361. Rovers and Plunderers (6)
In the dim dawn, a burly man with a deeply pulled hood walked briskly. After glancing around, he paused briefly at the entrance to the village.
At the village entrance, a man with a pitchfork on his shoulder was trudging along. Seeing the hooded traveler, he stood as if blocking the way.
“Who are you?”
“What use is identity to a wanderer?”
“Our village doesn’t take in vagrants.”
“I have no business in the village.”
“In this direction, there’s nothing but mountains beyond our village. If you’re going, try another mountain.”
“Isn’t there the St. Lucio Monastery?”
“…Who are you?”
The farmer’s eyes turned suspicious. He slowly lowered the pitchfork and reached into his coat. The farmer’s hand gripped a cold sword hilt. But the traveler, whether aware of his caution or not, stepped forward with an unchanged expression.
“Stop.”
“I was curious if I had come to the right place after such an old procedure. Glad to see it’s correct.”
The traveler slowly removed his hood. Short, faded hair and a sturdy appearance were revealed under the morning sun. Even the small rosary around his neck. Seeing the rosary with the emblem of Vaitas’ Keyblade, the farmer quickly knelt on one knee and bowed his head.
“Brother, I greet you. I am Parenzo, torchbearer of Brother Aselando.”
“You must have suffered much. Rise quickly. I wish to go to the monastery.”
“Yes, Brother. I will guide you.”
Parenzo hurriedly stood and made way for the traveler. The two walked in silence for a while before Parenzo suddenly spoke.
“Brother. If it’s not too rude, may I ask your name…”
“Brother Zephis Siraduast.”
“…!”
Feeling both confusion and awe at the presence of the man known as a legend among the Diemonica, Parenzo quietly bowed his head and quickened his pace.
* * *
It was an utterly ordinary rural farmhouse. This small, nameless settlement was greeting a morning no different from any other farm. But from the moment Zephis appeared, the farmers passing by, the women carrying laundry, even the children stopped and stared at him.
Parenzo awkwardly smiled at their gazes and quietly spoke to Zephis.
“Are you uncomfortable?”
“They must all be torchbearers.”
“Yes, they are torchbearers who have lost their brothers. Many brothers fell in the last battle.”
At this, Zephis made a quick sign of the cross. The residents of this disguised village were all torchbearers who had served the fallen brothers. Seeing their numbers, Zephis wondered how many brothers had fallen.
The monastery had burned, and brothers were lost. The Inquisition Office wasn’t just functionally halted; it was practically destroyed. What remained were mere remnants at best.
As Zephis sighed briefly, Parenzo hurriedly continued.
“The brothers remaining at the monastery will speak, but if I may say first… Not all brothers were deployed in the main office incident, Brother. Brothers who were too far to reach the main office are still scattered, each performing their duties.”
“Yes, that must be so.”
But Zephis’s expression didn’t ease. With the main office destroyed, even if immediate missions were irrelevant, basic functions like mission assignments and operational organization couldn’t be expected.
Even if there were brothers scattered and barely escaping the chaos, how long could they last, isolated in enemy territory? And how many brothers would gather at this temporary base?
It was unknown.
“And the Monastery Head?”
“He passed during the destruction of the main office.”
“…Macto.”
“Macto Superlaudo.”
Parenzo and Zephis simultaneously made the sign of the cross and recited a prayer. They soon left the village and entered a path leading into the mountains. Not far along the dark, narrow path, the ivy-covered walls of an old, sealed monastery appeared.
Standing at the wooden gate, Parenzo rang a small bell twice. Soon, a small window in the gate slid open, revealing a man’s eyes inside.
“Parenzo? What brings you here?”
“Yes, Brother. A brother from outside has come, and I guided him.”
“…A brother? Who… Good heavens!!”
-Thud, clang!
The window slammed shut, and soon the gate began to open. From inside, a sharp-featured man with a long scar on his cheek burst out.
He quickly ran to Zephis and tightly embraced him. Zephis patted his back a couple of times and spoke.
“Brother!”
“Brother Theodorico. You’re alive.”
“Yes, Brother! Good heavens, you’re alive!”
This sharp-featured Heretic, with tears in his eyes, stepped back. He tightly gripped Zephis’s shoulders and bowed his head.
“Your return will surely be a great help. The Lord has guided us, bringing the most needed at the most needed time.”
“My steps were slow, and I heard of the main office’s fate late. You’ve suffered much. I’m sorry.”
“No, Brother. No…”
“Who remains at the monastery now? Who is leading the main office?”
“Brother Marco and Brother Fabiano. Please, come inside!”
