Chapter 151: The Holy Land
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 151: The Holy Land
Baron Babel was a handsome, middle-aged man with grayish-black hair and a stylish beard that ran from his sideburns to his chin.
Over his chainmail, he wore an indigo surcoat, and two swords were fastened to a pair of crossed leather belts. A closed helm was tucked between his arm and his side.
He was flanked by thirty soldiers in gambesons. Their worn equipment and scarred skin marked them as experienced elites.
Ten of them had loaded crossbows aimed directly at us. The crimson light of the sunset, filtering through the church windows, made the arrowheads glint with a cold, blue light.
The Pope, who had been clinging to Baron Babel, saw us approach and pointed a finger.
“It’s them! Right there! Not only did they draw their swords in the sacred house of the Lord, but they also killed the Templar Knights, staining the church red, and even threatened me, Sibella II, the shepherd of all believers! They are devil worshippers!”
I let out a smirk and retorted, “Weren’t you the one who drew your sword first, Pope? I merely defended myself.”
“Defended yourself! How can you spew such lies after seeing this carnage!”
The Pope gestured wildly at the corpses of the Templar Knights strewn about the room.
“You shouldn’t have drawn your sword, then.”
“You…!”
His face flushed with rage, the Pope clung to Baron Babel once more.
“You see! How could I be the mastermind when I’m forced to flee, unable to handle even a single enemy? And what would I even gain from being the mastermind?”
The Pope was using the current situation as an excuse to deny the accusations against him.
It was a fairly convincing argument. For a mastermind who had killed numerous candidates for the throne, he looked far too pathetic.
“That man is Baron Allen of the Western Continent, the one who illegally occupied the Coastal City Alliance. He is a guest commander for Count Dresden and was responsible for one prong of their diversionary attack. If you kill him here, you will completely break the momentum of our enemy, Dresden.”
Not satisfied, he went a step further, attempting to reignite his original plan to incite infighting among the forces gathered on the Northern Continent.
The Pope continued his ceaseless scheming. Baron Babel’s gaze, however, was fixed not on me, but on Cynthia.
“Weren’t you and Alex friends since childhood?”
His eyes, unlike those of a man looking at his son’s old friend, were devoid of any emotion.
“No parent would be happy to see their only son associating with an orphan. Furthermore, if my son became a fool who couldn’t think straight because he’d lost his heart, I’d want to kill the orphan, too.”
Cynthia didn’t back down, glaring back at Baron Babel with defiant eyes.
“It seems you don’t just mean that in theory.”
I could now feel killing intent in Baron Babel’s eyes. And just as I expected, his eyes flashed as he drew his sword, pointed it at us, and shouted.
“Attack—!”
Though Cynthia and the Archbishop were dressed in clerical robes, Baron Babel’s elite soldiers didn’t hesitate to pull the triggers of their crossbows.
The volley of arrows was aimed not just at me, but at all of us.
“Baron—!”
The Pope, shocked that even Cynthia, the key to his plan, was being attacked, stomped his feet in a panic.
Cynthia, who seemed to have genuinely not expected to be attacked, stared blankly at the arrows flying toward her.
Fortunately, the Archbishop showed his experience by dropping flat to the ground, meaning I only had to protect Cynthia.
I immediately stood with my back to her, facing the shower of arrows, and swung my sword. Power was converted into speed, and with each swing, the air screamed as it began to stack in layers.
More. More. More.
Unsatisfied, I kept swinging my sword until it became a single streak of light in the enemy’s eyes.
In that time, the tips of the approaching arrows began to waver. They had entered the sphere of influence of the raging wind pressure, which had gone from stacking in layers to swirling violently.
The arrows that met the fierce wind’s resistance naturally lost their power, and those that didn’t were knocked off course, flying far wide of their targets.
“What the…!”
Baron Babel, who had ordered the attack, blinked his eyes in disbelief.
“Hmm…”
I couldn’t be entirely pleased. I had failed to block all the arrows. One was now lodged in my shoulder.
Baron Babel’s expression brightened when he finally noticed it. The Pope, on the other hand, yelled furiously.
“Baron! What is the meaning of this! What will you do if Cynthia gets hurt!”
“In the end, only that villain was hurt. Which means it all worked out.”
Despite his words, he looked disappointed.
The Pope’s face contorted as he finally grasped the baron’s true intentions.
If Cynthia, who was essential to his plan, were to die, there would be no future for him even if I was dealt with here. The Pope stood before the baron and spread his arms wide.
“Absolutely not! You cannot kill a priest in the house of the Lord! I, Sibella II, will not allow it!”
Meanwhile, I pulled the arrow out of my shoulder. Normally, you shouldn’t pull out an arrowhead carelessly, as it can widen the wound. That’s why in so many stories, they just snap off the shaft and deal with the rest later.
But I trusted my high Stamina stat. It would take some time, but I knew it would heal naturally even if I left it alone. Of course, Cynthia didn’t know that.
