Episode 150
Just before the priest of Borenus succumbed to a certain “threat” and was about to persuade the White Tower to rally for the Second Crusade.
It was a time when the Crusaders of the Great Demon Alliance were just returning, having decided the goddess’s will through a martyr’s duel.
In the labyrinth city of Labyrinthos, officially donated to the church by the Saxon Viscount, chaos erupted.
An artifact had gone berserk.
Unable to control the darkness embedded in the artifact from the Demon King’s domain, Edward Dulles charged straight into the cathedral, slaughtering the Templar knights guarding it as if they were mere foot soldiers.
Despite everything, Edward was an S-rank adventurer, and with the added frenzy of a powerful artifact, he was unstoppable.
As he massacred the priests of the Sistine Goddess Church and the city plunged into panic, the adventurers began to riot, seeking to reclaim the tithes and treasures the church had taken from them.
Law and order crumbled, and looting and crime spread throughout the city, with the church’s stronghold areas suffering the most.
It was around this time that the “Black Prince” returned to the labyrinth city, having turned his troops around after the martyr’s duel.
In the distance, the city was ablaze.
Taking advantage of the absence of key forces due to the Great Demon Alliance’s expedition, Edward’s rampage had sparked lawless plundering.
But the city was no longer “Dale’s city.” The Saxon Viscount had surrendered it to the church in the name of the goddess, so the burning city was, in essence, the “church’s city.”
“The cathedral…!”
The cathedral, expanded for the church’s luxury, was in flames. Priest Borenus gasped in shock.
“Oh my.”
Lady Scarlet, the standard-bearer alongside Dale, chuckled at the sight.
“The goddess’s country has burned and fallen, and now the goddess’s city is crumbling.”
Her words were laced with mockery.
“Why does the goddess remain so cruelly silent to those who pray to her so fervently?”
”…”
Priest Borenus had no words. The Master Templar of the Templar Order, who should have been his sword, was dead, and even the treasures the church sought were being looted.
It was the worst imaginable scenario.
“It seems…”
Dale murmured coldly as he watched.
“The goddess’s command to turn the troops around was indeed the right one.”
Having won the martyr’s duel, Dale had insisted that his victory was the goddess’s will.
“In contrast, the church refused to turn the troops around until the end, even breaking the rules of the martyr’s duel to maintain their stubbornness.”
“A-ah…”
“The church’s arrogance in interpreting the goddess’s will as they please has brought about this fitting consequence, don’t you think?”
Dale murmured icily.
“As the Saxon Duke’s representative, I surrendered this land to you in the name of the goddess. But I seriously doubt whether your church truly understands the ‘goddess’s will.’”
“How dare a Saxon heretic insult the church!”
“Do you still intend to cling to your pitiful pride?”
Dale retorted.
“Have you forgotten that this is Saxon Duke’s land before it is the church’s territory? Surely you won’t just stand by and watch as the Duke’s domain is violated!”
“I’m sick of the church’s nonsense, changing their stance as it suits them.”
Dale said.
“I’ll handle this situation myself. But first, you must promise me one thing.”
“What is it?”
“Return the land of the Demon King’s domain that I surrendered to you, back to me.”
Dale replied.
“And this must be done strictly in the ‘name of the church and the goddess.’”
He remembered clearly when the church first approached him, claiming to be the Great Demon Alliance, and threatened him.
If Dale didn’t surrender the land… they would declare the development of the Demon King’s domain as a secular business of the Saxon family, not a holy mission of the goddess. They would proclaim it a sin of the flesh and spirit and order all the pioneering monks to withdraw.
“Have you forgotten what will happen to the Demon King’s domain development if you dare to expel our church?”
Priest Borenus asked, recalling the threat.
“I’m well aware.”
Dale answered coldly.
“But the Master Templar lost in the martyr’s duel, proving that my will is the goddess’s will, didn’t it?”
In a martyr’s duel, those with opposing claims fight to the death to discern the goddess’s will. The goddess sides with the one making the ‘right claim,’ and thus the victor claims to represent the ‘goddess’s will.’
The loser, through death, proves their actions were not the goddess’s will, becoming a holy martyr.
In other words, with Dale’s victory in the martyr’s duel, the church no longer represented the goddess’s will.
