How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 166

Chapter 166: City and Flame (4)

Chairman Markel Pavlino’s metal staff, which looked ordinary and unremarkable in his hand, turned crimson red.

At first glance, it looked as if another kind of flame was being born here. But it was a completely different kind of light from the flames that had been sickeningly encountered inside the Radechione Catacomb and in this burning city.

A brilliant light shone from the deepest part of the collapsing Inquisition. The sacred power imbued with God’s will began to paint the surroundings white.

“Inquisitor Luciel Lumineger.”

Markel Pavlino’s voice.

“By the authority vested in the Chairman of the Inquisition, I shall pass judgment upon you who have betrayed the Church.”

His hand holding the staff was almost invisible, enveloped in bright holy power. It was as if he was holding the light itself.

“The sin of forsaking God’s will and colluding with the devil is most heinous.”

Amidst the spreading halo of light, his impassive judgment was passed.

“From this moment on.”

Suuu.

The Chairman slowly continued, raising his aged body.

“I shall strip you of all your status and identity.”

Stripped. I twisted my lips slightly at the Chairman’s judgment, which was being handed down as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“……”

Across a small table, our eyes met. His face held no question of when or why.

He looked as if he knew that such things didn’t matter now. Then, his wrinkled lips slowly opened.

“Does the accused have any intention of repenting?”

A question commonly asked at the end of a holy trial. But it was also a question that was never asked to a heinous criminal deemed beyond redemption.

Perhaps it was said in consideration of the numerous missions I had successfully carried out from the Church’s perspective.

Snort. I smiled faintly at the Chairman’s words. How merciful.

“Why didn’t you show such mercy to the tens of thousands of vanguards and the hundreds of thousands of citizens of this city?”

“……”

There was no answer. He simply waved his hand lightly, as if he had taken my words as a sign that I had no intention of repenting.

It wasn’t an attack.

As the light emanating from the staff touched the plain wall devoid of any decoration, a geometrically shaped stain slowly began to appear.

Gradually spreading under our silent gazes, the mark soon formed the shape of a door.

The sacred script of ancient Behzant adorned the arch-shaped door that appeared on the wall.

I didn’t need the Chairman’s explanation to realize what it was.

The third sanctuary. It was the path to the Altar of White Flame.

The entrance to the secret place finally revealed itself before me. At the same time, the Chairman’s voice rang out.

“If you wish to enter here, you must demonstrate the appropriate qualifications.”

There would be two qualifications he was referring to.

One would naturally be to defeat him, the Chairman.

The other would literally be the qualification to enter the sanctuary.

“It would be impossible for you, stripped of your qualifications as an Inquisitor and with evil in your hands.”

As expected. The Chairman muttered softly, looking down at me with his eyes narrowed.

It wasn’t for nothing that the Chairman confidently revealed the entrance to the sanctuary. It was a well-known fact that those corrupted by dealings with demons could not enter the sanctuary.

“Well.”

I slowly opened my mouth, facing him.

“Determining my qualifications seems to be beyond your authority, Pavlino.”

Swoosh. As I spoke, I glanced down. My gaze fell on the holy sword at my waist.

I hadn’t drawn it because I was in the midst of handling demonic energy, but the holy sword remained quietly sheathed, acknowledging me as its master as always.

It was a fact known through numerous cross-verifications that if someone who was not the owner of the holy sword tried to touch it, they would be flung away. With a faint smile, I raised my hand and pointed towards the ceiling.

“I think His will is a little different.”

Markel Pavlino’s face hardened at my gesture pointing towards the sky beyond the ceiling.

“……How utterly insolent.”

A subtle crack, a very slight fissure, momentarily appeared on his face, which had quickly regained its composure. I did not miss that slight doubt about his own faith.

Snort.

His face was soon filled with rage as he grasped the meaning of my deep smile.

“Impudent……!”

There were no more words.

Immediately, holy power exploded and flickered, shattering the sturdy oak table in front of him in an instant.

Hwaaaak.

A thorny tree sprouted in the empty room, devoid of soil or water. The tree, which had instantly taken root and spread its branches, filled my vision.

Did such a type of holy spell even exist?

“Luciel Lumineger, I shall purify your wicked flesh and soul right here!”

With an explosive roar, the halo of light on the tree scattered in all directions.

Pabababak. Countless thorns shot out with sharp momentum. This room, devoid of any furniture or decorations, was quite spacious, but there was no blind spot in the attack.

However, my reaction was immediate. No, it would be more accurate to say that I had already anticipated it halfway.

“……”

The Bloody Crown above my head vibrated slightly, and a red force field instantly spread out like a ripple.

Kugung. Numerous thorns of light collided with the red force field, creating ripples like waves.

The force field, powered by the earthbound vengeful spirits, blocked Chairman Markel Pavlino’s holy power. At the same time, a faint, ghostly wail seemed to echo from somewhere.

Not content with defense, I immediately swung my hand. The demonic energy of the orb, swirling with utmost wickedness, and the red energy of the crown combined to cast a black and red cloud over the ceiling.

The dark cloud, obscuring the light emanating from the tree, filled the half-destroyed interior. The surroundings, with visibility limited by the dust kicked up from the clash of different powers, this place with a large tree and dark clouds was no longer an indoor scene.

