Blowing Things Wide Open (2)
"Bring divine judgment upon the false goddess!"
The shouts of the rioters echoed from beyond the windows.
At the sound, most of the priests hiding inside the cathedral hung their heads in terror, their bodies trembling. It was obvious this wasn't their first or second day enduring this torment.
Watching them, Yohan clicked his tongue.
This was no joke. Things were looking seriously bad.
Priests who possessed devout faith and could even perform Miracle Arts had completely lost their morale. Come to think of it, it was a miracle they had even held out this long.
Furthermore, contrary to his expectations, there were no Inquisitors or Holy Knights inside the cathedral. Aside from a few guards stationed there, everyone was a non-combatant.
There was no way these people could keep up a siege indefinitely. Their stockpiled food and supplies were bound to run out.
The only saving grace was that the cathedral had a running water supply, but that didn't change the fact that their food reserves were dwindling by the day.
It was a massive headache all around.
"By the way..."
Yohan scanned the faces of the people inside the cathedral one by one. He noticed that a few of them weren't clergy or guards, but ordinary citizens.
Yohan briefly locked eyes with Annie. Reading his expression, Annie gave a slight nod.
"It seems there are civilians mixed in over there. Did they not turn into rioters?" she asked the priests immediately.
"Indeed. Those rampaging outside are driven mad by the delusion of driving out the 'false goddess,' but we managed to restore a few of them to their senses using Miracle Arts."
"I-I was one of them. When I finally came to my senses, this whole disaster had already broken out," a resident standing nearby chimed in, agreeing with the priest's explanation.
"It all started after the Sword of Saint Henrietta vanished. Rumors began spreading that an entity impersonating the Primary God was threatening the Central Church."
"Wince..."
Yohan closed his eyes tightly at the testimony.
What if the Divine Weapons aren't just simple sacred relics, but actually function to keep demonic influence out of the cities? What if eating the device that maintains the barrier as a snack—which is exactly what that dimwitted Goddess did—is the reason Easthold ended up in this state?
Just imagining it made his head spin. Yohan felt his mouth go completely dry.
The voice of the Goddess echoed in his mind, sensing his inner turmoil. Yohan let out a quiet, secret sigh of relief.
"In any case, it means the people roaming outside have had their minds warped by something. And their symptoms can be cured through Miracle Arts. Is that correct?"
"Yes. To be precise, they regain their senses once the Exorcism Rite is performed on them. The believers here also came to their senses through the Exorcism Rite."
The priest nodded repeatedly in response to Annie's question.
The Exorcism Rite was one of the Miracle Arts learned by the priests of the Central Church, capable of cleansing curses inflicted by demons or other wicked entities. Yohan knew this because he had picked up some knowledge regarding Miracle Arts during his brief stay at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The fact that the Madness could be cured through the Exorcism Rite meant that the entity driving the people outside mad was indeed a demon.
"But because they roam around in mobs day and night, performing the Exorcism Rite is extremely difficult."
"Naturally. Performing the Exorcism Rite requires preparation and proper procedures."
It was hard enough to capture a single ordinary believer, let alone the Inquisitors, who were practically living weapons. If they ran into one of them, they would have no choice but to pray to the Primary God for a swift death. Yohan finally understood why the cathedral's priests had been so terrified when they heard Annie introduce herself.
"We could always subdue them by force if worst comes to worst..."
"That is out of the question."
"I agree."
In truth, the most foolproof way to subdue someone rampaging under demonic mind control was simply to beat them to death. As the saying goes, a mace is the best tool for crushing evil. Yohan glanced at the mace hanging from Annie's waist, but quickly shook his head inwardly.
But that was a method they absolutely must not put into practice. The priests gathered in Easthold Cathedral weren't staging a sit-in out of sheer stupidity.
"By the way... there doesn't seem to be any movement from the Empire's side. Do you know anything about that?"
At Annie's follow-up question, the priests shook their heads. It was clear they truly knew nothing.
An awkward silence fell over the room for a moment.
"Yeah. No matter how much I think about it, that's the most suspicious part."
When Yohan, who had been quiet all this time, finally spoke up, everyone's attention shifted to him.
"The Empire is suspicious?"
"Yeah. To be precise, I'm not saying they caused this mess, but their current reaction is highly questionable."
The Empire and the Holy Kingdom were blood allies that divided hegemony over the continent. There was no way the Empire was unaware that the Holy Kingdom had gone to hell, and if they truly considered each other trustworthy allies, they would have reached out to help by now.
Yet, despite Easthold being the very place bordering the Empire, Yohan and Annie had found absolutely no trace of any imperial movement.
In other words, the Empire was currently just standing by and watching the series of disasters unfolding within the Holy Kingdom.
Even if it was difficult right now, they would need to head to the border and investigate the situation themselves. Yohan organized his future tasks in his head.
"Alright. First, let's clean up this town, then we'll head east to see what those Empire bastards are up to."
"Understood."
Annie nodded in response to Yohan's instructions. On the other hand, the surrounding priests merely wore expressions of utter bewilderment, as if wondering what on earth the two were talking about.
"Clean up this town? What do you mean by that?"
"Indeed. No matter how skilled you two Inquisitors are, subduing the rioters without harming them and even performing the Exorcism Rite on all of them is..."