“Yet the church refused to relent, breaking the sacred rules of the martyr’s duel and interpreting the ‘goddess’s will’ as they pleased. It’s an unspeakable blasphemy.”
Dale said.
“In this situation, how convincing is the church’s claim that ‘the Demon King’s domain development is evil and merely Saxon’s business’?”
“Surely not!”
Only then did Priest Borenus understand.
The cunning and ruthless “Black Prince” had handed over the Demon King’s domain so easily because he had planned this all along.
“You… it was all your scheme…!”
Priest Borenus shouted. But nothing would change. The church was too deeply involved in the Demon King’s domain development to back out now.
“As I said, I can handle the situation. As long as I remain the ‘executor’ of this city.”
”…!”
Priest Borenus bit his lip until it bled.
“In the name of the goddess and the church, I swear.”
He murmured quietly, even if it was just a verbal promise, in front of Lady Scarlet and the leaders of the Great Demon Alliance who would remember his words.
“Our church will pledge the northern Demon King’s domain to the Saxon Viscount in the name of the goddess.”
“I understand your intentions well, brother.”
Dale smiled coldly at the words. He then ordered his Winter Sentinels, who were reporting on the city’s situation.
“The time has come. Mobilize the court.”
Even as the church’s city burned and screams echoed, some remained silent.
But when the city was no longer the church’s, but the “Black Prince’s” and the Saxon Viscount’s city, the Shadow Court finally broke their silence and began to move, following the will of their Shadow Lord.
The wind blew, and men in black coats with bird-beak masks appeared.
They stood before the adventurers, who were busy looting the burning church.
“Who the hell are these guys?”
“Get lost!”
The adventurers brandished their swords threateningly, but the high assassins of the Shadow Court remained silent.
Thwack!
In the silence, a crimson aura flickered along the daggers in their hands.
“Huh?”
Before they knew it, one adventurer’s head was severed, rolling on the ground. Blood spurted like a fountain from the neck.
The silent execution had begun.
The execution to quell the city’s chaos had begun, and by the time Dale and his troops arrived, silence had already descended.
With the wind, the high assassins of the Shadow Court operated throughout the city. Under their influence, the rampaging adventurers were quickly subdued.
Moreover, to minimize damage before the riot, Dale had deliberately directed the adventurers’ looting towards the church’s facilities.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even a riot. It was a meticulously orchestrated operation by the Shadow Court’s agents planted among the adventurers.
The royal Iron Cross knights guarding the Fifth Princess Kiara were unharmed, as were the major guild facilities. Most of the burning structures belonged to the church, and realizing this, Borenus fell to his knees once more.
He had been deceived again.
Even the adventurers’ riot had been a carefully controlled operation under the “Black Prince’s” manipulation.
Only then did he realize that Dale’s messenger had already headed to the labyrinth city when the troops turned around.
Even the majority of the “tithes” that the church had legally siphoned from adventurers had been plundered… and it was no surprise where those spoils would end up.
Surely, they would find their way back into the hands of the “Black Prince.”
He had used the church to strip adventurers of their wealth, only to reclaim it for himself.
“That cunning devil…!”
From start to finish, everything unfolded according to Dale’s plan, and yet there was nothing that could be undone.
The “Black Prince” strode through the city streets.
As if the recent chaos had been nothing but a lie, a heavy silence blanketed the area.
Assassins in bird-beak masks, hidden throughout the city, bowed in deference to their lord.
Dale’s destination, as he crossed the city, was what had once been his “lord’s castle.”
No longer the cathedral of the church, it was time for him to reclaim his fortress.
He lifted his gaze.
In the great hall of the Saxon Viscount’s castle, someone was rampaging wildly.
It was an artifact he had once acquired illegally, evading Dale’s watchful eye… at least, that’s what Edward of Dulles firmly believed. The artifact, the Puppet’s Sword, was clutched in his hand.
Edward played his role as a puppet to perfection. Moreover, the wealth of the Demon King’s domain, which Edward and his noble adventurer faction had managed to acquire under Dale’s radar, also ended up in Dale’s possession.
After all, when it came to uncovering hidden treasures, there were none more reliable than the church’s tithe enforcers.
Dale, his shadowy cloak billowing, raised his head.
There stood Edward, lost to reason, ensnared by the sword’s madness, dancing like a marionette.
The church hunt was over, and it was time to discard the dog.