Chapter 42

Chapter Sixteen Chaos and Faith

“To sum up, the followers of demons do not gain the power of the Order of Flames but instead a more terrifying fire of sin by burning their own blood. For them, the more blood they spill, the stronger their power becomes. What you saw today were just low-level minions. I once fought with the upper echelons of the Truth’s Gate, and the temperature of that blood… if ignited, could easily melt steel, making it almost impossible to get close. If you encounter them again, remember not to use sharp weapons; you must defeat them quickly with your Frost Order.”

“Mm-hm.”

I nodded obediently, but inwardly I thought, I don’t want to fight these lunatics. That’s the Holy Church’s business, none of my concern.

I am an atheist.

“Tonight’s events are strange. Why would these heretics engage in the trade of reed grass? We can’t figure it out yet. However, interrogations should be left to the people in the underground prison. We can’t afford to be lenient with these members of the Truth’s Gate.”

“Underground prison, scary?”

I remembered Carlos had used this to scare me before.

“Mm. For our enemies, that place strikes fear into their hearts. You don’t need to know more than that; just understand it can be used to intimidate others.”

Actually, I already knew that from hearing about medieval torture devices in the original world. This place probably isn’t much different.

Indeed, despite the Holy Church presenting itself as a savior, it inevitably uses such dark methods behind the scenes.

At this thought, another question suddenly arose in my mind.

“Do you believe in deities?”

“Me?” Carlos lay back in his chair, yawning widely and saying drowsily, “I only believe in myself.”

Hearing this, my eyes widened.

He had been talking nonstop about his disdain for heretics, but he turned out to be an atheist too?

“Why, are you surprised?”

I nodded dumbly.

“What’s surprising about it? Have you seen me use divine power?” Carlos looked at me with some exasperation. “Do you think everyone blindly follows what the church says? Impossible. Let me tell you, most of the Pope’s knights don’t have divine power because they have their own beliefs.”

Carlos paused, then continued.

“We may not believe in deities, but that doesn’t mean we think there aren’t any. Deities exist, and their blessings are real. But… it doesn’t mean they are truly ‘gods.’ Can you understand that?”

I gently shook my head.

What does it mean? Not true gods, then what?

As far as I knew, the closer a believer was to the deity in the church, the stronger their divine power became. Some high-ranking believers, like the four cardinals, who were second only to the pope, and certain archbishops, could use divine power to rival the pope’s knights.

Like the Golden Bell that once restricted my movements, it was quite a powerful miracle. Carlos told me that the old man in the robe was Archbishop Silagia, a highly respected figure, and his control over divine power was top-notch among archbishops. If not for his age, I might have lost even faster.

Moreover, unlike order powers, miracles serve purposes beyond combat. They can also provide protection, healing, blessings, and other supportive functions.

These powers are borrowed from deities, but if the deities aren’t ‘gods’… what are these ‘miracles’?

“What are divine power and miracles?”

“Deities’ blessings to humans.”

I rolled my eyes. It sounded like nothing was said.

I didn’t understand. Even the order powers were confusing to me.

“Forget it.” Carlos closed his eyes, clearly not wanting to explain further. “Many things I don’t fully understand either. Don’t worry about it. You’ll understand when you need to… I’m sleepy now.”

…

What a jerk.

I pouted unhappily.

I hate those who tease me with questions but refuse to answer.

Looking at Carlos, who seemed to be asleep, I felt a surge of anger and slapped him lightly on the face.

“Katerina, you owe me a pastry.”

Carlos trembled all over and looked at me in shock.

“…Actually, I admire your creativity in names. You’ve never repeated one, and now you’re even coming up with female names. You’re quite the name genius,” he rubbed his forehead with a headache. “The pastry was given to you by me, and you dropped it yourself. How can you ask me to replace it?”

“I don’t care.”

I tilted my head and said stubbornly.

I was originally planning to make soup out of you, now

I paid attention; as long as you still have something delicious to eat, I’ll let you off this time. You should be grateful to me.

