Chapter 70: Flames and Shadows (5)
A vivid, blazing flame.
The flames, fueled by a significantly greater amount of holy power compared to what was used on the palisade earlier, emitted an almost white light.
“……!”
Balder flinched and retreated, seemingly sensing the ominous energy contained within the flames. He was likely greatly flustered.
Of course, due to his hideous, inhuman face, it was difficult to discern his exact expression.
Now, with his body reconstructed using demonic energy, he was extremely vulnerable to holy power. It was no different than exposing his own weakness.
Of course, if he hadn’t accepted the demonic energy, he wouldn’t have been able to get back up in the first place.
I raised the flames and simultaneously swung my hand.
Swish. The spell, having finished its calculations in an instant, materialized.
Arumijan’s Bind.
Chains of light sprouted from the ground, beginning to restrict Knight Balder’s movements like a spiderweb. It was an attack executed while he was distracted by the sudden eruption of flames, unable to react in time.
“……No way!”
Regaining his composure, black energy gathered in the sword held in his hand. Energy materialized to the point of being clearly visible. It wasn’t something to be completely ignored.
Crack!
His sword dug into the chains of light, emitting black smoke. Simultaneously, several chains were seen breaking.
Although it wasn’t a high-level holy spell, considering that he wasn’t a Black Mage, it was a rather surprising counterattack. It seemed he had received a decent gift from the Catacomb.
Of course, it wasn’t enough to deal with me.
Whoosh!
While his movements were restricted by Arumijan’s Bind, the flames that were flickering in the air engulfed his body with scorching heat.
“Kr, Kraaaaagh!”
A painful scream immediately erupted. No matter how much regenerative ability he possessed to restore a severed head, he couldn’t withstand the flames filled with the opposing force of holy power.
Amidst the swirling, intense heat, black energy, colliding with the holy power and fading away, pathetically writhed above.
“Go ahead, try regenerating again.”
Muttering calmly, I tightly gripped the sword in my hand. The holy power emanating from my hand had already gathered on the sword, emitting a sacred light.
Wheeik!
And once again, my sword slashed through his neck.
“Keugh……!”
There was no second regeneration. Losing his head once more and flailing, his body crumbled, bubbling and boiling.
“N, No. My…… Bal……!”
A strangely distorted voice emerged, not from his head, but from somewhere within his body. However, the still-burning flames quickly incinerated even that.
“Forget about repentance.”
I continued, looking down at his liquefying remains.
“Not that it would be of any use anyway.”
Sizzle.
Black smoke billowed one last time, accompanied by a foul odor. Soon, the struggling knight’s body completely ceased moving.
A moment later.
Among the partially broken and melted plate armor and the sticky remnants that had formed his body, something small and sparkling caught my eye.
“……”
I roughly swept away the byproducts with the tip of my sword and bent down to pick it up.
A small pendant engraved with the design of two intertwined snakes. It seemed to be the source that had supplied him with the suspicious power.
A considerable amount of demonic energy still remained within it. It seemed this Balder fellow hadn’t been able to fully utilize the pendant’s power.
More precisely, he hadn’t possessed the capacity to draw out all of it.
‘An unexpected harvest.’
I briefly surveyed the surroundings and then focused my mind. Thanks to the battle here concluding faster than anticipated, there was no one around except for me and the knight’s remains.
Swoosh.
The space above my head opened, revealing the crimson Artifact of the Rift.
With a flick of my wrist, the pendant floated into the air.
Saaaa.
And the demonic energy contained within it began to slowly seep out and be sucked into the orb.
Such a light and smooth movement.
The sight of an Inquisitor freely manipulating demonic energy would have horrified Balder, who couldn’t even utilize half of the power contained within this pendant, or whoever had given him this pendant.
The fact that holy power resided within my body wasn’t much of an obstacle in handling demonic energy.
Swoosh.
It didn’t take long to absorb all the demonic energy from the pendant. Regardless of the time it took, it was a considerable amount.
A pretty decent harvest. Considering the orb was almost empty after depleting most of the demonic energy in the Caridad Catacomb, this result was even more satisfying.
Having finished the short task, I flicked my hand again, concealing the orb within the rift in the air.
“……”
I raised my head and looked towards the back, where faint shouts could be heard. The flames that had been burning the knight’s remains had completely died down, and the surroundings were once again shrouded in darkness, but my business here wasn’t finished yet.
🔹🔹🔹
The surroundings were quiet.
And Inquisitor Lephra didn’t particularly like this stillness after a battle, which reminded her of a moment from the past.
Lephra took a deep breath and adjusted the cloth covering her face. Fighting while wielding a sword, covered in a thick robe and moving vigorously, wasn’t an easy task, but she was already accustomed to such battles.
“……”
The corpses of bandits were scattered here and there. Considering the numerical disadvantage, it was a rather surprising result, but Lephra’s expression remained indifferent.
Even excluding that Werner fellow, who was hiding somewhere, these bandits were no different from a disorganized mob in front of Lephra, an experienced Inquisitor.
Of course, if their leader, Knight Balder, had been present, the story would have been a little different, but he had long since become unrecognizable debris.
“Whew. That was quite close.”
Jerit said, leaning against the wooden building, hastily constructed by piling up wood, using his sword, still hot from the frictional heat, as a cane.
Unlike Lephra, who seemed relatively unfazed, his body bore scratches and marks of injury.
Lephra stared at Jerit and thought, He’s got the basics down, at least.
