Ch.34Devotion Offered by the Sword (9)

The Shadow. You mentioned ‘possession,’ but what evidence do you have, and how specifically did he try to kill you? And you mentioned using a healing miracle. I’m not sure what to make of this. Are you certain about what you saw?”

Judge Malachia eyed Kain suspiciously. His attitude clearly said, “I’ll be the one to determine the truth, you just provide the information.”

Kain made a decision. One warning was enough. There was no reason—or luxury—to meekly provide everything demanded. He disliked playing along with this game. Kain turned his head toward Lily.

“The Judge says he doesn’t know what to make of this. He speaks as if we might have seen incorrectly. Should we continue talking?”

It was misdirection. As if Lily were his superior. He was also implying, “I don’t have all the authority here,” while making their identities more difficult to discern. As an added touch, he pretended to stroke his chin while making a hand gesture signifying “no.”

Lily played along by slowly and clearly shaking her head. The inquisitors were bewildered. They pressed Lily, but received only silence and a steady gaze in return.

“Why are you doing this?”

Malachia folded his arms. Kain raised his eyebrows as if to say, “You don’t even understand that?”

“I do understand.”

“Understand what?”

“Having been a judge for so long, you treat everyone before you like a criminal. They say doctors see everyone they meet as potential patients, don’t they? That’s not because people are bad, but because such habits become ingrained. I understand that much.

You wanted to know if we really came from the monastery. I understand that too. Verification is necessary. I was concerned about this as well, so I brought various artifacts from the burned monastery as evidence. So I can even tolerate your careful verification procedures.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I said I understand, not that I accept it.”

Kain looked directly into Malachia’s eyes.

“Saying it’s hard to believe or you don’t know what to make of it… My colleague and I didn’t come here to be judged for heresy, to be interrogated, or to submit a report. We are carrying out Imperial duties, not serving as subordinates to the Order. That’s what I mean.

So now I must ask you: Tell me what you know about the Seven Heroes and the Shadow, the Demon King and the Knight of the Scabbard, and the Knight of Chastity.”

Malachia’s face hardened.

“How rude. Why should I be kind to an ill-mannered civil servant?”

Malachia sneered openly. Kain didn’t get angry. There was no need.

“Then go and bring someone in charge.”

The judge’s mouth twisted at Kain’s words.

“I wonder if the position of Inquisition Judge is of sufficient ‘rank’ and ‘position’ to represent the Order in cooperating with an Imperial investigation. If not, bring someone who matches my ‘rank,’ and write a good report to submit to your ‘superior.'”

“You’re going too far!”

Malachia gripped the armrests of his chair. Kain stood up.

“It seems I’ve been wasting time with someone below my rank.”

“Enough!”

Brother Henry intervened between the two. His face was deeply creased. He must have been holding back for quite some time. Lily leaned back, crossing her legs, and nodded once at Kain while looking at him. Everyone understood it meant “That was too much.”

Kain sat back down but didn’t apologize. Henry shook his head as if utterly exasperated.

“The Shadow is the tool the Demon King understands and utilizes most deeply.”

Yet his tone was as calm as it had been in court. The crusader emblem gleamed in the sunlight through the window. Malachia made a displeased hissing sound, but Henry paid no attention.

“The Demon King twists everything in the world to serve his intentions. People, light, even sacred light is no exception. But what he understands most deeply and handles best is shadow.

I don’t know how much you know about the Fifth Crusade, but in the early days, the forces nearly fell apart. Hands gripping swords and spears would emerge from shadowy places—secluded corners of storerooms or beneath sunlit windowsills.

Is that all? He assassinated field commanders, burned weapons, and contaminated provisions. He sent out grotesque masses of flesh through shadows and then withdrew them.

Fear of darkness. Terror of shadows. The fatigue of not knowing when or where they would be attacked slowed the soldiers’ feet and gave commanders headaches.”

Kain recalled the tendrils of tongue. He remembered the monster made of lumps of flesh flying northeast. He remembered Lily suffering from the tendrils’ torment, painfully scrubbing every place the tongue had touched until her skin was raw.

And after that day, the shadow of his dead fiancée who would speak to him whenever he had a moment alone.

“Though I hate to admit it, the infidels’ knowledge of light and vision was ahead of ours at the time. Living in vast, open lands probably advanced their optics.

They proposed driving away shadows by maximizing light. Blessed knights and clergy researched light miracles. That’s when we began using holy images as light sources.

Soldiers who couldn’t use light miracles were told to use candles, torches, and the backs of shields or mirrors. Reflecting light off shiny surfaces would drive away shadows.

But on moonless nights, all of that was rendered useless. On moonless nights, when even celestial bodies were veiled, the Demon King’s power was strongest. It was truly horrific.”

Those with crusader emblems nodded.

“But the Demon King’s most terrifying ability isn’t that. Agents, if I may say so, many of us were there. Haspel was there too. The reason we react so sharply is that anyone who truly witnesses the ‘Shadow’ can never return to how they were before, to what they were before seeing it.

So I ask you: Did you truly see it?”

“Kairos…”

Kain heard the auditory hallucination again. The voice was clear despite there being nowhere for anyone to hide in the room. But then a clear and distinct voice spoke.

“I saw it.”

Everyone looked at Lily.

“Yes, I saw it. What you fear. I’m still afraid, but there was someone at the Otranto Cloister Monastery who absolutely could not have been there, appearing in the form of a shadow.”

