As the cathedral knights who arrived late busily tidied up the scene, Vigrind stood there, dazed.
“Saint, are you alright?”
Amidst the noise, that one clear voice reached Vigrind’s ears, as if waking from a dream.
“Oh dear, what on earth is going on?”
Rubbing the back of his head, Ludvik wore a grimace. Thanks to Alex’s low tackle, he had ended up sprawling on the bare floor, caught by the ankle.
Ludvik, still massaging his throbbing head, looked down at Vigrind.
“Ah, Hero…”
As Vigrind instinctively raised his hand to heal, Ludvik shook his head.
There was no need for that, he signaled as he casually waved his hand. He leaned closer to Vigrind and whispered very softly.
“I intentionally cleared the way, but it’s a relief that Yona managed to escape safely.”
“—?!”
Startled, Vigrind stared at Ludvik. Somehow, it felt like he had fallen down too helplessly, but had Alex cleared the way for him?
Vigrind wasn’t well-versed in martial arts, but hearing it said out loud made it clear as day.
“Now it’s a matter of what to do with Alex.”
There lay Alex face down on the ground, forcibly disarmed of his hammer, shield, and armor, utterly helpless. His face was a canvas of bruises, not a single spot unharmed, with split lips dripping blood.
Should I heal him? But that would cause more chaos again— Vigrind was deep in thought, her mind a mess over the current situation.
Yona had unleashed her magic, true, but could that alone mean she had turned to demons?
A regular priest would naturally respond with a clear yes. Probably, Vigrind would have said the same if it hadn’t been for Yona.
—If it wasn’t Yona.
She couldn’t imagine Yona ever doing such a thing.
The notorious girl from the Evian Cathedral’s affiliated orphanage who caused trouble daily, insisting she was a boy when told to wear a skirt, stomping and shouting, yet instantly making friends with everyone, a total enigma.
But that mesmerizing smile she showed after being judged as a healer still lingered vividly in Vigrind’s memory.
“…Perhaps my healing was flawed.”
“Pardon?”
For a moment, Ludvik stood there, dumbfounded by Vigrind’s unexpected response. It was a question about what to do with Alex, yet her answer seemed completely off the mark.
“Yona’s… state might be because my healing was wrong.”
“Excuse me, Saint, but I really don’t think that’s the case.”
“I need to… see Yona. She couldn’t have turned like that. There’s definitely some sort of misunderstanding.”
For some reason, Vigrind’s expression was vacant.
As her gaze drifted downwards, Ludvik scratched his head, unsure of what to say in this situation.
‘…Maybe better to leave the Saint alone for now.’
Ludvik turned his attention back to Alex.
He looked back.
After all, wasn’t he the incredible Alex, who showed astounding feats to rescue his comrades?
Despite being recognized as a C-ranked adventurer and brushed off as not that important, he suddenly exploded with power, and Scarlet—
“…Huh?”
He saw Scarlet slowly shaking her head as if her consciousness was returning and getting back on her feet.
This was the first time he had seen Scarlet without her helmet.
And Ludvik froze momentarily as he gazed at Scarlet’s bare face.
Her brilliantly shining red hair flowed beautifully out of her armor,
her youthful complexion still had a hint of softness, and her slightly ashen lips were surprisingly plump.
“…Scarlet, Sir…?”
Ludvik merely stood there, blankly mumbling Scarlet’s name.
Alex’s gaze stayed fixed on one spot, unable to move.
Even while being crushed and forcibly disarmed, tied up with both arms and legs, he remained that way.
His eyes were solely focused on one thing, the fallen Scarlet—the girl named Sekti.
Sekti.
No surname, just the name Sekti.
Back when Alex was still known as Johannes Spillban,
the time when he was the captain of the Holy Special Forces.
Sekti, whom he cherished like a younger sister rather than just a subordinate.
He hadn’t noticed it at all that she was Scarlet.
He didn’t even get a familiar feeling.
Why had she—
“Former Holy Knight, Johannes Spillban.”
Despite having already abandoned it, he clearly heard that name called in a low voice that swept through his mind.
The place his forcibly face-down eyes landed on.
There stood an elderly man with white hair, filled with an expression of rage, looking down at him.
“Is it true that you brought such a fallen priest into the Church of the Celestial God, this Church Region overseen by our Celestial God? And on top of that, you attempted to help a demon escape from this Banquet Hall? Was that indeed your intention?”
Scarlet and Sekti, all of it washed away from his mind in an instant.
At the icy voice of Pope Akzel IV, a strange sense of elation swelled in Alex’s chest.
Yona, Yona.
My beloved Yona.
I will definitely protect you,
I will surely ensure your escape.
Right here and now, my vow has been fulfilled.
Just that was enough for me.
Instead, Alex smiled.
He had achieved what he wanted.
Yona had escaped, and now she didn’t need to return.
By her side was Kaiyak,
who was also a strong warrior.
He could at least ensure Yona’s safety while making an escape—
There was no regret.
As he looked down at Alex, who was smiling despite being silent, Pope Akzel IV suddenly suppressed a rising surge of emotion.
Above all, in this Holy Church Region, it was this corrupted former knight who smiled while having summoned a demon.
“Can you not answer me at once? If you keep your mouth shut, you too will be considered an apostate. If you intend to stall for time, just stop here. The Holy Knight Brigade has already mobilized, so it won’t take long to capture that demon.”
“It won’t take long.”
