Joint Combat Practice 2 (13)
If you open the entrance of the cathedral and go straight inside, you will immediately see the chapel.
Clarice walked straight down the hallway of the cathedral accompanied by two knights as guards.
Ed and I decided to split up and move on. She was so busy dealing with so many things at once that she couldn’t even pay attention, but after being separated from Ed, she felt like she was feeling anxious again.
‘I need to come to my senses.’
However, Clarisse quickly shook her head and stiffened her neck.
Perhaps the whole story unfolds inside this bachelor’s cathedral. This time, we moved faster than ever and entered the cathedral. This episode is clearly different from the past that has been repeated countless times so far.
“Seo, saint… ?”
As we reached the entrance to the hallway, Taldarek the Third, the Apostle of Telos, guarding the front, blocked the way.
Clarisse is a saint who is favored by the current Telos Church, and who exudes awe as if she is receiving God’s grace just by talking to her a few words.
I don’t know why, but he has a lot of scratches and looks tired… Anyone who looks at her appearance can tell that she is a saint.
“crack… Weren’t you waiting at the Trix building? W, how on earth… .”
“Move over, Taldarek.”
Clarisse, a saint who was always kind and yet lively.
However, with cold eyes, like an adult who has gone through all the hardships… Clarice ordered Taldarek to make a way.
There is no sign of surprise as to why the Apostle of Telos is here. Her elegance has changed to the point where I wonder if she is the saint I saw in Seonghwangdo. That has to be the case. She is a human being who has watched hundreds and thousands of people die dozens of times.
“B-but… Holy woman. The Holy Emperor commands… .”
“I’m going to talk to the Holy Emperor directly, so get out of the way.”
After saying that, Clarisse walked past Taldarek with long strides.
Taldarek momentarily stretched out his arm to say something, but Clarisse quickly grabbed his wrist and looked up at Taldarek for a moment… He released his hand again and went his way.
The saint’s guard knights who were guarding behind her also looked at each other and slowly followed Clarisse into the chapel.
-bang!
As I opened the door and entered, the overall appearance of the chapel came into view.
The first thing you see in front is a huge podium. A large stained glass window unfolds behind it. The colorful, shining glass catches the sunlight and shows off its appearance beautifully. There is an engraved picture of a large angel with his wings wide open distributing bread to people.
A huge pipe organ is magnificently spread out along the outer wall behind the podium, and in front of it, wooden seats are lined up for the believers who come to worship.
There are no laypeople coming in. However, there were many high-ranking believers.
For example, they were Holy Emperor Eldein, Archbishop Verius, and the Apostles of Telos.
When Saint Clarice saw that, her heart swelled.
The root of the situation that I have been searching for so long, and the parties involved in all of this, are all gathered here in one place.
How many times have I wandered to get here? How many times have we had to watch Ed Rothtaylor die, watch the demise of The Bachelor, and hold on to our crumbling spirit?
He gritted his teeth, but did not show any emotion. She just spoke quietly, her voice loud and loud enough to echo through the hall.
“What are you doing here… ?”
If you look above the podium, the relic that resonates with the sealed Velbroke, ‘Velbroke’s Molar Necklace’, is shining. The original sword saint, Luden, took a piece of Velbroke’s broken tooth and made it into a necklace.
It is a legendary grade item that dramatically increases the user’s magical sensitivity and grants enormous resistance to all physical attacks, but that is not its only role.
It also serves to awaken the survival instinct of Velbroke, who is sealed in the deep sea under Aken Island, and induce him to break the weakened barrier and escape.
“Saint Clarice… ?”
Archbishop Verdio, who was inspecting the apostles in front of the podium, caught his eye. On one side, the prosperous Eldain is also sitting.
“Archbishop Verdio.”
Archbishop Verdio is like Clarice’s mentor. He gave Clarice, who had just become a saint, a lot of guidance so that she could gain dignity.
In addition, he was a person who maintained his faithfulness anytime and anywhere, earning everyone’s respect. Everyone in the Holy City unanimously praised him as a devout believer.
