Chapter 325: translated
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 325
Caesar and Roland disappeared, swallowed by the fierce current.
"Sir Caesar!"
"Gloria, lower your head!"
Gloria followed Raven's instruction and ducked her head. A rock brushed past over Gloria's head.
"Lady Raven! My master...!"
"I know!"
Raven bit her lip while clearing away collapsed soil or adjusting the ice on the ground.
"Trust Caesar! That guy will somehow return alive. He always has until now."
At that moment, a small piece of rock flew toward Raven's head. Gloria immediately blocked the rock fragment with Blood Moon.
"...You're right."
The only thing Gloria and Raven could do now was one thing. Escape from this waterway. Raven's ice fragment boat headed steeply toward Montmesis.
***
The White Tower.
A sanctuary where the Saint stays and the most secret place of the Royder Order.
Even priests of the Royder Order cannot enter this White Tower freely, and only specially selected priests from Inquisitor backgrounds and Holy Grail Knights have access to this place.
That's why the White Tower priests and Holy Grail Knights felt great pride in doing the most secretive yet important work in the Royder Order.
Of course, they also handled the most degrading tasks within the Royder Order, proportional to their high pride.
"Aaaaaaaargh!"
Deep underground in the White Tower. A man with one leg cut off struggled while tied to a bed.
"Let me go! Let me go right now! You crazy bastards!"
The man had already lost all fingers on both hands. However, some were in the process of healing.
"How much longer are you going to do this...! Just. Just kill me now!!!"
Regardless, the priests carried on with their tasks.
"I will now conduct the 11th experiment on test subject 234-32."
The White Tower priests brought in a woman completely bound in white prison clothes. The prison uniform had 234-32 written on it.
The woman's eyes were already cloudy, as if she had lost her mind. The priests drew blood from the woman and put it into a machine placed beside them. As soon as the machine absorbed the blood, it began operating with white steam and started mixing with various prepared chemicals.
The blood circulated through the machine and entered a beaker with a small funnel. The blood that had circulated through the device was not red but black. The priests clicked their tongues.
"It seems it will fail again."
"Still, we have to try."
The priests approached the man with his leg cut off. The man shed tears continuously.
"Stop it now... It was useless! How many times has this been?!"
"Beginning the 11th experiment."
The priests prayed with their hands together.
"All of this is for Goddess Royder."
"Aaaaaaaah!"
The priests poured black liquid onto the man's wound. As the black liquid entered the wound, the man foamed at the mouth and trembled violently. But regardless, the priests observed the test subject's condition.
"Is it shock symptoms?"
"I can't tell if it's due to severe pain or a mental issue."
At that moment, the man's eyes turned purple and horns began to grow. The priests clicked their tongues.
"Tsk, devilization again."
"I thought this one might last longer."
The Holy Grail Knights who were waiting behind came forward and immediately beheaded the man who had turned into a devil.
Thwack!
Purple blood splattered as the man's head rolled on the floor. The priests mechanically put the head in a sack and recorded it in documents.
"It seems test subject 32 itself was wrong."
"I think it should be disposed of."
"I agree. Let's discuss the disposal method for test subject 32 later."
At that moment, a cardinal wearing a red biretta entered the laboratory. The priests and Holy Grail Knights bowed their heads.
"You've arrived, Cardinal."
The cardinal clicked his tongue looking at the purple blood on the floor.
"Still not working?"
"Unfortunately, that is the case."
"The fate of the Royder Order rests on your shoulders."
The cardinal walked down the stairs and lifted the chin of the woman who was looking at him with cloudy eyes.
"It's been nearly half a year since the blessing of holy water disappeared. Dull believers are leaving the order, and heretics are spreading everywhere."
"...I apologize. But have you received any contact from Sir Roland?"
"Not yet. But according to the interim report, it seems he lost many Holy Grail Knights and priests. I was about to issue a return order since we might lose even the Holy Grail in this situation, but it seems he has gone missing."
