Suspicious Movements
Nahen suddenly felt a strange sensation and looked up at the sky.
For a moment, as he gazed upward, he found himself worrying whether Seere was doing well. Nahen let out a deep sigh. Dane, standing beside him, asked,
“My lord, are you feeling unwell?”
“…No. It’s nothing like that.”
It felt like the unease of leaving a child by the water’s edge. He was worried in many ways that Seere might cause some kind of accident. She was undoubtedly an intelligent child, but she was still a Demon King. Unlike him, she did not see humans as individual persons. To her, they were no different from ants crawling along the roadside. No one would criticize her for whatever she did to ants, and she herself would feel no guilt. That made it all the more likely she would cause trouble.
He had warned her not to cause any incidents, but…
‘Considering a Demon King’s nature, there’s a good chance she’ll ignore my warning.’
The Demon Kings in Evil Queen Maker were fundamentally vicious. It wasn’t that their personalities were broken; it was simply their innate disposition as beings born to rule and dominate. From an ordinary person’s perspective, they were born with cruel and tyrannical temperaments from the start. That was an essential virtue for domination.
That was why Nahen had been so surprised when he first saw Seere. She had looked and behaved like nothing more than an ordinary young girl. Even now that she had grown, she was still far gentler and cuter than one would expect from a Demon King, but…
“…One cannot deny their instincts.”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind. More importantly, are you ready?”
“Yes. I’ve acquired them.”
Nahen and Dane were about to commit an absolutely outrageous act. It was something the citizens of the Holy Kingdom could never even imagine.
Dane handed Nahen a pure white robe, a cross necklace, and a thick book.
Indeed. They intended to infiltrate the cathedral by disguising themselves as priests.
It was incredibly bold, but Nahen was confident they would not be discovered.
“What about our identities?”
“In any case, identities are not verified inside the cathedral. The doctrine states that all status is meaningless before the Heavenly God. However, we still need names to use, so I’ve prepared them in advance.”
“I see.”
“Your name will be Antonio, my lord, and I will be Georgius.”
They were names that sounded fitting for clergymen. When Dane handed Nahen the identification papers, Nahen slightly furrowed his brow.
“Dane, there’s blood on the identification papers.”
“…My apologies. I will correct it immediately.”
“We won’t be needing the adventurer identities anymore.”
Nahen set the clothes Dane had given him on the ground for a moment, then snapped his fingers. In an instant, the clothes were on him. Dane watched the sight with open fascination.
“The clothes changed in the blink of an eye.”
“That’s because I’m not actually wearing them.”
“Pardon?”
Nahen pointed at the ground. The priest’s robes Dane had handed him were still lying there exactly as before.
“I transformed the clothes I was already wearing to match these.”
“Ah… I see.”
It seemed to be magic. Unlike when Eri cast her spells, Dane had seen Nahen use magic several times without any incantation at all.
‘How fascinating.’
Thinking that, Dane handed his own clothes to Nahen.
“Would it be possible for me as well?”
Although it was a secluded alley, they were still outside. If he had been alone, he would have changed quickly and cleaned up, but doing so in front of Nahen felt rather strange.
“Of course.”
When Nahen did the same for him, Dane bowed his head in gratitude. Nahen then cleared his throat slightly and deliberately altered his voice as he spoke.
“Then let us be on our way, Brother Georgius.”
“…Yes, understood. Brother Antonio.”
Dane was honestly impressed. He could even change his voice? At this point, Dane was beginning to wonder if there was anything Nahen couldn’t do.
As Nahen and Dane—now Antonio and Georgius—approached the entrance of the cathedral, the stern holy knights glanced at them once. However, they made no move to stop them. They simply gave a slight bow in greeting.
‘The disguise is perfect.’
The garments Dane had obtained were the exact attire given only to priests affiliated with the cathedral itself, so they received no suspicion whatsoever. Who would dare imagine that someone would murder a cathedral priest and steal his clothes?
Nahen inwardly thought that leaving Dane alive five years ago and raising him had been an excellent decision.
The moment they entered the cathedral, an inexplicable feeling of discomfort washed over him. Nahen realized it was the divine power of the Heavenly God that permeated the cathedral.
“Brother Georgius, where should we go?”
Wanting to finish the task quickly and leave, Nahen asked. Dane raised the pitch of his voice and replied in a completely different tone.
“Let us head to the central hall over there, Brother Antonio.”
As the two walked toward the hall, a passing priest noticed them and offered a silent bow. Nahen turned to the priest and asked,
“Brother.”
“Yes?”
“Has His Holiness emerged from his chambers today? I was away and didn’t hear any news.”
“Ah… I’m not sure, sir. I haven’t seen His Holiness recently myself.”
“I see.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of help, sir.”
“Not at all, Brother.”
Nahen made the sign of the cross as he spoke.
“May the Heavenly God’s protection be with you.”
“May the Heavenly God’s protection be with you.”
After the priest bowed deeply and left, Nahen gave a self-mocking smile.
An Archdemon who had possessed a human body, making the sign of the cross and invoking the Heavenly God’s blessing. It was truly an ironic situation.
