Ch.447If I’ve Been Caught, There’s Nothing I Can Do About It.

“At a glance, there were over two hundred mages, and a middle-aged man smiling down at me as if he had been waiting.

Cardinal Walter Lübitz of the Church of Grimnir was there.

Looking about twenty years younger than when I had last seen his face.

The holy light he emitted ostentatiously contained a radiance befitting his position as Cardinal, no less brilliant than Lacy’s, and the mana enveloping his body rippled ominously as if it were alive.

A high priest and high mage. He exuded an intense aura like Lacy and Ophelia combined into one.

“It was a trap…!”

I clicked my tongue and placed my hand on Durandal’s hilt.

Those many magic priests couldn’t possibly be gathered just for some prayer meeting.

They were clearly staring at me with unmistakable killing intent.

Moreover, whatever trick they had used, I hadn’t even noticed their presence.

Not while descending the underground stairs, passing through the dark corridor, and finally arriving at this underground prayer room.

“I don’t think I was detected at any point… how did they know?”

Seeing them all gathered to welcome me as soon as I opened the prayer room door, these bastards must have been waiting for me here even before I entered the cathedral…

Certainly, I hadn’t felt like I was detected by any magic.

Nor had I been caught by any guards.

What’s more, it was strange that they had correctly identified me.

Even if they had somehow detected an intruder by methods I hadn’t anticipated, knowing exactly who I was seemed odd no matter how I thought about it.

Only my companions and the Crusaders knew that we had come to Nasiriya looking for him.

Had information leaked from somewhere?

“Did you really think priests who serve the God of Wisdom wouldn’t notice something so obvious? How naive. From the moment Stardolf left the holy city claiming to go on a pilgrimage, we could already anticipate you would come looking for me. Your intentions were as clear as they were in Holon.”

Cardinal Lübitz shook his head with a snicker.

His attitude overflowed with aristocratic elegance and a mage’s arrogance.

“After the Council of Dream Utopia was annihilated in Holon, and with Arad under the strict control of the Church of Astraea, only three cities remained. Heading to Arbil would risk friction with the Church of Saulite, and going to Barseba might mean starting a war. The only city left was this one, Nasiriya. Isn’t that right?”

“…So you were prepared in advance? The guards outside seemed to know nothing.”

They had deployed surveillance magic and patrols, but for a situation where they knew enemies were coming, the security seemed inadequate.

In fact, I had been able to infiltrate without much difficulty.

…Or perhaps not, given that I’d been detected.

“That was obviously an intentional gap we created. If the security had been too thorough, you would have given up or sought another way in. If it had been too lax, you would have been suspicious. But with moderately thorough security… as you can see, you believed you had broken through with your own skills and came to the cathedral without the slightest suspicion.”

So even the wall guards were part of the trap from the beginning.

His manner of speaking was infuriatingly smug, but he was certainly right.

Even Lacy hadn’t suspected that the gaps in the wall security were intentionally created weaknesses.

Still, it was strange that they were waiting at such a precise timing…

“Since you’re being so forthcoming, why not be a bit more generous? I can accept that you anticipated our visit, but how did you know it would be now specifically? I didn’t feel like I was detected by any magic.”

“How foolish. Would we try to detect someone with mana resistance using magic?”

Lübitz brushed back his bangs and looked at me as if I were an imbecile.

I carefully examined his eyes and mouth. I would definitely pluck them out later.

“If not magic, then what? Did you put eyes on the walls?”

“Well. That’s a question I have no reason to answer. Think hard about it.”

After finishing his words, Lübitz raised his right hand to the sky.

As if this were some kind of preparatory signal, the Grimnir priests standing on the railings simultaneously began emitting holy light and constructing magic.

He doesn’t seem interested in talking this out.

Well, if that had been his intention, he wouldn’t have set a trap in the first place.

“It seems you’re fully intent on fighting… but I don’t understand why. What’s your reason for trying to kill me, going so far as to set a trap? You must already know that the Church of Elpinel and the Empire won’t let this slide.”

