Chapter 331: translated
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 331
The next day, Pio and Aurora headed to the Shalibi Library in response to the summons. The Shalibi Library was crowded with not only holy knights but also regular knights.
Luca stood on a hastily constructed high platform and spoke.
"We will mobilize all our forces to head to Sanctus Lumen tomorrow and end the devil outbreak."
The knights murmured at Luca's words.
"So we're really heading to Sanctus Lumen."
"Isn't this just suicide? It seems better to hold out until reinforcements arrive from elsewhere."
Luca shouted with more aura in his voice.
"I know what concerns you all have. But you don't need to worry about anything."
Behind Luca appeared the Unyielding Yo-heum, Infinite Nivia, and Recovery Mila.
"We, the Baptized Ones, will personally remove the cause of the devil outbreak."
A knight shouted.
"So what is the cause of this devil outbreak! Is it really in Sanctus Lumen?"
"It is."
"Then what is it?"
Luca looked at the Baptized Ones behind him and nodded slightly.
"Until now, I've been cautious about telling you. But I now think it's not right to hide it anymore, so I'm going to reveal it."
At Luca's calm voice, the knights stopped murmuring, folded their arms, and looked at Luca with an attitude of 'Well, let's hear it.'
Luca opened his mouth with a devastated expression.
"The cause of the devil outbreak is none other than the corrupted former Pope, Alexander VI."
The gathered people fell into a panic at Luca's shocking statement.
"What? His Holiness Pope Alexander VI?"
"I heard His Holiness the Pope had gone missing... Are you saying His Holiness betrayed humanity?"
Luca opened his mouth with a somewhat pained voice.
"I dared to judge that revealing this fact would shake your faith and chivalry. But after receiving advice from my comrades and wise priests, I realized that I was underestimating your faith and your fighting spirit against evil."
"Everyone, please help me just this once. I will cut off the head of the corrupted Pope who has revealed his ambition to rule the world and bring peace to Dre Province."
Luca bowed his head to the audience.
"So I ask you. Please help me."
People were so surprised they didn't know how to react. Mighty Luca was known to be honorable and noble. It was known that he considered bowing his head to others as disrespecting the Goddess.
Yet that noble Luca was bowing his head.
"...Well, we can't just keep holding out in Shalibi forever."
"It might be better to strike while we still have some leeway."
The knights' reactions were quite positive.
Luca raised his head after observing the public's reaction.
"Then I'll proceed with the operation briefing. First, I plan to divide you into groups, and I've explained the detailed operation plan to the company commanders."
Fifteen holy knights stood below the platform.
"You will be divided into 15 companies and 5 battalions to carry out this mission. Since we'll execute the operation tomorrow, I would appreciate it if you could actively follow their instructions."
Luca bowed his head again.
"Once again, thank you."
Pio and Aurora watched Luca's retreating back from the platform with suspicious eyes.
"The Pope is the cause of the devil outbreak..."
"Something feels fishy, or is it just me?"
"I feel the same. He explained it was the Pope, but he didn't properly explain why the Pope is leading the devil outbreak. He didn't explain why the Pope became corrupted either."
Aurora spoke while watching the company commanders calling out the names of their company members.
"Won't those people explain it?"
"Do you think you can trust their explanations?"
"Honestly, I can't fully believe it."
One company commander pointed at Pio and said.
"Sir Pio! 1st Company. Please gather here!"
Soon after, Aurora was also called by another company commander.
"Lady Aurora! 15th Company! Please come here!"
"...We've been completely separated."
Pio whispered to Aurora.
"Let's set one iron rule. Survive no matter what. Absolutely no heroics about cutting off the Pope's head."
"I know. I don't want to die here either."
"Second, don't trust the company commanders."
"I know. When they called others, they just called their names until they came, but with us, they pointed us out specifically. They clearly know about us."
Pio looked at Aurora with surprise.
"You're quite perceptive?"
"When you're suspicious, things become apparent."
