Chapter 76: The Sewers and the Mutated Border Demon
It seemed that, sensing the many gazes falling upon his face, Kakilis slowly opened his eyes.
Pain, pride, and a trace of sorrow.
However, the moment he noticed that Sylvia was standing not far away watching him, he subconsciously tried to raise his right hand to strike his left chest in salute.
Yet—
His right arm was empty.
And on his shoulder, a massive wound that looked as if it had been bitten off by something, though it had been roughly treated, was still dripping thick blood.
Not only that, his right lower leg was also missing, and through the shattered armor at his abdomen, a vicious wound was faintly visible.
Through the gash, his writhing organs could be clearly seen.
Just then, the knight from before shouted again:
"Priest! Where is the Pure-White Priest?"
The extraordinary of St. Ruls Cathedral mainly consisted of Radiant Knights, accompanied by a small number of extraordinary from other paths.
Therefore, the entire Tribunal had only two Pure-White Priests—one currently on duty aboveground, and one resting.
However, his words were directly interrupted by Loruze:
"No, a Pure-White Priest won’t be able to handle this. He’s also been corroded by some unknown force. His life is fading."
"We must go to the Court of Radiance immediately and activate a forbidden object to see if it can save his life."
"If there’s truly no way, then we’ll..."
He trailed off here, instinctively glancing toward the direction of Sylvia’s office.
Then, he was startled to discover that Her Grace was already standing there.
A moment ago, in his urgency, he hadn’t noticed when she had come out.
And when Sylvia saw this, she curved her lips slightly and spoke calmly:
"No need to send him to the Court of Radiance. The forbidden objects there can’t resolve this."
"Mm... Just bring him straight to my office."
"Oh, and have Adela called over as well."
"Yes, Your Grace!"
At that moment, the priests and knights standing in the corridor shouted in unison.
The expressions on their faces, twisted by worry and tension, finally eased somewhat.
...
Inside the office, Lakdevo was pacing back and forth on the floor, staring at the Kakilis who had been laid there as though observing some peculiar specimen.
Not far away, Loruze stood there looking somewhat concerned.
By his side was Adela, who wore a thoroughly bewildered expression.
"Have you confirmed it?"
At this moment, Sylvia withdrew her outstretched hand, looked at Kakilis—whose face was marked by pain, though his wounds were rapidly closing—and asked a certain fat crow:
"Confirmed. It’s exactly that aura."
Just then, the one who had once been the Ferryman nodded and then turned to Loruze with a puzzled look:
"He encountered a Border Demon?"
"What kind of Border Demon?"
"Why would that Border Demon carry the same aura as the one we found on the corpse of that Full Moon Sect member?"
At this, Loruze gave a wry smile.
"I... don’t know."
"During his patrol, he encountered a powerful Border Demon. To prevent that demon from attacking the nearby residents, he chose to have the companion who was with him go find the nearest Messenger for help, while he stayed behind to hold the demon back."
"And by the time I arrived, he was nearly killed outright by that Border Demon."
Sylvia fell silent for a moment. Then her gaze grew deep as she looked at Loruze and asked:
"Why didn’t you notify me?"
"I could have arrived far faster than any of you."
Hearing this, Loruze was briefly taken aback.
But before he had time to answer, Kakilis, who had recovered somewhat from the pain, opened his mouth to reply:
"No, such a small matter wasn’t enough to trouble Your Grace."
As he finished speaking, he showed a smile. Just like before, it remained bright, but this time it also carried a look of guilt, as though saying "I’m sorry to have caused you trouble."
Seeing this, Sylvia fell silent.
In this world where gods and the extraordinary truly existed, the gulf between ranks and classes was like an unbridgeable chasm.
When facing a demigod whose status surpassed theirs by countless times, unless they had no other choice, they would not rashly ask for aid.
Because it might incur that being’s displeasure.
Although the people of St. Ruls Cathedral never spoke of it openly, they still had a certain idea about which presence they were actually worshipping.
That was an Outer God equivalent to an evil god.
"In the future, you can come to me for such matters. If I’m not here, go to Lakdevo."
This time, Sylvia’s voice held no hint of a smile.
Then, she slowly raised her head, looked into his eyes, and spoke expressionlessly:
"I do not wish to see unnecessary casualties among my subordinates... or my Lord’s followers."
"Yes, Your Grace."
"Praise be to your mercy."
At that moment, the voice of this Radiant Bishop trembled slightly, while Lakdevo spoke up as though sighing:
"A being who stands high above must, at appropriate times, show their mercy and goodwill."
"But a god will forever remain a god—and on the other side of mercy lies majesty."
Just then, its words felt both fitting to the moment and strangely elusive, but Sylvia understood what it meant.
This was a well-intentioned reminder.
Having lived through the era of big data, she knew there were issues in doing this, but her conscience and her bottom line simply wouldn’t allow her to turn a blind eye.
So she gave no reply. She merely curled her finger, gathering the black aura she had expelled from Kakilis’s body onto her fingertip.
"Kakilis, what exactly did you experience?"
She looked down at this Radiant Knight from her lofty position.
"Reporting to Your Grace, I encountered a feral Border Demon. According to my observation and the Bishop’s judgment, it was only in the first stage, but the combat strength it displayed was something that would trouble even the Bishop."
As he spoke to this point, he drew in a heavy breath, and Loruze, after nodding, took over the explanation:
"That Border Demon was emanating a black mist with corrosive properties."
"As a Purist, I am not afraid of its corruption, but a Radiant Knight is different."
Sylvia fell silent for a moment, then continued asking:
"Was this your first time encountering this type of Border Demon? Are there corresponding records in the archives?"
At this, the Radiant Bishop first nodded, then shook his head:
"Your Grace, I suspect it has undergone some kind of mutation—"
"This kind of Border Demon is documented in the archives, but none of them had that extremely bizarre black mist."
Seeing this, Sylvia nodded, then shifted her gaze back onto Kakilis—
This young knight, who had lost one arm and half a leg, tried to struggle upright once his wounds had closed, but he lost his balance and fell again.
However, in that attempt, he noticed that the brown carpet was now mottled with patches of dark red and black.
At once, he said apologetically:
"Forgive me, Your Grace. I seem to have soiled your carpet."
At this, Sylvia shook her head indifferently:
"It’s nothing. I can replace it anytime."
"Mm... Did you witness it crossing into reality?"
"No."
Kakilis shook his head.
"It crawled out of the sewers."
"The sewers?"
Sylvia echoed in slight surprise.
"Yes, the sewers."
The blond knight nodded seriously.