Trigger Warning: This chapter contains depictions of explicit & violent scenes.
He did not know the exact number of believers, but he had heard from Eunice, the emissary leader of the order, that quite a few new followers had joined.
『If fortune favors us, some very capable helpers may appear to assist Your Highness. Please work well with them, and I pray you succeed in this undertaking.』
Eunice’s voice, speaking those words as she cast a minor protection spell on him, suddenly came back to him.
Was it them?
Ten armed believers stood before Eagle, waiting with tense expressions. At a glance, they were clearly a professional fighting force. If he combined them with the Imperial troops he led, this rescue would be an easy feat.
Everyone watched blankly as the men approached and lined up beside him.
Eagle stepped forward.
“Are you believers of our order, here to take part in this rescue?”
“That Is correct.”
One man standing at the center answered curtly. Listening to the voice filtering through the helmet that concealed his face, Eagle tried to gauge his identity.
From appearances alone, they were either professional mercenaries or nobles within the capital who maintained private troops. Either way, they seemed cooperative and proactive. They would be a great help.
“Thank you for coming. I believe you’ll be of great assistance to us.”
Eagle bowed slightly toward the armed group.
The man who seemed to be their leader returned the gesture with a brief nod, saying nothing more. He appeared reluctant to reveal his identity, but that was hardly unusual, as many who supported the Remiel faith preferred to remain anonymous.
All Eagle wished for was the successful rescue of the missing people, and in that regard, any help was desperately welcome.
“Take this. It’s an internal map of the underground levels of the Lezebu Church. Focus your efforts on rescuing the missing people imprisoned on the first basement floor. My troops and I will concentrate on the second and third levels.”
Eagle entrusted the armed group with leading the other believers and rescuing those on the first basement floor. The areas with the highest risk were the second and third floors, which required descending further down and from the beginning, Eagle planned to handle those himself with the imperial troops.
A ray of hope had appeared in what had seemed like the bleak third rescue attempt.
Behind his mask, Eagle allowed himself a faint smile.
“Thank you, and I wish you the best of luck. Let us meet again alive.”
With Eagle’s encouragement, the black silhouettes of the Remiel believers rushed without hesitation toward the Lezebu Church.
* * *
Behind his helmet, Zester’s face was distorted beyond measure..
The first basement floor of the church sat about a span below ground level and it was a prison-like room sealed off by solid iron bars. Relying on the moonlight leaking through a window the size of a palm, the missing people sat packed tightly together, every one of them possessing eyes filled with terror.
Their bodies were emaciated, as if they hadn’t received even a scrap of stale bread, and their eyes were hollow from fear and sleeplessness.
Pia was among them.
“There aren’t many knights on the first floor, Captain. How about we leave the transport of the rescued victims to the noncombatants and head down to the second floor?”
Gregory asked as he approached the dazed Zester. His voice, leaking through the steel helmet, was ragged as he too was shaken with rage.
The people lying sprawled and bleeding before them were all Knights of Orobas. As if they saw no need to hide their identity from their abducted victims, every single one of them wore a uniform bearing the insignia of the Orobas Order.
Zester nodded silently. Watching him, Gregory mobilized a few soldiers and headed down to the second basement. Following Gregory’s orders, the civilian believers began carrying the rescued captives out of the church.
Zester slowly turned around.
Beside the cell on the first floor was a lavish bedchamber. Dozens of gold ornaments and statues of Orobas were arranged throughout the room, and an expensive silk blanket lay draped over a spacious bed. Amid the overpowering stench of blood, the faint scent of perfumed oil lingered on the sheets.
One of the civilian believers helping with the escape brushed past Zester and lifted a young boy sprawled on the bed. The boy’s naked body was covered in horrific marks, as though he had been beaten with a whip. Zester’s eyes caught sight of a whip embedded with shards of glass, lying beside the bed.
“W–When m-morning c-comes… h-he c-comes a-again…”
The boy, being supported by the civilian believer, muttered as he passed by Zester. When Zester saw the crooked smile on the boy’s face, his heart dropped.
Perhaps it was inevitable. It would be a feat for anyone to endure something like this and remain sane.
“He’s a m-monster… Y–You’ll k-kill h-him, r-right?”
“Child, get a hold of yourself. You have to stay strong.”
“Heh… heh! The Pope is a monster! Orobas is a devil!”
“No. You mustn’t shout like that. Be quiet. Quiet now…”
With a pained expression, the civilian believer carried the boy away. Blood dripped steadily from between the boy’s legs as he disappeared, wrapped in a small blanket.
Zester stared blankly at the vivid marks left behind, his breathing growing ragged.
‘What the hell is this?’
He slowly raised his head. The space, splendid enough to rival an emperor’s chamber, had long been saturated with the smell of blood. The severed necks of innocent people hung displayed on the walls like trophies and the blood which had dried down as it spilled was streaked across the walls.
Even without seeing it directly, the scene was painfully vivid in his mind.
Young people dragged here without knowing why, thrown down, violated, their cries and screams as they were struck with sharp whips, flesh torn by shards of glass, and finally hands tightening around their throats…
He had expected it. No, he had been certain of it. The corruption of the state religion, the Orobas Church.
