Ch.206Revelation (20)

* * * * *

Though she was a ‘city girl,’ Maria knew what landslides and avalanches were. And she knew that the White Blood mountains had perfect conditions for an avalanche. The slightly melted and refrozen slopes were slippery, and if the snow on top were to ‘slide’ down, an avalanche would easily occur.

Boehm and Bom had told stories about their homeland. They used catapults to throw boulders and collapse dangerous terrain in advance. The same logic could be applied to avalanches.

But Maria found it hard to agree with the idea of melting snow using the reflected heat from shield backs. Boehm and Bom knew this too, so they mobilized as many shields as possible, but there were too many variables. What if the weather turned cloudy? What if the ice was unexpectedly solid?

That’s why they were counting on Maria. They thought that if she used the power of sacred fire, she might be able to melt the snow somewhat.

“We don’t need to melt it all. It’s enough if the top layer of snow slides down. Snow is quite heavy, so even a slight shift will naturally cause a large avalanche.”

But that “slight shift” was far beyond Maria’s expectations. Especially in a situation as difficult as this one.

“Damn it, just work already!”

Lily blocked the stairs while Boehm closed the door and left. Alone in the watchtower, Maria repeatedly snapped her fingers and cursed.

While the Inquisition’s operations had been suspended, they couldn’t take away the divine powers. According to doctrine, powers were blessings given by God to individual monks, so the Inquisition couldn’t artificially reclaim them, nor was it doctrinally possible.

So if her powers weren’t working properly, it was God who deserved the cursing, not the Inquisition.

“Why won’t it work?!”

Maria shouted furiously. After hearing ominous sounds from behind, she became even more desperate. She kept snapping her fingers, but Maria simply couldn’t produce any fire.

In theory, sacred fire could be lit ‘anywhere within sight.’ And Maria was looking at distant places through a telescope, so she clearly met the conditions. Yet she still couldn’t produce any fire. Despite snapping her fingers multiple times, not even a ball of light appeared, let alone fire.

So when she heard a sharp “shwiirik!” sound beside her, she jumped in fright and fell on her backside. A hook with a rope was caught on a protrusion of the watchtower. Startled, Maria looked over the stone wall. She could see Boehm holding a crossbow and Kain making frantic hand gestures.

Understanding the gestures, Maria secured the rope firmly. After she signaled that it was ready, Kain climbed up the rope. The bandage on his right hand had been removed long ago. Despite the considerable height, with Maria’s help, Kain finally made it to the top of the watchtower.

“Where’s Lily?”

“Back there!”

“Do you think it’ll work?”

“It has to work! Go help Lily, the shouting is getting closer!”

Kain ran off immediately. Maria gritted her teeth again. The fact that everyone was doing their part while she alone was failing was simply unacceptable to her.

“Please, please, please!”

But no matter how much she snapped her fingers until blisters formed, no fire appeared. Overwhelmed with frustration, Maria wanted to shout that she should just climb down the rope. That this wasn’t going to work, that she was sorry but this was truly impossible.

Then, Kain flung open the watchtower door. Fortunately, it wasn’t too late. Those who had been swarming Lily squinted at the sunlight. Lily had shaken them all off.

“If you’re brave enough, come up here.”

* * * * *

The enraged Atli tried to draw his sword. It was futile. His body was slow and his movements clumsy. Instead of sliding out smoothly, the sword got caught halfway in its scabbard. As he shook it back and forth while stuck, the scabbard at his side pushed forward almost to the front of his thigh.

Atli was both sick and insane. His broken body might improve with an assistant, but his collapsed mind could not. Yet what gave strength to this sick man who could die at any moment was the power of rage and hatred.

“You took everything from me.”

Atli shouted, staggering.

“The position of Berserkr, the name of Brynhildr, my bright future—you took it all! If you had just died properly that day, I would have become the Order’s commander! I could have made the White Blood greater! At the pinnacle of swordsmanship, I could have been a descendant our ancestors would be proud of, but you! You…!”

The knights’ feelings were complicated. Atli was weak. So frail that even a five-year-old child could push him over. But he was the commander, he had drawn his sword, and he was walking toward his enemy, crying.

“You made me miserable!”

Atli burst into tears. Liliana lowered her head. It felt like her father’s scolding was ringing in her ears.

That someone who should never have been born had ruined several people’s lives.

But she was not alone.

“Raise your head.”

Kain tapped Lily’s armor with a light knock. A sound like a small bell refreshingly woke Lily up.

“Whatever that person feels, that’s his burden. You can’t take responsibility for that too. There’s nothing you can do about that. So this isn’t your fault.”

“You’re ruining everything!”

Atli screamed.

* * * * *

A shadow fell over the watchtower.

