Chapter 136
Evan, who was standing nearby, twitched his eyebrow.
He had sensed that the other party was hiding something.
“Come to think of it, who is this person?”
“He’s my assistant.”
“Ah, I see. In any case, you should come along too. You must’ve gone through a lot as well.”
Rodney led the two outside and had them board the carriage.
“It’s not somewhere nearby?”
“He’s a hero who saved countless patients. I can’t treat him casually. I’ll take you somewhere appropriate.”
The carriage sped along the road.
Because the streets were deserted due to the plague, they moved unhindered, quickly leaving the outskirts where the clinic was and entering the heart of the city.
Chris asked with a feigned innocent smile.
“It’s quite far. I need to get back to the patients soon. Will this take long?”
“You don’t need to worry about the patients.”
Rodney’s tone suddenly changed.
He was finally showing his true colors.
“You’ll soon meet a gruesome death.”
“!!”
At the chilling murderous intent, Evan instinctively began to rise from his seat in the carriage.
Thud!
Chris secretly stepped on Evan’s foot.
As if to say, Stay still.
‘This idiot’s about to ruin everything right at the end.’
Chris deliberately put on a frightened expression behind the crow mask.
“W-what do you mean? Don’t tell me… you’re behind the plague?!”
“Heh heh, not me. But I’ve agreed to share in the holy fruit once the great one accomplishes his work. Even the seniors of the famed House of Medical Saints, who mocked me for lacking talent, won’t be able to look down on me anymore.”
It seemed Rodney had been pushed out in the internal competition within the House of Medical Saints and ended up joining in on this plot.
Rodney spoke triumphantly.
“You two will become living sacrifices for the great cause. You saved so many patients and carry such nobility — you’re the perfect offerings.”
“P-please… spare me…”
“You’d best behave. If you want to enjoy even the short time you have left.”
“T-this can’t be…”
Chris gave the most frightened look he could and also signaled Evan, who sat beside him.
‘Come on, you idiot. Act scared too! You’re hopeless.’
Evan scowled, and with no choice, forced a fearful expression.
Of course, his acting was so bad it just looked grotesque.
Fortunately, Rodney didn’t seem too suspicious and before long, they arrived at their destination.
It was a small building in the center of the city.
It didn’t look particularly unusual.
“Go inside.”
Even after entering, nothing seemed especially suspicious.
However, a faint trace of demonic energy could be felt.
If it weren’t for Chris, whose ability to manipulate demonic energy had reached its peak, the faint presence would’ve gone completely unnoticed.
‘It’s the trace of a curse-type demonic spell. Impressive. To have hidden it this discreetly…’
Even after stepping inside, the presence was barely perceptible. Had they just searched blindly, they never would’ve found it.
“W-what do you plan to do with us?”
Chris asked with a trembling voice, and Rodney let out a cruel chuckle.
“You’ll be taken down to the altar connected to this place and offered as a sacrifice.”
“Are you talking about the secret passage hidden beneath this rug?”
“Yes, that’s right. Go inside… huh? How do you—?”
Rodney looked confused, realizing something was off.
Chris spoke flatly.
“Evan, kill him.”
“…What?”
That was Rodney’s last word.
Flash! A light flickered.
Rodney’s head dropped to the floor.
His face didn’t even register what had happened before death took him.
It was a clean, decisive move—worthy of a Hero.
“Was it okay to kill him just like that? Wouldn’t it have been better to torture him and get information?”
“It’s fine. The moment he tried to reveal anything, the curse would’ve killed him anyway.”
It was a common trick among curse-type spellcasters.
“Now that we’ve identified the passage connected to the altar where the ritual is happening, we just need to go in and secure the evidence.”
Fwoosh!
Chris burned the rug away with black magic, revealing the floor beneath.
At a glance it seemed ordinary, but a finely detailed black magic circle was inscribed there.
‘That’s a high-grade security formation. No ordinary dark mage could ever break this.’
Of course, that didn’t apply to Chris.
He activated his demonic energy several times to analyze the security’s pattern, and before long, fully dismantled it.
Rumble.
The floor split with a low noise.
A passage into darkness, like the gaping maw of an abyss, was revealed.
“Do we just go in now?”
“No. The two of us alone can’t stop the ritual.”
Evan was a pure knight, and even with Chris’s abilities, it was impossible to unravel the ritual being conducted below.
They needed someone to help.
“Wait a bit. She’ll be here soon.”
Evan looked puzzled, and then the person Chris mentioned appeared.
“…What the—?”
A pale-faced girl, visibly shaken.
It was Olivia, the Awakener of the Sacred Blood.
* * *
As soon as Rodney put Chris in the carriage, he had secretly sent Marie.
To summon Olivia to the destination he was heading to.
Thanks to Alros and Viscount Roy distracting the attention, Olivia was able to slip away unnoticed.
“I’m here too.”
Jupien appeared with her usual cocky attitude.
“You weren’t really needed, though.”
“…Wanna get hit?”
Chris chuckled quietly.
“Just kidding. I’m counting on you.”
Considering what was about to happen below, they couldn’t afford to turn away even a single helping hand.
