Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Black Rock Mountain
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A spear blazing with blue flames fell from the sky.
Jade had no idea what was happening outside and didn't even know what it was. Several other spears shattered in midair, but one dropped straight down onto Saph and Jade's heads.
He turned his head. The moment the spear touched the realm of light emanating from Saph, it shattered with a deafening noise.
When Jade looked up again, dark blue powder scattered like dust around Saph. It was all noise and no impact—nothing reached the two of them.
"What was that just now…"
Jade was too stunned to continue.
Ruby appeared atop the pierced roof.
"Hey! You okay? Whoa! You are okay? How'd you block it?"
Ruby landed lightly beside the two.
Saph spoke in a slightly trembling voice.
"I saw something flying in and used a shield of light. It was a spell to block evil power, but if it hadn't matched up, we'd have been goners."
Saph held up her palm and continued.
"It's still stinging."
"That spear just now? In human weapon terms, that's like five catapults firing at once."
Ruby stepped into the realm of light. His skin seemed to absorb the glow, shining on its own, and his red hair sparkled like jewels.
"Impressive, you. More useful than you look?"
Ruby said, patting Saph's head.
Saph showed no sign of resistance.
'They look friendly. That's good, but why do I feel like something's been taken from me?'
Jade rose with a wry smile.
"What happened?"
Jade asked, helping Saph to her feet.
"That Yoll guy trashed the place and ran off."
Ruby gave a brief rundown of the situation.
Yoll and Abbot Manoli ordering the annex set ablaze, the fire spreading to the monastery despite attempts to stop it, Yoll's attack, Yoll transforming into a demon…
Stepping out of the annex, it was even more of a mess than Ruby had described. The annex had collapsed everywhere except the room where the two had been, and about a third of the main building was charred black, still billowing smoke. The flames didn't seem fully extinguished.
The monks stood around dazed, like their souls had fled, doing nothing. Some were dead, others wounded and groaning.
"Yoll fled to the back mountain over there. What do we do?"
Ruby asked.
"We chase him. I have a lot to ask that guy."
Jade said.
Saph grabbed his sleeve.
"No. Father Jade, you're not recovered enough to climb a mountain yet."
"But we can't let him get away."
At Jade's words, Ruby nodded vigorously.
"Right. That guy was out to do something big. Not just running away."
"Do something big?"
"All through the fight, he kept muttering nonsense, but the word 'Hellgate' came through now and then."
"…Hellgate?"
"I've never seen one, but I've heard of it. It's the word angels hate most. Something that appears when the world ends."
Jade felt his heart sink. Emperor Benclaus had said he dreamed of Besuo Volcano erupting because of a Hellgate.
'Wasn't it Besuo Volcano in the dream, but this Black Rock Mountain? Dreams don't show exact locations anyway.'
Just then, Abbot Manoli staggered over.
"Father Jade."
He looked a decade older in that moment. The old man thrust Jade's book at him.
"Go."
Jade glanced back and forth between the monastery spewing black smoke through the windows and the abbot staring at it in despair.
"Don't say anything. Please."
The abbot seemed to lack even the strength for more words. Moved by pity, Jade started to say he would, but Ruby stepped forward first.
"Ha! This old fart pulling some flower trick? 'Don't say anything, just go'?"
Ruby advanced as if to grab him by the collar.
Now with no need to hide, he dragged his chains long across the floor, clinking loudly with every step. In the mood, it sounded plenty threatening.
"You and Yoll discussed ways to kill Jade, right? Kill him and take his Bible, then kill Saph and me to fool the Rom Priesthood. I heard it all!"
Abbot Manoli screamed and fell back, covering his face with both hands.
"Mercy, please. Mercy!"
Ruby glanced at Jade with mischievous eyes, then kept yelling.
"Answer! Did you raise that demon? Lie, and heavenly wrath will rain down like flowers! Giant flame clouds will pour fire like rain, the earth will split and poisonous mist will melt flesh like water—"
"Aigoo, I don't know. I don't know! Forgive me!"
"So spit it out! Where'd that demon come from?"
"Yoll showed up one day and killed on orders from above. Nothing to do with me."
"'Showed up one day,' huh? You knew he used to be a heresy inquisitor."
"I found out later. Yoll needed a place to hide his identity, and it just happened to be my monastery."
As Ruby pressed harder, Jade held out a hand to stop him.
"Abbot Manoli, who is this 'one above'?"
"I don't really know…"
As Manoli spoke, Ruby raised his hand like a blade. The chains rang out deafeningly.
"Speak straight! Before I split your shriveled skull, stuff a handful of maggots inside, and seal it back up."
Manoli screamed his answer.
"I don't know. Really. I just suspect Cardinal Lorenzo."
It wasn't much of a surprise to Jade.
"You're saying Cardinal Lorenzo ordered my death?"
"That's my guess. Yoll didn't tell me everything."
"Did he also kill Father Danel?"
"He said so himself."
Jade looked down at the terrified old man for a moment, then turned.
"Let's go."
"What? That's it? Nothing else to ask?"
Ruby asked, dissatisfied.
"That's it. Hurry to where Yoll fled."
