One of the leading assailants recognized Vitalis. Despite facing Kirion’s only brother, they charged at the knights and attendants instead of fleeing.

It was an attack aimed at Vitalis.

The attendants were killed instantly. The speed at which they were dispatched was terrifyingly cruel.

Two knights fought valiantly, surrounding the carriage front and back, but they were greatly outnumbered.

Still, being professionally trained knights, the attackers couldn’t easily break through their defense.

“Wh-wh-what do you want! I-I’ll give you everything! P-please… let us go!”

Vitalis pleaded, hoping to save at least one person.

“We want Your Eminence’s life.”

“M-my, my li-life, why…?”

It was incomprehensible. Though he had been ignored all his life for being slow and dull, he had never made enemies. He had lived by lowering and shrinking himself.

So why did these men he had never seen before want the Archbishop’s life?

Moreover, the way they had blocked the road in advance, quickly dispatched the weak, and now faced off against the knights, it all seemed meticulously planned.

Although a few attackers had fallen injured, it was far from over.

“Your Eminence, you must be careful!”

He heard the knight’s warning, but Vitalis had no idea how to be careful.

Vitalis huddled against the carriage wall, clutching a blanket. If he jumped out of the carriage, he would surely be caught within a few steps.

But staying inside the carriage wouldn’t change the outcome either. There was a limit to how long the mere two knights could hold out.

Even if they held out for a while, wouldn’t the end be the same? It would only delay death a little.

“St-stop! Ra-rather, ta-ta-take me…”

Before he could finish saying ‘Take me to the person who ordered this attack,’ the carriage door was smashed open.

Vitalis vividly witnessed a blood-soaked knight blocking the door with his body.

The blade that pierced through the knight’s back came right up to Vitalis’s nose. The smell of blood wafted over.

The freshly created scent of death was chilling.

The knight’s body slowly crumpled. Vitalis tightly shut his eyes.

It was such an unjust death, but with his clumsy body, he couldn’t even draw a sword to fight back, let alone run fast enough to escape the attackers.

The moment had come to resign himself to a forced death. Vitalis prayed for his breath to end quickly.

He hoped not to suffer long, for someone to remember this day, and for all those who met innocent deaths to find peace.

And then a miracle happened.

At first, he wondered if death was this unfeeling. He felt no pain at all. He thought perhaps he had died in the blink of an eye, with only his consciousness floating.

“Your Eminence, I’ve come to escort you.”

If he hadn’t heard the voice rousing him, Vitalis would have truly believed he had died and only his soul remained.

Vitalis opened his eyes.

“Si-Si-Sir Ka Dillon?”

“Are you alright?”

“Ho-how did you… co-come all the way he-here…?”

As he tried to look outside, Vitalis discovered the arm of a disguised attacker that had fallen into the carriage and screamed.

“Aah!”

And then he realized the unpleasant fact that only those who have the leisure to feel fear or pain can scream.

People who died instantly couldn’t even utter a proper death cry. This was true for both attendants and attackers alike.

Rublier efficiently dispatched the attackers. Vitalis vividly understood why Rublier had secured the position of the youngest Paladin just a few years after joining the knights.

The attackers, having expended considerable energy facing the resistance of knights who fought to the death, were no match for the Paladin who charged in with fury. Rublier methodically ended their lives. He didn’t even bother to ask who sent them or investigate their background.

Only after all the attackers were dead did Vitalis realize. Rublier had come knowing everything, so there was no need to ask.

“Satin insisted that I bring Your Eminence back.”

“La-Lady Satin of De-Del Mare…?”

“Yes, we must go now. Satin is in danger. Are you confident in your riding skills?”

“I-I can ma-manage somewhat.”

Rublier gathered the surviving horses. Soon after, Vitalis realized there was an enormous difference between his ‘somewhat’ and Rublier’s ‘somewhat.’

Over the days of riding following Rublier, Vitalis learned the art of survival horseback riding. Rublier drove several horses at once, allowing Vitalis to switch mounts when his horse tired. Somehow, he endured, not knowing how he managed. It was Rublier who made this possible.

That’s how he was brought along.

And then he witnessed the Papal Palace being engulfed in darkness.

Rublier’s face turned pale. Vitalis could well guess who Rublier was worried about. To rescue the Archbishop as soon as possible and return to Satin. For this goal, Rublier had exerted superhuman strength, riding day and night.

“Commander!”

Suddenly, a familiar shout rang out. It was the lieutenant. Rublier responded immediately.

“Satin?”

“You’re here, sir. It’s terrible. Lady Satin has been taken to the Papal Palace. She instructed me to relay the situation to you before sending me away.”

Rublier froze on the spot. He looked like someone who had just received a death sentence.

