Chapter 223 : Chapter 223
Chapter 223. Insider of the Black Order
"I hope the Bishops stay healthy for a long, long time and remain with us always."
As soon as Radel's warm words of blessing ended, the quest was completed.
RING.
[You have won the favor of the reformist bishops.]
[Quest achievement rate has reached 100%!]
Condition: Win the favor of the reformist bishops (Achievement 100%)
[The quest has ended successfully.]
[Your actions have changed the hearts of the reformist bishops.]
[Quest Success Reward: Identification of the Black Order insider]
[Quest success reward is being distributed.]
[A hint on how to identify the insider of the Black Order is given.]
[Hint: Infuse magic power into the completed Key of Seal]
A completed Key of Seal, huh.
Radel had two Keys of Seal.
Black and purple.
Sealed within them were Belphegor, the Devil of Sloth, and Leviathan, the Devil of Envy, respectively.
'By completed, does it mean the black one?'
The keys his ancestor used to seal the Archdevils required collecting six of the same color to break the seal.
So, collecting six keys could be seen as completing it.
Just in case, Radel took out the bundle of black keys he had put in his bosom and infused magic power into them.
Then, didn't light actually burst out from somewhere?
FLASH!
That light stretched out from among the reformist bishops.
It was an ominous magic power with a vivid green color.
'If I put magic power into the completed key, other keys nearby must react!'
With this, finding heretics would become easier.
Radel quickly put away the black keys and made a surprised expression.
"No, light from the Bishop's chest? Could that be... demonic energy?"
The bishops, startled by the light that suddenly burst out, also grasped the situation and hardened their faces.
"What is that?"
"Surely not... Bishop Taylor?"
How could a heretic who sold his soul to a devil come out from among the bishops of the Supreme Deity Order?
The reformist bishops could not accept the reality and stared at Taylor.
"Bishop Taylor! What is the meaning of this?"
"Say something!"
"Why is demonic energy coming out from there!"
No matter how much the reformist bishops questioned him, Bishop Taylor kept his mouth shut.
No, it was more accurate to say he couldn't say anything.
This was something not in his plan.
'What am I supposed to do about the key emitting demonic energy on its own!'
It was true that he borrowed the power of the key to draw out the 8th Prince's ugly desires.
But usually, even if he drew upon the key's power, something like this didn't happen.
Since Taylor was also a bishop, he had been careful in his own way.
Even though he could obtain greater power, he was someone who even postponed formally contracting with Asmodeus to operate without restrictions in the Supreme Deity Order.
'Damn it, I was so careful.'
Already, the reformist bishops were shooting suspicious looks at him.
The atmosphere was unusual.
It was too late to reverse it.
Bishop Taylor admitted that things had gone wrong.
If they knew that he, a bishop of the Supreme Deity Order, had turned traitor, the Inquisitors would not stay still.
Bishop Taylor knew what their teeth-chattering torture was like.
They were vicious bastards who would cut the tendons of limbs first and then repeatedly use Heal to fix them.
It was to the point where it would be better to die than to suffer such pain.
"Whether I die like this or like that..."
Bishop Taylor laughed hollowly.
And he took out a dagger and slashed his chest.
* * *
'I've seen a sight similar to this somewhere.'
The moment Bishop Taylor stabbed his chest, a scene from the past came to Radel's mind.
"Bishop Taylor!"
"Such a ridiculous thing!"
Radel clicked his tongue inwardly among the panicked bishops.
'Seeing blood again.'
He said it was familiar from the moment the insider of the Black Order took out a dagger.
Obsidian, who had infiltrated Helsington School as a professor before, had done the exact same thing.
Heretics seemed to have a habit of drawing blood when disadvantaged.
Whether it was Obsidian or that insider.
Sure enough, the blood flowing from Bishop Taylor's neck was wriggling and moving as if it had a will of its own.
SIZZLE.
The blood touching the silver necklace Bishop Taylor was wearing burned.
Seeing it purified upon touching a holy relic, that blood definitely seemed to contain demonic energy.
'For a bishop of the Supreme Deity Order to be corrupted to that extent.'
Heretics are really everywhere.
It was when Radel was surprised by the influence of the Black Order.
"We must quickly unfold the holy magic circle!"
"Shouldn't we contact the Inquisitors first?"
"There is no time! Bishop Hanson, to the opposite side!"
The reformist bishops hurriedly exchanged opinions and then took positions.
They had to unfold a holy magic circle before that evil magic was completed to prevent greater damage.
The most difficult point when dealing with heretics lay in them casting forbidden magic while throwing away their lives.
Forbidden magic that opens the gate to the Demon World.
It was magic that could only be cast by someone around the level of an executive of the Black Order who contracted with an Archdevil.
Since they bet their lives as sacrifices, once activated, it was powerful enough that no one could stop it, so cold sweat flowed down the bishops' foreheads.
'There is no time. People are in danger.'
'If that magic circle opens, Marcellent will be...!'
From the moment the magic circle was completed, a living hell unfolded around it.
Ordinary humans just being near it would have their minds contaminated by the demonic energy flowing from it.
Once the mind started to be contaminated by demonic energy, one would lose reason, crushed by extreme fear.
