Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 488

The land of the Holy Empire was stained with blood, and the cries of parents who had lost their children and children left alone echoed high into the sky.The voices of those who blamed God for not protecting them and those who tried to cling to God were tangled in chaotic disarray.

The conflict between the two sides was getting more intense by the day, and fights in front of the Great Temple had become a common occurrence.

Even in the midst of all this, the High Priest remained silent.

She merely mobilized the temple priests and soldiers under the temple’s command to focus on recovery, funeral rites, and healing efforts.

Some praised Lumiel’s actions as the virtue of silence, while others pointed fingers at her, saying she was shirking responsibility.

Public opinion also became harsh towards the apprentice knight who dared to rebel against the justice of God and Laius who sided with him.

The world, and someone’s stage, was in utter chaos.

The enemies continued to slaughter each other, and the Imperial Family spared no effort to repel them.

Stellar and Warren continued to search for Nikephoros while steadily gaining momentum.

Kendrick led a select force to subdue the enemy, while the appropriately distributed Allied forces also played their part in their positions.

Despite such efforts, the number of deaths and missing people could not be stopped from increasing day by day.

It was a horrific and merciless war of attrition.

As the situation became more dire, the presence of God in the world grew stronger.

Because of that, the apprentice knight was plagued by nightmares again, but it was a very minor problem.

“…The number of missing people is on the rise again. This is from a report passed along through the Neumann intelligence network.”

Arendt gave his report with a composed expression, but he couldn’t hide the bandages that had increased from the day before.

The superiors gathered in the conference room refrained from pointing it out.

They knew that bringing it up wouldn’t do him any good.

Cantares asked.

“Not people who went missing in combat?”

“No. It seems they disappeared voluntarily. The people who were sheltering refugees in the affected area suddenly disappeared.”

Feeling threatened for their lives, they eventually gave in to fear.

The Cult’s trick of using homunculi in the form of gods and grotesque ghouls was working.

“At one shelter, everyone disappeared, including the security guards who had been guarding the area. They probably joined the Chernion Cult.”

As Arendt touched the nape of his neck, where a white bandage had already been placed, Diana, unable to bear to watch, asked.

“How about taking your hand off that?”

“Ah.”

As if he hadn’t even realized it, Arendt finally lowered his hand. Laius asked with concern.

“Is God Nereid’s relic also ineffective?”

“It can’t be helped. I’m a weakling, after all. But it’s a lot better than it used to be.”

Arendt shrugged.

Everyone present knew the cause of Arendt’s paranormal symptoms.

Arendt had held on with an incredible amount of mental strength until now.

But the longer the fight went on, the more he would eventually reach his limits.

Cantares, who had been silent for a moment, began to speak again.

“…It seems the enemies have withdrawn from the other kingdoms. They say an abandoned base was discovered near the Nephele Kingdom. Similar reports came from Lucain and Everan this morning. They must have been hiding them with magic until now. Then, when they were no longer needed, they dispelled the magic and abandoned them.”

A number of shrines dedicated to Chernion were also discovered inside the abandoned bases.

Most of the statues and internal structures followed the same style as those found in the basement of the Lucain Palace and the basement in Rebecca’s castle.

Arendt, who had been listening quietly, frowned.

“Those bastards, pulling tricks again…”

“Tricks?”

Laius furrowed his brows and asked. Arendt paused briefly, then answered.

“It’s a trick, just like the homunculi mimicking the image of a god. There’s a big difference between vaguely knowing something exists and seeing it with your own eyes.”

The enemy had already been gathering forces near the Empire for some time.

And now, all of a sudden, their old bases were popping up everywhere?

“To put it simply, they showed them on purpose.”

It seemed as though they had some sort of purpose.

‘They’re changing the stage.’

The stage where the God of Light ruled was slowly being consumed by darkness.

Their goal was to ensure that Chernion was imprinted in people’s minds not as a mere enemy threatening the world, but as a god.

Iris was trying to bring Chernion, who had been hidden by Luce, to the surface.

“How are we responding to it?”

“For now, we’ve decided to destroy them as soon as they’re discovered. There’s no benefit to leaving them be.”

Cantares frowned slightly.

“In that regard… we’ve no choice but to follow the will of the First Emperor.”

In a situation like the present, minimizing contact between the enemy and civilians was a top priority. Simply appeasing the already unsettled public sentiment was a daunting task.

Arendt responded indifferently.

“The outcome won’t be the same. We won’t be able to fight with such overwhelming dominance as we did back then. We’re in a very difficult situation.”

“You little bastard… Even if what you said is true, don’t say it so carelessly.”

“So what? We can’t fool people into thinking we are in an overwhelmingly advantageous position.”

Although Cantares was getting annoyed, Arendt remained indifferent.

“I can’t be optimistic, but one thing’s for sure: if we slip up, everyone’s dead. That’s why we have no choice but to be vigilant.”

Cantares couldn’t bring himself to say more when the youngest one, the one who was more on edge than anyone else, said that.