“The Pope is in his chambers.”
“That seems highly likely. Have you located where his chambers are?”
“Not the exact location, but there is a restricted area connected to the central hall that only priests may enter. There’s an underground space there whose purpose is unknown… I suspect he is there.”
“They’ve hidden him well.”
Nahen stepped into the central hall. For a moment, he quietly observed the scenery around him.
The incredibly high ceiling, the colorful stained glass, the believers, priests, and clergymen bustling about, and even the holy knights. This was the landscape of the sanctuary blessed by the Heavenly God.
Nahen looked around briefly before heading toward the priests’ district that Dane had mentioned. Perhaps because he had stepped into the sanctuary, his mood was growing steadily worse. He felt irritated for no reason, and a sense of displeasure weighed on him. Sensing the atmosphere, Dane deliberately kept his mouth shut and began watching Nahen’s mood carefully.
“Dane.”
Even though they were still inside the cathedral, he called him by his real name instead of the alias. Dane did not point it out and simply bowed his head loyally in response.
“Yes, my lord.”
“Being in this place is incredibly unpleasant. We need to finish this quickly.”
“I will find it.”
Dane vanished on the spot. It was astonishing how he could hide himself so perfectly in such a wide, open space; in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
Nahen ran a hand through his hair.
‘My mood… isn’t improving at all.’
Was it because he was an Archdemon? Or was there some other reason? Either way, every time he felt the sacred energy spread throughout the place, his mood continued to sour.
“…I need to finish this quickly and leave.”
With that thought, Nahen followed the path Dane had taken.
“…Your Holiness.”
In the Pope’s chambers, a naked woman spoke in a puzzled voice. The Pope, who had been resting with his head on her thigh, opened his eyes at the sound.
“What is it, Lily?”
“Did you… perhaps call for someone else?”
“What are you saying? Lily, you are the only one for me. You are the only one in this world who appreciates my hard work. How could I do such a thing?”
“Then this presence…”
Lily narrowed her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. She listened carefully. The sound of footsteps coming from the direction of the priests’ district. The sound of dust rolling across the floor. The sound of tiny insects crawling. And the sound of something with a bit of weight falling.
‘…Weight?’
Lily helped the Pope sit up and asked for his understanding.
“Your Holiness, may I disturb you for a moment?”
“What is it?”
“I’m going to break this place open for a second.”
“Huh?”
Lily lightly clenched her fist and punched straight up toward the ceiling. The Pope’s chambers were built with incredibly sturdy materials to guard against outside intrusion. Being underground, it was designed not to collapse even in a major earthquake.
BOOM!!
Yet when Lily struck with her fist, the ceiling shattered instantly. The Pope looked on in great alarm and called out to her.
“L-Lily!?”
“As I thought… there was a rat.”
Something was caught in Lily’s hand. When she yanked it hard, a man was dragged down with it. Lily slammed him violently onto the floor.
“Gah!!!”
“What is this, Your Holiness?”
It was a slender, handsome man. The Pope had never seen his face before. He shook his head.
“I-I don’t know either. An intruder? But how could he have gotten this far…”
“That’s what I’d like to know, Your Holiness.”
When Lily’s expression hardened completely, the Pope’s face turned deathly pale as he hurried to soothe her.
“Th-this must be some mistake. No one can intrude upon my chambers. It is located directly beneath the priests’ district, so only priests can enter from above, and the path leading underground is guarded by carefully selected, highly skilled holy knights. You know that, don’t you, Lily?”
“Then how did this rat get in?”
Lily pointed at the man who had collapsed on the floor. But then she became slightly flustered.
“…What?”
He had vanished. She had definitely struck him hard enough to knock him unconscious. Lily blinked and looked around. She could hear the sound of him fleeing through the hole she had punched in the ceiling.
‘He endured that impact even though he’s only human?’
Lily grit her teeth and spoke to the Pope.
“Catch him. Now.”
“Y-yes, I understand. I’ll contact the holy knights right away and…”
“Well done, Dane.”
At that moment, Lily looked up at the voice coming from beyond the ceiling and met a pair of eyes. Golden eyes that inspired fear at a mere glance.
“…Huh?”
“So it was the work of Hell after all.”
A man dropped down with a heavy thud. No one knew where he had come from, but he had descended lightly into the Pope’s chambers. Lily, who had been boldly making demands of the Pope just moments ago, fell completely silent. She knew exactly who he was.
His appearance had changed somewhat, but there was no way a demon like her could fail to recognize him. Those golden eyes that inspired both fear and goosebumps upon meeting them were the very symbol of a certain Archdemon.
“H-how… why are you…”
“It would be wise to answer while I’m still asking nicely.”
At that moment, a small white whale appeared beside the man. It popped into existence and looked up at him; the sight was utterly adorable, yet Lily could not find it cute even for a second.
‘The Beast of the Apocalypse… Leviathan…’
It was a monster classified as one of the most dangerous beasts even in Hell. The man who commanded such a creature asked Lily a simple question.
“Whose orders did you come here on?”