Is that reputation the result of proving a sincere heart, or is it the result of thorough management skills that would make even merchants cry?
I can’t gauge that until I’m here, but I can at least know that it’s not the time to sit still.
“Stop everything you’re doing right now.”
Perhaps due to the passage of time, there are quite a lot of grayish gray hairs mixed in between the gray-brown hair. Although my back was not yet bent or my body was weak, I was at an age where I had to worry about the decline of my physical abilities.
Nevertheless, Verdio put his back on his back, straightened his back, and spoke leisurely to Clarice, whom he had just met for the first time in months.
“I didn’t know that the saint would come to the cathedral first… .”
“I won’t say the same thing twice.”
Clarisse glanced around. How long is left until Seong Chang-ryong Velbroke is revived?
I couldn’t figure it out right now.
“What am I going to do… Do you know… ?”
“You are probably trying to resurrect Seong Chang-ryong.”
“Wow,” said Verdio with a smile. It was clearly different from the solemn and benevolent smile seen in Seonghwangdo.
How did you know is not something to discuss now. Regardless of whether there was a traitor or someone planted inside, if the saint knew the truth about her, things would quickly go wrong.
“Archbishop Verdio. “I thought you were a conscientious believer who only cared about the Holy Emperor.”
“you’re right. “I just live my life thinking only about the Holy City.”
Verdio looked at the ceiling without loosening his grip and sighed. The beautiful stained glass behind the podium shines in the sunlight.
“Expanding church membership is also a business area. Faith is trust. The Holy God always exists in heaven, but the lowly commoners do not believe it unless they are shown it.”
“so… I will kill Seong Chang-ryong and spread his blessings… ?”
“It won’t take long.”
“Don’t you even think about the possibility of failure?”
After saying that, a possibility suddenly comes to mind.
When Clarisse lowers her gaze, she sees a huge image of sacrifice drawn beneath it. that… It was a preparation process to put Bellbroke to sleep using the saint’s unique divine power.
While Saint Clarisse was waiting in the Trix Pavilion, the Holy Emperor and the Archbishop were making these preparations in the Basilica Cathedral.
Clarisse’s cold eyes look towards the podium.
“Insurance… “It was my life.”
Is it negative or positive?
I hoped they would deny it, at least on the surface.
“It’s just insurance. “It’s a story about when everything doesn’t go well.”
Archbishop Verdio’s expression is as cold as Clarice’s eyes… It literally looks like a fanatic.
Clarisse has seen pagan fanatics. He was on a visit to comfort a village that had been harmed by the Ain people in the northern grasslands.
The sight of fanatics running wild and losing their senses was already difficult to regard as people with common sense. Those who are so absorbed in their religion that they even abandon ethics and morals become distant from civilization.
Having seen that, the fanatics in Clarice’s mind were nothing more than a different breed of people who had no common sense, were unable to communicate, and appeared bordering on mental illness.
However, that is just a narrow-minded view.
He is rational, maintains dignity, communicates, always has a formal appearance, and even his will is noble… There may also be people who have stepped into the realm of fanaticism.
In the end, the key is how much you give up for your faith.
Respect for God has the power to save the heart, but we should never stop to think about how far it is acceptable.
“Mr. Seonghwang. Do you really think this is enough?”
Eventually, Clarisse’s eyes fall on the bustling Eldein sitting behind the podium.
A series of plans led by Archbishop Vertius… In the end, it would not have been possible to proceed without the support of Eldain, the final person in charge.
Even if you didn’t take the initiative, you are a bystander. Isn’t he the one who had the power and power to stop Verdio?
That’s why Clarisse looks at the success with eager eyes… Archbishop Verdio is a man who has repeatedly saved the Holy City from financial threats. That one person contributed much more to the glory of the Holy Emperor than hundreds of thousands of believers.
Eventually, Seonghwang closed his eyes and lowered his head, and Clarisse swallowed her breath without realizing it.
