The Clown's Performance Comes to an Abrupt End
Benika Arendia (9)
A man was running for his life.
“Damn it! Damn it! Those fucking Holy Knights!”
The man spat curses at the parasitic gigolo of a Holy Knight who had tricked him. The impulsive swearing brought a fleeting sense of relief to his chest, but it was a foolish mistake. His voice echoed loudly through the dark forest, pinpointing his exact location. It was practically a signal screaming, I'm right here, come and find me.
The man realized his error and clamped a hand over his mouth, but it was far too late. An arrow flew silently from the darkness and pierced cleanly through his shoulder. Unable to endure the pain, he collapsed and rolled across the forest floor.
Hooded figures approached the fallen man. They were the pursuit team dispatched to kill him.
“I did everything you asked! I brought all the reliable evidence! I even memorized that damn script!”
The man felt deeply wronged. All he had wanted was one big score so he could quit his miserable life as a bottom-ranker in the information guild.
“Is it because of the money? Yeah, it was a huge sum! I-I'll give it back! I'll treat it like I did it for free, so please…!”
Begging for his life, the man clasped his hands together and wept.
“Our believers follow the Apostle’s commands. The Apostle has decreed it. The truth must remain the truth.”
Ignoring the man’s desperate pleas, the believers drew their swords and pointed them at his throat.
“Consider it an honor to participate in the Apostle’s suffering.”
The man sensed his death approaching and closed his eyes. Just as the believers swung their blades down—
“Whoa~ I’m really curious now. What exactly is this truth?”
A voice as beautiful as if it had descended from the heavens reached the man’s ears.
“Who goes there?”
One of the believers turned toward the direction of the voice. Judging by how quickly he stepped forward, he seemed to be the leader of the pursuit team.
The beautiful voice had come from behind the man. There stood a girl who looked about five to seven years old, accompanied by what appeared to be a young girl in light armor.
It was Levia and Cheska.
Levia opened her mouth toward the believers.
“Dressed all gloomy like that, you’re obviously friends with that Clown guy, right?”
“Do not speak the Apostle’s name so casually! Levia Leviathan!”
“Hey. You’ve got good night vision. How’d you recognize me? Is it because this face of mine shines even in the dark?”
Cheska stared at Levia in momentary bewilderment.
“Lady Levia…?”
“What? It’s true, isn’t it?”
“...”
Cheska couldn’t bring herself to argue. After all, what Levia said wasn’t exactly wrong.
The believers, witnessing this exchange, quickly changed their target. According to the updated information they had received not long ago, Levia was a dangerous individual who couldn’t even be compared to the powerless man before them. They couldn’t afford to underestimate her just because she was a child.
But Levia wasn’t letting her guard down either.
“Attack! The Apostle’s performance must not be—gahk!”
The leader of the pursuit team collapsed before he could finish speaking. The rest of the team suffered the same fate.
“As always, the ones with no skill sure love to run their mouths.”
With all the pursuers now fallen, the one standing in their place was unmistakably Levia, who had been behind the man just moments ago.
The man couldn’t comprehend the situation. That tiny girl had taken down the entire pursuit team…? And in the blink of an eye?
“What the—mister, you’re badly hurt. Hold still!”
Levia sat the man upright and yanked the arrow out of his shoulder.
“Aaaargh!”
“I told you to stay still. You really don’t listen, do you? It’ll be over soon, so just bear with it a little.”
As Levia said, the pain lasted only a moment. A golden light flowed from her small, delicate hands, and the wound on his shoulder healed in an instant.
Under normal circumstances, the man would have been shocked that Levia had used holy magic without prayer. But right now, none of that registered in his eyes.
Salvation. It was salvation.
Not only had she saved the life of a sinner who had betrayed and deceived people for money, she had even healed his wounds. Of course, Levia had no idea what crimes the man had committed. And precisely because of that, the man felt even greater gratitude toward her.
A complete stranger had saved him simply because his life was in danger, and had healed him simply because he was hurt. In the man’s eyes, Levia looked no different from a Saintess chosen by the gods to save all of humanity.
“There. Doesn’t hurt anymore, right?”
Levia smiled brightly.
“Th-thank you…”
Tears began to flow from the man’s eyes. They were tears of remorse for his sins, and tears of one who had been saved.
“What’s your name?”
“Slay. My name is Slay.”
“Alright, Slay. Then hurry up and tell me about that truth or whatever it is.”
“Yes! Everything…! Anything at all! I will tell you from the very beginning!”
“We’re short on time, so give me the condensed summary version with only the key points.”
“Yes!”
The Clown’s long-awaited performance was about to begin.
The Clown was giving the stage one final inspection right before the performance he had spent ten years preparing. This would be the first and last show with no encore. The venue was a clearing deep within the Usot Forest. The lead actress was Benika Arendia. The director was the Clown. The script was entirely ad-libbed. The important supporting actor was the Heresy Inquisitor Dominic.