“Ask the gods after you die. I’ll send Stardolf along too, so you can ask together.”

…So he has no intention of telling me.

It seemed impossible to avoid combat. Not that I was particularly pleased about it.

I firmly gripped my sword hilt.

“How merciless. It’s not like we infiltrated to kill you. Is it because of the poor?”

“The poor? Ah. You mean them.”

Lübitz turned his head slightly to look behind him.

Above the massive altar decorated with magnificent sculptures and elaborate metalwork.

In a position where a large stained glass window would typically be placed in a ground-level prayer room, but since this was underground where no sunlight could enter, there were only walls and passages.

In front of the wall, like on both sides, a two-story high balcony jutted out, and in the center, an arched entrance opened inward.

If the poor were hidden underground as I suspected, they would probably be inside there.

If I listened carefully, I could hear something like groaning sounds… but it was too far away to make out clearly.

“Yes. What have you done to them?”

“There’s no need to tell you. You’ll find out soon enough.”

Above Lübitz’s right hand extended toward the void, holy light and mana intertwined, creating strange character strings and geometric patterns.

“You talk a lot but say nothing useful. Would cutting off your limbs make your mouth a bit lighter?”

I drew Durandal and pointed it at him.

The true silver longsword emitted a pale blue afterglow, revealing its sharp edge, while a dark red energy rose and flickered behind my back.

Two hundred magic-priests with high priests among them, plus one cardinal-level priest.

They wouldn’t be easy opponents, but given the situation, I had no choice but to cut them all down.

“…Uuugh… this is why I didn’t want to come down here…!”

Hush also drew two daggers with a miserable expression.

…With her skill level, she probably won’t last.

She’s unlikely to be much help, and might die after taking down maybe ten of them.

“Hey. I’ll handle this somehow, so escape from the cathedral and alert the others. Tell them these bastards were enemies all along, and they already knew we were coming.”

I gave her orders in a voice just loud enough for Hush to hear.

Rather than dying meaninglessly fighting here, it would be much better to inform Lacy and the others so they could prepare.

Since we were quite deep underground, even if there was a commotion here, it would be difficult for Lacy to notice.

“Um… you want me to escape alone?”

“Would you rather fight them? Stop arguing and go quickly. If you leak this information elsewhere, I’ll definitely find and kill you later.”

“Yes, yes!”

Hush nodded vigorously, turned around, and darted away.

“You think you can escape from here? Do you think I’ll just stand by and watch?”

Lübitz extended his left hand toward Hush instead of his right arm that was casting magic.

Sparks flew from his fingertips, transforming into blue lightning that stretched toward her.

“You think I’ll just let you do that?”

I threw his words right back at him and kicked a nearby statue.

– CRASH!

With a thunderous sound, the statue of Grimnir shattered into pieces, sending rock fragments flying.

The scattered fragments formed a shield-like barrier behind Hush.

– BOOM!

The lightning Lübitz had fired exploded as it struck the rocks.

The rock fragments burst into powder, but the lightning seemed unable to produce more power from such a hastily cast spell and dissipated after breaking the rocks.

Hush, who had briefly glanced back, confirmed the magic had dissipated and then dashed away like the wind, disappearing from sight.

She really is fast when it comes to running.

“How about that?”

I looked at Lübitz with a smirk, and he clicked his tongue as he withdrew his left arm.

“…Fine. We were planning to bury them all before sunrise anyway. Even if she alerts them now, it will only hasten their deaths a little.”

Well, we’ll see about that.

“You have such grand dreams for those who aren’t even from the Church of Menes. Isn’t it your deaths that have been hastened?”

I smiled at them while awakening my suppressed killing intent.

The energy of murder karma that had been slowly rising now surged like a tsunami, enveloping the surroundings.

Durandal, filled with the power of great deeds, emitted a blue radiance and illuminated its golden engravings.

My senses sharpened in anticipation of battle, and muscles that transcended human limits began to heat up.

“Surely you don’t think you can defeat me with just two hundred priests?”

My heated breath rose like white mist in the air.