A hot emotion, strangely different from anger, runs down my throat.
The sprout of ‘distrust’ nestled in one corner of my heart… whisper to her Stop this disaster.
The body went out first.
Clarice climbs the stairs and reaches the podium and reaches for Belbroke’s molar necklace, but Archbishop Verdio snatches her wrist.
As her grip tightened, a crushing pain surged from Clarisse’s wrist. Nevertheless, Clarisse glared at Verdio with his eyes straight open.
“I am sorry. Holy woman. “It won’t take long, so please sleep for a while.”
A rumbling sound was heard from behind Clarice.
One by one, the sitting apostles got up from their seats and began to spread their wings.
* * *
Ed grabbed Adele’s wrist and walked with long strides. He was not riding in the direction of the cathedral, but was taking the circumferential path that goes around the side of the cathedral.
“Yeah, it’s not a very pleasant truth.”
After hearing the truth about Seong Chang-ryong from Clarice, thinking about it, coming to terms with it, stopping by somewhere else to ask for help, quite a bit of time passed before I arrived at this cathedral.
There is not much time left until Seong Chang-ryong is resurrected.
Ed walked quickly but listened to Adele’s explanation without missing a single word.
“Archbishop Verdio has been like that since he was a rank priest. It is called a church. And making Seonghwangdo’s warehouse more comfortable. “That was the archbishop’s way of proving his faith.”
“I don’t think he has the talent to become a priest.”
Adele shook her head as she struggled to catch up.
“The faith was real. However, the methodology was just too extreme.”
“The world calls that a fanatic.”
“To dismiss it like that… He is also an overly rational person.”
Rational. Ed clicked his tongue at that expression.
The movement of the cathedral that Adele described was something that could be said to be tongue-in-cheek.
It begins with the coronation of Emperor Cloel. This great emperor is truly a great person who deserves to be called a saint… He was known as a person who created a peaceful era on the continent centered around the Cloel Empire.
The grandeur of the Church of Telos, which had been ruling the continent and increasing the power of its believers, was soon buried by the glory of the Cloel Imperial Family, and it was gradually declining into a businessman selling faith little by little.
Of course, it is just a rumor, but there is no doubt that the Church of Telos is still the largest religious organization in the empire.
Compared to the Telos Church in Genesis, which was treated as a pagan on the outskirts of the continent, it has now literally grown hundreds or thousands of times in size.
However, did they consider the decline of the church to be evidence of distrust rather than a change in the times?
Archbishop Vertius… They wanted to revive the grandeur of the Telos Church in the past when spear dragons ran rampant and demi-humans committed massacres.
That’s why miracles happen.
The intention was to subdue the Holy Spear Dragon that was threatening Aken Island and spread its glorious name throughout the Cloel Empire.
“Have you tried persuading him? You are a prophet. “Don’t you believe everything you say?”
“I am… “I have already lost Archbishop Verdio’s trust.”
I didn’t ask ‘Why?’
Although Adele had many foresights, she rarely delivered them to the church in their entirety.
They even hid the prophecy and lied about it. She never revealed the reason why she did not become a saint, and she even ran away at night, leaving the torch on the spire behind… It is safe to say that all trust in the denomination has already been lost.
“The Holy Emperor is probably also following Archbishop Verdio’s policy.”
“This guy, that guy, no one is sane.”
“I was confident from the beginning. That’s a lot of power. “I brought with me six ‘Apostles of Telos’, the largest group of magic magicians in the Holy Emperor Province.”
Apostle of Telos.
The power of each individual is great, but as the number increases to two or three, the strength of the group increases tens or hundreds of times.
This is because they share basic holy magic, can exchange enormous divine power, and have even received linked formations and joint training.
If the Telos Apostles, who are over five in number, have a good formation and are provided with sufficient supplies and magic power, it can be said that the gates cannot be breached even against tens of thousands of troops.
There are six such apostles of Telos. If you think about it, the fighting force was too large for someone who came to inspect a saint. It could not be thought of as a simple escort force.