“Ah, geez,” Carlos scratched his messy white hair in frustration. “I remember I was teaching you well, but how did it all go wrong… Tsk, kids are really hard to manage.”

“You’re the kid here,” I glared at him angrily.

“How long have you been alive? Aren’t you still just a child? Alright, alright, don’t hit me. Here, take this.”

Carlos had an expression on his face that showed he didn’t want to argue with me, but in his hand, he pulled out another small package from his clothes as if by magic.

I immediately took it with delight and eagerly opened it to find that it was indeed a pastry.

Is this guy a treasure bag? A Doraemon?

“Just now, I might have crushed some of it while moving around. Just make do with it. It’s better than dry bread.”

“Why…”

“Did you wonder why I brought these things along?” Carlos interrupted before I could finish. He turned away from me lazily and said, “What do you think?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then don’t know.”

After that, he fell silent, and soon after, the sound of steady breathing could be heard.

The snow outside had stopped, and the occasional pleasant chirping of insects could be heard.

The nights in the Valen Empire were bright.

Silver moonlight bathed the ground, illuminating the entire world clearly.

I quietly ate my midnight snack in the carriage.

Although it was somewhat crumbled, the taste of the pastry was still sweet.

…

The journey ahead turned out unexpectedly smooth.

The merchants who had expected problems along the way, either because they sensed Carlos’s identity or because there were no more heretics among them, became unusually well-behaved, which raised suspicions.

Even to find the hidden heretics, the knight commander deliberately relaxed vigilance to reveal a flaw, yet no one took advantage of it.

This made Carlos feel strange too, but he didn’t push further.

As he said, these people should be left for the underground prison.

In the days leading up to the Winter City, we intentionally avoided a scorched earth that was barren.

That scorched earth was only a few kilometers away from Winter City. There were no mountains or trees, as if it was painted with black ink. From afar, it looked desolate, a void where even birds wouldn’t fly.

“This is the Abyss Battlefield known as the Valen Disaster two years ago.”

When Carlos said this, his expression was complex, and his eyes held colors I couldn’t understand.

“Five Papal Knights, only three survived in the end. Little Shil, do you know that I was one of them?”

I was slightly stunned. This was the first time he mentioned it.

“At that time… we truly put our lives on the line. Among the survivors, Duke Scalliger lost an arm, and another was severely injured, unable to wield weapons again. In terms of outcome, I was the luckiest.”

It was hard to imagine that someone as strong as Carlos would use the word ‘survived.’ After all, when fighting me, it was just him and a Grand Archbishop, and I already found it challenging.

How powerful were the enemies that five Papal Knights faced two years ago?

But I won’t back down.

“It was our carelessness in Silgaya. At that time, to capture you, the Church deployed all defenses in large towns tens of kilometers away. No one expected the Abyss to appear in the same place again. So, do you now understand what your actions in that small village meant for the whole of Silgaya?”

I nodded to him.

If I hadn’t killed the Endless Abyss, it would have likely led to the Silgaya Disaster next.

My understanding of the chaotic power of the Abyss has changed. The power of the Black Smoke is truly terrifying, but… what if I could harness it properly?

There was one thing I didn’t tell Carlos.

When I killed the Endless Abyss, a red-hot current surged into my body just before I passed out. Since then, my control over the Black Smoke has become more adept. I’ve been secretly verifying something, and I finally understood the gist of it a couple of days ago.

The Abyss can devour other Abysses.

By killing the opponent, one can claim their abilities. In other words, I now have the ability to mimic the Black Smoke, creating units that can act autonomously.

At that time, the Endless Abyss created those bizarre human forms only because it was unfamiliar with this world and was simply mimicking the villagers it saw.

But I am different. If I master this power, theoretically, I can create any life form I can imagine.

Of course, exactly how to do it requires further exploration.

For now, these powers cannot be exposed to outsiders.

They must remain my secret.

…

Several days later, we arrived at Winter City.