Chapter 388: This Is an Opportunity (2)
The village, surrounded by wooden fences to fend off monster and beast attacks, appeared tranquil and peaceful.
A villager on guard duty noticed Lavierre and greeted him with a smile.
“Are you a traveler?”
“Yes, I’ve come to rest for a while.”
“I see. I hope your journey is pleasant.”
Outwardly, it seemed as if the villagers were welcoming visitors warmly.
However, even though Lavierre’s shabby robe bore bloodstains, the villagers paid no mind. They didn’t even inquire about his identity.
Passersby, too, greeted the traveler with smiles, as if genuinely welcoming him.
“Oh my, it’s been a long time since a traveler visited our village.”
“Wow, welcome!”
“Our village makes the best cheese. You must try it.”
Lavierre, showing a kind smile unlike his demeanor during battle, nodded to them politely.
It was a peaceful yet deeply uncanny scene.
Watching this, Dark felt a shiver run down his spine, a sense of foreboding creeping over him.
They were all smiling. Every single villager without exception was smiling.
“What’s with these people? Why are they all acting like this? Do they all know each other?”
If this was a safehouse arranged by the Salvation Church, it was possible they were all on the same side. However, Lavierre’s reactions suggested that they weren’t exactly familiar with one another.
“Who are you?”
An elderly man with a white beard approached and questioned Lavierre, who stopped in his tracks.
“Are you the one in charge here?”
“I asked who you are.”
The old man’s guarded gaze made it clear this was no place for an outsider to enter so easily.
Lavierre extended his palm before the elder.
Sssssss…
Suddenly, an image of a black sun appeared on his palm. Below the black sun were markings in a language Dark didn’t recognize.
However, the elder seemed to understand. He lowered his head respectfully and spoke with deference.
“It is an honor to meet you.”
“Yes, I plan to rest at the altar for a while.”
The elder looked around hesitantly, as if troubled.
“This is not a place where even esteemed individuals may come freely.”
“I am aware. But circumstances left me no choice.”
“Hmm, I understand. However, you cannot stay long. The Great Plan is nearing its end, and this place must not be discovered.”
“Do not worry. I have thoroughly evaded pursuit.”
Despite this reassurance, the elder’s unease was palpable. Lavierre’s battered appearance suggested he had faced considerable hardship.
If even the Church’s Inquisitor had suffered to this extent, it meant his opponent was no ordinary foe.
The elder could only hope no misfortune would befall their peaceful village.
“Come quickly. It is best not to linger in sight.”
“Understood.”
With a displeased expression, Lavierre followed the elder. However, he couldn’t reprimand the elder for his tone; after all, it was Lavierre himself who had violated the Church’s strict rules.
The elder, who was the village chief, led Lavierre to his home. There, he pulled back a carpet and manipulated something underneath it.
Rumble…
The floor opened, revealing a staircase leading underground.
The elder descended first, and Lavierre followed close behind.
The underground space was an enormous cavern. The dimly lit area was filled with grotesque devices scattered throughout.
A massive magic circle, glowing blood-red, was etched into the floor, with incomprehensible symbols and diagrams drawn all around.
Wrinkling his nose at the repulsive stench, Lavierre briefly pinched his nose and grimaced.
The elder, noticing this, addressed him.
“I’ll prepare enough food for a few days. You cannot stay longer than a week.”
“I understand. A few days will suffice. Don’t worry.”
The elder nodded and left, leaving Lavierre to sit and begin healing his wounds.
“Once I recover, I must head to the Ducal family and relay this news.”
It was likely already known within the Church that its existence had been exposed because of him. However, they wouldn’t yet know that the opponent was Count Fenris.
There was undoubtedly a traitor within the Church. Otherwise, how could the Count of Fenris have learned his name and rank?
This critical information needed to be delivered immediately.
Ssssss…
Lavierre focused on dispelling Ghislain’s lingering energy that was still wreaking havoc within his body.
Once he fully healed his wounds and replenished his depleted divine power, he would be able to break through the opposition and reach the south.
