Episode 270
“Align yourself!”
In front of the Heresy Questioners, who were all wearing black robes and steel helmets, the old priest, who was the only one wearing pure white robes, shouted.
It’s only been one day since we arrived at the castle.
Refusing the king’s invitation to stay a little longer, Ethel Fabrun immediately summoned the Inquisitors. What was so urgent was that they had been trying to leave the royal castle since dawn had just broken.
‘Before the king does anything, make it a solid fact.’
Horrific testimonies of blasphemy against God reported in the local diocese of McLane.
The essence of this mission was to confirm the testimony, record it, and report it to the church. In addition, securing some of the personal information of those ‘abandoned people’.
As the matter was so serious, the Pope himself singled him out and gave special instructions.
– Since there is a reliable informant, confirmation is enough. Don’t take too long. If your eccentricity causes things to go wrong…
– That will never happen. Please believe me, Your Holiness.
Ethel trembled as she remembered the Pope’s eerie eyes that seemed to penetrate her heart.
He was the fastest to be made a cardinal among Pamiel Gernheim and other former fellow archbishops in this diocese.
At first, he was confident that his politics were working properly.
But that was just an illusion.
The very next day after taking office, he realized that his early success was a ploy by the Pope to place those with weaknesses in high positions and manipulate the next Pope as he pleases.
– If this information becomes known to the public, we have no choice but to immediately excommunicate Cardinal Essel.
It was the moment when a cardinal, who was in a position immediately below the Pope and had to keep the Pope in check, became the Pope’s dog.
And Ethel was not ashamed of that fact at all.
Because he knew that most of the nine cardinals in the current church were in a similar situation to him.
He tried to shake off the Pope’s voice lingering in his head and looked straight ahead again.
“Finish the mission as quickly as possible…”
Dududududu.
I was planning to leave after just giving a brief sermon, but as soon as I could start speaking, I heard an earth-shaking sound coming from behind. When I looked back, I saw flags in the shape of eagles flying toward the sky, wrapped in a whirlwind, fluttering.
“order?”
Heeeeeee!
About 700 knights stopped talking in unison under the flag, which was the emblem of the Esperanza family and now the symbol of the McLane royal 2nd corps.
Soon, a mature knight with neatly combed white hair mixed with blond hair at the front of the group got off his horse with a faint smile and spoke to Essel.
“Are you Cardinal Ethel Fabrun?”
Looking at his face, he looked like he was in his 50s, but Essel could see traces of wrinkles on his face.
To be exact, there were traces of wrinkles.
It seemed as if all traces of normal times had been forcibly disappeared by some kind of force. Unless the knight in front of you had received beauty treatment from a wizard or priest, that usually meant one thing.
The result of a knight who trained the Force, the power of life, to its limit, went beyond its limits and went against the grain of time.
“…Auror user?”
The old but young knight smiled at the muttering that came out for a moment and continued.
“My name is Felix Esperanza. I have been assigned the task of ‘escorting’ the investigation team while you are in the kingdom.”
“Ah… you are the famous swordsman. But what about escort? We have never requested such a thing?”
“It is your Majesty’s consideration. He is very worried that your precious people will suffer in an unfamiliar land.”
Wow.
To Essel, who remembered yesterday’s meeting, it was just a ridiculous statement.
“Are you really planning on disrupting the temple’s events?”
“That can’t be right. We’re just trying to help with the investigation.”
“We don’t need any help. We’ll take care of our own business.”
“Yes, of course. We will just quietly escort you.”
The eyes of the two people clashed fiercely.
“Even if I tell you not to follow me, I plan to follow you.”
“This is McLane’s land. Please do not refuse His Majesty’s favor.”
Essel, with an expressionless face, looked at the knights behind the swordsman and nodded with a faint smile as he thought of something.
“Huh… Well, that’s fine. But keep in mind that if you take harsh action, it could be considered a challenge to the temple.”
“Is that possible?”
The swordsman responded to Essel’s words with a sly look that was not typical of him.
But despite his smiling appearance, a fire was burning inside him.
– Please, Master. The purpose of the Inquisitors is clear. Using children like Stella as an excuse….
The moment he heard his lord’s words, the swordsman nodded without hesitation.
‘How dare you kill my daughter…’
‘Dad!’ The sound still seemed vivid to my ears.
Starting and ending the day with Stella’s smile was his greatest happiness.