Vitalis stammered. He wanted to comfort Rublier, saying Satin would be fine, but a simple consolation wasn’t what Rublier wanted to hear. He was at a loss for what to say. Moreover, he felt sorry. Guilt choked him, almost suffocating.

“If-if I had be-been a bit mo-more resolute, wo-would something have changed…?”

But Rublier was still Rublier. In an instant, he pushed aside the shock and glared at the Papal Palace with fierce eyes.

“It’s not Your Eminence’s fault. This day would have come sooner or later.”

Rublier gripped the reins.

“Your Eminence, I will enter the Papal Palace first.”

“A-alone, Si-Sir?”

“Yes, my mission is to eliminate those evil spirits and rescue Satin, and Your Eminence’s mission is to survive. So please observe the situation from a distance.”

Vitalis nodded reflexively. Rublier looked at the darkening Papal Palace, then took out a cloth-wrapped object from his chest and handed it to Vitalis.

“I was supposed to return this to Satin, but just in case, I’m entrusting it to Your Eminence. Please keep it safe.”

Vitalis loosened a corner and peeked inside. A metal fragment with cut corners glinted briefly.

“It’s the Del Mare sacred artifact. Satin says this piece must never fall into His Eminence Kirion’s hands. I’m likely to face His Eminence Kirion, so please keep it with you. I’ll come to escort you once I’ve eliminated the evil spirits. But if I don’t come…”

Rublier quickly shook his head, erasing the negative possibility. Then he changed the subject.

“Your Eminence. Satin is a person who firmly believes that the oracle has chosen the rightful Pope. Even when I was blinded by friendship, she was the only one who argued that Your Eminence had the same rights. You are the Pope chosen by the oracle. Please don’t forget this. And please take care of Satin.”

Having finished speaking, Rublier pulled the reins. He plunged without hesitation into the increasingly dark ground.

* * *

When people who believe in God witness an unknown calamity, the first place they think of as safe is naturally the Papal Palace.

The evil spirits were also flying towards the Papal Palace, but unless one was watching from afar, people in the busy center of the capital couldn’t properly see where this ominous dark cloud was gathering.

They all acted on instinct. A line formed of people trying to enter the Papal Palace, by carriage, on horseback, or if that was difficult, by running or walking.

Of course, the gatekeepers of the Papal Palace tried to stop people from entering unlawfully. But their shouts were ineffective against people gripped by fear.

Moreover, when carriages bearing the emblems of guardian families came forward, pushing through the crowd and demanding entry, the gatekeepers couldn’t bring themselves to block these imposing nobles.

With the guardian families taking the lead, the gates were breached. The gatekeepers’ attempts to let only some nobles through while stopping ordinary people proved futile.

People poured into the Papal Palace like a flood, following the nobles’ carriages. Once the main gate opened, soon the back and side gates were also opened.

And the evil spirits, having found their prey, gleefully tore into the people who had entered without any defense, trusting only in the Papal Palace.

A scene of hell unfolded inside the Papal Palace, the most sacred ground.

Every shadow was a habitat for evil spirits. Layers of shadows undulated and rose up.

Coachmen abandoned their carriages and fled. The evil spirits did not discriminate between nobles and commoners.

“Aah!”

“P-please, save me!”

“His Holiness the Pope, His Holiness the Pope!”

“Get out of here! It’s most dangerous inside!”

“I told you not to come in, you fools!”

Even as people shocked by the rampaging evil spirits tried to turn back and leave, those in the back, unaware of the situation at the front, continued to struggle to enter the Papal Palace.

“Why on earth is the Papal Palace…”

With the entrance blocked, people who had lost their way ironically rushed inside the Papal Palace, looking for places to take shelter.

In this vicious situation of chasing and being chased, where one had to ignore the danger to others to ensure one’s own safety, those who barely managed to save themselves now recalled Satin’s lonely fight in exposing the falsehood of the oracle.

“…Good heavens.”

“They called it treason, but which side was really committing treason!”

“Was that claim actually true?”

“Where are the Holy Knights, and what are they doing?”

Someone raged at the Holy Knights for showing no response even as the Papal Palace had fallen into this state.

However, the Holy Knights were also floundering in the chaos just the same.

With their leader suddenly turning against Kirion overnight, and even the acting leader now gone, the Holy Knights, who had already experienced serious internal strife, were in a state of losing their center, not knowing whom to follow.

It was then.

“It’s the Holy Knights!”

“Where?”

“Look, over there!”

A few knights in full uniform of the order appeared on horseback.

Although they were just a dozen or so, to people who were stunned by the attack of swarming evil spirits, these knights looked sufficiently like a lifeline of salvation.