“So, the ritual’s taking place deeper inside, right? I’ll go first.”
Jupien jumped straight down into the passage without hesitation.
She showed no trace of fear.
Evan gave a quick glance toward Christian, then followed her in.
Only Chris and Olivia remained.
But something was off about Olivia’s expression.
She was staring at Rodney’s decapitated corpse.
‘Is she shaken by the corpse? But she’s not the type to be that fragile…’
Despite how she looked, she’d traveled to many harsh places since childhood as a saintess representing the Holy Nation.
“…Wasn’t that man Rodney of the Medical Noble House? Why would he, the one in charge of treatment, be here…?”
Chris realized what had shocked Olivia.
What did it mean for a high-ranking figure in the church to be involved?
She had glimpsed the outline of some horrifying truth hidden behind all this—and it had shaken her.
But Christian deliberately spoke in a cold tone.
“Didn’t you already have some idea?”
“!!”
“Don’t let yourself grow weak. The truth lurking down there will be far more terrifying and vile than Your Highness ever imagined.”
He didn’t say it lightly.
Once she learned the full truth, Olivia might very well break.
“If you think you can’t handle it, it’s better to walk away now and pretend you never saw this.”
Olivia’s eyes wavered.
But Chris meant every word.
Maybe, as someone who cherished her like an older brother, part of him was hoping she would turn back.
Because at the end of all this, Olivia would be deeply wounded.
‘But there's no way Olivia would choose that.’
Indeed.
Olivia bit her lip hard.
“I’ll go down. As the heir of the Holy Nation, I have a responsibility.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. So please, don’t waste your worry on me.”
Olivia took a deep breath.
She secretly clutched the wooden carving hidden in her robes.
A small piece gifted by the older brother she held most dear.
Flash!
From Olivia’s back, wings of white light spread out.
They were the Light Wings, the mark of an Awakener of the Sacred Blood.
Olivia leapt down with Chris.
And immediately, they were met with a horrifying hell.
* * *
It was a massive underground chamber.
As large as several huge training arenas combined.
No one could have imagined such a space existed beneath the holy fortress.
But what was truly horrifying wasn’t the size of the space.
It was the altar at its center.
A grotesque, blood-red magic circle was intricately interwoven across it, and above it floated a transparent sphere suspended in midair.
A sphere containing souls.
Screams filled the air.
[Kyaaaaah!]
[It hurts. It hurts…]
[Please… please… save me.]
[Mom… Dad… aaahhh!]
Hundreds of souls were trapped inside the sphere, screaming in agony.
Everyone’s face went pale.
Only Chris remained unfazed.
He had seen scenes like this far too many times before; he was immune.
“These are the souls of those who died from the Black Death. In accordance with a pre-carved ritual formula, they were drawn here to this altar as offerings.”
“W-Who could have done something this terrible?”
Olivia’s voice trembled.
She’d braced herself, but still couldn’t calm down.
“Well, who do you think could have created such a space right in the center of the holy fortress?”
“!!”
Olivia’s eyes hardened.
There was only one possible answer.
“It can’t be… Duke Vince?”
No one but the master of this fortress could’ve orchestrated something like this.
“That’s… that’s impossible. Why would he do such a thing? He’s well-known for cherishing his people like family!”
Olivia stammered, unable to accept it.
Chris let out a faint sigh inwardly.
‘The Duke of Vince isn’t the end of it.’
He was just a pawn. The true mastermind lay beyond him.
“For now, we need to stop this ritual. Please, use your authority as a princess to free these souls.”
This was the reason Chris had brought Olivia.
She was the greatest spirit-soother of their generation.
Her ability was leagues beyond that of ordinary spirit summoners.
Because she wielded the divine authority of the Sacred Constellation to console souls.
But then Olivia said something unexpected.
“I… I can’t.”
“What? But don’t you possess the ‘Soul Consolation' authority?”
“My ‘Soul Consolation’ hasn’t fully awakened yet. It’s not strong enough to soothe this many souls.”
Chris was caught off guard.
‘That can’t be. She should’ve completed her Soul Consolation ability by now.’
Then it hit him.
‘She spent the past year lost in despair and never completed her authority!’
Olivia had blamed herself for Chris’s death and slowly devoured her own soul in sorrow. As her soul festered, her divine ability's awakening had been delayed.
‘Damn it. Without Olivia’s power, we can’t stop the ritual.’
Not even Chris could unravel dark magic of this magnitude.
‘I need to come up with a solution—fast. If not, we’re all in danger…’
But it was too late.
Heavy footsteps echoed from the corridor connected to the chamber.
“Well now, what’s going on here? Uninvited rats sneaking into the sacred grounds?”
Olivia gasped in shock.
“Duke Vince!!”
A middle-aged man with an intelligent demeanor stood there.
In one hand, he held a grim-looking magic tome.
It was the master of the fortress himself—Duke Vince, a 5-star magic-type sorcerer.
‘First time seeing him in person.’
Chris had a deep history with Duke Vince in his previous life.
A hostile one.
Duke Vince had fabricated the evidence that framed Chris’s mother.
More precisely, he had forged the evidence under orders from the Holy Pope.
A sworn enemy from a past life…