Chapter 9 Flickering Morning Star
—
Worthy of the name “Chariot.”
Despite her slender figure and the use of a rapier as a weapon.
At this moment, Hiltina, dressed in red and white knight armor, truly resembled the legendary divine chariot, crushing everything that stood in her way to dust.
“Damned traitors!”
“What did Talis promise you that could make you betray your faith in the Lord?”
The roar echoed.
Some church members in the lord’s mansion, stimulated by the life-and-death crisis, forcibly broke free from their state of mental shock, raised their firearms, and roared as they opened fire.
Though they were only ordinary lever-action shotguns, the impact on flesh was enough to cause irreparable injuries.
Ding——
The silver flash flickered and disappeared.
Two fragments of pure yellow bullets fell to the ground with a crisp sound, their cut surfaces smooth as new.
The cultist who fired the gun showed a look of horror in his eyes.
He opened his mouth, but before he could make a sound, a crystal-like rapier pierced through his throat.
……
When the breeze from the silver blade subsided, all thirty-six cultists present, including the Vice Cardinal, had fallen to the ground, blood gushing from the wounds in their left chests and throats.
During this process, some cultists, who had already been pierced through the throat and heart, still twisted unnaturally as they fell.
However, soon, these abnormal ones were ruthlessly finished off with a few more strikes from Hiltina.
Their heads shattered, along with the tendons in their limbs severed.
Even with their vitality polluted by blood and flesh, they would no longer have the slightest ability to move.
Only after confirming that there were just Rast and herself left alive in the lord’s mansion did Hiltina sheath the rapier.
In the next moment, the knight’s rapier silently shattered like crystal, turning into countless sparkling specks of light.
“Emblem Armor ‘Flickering Morning Star.'”
“In simple terms, emblem armor is the only extraordinary equipment that can be brought into the Night World.”
Noticing Rast’s gaze, Hiltina explained while watching the rapier dissipate into light.
“By the way.” She put on her pitch-black hooded cloak to cover the interwoven red and white knight attire, “Was what you said to deceive the cultists earlier true?”
“Which phrase? The one about Councilman Talis being a traitor at the city council?”
Rast followed Hiltina into the mansion, stepping over the bodies strewn across the hall.
He thought for a moment: “Since it came from that eight-tenths female council member who told me in secret, it should be true. After all, she’s a colleague.”
“Thinking about it, it’s not surprising for an old man of over seventy like Councilman Talis to occasionally lose control; it’s no wonder he desires that pollutant that can extend life and maintain youth so desperately.”
“I’m not asking about that.”
Hiltina rubbed her forehead: “What I mean is, since that council member knows about the existence of the cult organization and can even command the Inspectorate to act, why don’t we choose to cooperate with them?”
“From my past experiences in the Night World, if we could draw in the city’s official forces, our actions would undoubtedly be much easier.”
However, from the beginning to the end, Rast preferred to confront the cult alone rather than seek assistance from outsiders.
“I’ve tried many times.”
Rast smiled lightly.
“Not to mention just collaborating with Councilman Talis…”
“Sending a report telegram to the capital; collecting scandals about the Inspectorate Director to make the security forces serve me; even kidnapping the mayor’s beloved mistress to threaten him into deploying the navy stationed at Deep Blue Harbor to eradicate the cult stronghold.”
“I ran through all options for seeking outside help, but in the end, I found that all of this would only hinder me.”
He squatted down and skillfully retrieved several boxes of handgun bullets from a corpse’s pocket.
“You just saw those polluted cultists, right?”
“Previously, they seemed no different from ordinary people because, although they had been contaminated by that sculpture’s aura, they were still in a suppressed incubation period and would only experience some abnormal changes after death.”
“But—”
Rast’s footsteps paused at the deep end of the mansion hall, next to a large painting.
“If those polluted individuals are no longer suppressed or dormant—”
“But instead, actively stimulated?”
As he spoke, Rast raised his hand to move the painting aside, revealing an inconspicuous wall clock behind it.
He opened the clock’s back cover, reaching in to manipulate the adjustment gears.
The minute and hour hands of the clock were adjusted, producing a clicking sound.
Watching Rast leisurely adjust the gears, Hiltina frowned slightly: “Given the situation at this stronghold, the number of cult members should be relatively small, at most a few hundred.”
“Even if all the cultists’ pollution were to be triggered and go out of control, compared to the security forces of the entire Deep Blue Harbor, a few hundred is still manageable…”
Her words stopped abruptly as Hiltina suddenly recalled the information Rast had mentioned earlier:
Months had passed since the polluted sculpture, tainted by the Evil God, was brought to Deep Blue Harbor by fishermen.
Though this cult had been acting secretly, who knows how many people had encountered the source of pollution during those months, reaching various places?
The police station, city council, hospitals, opera houses, naval bases…
No physical contact was required, nor did one need to possess particularly devout faith.
When ordinary people inadvertently saw that sculpture, the seed of pollution had already been sown.
If they truly sought the assistance of the Deep Blue Harbor authorities, then when the pollution erupted, former allies and helpers could instantly turn into enemies.
In Hiltina’s mind, a memory suddenly surfaced: two brief lines of historical records she had seen in the Night World intelligence booklet.
[Weeks after the destruction of Deep Blue Harbor, a plague originating from the harbor ruins swept the Eastern Continent.]
[Named by people based on the characteristics of the infected—the ‘Iron Cross Plague.’]
“You mentioned earlier… that it would later be referred to as the ‘Iron Cross,’ right?”
Rast’s voice was calm, but it sounded strangely heavy to Hiltina.
Two lines of text, almost inconspicuous as dust in historical records, loomed like a mountain over everyone in this era.
“You were right about one thing earlier.”
“The course of history is never so easily broken.”
“The fisherman who came across the polluted sculpture thought he was the chosen lucky one.”
“But in reality, whether or not he went out that day to fish… the trajectory of fate named Deep Blue Harbor had long been secretly determined.”
Rast’s movements paused briefly.
The hour and minute hands of the clock, turned to a specific point, clicked sharply as they got stuck in place.
“However, there’s no need to be overly pessimistic.”
“As the only variable that has appeared in tens of thousands of cycles, your ability has greatly exceeded my expectations, significantly boosting my odds of a successful outcome.”
Rast withdrew his hand from the clock’s adjustment gears: “After all, we aren’t truly set to slay a god; we are merely intended to change a trivial detail in a predetermined historical trajectory.”
“This should be the only good news I’ve heard from you since entering the Night World.”
Hiltina smiled, tucking a strand of chestnut hair back behind her ear: “May I ask how confident you are in a successful outcome now?”
As the mechanism in the clock was triggered, a series of gear movements and clattering sounds echoed from within.
Moments later, the clock slowly revealed a hidden secret door.
“How should I put it…” Rast thought for a moment: “Earlier, I’d say about one percent.”
He glanced at the dark door and stepped inside.
“But now, after confirming your abilities, it should be about five percent.”
“To think it improved by a full four times; I didn’t expect my role to be so significant.” Hiltina chuckled, following Rast into the secret door.
(End of Chapter)