The actors were the Holy Knights who had been escorting Benika. The Clown gave secret instructions to one of the believers while the lead was unaware.
“It’s for the encore, so before the performance ends, extract the Divine Stone from the body of the one with the divine fist.”
“Understood.”
The believer who received the order dragged the unconscious Archbishop Carlo out of the clearing.
Now then. Shall we begin? Let’s start with the rehearsal.
“Lady Benika.”
“Yes, Sir Ryolk.”
Benika answered with unfocused eyes.
“You heard the plan I told you, correct?”
Benika nodded.
“No matter what happens, I will take care of everything. Lady Benika, you need only think of revenge.”
“Mother’s revenge… I will definitely achieve it.”
“Over there! Lady Benika the Saintess Candidate is over there!”
The rehearsal ended with the distant voice of a Holy Knight who had spotted Benika.
“Before we begin the operation, I will go over the precautions once more. You must absolutely not kill the Holy Knights!”
The Clown, playing the role of Ryolk, reminded the believers of the precautions before the performance started.
Because the bodies of Holy Knights are very useful.
“Benika!!!!”
The voice of the important supporting actor, Heresy Inquisitor Dominic, signaled the opening of the performance.
The Clown gave instructions to the believers.
“Attack us with the intent to kill…!”
At the Clown’s shout, the hidden believers burst out and began attacking both the Clown and Benika. The believers followed the Apostle’s commands. Any command. Even if it meant charging with the intent to kill, only to be killed by the Clown instead.
Slash!
While cutting down the believers, the Clown embraced Benika and began his ‘acting’ of protecting her.
“Lady Benika! I will protect you!”
Even as believers died right before her eyes, Benika simply stared at the scene without any reaction. With her mind almost completely eroded, the only thing left in Benika’s head was revenge.
“Ryolk! What is the meaning of this!”
Dominic and the Holy Knights had arrived at the clearing. The Clown continued playing the role of Ryolk.
“It’s an ambush!”
The Clown mixed truth into his lies so that his line would carry weight.
“The believers of the ‘Chaos Sect’ are targeting Lady Benika!”
“What?!”
Cardinal Dominic was shocked by the Clown’s words. As if in response, the Chaos Sect members shouted.
“The Heresy Inquisitor who annihilated us fifteen years ago is right there! Kill him!”
“They can’t use holy power right now!”
“Only destruction will grant us rest!”
The Holy Knights grew agitated at the mention that they couldn’t use holy power. Cardinal Dominic, though surprised, was not shaken, and he instantly quelled the knights’ confusion.
“It’s the Formation of Judgment! They can’t use holy power, but they can still use mana! Stay calm and face them steadily!”
The Chaos Sect members and the Holy Knights clashed. Swords met swords, and spells exploded against one another. Although they were outnumbered several times over, the Holy Knights escorting Benika all possessed outstanding individual strength, allowing them to fight on equal footing.
However, they couldn’t completely overcome the difference in numbers. When the battle—which could be called long or short depending on one’s perspective—finally ended, the only Holy Knight still standing in the clearing was Jacob, a man from the Entat Parish. The rest of the Holy Knights had collapsed with fatal wounds.
The Chaos Sect believers had been completely wiped out. These were the believers who had come to support the Clown on the Prophet’s orders. Of the roughly one hundred people, half had died at the Clown’s hands, and the other half at the hands of the Holy Knights and Cardinal Dominic.
After confirming it was safe, Cardinal Dominic approached the Clown and Benika.
“Thank you, Sir Ryolk. You saved Benika.”
“I merely fulfilled my duty as her escort knight.”
Wanting to see the ending as quickly as possible, the Clown handed over Benika—who he had been holding in his arms for the sake of the act—to Cardinal Dominic.
Benika ran to Cardinal Dominic and threw herself into his embrace.
“Are you alright, Benika? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Yes… Father.”
Only after hearing Benika’s voice did Cardinal Dominic let out a sigh of relief. But Benika paid no attention to his reaction. Instead, she secretly pulled out the dagger the Clown had given her so he wouldn’t notice.
That’s it! Benika! Stab him now! Stab him and fully bloom! Show it to us! The ending of your destruction and the Heresy Inquisitor’s!!!!!
The Clown cheered inwardly. The ending of the performance he had prepared for ten years was right before his eyes.
Benika gripped the dagger tightly and slowly raised it. The moment the blade finally pointed toward Cardinal Dominic’s heart—
“Tsk tsk. Patricide is a no-no.”
A voice that should never have been heard at this moment reached the Clown’s ears. An uninvited guest had intruded at the very end of the performance.
The intruder grabbed Benika’s wrist, stopping the dagger just before it could pierce Dominic’s heart. Then—clang!
The intruder shattered what had almost fully bloomed.
Without any courtesy, the uninvited guest spoke to the director of the performance, the Clown.
“Hey. I told you to come in your real body next time I see you, you shitty clown bastard.”