Chapter 193
A bloody wind was blowing through the plaza.
The bodies of the two thousand zealots were scattered in pieces.
No one within the range of the gigantic brand survived. Even those whose limbs had been severed and who were screaming eventually fell silent as one by one their breath stopped.
On the ground of the plaza, deep grooves had been carved as if struck by the Sword of Light. They were connected in a large geometric circle.
At the moment the beams of light poured down and struck—
I felt as if the ground had collapsed—boom!—then risen back up. That was because this Brand of God bore an immense gravity.
At the same time, the blood of the two thousand surged into the air in unison. That blood mixed with the aftermath of the gravitational force, whipped violently, and then scattered into a crimson mist.
I walked out slowly.
The squad members stared in a daze.
For all of them, it was their first time witnessing this.
"Is that the Brand?"
"Yes."
"The range is over a hundred steps."
"That was just stage one."
"What?"
Donnie's mouth dropped open.
"We return to the capital. Brai and the twenty thousand in the central army will take care of the remaining zealots. The youngest will guard the Door of Light then return with Hans."
"Understood."
Everyone headed for the building.
The Door of Light I had opened hadn't been closed yet.
"It doesn't seem the Holy Knights were just enchanted."
"They were definitely out of their minds, though."
"They seemed to move with powerful faith in God. They obeyed the priests very well, too."
Dogie tilted his head.
"Do they really see us as devils?"
"Zealots might. Some priests also spoke with a southern Beltern accent."
"So the Grand Duke kidnapped or brainwashed knights from southern Beltern, too."
"That's possible."
There were a tremendous number of people who disappeared during the war in southern Beltern. If you add them all, the zealot group might number over a million.
Maybe Xenon was looking for his family. He might have known the Grand Duke was turning those he kidnapped into mad Holy Knights.
I immediately moved to the capital.
With the central army taking four days to arrive, I headed straight for the inn.
After washing up, I went to the inn's ground floor.
Xenon had been relocated there for operational purposes. The special forces were guarding the floor where he stayed.
"May I enter?"
"Come in."
Xenon was lying on the bed.
I sat on a chair and asked,
"How is your body feeling?"
"Much better. But who were those black knights? They had no interest in me though."
"No need for me to tell you."
He must have been suspicious of their phantom-like forms.
The situation had grown strange: crusaders appeared on their side, and we had dark knights on ours.
"How's the battle going?"
"We're still not sure. I think the Grand Duke is dead, but I can't be certain."
"You came to ask me something again, didn't you."
I had been planning to ask anyway.
"Holy Knights are appearing not only in the capital but also throughout Tris and within several legions. They look like madmen, but it seems they silently follow the divine mission and fight. Do you know anything about this?"
"Holy Knights..."
Xenon tried to hide his surprise.
He knew.
"How long have you known?"
Xenon stared at the ceiling.
As if piecing together fragments of memory.
"So that's what they were."
"You didn't know their true nature, then."
"I did know the Grand Duke was raising such an organization. I thought it was simple brainwashing, but it may not be."
"There were people speaking with a southern Beltern accent."
Xenon gave a bitter smile.
"Southern Beltern had especially many faithful. That's why the Order dominated the land. To be honest, my father and brothers were all zealous followers."
"I thought they were dead?"
"I don't know. I still don't understand why Commander Has protected me instead of my brothers. When we evacuated, he left the legitimate heirs behind and only took me from the palace."
I looked at Xenon and spoke.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I wasn't sure. I knew only that the Order was behind the disappearance of the knights, and that the Grand Duke was involved."
"Why did the knights disappear?"
"A long time ago, a group of priests came to our kingdom. Many knights went to the Order to receive a holy rite. But none of them ever returned."
"They didn't go to the Order."
Xenon nodded.
"I learned later those priests weren't from the Order either. Commander Has tracked them trying to find his missing son and discovered the Grand Duke was behind it."
"That's why he died."
"Assassins came for us. Among them was a very powerful one, and he killed my father and fatally wounded Commander Has."
A very powerful one—
"That was the Grand Duke?"
"Probably. He must have been after the Orb of Power. In the end, commander Has died in my arms. He told me then about the existence of the Orb of Power."
Xenon let out a brief sigh.
"Commander Has said the Grand Duke's scheme had to be revealed. If he hadn't died so early, the southern Beltern kingdoms might not have fallen so easily."
It was as I suspected.
The reason Xenon entered Syren: he wanted to expose the Grand Duke's plot and uncover the secret powers.
"So what did you find out?"
Xenon shook his head.
"I think the base of those priests is in Tern. I heard priests different from the Holy Order have come to Syren a few times."
"Commander Sellus of the Tern Knight Order didn't come to Syren just to see you."
"Probably not. He could be responsible. I never imagined the kidnapped would reappear as Holy Knights."
"Would the King of Tern just watch?"
Xenon looked out the window.
"Well. The King of Tern is a believer, too. They have their own temple, separate from the Order. With the Order fallen, they might build their own independent Order."
That makes sense. With no Order remaining, if they're first to create one and grow their followers, their influence will swell. It ties directly into national power. For the King of Tern, it's a move worth making.
"You just said it didn't seem like simple brainwashing. Why do you think so?"
"Commander Has said it before he died. Those men were filled with conviction, believing they were walking the 'path of God.' They'd either witnessed divine power or received a revelation from God."
A revelation from God...
"Are you saying the Grand Duke faked a revelation to turn them into zealots?"
"He may not have faked it."
"What do you mean?"
Xenon looked out the window and continued.
"The Grand Duke possesses divinity."
"What?"
"A huge amount of it."
What was this...?
"To them, this war is a holy war. One to protect the world from evil and grant salvation. The Grand Duke not only brainwashed them, but showed them a god."