The priests' expressions hardened at the cardinal's words. Roland's disappearance meant that the Holy Grail was also lost, which was the same as saying that the majority of believers who trusted the Royder Order could leave.
"That's why your role is important. You need to create holy water for the order to stand firm."
"Yes. Understood."
"Good. Then keep up the good work."
At that moment, a beaker beside the cardinal fell.
"Hmm?"
Following that, syringes and various instruments fell from the desk and tumbled on the floor. The cardinal looked at the ceiling and said:
"Didn't you feel like the ground was shaking?"
"Yes, that's right."
Crack!
At that moment, the cement floor split and the place where the cardinal was standing collapsed.
"Aaaaaah!"
In an instant, the cardinal disappeared underground, and the Holy Grail Knights and priests ran to the hole in surprise.
"Cardinal!"
"Aaaaaah!"
But in the middle, the ground where the priests and Holy Grail Knights were standing also collapsed and they were sucked down. The surviving priests and Holy Grail Knights couldn't approach the sinkhole any closer and could only look on. Below the sinkhole, a rapid current flowed along with soil and debris.
"What is this……."
"Was there such a large waterway under here?"
"My goodness, where does this waterway connect to?"
Beyond that, where on earth did all this water flow from? I had never heard news of so much rain falling yesterday or today.
Crack, crack!
But the questions they asked had no meaning in front of the collapsing ceiling and splitting walls.
"Run away!"
Thinking they might be crushed to death if they weren't careful, the priests and Holy Grail knights began to hurriedly leave the laboratory.
***
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The entire White Tower shook, causing the mountain birds around to flee.
"What on earth is happening!"
The priests and Holy Grail knights in the tower were so startled that they all rushed outside.
"The test subjects! We need to gather the records……! Ugh!"
"The Cardinal is still inside!"
The Holy Grail knights and priests who were going back inside for various reasons were knocked down or buried by falling concrete. The priests looked up at the top of the White Tower from outside.
The angle at which the White Tower stood was subtle. The tower that had clearly been standing straight now seemed slightly tilted.
Bang!
Eventually, with a thunderous noise, dirt and water erupted from behind the White Tower.
"Where is that?!"
"It's in the direction of the Saints' garden!"
The priests and Holy Grail knights immediately rushed to the Saints' garden.
The beautiful garden decorated with flowers that bloom even in winter had become a mess. Dirty muddy water had crushed the flowers, and the Saints' columbarium in the center of the garden was half-destroyed.
While the priests and Holy Grail knights were staring blankly at a phenomenon they could neither understand nor handle, two women walked out from the broken columbarium.
It was Gloria and Raven.
Gloria shouted from the waterway where muddy water was spewing out. The holy grail knights immediately rushed toward Gloria.
"They are the suspects who damaged the White Tower! Catch them immediately!"
One holy grail knight approached Gloria and swung his sword. Gloria lifted Blood Moon to counter the Holy Grail knight's sword.
Bang!
Gloria was pushed back by the heavy sword of the Holy Grail knight. It was because fatigue had not yet subsided, even though she had taken a little rest.
Another Holy Grail knight rushed to Gloria's side.
'I can't block it……!'
At that moment, an ice spear flew and struck the Holy Grail knight's foot.
Crack!
The Holy Grail knight tripped over with his foot bound by the ice spear. Gloria retreated and stood in front of Raven.
The Holy Grail knights surrounded Gloria and Raven with threatening eyes.
"Wait! I can explain everything!"
"What do you mean wait!"
The Holy Grail knights slowly tightened their encirclement as they walked.
"You are serious criminals who damaged the White Tower!"
"White Tower? This place is the White Tower?"
"Don't pretend not to know!"
Raven prepared a spell.
"Gloria, we need to talk with people who will listen to reason."
"Still, fighting like this isn't right, is it? We need to find Master too."
"Before worrying about Master, worry about surviving first. It doesn't seem like those guys are going to listen to us anyway."
