Chapter 228: Traitor (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 228: Traitor (3)
The Saintess’s office.
Despite being a student at Gaon Academy, she unfailingly headed to the Arcadia headquarters every weekend to attend to her duties.
In truth, there was no need.
She didn't have to. The practical administrative work within the Cult could easily be handled by Bishop Luke, to whom she had already delegated full authority.
After all, there was absolutely no reason for Cheon Yeo-wool to spend her time on trivial matters like stamping documents.
Yet, she insisted on this troublesome weekly pilgrimage for one reason and one reason only.
This was how she exerted her influence over Arcadia.
Just think about it.
The Saintess, the face of the Cult, chosen by its one and only god, Ariel, and her sister goddess, Terna.
She enters through the main gates during the busiest time of day.
As she walks the halls, she bestows blessings upon the nuns and priests she encounters.
“Sister Martha… has your mother’s condition improved since last week? I have been praying for her.”
“Father Calvin, I heard you worked through the night for the new children at the orphanage. The gods will not forget your efforts.”
She remembered everything, from the minor family troubles of a low-ranking nun to the labors of a newly ordained priest.
Of course, this was partly because Cheon Yeo-wool was a kind person, but it also meant that every action was calculated.
At a single word from her, the nuns would be overcome with emotion.
Administration… a bishop could handle that.
But one does not simply become a true Saintess.
Cheon Yeo-wool was already making politically perfect moves.
The moment she closed the office door behind her, the smile vanished from her face.
She cracked her neck as if exhausted and sank deep into her office chair.
“I miss Hae-in.”
It couldn’t be helped.
The weekend was, in fact, the time she could spend the longest with Hae-in.
A time that should have been spent pressed against each other, feeling his warmth, tumbling together.
She had heard the news from the USA.
Kang A-rin had safely acquired the final fragment, the Fragment of Emptiness.
“Heh heh.”
Honestly, I thought they’d be reeling with so much regret they’d pass out.
It was good news.
It was definitely good news, but…
“It’s just a little…”
She couldn’t shake the feeling that things were progressing far too smoothly.
These were the same people who had nearly blown up an entire historical site just to stop Yu Hana from getting the Fragment of Order.
It wouldn’t have been strange for them to do something even more drastic to Kang A-rin.
And yet, it was far too quiet.
It was true they had sustained critical, near-irreparable damage in the last battle with Belial, but they were down, not out. She had figured they’d still have enough strength left for a desperate, last-ditch effort, sacrificing a pawn to save themselves.
For them to be this quiet, as silent as mice, suggested several possibilities.
“It means they’re plotting something else.”
Cheon Yeo-wool’s eyes narrowed, then…
Relaxed.
There was nothing she could find out right now. Hasty speculation would only cloud her judgment.
Knock, knock, knock…
It was then.
“Saintess. This is the regular report on the Suwon branch’s supplies and Holy Water distribution.”
The voice of a female priest came from beyond the door.
This, in fact, was the main reason for her visit today.
“Come in.”
Cheon Yeo-wool answered immediately.
She set down her teacup and lightly extended a hand into the air.
Fwaaaa…
A blue divine power radiated from her fingertips.
In an instant, the power swept over the office walls, ceiling, and floor, forming a thin film.
It was a Sensory Blocking Barrier, which perfectly sealed off not only sound but also any ripples of mana or presence.
A high-level Holy Method.
The room was now a sealed chamber, completely isolated from the world.
‘Suwon branch’s supplies’ was the intelligence department’s code for the Hero Faction’s funding.
‘Holy Water distribution’ referred to their personnel deployment.
In other words, it was a signal that they had thoroughly uncovered the movements of the opposing Hero Faction, from head to toe.
It was a regular report.
Only after confirming that all preparations were complete did the door to Cheon Yeo-wool’s room open.
A single female priest entered, dressed neatly in a habit.
Her footsteps were silent.
She stood before Cheon Yeo-wool and bowed her head.
“I am here to report.”
She took an encrypted document from her robes and placed it on Cheon Yeo-wool’s desk.
“First… the status of the Suwon branch’s supplies. Both the flow on the ledgers and the actual liquidity are within a 0.1% margin of error. We found no hidden slush funds or traces of money being funneled elsewhere. They are still lying low when it comes to their funds.”
The money was clean.
It had been three months since they had started squeezing their funding for all it was worth.
They were cowering like mice. In truth, there was nothing they could do.
“Good.”
Cheon Yeo-wool tapped her fingers lightly on the desk, as if uninterested.
“The problem was the Holy Water distribution.”
Cheon Yeo-wool’s eyes opened slightly.
“One of Bishop Seong Young-il’s most trusted confidants… an executor known as the shadow of the Cult, vanished a few days ago.”
“Vanished?”
“Yes. Officially, he is on sick leave, but our tracking shows… he didn't depart from Incheon but smuggled himself out through a small provincial port. He then laundered his route through four different countries, passing through China and Europe. It was a clear move to completely erase his tracks.”
Four launderings.
The further you get through connecting Portal Checkpoints, the fainter the records become.
“To where.”
Cheon Yeo-wool’s eyes narrowed.
Seong Young-il’s right-hand man… where did he go?
“His final destination… was Central Africa.”
At that moment, Cheon Yeo-wool, who had been resting her chin on her hand, shot her eyes wide open.
“Ha… they’ve lost their minds.”
Central Africa.