The priests' doubts were certainly reasonable. At least, within the boundaries of their common sense.
"There is no need to worry. We—or rather, this man next to me—are more than capable of doing so," Annie said, placing a hand on Yohan's shoulder.
At her words, a murmur rippled through the room, and Yohan snorted, his lips twitching with pride for no reason.
"If the Inquisitor says so..."
"May the blessing of the Primary God be with both Inquisitors."
With help arriving from the outside during their darkest hour, a glimmer of hope bloomed on the faces of the priests, which had been filled with nothing but despair.
"Of course. Just leave it to us."
Yohan replied with a smile, and the priests showed signs of relief.
"Yes. We shall guard the cathe—"
"Huh? What are you talking about? You guys are coming with us."
But that relief was short-lived. Yohan's expression instantly froze. He cut off the priest mid-sentence and retorted, causing the priests' eyes to widen in shock.
"What in the name of... I mean, what do you mean by that?"
This holy man had almost cursed right to his face before barely holding it back.
Even the villagers who had been threatened by a pack of man-eating trolls had burned with the resolve to risk their lives and fight alongside him when given a chance for revenge. Yet these damn bastards...
"Sigh..."
Yohan let out a deep sigh. But well, it wasn't like these priests were entirely bad people. In the first place, they had chosen to lock themselves in the cathedral rather than mindlessly beat the madness-stricken citizens of Easthold to death. On top of that, even if they were few in number, they had actually used the Exorcism Rite to restore sanity to some of the residents.
Still, he had to make things clear.
"Hey," Yohan said in a low, sinking voice, staring at the priests whose faces had turned pale again, completely erasing their brief moment of joy. "We'll make sure those rampaging bastards behave, so you guys just focus on using the Exorcism Rite to bring them back to their senses. Got it?"
Having beaten to death a demon that threw bone spears, defeated two fused demons, and even exterminated a pack of pure-blood trolls empowered by demonic energy, subduing citizens driven mad was child's play for Yohan.
"Let go of me! Let go— urk!"
"Begone, you cursed imposter— gack!"
The citizens, deceived by the demon's tricks, resisted violently. However, Yohan and Annie effortlessly knocked out every group of residents they encountered, while the priests following behind performed the Exorcism Rite on the unconscious bodies sprawled on the ground, curing them of their Madness.
The residents cured of their Madness regained consciousness shortly after. Though horrified by the literal disaster zone around them, they quietly followed the priests' instructions.
Initially, they housed the cured residents inside Easthold Cathedral, but space quickly ran out, forcing them to use surrounding buildings—including the half-destroyed magic circle station—as temporary shelters.
In that manner, it took a full ten days to restore sanity to every single rioting mob roaming throughout Easthold.
After ten days of busy, non-stop movement day and night to bring the chaos to an end.
"Thank you. Thank you so much. If not for you two Inquisitors, we would have starved to death inside the cathedral, and the citizens outside would have continued their endless destruction," the high priest in charge of the cathedral said, tears welling in his eyes.
The other priests gathered in the cathedral, along with numerous residents, also expressed their heartfelt gratitude to Yohan and Annie. While Annie offered an awkward smile in return, Yohan merely stared out the window toward the Empire with a grim expression.
For now, the immediate fire had been put out. Although downtown Easthold was a complete mess, the Madness sweeping the entire city had vanished, meaning it could be restored at any time.
But saving Easthold alone didn't mean much. According to the information gathered from the priests, the entire Holy Kingdom, including the Holy Capital Justia, was currently suffering from the Madness. On top of that, the dangerous variable of corrupted Heresy Inquisitors afflicted with the Madness still remained within the Holy Kingdom.
At least the Holy Knights had not succumbed to the madness, which prevented the crazed Inquisitors from spreading across the Holy Kingdom and into other parts of the continent, but...
I have a bad feeling about this, Yohan thought to himself.
"Thinking back on it, this was truly the work of the Primary God's grace."
"Indeed. When you two first introduced yourselves as Inquisitors, we honestly thought it was the end for us."
Regardless of what Yohan was thinking, the priests of Easthold Cathedral chatted among themselves in a warm, harmonious atmosphere. Of course, Yohan fully understood their behavior. They had been on the verge of starving to death, only to miraculously survive, so it was only natural that everything in the world suddenly seemed bright and hopeful to them.
But... things in life didn't always go so positively. Yohan suddenly stood up and walked out of the cathedral. A few priests called out to him, but he lightly ignored them and quickened his pace.
The voice of the Goddess echoed in his mind.
Yohan nodded silently in response, channeling his divine power to summon his Light Sword.
Yohan glared in the direction the scent of malice was drifting from. It didn't carry the uniquely foul malice of a demon. Nevertheless, whoever was approaching was clearly no ordinary being. That fact pointed to only one conclusion.
"I figured it was about time you showed up."
Soon, a man of sturdy build came into view. Yohan smirked, speaking in a sarcastic tone as he watched him approach.
A human whose malicious energy wasn't quite strong enough to be a demon, yet possessed an aura far too formidable for an ordinary person.
A Heresy Inquisitor, fallen and consumed by madness, had arrived in Easthold.