Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: (30) Heretic's Temple
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The Heretic's Temple was a place Jade had visited once before, but returning to it wasn't easy. There was no map, and even if there had been, there was no trick to navigating the endlessly shifting dunes of the desert. On top of that, it was night now, giving the place a completely different vibe from the daytime trip he'd made with Danell.
Jade grew tired before his horse did. The waterskin the bandits had packed on his saddle was nearly empty.
*This is bad. If dawn breaks and the daytime heat hits like this, we'll die from it.*
Fortunately, just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, Jade spotted the Albito Valley.
It was a long gorge that cut north-south through the red desert.
In spots, it narrowed to less than ten paces wide, and sand sometimes buried sections entirely, hiding them from view. They'd heard tales of unwary travelers plummeting into the valley below, so from the moment Jade sensed it was nearby, he urged his horse along with extra caution.
Jade walked the horse along the valley's edge until he found a path leading down.
The valley floor bore only traces of a river that had flowed there hundreds or thousands of years ago. It was about thirty paces wide on either side, making travel easy, and since sunlight barely reached it, the air stayed cool.
The temple hid in a crevice of the valley, concealed by red sand and rocks. Even if travelers peered down right above it, the entrance was tucked inward like a gauntlet, invisible from above. You had to walk down into the valley's depths to find it.
The temple's entrance looked the same now as it had back then. The opening, carved directly from the valley rock, was flanked by the same grotesque statue, as if posted there to warn intruders.
The statue depicted a beast with a long tail, its entire body covered in armor-like scales, and a beak where a mouth should have been. It stood on two legs, but it was definitely no human. No one knew what it symbolized.
People called this place the Heretic's Temple, but its original name was the Temple of Baifel. Baifel was said to be an ancient demon, so this carving might have been him.
These days it was dismissed as just a heretic's temple, abandoned and forgotten, but in olden times, people revered Baifel, offering sacrifices and prayers. Some even feared uttering his name.
It was commonly believed that demons brought curses just by having their names spoken aloud, and sometimes the demons themselves would appear. Baifel, known as the most powerful and malevolent among them, was dreaded all the more.
In fact, neither the Nine Scriptures nor the Old Scriptures mentioned Baifel. The tales had been passed down orally, from mouth to mouth.
Jade had heard dozens of stories about Baifel. The one with the most coherent beginning, middle, and end went like this:
In an era when humans couldn't yet work iron, the demon Baifel opened a gate from hell and entered the human world. Back then, the Red Desert wasn't a desert at all—it was a grassland. Baifel took root here, sucking up every drop of nourishment like a parasite, until it all turned to sand.
If left unchecked, the whole world would become desert, so angels led armies down to stop him.
After a long battle, the angel severed Baifel's head, and his blood turned the sands red.
To ensure hell's gate would never open here again, the angels built the temple...
*At any rate, I made it here without dying of thirst in the desert.*
Jade finally exhaled in relief and headed into the temple to rest when voices echoed from higher up in the valley.
"Hey? Over there, he came!"
Jade looked up to see a man in a red turban standing there.
He'd never expected to run into anyone in a place like this, so he just stared up in stunned silence.
More figures appeared atop the valley rim, one by one. They pointed at Jade, muttering among themselves, then began descending into the valley.
Jade watched in bewilderment for a moment—then his heart sank.
*I don't know who they are, but they're definitely not coming to welcome me.*
He dismounted and bolted into the temple. From afar, a voice barked orders.
"What are you hesitating for? Fire!"
The moment Jade's foot hit the temple's steps, arrows whistled toward him. A few missed and clattered into the spot where he'd just been.
Jade dropped the reins and sprinted full-tilt into the temple.
The instant he crossed the threshold, it was as if he'd passed through a curtain blocking the outside sunlight—everything went dark. It was just his eyes adjusting to the gloom, but it felt like stepping into another world.
The pounding footsteps of pursuers mixed with the thud of galloping horses, filling the temple with chaos.
Jade dashed past the dozens of pillars holding up the ceiling, heading deeper into the temple. His frantic steps kicked up dust that had settled evenly on the stone floor.
The temple stretched in a straight line from the entrance to the far wall. Pillars stood in neat rows on either side, supporting the high ceiling, while cracked statues lined the walls. Some had heads shattered on the floor, leaving only torsos upright.
There were signs of weathering over the ages, along with traces of countless tomb raiders. Some statues might have been smashed by zealots of other faiths.
Jade scanned the statues and pillars for a hiding spot as he ran.
Pursuing footsteps grew louder. Men's voices carried accents and curses. He caught only scattered words here and there, but piecing them together, it sounded like "The bitch walked right into the trap."
Just as they said, Jade reached the temple's far end without finding a place to hide or escape. He'd already known from his previous visit with Priest Danell that there were no other passages.
He regretted fleeing into the temple. But then he remembered there'd been no shaking off even one man on horseback yesterday, let alone a group with bows.
"What are you hesitating for? I said fire—not capture him! I don't need to confirm his identity by taking him alive."
If a demon had been chasing him, his book could have been a weapon. But against bows and blades, it was just a scripture.
Now, Jade could only hope Priest Danell's tale was true.
"Page 144!"
He pulled out the book, clutched it tight, and kept running. The temple's pillars and carved walls blurred past him.
Memories from his previous visit with Danell flooded back.
"Do you know why there are so many legends and stories about the Baifel Temple?"
Danell had asked, shining a torch on the temple wall.