A den of Mines, a cursed land steeped in the densest aura of the Evil God.
A no-travel zone, a place where entry was impossible for any reason other than an official subjugation mission.
“How did you track him?”
It was impossible to get in.
“He disguised himself as part of a civilian volunteer group on a relief mission. We’ve determined that he secured an alternate route by paying a massive bribe to a corrupt local warlord.”
“Insane.”
At the priest’s answer, Cheon Yeo-wool’s expression turned to ice.
The closest point to the Evil God’s domain.
A place known as the ‘Black Earth.’ It was designated as the highest-level restricted area by every Hero Association in the world.
And personnel from the Cult had entered it?
It could only mean one thing.
There was no need to consider other possibilities.
Treachery.
In the past.
That is, in the future she remembered, something like this had happened.
At some point, the priests of the Hero Faction had begun to wield a bizarre power.
A time when their eyes had turned murky.
It had happened later than this… and the Cheon Yeo-wool of that time had only known how to hide behind Hae-in and pray; she hadn't organized a network of informants like this.
So she hadn’t known.
She had been blindsided, completely unaware of what they had done.
But things were different now.
“Has he returned?”
Cheon Yeo-wool’s voice was low.
“He returned yesterday. He is confirmed to be hiding in Bishop Seong Young-il’s private prayer room.”
“Yesterday, you say…”
How convenient. And he went straight to Seong Young-il’s prayer room, of all places.
The sooner, the better.
Mold becomes a real problem the moment it starts to spread.
You have to cut it off at the root. That is the essence of purification.
The informant gripped the dagger hidden at her waist, awaiting the Saintess’s next command.
Cheon Yeo-wool rose from her seat.
A cold, blue light swirled in her eyes.
“Summon the Paladins.”
The Saintess’s personal unit.
Wooooong…
Cheon Yeo-wool elegantly extended her hand into the air.
A wave of energy radiated from her fingertips, spreading beyond her office.
First, it enveloped her office, then it swallowed Seong Young-il’s annex, and then it began to expand exponentially.
A massive, dome-shaped barrier silently descended over the entirety of Arcadia’s vast grounds.
A birdcage.
They would meet their deaths without even realizing they had been trapped.
From this moment on, not a single step could be taken outside.
“It’s a Heretic Judgment.”
The priest immediately dropped to one knee.
“I will obey your command.”
Fsh!
The moment Cheon Yeo-wool finished speaking, the priest vanished into the shadows.
She walked gracefully out onto her office terrace and looked down at Arcadia’s grand lobby.
“Hmph…”
Below, her will was already being discreetly passed on.
One priest leaned in and whispered softly into another’s ear.
The priest who heard the words widened his eyes for a moment before regaining his composure and nodding.
Hiding their agitation, the message passed from ear to ear.
All the priests were of the Saintess’s faction.
They approached the outsiders and civilians gathered in the lobby to pray or tour, guiding them with smiles.
‘Our apologies, brothers and sisters. Due to an urgent inspection of the Holy Fire within the Cult today, this is as far as we can allow access.’
‘May the gods’ blessings be with you. Please, travel safely.’
“Good.”
One by one, the people turned and left through the great main doors, guided by the priests.
‘One, two… thirty-five…’
She waited patiently.
You might burn down a house to catch the rats, but you couldn’t burn the guests along with it.
Her fingers tapped a steady rhythm on the railing.
‘…Ninety-nine.’
And finally.
She sensed the last person, an old man leaning on a staff, being helped out the main doors by a priest.
Kuuuuung…
The Cult’s great oak doors swung shut.
It was a historic moment.
One might even be moved.
According to the laws of the Cult, the great oak doors of Arcadia must never be closed unless the world was ending.
With one.
Exception: when judging heretics.
Clank.
The sound of the bolt sliding into place echoed through the lobby.
Thud-thud-thud-thud…
“What is the meaning of this!”
“Who gave the order to close the main doors! Open them at once!”
One of Seong Young-il’s dogs, and the beasts that dog commanded, heard the sound of the doors, their faces pale as they rushed into the lobby demanding an explanation.
Weapons clattered at their waists.
“What’s this? You all know what’s happening, don’t you?”
Cheon Yeo-wool sneered, looking down at them with indifference before…
She vaulted over the railing.
The hem of her pure white priestess robes spread like wings as her body floated gracefully in the air.
And…
Tap…
She landed softly on the marble floor of the lobby.
The moment she touched down, the shouts of the men filling the lobby ceased as if by magic.
Crrrack…
A cold, blue divine power spread out from beneath Cheon Yeo-wool’s feet, beginning to choke them.
She slowly raised her head and gave the beasts a twisted smile.
Then she raised her index finger and pressed it vertically against her lips.
“Shh. You’re being too loud.”
She snapped her fingers.
“Saintess…! What is the meaning of…!”
One of the dogs, not knowing the value of its own life, kept barking.
She had no intention of answering.
Her gaze was already fixed on the empty air.
“Paladins.”
“P-Paladins?!”
The terrified dogs, their faces ashen, began whipping their heads around, scanning their surroundings.
“It’s a Heretic Judgment. Leave no one standing.”
SWOOOOOSH!
With a sharp sound that tore through the air.
CRUNCH!
A massive steel mace flew through the air and crushed the dog’s head.
From within the spray of blood, Paladins clad in silver armor revealed themselves.
“We will obey your command.”
It was time for a cleansing.