Chapter 59
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Upheaval (3)
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Evan, Rex, and their group passed through the castle gates without any issue.
Though some guards eyed them with suspicion at the news of the centurion's death, no one was bold enough to stop the people vouched for by Rex.
After passing through, Evan led the believers toward the city's inner fortress.
There was only one reason to bring believers disguised as soldiers all the way to the inner fortress.
Seeing Evan's suspicious movements, Rex quickly surmised his objective.
"Sir Evan why are you bringing the believers? Don't tell me"
"I'm going to seize the inner fortress, starting now."
""
"It would be best to clean things up on the inside before word gets out."
In that moment, Rex's suspicion turned to certainty.
Seize the inner fortress.
The words meant only one thing.
Evan intended to change the master of this city today.
Evan's plan gave Rex a headache.
His father, Count Maier, was still alive and well, and the countess and her loyal forces remained in the inner fortress.
With believers who couldn't even form a full company of a hundred, seizing the fortress seemed next to impossible.
"Sir Evan, this seems far too reckless"
"We need to secure the inner fortress before news arrives."
"What? What news?"
"Except for the Honorary Bishop, everyone will wait here until I've secured the inner fortress and returned."
Rex was stunned by Evan's plan to attack the city's inner fortress and tried to stop him.
But Evan paid him no mind, instead leaving the believers outside.
Rex's footsteps followed Evan as he walked alone toward the entrance of the inner fortress.
Just as Evan and Rex approached the guards standing watch at the entrance.
One of the guards looked at Evan with suspicious eyes and asked.
"Young Lord. Who are these soldiers behind you?"
"Ah, well"
Soldiers who had no business being at the inner fortress were now waiting at its entrance.
It was only natural for the guards protecting it to be suspicious.
Rex was about to step forward to persuade them, but Evan stopped him and spoke to the guard.
"Open the way."
Even as a knight serving the firstborn son, he couldn't simply ignore the procedures for entering the inner fortress.
The guard frowned at Evan's rude demeanor and spoke to him.
"Unauthorized troops are not permitted to enter the inner fortress."
"I believe I told you to open the gate."
"You need authorization"
"Then die."
Evan's hand shot out and grabbed the guard's head.
The guard was still flustered by Evan's sudden move when
Crack!
A blue bolt of lightning flashed from the hand gripping the guard's head.
After the flash of light, the guard went limp and collapsed.
Seeing Evan take down one of their own, the guard right next to him raised his weapon.
He stared at Evan in alarm, warning him about his actions.
"What do you think you're doing! Even if you are the young lord's knight"
"Astrape."
"Gah!"
BOOM!
With a flash of light from Evan's hand, the other guard at the entrance also collapsed.
Evan's eyes swept over the two fallen guards.
The guards at the gate were but a tiny fraction of the forces defending the inner fortress.
Once he passed through the gate and entered, a proper battle would begin.
Gulp.
Rex swallowed hard, watching Evan dispatch the entrance guards in an instant.
He asked Evan nervously.
"Are you really going to take the inner fortress by yourself?"
"Yes."
"The knights guarding the inner fortress are on a completely different level from the company we faced on the subjugation."
"It doesn't matter."
"Sir Evan, you can't possibly take the inner fortress alone."
No sooner had Rex's words left his mouth than the sound of a bell began to ring out from the bell tower.
The soldiers, having detected the disturbance at the entrance, had begun to ring the alarm.
With the tolling of the bell, soldiers who had been on standby started approaching the entrance.
Five. Ten. Twenty.
An uncountable number of troops began to advance toward Evan and Rex.
But Evan did not retreat, even as he faced the approaching soldiers.
Instead, he simply drew the sword at his hip.
Shing.
With the sharp blade in hand, Evan looked at the worried Rex and spoke.
"It seems you still don't know who I am."
"What?"
"Remember this. Who I am."
Thud.
Evan took a step forward with his right foot.
Sword in hand, Evan took a stance, ready to charge his opponents.
His sharp gaze began to sweep over the enemies approaching him.
"And where I now stand."
Crackle.
As a glint appeared in Evan's eyes, blue lightning began to coil around his body.
With a resonant thunderclap, Evan's body emanated a deep halo of light.
Rex's eyes trembled as he witnessed the shocking scene unfolding before him.
Wreathed in blue lightning, Evan exuded an overwhelming confidence.