Following Theodorico’s lead, Zephis entered the old monastery.
* * *
Soon, Zephis met Fabiano and Marco deep within the monastery. Fabiano was wrapped in bandages all over his large body, and Marco wore a black eyepatch over one eye.
They looked at Zephis and Theodorico as they entered and were momentarily speechless. Zephis nodded warmly and spoke.
“I’m glad to see you too, brothers.”
“Brother!!”
Before Marco could say anything, Fabiano jumped up and shouted loudly.
“Lord!!”
“Oh, Lord. Preserve my hearing.”
“Good heavens!! Brother!! You’re alive!!”
“Fortunately. I couldn’t have passed before you, who must have faced greater trials. Are you injured?”
“The Lord must still need this useless body! I’m still fine!”
“Fine, Brother Fabiano? You’ve been sick for three days.”
Marco, still shaking his ringing head, frowned. He poured a cup of tea from the table and spoke.
“There’s much to discuss, Brother. Welcome back. Please, sit.”
“Brother Marco. Your eye?”
“A price for seeing what should not be seen. I left it at the main office ruins.”
“Without Brother Marco’s help, none of us would have returned alive. Brother Zephis.”
Marco smiled bitterly and slightly lifted his eyepatch. The skin beneath was blackened like dark ore. Zephis looked at the sight with heavy eyes and took a sip of tea.
“Magic corruption. How much time is left?”
“If I don’t use magic, perhaps five more years.”
“Have you thought of leaving the order?”
“Haha, if the Lord’s peace is still not on this earth, and I seek comfort for myself, that would be apostasy, Brother. Life and death in the Material World are not my concern.”
“Thank you.”
Five years left. In truth, all Inquisition Officers live as if on borrowed time, so Marco seemed unbothered. But Zephis looked at him bitterly.
Inquisition Officers always live with death in mind. Their destination is a world filled with unparalleled evil, and they may wield the power of a hell that could end the world.
They had to become a breakwater, standing firm with their own bodies.
Thus, there could be no Inquisition Officer who peacefully lived out their days on a bed and closed their eyes. All Inquisition Officers lived their numbered days by their own choice.
However, corruption by hellish magic. The lifespan decreed by it could never be compared to mere beliefs or ideologies. Every living moment, they had to resist the temptations of corruption and heresy.
Even now, Marco would see and hear the hallucinations and visions of hell. Zephis had seen many mages like that. And most of those mages had to die by his hand. All mages who reached that state chose heresy in the end.
“Haha, brother. There’s no need to look at me like that. If the Lord calls me, then please, by your hand, send me to my end. …Promise me.”
“I will do so, without fail.”
“Now, let me report on the monastery’s situation and the last words of the Monastery Head.”
“Once again, I sincerely congratulate you on your return, brother.”
Zephis nodded briefly and set down his teacup. A hastily written report was pushed before him. Marco handed over the report and leaned back in his chair.
“This is a makeshift report created due to the suspension of the main office’s functions. It would be best to deliver it to the Papacy, but the situation is such that there’s no way to reach His Holiness the Pope.”
Due to the extensive pursuit by Phaeirn, the survivors of the Inquisition Office now had to hide in this monastery. This place was one of the ancient fortress monasteries built with the assumption of the main office’s suspension and collapse.
Few would remember this monastery, but it was almost a stroke of luck that Marco happened to be commanding the survivors when the main office fell. In reality, many brothers who do not know the exact situation of the main office are likely still scattered and isolated across the world.
* * *
[Attention, this document holds a Level 1 Confidential clearance.]
[Unauthorized viewing of this document may result in disciplinary action under confidentiality protocols.]
[Urgent Report: Loss of Main Office.]
Incident Summary:
1. Looting and arson of sealed monasteries observed across the eastern region, centered around Phaeirn.
2. Due to the inaccessibility of the sealed monasteries, reports were only received after the complete loss of the monasteries.
3. The main office identified this incident as the precursor to a large-scale heresy event and dispatched all available agents nationwide.
4. Confirmed that a more extensive area was lost than initially reported.
5. Initiated the highest level of situation investigation. Dispatched all available Torchmen.
6. External military forces leaked, leading to a sudden assault on the main office.
7. The main office was lost, and the sealed relics of the Great Relic War were unleashed, starting a large-scale demonic crisis.
8. External personnel were urgently gathered, and the operation to secure the main office began under 3rd Class Religiosa Diemonica Fabiano and 2nd Class Religiosa Enmagika Marco.
9. During the operation, the opening of a hellgate in the Dragonspine Mountains was detected.
* * *
After reading this far, Zephis pressed his temples for a moment. A hellgate…?