Lily calmly received all their gazes.

“Yet you sit here composed. No, no, I’m not saying I don’t believe you. But once you see it, it remains embedded in your eyes until death.

This is why, despite the Fifth Crusade’s considerable forces, only seven heroes could advance before the Demon King. Fear in the heart, guilt, burdens, regrets… they all flickered before our eyes.

Yes, I experienced it too. Haspel was a bit ahead of me, but eventually fell to his knees. That’s why I’m asking how you overcame it.”

Henry sighed heavily, as if putting down a massive stone.

“Because it was something I had to do. Something that needed to be done. That’s all.”

Lily answered plainly. As matter-of-fact as saying the sun rises in the east.

“You’re a strong person.”

One of the inquisitors remarked with admiration. The listeners nodded.

Judge Malachia groaned, but struck his armrest a couple of times as if resigned. Finally, he too spoke.

“…The Demon King doesn’t draw out what isn’t already inside a person. He doesn’t do the impossible. Instead, he exaggerates and inflates what’s already in your heart, making you fixate on it. That’s how he drives people to despair.

You asked what the Order is hiding and concealing about the Seven Heroes. I’ll answer that part. The Seven Heroes… yes. They weren’t ordinary people. Their reputations were quite poor.”

Kain and Lily simultaneously thought of Archbishop William.

“They were difficult to control and did as they pleased. Some were unpredictable, others were almost unbearable to watch. Some were arrogant by nature, while others were the opposite—they had let go of everything, empty inside.

Those seven either lacked some aspect that humans should possess, or they had lived their entire lives so consumed by fear, terror, and emptiness that even the Demon King could do nothing to them. Either way, it’s clear that the Demon King’s most powerful weapon had no effect on them…

I don’t know exactly what happened at the place where the Demon King fell. They only said they all joined forces to defeat him. Others, including myself, couldn’t even get near the Demon King. Even now, when I recall what that darkness showed me…”

Suddenly darkness fell over the room. The sun had been covered by clouds. Malachia’s words were as tenacious and sinister as tendrils of dark shadow.

“Scandals followed them wherever they went. But because they undeniably defeated the Demon King, His Holiness decided to elevate their honor to a height from which it could not fall. So high that no one could dig beneath it, high enough for brilliance to cover the darkness.

Merit is merit. Sin is sin… I know. Some surgeries cannot be attempted without leaving aftereffects. Sometimes, no, often… especially sitting in a judge’s seat, I often feel that even good deeds sometimes require a great price.

If you think they could defeat the Demon King precisely because they weren’t quite human… If you understand that even beast-like people can be used as God’s instruments to elevate His glory, it might actually be a blessed thing.

Have you been to the Veneration of the Sword Park?”

“I have.”

“Then you must have seen how many people find comfort, consolation, and hope there.”

People tearing their clothes and confessing their sins. People prostrating themselves, weeping and kissing the ground. People returning with unburdened hearts and faces as clear as angels.

“That’s what the Seven Heroes became. No matter how base they were as humans, the fact that they broke through the darkness and eliminated the Demon King remains unchanged.

The Order gained stability, and the Empire gained wealth. The sense of solidarity that everyone in the world shared, standing shoulder to shoulder against one common achievement, won’t be forgotten. Just the fact that we once stood together is an invaluable asset.

That’s why the Veneration of the Sword Park was designated as a holy site. But… now its very foundation is being denied. Imagine this. Everyone finds comfort there. Everyone in the world finds hope there.”

There was a cracking sound as the wooden armrest splintered.

“There’s no doubt that using shadows is the Demon King’s primary sorcery, and judging by your reactions, there’s a common thread of drawing out nightmares from within. But that doesn’t mean it signals the Demon King’s return. Nor does it mean the Seven Heroes failed in their duty.”

Kain recalled Anna’s reply—the letter secretly delivered when he arrived in Magdeburg.

According to her response, the heroes the Empire could contact simply repeated that they had done their duty. They had defeated the Demon King and sealed his remains. He would never rise again, they said.

Of course, that wasn’t the entire reply. Kain had written about Haspel’s secret investigation, and Anna advised collecting those materials if possible. “Kain. The Order is unlikely to cooperate.” That was her conclusion.

And now Kain understood why she had reached that conclusion.

“Does His Holiness the Pope believe this uneasy peace is better than the truth?”

“The truth? What truth?” Malachia challenged.

“That the Seven Heroes were morally flawed? Does that invalidate their defeat of the Demon King? Must heroes be spotless and flawless from birth? I admit they caused trouble wherever they went.

But if someone tries to maliciously kill another, they can fabricate demons out of nothing! Those who claim they have nothing to apologize for when they’ve done nothing wrong are ignorant! They don’t understand the fear of having to explain every single action and clarify every intention!”

Kain almost said he had evidence. He barely restrained himself by remembering that he didn’t have the sordid diary Haspel had collected.

If he failed to secure the diary, Kain would end up tarnishing Haspel’s honor as well. Moreover, although Haspel said the diary was in the library, there was no guarantee the inquisitors hadn’t entered his room.

Kain looked at Lily. She nodded. There was no signal, just a look, so she was a bit confused, but she believed Kain had something in mind. Kain drew courage from that trust.

“The truth I saw was that Brother Haspel burned himself to eliminate the shadow.”

Brother Henry collapsed as his legs gave way. Startled inquisitors rushed to support him.