Evan gave Rex a faint smile and said.
"I am the Second Apostle, Evan Alemier."
The moment Evan finished speaking.
A blue flash of light shot forward.
BOOM! CRASH! BOOM! BOOM!
A chain of blue lightning shot forth, and the enemies it struck were split in two.
It couldn't be blocked. And it couldn't be dodged.
The lightning-fast slash, flashing with light, was too quick even to be seen.
Rex's jaw dropped as he watched the single streak of light flash across the yard in an instant.
"Gah!"
"Arggghhh!"
"Ugh what is this"
When Evan's body, wreathed in lightning, returned to its spot and became visible again.
Nothing standing in the path of the flash remained whole.
Everything was split in two, covered in blood.
Staring at the carnage created in a single moment, Rex let out an involuntary gasp.
His legs trembled violently at the incomprehensible sight.
"The Second Apostle?"
An overwhelming power that transcended comprehension.
The knight before him was no longer a mere knight.
An Apostle.
A rightful agent, chosen by a celestial god.
His sword strikes could tear the heavens, his steps were faster than light.
Only then did Rex understand who had been by his side all this time.
And he also understood why Evan, despite his warnings, had entered the inner fortress alone.
He possessed the power to do so.
An overwhelming power that could cut down countless knights and plant a flag in a blood-soaked fortress all by himself.
"Do you have a little more faith in me now?"
Evan asked, shaking the blood from his sword after cutting down the advancing soldiers.
Nod. Nod.
Rex nodded his head vigorously in response to Evan's question.
No one who had witnessed the overwhelming display of martial prowess before them would dare to deny his words.
After flicking the blood from his blade, Evan pointed the tip of his sword toward the count's manor and asked.
"Is the countess in there?"
"Yes."
"Where do you think Max Maier is?"
"Max is probably with our mother."
At this time of day, the countess always summoned Max Maier for his lessons.
If Rex's guess was correct, Max would be with the countess right now.
Hearing Rex's words, Evan's gaze swept over the manor's windows.
The manor had as many windows as it had rooms.
After studying the windows, Evan asked for the countess's exact location.
"Which floor is the countess on?"
"There's a small study on the fourth floor. I believe she conducts Max's lessons there."
"I see. Then let's head straight there."
Having learned the countess's location, Evan immediately raised his sword and began to advance toward the manor.
An Apostle of a god was approaching, sword in hand.
The countess and his younger brother would surely meet their end today.
Thump. Thump.
Evan's footsteps echoed through the silent garden.
Perhaps they had noticed that the soldiers sent out first had been annihilated.
This time, the knights guarding the manor appeared and blocked Evan's path.
"You will go no further!"
"Young Lord! What in the world are you doing?!"
The knights of the house aimed their swords at Evan and Rex.
Seeing Rex among the group attacking the estate, their eyes were filled with bewilderment.
Rex's eyes swept over the house knights surrounding him.
Not a single one of them was on his side.
They were all knights who supported his younger brother, Max.
Rex sighed as he looked at the knights now pointing their swords directly at him.
"Hah"
"Young Lord, it's not too late. Surrender and beg the count for forgiveness."
"I don't know anymore."
"Young Lord?"
As Rex mumbled in despair, Evan, who had lowered his sword, now looked at the knights.
Evan looked at each of them in turn and then spoke.
"Will you die with honor, or will you die nameless?"
"We have no name to give an intruder!"
"Then those will be your last words."
The light of his blade glinted at the tip of Evan's sword.
Swish, swish!
By the time Evan's sword, having moved through the air in a series of arcs, returned to its position.
Not a single knight was left standing on the ground.
Having dealt with the knights swiftly, Evan shook his sword again and began to walk forward.
Watching Evan walk on as if nothing had happened, Rex was utterly dumbfounded.
"The fourth floor, you said."
Creeak.
Evan said as he opened the manor door and stepped inside.
As Evan had said, the place where Max's lessons were held was the small study on the fourth floor.
Seeing Rex nod, Evan started up the manor's staircase.
There were soldiers inside the manor ready to stop intruders, but they all fell before Evan, unable to stop him.
Evan continued upward, cutting down all who stood in his way.
By the time his footsteps, stained with the blood of many, reached the fourth floor.
The number of people Evan had cut down in the inner fortress had already surpassed two hundred.
"This is the fourth floor."
Flick.