But as Lavierre’s oppressive aura grew, dispersing the ambient mana, Dark’s consciousness screamed.
“Krrrk! Master! He’s recovering! He’s found a secure location!”
“That village?”
“He’s hiding in the basement of some old man’s house. But…”
“What? Is there something else?”
Ghislain’s curiosity was piqued. Lavierre’s hiding spot being significant in his past life seemed highly suspicious.
Dark’s voice rose in a scream.
“These lunatics are insane! This place is full of corpses! Hundreds…? No, if you count the bones, there are thousands! They’re piled up like mountains!”
“What?”
The Place Where Lavierre Rested, as Dark Described, Was Far from Ordinary.
Around the blood-red glowing magic circle, there were mysterious containers, and inside those containers, people were trapped.
Connected to the containers were tubes that continuously supplied the magic circle with the blood of the imprisoned.
The number of lives lost was staggering; the vast space was filled with piles of human bones.
“Master… I’ve been attached to this guy’s body for too long… I barely managed to hold on, but now it’s my limit…”
For days, Dark had been unable to replenish his mana, and his energy was gradually fading. With Lavierre now fully utilizing his power, Dark’s presence could no longer remain.
Fwoosh…
“Phew! I can’t see anything anymore! I’ve been completely driven out!”
With those words, the fragment of Dark attached to Lavierre’s body was completely extinguished.
Ghislain’s expression hardened as he immediately called his knights together.
“Two hundred knights, arm yourselves and follow me at once. We move as quickly as possible.”
“Sir?”
“There’s no time to explain. I’ll brief you on the way.”
“Understood!”
It wasn’t the first time the knights had followed orders without explanation. They swiftly armed themselves and mounted their horses.
“Gillian, ensure the army is ready to mobilize at any moment. The Ducal family and Marquis Roderick could make their move at any time.”
“Understood.”
“Kaor, Belinda, and Vanessa, you’re coming with me.”
Kaor grinned, eager for another fight. Belinda calmly gathered the items necessary to assist Ghislain, as she always did.
Vanessa, however, couldn’t suppress her unease.
“Lord Alfoi! Don’t slack off and make sure you study while I’m gone!”
“Oh, of course! Studying is the best!”
Despite Alfoi’s confident response, Vanessa’s face betrayed her doubts, though she had no choice but to trust him.
Once preparations were complete, Ghislain and the knights set out immediately.
“Stick to the roads and move as fast as possible.”
While the knights didn’t fully understand why their lord was in such a rush, they followed him unquestioningly, trusting that he had his reasons.
The roads connected all parts of the Royal Faction’s territory, and the knights were highly skilled in horsemanship, enabling them to move with incredible speed.
Even during the journey, Ghislain continuously used information from his past life to analyze the current situation. He had gained more insight than he initially expected.
“I thought I’d just uncover another individual or safehouse of the Salvation Church… but to think it would lead to a Rift.”
In his past life, the Rifts also known as the Gates of Calamity were the source of unidentified monsters.
These creatures multiplied endlessly, spreading across the continent and forcing humanity into confined regions to fight for survival.
Despite the combined efforts of all mages and scholars, no one had ever determined why the Rifts appeared.
The locations seemed random, with no discernible pattern. Rifts would appear unpredictably across the continent, and sometimes, when one disappeared, another would emerge elsewhere.
No one understood their origin or purpose.
It was the apocalypse.
Many believed it was the beginning of “The End of the Mortal World,” as described in the scriptures of the Four Major Temples.
Some resisted desperately, while others humbly accepted their fate.
Even the Four Temples were divided. Some chose to fight to the end, while others advocated submission to the will of the Goddesses.
“That’s when the Salvation Church emerged.”
The Salvation Church was different. They assisted people while proclaiming:
“Our god will protect and save you.”
They even called for rebellion against the Goddesses who had inflicted this apocalyptic punishment upon the world.
This led to an irreconcilable enmity between the Four Temples and the Salvation Church.
“This is an opportunity.”