It was said the Grand Duke descended from the royal line of the ancient Holy Kingdom. Maybe that divinity had been passed down generation after generation. I hadn't felt any divinity from the Grand Duke.
"How do you know the Grand Duke has divinity?"
"Commander Has said he saw the rainbow light of divinity in the Grand Duke. Only priests near to God can see that light. It might not be a lie, but fact."
A rainbow-hued divinity.
Just like the divine aura Eilin had shown.
That light appears only to those of the purest divinity.
Had the Grand Duke hidden his divinity in front of me?
Just like Eilin did. Divinity can be hidden in the Tree of Osu. Did the Grand Duke also have a Tree of Osu?
"Do you know anything else?"
"That's all. I just wanted to find the one I loved. I needed something to fill the emptiness in my heart."
I understood.
After losing everyone you've ever loved, you might wander.
If the Grand Duke truly possessed divinity—
Just who did God stand with?
Since there were witnesses to the Dark Knights, not only soldiers but even citizens might turn against us. This agitation wouldn't end with one incident.
So we had to be prepared.
With something even more powerful.
/ / /
Four days later.
I headed to the southern gate of the capital.
News had come that the central army had set up camp.
I went straight to the top of the city gate.
Lord Watts was looking south.
In the distance, thirty thousand from the central army were readying to cross the river. Because of the many bridges, they couldn't divide their forces elsewhere and so had chosen this gate to make a stand.
While there was a city wall at the gate, only about twenty archers could be deployed there; the rest was little more than a high fence. We would have to fight those climbing over the wall.
The capital defense force currently had three thousand at the north gate, two thousand each at the west and east gates, and about ten thousand scattered throughout the city, subduing Holy Knights and resisting family lines.
So only fifteen thousand remained at the south gate.
The central army had thirty thousand—twice our number.
"I truly cannot comprehend this."
"What do you mean?"
"Those strange ones turned out to be Holy Knights. But where did they suddenly come from? That's causing a great stir among the devout soldiers."
I looked at Lord Watts.
"Are the ones appearing in the capital also accusing me of being a devil-worshiper?"
Lord Watts nodded.
"Those who know you will see it for the false agitation it is. But those Holy Knights bear divinity and so ordinary soldiers and citizens are easily swayed."
"Even the Order's priests possessed divinity."
"Indeed. Now I even begin to doubt what divinity really is."
Divinity should be divine, in the true sense. Yet priests of the corrupt Order possessed it, and they say the Grand Duke does as well. Does it have nothing to do with good or evil?
Unless God is playing games with me and the Grand Duke, there is something we don't know. Maybe one side has false divinity. However it's possible.
Soldiers entrenched in formation.
Among them were priests as well. Most of those soldiers seemed to already have become zealots.
The Grand Duke is dreaming of the Holy Kingdom's revival. The testament of that bloodline might actually be possible. They could become a zealot legion.
It isn't so difficult to turn a multitude into zealots. If you show them divinity and revelation from God—
That is the beginning of the Holy Kingdom.
Bwooooooo—
"The enemy is advancing!"
"All forces, prepare for battle!"
Clack—
Inside the gates, soldiers in formation lifted their shields and aimed their spears. Everywhere on the main road and in the alleys, the capital defense force formed their battle lines.
I went down from the gate with Lord Watts.
He shouted,
"All soldiers, remember the corrupt priests of the Order! Their divinity was not the true divinity!"
"Yes, General!"
"They're coming!"
Whishwhishwhishwhishwhish—
Arrows rained down from above.
Thunkthunkthunkthunkthunk—
The capital defense force raised their shields at once and blocked the arrows pouring down.
The central army might be regulars, but the capital defense force was elite. Their discipline and unified movements showed the level of training.
"They're climbing the walls!"
As ladders were placed, central army soldiers began to climb. With their shields held up, few fell to arrows.
Those who made it over immediately moved with their shields to the gate. Two of our squad members stood at that gate, cutting down each attacker as they approached.
Soon, the central army soldiers poured over in groups and began forming ranks. Since opening the gate was now difficult, they changed tactics.
"Those men..."
A lieutenant who tried to shout, stopped.
Enemies forming ranks were swept away like fallen leaves by the Whirlwind unleashed by my squad members.
"You may fire arrows!"
"Shoot those who go down!"
Two of our men toppled every group that formed up. With each spin, a dozen fell. Two were sufficient.
The capital defense soldiers, awed by just two men's power, could only stare blankly. As our two members took them down, arrows poured in without mercy.
Then someone appeared atop the gate.
It was a priest, shielded by Holy Knights.
"Listen, defenders of the capital! The one in the black suit of armor is the devil! You are deceived! Come to God's embrace! You will be saved!"
At those words, a few soldiers looked at me.
There was uncertainty in their eyes.
Our own lieutenant shouted,
"Don't be shaken! They're impostors!"
"If you fight alongside the devil, you will incur God's wrath! Cast down your arms and follow God!"
"They're lying! Don't believe them!"
The Holy Knights began shining with light.
Radiant holy light.
"Behold! This is divinity!"
Even our lieutenant could say nothing more.
Though our squad mowed down every enemy climbing over, the soldiers' morale was breaking further.
"To follow the devil for real..."
The priest who was yelling suddenly broke off.
He stood in a daze, looking past us.
Everyone turned to look.
"No way..."
Everyone's eyes and mouths fell open.
The lieutenants. The soldiers. Even Lord Watts.
The tightly packed defense line parted. Those soldiers, watching with astonished faces, began dropping to one knee, one after the other.
And a blazing light appeared.
Between the soldiers kneeling like dominoes. A being radiating a rainbow glow walked among them.
With massive wings of light unfurled—
It was Eilin.