Chapter 186
The troops of the Blood Heaven Cult who had been part of the train pursuit unit had all returned to headquarters. Simon, Lete, and Prince were watching the situation at the Blood Heaven Cult's headquarters while hiding behind a tree at a slight distance.
The headquarters of the Blood Heaven Cult was a massive cave that had been converted into a building. On the surface, it appeared to be an empty field, but once Lete broke through the perception-distortion magic, a gigantic structure revealed itself.
The cultists were rushing about busily, as if preparing for war, and zombies were stationed all throughout the structure without any gaps.
[There aren't many organizations in the Dark Alliance that can control that many zombies.]
Prince spoke.
[And a lot of them are humanoid zombies. What the hell is going on?]
"..."
Lete, standing beside him, let out a deep sigh.
"What do you think? They're all made from our villagers."
"I've always wondered."
Simon continued,
"The Holy Federation cracks down so hard on heresy and actively subjugates it. So how did a heretical group this big even come to exist?"
"The Blood Heaven Cult is different from typical heretical groups. It's a very special case."
The history of the Federation's state religion, the Goddess Dave Faith, had always gone hand-in-hand with the history of heresies.
The more the Goddess Dave Faith expanded, the more heresies popped up exponentially. The ignorant masses were more easily swayed by sweet words in front of them than by difficult scriptures.
Lete gave a simple example.
"Just go to some rumor-shrouded rural village and show them you can use holiness."
She raised her palm and demonstrated holiness.
"What would lifelong farmers know? If they see holiness with their own eyes, of course they'll believe."
Typically, heresies were formed by expelled priests, those who didn't enter the Holy Chamber, or naturally awakened individuals who wielded twisted doctrines.
But the Blood Heaven Cult was different. They expanded through a calculated, radical approach.
"They started spreading 'Cores' among the villagers."
Simon's mouth fell open at her words.
"Cores? In the Holy Federation?"
"As you know, the Holy Federation is thoroughly censored by Central Efnelle. They portray the Dark Alliance as despicable and evil. The villagers know only that much and, of course, have no clue what Cores even are."
Simon fell into thought.
"Now I get why Efnelle hides the existence of Cores."
"What is it?"
"Because anyone can unlock them."
Lete nodded grimly.
"Exactly."
Darkness was far more accessible than holiness. As long as someone performed the procedure, they could simply create a Core in their body.
Even those who lacked holy aptitude and were destined to live as farmers their whole life could open Darkness and gain the chance to awaken new talents.
But according to doctrine, Efnelle denies the very existence of Darkness and necromancers.
What if necromancers who had opened Cores began sprouting up across the Federation? If they formed organizations, joined forces, and resisted the current ruling powers?
Prince, who had been quietly listening, chuckled.
[From Efnelle's perspective, it couldn't get worse than that.]
"That's exactly what the Blood Heaven Cult is doing. They trick uninformed villagers with fake scriptures, claiming they represent the true doctrine of Goddess Dave, and make sweet promises that anyone can use holiness. Efnelle controls holiness, but they say they'll give it freely to anyone."
"So they lure people in, implant Cores in their bodies, and turn them into necromancers?"
"Yes."
The cultists, brainwashed by the heretical doctrine, believed Darkness to be the 'true power of the Goddess'. The result was a bizarre hybrid that praised Goddess Dave while using Darkness as necromancers.
"That's the true identity of the Blood Heaven Cult."
Simon nodded heavily. The story was rather chilling.
[Hold up, woman. You went off on a tangent.]
"What do you mean?"
[I asked why there are so many humanoid zombies in the Blood Heaven Cult.]
"...What else would it be?"
She let out a deep sigh.
"They turned the people who died during Core procedures, those whose bodies couldn't adapt to Darkness, those who refused to join, and the ones they kidnapped or captured, all into zombies after using them as test subjects."
The Blood Heaven Cult performed a modified 'Special Core' procedure on people.
Once the Core was unlocked, the usual 1–2 year period between basic Darkness emission and full transformation could be drastically shortened. They gained higher holy resistance than average necromancers and could use special blood magic, but of course, the side effects were severe.
"All of these atrocities,"
Simon summarized,
"aren't blamed on a heretical group formed within the Holy Federation, but rather pinned on Keyzen and the necromancers of the Dark Alliance. That's the Director Inquisitor's goal, isn't it?"
"Exactly. That's also the objective of the Blood Heaven Cult's higher-ups. They've probably hidden fake command letters in their headquarters, claiming they're acting on orders from Keyzen."
The scale of the incident was far larger than they had imagined.
Saving Anna's life was important, but if things continued like this, Leshill would be dragged into war the moment Anna recovered.
"We have to stop this no matter what."
Simon quietly clasped his hands together as he spoke. Lete nodded.
"At the very least, we prevented the worst-case scenario by stopping the hijacking of the holy train. Now all that's left is to stop the Director Inquisitor and the Blood Heaven Cult from manipulating information."
Simon looked down at the briefcase in his hands.
The evidence that the bishop of the Blood Heaven Cult had carried could be the key to preventing war. But with information tightly controlled and the risk of the Director Inquisitor interfering, they couldn't just release it to the public.
Telling the Pontifex directly was also impossible. The best alternative was to pass the evidence to the priest that Lete said she trusted, someone who opposed the war.
That was the core of their plan.
"Alright, it's about time, so I'll set up the teleport guidance magic circle."
Lete squatted down in place and began drawing the circle on the ground, gently applying holiness to her fingertips. Simon and Prince silently watched.
"What the hell?"
