Chapter 46…………………………………………………………..
Cassius spoke in a cold voice.
“It seems His Majesty knows something?”
“What do you mean? Without a precious wind priest, I don’t receive news very quickly.”
Jade acted completely unperturbed.
What had happened at the Sanctuary of Healing must have been highly classified—so much so that even Alpha abilities couldn’t read it properly.
Cassius felt as though the thin string of reason in his head snapped.
Once his anger flared, it acted on its own, using his power to rake through Jade’s mind against his will.
“Ghk—?”
Jade felt a splitting headache.
Cassius demanded forcefully,
“What happened at the sanctuary?”
“I—I heard a report that the floor of the sanctuary collapsed, and that the healing priest was swallowed into it. I, I… issued an order to send the crown prince to rescue the healing priest.”
Jade revealed, without resistance, something that absolutely had to be kept hidden.
Even though he had no intention of telling the truth!
Only Jade, experiencing something utterly strange, understood what this phenomenon was.
An ability. Mental-type powers were something only Alpha-class ability users possessed.
Pope Cassius Seirend Magnus was not an ordinary Alpha, but an Alpha with abilities.
In other words, he was someone who should never have been qualified to become the Holy Emperor.
Cassius rummaged through Jade’s mind and forced out every piece of information related to Sonia.
Not knowing Sonia’s exact condition, Jade had needed to go and confirm it in person.
Cassius hastily gathered the holy knights and rode directly to the Sanctuary of Healing.
When the Holy Emperor appeared at the sanctuary, the surroundings erupted into murmurs.
“We greet the master of the Holy Kingdom.”
Not only the imperial knights, but even the scholars came forward to pay their respects.
Cassius accepted their greetings curtly, then quickly summoned the wind priest who had been detained by Shane.
“I heard that a priest and a holy knight fell underground. What is their condition?”
“Yes. Both of them are unharmed.”
At those words, the tension that had been wound tight finally eased a little.
Thankfully, it seemed Sonia had not been seriously injured.
“Have they been rescued?”
“The hole was too deep to lower ropes. We sent them a diagram marking the escape route.”
The wind priest added that something underground blocked divine power, making it impossible to use abilities, and that the only option was to pass through a maze and exit into a prayer chamber.
“The exit of the maze is blocked by human bones, so it doesn’t look easy to escape.”
“That explanation is sufficient.”
“Yes—my apologies, Your Holiness. Because I failed to send a proper report, you had to come here in person.”
The wind priest bowed repeatedly.
After reading Jade’s mind, Cassius knew this was not the fault of the wind priest.
It was the emperor who had tried to conceal the fact that Sonia was in danger and had sent Shane first to handle things. He must have pressured them not to report it.
A mere priest would have found it difficult to defy the orders of the imperial emperor.
Cassius ordered the holy knights to clear away the human bones in the prayer chamber connected to the maze exit.
He himself decided to inspect the hole that had formed in the sanctuary.
The wind priest beside him spoke up.
“The Duke of Ryndmere has gone down to investigate the underground.”
At those words, Cassius felt the last remnants of his reason disappear.
‘Prince Shane… and the Duke of Ryndmere.’
Alphas being involved with Sonia—it was becoming troublesome.
If they were in front of him right now, he felt he might kill them on the spot.
But regrettably, Sonia’s safety came first.
He forcefully suppressed the murderous intent boiling inside him and tried to enter the sanctuary.
Then Cassius froze.
“Your Holiness?”
The wind priest called out, startled by his sudden stop.
“What is wrong, Your Holiness?”
“……”
Cassius couldn’t answer.
Because countless unknown voices were screaming at him.
—…!
They were the voices of many people, but the message was similar enough that, once he focused, he could hear it clearly.
—The unblessed Holy Emperor may not enter.
—Cursed bloodline, retreat.
So the Holy Emperor’s bloodline was forbidden entry?
Cassius glanced at the wind priest. Seeing him standing calmly, it seemed the voices were audible only to Cassius.
‘And moreover…’
He tried to step forward, but his body wouldn’t move. It felt as though something was gripping his feet tightly and refusing to let go. It was a familiar sensation.
‘Evil spirits, then.’
Souls harboring malice toward a specific person seemed to be restraining him.
The fact that the sanctuary was filled with so many vengeful spirits was puzzling, but Cassius pushed the thought aside and used his power.
A blue aura flickered around Cassius’s body. The wind priest recoiled in shock at the sight of him using divine power.