And eventually, the human mind would collapse completely.
Later, along with the collapsed mind, the body would also crumble and become undead.
And they committed terrible atrocities of attacking other humans whose minds were still intact and consuming their flesh and blood.
Furthermore, this was the middle of Marcellent where many tourists gathered.
The more people there were, the more dangerous it was.
The fortunate thing was that there were apprentice priests and holy knights dispatched to the House of the Undead.
Since those with divine power could resist demonic energy, they could buy at least a little time.
It was when the reformist bishops were about to shout urgently towards them.
"Yohan, Noah, Lucas. Take five people each and evacuate the people. If there is anyone injured or showing abnormal symptoms, hand them over to the apprentice priests immediately. James, Benjamin. You two must control the area so people cannot enter near here. You can do it, right?"
"Yes, Prince!"
"Just leave it to us."
The 8th Prince was giving instructions calling the names of the apprentice holy knights as if familiar.
The Apprentice Holy Knight Order moved quickly as soon as they received Radel's instructions.
Since they had been together since Raviedel, they understood each other instantly.
"Gusto, you move with me."
"Yes, Prince."
Even in the eyes of the reformist bishops, it was a quite trustworthy sight.
But it would be difficult for a Prince with no divine power to do anything more here.
The bishops shouted to Radel.
"Prince, please go quickly and call the Inquisitors! And the Prince must evacuate too!"
"What about the Bishops?"
"We will block this evil magic here. We can't help what has already been activated, but we can hold it so it doesn't spread."
"With this many bishops gathered, we can sufficiently block about one city. Ahem."
Is a clergyman a clergyman after all?
No matter how much they were bishops trying to handle the Order as they pleased, when it became an emergency, they were raising their divine power to the limit.
Leaving Radel behind, they formed hand seals and deployed holy magic.
"Brothers!"
"With the power of the Supreme Deity!"
Gusto whispered urgently to Radel.
"Once the barrier is completed, we cannot go outside, so it would be better to move quickly."
"So they are trapping the magic circle inside the barrier."
Radel looked at the magic circle drawn with blood and recalled the beings of the Demon World that Obsidian had summoned.
Back then, there were no clergymen who could use holy magic to this extent.
'Then it means it's safer now than back then, right?'
Radel, watching the magic circle nearing completion, moved his steps.
However, they were steps heading inside, not going outside.
Startled, Gusto moved following Radel.
At the same time, the holy magic was completed.
"Barrier of the Supreme Deity!"
FLASH!
And the eyes of the bishops, who grasped the situation belatedly, widened.
Why was the 8th Prince with no divine power approaching there?
"N, no!"
* * *
Is it because he experienced it before?
'It's familiar.'
Radel approached the magic circle drawn with blood as if it were nothing.
RING.
[An unknown magic invades the user's mind.]
[An unknown magic contaminates the user's mind.]
[Status Effect Nullification is activated.]
As Radel expected, Status Effect Nullification was blocking the curse.
He felt it before too, but Radel's thought was that if he could block the curse, even a being from the Demon World was no different from an ordinary undead.
RUMBLE!
The quickly opening magic circle.
Radel examined the inside.
A deep darkness with no bottom.
From that distant source of fear, something that shouldn't exist in this world was coming up.
Ominous sounds came from inside the pit.
CREAAAK.
SCREECH.
Something black and wriggling.
Eyes densely stuck to a huge body were moving their crimson irises along with bizarre sounds.
Radel looked at the entrance where red light flowed out and muttered.
"Last time it was a hand, this time it's eyes."
Gusto, who followed Radel, said with an urgent expression.
"It is a Demon Eye. If you look directly into those pupils, your mind will be destroyed... Prince?"
SPLASH!
Before Gusto's words ended, Radel took out holy water and splashed it on the eyes.
SIZZLE!
CREAAAK!
Then the pupils of the eyes tore in an instant and flipped their eyelids.
Pitch-black tears flowed down from the ominous eyes.
"Oh, it's effective."
Seeing it shed tears, it must hurt, right?
With certainty, Radel drew his sword and applied the holy water given by the Archbishop.
And with the sword coated in holy water, he stabbed the eyes one by one without hesitation.
STAB!
SCREECH!
The bishops who saw that sight lost their words.
What is that calmness?
More than that, can an ordinary person with not a single bit of divine power do that?
When the 8th Prince approached the magic circle at first, they thought they would faint from shock, but now the bishops' mouths wouldn't close in a different sense.
"How can this be...!"
"Prince, look at the Prince!"
The apprentice holy knights who were evacuating people were the same.
Although they felt the 8th Prince's extraordinariness going through many things in Raviedel, seeing him deal with a being that came up from the Demon World, emotions welled up again.
"The 8th Prince is defeating evil...!"
The apprentice priests who were there and the people evacuating were the same.
Everyone forgot what they were doing and stared blankly at Radel.
That was how astonishing the appearance Radel showed was.
Especially the reformist bishops who were deploying holy magic had no choice but to be even more shocked.
Because even in their not-so-short lives as clergymen, this sight was a first.
Is that really the Prince with no divine power?
Then if this is not... a miracle, what is it...?