Raven's gaze turned toward the White Tower.
"May I ask one thing?"
"We are the ones asking questions! Witches!"
"Is there a difference in punishment between damaging the White Tower and destroying the White Tower?"
"……What?"
Raven raised her wand toward the increasingly tilting White Tower.
"W-wait!"
"It doesn't seem like there's much difference anyway."
Raven's wand spewed fire.
Then, with a massive explosion, several pillars supporting the White Tower exploded.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The speed at which the White Tower tilted was now visibly faster.
"Aaaaargh!"
"Catch those women immediately!"
As the holy grail knights rushed in, Raven immediately used the spatial movement magic she had prepared in advance.
Swoosh!
As Raven and Gloria suddenly disappeared, the Holy Grail knights and priests became like dogs who had lost their chickens, stupidly watching the collapsing tower.
"……Oh, Goddess."
Crash!
The White Tower collapsed with a cloud of dust.
***
When Raven lit a fire, the dark interior was revealed.
"Where is this?"
"The building we were in just now."
Gloria pushed the door with her shoulder.
"It seems to be blocked. Can we do something with magic?"
"I think we can get out if we find a weak spot in the foundation. Wait a moment."
While Raven was using her search magic, Gloria looked around. She was looking for any hole they might escape through.
At that time, Gloria's eyes caught broken pottery and white powder. Gloria examined the name written on an intact piece of pottery on the drawer.
"Dorothy, Bean, Sharon……."
Although it had collapsed severely, the overall interior structure and the records on the pottery made it seem clear where they were.
"This seems to be a columbarium."
"Not an ordinary columbarium, I suppose."
"Could it be a columbarium for priests or Holy Grail knights?"
"No."
Raven examined the names on the pottery placed in the drawer compartments.
"Everyone here is a Saint."
Then, a familiar name caught Gloria's eye.
"...Lebelia."
She might not know the other Saints, but she knew this woman's name. She was the most recently elected Saint and the Saint right before Gloria.
"Why is this person here?"
"Because she died."
"I know that. But I think I heard that Saints, after retirement, live together in a village where retired Saints live……."
"That place seems to be here, this columbarium."
Raven found a gap in the collapsed columbarium. Raven immediately used magic to widen the gap.
"Let's think after we get out of here first. And let's quickly find Caesar too."
Gloria and Raven emerged through the gap that had opened. The surroundings were in chaos. Dead priests and Holy Grail Knights who had bled out could be seen everywhere, and some survivors were seen staggering.
"There they are......! Those are the suspects!"
The surviving Holy Grail Knights came running with bloodshot eyes.
"Goddess Royder will curse you!"
Raven found the Holy Grail Knights' words somewhat amusing. Would they know that the Goddess Royder they believed in had been killed by Roland? And she wasn't sure if they knew that Gloria was a saint.
"Gloria, get ready."
"Yes."
Gloria took a deep breath and held up the Blood Moon.
"Let's deal with all of them and then go find Sir Caesar's."
As the Holy Grail Knights rushed in, blood flowed from Kos. Gloria smeared the flowing blood onto the Blood Moon.
The Blood Moon absorbed the blood and blazed ominously.
"Aaaaaaah!"
One of the Holy Grail Knights swung his sword toward Gloria. Gloria swung the blood-soaked Blood Moon.
Bang!
The blood on the Blood Moon exploded, engulfing the Holy Grail Knight.
Gloria smeared the Holy Grail Knight's blood again and swung her sword toward the Holy Grail Knights who were following.
Kwaaaaang-!
The Holy Grail Knights were caught in the explosive power of the Blood Moon and fluttered like sheets of paper.
"It's a devil! A devil's sword!"
"A witch with a devil sword! Kill her immediately!"
Gloria snorted.
"What? You're calling me a witch?"
Gloria swung the Blood Moon toward a Holy Grail Knight who was immobilized by Raven's ice spear.
"I am a saint!"
Baaaaang!