258. The Method of Distinguishing Good and Evil (6)
The faint light of dawn crumbled and fell under the ashen sky.
Fernandez took a step forward and glared straight ahead.
He could feel the gaze. Sticky, overflowing with killing intent.
He didn’t bother with words like “Come out.” He wasn’t just a skilled swordsman. He was a practitioner of a school, no different from their distant senior.
At least when dealing with dark mages, demon summoners, and heretics, he had to show more than that.
Fernandez spun his sword and sheathed it, then walked calmly. Toward the direction where their killing intent flowed. As if enjoying this moment.
Whether they were hiding their presence with all their might, or had received some kind of power by serving Urkasia, he didn’t know.
But the killing intent was so stealthy that even Fernandez’s senses couldn’t clearly grasp it.
Urkasia’s forces were always like this.
The offspring of the Pest King. Vermin under the shadows. Like centipedes, cockroaches, or maggots. Hiding in dark corners without sound or form, waiting for the right moment… They were like insectivorous plants.
Annoying, but not threatening. Hiding their bodies meant they lacked the confidence to reveal themselves and fight.
Fernandez turned his body and moved in the direction where the killing intent grew thicker.
“He’s moving from Centum 12th Street to 18th Street.”
“Stupid fool. He’s walking right into his own grave.”
A man chuckled under the shadows. Beside him, another man who had been watching Fernandez from a distance also couldn’t hold back his amusement.
“Isn’t he quite the expert? At finding his own burial spot.”
“Bishop, what do you think that old man told him?”
“He was quiet for a while, but it seems he’s gone mad, maybe from taking the wrong medicine. At best, he’s probably trying to send a message outside.”
“Is that so? Must be.”
They couldn’t set foot directly into the holy district.
The church buildings gathered the surrounding faith and radiated a certain level of divinity. Some churches even preserved relics.
Since they relied on the power of Hell, such beings couldn’t easily step into the holy halls. Just as daywalkers among vampires could walk under the sun, unless they were exceptional individuals.
The Shield Parish had been holding Sunday masses for the past few weeks, but fiercely rejected all other entries, effectively sealing itself off.
There was no reason to deploy high-level personnel to monitor such a church, so the spies here were of a lower caliber.
But even such individuals retained their instincts. Instinctively, they didn’t approach Fernandez.
It was an action beyond logic or reason, something even they themselves didn’t realize.
Under normal circumstances, they would have immediately abducted him and sent him to the “lab,” but now they were just observing.
“He’s heading toward the Bern District.”
“……An outsider?”
The man, who had been lost in thought while retracing Fernandez’s path, couldn’t help but tilt his head.
The Bern District was a closed-off area due to a rampant plague.
Anyone who had lived in Paltennoia for even a week would never go there.
And during this time, near the Bern District, disappearances of vagrants and passersby were rampant. Rumors had started to spread that those infected with the plague were kidnapping people to eat them alive.
So, heading to such an area itself suggested he was an outsider, but……
“It seems like he knows what he’s doing.”
Fernandez’s path was too direct. He was walking the shortest route, as if he had a clear destination.
“What the hell? What’s going on?”
“What should we do?”
“What can we do? He’s walking to his death, so let’s just keep watching.”
Even if he’s a dead man walking, dying before extracting information would be unexpected, but…… Since it’s a matter of extermination, His Majesty probably won’t say much. He’s too busy anyway.
The man smirked.
-This is it.
Faijashi said quietly.
The area where the plague had broken out, as mentioned by the Archbishop of Shield, was nearby.
As expected, it wasn’t an ordinary plague. The moment they crossed the district’s boundary, a palpable hostility was felt.
Hot, humid air swirled, and a foul stench pierced their noses.
The air was toxic enough to make their skin tingle and eyes sting.
‘He said it was a cave.’
The bishop had said he was abducted to some cave, where he saw all his subordinates being subjected to biological experiments, plunging him into despair. But that was impossible.
If it were outside Paltennoia, such a place might exist somewhere, though hard to pinpoint. But it was hard to believe the Emperor would set up a workshop in a place exposed to outsiders, nor could he have abducted the bishop across districts for more than a day.
Therefore, the Emperor’s workshop was inside Paltennoia.
This was a natural deduction.
But caves or caverns. Such things couldn’t exist within this city.
This city had endured for over a thousand years.
Every district was densely planned and constructed, the city’s foundation was paved with solid bricks, and the city had built a vast underground waterway system the size of the city itself.
If they had done something in the underground waterways, unless the bishop was a fool, he wouldn’t have described it as a “cave.” Paltennoia’s underground waterways were superior to any other civilized city.
So, if he said it was a cave, it wasn’t underground. But it wasn’t outside the city either.
Then……
‘A recently closed-off district where the ground was forcibly dug out and concealed.’
In a city with a high population density and a large floating population, creating a secret base unnoticed was impossible. Except for one case.
-The plague. Ha. A good excuse.
‘There probably was a plague.’
Though Diemonica’s divinity blocked external stimuli, and Botan’s rune glyphs created a protective spell that shielded him completely, such a level of toxicity would make the presence of a plague seem natural.
But ordinary people would never come to this area.
If the toxicity was so dense that merely approaching it could make one lose their mind, then this place was undoubtedly the city’s most secret space.
-Click.
The sticky toxicity spread like a pale mist under the flickering magic lamps.
In the already dark night of Paltennoia, the old magic lamps and thick fog blocked their vision.
And beyond, the sound of weapons dragging on the ground echoed from the alley entrance. Along with the distinctive friction of chainmail.
‘Ordinary people would never approach this area.’
So, they weren’t ordinary people. Fernandez quietly drew his greatsword.
The moment he stepped into this area, the enemies would have noticed his presence. Even if they hadn’t, he already had a tail attached to him.
-Click, click.
The sound grew closer. A faint outline appeared under the fog.
The one who approached under the magic lamp was a soldier dressed in the distinctive armor of the Imperial Capital guards.
“This is a restricted area. Disarm and submit to inspection.”
“This is getting interesting.”