As Lete focused on writing the formula, one side of the circle kept disappearing. When she filled it in, another part would vanish.
Watching this, Prince scoffed.
[Hey, woman. Didn't you say you were the best in Efnelle?]
"Ugh! Quit calling me 'woman' all the time! I'll bash your skull in, I swear!"
[And yet you keep calling me undead!]
As the two bickered over something pointless again, Simon crouched down beside them to examine the magic circle.
"What's the problem?"
"The calculations are correct, but the teleportation formula keeps disappearing unnaturally. Something's wrong here."
She lifted her fingers off the ground and then burst forth a surge of holiness to draw the magic circle all at once, stamping it onto the floor. But this time—
Crack!
With a ripping sound, the teleportation formula shattered.
"Teleportation nullification? When the hell did that…?"
Her gaze turned to the sky. Brilliant white holy shells were descending from above.
"Shit…! Dodge!"
The three immediately kicked off the ground and leapt. Dozens of holy shells, suspended in the air, fell directly where they had just been and exploded on impact.
"Ugh!"
Simon was knocked to the ground, rolling from the immense blast. Lete and Prince barely avoided the blast as well and lay flat on the ground.
[Wh-What is this?]
"It seems a teleport nullification barrier has been installed around here! It destroyed my formula and simultaneously read our coordinates to launch the attack!"
[Was it the Blood Heaven Cult?]
"There's no way those heretical bastards could pull off such a high-level operation!"
Lete ground her teeth and continued.
"This is definitely the Inquisition's doing! How did they get here so fast?"
Simon lifted his head and looked straight ahead.
Just as she said, a unit of soldiers was walking toward the Blood Heaven Cult headquarters, emerging from the northern forest.
"This, this doesn't make sense! They weren't supposed to arrive for another two or three days!"
"It is strange."
Simon began piecing things together.
Normally, the Inquisition would only arrive after the Blood Heaven Cult spread information. Yet the cultists hadn't even had time to escape, and a teleport nullification barrier had been installed as if to block even the slightest chance of escape.
That left only one conclusion.
"Looks like the Inquisition's intelligence network is a cut above."
At Simon's words, Lete nodded slightly as if she'd finally grasped the situation.
"Okay, but what do we do now? This wasn't part of the plan at all."
"..."
After a brief moment of thought, Simon quickly shouted,
"Prince! Get into the subspace!"
[Huh? O-Okay.]
No sooner had Prince disappeared into the subspace than a pure white spear strike came flying in. The two of them twisted their bodies just in time to dodge.
"This is…!"
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Two men wearing Inquisitor uniforms, mounted on horses, were charging toward them. Simon and Lete quickly turned and fled.
"We are Inquisitors of Heresy!"
One of the mounted men shouted.
"Surrender immediately and submit to interrogation! Resistance will result in execution!"
Thoroughly meticulous. After reading their coordinates and firing holy shells, now they'd sent soldiers for a finishing blow.
"No need to listen to them."
Lete growled while fleeing, stepping over tree branches.
"After they tried to blow us up, they want to interrogate us? Freeze to death with that nonsense. They crossed the line first, so we'll do the same."
Simon nodded. If they complied, it was obvious the evidence would be taken from them.
The two of them kicked off the trees and fled, while the Inquisitors slashed down surrounding trees as they closed in on horseback.
"Stop!"
"If you run, your sins will only multiply!"
They spouted legal doctrine, but their eyes held the unmistakable gleam of fanatics.
Simon turned his head.
"This won't do. We need to subdue them."
"Agreed."
The two who had been running along the treetops changed direction and dropped down to the dirt ground. The Inquisitors pulled on their reins and came to a stop.
They looked momentarily flustered upon seeing Lete's Efnelle academy uniform, but as direct agents of the Inquisition, they didn't falter.
"Kneel and put your hands above your head."
"Any resistance will be met with immediate execution."
Simon and Lete lowered their stances, prepared to fight. One of the Inquisitors smirked and pulled a hammer off his back.
"Oh, you're going to fight? That's even bette—"
Whoosh.
It was at that moment. The two Inquisitors on horseback were suddenly lifted into the air, each encased in a floating water sphere.
"Wh-What is this?!"
And then, with a swoosh, they were flung far into the distance. Simon blinked in shock.
"What just happened?"
"Ah! She's here!"
Lete beamed and pointed upward. Even the Inquisitors heading for the Blood Heaven Cult headquarters had stopped in their tracks.
Swaaaaaaaaaa—
From thousands of meters above, a woman with sea-colored hair descended in a radiant glow. She was gently playing a white flute. What flowed from the instrument was not music, but the sounds of nature itself.
Simon swallowed hard.
"That woman is…"
"Yes. She's kind of like a direct junior to Miss Anna."
Lete clasped her hands together, a flushed expression on her face.
"It's Saint Israfil."
Israfil's sudden appearance caused confusion on both sides, the Blood Heaven Cult, who were preparing their defenses, and the Inquisitors, who were initiating the assault.
Especially Leight, whose face turned crimson with rage. He gritted his teeth and clenched his cross-shaped sword.
"To be so close and have a meddler appear now…!"
No one in the Holy Federation is truly safe from the Inquisition. Even an Archbishop officially holds less power than Leight's investigative authority.
But the Seven Saints, revered as demigod beings, were an exception. They wielded extralegal authority unbound by any regulation.
And Israfil was the most prominent moderate, known for opposing war.
'What are you planning to do, Saint?'
As her flute played, the sky began to ripple.
Leight instinctively knew, the worst-case scenario was unfolding right before his eyes.