Upon reaching the fourth floor, Evan swung his sword again to shake off the blood.
Even as he did so, his gaze scanned the fourth-floor corridor.
At the far end of the hallway where Evan's gaze settled.
A single knight stood there, his sword drawn.
He had an aura completely different from the knights they had faced so far.
Recognizing the familiar knight's face from a distance, Rex's expression soured.
"That's Sir Kedol up ahead."
"Halt! Who are you?!"
Kedol shouted in a loud voice at Evan, who was approaching the study.
Sir Kedol.
He was Countess Maier's trusted confidant.
He was a cunning man who was always devising vicious schemes, but that didn't mean his martial skills were lacking.
Even before following the countess, he had been the lead knight of her domain.
But Rex didn't think for a moment that Evan, who stood before him, would lose to Kedol.
After all, Evan Alemier was a being on a completely different level.
"You ask for my name?"
"I am Sir Kedol! If you have any honor, state your name!"
"Honor what a curious notion."
"Do you lack the honor to state your name?"
Smirk.
A dry laugh escaped Evan's lips.
Evan aimed his still-bloodied sword at Kedol.
And with that, he told Kedol his name.
"Evan Alemier."
"Alemier? Don't tell me the genius of House Alemier, said to be the next master of the holy sword!"
Kedol reacted as if he recognized the name the moment he heard it.
The genius of House Alemier.
It was the first Rex had heard of it.
It seemed Evan had been famous even before becoming his knight.
Why would such a person pledge himself to the Order?
It was something Rex found difficult to understand.
Evan shook his head at Kedol's recognition and replied.
"I have cast aside such trivial titles. My current station is far higher than that."
"What station is higher than the master of the holy sword! Are you saying you're a Hero?"
"Of course not. I could never be a Hero. For that matter, I am not even a Holy Knight anymore."
Not a Hero. Not a Holy Knight.
Kedol frowned at the complete denial.
"Not a Holy Knight? Then what in the"
"The faith that currently exists in Crossbridge is rotten. What meaning is there in a belief where prayers go unheard and cries for help go unanswered?"
"What are you saying? You don't tell me"
"I have abandoned my faith in the Goddess. And in return, I have embraced a new one."
There was only one destination for those who abandoned their faith.
Even Rex, who knew Evan's identity, couldn't help but be shocked by this revelation.
A former Holy Knight had abandoned his faith to stand on the side of an evil god.
He couldn't comprehend what had transpired.
Kedol was just as stunned, and he looked at Evan and spoke with a trembling voice.
"You abandoned the Goddess and embraced an evil god"
Evil god.
At those words, a murderous intent filled Evan's eyes.
In a cold voice, Evan turned Kedol's question back on him.
"Evil god? What, exactly, is evil?"
""
"Is it justice to let my faith be thrown into the gutter?"
"You"
"Is it justice to abandon those who beg for salvation? Is it justice to sacrifice everything else to save just one?"
"Evan Alemier. You have fallen."
Seeing Evan deny the Goddess, Kedol drew his sword.
Vwooom.
A blue flame began to flicker from the sword Kedol held.
Aura.
The flame of the soul, permitted only to knights who had crossed the line of death countless times.
As Kedol's sword became wreathed in aura, the sword of Evan facing him also became enveloped in light.
Crackle. Sizzle.
Blue lightning coiled around Evan's blade, transforming the sword he held into a magic sword of thunder.
"At least, that is not the justice I know."
"Then is what you are now justice?"
"Of course not. Both justice and evil are nothing more than the arrogant standards of mere mortals."
The lightning that had been coiling around his sword now spread to Evan's entire body.
CRACK!
Like a powerful spark, Evan's eyes took on a blue glow.
Having become a single entity of blue lightning, Evan aimed his sword forward and spoke.
"So understand. Who I am. And on whose behalf I stand here."
A knight wielding a sword of aura.
An Apostle bearing a blade of lightning.
Their gazes clashed in midair.
Kedol's gaze sharpened as he faced the lightning, and Evan's presence grew just as keen as he faced the aura.
The moment they were both fully prepared to cut each other down.
Evan charged forward, once again stating his name.
"I am the Second Apostle, Evan Alemier."
Evan Alemier.
The Second Apostle of the Order raised his deep blue blade, forged in faith.
As long as he bore the title of Apostle, his role was always the same.
"I am the sword of the Great One."