To him, this investigation team was like a bunch of thugs trying to turn his precious daughter into a devil, even though it would not hurt to look at him.
‘No matter what you guys try, it won’t work out the way you want.’
The swordsman smiled cruelly as he looked at the back of Essel, who turned his back on him and ordered to leave.
* * * The awkward companionship of the Heretic Questioner and the elite knights of the 2nd Corps continued for a whopping three days. There really wasn’t a single joke made throughout the trip to Raftan Territory.
It’s a relationship where they completely ignore each other, like cows and chickens.
The change in their relationship occurred when they arrived at the Raftan territory after a silent run.
After the plague, the Raftan territory experienced great changes. It all started when the existing lord, Eric Raftan, was overthrown and his cousin, Tenon Raftan, was appointed as the new lord.
The new lord showed kindness to cover up the traces of the massacre committed by his cousin. Going beyond the royal family’s tax restriction policy and actually lowering taxes to 20%, it was a great help to the people of the territory who were suffering from the aftereffects of the plague even after it had receded.
Another thing that changed was that vigilante training was conducted in a quite unique way.
“He’s running that way! Catch him!”
“You’ve already been hit once! Just make sure you surround yourself well!”
“Just a little bit! Just a little more!”
People chasing a deer that runs away with a leg hit by an arrow.
The moment the deer, realizing that it was trapped in a siege, hesitated, the repeating crossbows in their hands fired one after another.
Faba Park.
Kiing!
The deer fell down with a pitiful death.
The light of youthful resentment in the large, gentle eyes quickly disappeared, and the men who approached the fallen deer smiled broadly.
“Gotcha!”
“nice!”
“Let’s sleep! Let’s drink while it’s fresh!”
Let’s drink.
It was a statement that would have been surprising to people from other regions, but none of the men gathered would refute it. Rather than refute, he took out a bowl or a brass bowl from his pocket as if he had been waiting.
“Now, everyone, come!”
Soon, one of the men who shot the crossbow severed the fallen deer’s artery with a dagger, and the men all held out bowls to catch the pouring blood and drank it down.
“Ah. I can’t get used to this fishy smell at all.”
“It’s good for your health, so just drink it.”
“Yes. It’s a tonic that even helps you overcome the plague.”
The sight of the men smiling with blood stains on the corners of their mouths was very bizarre.
It was a sight that immediately made one understand why drinking blood was considered a taboo, but the people involved just continued to drink blood as if nothing had happened.
It was a sight that had now become a daily occurrence in Raftan. The culture of Grant’s territory, which died out 70 years ago, was revived in Raftan.
A culture created by the longing for life that arose after experiencing a plague. If you knew the background, it would have been difficult to just criticize something no matter how disgusting it was.
However, there were people in the world who judged good and evil only by their own absolute standards rather than considering the context.
And the men who drank deer blood ended up encountering the most extreme and self-righteous of them all. Those who do not hesitate to even look at the blood of others according to their own standards.
“Anyone who drinks the blood of a living thing will be executed for breaking the taboo.”
The moment the voice was first heard, the men frowned. This was because it was a voice that did not seem to be human and did not contain a single emotion.
“…what?”
“…who?”
And before they could even realize the situation, a group of people dressed in black robes each took out maces and maces from their arms and rushed towards them without a sound.
“this!”
visor!
Quang!
“Calm down!”
Kagagak.
Fortunately, there were knights standing in front of the Heretic Questioners, who were exuding cold, deadly intent.
“Hey!”
“Zenon! Avoid the blood!”
A fierce battle suddenly unfolds before your eyes between knights and a suspicious group.
Ezel screamed from behind the frightened men.
“You’re going to openly oppose the temple now, Sword Master!”
“What are you saying? We are just trying to keep the kingdom’s citizens safe.”
The voices of old humans clashed.
“They are the ones who broke the taboo!”
“It’s just to protect your own health. Your Majesty the Cardinal, haven’t you heard that deer blood cured the plague?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! If you keep stopping us, I’ll think McLane is against the temple! Priests, punish those disgusting people!”
“Knights, protect the kingdom’s citizens!”
“yes!”
Battle priests dressed in black robes moved silently, and knights stood in front of them with loyal answers.
“Anyone who stands in the way is a member of the cult! Smash them to pieces!”
