Just who could have placed this curse on him? Had he stumbled into a randomly cast curse? No, that couldn’t be. Perhaps, had someone discovered his true identity? If so, this was truly serious. He no longer had any holy relics that could restore life.

The man decided while panting. He would leave the temple as soon as he returned after breaking the curse. No, it might be better to run away right after breaking the curse.

The man who had been anxiously biting his lips suddenly realized he had left something very important in the temple and sighed deeply.

“Damn……”

At that moment, his intestines twisted painfully again and his whole body contorted.

“Ugh……”

First, he needed to break this curse. The man finally knelt by the water and slowly pulled off the mask that had been covering his entire face. At last, the man’s face was revealed.

The man was Cardinal Rubert. Just as Rubert slowly lowered his head to dip his face in the clear spring water—

“Stop.”

The sharp tip of a sword touched Rubert’s nape. As his body froze in surprise, several swords and spears instantly pointed at him from all around. Dozens of footsteps whose origin he couldn’t even guess surrounded him in a circle.

“Raise your head, Your Eminence.”

A voice so chilling it raised goosebumps echoed heavily by the quiet waterside. When Rubert, who seemed indignant as he clenched his fists, slowly raised his head, he saw the face of a man with eyes as cold as ice.

It was Seiden. Rubert’s breath caught at the sight of him.

“Your Eminence……”

Felton, standing behind Seiden, looked at Rubert with disbelief. Everything had gone as expected. His identity had finally been exposed. But he hadn’t expected them to be lying in wait here at all. He had come here to break the curse. How did they know he was cursed? Just how?

Bewildering questions about Seiden continued to swirl in Rubert’s mind. He decided to swallow all questions and maintain a calm face.

“This is a misunderstanding.”

When Rubert tried to stand up to explain, Seiden didn’t allow it. As his sword dug into Rubert’s neck, dark red blood flowed down.

“I haven’t said anything yet, but what misunderstanding do you think I have?”

Rubert’s words caught in his throat at Seiden’s measured pressure. Seiden’s red eyes were cold and hard. Seeing those eyes, Rubert realized that he had discovered everything.

But how?

Simultaneously, a sharp realization dawned in Rubert’s mind. The one who had placed this curse strangling his neck was none other than Seiden himself.

“Sir Seiden!”

Though Rubert shouted in anger, Seiden’s expression didn’t show the slightest change.

“Whether it’s a misunderstanding or not will soon be revealed.”

Seiden leisurely murmured and signaled to Kabillon. Kabillon and the holy knights, with tense faces, approached Rubert who was kneeling. Rubert’s eyes widened when he saw what Kabillon held in his hand.

“This is slander! I am a cardinal of the Kanbremes Grand Temple. Can you take responsibility for this, Commander?”

Rubert struggled desperately to avoid it, but the more he struggled, the deeper Seiden’s sword dug into his neck until he could no longer move. The holy knights grabbed his limbs and bound his wrists and ankles with chains imbued with holy power, completely restraining him.

“Felton! Help! Help me! This is slander!”

Rubert desperately pleaded while looking at Felton, but he remained frozen, unmoving. The trust towards Rubert and the trust towards Seiden violently clashed in Felton’s mind. Finally, his trust in Seiden mercilessly broke his trust in Rubert.

“Please, Felton!”

As Felton squeezed his eyes shut at the anguished plea, Seiden quietly murmured.

“You’d better keep your eyes open. From now on, this bastard’s true identity will be exposed.”

Felton’s breath caught at those cold words. Rubert’s struggles continued to reach his ears.

“Excuse me.”

After a brief apology to Rubert, Kabillon and the knights finally grabbed Rubert’s neck, forcibly opened his mouth, and poured something in. It was holy water containing the Pope’s holy power, glowing white.

“Aaaargh!”

The moment that clear water poured down his throat, smoke began seeping from Rubert’s throat. Finally, his facial skin began to burn hot.

“Step back!”

At Kabillon’s command, the holy knights quickly stepped back and pointed their swords at the writhing Rubert. Rubert fell backward and convulsed with his limbs bound in chains. Felton watched the scene with bated breath.

“That……”

Finally, as Rubert’s whites turned red and his pupils dilated abnormally, Felton covered his mouth.

Only two races in this world reacted to holy water. Monsters… and demon-kind.

“Gaaaah!”

So the one convulsing and vomiting blood before them now was…….

“Dear God……”

A demon.

With reddened eyes, Rubert gritted his teeth and looked around frantically. Holy knights with drawn swords had formed a tight formation around him, leaving no gap for the surrounded Rubert to escape. No matter how powerful a demon’s magic might be, alone he couldn’t face an elite Holy Knight Order. Rubert also knew he was no match for Seiden.