Aurora winked and smiled brightly.
"Then, see you alive."
***
Time passed quickly, and the next morning arrived.
Pio left through the main gate with his company members.
"I'll explain the operation again. Our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Companies are responsible for clearing the path for the main force led by Commander Luca. Other companies have already been performing diversionary operations since 30 minutes ago."
The sound of clashing steel and screams entered Pio's ears. As the 1st Company commander said, it seemed other company members were already carrying out their operations.
"So we need to move quickly and strike forward to minimize the main force's power loss until we reach Sanctus Lumen. Please be careful not to fall behind."
The 1st Company commander looked at Pio and spoke.
"Pio, Deputy Company Commander, do you understand?"
Pio nodded slightly with an expressionless face.
The 1st Company Commander appointed Pio as the Deputy Company Commander as soon as he saw him. There was no particular reason. Knights with more experience than Pio were assigned as platoon leaders, and among the remaining personnel, he appeared to be the most trustworthy.
Pio didn't think that was the only reason he was appointed as Deputy Company Commander.
'It's telling me not to run away.'
He had been suspicious since yesterday, and it seemed they had found out that Pio and Aurora were close to Giggs. It was clear they were trying to keep special watch on him like this.
Deputy Company Commander was just a grand title with no actual authority, just an empty position. The 1st Company Commander looked at his pocket watch. It's 5 AM.
"We will proceed with the operation."
Pio ran straight along the northern path with the company members. The smell of morning dew mixed with the scent of blood. Nevertheless, the lack of devil traces suggested that other companies were carrying out the deception operation well.
'Companies 1 through 15 are all composed of regular knights.'
Of course, the company commanders were Holy Knights, but most of the Holy Knights were with Luca in the main force. In other words, they were planning to use regular knights as bait while preserving the strength of the Holy Knights.
Although the company commanders explained that Sanctus Lumen was the most dangerous, so the main force would actually have a higher mortality rate, Pio didn't fully believe that. He thought there must be some other hidden agenda.
How far had they run? In the distance, he saw a knight being chased by a devil.
"Aaaaargh! Help me!"
The devil had two horns on its head. Its distinctive feature was the sharp blades attached to both hands.
Pio pushed off with his legs and moved forward. Just before the devil was about to cut the knight's neck, Pio blocked its blade.
Clang!
The devil's blade was deflected.
Grrrrrr......!
Pio made eye contact with the devil.
As he had felt during previous operations, these devils seemed surprisingly unintelligent.
Normally, a devil with 2 horns would display human-like intelligence. They could communicate to some extent, and some devils even committed suicide because they couldn't accept becoming a devil. Yet despite having 2 horns, this devil aggressively charged at Pio like a beast driven by instinct, drooling.
"Help Sir Pio!"
Pio saw company members coming to his aid. Sorry, but Pio's role ends here. Pio let his body be hit by the devil's blade swung with full force.
Thud!
Pio fell straight down the cliff where dawn twilight still lingered.
"Sir Pio!"
The company commander struck the devil's leg. Then company members rushed in, beheaded the devil and cut off its limbs.
The devil died quickly, but the company commander's gaze was not on the devil.
"......Damn it."
The 1st Company Commander frowned. Luca had ordered special surveillance on Pio, but he had deserted at the very beginning of the operation.
While he was deliberating whether to search for him or not, other devils appeared before the 1st Company. The 1st Company Commander gripped his sword tightly. Special surveillance on Pio was a secondary mission; the original objective of the 1st Company was to clear a path to Sanctus Lumen.
The 1st Company Commander raised his sword toward the devils.
"All advance!"
The knights followed the 1st Company Commander's order and charged.
***
Pio hid himself in a tree.
'When are they coming?'
According to the plan, the main force should follow this path cleared by the 1st Battalion within 5 minutes. Sure enough, the main force led by Luca arrived.
The main force consisted of as many as 5 battalions. Similar in size to the other battalions carrying out the deception operation.