With Ezer’s confident orders, a battle broke out between the Inquisitors and the knights.
“Everything is by God’s will.”
The bodies of the Heretic Questioners were enveloped in tangible light by a divine power that was, to a large extent, invisible to the ordinary human eye.
At the same time, the Heretic Questioners rushed forward at once, moving several times faster, and swung their maces and maces at the knights.
In response to the sudden barrage of attacks, the knights who were paired up each other emitted blue light from their gauntlets, belts, or swords and stood in front of them like an iron wall.
Wow!
Battle priests crash and retreat simultaneously.
Unlike their slightly hardened complexions, the knights continued to exude fighting spirit with flushed complexions. I actually felt a sense of accomplishment as I personally experienced the power of the Heretic Questioner, which had only been told in legend.
On the other hand, Ezel’s face was very distorted as she watched.
The knights were of a good standard, but more than anything, I was most concerned about those shiny blue weapons.
‘Could it be that those are all artifacts?’
Feeling that something was wrong, Essel glared at the swordsman.
“Are you sure you want to try it?!”
“We are just doing our knightly duty.”
Essel clenched her fists at the swordsmith’s calm reply.
The Heresy Questioners, who had combat power equivalent to at least that of a senior knight, were unable to penetrate the combined attack of the two knights.
Not only that, the Chief Interrogators, who were only 50 stronger than them, were also struggling completely.
“It’s amazing that you can achieve this level of power with divine power.”
“Great is God’s will!”
Wow!
“It seems like he’s just great but not strong.”
Lewis, the swordsman’s lieutenant who was openly sarcastic, easily blocked the attack of the chief interrogator, who wielded a white beam of divine power like a force blade. The chief knights from Esperanza were also working in pairs to pressure them.
The Holy Weapon, which does not have as high a killing power as the Force Blade and only has greater versatility, was unable to penetrate the defenses of senior knights who had been trained through long wars and training and even strengthened with artifacts.
‘How can this be…’
Essel couldn’t believe the reality before his eyes.
He is also a person who has gone through many hardships. Even though he was dispatched as the head of the investigation team in consideration of his political power rather than his military power or personality, he knew that it was almost impossible for a single order of knights to have such strong military power.
‘How on earth are the knights of such a small kingdom?’
Not the Knights of Esperanza, but the elites of the 2nd Corps of the Kingdom of McLane.
Essel couldn’t tell the difference. This was because they did not pay much attention to the changes in the Kingdom of McLane.
But despite this, he had a secret trick.
“You will regret it, Geomgong.”
“That can’t be right.”
Grumbling.
“Please, brothers. Show me the true will of God.”
Nod.
The five priests who had been stationary behind Ezer stepped forward all at once. Soon, an auspicious light emanated from them and spread to the surroundings.
“By God!!”
With their shouts as if they were one person, the Heretic Questioners, who had been struggling all along, began to push the knights back at once.
The five priests also rushed out toward the battlefield, their entire bodies glowing white.
Essel clenched his fists at that moment.
‘also!’
Among the Heresy Inquisitors, the power of the ‘Agents’, who possessed divine power equivalent to that of a bishop, was greater than that of the highest knights.
Their Saint Auror itself had the power to split even the Force Blades of top knights, and even amplified the combat power of other battle priests like it does now. In group battles, it can be said to be a tactical weapon that exerts as much power as a superhuman.
but.
“It’s an interesting tactic.”
Phew!
As the ‘arms’ rose up with a mocking voice, the white beams of light that filled the room began to quickly disappear.
“Ugh.”
The agents, who could be said to be the representatives of the Heretic Questioners, who did not even scream, let alone scream, were retreating with groans they could not swallow.
Arms cut off almost simultaneously. Because the foreign aura seeping in from that wound was disrupting their divine power.
And that sight had a greater shock to those watching than to those involved.
“This can’t be right!”
It is not that Auror users are ignored.
However, agents were raised to deal with such Auror users. It was a force that should not have been defeated so easily by just one superhuman.
That meant only one thing.
The Auror user in front of us is much stronger than known information.
– There is no need to impress the investigation team. Since they have already made up their minds, please interfere as much as possible, and then…
The swordsman smiled coldly, remembering the words of his disciple and monarch.
“What are you going to do, Your Majesty the Cardinal? Do you really want to see the end here?”
These crazy bastards!?
Ezer’s face turned pale.