Ghislain had learned through Lavierre that the Salvation Church was connected to the Calamity Period.
However, he still didn’t understand how the Rifts were opened. In his past life, it had seemed as though they appeared randomly.
Even upon learning that Lavierre had gone to a location where a Rift had once opened, Ghislain had only speculated that the Salvation Church might know something about the Rifts in advance and were attempting something.
“But if they were actually the ones opening the Rifts all along…!”
Ghislain’s heart began to race. This was an unprecedented opportunity.
As a mercenary, he had roamed the continent, fighting countless monsters. Because of this, he knew the locations of most of the Rifts that had appeared across the land.
Of course, he couldn’t stop all the Rifts himself. He was still bound by the constraints of the Ducal family and couldn’t leave the kingdom.
However, if he could exploit this situation well, he could significantly reduce the number of Rifts. Even that would vastly improve humanity’s fate compared to his previous life.
Ghislain was certain that the knowledge of Rift locations from his past life was his most valuable asset.
He was prepared to fight not only the Ducal family but also the Rifts themselves.
“Faster! We must arrive as soon as possible!”
It wasn’t to capture Lavierre. Someone like him could be caught and killed at any time.
I had to see it with my own eyes the thing in that village.
Dududududu!
Fortunately, Lavierre had taken refuge in the territory of a Royalist lord. The road to the village was smooth, thanks to the well-maintained highways.
“Move aside! It’s Count Fenris!”
With Ghislain’s shout and the banner of Fenris on display, no one dared to stop them.
Because he had roamed the capital so frequently, any checkpoint guard who saw the Fenris banner would open the gates without question.
No one even asked for a reason. Ghislain had risen to the stature of a towering figure within the Royalist faction.
Dududududu!
By the time they passed through the North and approached the outskirts of the capital, Ghislain’s forces had swelled to nearly a thousand men.
This was because Ghislain had requisitioned part of the Kingdom’s army stationed near the capital.
The commander of the Kingdom’s forces, having been ordered to cooperate unconditionally with Fenris, lent his troops without hesitation at Ghislain’s urgent request.
These troops were intended to serve as witnesses. Ghislain deliberately brought them along to spread the word across the entire kingdom.
Dududududu!
After days of forced marches, Ghislain and his party finally reached the village where Lavierre was hiding.
“Surround the village immediately!”
At Ghislain’s command, the soldiers swiftly fanned out, encircling the area. Ghislain and his knights charged directly into the village.
It seemed the sentries had already alerted the villagers of their arrival. All the villagers had gathered in one place.
They stared at the intruders with blank expressions.
Clang!
Ghislain dismounted and pointed his sword at them.
“Bring me the one in charge here.”
“……”
No one spoke. They didn’t even look frightened. The villagers’ wax-like expressions sent an eerie chill down the spines of the knights who had followed Ghislain.
Ghislain, who understood what was happening, smiled coldly.
“It seems we’ll have to kill them all.”
As if his words were a signal, the villagers’ behavior turned bizarre.
Snap! Crackle! Snap!
The sound of bones breaking filled the air as their bodies twisted grotesquely in unnatural directions. The contortions didn’t stop they just kept going.
The knights of Fenris muttered in confusion, their faces pale.
“What… what is that? Are those even human?”
“What’s happening here?”
Snap! Crackle! Snap!
After twisting their necks and bodies multiple times, the villagers began to undergo an even stranger transformation.
Rip, tear, rip.
Their heads split open from the crown, shedding their human shells like discarded husks.
What emerged from beneath was a horrifyingly grotesque creature. It resembled a human brain, but thick, writhing tentacles protruded from it, pulsating grotesquely. Embedded throughout the tentacles were crystalline structures resembling ore.
Even the head-like part bore glowing red stones that shimmered like eyes.
No one could determine what these creatures were. Even in the Forest of Beasts, nothing like this had ever been seen.
While everyone stood frozen, their mouths agape, Ghislain stepped forward.
“They were already mutated.”
These were Mutants, beings consumed by the energy of the Rifts.