Ch.382Chapter 382 – The Laboratory, Aftermath (2)

# Monster Holy Knight

They’re also called Black Holy Knights, but since they appeared in such a mentally disturbing form this time, Eve seems to have named them that way.

“Since I’ve already briefed Diana on the basics, I’ll skip the trivial details like where they appeared from or how we discovered them.”

“It would be a waste of time,” Eve said quietly.

“Do you have any more information about the monster holy knights discovered at Gema Port, Miss Beatrice?”

“Most of it is just as we analyzed when I was with Sia and Helmet back then.”

Beatrice spoke quietly.

“As I said before, they’ve been tampered with in all sorts of ways to forcibly exceed human limitations. Their lifespans are drastically shortened. And we concluded that they’re trying to capture people for that purpose.”

“But I don’t quite understand why they would do this,” Diana said quietly.

“If they simply wanted to create strong soldiers, they could have done so without reducing their lifespans.”

“About that.”

Beatrice spoke quietly.

“This is just speculation, but… I think it might be connected to what Helmet experienced in Florence and the Kingdom.”

“Something connected to me?”

“Remember when General Hakan suddenly intervened? When you were fighting the Dragon Slayer.”

I nodded at Beatrice’s words.

Come to think of it, Hakan originally wanted to eliminate both me and Idea.

And he failed.

“Black Holy Knights were also spotted when Hakan intervened.”

“This is my view on the current situation and what happened back then.”

Beatrice said quietly.

“I think the regent of the New Kingdom wants to eliminate both Somnus and Idea. Whether it’s because they’re obstacles to his power or something else, only he knows for sure.”

“Whatever the reason, he tried to assassinate Idea and failed.”

I could see the general picture now.

“So because he couldn’t deal with Idea with the forces he had then, he’s trying to gather more?”

“He needed more, stronger soldiers. That’s it.”

Beatrice looked at me as she spoke.

“So he’s gathering people from the New Kingdom, who are easy to collect, and turning them into those monsters?”

“Is he insane?”

Sia said quietly.

Then Diana looked at Sia and said:

“The regent I knew was a man with tremendous lust for power. He would sacrifice anyone for his own power.”

“I share a similar opinion. Honestly, when I heard he was behind this, my first thought was that this horrific situation was caused by his madness for power.”

Kara agreed with Diana’s opinion.

Then Kurs interjected.

“It’s not just the citizens of the New Kingdom that the regent is targeting.”

Saying this, Kurs pulled out a shoulder badge from his pocket.

It was something one of the giants accompanying the Black Holy Knights had been wearing on their shoulder.

“…Do you know what this is, Lady Diana?”

“It’s a Holy Knight’s badge. No, wait, surely not…”

As Diana’s expression hardened, Kurs said quietly.

“That’s right. …The giants we saw then were Holy Knights of the Emiris Order.”

“He’s already someone who shouldn’t be alive for targeting citizens, but now he’s even going after his own people?”

In response to Sia’s words, Kurs nodded.

“Many have likely already been sacrificed. This was something my colleague proudly wore on his shoulder. …Honestly, when I received this, my heart sank.”

“…I offer my condolences.”

Kurs bowed his head at Kara’s words.

“In other words, the regent’s madness threatens not just the citizens of the New Kingdom but also the Holy Knights of the Order. He’s willing to sacrifice anything to eliminate Idea and Somnus.”

“And I doubt he plans to stop after just eliminating those two.”

Sera, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, spoke up.

“…As much as I hate to admit it, the monster holy knights are too strong for ordinary soldiers to handle. And it seems they can be controlled through some means. Their lifespans may be short, but they’re still forces that last for three months. …I don’t think someone who mass-produces such forces and succeeds in achieving his goal would just stop there.”

Sera said quietly.

“Perhaps the regent’s madness is even more extensive. After eliminating Somnus and Idea and becoming the undisputed top of the Order, he might even be planning invasions of foreign countries.”

“…And since it’s the largest order on the continent with churches everywhere, if the regent exploits that…”

Literally, Black Holy Knights could appear anywhere.

I’d heard before that there was a rule against warping directly into foreign countries, but given the regent’s character—someone who doesn’t hesitate to cross lines by targeting his own citizens and knights—he probably wouldn’t follow that rule either.

“So the dangerous individuals in the Order don’t end with Idea and Somnus?”

“The funny thing is, he’s someone who creates such massive problems in the name of opposing those two, problems he himself might not be able to handle.”

Eve said this, but considering how enormous the Emiris Order was, I thought that he might be the cancer that would eventually emerge from within.

Among the priests of the Emiris Order, there are many who claim to be chosen by God and cause trouble for others. The regent probably has a similar mindset or wants to get his hands on such an organization.

‘The problem is that he’s up against Somnus.’

I thought quietly, remembering that damned smile.

No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t imagine this regent character defeating Somnus and Idea.

Especially considering Somnus’s true identity.

He was making such reckless challenges and causing excessive damage precisely because he didn’t know the enormity of his opponent.

‘Maybe Somnus just considers him a moderately annoying enemy.’

I thought that Somnus might be leaving him alone with an attitude of “let’s see what this bug is up to.”

While thinking about this, something occurred to me, and I looked at Beatrice and said:

“Beatrice. About the technology used to create the Black Holy Knights…”

“The base is the same as yours, Helmet. It uses the technology for creating Red Holy Knights.”