It seemed Luciel wasn’t carrying around useless baggage.
Well, what would be a big deal to someone of his caliber anyway?
The flames he had conjured at the entrance were magic that even she, who had been an Inquisitor for a long time, found quite surprising.
Not bad swordsmanship and agility, coupled with top-notch cooking skills. And proficient magic utilization on top of that.
“……”
Lephra shook her head, thinking about him, who would be effortlessly dealing with the bandit leader and investigating traces of heresy by now.
The more she knew, the more enigmatic he seemed.
“……Huh?”
While Lephra was lost in thought for a moment, Jerit, who had been resting against the wall, seemed to sense something and looked towards the inside of the building.
As the noise of the battle subsided, the presence of people became clearly perceptible. They were likely the people who had been captured here.
Realizing that the situation outside had been resolved, people began to emerge one by one. A large number of women, a few men, and even children.
Their eyes, looking at Lephra, who was covered from head to toe in a thick robe and holding a dripping sword, held a hint of fear.
“Alright, everyone!”
Jerit, who had quickly sheathed his weapon, shouted to the people with his relatively benevolent appearance.
“The bandits have all been eliminated! Everyone, please relax and prepare to leave this place─”
At Jerit’s smooth words, which were characteristic of his naturally cheerful personality, relief washed over the people’s faces. Some even collapsed to the ground, shedding tears of joy.
It was a scene that always evoked a strange feeling. Lephra, with her blood-dripping sword hanging down, silently watched the scene, contrasting it with her own past, and then started walking.
The battle here was over, but the process of investigating any remaining traces of heresy still remained.
Creak.
Lephra entered the seemingly large, but now empty, building that appeared to have been used as the bandits’ lodging. Jerit, who had reassured the villagers with his calm tone, followed her inside.
“I don’t sense anything in particular.”
Jerit said with a sigh of relief. Lephra nodded slightly in agreement and was about to move back outside when……
Bang!
“H, Hold on!”
The door swung open, and a familiar voice came from behind.
“Why are those bastards preparing to leave as they please? We can’t let them go like this!”
A highly agitated tone. It was Brother Werner, belonging to the Hegelan Branch of the Inquisition.
He seemed unwilling to tolerate the captured villagers leaving this place without any punishment.
He, who had been nowhere to be seen during the battle, trembling with fear, had stealthily approached and shouted loudly.
“In any case, since they are highly likely to have participated in heretical acts, a more thorough investigation and appropriate punishment must be carried out!”
Lephra frowned and turned around at the nonsense coming from behind.
He hadn’t contributed to the battle at all, and now that the situation was over, he crawled out and shouted with an excited expression, as if he were some righteous judge. It was extremely irritating.
On what grounds would he punish those who had been forcibly dragged here?
“Under the name of the Almighty God, a fitting punishment─”
“Stop.”
Lephra cut him off with a low voice. Since he hadn’t been of any help in the battle, he was probably trying to make some contribution to report back to the branch.
As she suppressed the rising disgust and glared at Werner with fierce eyes, a calm voice came from behind.
“The village is rife with traces of heresy.”
The owner of the voice, who entered the room through the open door, was Inquisitor Luciel Lumineger.
He looked perfectly fine, as if he had just been out for a stroll, but his sword was stained with fresh, red blood.
As she had expected, he had dealt with the knight named Balder without difficulty.
After calmly finishing his sentence, Luciel tossed something onto the floor.
A half-burned black candle emitting an unusual aura, a small bloodstained fragment, and other objects. They were clear evidence of heresy.
“After dealing with Knight Balder, I found the place where the ritual of offering sacrifices to the demon was performed.”
A troubled expression appeared on Lephra’s face upon hearing Luciel’s words.
In any case, if his words were true, even those who had been forced to work here couldn’t be considered completely innocent.
Aiding heresy is a grave sin, regardless of whether it was done willingly or not.
“……!”
Werner’s expression brightened and filled with confidence upon hearing those words.
“Jerit Frinagen.”
Luciel spoke with an indifferent expression.
“What is the punishment for those who aided heretics and cooperated with their will, even if they didn’t directly use demonic energy?”
Jerit bit his lip at his question.
“……”
Seeing this, Luciel asked once more.
“What was the objective given to us by the Inquisition when we first received this mission?”
After a brief silence, Jerit hesitantly answered the question that was thrown at him once again.
“……Eradication. The order was to burn all traces of heresy.”
Upon hearing Jerit’s answer, Luciel turned his head and looked at Lephra.
“So it seems.”
“……”
She tightened her grip on the sword in her hand.
The doctrines of the Inquisition, and furthermore, the Church, were clear. However, it was humans, not God, who carried them out.
“That’s right! It is indeed regrettable, but we cannot violate the Church’s doctrines! These heretics, exposed to the insidious power of demons, must be dealt with decisively─”
Werner boasted with a triumphant look. In his eyes, the people captured here already seemed like easy achievements.
She glanced through the slightly open door at the village.
The flames still lingering here and there, the acrid smell of something burning, the corpses scattered around.
It was a scene reminiscent of a past event.
Her deliberation didn’t last long.
“……Honestly.”
Squeeze.
Lephra’s arm, tightly gripping the sharp sword, moved in an instant.
“I can’t listen to this anymore.”
Slash!
Her sword, gleaming in the darkness, reflecting the distant firelight, cleanly sliced through Brother Werner’s neck.
Leave a Reply