Moreover, he noticed that Seiden had obtained the Pope’s badge. This meant he was prepared to take responsibility even for executing him with the Pope’s authority.

Drinking the holy water caused Rubert’s intestines to twist with even more pain. His body, already weakened from the recent curse, seemed to be crumbling to white pieces everywhere.

“Aaaagh!”

As Rubert let out a piercing scream, Felton’s face turned pale.

“D-Demon God.”

When explicit worship of the Demon God slipped through Rubert’s lips, Seiden’s gaze sharpened.

“Save your faithful servant! Please give me strength…… strength…… Achtharite!”

As Rubert chanted a spell in the demon tongue, his writhing body suddenly stopped and began to swell. His clothes all tore apart, and even the chains tightly binding his limbs couldn’t withstand his rapidly expanding body and snapped.

“Huk……”

Sensing his end, Rubert had clearly cast a curse on himself to become a monster. Kabillon quickly warned,

“Everyone step back! Take formation!”

As Rubert’s body finally swelled to the size of a huge monster, everyone stepped back in surprise. However, Seiden alone remained unmoved, calmly looking up at the sight. Finally, the black eyes of Rubert, who had completed his transformation into a monster, fixed on Seiden.

“Commander, it’s dangerous!”

As the transformed Rubert tried to rush at Seiden, the holy knights attacked him all at once. Rubert, who had been charging as if to take Seiden’s head, roared and swung his arms wildly. Though a formidable opponent, the holy knights skillfully blocked Rubert’s attacks and counterattacked to protect Seiden.

Seiden watched Rubert engage in fierce combat with the holy knights while assessing his condition. Having completely lost his reason, he was now making his final struggle in a form that showed no trace of ever having been human.

A demon casting a curse to turn himself into a monster. Though he had uncovered all the truths, he couldn’t fathom the reason for such desperate actions. What was he trying to achieve by going this far? Surely someone clever enough to deceive everyone by disguising himself as human for decades would know everything was over now…….

“Commander!”

Finding a gap among the holy knights, Rubert seized the opportunity and rushed at Seiden. At that moment, Kabillon quickly ran forward and swung his sword at the creature’s leg.

“Gaaaah!”

But Rubert’s body had already grown too massive. Kabillon’s sword got stuck in his thick thigh. When the enraged beast changed targets and tried to stomp on Kabillon, Seiden, who had been watching, quickly dashed forward. Simultaneously, Seiden’s swung sword precisely cut into both of the creature’s legs. Unlike Kabillon’s sword, Seiden’s didn’t get stuck in his hardened skin but cleanly severed both legs.

“Aaaaargh!”

The ground shook as Rubert fell, having lost his legs. Thick blood gushing from his massive legs pooled and flowed into the clear spring. The spring, imbued with holy power, glowed on its own when the demon’s blood entered. After purifying itself, the spring produced clean water again before becoming calm as if nothing had happened.

“Gu, guaaah……”

Now having lost even human speech, only a monster’s screams escaped Rubert’s mouth. He was struggling to stand somehow using his two arms. The holy knights rushed to put shackles on Rubert’s arms and what remains of his legs. Now completely immobilized, Rubert could only emit strange, unintelligible screams.

Seiden gazed down at him pensively.

He had hoped to interrogate the creature to uncover the reason for the century-long curse, but in this state, it seemed impossible to get any testimony. He had abandoned his final dignity and chosen evil of his own accord. Having reached that conclusion, Seiden raised his sword without hesitation. His sword plunged straight down. Felton, covering his mouth, watched as Seiden’s sword pierced into Rubert’s heart.

After a final “Kuhek” death rattle, silence fell around Seiden.

“……”

That was the end. No more of Rubert’s voice, or even struggles, could be heard. It was an excessively empty death compared to how long he had deceived everyone.

The deep forest regained its nighttime tranquility. Quietly, as if unaware of what had happened in this forest tonight.

Seiden swallowed a sigh and slowly opened his mouth.

“……It was him.”

At that quiet voice, Felton’s shocked gaze slowly turned to Seiden.

“The one who instigated the temple’s curse.”

Felton immediately understood Seiden’s words. The temple’s curse. He meant Bellota’s curse. And moreover, the curse that lay upon the position of Saintess…….

But Rubert? He who received as much respect and reverence as the Pope himself? Rubert had been at this temple long before he became a priest. He had performed countless services and devotions for so long under the name of Cardinal. Why him? Just why?

The urge to object rose to his throat, but it was merely feeble trust built up from Rubert’s past days, so it quickly dissipated. Such flimsy evidence was now useless. Hadn’t he seen with his own eyes? Rubert was clearly a demon. And Seiden had been suspecting him for quite some time before finally catching his tail.