“Y–Your Holiness?”
“Step back. I will purify the surroundings.”
The priest nodded and hurried behind Cassius.
Cassius used the divine power of water to form enormous rainclouds that covered the sanctuary. Darkness fell instantly over the sanctuary that had been bathed in sunlight.
Soon—whoooosh—rain infused with purifying power poured down upon the sanctuary.
As the rain soaked into the ground, the soil clumped together and rose up one by one as black, human-shaped masses.
“Ugh—ahhh!”
The scholars nearby cried out in horror at the grotesque sight. The priest standing near Cassius clasped his hands tightly.
Only water and fire divine powers could purify evil spirits. As someone with wind affinity, there was nothing he could do—so he began to pray silently, careful not to interfere.
Cassius grew slightly troubled.
‘There are more than I expected…’
The resentment clinging to the sanctuary was far stronger than he had imagined. Some even resisted the purifying rain—perhaps they had once been priests with divine power.
He couldn’t afford to waste time here.
Cassius poured out far more divine power than he had intended, and the rain intensified accordingly.
Cassius himself began to get soaked. His blond hair absorbed the water and drooped heavily.
He was pouring in so much divine power that he couldn’t even maintain basic defenses.
Under the fierce rain, the black forms began collapsing one by one.
At the same time—crack, shatter!—the sound of glass breaking rang out from the top of the sanctuary, and glittering fragments scattered.
The barrier protecting the entire sanctuary was disappearing.
As the barrier vanished, the evil spirits screamed at Cassius.
—No! The barrier! This is a sacred place you must not enter!
—We cannot acknowledge a Holy Emperor stained with blood!
—Leave the sanctuary! If you don’t, we’ll tear you apart!
—The moment you step inside, you will suffer! Get out now!
The vengeful souls hurled curses into Cassius’s ears, but he brushed them aside as if swatting flies and entered the sanctuary.
The wind priest, sticking close behind him, asked anxiously,
“Your Holiness… are you all right?”
Cassius had used overwhelmingly powerful divine energy. Anyone would be exhausted after exerting such force.
Shaking the water from his soaked hair, he answered,
“I am fine.”
Thinking of Sonia, he couldn’t sit still and rest.
He wanted to run, but each step into the sanctuary sent a sharp pain through his heart, preventing him from moving quickly.
As the spirits had warned, the deeper he went, the more intense the pain in his chest became—but he didn’t show it.
—See? When someone with cursed blood enters the sanctuary, this is what happens.
There was no need to listen to such sly voices.
He ignored the distant cackling laughter and headed toward the pit where Sonia had fallen.
The closer he got to the hole leading underground, the worse the pain became.
It hurt enough that losing focus might make him pass out, but Cassius endured, thinking of Sonia.
Outwardly, he remained calm and composed, like gently flowing water.
Standing at the edge of the pit, he spoke.
“I will take several knights and descend. Prepare yourselves.”
As the holy knights began moving busily in response to his order—
“That won’t be necessary.”
Black smoke-like waves surged up from the pit, and Schwartz emerged. A massive black serpent followed him, crawling out of the hole and sliding across the ground.
The threatening sight put the holy knights and priests on edge.
After descending underground, Schwartz had found Sonia and Jürgen muttering at empty air.
To save them both, he had no choice but to knock them unconscious. He cradled Sonia carefully in his arms, while stuffing Jürgen roughly into the mouth of the enormous serpent created by his ability.
Cassius’s gaze locked onto Sonia in Schwartz’s arms.
He wanted to cut off the hands holding her.
Cassius spoke first.
“Duke of Ryndmere, put her down immediately.”
His tone was gentle, but unmistakably laced with fury.
Schwartz extended a single long finger and pressed it to his lips.
“Be quiet. You’ll wake Sonia.”
At the noise, Sonia opened her eyes in his arms.
Golden eyes, sweet as honey.
Within them shimmered a deep, verdant green.
Schwartz gazed steadily into her eyes.
‘What unusual eyes.’
Sonia’s pale pink lips parted.
What would she say?
Everything about her made him curious.
“Ah…!”
She screamed.
“Kyaaaah—!”
It felt as though hell itself existed inside Sonia’s body.
Her scream evoked the agony of someone being scorched by sulfur flames.
Schwartz had killed many assassins.
He had heard countless dying screams—but never a voice filled with terror as horrifying as Sonia’s.