Jade urged, but Ruby hadn't budged from in front of Manoli.
"I'm not done."
Ruby shoved his face close to the pitiful old man.
"I'll come back once I finish my business. Don't know if it'll be tomorrow, a year from now, or ten years, but I'll be back."
Manoli was too scared to answer properly and just bobbed his head frantically. Still, Ruby didn't stop.
"You'd better behave till then. Otherwise, I'll nail a list of your crimes to your forehead and drag you around villages by the neck for half a year. If need be, haul you to that place they call heretic land and right in the middle of the capital square…"
"Ruby."
Jade urged.
"Hmph!"
Ruby spun around and followed Jade and Saph.
"Your generosity might turn into the arrow that kills you someday."
Ruby warned.
"That's plenty. Abbot Manoli won't recover from that."
"Plenty? Give me thirty more minutes, and I could show you what real irreparable damage looks like. Tch."
Ruby exited through the monastery wall Yoll had crumbled. Jade and Saph followed, picking through the broken stones.
The sandstorm had weakened a lot—no need to hold the chains like when they first arrived.
"He's getting stronger. So Saph, you should prep that awesome shield of light you used earlier."
Ruby said, and Saph nodded in reply.
Ruby told Jade too.
"You prep the light of annihilation."
"You're being pretty cautious this fight? Is Yoll that strong?"
"He was strong. Getting stronger. But I'll be a hundred times stronger."
Ruby snorted and continued.
"What worries me is not having the spare to protect you two."
The spot Ruby led them to was the back of Black Rock Mountain. It was almost flat uphill, but still a mountain, and dark, so they had to tread carefully.
"We'll have dawn breaking at this rate. Can't you walk faster?"
Ruby said.
"But I can't see my feet…"
Jade regretted not bringing a torch. But the wind was still too strong for torches or lanterns to light the dark. All they had was the glow from Ruby's chains.
"Where's Yoll?"
Jade asked.
"He hasn't left the mountain. Probably at the summit. Not even trying to hide his position."
As Ruby explained, Saph quietly clasped her hands together, then parted them. Light appeared, illuminating the surroundings. Just one or two candles' worth, but unwavering in the wind and enough to see the path.
"Is this the healing light?"
Jade asked.
"Yes. I could make it brighter, but it wouldn't last."
"This is enough. How long can you keep it up?"
"Probably till sunrise."
Jade nodded, but inwardly felt a twinge of self-loathing.
'Compared to Saph, I'm useless at using the light of annihilation.'
Determined to fulfill his own role, Jade asked.
"Saph, you couldn't see Yoll's true nature either?"
"Not at all. I thought he was suspicious, but never a demon."
"Not like Beishuper, where the name showed?"
"Seems names don't show till the true form appears. In Redhill Village, when the evil spirit possessed Kaf or Pendail, the name Beishuper didn't show."
"So Yoll has to be in true form for the name to appear."
Jade asked Ruby, who was ahead.
"Ruby, did Yoll reveal his true form?"
"He shifted a bit during the fight. By the end, fully, I think. By now, definitely in true form."
Ruby answered.
Jade gripped the book in his bosom and earnestly told Saph.
"If you see his name, tell me right away."
"Yes."
Saph replied firmly.
"Fun setup. Saph spots the name, you annihilate? Like you're paired up on purpose?"
Ruby joked. But it didn't sound like a joke to Jade.
"Paired up on purpose? I think so too."
The final stretch to the summit steepened a bit, leaving Jade breathless. Luckily the sandstorm had nearly stopped, but as Saph said, stamina drained fast.
"Not tired, Saph?"
Jade asked.
Saph answered with not a drop of sweat on her face.
"Not at all. I've been surprised by my own stamina on this journey. Come to think of it, even farming at the convent, I rarely felt worn out."
"Lucky. At the monastery, I thought 'this is tough' twenty times a day…"
Ruby halted, and Jade stopped talking.
"There he is."
Ruby pointed.
Someone crouched beneath a massive, squarely hewn boulder. Hooved feet, long tail, huge round horns—a monster.
No trace of Yoll's former appearance remained; without Ruby, they wouldn't have recognized him.
It muttered while clutching something. Not quite fitting for a demon, but it looked like prayer.
"Is that Yoll?"
Jade asked.
The 'thing' didn't turn, just kept muttering. Too risky to approach, so Jade asked Ruby instead.
"Can you hear what he's saying?"
"Uh. Keeps repeating 'Won't open, why won't it open?'"
"Open? No way…"
It whipped its head around.
Saph's light didn't reach its position, so its face and what it held were hard to see. Alone at night, it'd be eerie.
Jade called out louder once more.
"Yoll? If that's you, answer."
It set down what it held into a hole in the wall, then stood. Still couldn't tell what it hid.
"I… once had that name."
"What were you holding just now?"
"Nothing for you to know."
"Didn't expect you'd talk willingly. What's your name?"
"The only demon name you'll hear here is my sender's. I was ordered to guard this place. Remove all interference! So you three won't leave this mountain today."
"Then say your master's name."
"Baifell!"
Jade wasn't surprised at all.
'Yeah. Knew that name would come up.'