“You fool—!”
She urgently grabbed my arm. Was she not about to press her tongue against the open wound? She even began to lick it like a cat.
“Are you a vampire from the legends?”
Cynthia looked up at me, her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t stop licking the wound.
“Why did you save me?”
“A foolish question. If I don’t save my woman, who will?”
“I never accepted.”
Cynthia was still putting up a wall. But unlike before, her voice lacked its usual strength.
As she licked it, new flesh began to form over the wound at a visible rate.
Cynthia tilted her head. She was puzzled by the absence of the usual bubbling phenomenon that occurred when her power was at work.
“Powers don’t work between those who share the blood of a witch. Do you believe me now that I didn’t take you in for your ability?”
“But how…?”
“Just think of it as my ability.”
It was simply my high Stamina stat at work. Explaining it properly would take too long, so I gave a vague answer and turned back to face Baron Babel.
“So you were a witch! I knew it! I, Baron Babel, will stop you from seducing my son any longer! Even if it costs me my life—!”
Licking a wound? It was an act that could easily be misunderstood. And he had just witnessed the wound healing in real time.
Having gained conviction, Baron Babel became more aggressive. He forcefully pulled the Pope aside and ordered his soldiers to attack again.
I once again stood with my back to Cynthia and faced him. The soldiers were reloading their crossbows.
“If you kill Cynthia, do you think Sir Alex will stand by and do nothing? Are you aware of what you’re doing?”
Baron Babel smiled grimly.
“What are you talking about? As if I would kill my son’s dear friend, a cleric officially ordained by the church! The one who killed Cynthia will be you, Baron Allen! So there will be no problem!”
He was openly declaring his intent to frame me. There was, however, a major flaw in his plan.
“That would only be possible if you killed me to silence me.”
“No matter how strong you are, how can you face an army of this size with two heavy burdens in tow! The wound you just received is proof of that!”
Cynthia’s expression darkened. She bit her lip.
It was a reaction born from not knowing me well enough yet. Look at the Archbishop. He’d nearly been hit by an arrow, yet he was casually dusting off his clothes, completely at ease.
“I’ll admit they’re burdens, but… heavy? I’m afraid I can’t agree with that.”
Before Baron Babel could say another word, I picked up Cynthia and the Archbishop with both hands. And immediately threw them far away.
“Kyaa—!”
“Heok!”
The two of them, suddenly airborne, screamed and flailed their arms. They tumbled across the church floor before crashing into a table I had previously overturned to use as an obstacle, finally coming to a stop.
“Stay hidden and be quiet.”
As befitting the Pope’s extravagant possessions, the table was made of thick, solid wood. It would likely serve as better cover than a decent shield.
“The burdens you were counting on are gone. Now what will you do?”
I turned back to face Baron Babel and grinned.
“Do you think that will change the outcome! Fire!”
The crossbowmen, having finished reloading, pulled their triggers. With the twang of bowstrings, another volley of arrows was unleashed. This time, they were aimed only at me, approaching in a much denser formation.
“It will change a great many things.”
With my constraints gone, the arrows were meaningless. All I had to do was use my slowed vision to predict their impact points and move into the empty spaces.
“How—!”
Baron Babel couldn’t hide his shocked expression. I drew my sword and said, “Why? Can’t Sir Alex do this?”
There was only one thing I was certain I had over Alex, and it was these eyes.
Alex was a classic physical powerhouse, with no special abilities whatsoever. Which, in a way, was what made him so terrifying.
“You—!”
I didn’t give them a chance to fire a third volley. I kicked off the ground and surged toward Baron Babel.
The elite soldiers, hardened by long years of war, immediately dropped their crossbows and drew their swords.
Their thrusts, aimed unhesitatingly at my vitals, were a slight improvement over the Templar Knights.
Well, that was about the extent of it.
I lightly struck downwards, deflecting an enemy soldier’s sword, and converted the force into rotational momentum, seamlessly transitioning from a high stance into a downward thrust.
“Gack.”
I pulled my sword from his throat, and he collapsed. Without a moment to celebrate, I raised the hilt above my head and angled the blade.
Almost simultaneously, a sword swung at me from the side scraped along the flat of my blade with a shower of sparks and slid past.
Just before it cleared completely, I put more force into it, knocking it far wide. Then, using my opponent’s momentum against him, I spun my sword around and brought it down on the left side of his neck. The blade sank halfway through.
“Gurgle…”
The soldier collapsed, gurgling on blood as he clutched his throat. I then took a step back and swung my sword diagonally. Another soldier was already in mid-swing.
The soldier tried to block with the lower part of his blade, where the structure was strongest. But it was meaningless against my overwhelming strength.
“This is impossible…!”
My sword forced its way past his, leaving a deep gash in his neck.
I blocked the sword of another soldier who had gotten behind me by taking half a step back and raising my blade high. Then I twisted my sword, forcing his blade, caught on my guard, outwards as I thrust my own forward.