Maria blinked. It was a day without a single cloud. The sun was still brilliant, and the mountains were annoyingly white.

Yet the watchtower was dark. Maria rubbed her eyes. She wasn’t seeing things. A haze was rising. A dark blue haze.

It seeped out from the armor of the White Blood knights and from between the stones of the watchtower. It was like a chill entering through the cracks.

‘No way!’

Maria was startled, but fortunately, it didn’t have that “terrible” feeling she was thinking of. In other words, it was different from the darkness and shadows that Laios used to bring.

Those were bleak and sinister. But this was cold, cool, and chilling. At least it didn’t feel sticky. It was something utterly frigid.

– Listen.

Startled by the sudden voice, Maria looked around.

‘Listen to what?’

– I’m talking to you.

Maria wanted to ask if it was Kain speaking. But the voice was too delicate to be his. If anything, it sounded like a mixture of several people’s voices rather than just one.

“Who are you? Show yourself!”

Maria snapped her fingers. Sacred light rose up. But light was light and cold was cold. The two seemed to ignore each other.

Boom.

The castle shook. Alarmed, Maria looked toward the open door. Lily was driving her halberd into the stone wall. As if it were an egg.

‘My goodness.’

She knew Lily was strong. But she didn’t know she was this strong. Then again, Lily had rarely shown her full abilities until now.

If pressed, perhaps at Emmaus. But even then, she hadn’t gone all out. There were too many things to worry about. And so a natural question arose.

‘If she’s this strong, why has she been letting herself be pushed around all this time?’

– Because she doesn’t know.

Again, an inexplicable voice was heard. This time it was certain. She was hearing things.

– She doesn’t know that she can rebel, resist, and deny. She’s never even thought about it. Because no one ever told her she could. No one ever told her it was okay. Until now. Unlike you.

“Who are you?”

Maria, as always, responded with anger.

– Yes. Like you but different. That’s why you like that child. If she were exactly like you, you would hate her to death, but because she’s similar yet opposite, you want to help her.

“I asked who you are!”

– Actually, the one you really want to help isn’t Liliana. The person you really want to pull out of the mud isn’t her.

No more words were needed. Maria recited a prayer. A prayer of exorcism asking for heavenly light to drive away evil. Something like a woman’s laughter circled Maria’s ears before disappearing.

– I wonder who it could be.

Maria looked in the direction where the voice was fading.

A particularly dense blue shadow writhed. It seemed to flow from the wall that Lily had broken. Somehow Maria thought the form looked like it was complaining. Like someone grumbling after being woken from a deep sleep.

No one else could see it. Only Maria’s eyes could perceive it.

The writhing form took shape.

It was a man covered in bear skin. He seemed to be over 2 meters tall. His head was covered with black wolf skin, and his body was wrapped in bear hide. His forearms were as thick as an average person’s waist, and his legs were as thick as a torso.

But seeing the skulls attached to his belt made her frown involuntarily. Skulls without lower jaws were strung together with wire, displaying a taste that seemed beyond bad.

Blood and snow beaded like tears on the hides covering his body. Looking closely, it was ice. In one hand he held a horn, and in the other an enormous double-bladed axe as large as Maria herself.

The cold emanating from Valhalla gathered around him and then radiated outward. Maria looked at the knights’ grotesque armor, then back at the man. The feeling was similar.

“White Blood clan…?”

The man stared intently at Maria. He tilted his head, then approached closer. Though it felt like a tiger walking straight toward her, Maria didn’t back down.

The man’s expression looked very uncomfortable. A displeased expression. It was natural to be irritable after being woken up, but that wasn’t all. He was looking at the inside of the castle.

‘Um, excuse me?’

Without realizing it, Maria addressed him. She thought it was absurd even to herself, but somehow she had a feeling they could communicate.

She was right. The man looked at Maria. Maria briefly explained what was happening.

‘So, please help your descendant. I’m an outsider, but I’m that child’s friend. I want to help her. Please lend your strength.’

Maria pointed alternately at Lily and the White Blood mountains. The man put down his axe and scratched his head. And he, too, expressed something to Maria.

* * * * *

Atli finally made it up the stairs. Kain saw Lily trembling slightly.

“Liliana. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

Kain whispered.

“You devoured even your father, and now you’ll drive me and the White Blood to ruin! What kind of Order commander are you, what kind of Valkyrja are you!”

“You saved Emmaus. In Berta, you saved me and Maria.”

But Liliana’s distress grew worse. Small sobs could be heard from inside her helmet.

“Please, stop… please… please…”

* * * * *

‘You can’t help? Why not? Can’t you see who you should be supporting?’

Maria’s gestures became faster. The man expressed his discomfort.