Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 397

“You think we can get this open?”Rider approached briskly and shook the door.

.

However, it seemed to be firmly locked from the inside, as only a dull metallic clank echoed through the dark space. Rider clicked his tongue in annoyance and stepped back.

“Looks like we’ll have to break it down, huh?”

“Even if we have to break it, let’s do it as gently as possible.”

Arendt intervened again from the sidelines.

“What? Why?”

“Look carefully over there. It’s not just an iron gate.”

At Rider’s puzzled question, Arendt simply gestured toward the massive door with a nod. Rider frowned and looked back at it.

It was dark so he couldn’t see clearly, but the surface was decorated with quite ornate carvings.

“If you break that recklessly, you’ll be stripped to the bone by Count Stadler and Llewellyn.”

“…”

Rider swallowed dryly at Arendt’s kind advice.

What the two people encountered was a gigantic relic that had never been discovered before.

If the two who had gone mad with their research came and saw it, they might try to tear Rider apart for destroying an important legacy.

“It’s too dark right now to examine it in detail. I can’t even tell what it looks like.”

Arendt, who was tracing the curves engraved on the door with his hand, glanced at Rider again.

“So, do your best. Cheer up.”

“Ugh, seriously! If you’re going to say stuff like that, then you should do it!”

“No, thank you. Like I said earlier, I was raised too delicately for that kind of thing.”

A brief squabble broke out between the irritated Rider and Arendt.

And as always, Rider who got nothing out of it had no choice but to draw his sword and stand in front of the door.

Rider, who was more nervous than usual, succeeded in breaking only the lock between the crack of the worn-out door frames with a single clean blow.

When the sound of the lock dropping weakly came from beyond the door, Rider let out a deep sigh of relief.

“Whew…”

“Wow, it actually worked.”

Just as he was about to finally untense his shoulders, a casually murmured voice right beside him grated on his nerves.

“You told me to do it, you bastard!”

“I really didn’t think it would work. I was just planning to leave a scratch and watch how Llewellyn and the Count would react.”

“I’m going crazy. What should I do with this bastard?”

Regardless of Rider’s feelings, Arendt strode ahead and pushed the door open with both hands.

The entrance slowly began to open with an eerie sound.

“Wow…”

A short exclamation escaped Arendt’s lips.

Rider, who had been busy getting angry just moments ago, fell silent as well.

The large door opened completely, and a fairly wide space welcomed the two people.

Even though it was difficult to see even an inch ahead, it was not difficult to see that the scale was quite large.

“Wow, that’s amazing. If it’s this big, wouldn’t it be about the size of a small reception room in the palace?”

While Rider was letting out exclamations, Arendt walked towards the wall.

The walls were decorated with bricks engraved with patterns he had never seen before. He could also see statues lining the walls, but he couldn’t make out exactly what they were because he could only vaguely see their outlines in the darkness.

“I know it’s a temple… but what god is it for? Doesn’t it seem a bit different from the usual Luce temples?”

Rider who was looking around, asked.

“Yes. This brick decoration seems similar to what I saw when I went to the Elf Kingdom. The arrangement of the statues is similar to that of the Luce Temples. It seems like an exquisite mix.”

Arendt replied, tapped the statue standing next to him, and then turned around.

At that moment, he suddenly felt eyes on him.

“…!”

Arendt flinched and instinctively turned his head.

But there was still only a statue there, shrouded in darkness, whose face could not even be properly identified.

As he stared at it, he suddenly felt a sense of discomfort.

“…”

Arendt squeezed and took away his hand that had just touched the statue.

Just like before, there was a somewhat unnatural sensation that lingered.

It felt chilly, yet somehow like a dull pain, and somewhat stiff as well.

‘I just…’

Even amid all this, the feeling of the statue he just touched remained vivid.

‘Did I touch that?’

It was something he could do unconsciously, like getting up and touching the statue next to him.

However, Arendt could not easily be sure whether it was truly his own ‘unconsciousness’ or the result of another will.

When his thoughts reached that point, he felt queasy.

‘I was already feeling awful even while I was coming here.’

From the moment he first set foot in the underground hallway, he’d been constantly being followed by unpleasant stares.

He was an actor, so he could ignore things like stares.

But this type of intervention wasn’t always pleasant.

In addition to the huge presence watching over him, there was also the sense of incongruity that he sometimes felt…

“…”

He was out of breath.

It was as if the darkness on all sides was constantly strangling him.

“Hey. Why are you standing there?”

At that moment, Rider’s voice suddenly came and woke Arendt from his thoughts.

“Is there anything there?”

“…No. Not really.”

After a brief pause, Arendt responded like usual and then looked again at the statue he had just touched.

A vague silhouette appeared in his eyes, having become more accustomed to the darkness than before. Arendt hesitated for a moment, then reached out and touched the statue’s face with his fingertips.

“What are you doing?”

“Just shut up. You never know what you might find out.”

Their round cheeks seemed to express their youthful impression. At first glance, they seemed similar to the small angel sculptures in the Luce temples.

He could feel the small nose, round pupils, and the texture of the hair. But he couldn’t really figure anything out with just that.

Arendt naturally brought his hand to the side of the statue’s face.

Just as his fingertips finally touched the ear, Arendt paused.

“…Nereid?”

“What?”

Rider asked in bewilderment at the sudden word.