Still, in a corner of his heart, he hadn’t wanted to believe it. That the Pope, whom the empire’s people adored and called ‘His Holiness,’ was in truth a monster committing atrocities under the shadow of ‘God’.
And in truth, there was nothing the survivors could do. That reality was the most agonizing of all.
* * *
The third basement floor.
Eagle was struggling.
There wasn’t much time left. Once dawn broke, Pope Victor X and the elite Knights of Orobas who served him would storm this place.
Everything had to be finished before then.
Fortunately, the armed group had come down as far as the second floor to assist with the rescue, and the imperial knights had just finished bringing up the captives from the third floor and moving back up.
However, one thing remained.
The bodies of the Orobas Knights, who had been helpless against Eagle’s sudden invasion, lay scattered. And among them, one frightened Orobas Knight stood facing Eagle, clutching a young boy hostage by the throat, cold sweat streaming down his face.
“It seems you don’t want to die after committing such deeds.”
Eagle sneered. The knight said nothing.
Whose fault was it? How could a man like him not know the corruption of power? He was simply someone who realized that submission was the only way to survive.
Clang!
The knight suddenly rushed forward, swinging his sword toward Eagle’s head. Eagle’s expression crumpled as he barely blocked the man’s blade. The man had considerable power and skill.
“Uhk, uhk…”
The small boy dangled from the knight’s arm, gasping desperately for breath. The knight showed no concern for the hostage’s safety. Perhaps he believed the boy was doomed anyway, fated to be toyed with and killed by the Pope.
Messenger of God. Holy knight. Savior..
Despite those magnificent titles, this was the true face of the Orobas Knights. Biting his lip, Eagle forcefully parried the knight’s sword.
“Ah!”
A cry escaped Eagle’s lips. The deflected sword flew toward the hostage’s neck.
Clang!
Eagle rushed forward and extended his arm, blocking the blade with his own hand. The harsh sound of metal striking his gauntlet rang out vividly.
Thankfully, the minor protection spell Eunice had cast softened the impact. Otherwise, he would not have dared to block the blade so recklessly.
“You damned bastard…”
Thud!
The knight swung his arm and struck Eagle’s face. The light plaster mask shattered as it flew off, hitting the floor in pieces.
The helmet knocked loose by the impact rolled to the knight’s feet.
Under the dim lamplight, Eagle’s blue hair, the symbol of imperial blood, fluttered into view. The knight’s eyes widened in shock as he recognized Eagle’s face.
The hesitation lasted only a moment. The knight grinned cruelly. Crunch, the helmet at his feet shattered under the force of his stomp.
The knight charged.
“Yaaaah!”
Just as Eagle moved to block the incoming blade,
“H–Hrk!”
The knight’s body suddenly stiffened. Before Eagle could even process what had happened, he saw a sword tip emerge through the knight’s chest. A heavy blade had pierced the knight’s abdomen from behind and was pulled out with a violent twist.
“Guh—!”
The knight spat blood and went limp, releasing the boy, who collapsed to the floor coughing.
Thud.
The knight dropped to his knees on the cold ground and then toppled forward helplessly.
Only then did Eagle see the unexpected helper.
It was the man who had stood at the center of the armed group. Eagle released a sigh of relief.
But that relief was short-lived. His identity was exposed, which was troubling.
The man stared silently at Eagle, and Eagle met the man’s unseen gaze beneath the helmet without flinching. Even if the man didn’t know Eagle’s face, there was no mistaking his royal lineage. There was no way to hide the blue hair that had long been the symbol passed down through the imperial family of the Simone Empire.
Getting out of here would be a headache. Although he had already been exposed to one person, he couldn’t let his face be known to the many believers waiting outside.
At that moment, the man slowly removed his helmet.
He was a man with quite a sharp impression. and his face was one that Eagle did not recognize.
Sweeping aside the reddish-brown hair plastered to his cheek with sweat, the man held out his helmet to Eagle.
“Put this on.”
Eagle stared blankly at the helmet, then quickly came to his senses and took it.
He gathered his long hair, which had been tied high, and tucked it into the helmet, then spoke as he watched the man tend to the unconscious boy.
“Thank you. I won’t forget this favor.”
“I heard the Pope will come here once morning breaks. Were you aware of that?”
Eagle did not answer.
It was confirmation enough.
Seeing the man’s expression change subtly, Eagle spoke.
“It’s unfortunate, but all we can do is rescue the missing people. If it were up to me, I would cut off his head and expose the corruption of the state religion to the entire world. But with my power, I am not able to go that far.”
The Vatican wielded overwhelming authority in the current political climate.
Even after kidnapping dozens of young people, the disappearance cases didn’t escalate much. If those rescued tried to expose the Pope’s dark nature, they were sent to the execution dock without a trace and public opinion was manipulated so that all blame fell on pagans.
Of course, the Vatican’s unchecked rampage was made possible by the imperial family’s tacit approval. Even if the imperial court didn’t know every detail, they likely had a vague idea.
Within that reality, Eagle was doing all he could. Even so, a part of him felt uneasy and ashamed. Although the man said nothing, it felt as if he was silently condemning him.
“You…who are you?”
Eagle asked toward the back of the man who was carrying the boy out of the basement. The man hesitated for a moment, then kept his silence and simply quickened his pace.
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