The fourth soldier collapsed without so much as a scream, my sword embedded in his face.
“Hoo…”
Only then did I exhale the breath I had been holding. I had killed four soldiers in a single breath.
“You’re not just some brute with a lot of strength!” Baron Babel ground his teeth.
“Baron Babel, why the surprise? Sir Alex can do this much, can’t he? What, did you not expect there to be another knight like your son?”
“You—! I’ll deal with you myself!”
Though not as strong as his son, Baron Babel was still quite powerful. The ripple in the air, compressed and pushed aside by his sword, suggested as much.
I immediately switched my grip to a half-sword, took another step forward, and closed the distance. Then I parried the sword Baron Babel swung at me.
Normally, parrying an opponent’s sword with the tip of your own is incredibly difficult, but with a half-sword grip, the structurally strong part of the blade shifts forward, making it possible.
Another advantage of half-swording is the speed with which you can transition to the next move. Almost at the same instant I parried his sword, the tip of my blade was at his throat.
Baron Babel’s eyes, which had glanced down at the sword threatening his neck, trembled as he managed to look up.
“…Kill me!”
“A dead hostage has no value.”
“A hostage…? Don’t tell me, Alex!? No! Not Alex—!”
Baron Babel was quick on the uptake.
“You should have looked before you leaped. Did you really not know things would turn out like this if your scheme failed?”
I forcibly took his sword and strapped it to my own waist. The surviving soldiers, more than half of the original force, didn’t know what to do now that their commander was captured and could only watch nervously.
“Cynthia! Are you just going to stand by and watch that villain target Alex!”
Baron Babel pleaded desperately with Cynthia, his only remaining hope for salvation. Cynthia’s face was ice-cold.
“After trying to kill me, what gives you the right to ask me to save your son?”
“You know Alex loves you! And you must have feelings for him too, or you wouldn’t have kept him around!”
Cynthia glanced at me before speaking hurriedly.
“They say that even with a bad friend, you develop a strange fondness over time. My feelings are no different. I can’t stand people who are arrogant, foolish, and act without thinking of the consequences.”
As if that wasn’t a sufficient answer, Cynthia continued without pause.
“And no woman would ever like a man who is nothing more than a big, strong child, with the same level of intelligence as when she first met him.”
Cynthia drew a firm line, stating that at the very least, she wasn’t that woman. Baron Babel grew even more desperate.
“But Alex is your only friend!”
“That’s…”
Unable to deny that, Cynthia pressed her lips together and watched me nervously.
I knew she had already made her decision. Hadn’t she left Alex without a second glance when the Witch of the Stars made her offer?
The reason she was hesitating now was likely because she didn’t want to look like a bad person in front of me. I decided to end her dilemma.
“I’m the only man you need to know.”
“The fact that I turned my back on Alex doesn’t mean I’ve chosen you!”
“Such a tantrum.”
Cynthia’s face turned red. Hot air puffed from her nostrils. For someone who rarely showed emotion, it was quite a sensitive reaction.
“You filthy whore! Have you already spread your legs for that villain! I knew this would happen, that’s why I tried to warn Alex! I never should have trusted an orphan!”
Thanks to Baron Babel, her anger was fortunately not directed at me.
“There’s a limit to your bullshit. When did you ever trust me? Did you think I didn’t know you were trying every trick in the book to get me away from Alex?”
Cynthia snorted and continued.
“I kept my distance! But Alex came looking for me no matter what I did or where I was! This outcome is your fault for failing to control your own son!”
“Shut up—!”
Baron Babel couldn’t stand being berated by Cynthia, someone he had always looked down upon. He looked ready to charge forward, heedless of the sword at his throat.
“It seems you still don’t understand your situation. Bait doesn’t really need a mouth.”
“What… Let go! Let go—!”
Sensing the ominous shift in the air, Baron Babel struggled. But I brutally forced his mouth open, grabbed his retreating tongue, and tore it out.
“Aaaaaaaah—!”
With a scream, Baron Babel went limp and passed out. Blood gushed from his mouth. The still-warm tongue twitched intermittently on the floor.
I threw it at the Pope, who was just about to flee.
“Hiiik—!”
He shrieked and scrambled backward, falling on his rear. He kicked at the floor, trying to get as far away as possible.
“Take it with you before you go.”
The Pope’s eyes darted between me and the severed tongue. He squeezed his eyes shut, wrapped the tongue in a napkin, and got to his feet. Then he fled without a backward glance.
The soldiers Baron Babel had brought with him, after a nervous look in my direction, stealthily followed him out.
“Why did you let the Pope live?”
Cynthia was leaning forward, as if ready to chase after the Pope and finish the job if I gave the word.
“The Pope still has a role to play.”
I didn’t have enough justification to install an antipope yet. This meant the Pope needed to stir up a little more trouble. I also needed a messenger to inform Alex of the situation.
“I look forward to his reaction.”
I’ve cast the bait. Now all that’s left is to wait.