Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Lunia Church
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Upon arriving at Revendale, the vital hub and great city at the heart of the empire, Ravi, Elfin, and Lenis covered their faces with hoods and masks. They supported Benjamin, who was still struggling to move, and headed toward the Lunia Church.
"Thank you for bringing me here. I'll confess everything about the false wanted posters sparked by that frame-up and Robert himself being one of those 'Underground Vermin' you mentioned. I'll clear the holy warrior's name completely. This is one of the largest branches of the Lunia Church, so once I speak with the high priest, it should be resolved quickly. I'll also ask them to help locate where the holy warrior might be."
"We're truly grateful, Priest Benjamin."
"Not at all. You and the holy warrior saved dozens, hundreds of lives that were doomed to die. I should be the one thanking you. May the Goddess Lunia bless you all."
Benjamin bowed deeply and limped slightly as he entered the church.
The three had wanted to escort him all the way inside, but he insisted, "Hoods and masks aren't allowed in the church. It might cause unnecessary misunderstandings, so please don't worry about me."
In truth, the moment they removed their hoods and masks—especially Ravi and Elfin with their strikingly distinctive features—they'd likely be reported immediately as accomplices to wanted criminals.
In the end, they let Benjamin enter alone and waited at a nearby rest area, keeping some distance between themselves.
Huddled together, three hooded and masked figures would draw suspicion.
Thanks to Lenis's magic, they could communicate even from a distance.
"Where... could Alvis be?"
"As Benjamin said, he's definitely alive. If the Underground Vermin had gotten him, they wouldn't have stayed quiet about it, right? Let's think positively."
"But... if he's alive, Alvis should have come looking for us by now..."
"Maybe our paths crossed? With the wanted posters out, it's hard to ask around..."
Though they believed Alvis was alive, with no clues at all, the three felt lost and adrift.
And with Alvis gone, they realized how much they'd come to rely on him.
They were close friends, but without him, their conversations had noticeably dwindled. Everyone felt it.
Without Alvis, there were fewer reasons to laugh.
Without Alvis, no one started the pranks anymore, and the lighthearted shouting matches vanished.
Without Alvis, no one dramatically critiqued the meals made from hunted game or exaggerated tales of the hunt.
Without Alvis, Ravi and Lenis no longer had whispers of love in their ears.
Elfin, too, spent her nights missing the man who took her first kiss—the one she'd once despised so much—clutching a heart full of anxiety.
The three had shared every hardship together for so long, but without fighting or arguing, their journey no longer felt as easy or cozy as before.
Even sleeping in the same campsite felt endlessly uncomfortable, and sleep wouldn't come.
Elfin and Lenis even missed Alvis's snoring, which they'd complained about every night as too loud.
A little over a week had passed since the battle at the grand cathedral, but it felt like a month.
"H-he's... definitely okay. We'll meet again. That guy's definitely escaped safely too. He wouldn't just abandon us, right? He's so hopeless at surviving on his own without us... So... yeah, he's gotta be fine."
Even Elfin, trying to comfort the others, couldn't keep the tremor from her voice.
All three harbored a sliver of hope and expectation in their hearts, mingled with anxiety, as they waited.
Benjamin, who had promised to return with news once the talk was over, still hadn't emerged.
"Mr. Benjamin is taking a while."
"He has to convince them that the captain of the Goddess's Sword Unit is a blasphemer and traitor. They won't buy it easily."
"Still, it's odd. I heard the faithful of the Lunia Church can tell if someone's lying or telling the truth. Can't they verify it with their faith?"
KABOOM!
At that moment, a massive explosion erupted from inside the church where Benjamin had entered, blowing off part of the roof.
"!!!"
All three heads snapped toward the church, and without a word, they dashed inside.
Ravi and Elfin, with their keen ears, caught voices coming through the hole in the roof first.
"There's no law in the world that allows this! How can those who serve and follow the Goddess ignore this unprecedented crisis and instead try to detain me?!"
"Priest Benjamin, you've long tried to bring dangerous criminals into the church, stirring anxiety among the faithful. You stormed out on your own accord in defiance, and after ten years, this is what you return to say? Are you trying to create unrest to poach our parishioners? Have you truly been blinded by greed?"
"I seek no such thing! Whether I'm speaking out of greed or not, can't you check with the power granted by the Goddess? Just look at me once, and you'll know if I'm telling the truth or lying!
If you don't act now, you're letting real traitors within the church run free while falsely accusing the wrong person—the true holy warrior! Why won't you believe me and instead detain me? Blasphemy is happening right now!"