Luca was moving at a light jog near the center of the main force. While he could have just returned to Shalibi, since he had already come this far, he wanted to find out Luca's real reason for heading to Sanctus Lumen.
He was a bit worried about Aurora, but Aurora's swordsmanship was much better than Pio's. Aurora would find a way to survive. Putting aside his concerns for Aurora, Pio followed Luca.
The journey to Sanctus Lumen was long. It would take almost half a day by carriage. Facing resistance from devils along the way, it would clearly take two to three days at the fastest.
At that moment, the main force changed direction. Instead of heading north toward Sanctus Lumen, they turned east.
'What's going on?'
Wasn't the reason for the 1st Battalion to clear the path to Sanctus Lumen to ensure the safety of the main force?
Why did they suddenly change direction?
Soon, an abandoned church appeared in the forest. It was so old that the church walls were covered with a blanket of ivy vines and moss. The Holy Knights entered the church. And the Holy Knights who entered did not come out.
The fact that an entire battalion entered that small church and no one came out meant there was a secret passage. Pio calmly waited until all the Holy Knights had entered before entering the church himself.
The secret passage inside the church was extremely easy to find. There was an underground passage beneath the broken church altar. Pio slowly entered the underground passage. It wasn't difficult to find the way because he could hear the sound of knights walking and armor scraping against the walls, and the torches carried by the Holy Knights lit the path.
'They were planning to use the secret passage from the beginning.'
Pio calmly followed the Holy Knights while maintaining distance. The Holy Knights continued walking forward without looking back even once.
How much time had passed? Pio opened his pocket watch to check the time.
'......20 hours.'
The Holy Knights had marched through this narrow passage for 20 hours. One might expect at least one person to fall behind, but all members of the 5 battalions walked without a single person missing.
"Pass it back, this is the last rest. In 30 minutes, we cut off the head of the vicious Alexander."
Only then did Pio catch his breath and take a rest.
Even for someone like Pio, marching for 20 hours was tiring. Walking through an enclosed underground passage was mentally wearing as well.
Pio had a light snack of water and cookies while listening to the knights' conversations.
"We're really going now."
"Alexander, that damn bastard. Selling his soul to the devils of Niflheim just to become younger."
"Goddess Dre, please watch over us."
Some were praying tensely while others were strengthening their resolve. Luca might not know, but their faith and spirit seemed genuine.
'Will it really end just by killing the Pope?'
If so, whatever happens, once the job is done, he could immediately head to Homigraph with Pesson and Theon from Shalibi.
'I hope Caesar has taken care of Hiya.'
While Pio was closing his eyes and saying his own prayers...
Baaaaaaang!
A thunderous noise erupted from the entrance of the underground passage.
Aaaaaa! Aaaaargh!
The Holy Knights hurriedly stood up and drew their swords.
"Wh-what?!"
"Could we have been discovered?"
At that moment, the ceiling of the underground passage collapsed.
Boom!
Holy Knights crushed under the pile of stones fell, bleeding. Through the broken ceiling, cold night air and devils poured in like a flood.
"D-devils!"
"Kill them!"
The Holy Knights responded immediately, but the battlefield was terribly unfavorable.
In the narrow passage with both front and back blocked, devils rushed in like a tide through the broken ceiling.
"Break through forward! Forward!"
The Holy Knights began to escape toward the entrance of the underground passage. But due to the bottleneck effect, the Holy Knights couldn't move forward, and in some places, collapsing sections of the tunnel crushed knights to death.
Pio made a cold assessment.
'Let's escape.'
This was clearly going to be a total annihilation.
He needed to inform Shalibi as quickly as possible about the Holy Knights' annihilation, even if he could do so an hour earlier.
The moment Pio turned around to flee, a blade shot out from the darkness. Pio raised his sword to deflect the blade, but since it was such a sudden attack, blood flowed from his side.
Ahhh!
Two purple eyes appeared in the darkness. A devil.
"Damn."