In the end, Cantares had no choice but to swallow a sigh.

‘It’s already been three weeks.’

After the raid on the palace, the Empire had become the center of the front lines.

A few days ago, Kendrick reported that he had successfully defeated the fourth homunculus that had appeared.

‘It looks like all the homunculi have been consumed.’

After the last one that Kendrick had killed, the homunculi were no longer appearing.

However, the ghoul raids continued. Naturally, Kendrick, Warren, and Stellar’s mission shifted to subduing them.

The Empire became like a hornet’s nest that had been poked.

Even in the midst of all this, the enemy’s commanders remained hidden.

The reason was easy enough to guess.

A new migraine was brewing, and Cantares habitually rubbed his forehead.

“What about Lord Lexion?”

“There’s nothing yet. When he wakes, he’ll break the barrier and come out on his own.”

Arendt frowned as he pictured Lexion’s wounds.

“I guess his recovery is slow. It’s understandable, but…”

It was a fight so rough that his claw came off, so maybe that was to be expected.

Laius, who had been silent, spoke up.

“We might have to face the enemy while Lord Lexion is away.”

“If by any chance Nikephoros makes the first move, we’ll be in real trouble. Stellar and Warren will be the first to notice, but honestly, I don’t think they can hold him down on their own.”

Arendt said bluntly.

“I’m thinking of stepping up then. After all, as a dragon, it’d be a bit awkward to just kill him outright. We’ll latch onto him some way or another. That said, I doubt the enemy will be so leisurely about it.”

Perhaps they thought that Nikephoros had outlived his usefulness.

If the Empire was completely swallowed up during this gap, even if Lexion woke later, there wouldn’t be much he can do.

“What about the Great Temple?”

“I exchanged letters with High Priest Lumiel this morning. She said all is well.”

In response to Arendt’s question, Cantares shrugged his shoulders, as if imitating him.

“She said if anything unusual happens, she’ll contact the palace immediately. So don’t be so on edge.”

Arendt scowled in irritation.

“When was I ever on edge?”

“You’re always on edge, you bastard.”

Cantares, responding with a stern retort, closed the meeting notes he’d left open on the table. This meant that today’s discussion would end here.

“First of all, don’t let your guard down. And don’t forget to actively assist the evacuees.”

“Yes.”

The two captains nodded, answering neatly. A shadow passed over Arendt’s eyes as he watched them.

‘What will happen from now on?’

He had to snatch the script from Iris’ hands.

To do that, he had to wait for their players.

‘It’s not our turn yet.’

He was anxious.

But Arendt calmed himself down by clenching and unclenching his fists a few times.

Even this was a responsibility that had to be taken on as an actor, since he had taken on the role of Arendt.

Lumiel was alone, sorting through her correspondence. The only light in her simple study was a few precariously swaying candles.

After some time spent immersed in her work, she leaned back slowly with a quiet sigh.

“…Lord Luce.”

The doubts that crept in from time to time tormented her far more than any work.

Under the glory of Lord Luce, the Empire and the human world had enjoyed peace for a long time. That much was undeniably true.

‘But the foreign races were ostracized…’

The elves had been forced to endure an era of pain.

Was there really a time before the Great War where everyone lived in harmony? It was a question that occasionally visited High Priest Lumiel without warning.

Surely, that era must have looked quite different from the human world that hadn’t known neither war nor conflict for a long time.

She believed that it was certainly more vibrant than it was now.

The breadth of her knowledge, from her childhood to her apprenticeship as a priestess and then to her position as a High Priest, spoke volumes.

The peace she had enjoyed until now was achieved by suppressing other gods and oppressing foreign races.

“…”

Lumiel moved her gaze to look at the Luce statue placed on her desk.

The flickering candlelight distorted God’s benevolent smile strangely.

“…Are you angry?”

Lumiel allowed the tight lines around her lips to ease. The curious girl, after exploring countless things, concluded that Luce was the one closest to the truth.

But perhaps the justice and truth she believed in were the greatest walls that concealed countless truths.

‘I stopped in front of that wall…’

Standing in front of the door that she thought was the end of the world, Lumiel grew old.

The impulsive young man chose to knock on the door.

Lumiel reached out and gently caressed the statue of Luce.

“Lord Luce, I still revere you. You’ve always been there for me when I needed you.”

A tender soliloquy echoed through the darkness.

Her wrinkled hands were still stroking the worn-out statue.

“Now, I shall stand by you.”

The High Priest was ready to take responsibility for her faith.

Lumiel wasn’t particularly surprised by the sudden presence behind her.

From behind her, where no one had been present until just a moment ago, a voice that seemed to be of another world was heard.

“Nice to meet you for the first time, High Priest.”

The voice sounded almost like a bird’s song, or perhaps like nails scraping across metal.

The hand that had been caressing the statue slowly came to a stop.

Even without looking back, she could easily guess what kind of person this quiet intruder was.

“…Yes. Nice to meet you, Saintess.”

At the infinitely calm yet polite answer, Iris smiled slightly from under her robe.