"Priest Benjamin, don't you know your unverified rumors could plunge not just people but society itself into chaos? Accusing the captain of the Goddess's Sword Unit of apostasy would cause massive social upheaval and isn't permissible. And the Goddess being bound and restrained? Good grief... Who's truly committing blasphemy here?"
"Is it the will of Goddess Lunia to brand someone trying to reveal the truth as a heretic and imprison them for no good reason?!"
"Is defending wanted criminals and false holy warriors the will of Goddess Lunia?"
At that moment, Ravi, Elfin, and Lenis burst into the church, shouting.
"Alvis has no reason to be wanted or called a pretender!"
"His behavior might be rough, but that guy's the savior of our entire race! Don't badmouth him!"
"Do you even know how many lives would have been lost without Alvis? What happened in the Transen Mountains? Let Mr. Benjamin go!"
The high priest of Revendale Church pointed at the three—who had removed their hoods and masks upon entering—then turned to Benjamin.
"These must be... accomplices from that Ebony Shadow Mercenaries group! Their physical features match the wanted descriptions perfectly! Priest Benjamin, you went on about sheltering criminals in the church, and now you've joined forces with the pretender's gang! Is that why you're slandering the captain of the Goddess's Sword Unit and trying to get the pretender off the wanted list?!"
"Why won't you understand? If my words are so hard to believe, just verify it once with the power from the Goddess!"
"Silence! Benjamin, as of this moment, you are fully excommunicated from the Lunia Church and declared an apostate sowing social chaos! All priests of the church, immediately judge Benjamin for defending criminals, slandering the captain of the Goddess's Sword Unit, and blasphemy, and arrest these accomplices of the wanted criminal!"
"Yes!"
Seeing the Revendale high priest dismiss Benjamin's words like a screen door in a typhoon, Ravi, Elfin, and Lenis exchanged glances.
"...Could he be one of the Underground Vermin too?"
"Looks that way."
"Alvis would have seen through it instantly... Guess we have no choice but to fight."
The church was so massive that it housed a large number of resident guards and priests.
Even outnumbered, they couldn't carelessly kill priests of the church, so the three entered combat stance with troubled expressions.
Priests poured out of the church, surrounding the three accomplices of the wanted criminal, while the Revendale high priest and some senior priests attacked Benjamin.
Benjamin, already severely injured and barely mobile, couldn't mount a proper defense. The three were swarmed by numbers and couldn't reach him recklessly.
The battle dragged on for over an hour, and Benjamin finally hit his limit, vomiting blood.
"Cough..."
As Benjamin spat blood, the Revendale high priest and senior priests gathered holy power and pierced his body.
"Gaaahhh!!"
Benjamin's scream made the three fighting turn their heads.
"Mr. Benjamin!"
"I... I'm not lying... Why won't you believe me..."
Struck by the priests' holy power blasts—like magic—Benjamin pleaded with the priests from his deathly pale face.
But the Revendale high priest and priests remained cold, intent only on eliminating him.
Holding back to avoid killing priests made the fight increasingly hopeless. Finally, Ravi steeled herself inwardly.
'If this continues, we'll never clear our names, and Mr. Benjamin will die. Without Alvis, someone has to decide. They won't even listen to us... I know the priests are innocent, but...'
Her body trembled at the decision she knew she shouldn't make, but with no other way, she gathered strength in her legs.
Wind began swirling at Ravi's toes as she called to Elfin and Lenis.
"Elfin, Lenis. Without Alvis, we have no choice but to decide. If we let this go, nothing changes, and Mr. Benjamin dies. So... I'll get my hands dirty."
"Ravi, you don't mean you're really going to attack?!"
"No other way. I'll take all the blame. You two prepare to heal Mr. Benjamin. And once it's over, pretend you don't know me. Everything that happens here is my doing alone. Got it?"
"Ravi, no! If you do that, you'll..."
"......Sorry, both of you. And tell Alvis I'm sorry too. We probably can't travel together anymore..."
Rather than all getting captured helplessly, Ravi resolved to cross the line and kicked off.
Whoosh!
A blade of wind powerful enough to cleave the building shot from her leg. Unable to bear seeing what she'd done, Ravi squeezed her eyes shut.
KABOOM!
But no sound of a body being sliced came. Instead, a massive shockwave—like the wind clashing with something—engulfed the area.
"Ugh...?!"
A brilliant light began shining through the billowing dust.
As the dust cleared slightly, in the center stood a brown-haired man with translucent golden wings.
The moment they saw his face, tears burst from Ravi's, Elfin's, and Lenis's eyes.
"Everyone okay? I didn't show up too late, did I?"
"Alvis!!!"