Hearing that, I could quietly draw a conclusion.

“The regent will never be able to defeat Somnus.”

The very idea of using Somnus’s technology to defeat Somnus and Idea was too amateurish.

This is Somnus we’re talking about.

We couldn’t rule out the possibility that he had tampered with the technology itself.

In fact, it conjured up the worst possible scenario.

“…If the technology the regent is using is Somnus’s, then there’s a high possibility that all the soldiers created with it could become Somnus’s.”

“It’s Somnus. It’s possible.”

If that’s the case, Somnus might not be just watching what the regent is doing out of curiosity, but rather enjoying the show while knowing these soldiers will eventually be his anyway.

“Either way, we need to be careful. It’s only because there are many strong people among us that we can handle them, but the monster holy knights’ strength is absolutely not to be underestimated, and many such forces are being produced in the New Kingdom.”

“By sacrificing the country’s citizens and holy knights.”

“And whether it’s the regent or Somnus… whoever ends up with such forces won’t just leave neighboring countries alone.”

Sera said quietly.

“That means we need to prepare accordingly.”

“And we need to prevent more victims. They were using kidnapping as a means too.”

Sera said quietly to Diana.

Diana nodded and said:

“I will inform Princess Liriel and everyone else.”

“…Maybe I should send a letter to hint at this to Domestica…”

Beatrice muttered softly.

Looking at her face as she thought about her homeland, Eve nodded slightly and said:

“Then let’s move on to the next agenda. …What Somnus was plotting in the laboratory.”

Eve said quietly.

“…This part might not be something you’d want to hear, Lady Diana. Would that be alright?”

At Eve’s cautious question, Diana closed her eyes.

Then, Diana opened her eyes wide and said:

“I’ve already prepared myself for everything.”

At her resolute words without hesitation, Eve nodded.

The conversation continued.

“…The secret laboratory that Kay told us about, where the Red Holy Knight Order was created, was being misused by Somnus after everyone else had left.”

“Red Holy Knight Order…?”

“If the Red Holy Knight Order was created there, then Kay, who knew about that place…”

Diana and Kurs looked at me and said quietly:

“Are you from the Red Holy Knight Order?”

“That’s right.”

I quietly added, looking at Kurs:

“Surprised?”

“No. Honestly, compared to what happened yesterday, this isn’t very surprising.”

Honest guy.

“That place was optimized for creating experimental subjects like Kay, which is why Somnus was misusing it. …The facility itself was already in bad taste.”

“And what they were doing there was…”

Sera looked at Kara.

Kara quietly nodded.

“They were creating clones of the previous Saint, Platina… my sisters.”

“…You mean…”

Diana looked at Kara.

Kara bowed her head and said quietly:

“That’s right, Diana. I am a clone of your daughter.”

“…I see.”

Diana covered her face with her hands.

And through the gaps between her fingers, her voice flowed out.

“No wonder. I was surprised when children who looked exactly like Kara suddenly boarded the ship.”

“I’m sorry. I should have explained everything from the beginning.”

Kara said, bowing her head.

Diana removed her hands and replied with a smile:

“No. …I wasn’t in a state to listen yesterday.”

At Diana’s words, Kara bowed her head once more.

In that state, I looked at Eve and asked:

“By the way, where are Kara’s sisters now?”

“I thought it wouldn’t be good to expose them to too many people, so I arranged accommodations for them in the back of the warehouse.”

It seemed that Sia and the holy knights had done the work while making sure the crew kept quiet about it.

I was concerned that it was a warehouse, but honestly, on a ship, that was probably the best place that was both spacious and not easily accessible to random people.

“We rescued a total of 6 of Kara’s sisters. Their condition is still okay, but…”

“Some couldn’t control their bodies well, and some had low body temperatures when we rescued them. They seemed underdeveloped.”

After saying this, Beatrice looked at Sera and said:

“Honestly, if it weren’t for Miss Sera, I don’t think we could have rescued all 6 of them.”

“That’s because I’m an alchemist.”

Sera said with a smile.

“However, as you know, Somnus has disappeared with the 10 he said he specially created.”

“He called them Valkyries. Honestly, from my experience fighting them, they didn’t seem alive.”

Beatrice said quietly.

Others who had fought the Valkyries darkened their expressions and spoke:

“…To be honest, it felt like fighting dolls. It also felt similar to fighting the dolls made by that crazy puppeteer.”

“You mean Phobia.”

Eve nodded.

Since we had already dealt with him in Ferrarius, he probably wouldn’t appear again, but I thought Somnus might have already absorbed that technology.

Then Diana, who had been listening quietly, opened her mouth:

“Since I haven’t seen them directly, I can’t give a definitive answer… but it’s Somnus we’re talking about. I think there’s a good possibility he eliminated their sense of self so he could use them more easily.”

Diana added that it was entirely possible given his personality.

“So you think so too, Lady Diana.”

“You’d know if you’ve talked to him, wouldn’t you?”

Diana said, looking at Eve.

“He’s a man who always believes he’s above everyone else. He believes everyone should listen to him and move according to his will.”

“……”

Kara nodded slightly, as if something resonated with her.

Diana glanced briefly at Kara, then continued:

“…It was as if he believed only he could be that way. If I had to describe it…”

“He acted as if he were a god, right?”

Diana quietly nodded at my words.