“The hellgate has opened?”
“Yes, brother. The magical contamination in the northeastern part of Phaeirn is the aftermath of the hellgate’s opening.”
“Lord, have mercy.”
* * *
On the day the main office burned, Fabiano led a suicide squad, advancing while exterminating demons scattered across the Dragonspine Mountains. The war banner of Vaitas’ holy war fluttered on its own, erasing the corruption and contamination of hell, as well as the presence of demons.
Even the Heretics and Enmagikas, relatively vulnerable to corruption, could remain intact from the demons’ grasp. But the enemy’s numbers were overwhelming. It wasn’t just the explosion of demonic relics—
“Gah! Damn it. Brother! It seems the gate has opened!”
“The gate has opened? Was there such a thing among the relics sealed in the main office?”
“No! But this magic… If hellish magic of this magnitude is densely concentrated in one place, a temporary gate could be opened depending on the summoned demon’s power! What should we do?”
An Enmagika brother, pale-faced, looked at Fabiano. Of course, it wasn’t a suggestion to retreat. It was about tactical objectives.
If the gate had opened, they had to seal or destroy it by any means necessary. A hellgate opened in the material world could, in the worst case, shatter the entire material plane.
A hellgate doesn’t just mean a door to hell. Since hell and heaven are conceptual realms, the moment the gate opens, the nearby material plane begins to conceptualize and shatter.
The contamination of hellish magic doesn’t just pollute the ground like a plague or pollution. It means that magic imbued with hell’s power gradually consumes the world, beginning to conceptualize the nearby area. To make it closer to hell, to become hell’s.
As it spreads and spreads, once enough power is gathered, collapse begins. In the long history of the Church, such an event is said to have happened only once, and the result was a region turned into wasteland.
The Ascension of Mumto, the Asit civilization that built the Great Empire at the time, saw the entire surface swept underground, becoming the Great Wilderness. The nations and heroes of the time succeeded in sealing it and smashing the gate, but the Great Wilderness has remained a wasteland ever since.
That’s what it means. The opening of the gate. Fabiano, without stopping, fell into silence.
‘Abandon the main office and destroy the gate…’
That’s the rational decision. The main office is already lost. Confirming the ruins of the Inquisition Office and seeing the bodies of brothers piled on it is meaningless. The gate must be destroyed.
‘But in that case, we must abandon the brothers who might still be alive.’
What should we do? Fabiano chewed his lip and groaned.
Mission or brothers.
Mission or the main office.
Duty or homeland.
“Divide the forces.”
“Brother!! That’s not acceptable!!”
“Divide the forces!! Only a few, those who have given up on returning alive, follow me! Sergio!!”
“Yes, brother!”
“Brother, take this war banner and head to the gate! No matter what happens, destroy the gate and retreat from the frontlines!”
Fabiano threw the war banner to the Diemonica crushing demons at the forefront. Brother Sergio, in his confusion, grabbed the banner and looked at it with awe.
“But if we leave the domain of this relic…”
“I must confirm the fate of our brothers and understand the truth of the main office. What happened here, and what our next goal should be. Who is the true enemy!”
Fabiano tore the rosary from his neck and wrapped it around his fist. He stopped and shouted to the brothers looking at him.
“So, only those willing to walk to their deaths with me, follow! Martyrdom is not your duty, and survival in the mud is but a momentary humiliation for a greater good. The other brothers must survive and prepare for this crisis!”
“Brother, I will follow.”
“Brother Marco. The other brothers will need your wisdom.”
“I’ve lived long enough. The new world should be led by the young, no? And, brother, you don’t know how to use messenger magic, do you?”
Even if it’s a place where all will die, someone must inform the surviving brothers of the main office’s situation. But Fabiano didn’t know how to use messenger magic.
As he fell silent, Marco chuckled and patted his back.
“And don’t worry. Brother, your place of death is not here. The world still needs us, so the Lord will guide our path.”
“Brother.”
“Even if we die, what does it matter?”
Marco winked and laughed cheerfully.
“You won’t die alone, brother.”
“…It is said, our lives are lighthouses.”
“And our deaths shall be the world’s cornerstone.”
“Makto.”
“Makto Superlaudo, brother. Lead the way.”
Fabiano nodded firmly and turned his back, taking only a few with him.
Sergio watched their backs for a moment, made the sign of the cross, and turned to head in another direction. The Inquisition Officers made the sign of the cross towards Fabiano and began to run after Sergio.
“We shall burn the heretics, the demons, and the witches!!”
Filled with rage and determination, the Inquisition Officers charged through the demons pouring from all sides and ran down the forest path.