“Nereid? I’ve heard of that somewhere.”

“The Sea God worshipped in the Second Elf Kingdom.”

Arendt responded briefly, furrowed his brow and took a step back.

The ears of this statue were expressed as pointed and long, like those of an elf.

As far as Arendt knew, the only such being was Nereid, a sea god worshipped separately by the Fog Forest tribe.

He once visited the Nereid Temple in the Second Elf Kingdom ruled by the Fog Forest tribe.

While researching materials with Arthur, Arendt once felt a strange touch.

‘And now…’’

The statue that he had accidentally touched and taken interest in happened to be that of Nereid.

This didn’t feel like a simple coincidence.

Frowning, Arendt withdrew his hand and tapped the statue on the forehead.

“Don’t act so cocky. If you have business, come find me yourself. I’m too busy to bother with this.”

Rider’s eyes widened at the unexpected words.

“What are you talking about? Are you talking to me?”

“How could that be? Don’t delay and move quickly.”

Arendt responded bluntly and turned around without any hesitation.

For now, finding Salem was the priority.

As the two crossed the space lined with statues, they discovered another door on the opposite side.

Likewise, it was an iron gate decorated with carvings whose shapes were not clearly recognizable.

Arendt, who had stepped forward, shook the door a couple of times.

Then, the iron door that had been closed for a long time began to open with a heavy, creaking sound.

The sound of two people’s footsteps was engraved in the darkness. Even as he walked slowly following Iris, Salem could not relax at all.

‘If it were now…’

Salem unconsciously gripped the hilt of his sword.

The very person who was the Saintess of the Chernion Cult had her back turned to him, and her guard was down.

It didn’t seem like it would be difficult to stab her to death, as she looked so thin and weak.

If he could kill her here and now, the war might end much sooner.

But Salem was troubled by the two spirits who, despite watching Salem closely, seemed eager to approach Iris.

‘Why?’

The spirits rarely side with the wicked. So far, the only beings Luna and Ray have shown favor to, aside from Salem, were Laius and Lexion.

So Salem couldn’t understand why the two spirits were so attracted to Iris, who was an evil being herself. Thıs text ıs hosted at NovєlFіre.net

‘Furthermore…’

Salem swallowed dryly.

Perhaps because of her words that she could see anything in the dark, the darkness around her felt particularly eerie.

The moment he threatened Iris, he felt like he was going to be swallowed up in darkness.

Cold sweat began to form on his hand that was holding the sword.

‘But isn’t it worth a try?’

If he killed her, he might be able to save countless people suffering from war.

If Iris had hidden powers, he might be in danger himself, but it was still a gamble worth trying at least once.

‘If Sir Arendt is nearby, as that person said, he might come rushing here soon.’

Even if he lost his life, if he could just inflict a fatal wound, Arendt could follow up and finish the job.

‘Because Sir Arendt is strong.’

Salem, determined, gripped his sword tighter.

At that moment, a gentle voice was suddenly heard from the front.

“Do you happen to know what that is?”

“Huh, huh?”

Salem answered absentmindedly without realizing it. Before he could realize his mistake, Iris continued.

“It is said that temples in very ancient times had many more functions than those of today.”

“…”

Unable to grasp the meaning of her sudden words, Salem just looked at her back with anxious eyes.

“No one remembers it now, it’s just buried underground, lonely… but people have always been coming and going.”

It was as if she was telling a story to a child.

“Of course, they offered sacrifices to the gods and prayed to them, but they also consulted with priests to divine good and bad fortune for trivial matters and to choose a good day for major and minor events.”

“…”

“It was a place that treated the sick and injured, provided food and shelter for homeless people, and protected abandoned children and the elderly. That was the kind of place it was.”

After hesitating for a while, Salem eventually loosened his grip on his sword.

“What on earth are you trying to say?”

“That’s just what happened. Now, no one remembers it.”

Iris muttered as if sighing.

“Those were really good times.”

Salem, who had been listening quietly, hesitated and asked.

“…Are you talking about the period before the Great War?”

“So? Is there something troubling you, kid?”

Salem hesitated for a moment at Iris’s relaxed voice, then began to speak.

“You speak as if you saw it yourself..”

“Is there any reason why that shouldn’t be the case?”

Iris asked with a hum. Salem started rambling at the unexpected answer.

“No, but… You don’t look that old. You don’t seem to be an elf or any other race…”

He couldn’t be sure, but Iris’ appearance was most similar to a human’s. If he thought about it that way, no matter how much he estimated her age, she probably wasn’t older than Captain Laius.

If that was the case, Iris had actually lived fewer years than Salem.

“Of course. I’m not that old. But on the other hand, I can’t say I’m as young as I look.”

Iris readily agreed with that statement, but Salem ended up becoming even more confused.

“What does that mean?”

“Well, what does that mean?”

Iris laughed as if she found it amusing. Before Salem could notice, she had stopped walking and was looking back at him.

Her silver pupils hidden under her eyelids were revealed, forming a beautiful curve.

“The world is not that simple, little one.”

“…”

Momentarily lost in thought, Salem realized that she was standing with her back against a large iron door.

Iris looked away from him and looked forward again.

The old iron door began to slowly move backwards, as if welcoming Iris in.

Salem clenched his fists nervously.

Faced head-on by an unexpected figure…

“Huh?”

Salem let out a foolish sound without realizing it.