"I've heard that when dangerous rumors spread, Rotican chooses one of two paths: silence them at the source so no one dares speak, or flood them with so much nonsense they lose all credibility. This must be the latter, right?"
Young Jade had offered his own theory.
"That makes sense. But I think in the case of the Baifel Temple, they mixed in fakes to hide the truth."
"You're saying some of the old tales I heard are real?"
"What do you think this Baifel the temple's named for really was?"
"Too easy to be worth answering. A demon, obviously."
"Then why do people call this the Heretic's Temple instead of the Demon's Temple?"
Jade, raised in the cathedral where "heretic equals demon," couldn't immediately grasp Danell's point.
"So... you're saying Baifel used to be a god?"
"That's right. He wasn't a demon back then. An evil god, maybe, but a god nonetheless."
"How does an evil god become a god? Gods can be generous or stern at times, but they're inherently good. There's only one God, and only He is divine. You say the strangest things sometimes, Father Danell. Like that boy who believed Susro was an angel, lost a bet to a dwarf, and got tied up somewhere in the Red Desert for 500 years."
"Stories from an age when people believed in many gods."
"What if that angel's bound here in the Baifel Temple?"
"I'm just passing on what I know and what I've heard. Someday you'll tell your own children or disciples—or some kid passing by. That's oral tradition for you."
Watching Rotican's ways, the rivalry between the Rom Priesthood and the Rapal Priesthood, monastic life, or royal intrigues always brought back that conversation with Danell.
The safest way to hide the truth is in rumors. Threaten those in the know to keep quiet for a few years. Spread false rumors for a few decades. But for centuries, give them the truth outright. Then people will doubt the real and invent their own fakes...
Maybe that's what Danell had meant.
All in all, the Red Desert was both the site of Baifel's war with the angels and where the wingless little angel made his final bet.
Jade often replayed the fairy tale in his mind, refusing to let it end as just a story.
Why hadn't the wise archangel killed the wingless one? A being so great that even the archangel would borrow his wisdom could have slain a little angel easily. Yet he only imprisoned him.
Out of pity for the child?
He kept him captive but never delivered him to the archangel who'd commissioned the task.
There were more oddities than one or two.
Back then, Danell had touched the wall at the temple's farthest end and said those words—repeated endlessly ever since:
*If the time comes, open your book to page 144.*
When young Jade tried to open it right away, Danell stopped him.
"Not now! When the time comes. Then you'll know if the old tales I told you are true."
"When is 'the time'?"
"When you're in danger? When you feel you need it? When you impulsively want to come back here? Who knows. Even I don't. I can only say... when the time comes. But I promise you, you'll know it yourself when it does."
Back at Saint Vesta Cathedral, Danell had already hinted that the time had come.
Jade was certain this was it. He raced to the exact spot where Danell had touched the wall and spoken of page 144.
At the temple's end stood a vast wall dominated by a massive mural. The colors had faded beyond recognition, cracked in countless places. Parts had been deliberately painted over and erased—likely by someone decrying the "mark of the demon."
Jade placed his hand on the mural, just as Danell had. The wall felt ice-cold.
He opened the scripture to page 144. In the heat of the moment, it was hard to manage.
Jade recited the verse from page 144 inwardly, then backward. The original read, "The clasp made of light's power locks the door." Backward, it meant, "The clasp made of light's power vanishes temporarily."
White light emanated from his hand, just as when banishing a demon. As the glow transferred to the wall, the entire surface flashed briefly. Then it split wide open like the jaws of a massive beast.
Rocks ground together with a deafening roar, and stone dust tickled his nose. There was no time to marvel.
The men with swords and bows had already advanced halfway into the temple.
"There he is!"
More arrows flew.
Jade dove through the opening without checking inside. Missed shots thudded into the mural and floor.
Beyond the wall lay stairs leading underground.
Jade nearly tripped on the first step—each one was about three times the height of a normal stair, built for giants thrice a man's size.
He turned and extended his hand, reciting the verse from page 144 in its original order.
Theory held that reading any passage backward produced the opposite effect. But he'd never tested it, nor had the chance. Reversing a demon-banishing verse wouldn't resurrect one—even if you wanted to.
*Theory or not, the reverse worked and opened the door. So the original has to work too. It will! Please, let it!*
Jade pressed his glowing hand to the open door. The rock slab began sliding shut with a thunderous grind.
The swordsmen were now just five paces away. One shouted something, but the rumbling stone drowned it out.
The wall sealed shut, and the light faded completely. In that instant, all outside noise cut off. Not even a faint murmur penetrated.
*It's not like I just crossed a wall—it's like I flew to another world entirely.*
Jade groped the floor until he found a flat spot and sat. His ragged breathing took a long while to steady.
"What now?"
He sorted his thoughts while seated.
The stairs descending into the depths admitted not a speck of light. Cool, clean air rose from below.
"What now? I go down and confirm if it's a wingless angel or the demon Baifel."
Jade pulled a large candle from his pack. He had only three left, and one had cracked in the chaos. It was a miracle none had shattered.
He struck flint and tinder to light it.
It took over ten minutes just to get a flame, but he neither panicked nor rushed. If anything, it gave him time to piece together the outside situation in his mind.
*They were expecting me here. Ambushing with bows ready! Were they under that Yol guy's orders again? Who's Yol to predict I'd come to the Heretic's Temple? No, no—I can't assume it's Yol. Just bandits. Could be coincidence.*
At last, the tinder caught.
Jade lit the candle from it.
"Shall we?"
Muttering to himself, he clutched the book in his right hand, the candle in his left, and descended the stairs.