“Furthermore, unlike the world in history books, there have been many enormous advancements in magic in the present. “There have been tremendous reforms in the efficiency of sacred magic.”
“so… “Are you saying you tried to resurrect Seong Chang-ryong and subdue him?”
Is it correct to say ‘arrogant’?
It has great symbolic meaning to recapture a monster from distant history in the present.
When you look at historical records after some time has passed, you may develop unfounded confidence.
Monsters in mythology. From Minotaur, Cerberus, Cyclops, Harpie to Leviathan.
In books, they all appear as terrible monsters that kill countless people, but in modern times, guns, bombs, cannons, ships, and tactical nuclear weapons come to mind and seem like they can be subdued at any moment.
Since ancient times, history has been distorted and exaggerated as it has been passed down.
No matter how great the Holy Spear Dragon Velbrok was, he probably never thought that it would be capable of tearing the sky and splitting the earth.
However, there are few legends about Belbroke that are so false.
However, since it is an old memory that is hundreds of years old, there is no way to confirm it. The original sword saint has been dead for a long time, and there are no people left who have seen the majesty of the holy spear dragon with their own eyes.
Aren’t the apostles of Telos a powerful group that can take on an enormous army? I’ve seen scenes of such incredible grandeur over and over again… You probably thought you could overpower even Seong Chang-ryong.
The price of that arrogance is the lives of over a thousand people. The land called Aken Island will be completely erased from the map.
“Listen carefully, Adele. “How many more times do you think you can turn back time?”
“well… I don’t know… My spiritual strength… We’re almost out of stock… .”
When I looked back again, I saw Adele following, almost as if she was being dragged, out of breath. Ed checked the condition of Adele’s body again, then lifted her up and carried her on his back, supporting his thighs.
“Ooh, ah!”
“Take a break and try again just one more time. “Just give strength to your lower abdomen.”
“yes… ?”
Perhaps Adele is nearing her limit. No one can guess how many more times we can turn back from here.
In the first place, it was not restored by Adele’s own will, but the protection of the Holy Law imprinted on her body drew on Adele’s power at will.
“In the end, the core of the work is simple. Don’t you think you can just beat the butts of the religious cultists who are doing terrible things in front of that cathedral? However, no matter how much I think about it, I don’t think it will end with that.”
“… … .”
“Archbishop Verdio is a man who is overly cautious and quick-thinking for a fanatic. He never makes plans without a backend. “If plan A doesn’t work out, there will definitely be plans B and C prepared.”
“Senior Ed… You know Archbishop Verdio… ?”
I have never met him. However, I do know. There was no way to explain it, so Ed just shook his head and ran down the street.
“Our job is to block all escape routes so the rat cannot escape. Since he’s a very cautious guy, it’s going to be hard at first. so… “I’ll have to see what he does.”
“then… We… .”
“okay. “I’ll turn the corner, so there’s only one thing for you to do.”
We reached the back door of Bachelor’s Cathedral. Ed set Adele down on a nearby bench and spoke to her while making eye contact.
“remember.”
“… … .”
“Remember what he’s doing and come find me. I’m sure I’m still dumbfounded without knowing anything. It doesn’t matter though. I’ll come to my senses as quickly as possible, understand the situation, and picture the full story… Trust me once… Come to the terrace bench in front of Glokt Hall. “Me and Jenica will be sitting next to each other.”
Adele found it difficult to control her weakened body, so she leaned against the back of the bench.
“but… I’m almost out of strength… Hard to explain properly… .”
“Saint Clarisse can provide the explanation, so don’t worry unnecessarily. You are not the only one left with memories. only… We just need more eyes.”
“… … .”
“You said you wanted to live, right?”
Ed took off his coat, threw it on the seat next to Adele, and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.
“Who will save your life if you stay still? I grabbed my collar obscenely and struggled as I rolled around in the dirty mud, wondering if I should live or not… ”
Adele’s pupils get bigger.