“It will be impossible, Your Holiness the Pope. I am already marked as a traitor in the cathedral, so do as you wish with your brand of the apostate. Yona has not fallen. She was more of a priest than anyone I have ever seen. More than anyone— and I am satisfied. The Holy Knights will never be able to capture her.”
Alex said with a grin.
Truly, it couldn’t be more amusing.
Sold her soul to a demon, converted to a demon.
Aren’t they defining Yona based on that ridiculous premise?
Yona sold her soul to a demon— how funny is that?
She offered her body for Alex and Kaiyak.
Enduring that pain, she gave herself up.
Isn’t it the Church of the Celestial God that didn’t even give her a chance to justify that sacrifice?
Now to call her an apostate is just shameless.
“The Inquisition will be here soon. I had no idea you had fallen this far. That’s it. Continuing this conversation is just a waste of time.”
Pope Akzel IV turned away.
The Holy Knight Brigade was already mobilizing and searching the area like a cat chasing a mouse, and Alex would just hand her over to the Inquisitors.
Furthermore, with all the Holy Knights stationed nearby being summoned, even a demon wouldn’t be able to escape erasure.
He truly believed that.
He truly believed that.
*
When Scarlet regained consciousness, the first emotion she felt was a sense of discord.
Usually, the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was the landscape beyond the dark bars of her helmet’s visor, but now, it was just the plain sight of nothing to block her view.
“No way…”
Scarlet raised her hand to touch her face.
Nothing was there.
The helmet that should have been covering her face was nowhere to be found; her bare face greeted her fingertips.
And she could even feel the rough touch of gauntlets on her face.
—Her self-esteem crumbled rapidly.
Her heartbeat began to race, and her trembling fingertips searched desperately for the helmet.
“Helmet… my hel, helmet…!”
Scarlet shot up and looked around.
The scene around her was anything but normal; all the Holy Knights were on edge, facing Yona in a tense standoff—
But such things were of no concern to Scarlet in that moment.
“Helmet, helmet…—!”
Like a child who lost grip of their mother’s hand in the middle of a festival, Scarlet frantically scanned her surroundings.
With tears glistening in her fiery red eyes, she desperately sought her helmet.
The once-mighty crusader squad that was slicing through the undead with their morning stars was now reflected in a way that was hardly believable for Scarlet.
While scanning her surroundings, she spotted her helmet lying some distance away.
Sure it was hers, she jumped up, ran over, and snatched it up, promptly placing it on her head.
Only then did the pounding of her heart begin to subside.
The flush that had heated her face started to fade as well.
Finally, Scarlet turned to look around.
The atmosphere was far from ordinary.
The golden radiance and the swirling storm of crimson and black magic created a truly spectacular scene.
It was then—
“Sekti—!”
Scarlet came to a sudden halt.
Scarlet, who was poised to dash and join the cathedral knights, abruptly froze in place, while her helmet turned, creaking loudly, revealing—
Alex, bound and crawling on the floor.
“Sekti, Sekti—!”
Alex called out her name as if he were about to burst a lung.
From the moment he got up to the point of frantically searching for his helmet in panic, how could he forget? Even if some time passed, she was once his subordinate and held dearer than a sister to him—Sekti.
The commotion around them was escalating, but given that he was currently stuck to the ground and far from where Yona had fallen, Alex had no clue what was actually happening. If he had, he would have called out for Yona first, but unfortunately, that was not the case.
Right now, Alex’s attention was utterly fixed on Sekti.
He had defied the order of the church to get rid of her, which amounted to disobedience. And he was charged with heresy for blackmailing the church regarding its dealings surrounding her.
Thus, the punishment handed down to Alex was a mandate to leave the church along with a prohibition.
Even after leaving the church, worries about Sekti lingered in his heart, always weighing on him.
So, when he found out that Sekti had changed her name to Scarlet and was working with the Special Crusaders, Alex could only be astounded.
“Sekti—!”
That was the moment.
As her helmet turned, Sekti—Scarlet’s gaze landed on Alex.
“Sekti, it’s me! Johannes, Johannes Spilban!”
Scarlet did not move.
Even though her eyes were clearly on Alex, she remained unmoving.
“Sekti—!”
“Shut it!”
Sekti’s roar echoed.
With that intensity, Alex instinctively shut his mouth.
“I don’t know how you know that name, but it’s not a name you can just call out—! Don’t dare misuse the name of someone so lofty while being a filthy servant of demons!”
Scarlet began approaching Alex with a fierce demeanor.
The morning star she had somehow grasped in her hand bristled menacingly, and Alex swallowed hard at the sight.
“You filthy heretic, I’ll punish you on the spot—!”
Scarlet raised the morning star.
It gleamed ominously as if ready to smash down on Alex’s head when suddenly—
“Stop.”
The descending morning star froze mid-air.
It was being blocked by someone else’s grip, and upon glancing at the owner of that hand, Scarlet quickly took a step back.
“The Inquisitor has arrived. While your anger towards the heretic is justified, we should extract what we can and dispose of them properly, shouldn’t we?”
Pope Akzel IV remarked as he gestured at Scarlet.
As Scarlet lowered her head and stepped back in compliance, those lined up behind Pope Akzel IV gradually moved forward.
Clad in dull armor and veiled to obscure their visors, they approached silently and lifted the bound Alex from the floor.
“Take him away. Make sure you extract everything you can.”
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