunch.
With a creepy sound, his neck was broken.
The Black Mage’s body, who was looking back at me with a face full of shock, bewilderment, and anger, soon collapsed slowly.
Thud.
Since the opponent was also a Black Mage, the effect of ‘Beurehatan’s Fang’ was relatively reduced compared to the original, but the physical force of the spell was enough to take a human’s life.
After confirming that he was definitely dead, I moved a little faster.
Since then, there were almost no guys blocking me. Even those were all low-level apprentices.
As he said, it seemed that almost all the personnel headed to the garden, or to the altar in the innermost part of the Catacomb.
It was fortunate and at the same time worrisome.
Infiltration became easier, but in other words, it meant that some kind of ritual involving that many people was currently taking place.
How much longer did I walk through the dark passage? I saw a large stone door ahead.
“……”
A huge stone door with the symbol of the Great Demon Caridad engraved on it.
The whole door was slightly open, but it was big enough for three adult men to pass through.
I threw off the robe that was already stained with blood and lost its original function, and slowly moved forward.
The intense smell of blood that I felt as soon as I passed through the stone door.
It was the Caridad Catacomb’s Corpse Garden.
🔹🔹🔹
Corpse Garden.
Those who heard the name of the Caridad Catacomb’s huge experimental ground, made by combining two names that didn’t seem to match at first glance, would tilt their heads at first.
Just by the words themselves, it was not a suitable word to immediately bring to mind an intuitive image.
Of course, most of the people who have such questions would be those who have never been in this dark underground.
“It’s been a while.”
If you’ve ever visited the dirty grafting researchers’ place even once, you would have realized how intuitive and clear the expression ‘Corpse Garden’ is.
Splash.
Every time I took a step, the muddy ground felt sticky as if it was holding my feet. My shoes were already dirty with something dark red.
The first thing I saw was an ominously shining light. To be precise, it was a large purple sphere hanging from the ceiling, gloomily illuminating the garden.
The next thing that caught my eye was the plants in the garden.
Huge stems, at least ten meters tall, were blocking my view, twisted and tangled.
Of course, they didn’t look like ordinary plants. Even excluding the abnormal size.
The body of the plant, which seemed to be close to that of a beast, was made of lumps of flesh, and thick tentacles, or branches, wriggling on their own.
‘It’s gotten more disgusting.’
I didn’t even want to know what these crazy grafting researchers had grafted onto their secret arts.
The price to pay for this kind of magic must be a terrible kind that goes beyond common sense.
Half-decomposed corpses were buried in the stems of the plants, wriggling as if sucking up nutrients. They are long dead now, but they were probably captured alive and digested.
Vagrants, travelers, or kidnapped villagers.
Victims captured from all over the continent were slowly melting away in this vast garden.
The purple atmosphere that filled the garden was toxic. Of course, I had no trouble breathing because I had already covered my face with simple black magic before entering the garden.
Wriggle.
Did it feel the movement happening in front of it? One of the plant stems in front of me seemed to be moving slowly towards me. It seemed to think of me as food.
It wasn’t a very fast movement. Usually, Black Mages would have already thrown the victims who had lost their will to resist to the plants.
‘But now is not the usual time.’
I raised my hand lightly. Then a faint pattern started to sparkle on my wrist where there was nothing.
What is slowly stretching its tentacles, or rather stems, towards me now is a plant. It wriggles, is sticky, and even smells bad.
And the most effective way to deal with plants is fire. Of course, it is also effective against animals.
Magi flowing from above my head slowly gathered towards my wrist. The silver pattern, Kamuron’s Bracelet, began to shine brighter.
“……”
I looked at the corpses of the victims who were half-trapped in the stems of the plants, dead. Perhaps they would rather be burned with the plants.
Of course, it wasn’t entirely for that reason. At least I didn’t belong to the kind of people who blindly commit foolish acts, blinded by the sense of justice in front of them without thinking about the aftermath.
Setting fire was also the best way to lure the ‘Gardener’, who was likely to be located on the way to the altar, to another place.
Whoosh.
The Magi gathered completely. Black energy began to disappear into the pattern on my wrist with a tingling sensation.
Slowly feeling the heat. I could see the stem flinching and starting to shrink as it felt the hot energy.
“Burn.”
Whoosh─!
With a short starting word, a dark red flame began to rage in the Caridad Catacomb’s Corpse Garden.
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