The reason he didn’t cry while holding his father’s collar as he left him was because he didn’t want to be alone… This overlaps with Adele as a child who did not complain that she was scared.
“Surviving is all about surviving in such a humble and shabby way. “Has she forgotten everything because she is living as a saint and being held up in the Holy Emperor’s capital?”
Survive.
It may have been the only goal of his life, but it was never reached in the end.
It’s not that far off for Ed either.
For him, every moment of his life at this academy was a struggle to survive.
“You know everything.”
“still… The Apostle of Telos is not an opponent that can be defeated with force… .”
“force? Force itself is not a big problem. As I said, the problem is blocking all other escape routes that he may have hidden like a rat.”
“Powerlessness… It’s not a problem… ?”
Are you saying this even though you know what kind of people the Apostles of Telos are?
I wanted to answer that way, but there was no trace of anxiety on Ed’s face.
* * *
-Clink.
―Kwaaaaaaaaaa!
It happened in an instant.
It was the moment when the apostles of Telos flew in to subdue the saint.
One of the huge stained glass windows behind the podium breaks, and nearly half of the area falls into pieces. The shattered glass hits the marble floor and makes an ear-piercing sound.
In an instant, a human-shaped shadow invaded the center of the chapel, snatched the two apostles as they were flying in the air, and hung them in the center of the podium. It was a speed that I couldn’t even follow with my eyes.
The shock from the landing was so strong that the waves alone knocked everyone around. The wooden funeral chairs that had been lined up for the believers all fell down and rolled on the floor, and their places were taken up by people flying around like pieces of paper.
Soon the aftermath subsided and the dust dispersed… The identity of the shadow appears.
Felver, the 5th Apostle of Telos, was stomped on the floor, and Habres, the 7th, was held up by the collar.
With one hand, I’m holding on to the witch’s hat, afraid it might get caught and fly away, and with the other hand, I’m grabbing and holding an apostle several times my size.
His pure white hair, curled into two strands, was gently swaying in the aftermath of the shock, and no strong emotions were felt in his cold gaze.
Lucy Mayril.
She immediately picked up the man she was holding in one hand and threw him against the wall.
―Kwaang!
―Kaaaaaaaaaaa!
It hit the tube of a huge pipe organ and fell directly onto the keyboard.
An ominous sound rang out from the huge pipe organ that filled the exterior walls of the cathedral. The sound that resonates as it hits the wall seems to signal the arrival of disaster.
The priests rolled around on the floor of the hall and looked up at the podium, holding their breath.
Only half of the broken stained glass remains. The engravings of the benevolent angel’s wings, with only half of them remaining, are spread out behind Lucy. There were cracks here and there.
The gaze is still cold.
“yes… You… now… What did you do… .!”
“I don’t believe in God or anything like that.”
The light coming down from the half-broken stained glass softly illuminates Lucy’s small body.
There is no feeling of emotion as he quietly looks down at the priests while trampling on an apostle.
“I think it’s true that if you commit a crime, you should be punished. “You praying idiots don’t always say the wrong things.”
“what… Called… ? What a sin… how… what… .”
Verdio, who managed to stand up after rolling on the floor, gritted his teeth at Lucy, who was standing straight on the podium.
Lucy still speaks quietly, without any noticeable change in tone.
“You have it all inscribed in the temple and on the Buddhist scriptures.”
If you open the church’s temple, you will see the Seven Deadly Sins of Man on the first page. Lucy doesn’t believe in things like God, so she doesn’t memorize them all… Some knew.
I lower my gaze.
Belbroke’s molars, the Dharma of Sacrifice, and the apostles who had been confident just a moment ago. Those things caught her eye, but Lucy didn’t attach any particular meaning to them.
Atheist, Lucy Mayril.
She simply gives a short sentence in a blank voice.
“Oman.”
Who is it that has arrived before our eyes? He is a rare archmage whose best ability is to block even when all eight apostles gather together. In fact, only six apostles came to begin with, and two were killed as soon as they arrived.
The rising magical power filled the chapel.