Pitter-patter. Raindrops began to fall in an instant. But it wasn’t a refreshing rain that quenched thirst and cooled the scorching heat within.

Tssss.

The highly acidic raindrops fell around, corroding everything they touched.

The already broken table, the scattered stone fragments, the walls, even the half-crumpled door.

The inescapable raindrops landed on Markel Pavlino’s clothes and body, sending up smoke. It must have been excruciatingly painful, but he endured it with the powerful holy power within him, raising his staff without flinching.

“It’s useless, Luciel!”

His roar echoed through the surroundings. His contorted face was not due to the pain of his skin burning.

“Knowledge of evil is not wisdom, and the opinions of sinners are not prudence!”

At the same time, a burst of light erupted. The energy he gathered and unleashed, paying little attention to defending against the wicked raindrops soaking his clothes, was formidable.

Hwaaaak. The light spread, dispelling the darkness cast upon the room by the black and red clouds.

In a way, it was a scene symbolic of the long-standing battle between the Church and heresy on the continent.

Although he had retired from the front lines long ago, Chairman Markel Pavlino was a man who had survived longer than anyone else, perhaps even longer than Chief Inquisitor Anton Lebecht, with more experience.

The spell he was casting with all his might was a considerable threat even to me.

“……”

But I watched the growing halo of light with cold, narrowed eyes. There was no fear or worry.

This battle, the first I faced since awakening in an unknown graveyard.

It was the kind of battle I was most confident in.

🔹🔹🔹

Kwaaaang!

A burst of light, as if spewing out all the resentment from the Head’s staff, rushed towards me.

Shapes resembling knights on horseback, armed with giant lances and shields, fiercely galloped towards me.

High-level Holy Spell.

I moved my hand while engraving in my mind the numerous circuits and movements of magical power that formed this incredibly powerful Holy Spell, a type I had never seen in any book I had studied.

A summoning spell formed in an instant. Three different kinds of powerful Black Magic intertwined like a complex thread in an instant, casting their ominous shapes onto the material world.

Cormeld’s Rotten Breath, Arkzash’s Rusty Lance, and Cravat’s Black Lightning.

Whoosh. A black energy, spreading like fog, filled the room, instantly extinguishing the light of the thorn bushes that had remained and flickered.

Simultaneously, a giant lance, dripping with a sickly greenish-black energy, appeared, smashing through a distant wall and flying towards the horsemen.

The dark red clouds gathered in the sky flashed, and an enormous amount of black lightning struck down.

Kwaaaang!

It was a mutual exchange of attacks that happened in the blink of an eye, but the result was anything but simple.

Although it was hard to see clearly due to the dark red storm clouds, the entire ceiling, already cracked, burst open due to the tremendous explosion. At the same time, a huge shockwave swept through the interior as the rusty lance collided with the horsemen of light.

But that wasn’t the end.

I had woven three different spells simultaneously, and the remaining magic, Cravat’s Black Lightning, fell towards the Head.

KwaaAAAang!

I could see the Head hastily raising his glowing staff in the midst of the spreading, acrid dust, but the Grand Spell I had unleashed could not be blocked by such improvisation.

“Kuhuk─!”

The black lightning tore through the hastily erected protective barrier and struck him directly. Blackened blood and Pavlino’s staff, broken in half, fell, as if announcing the victor of the battle.

The surroundings, completely shattered and blown apart, could no longer be considered an interior.

The power contained in the magical exchange from both sides was considerable. The aftereffects of the fight must have spread not only within the Inquisition but likely even to the surface.

The Inquisition, already half-destroyed by the flames of the Catacombs that had fallen from the sky onto Hesterica, this time could not withstand the shock that unfolded underground.

Perhaps because of that, I could vaguely see the remnants of the sun beginning to set through the broken ceiling. To think the sky was visible through so many destroyed structures. The damage was so extensive that I wondered if reconstruction would even be possible.

“……”

Well, it’s not really my concern anymore.

Swoosh.

I brushed off my hands and walked past the scattered stone fragments. My hands and body ached and throbbed somewhat due to the intense use of demonic energy, but…

“Kugh, ugh……”

Unlike me, who was relatively unscathed, Head Markel Pavlino was sprawled on the floor, bleeding black blood from all over his body.

I looked down at him calmly. He was a strong individual, perhaps too strong for this era. Well, it was almost unheard of for an Inquisitor to retire due to old age, not death or injury.

But now that’s all in the past. The condition of Markel Pavlino, collapsed before me, was beyond the point of recovery through healing.

He was merely clinging to life for a few more minutes through sheer willpower.

“Did you know?”

I slowly opened my mouth towards the Head.

“Hesterica is more beautiful at night than during the day.”

The crimson sunset faintly visible through the broken ceiling. Night was approaching the City of the Shining Sun.

“……”

The Head, barely managing to move his head as he listened to my words, spat out the dead blood that had pooled in his mouth. He slowly closed his eyes, watching the dark red liquid flow down like wine, and uttered,

“Do not despise those who turn away from sin, and remember that we are all sinners.”

Srng. I withdrew all my demonic energy and slowly drew the Holy Sword from my waist with my tingling hand.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

With my final words, the Holy Sword I gripped sliced through the air, swinging sharply towards the fanatic’s neck.

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