Chapter 232

The interrogation didn’t take long.

Whatever pleasure Isabella had promised Robert, it didn’t seem to be enough to overcome the pain he was facing.

Wait, “facing” might not be the right word. Robert didn’t have eyes anymore. Just gaping holes where melted fluids were dripping out.

“The first purification ritual is now complete. You have become a more honest person. Do you feel ready to confess your sins now?”

“Ugh… ugh… ugh…!”

Robert nodded frantically, his expression half-gone.

Of course. That purification ritual was brutal, even by my standards. I didn’t know this before, but areas with concentrated healing powers can burn and regenerate repeatedly.

A strange stench filled the hallway.

Robert’s eyes burned for about five minutes, melting and regenerating over and over. That was more than enough time to completely break someone’s spirit.

“Thank you for your cooperation. Sir Bels, would you prepare the next step?”

“Of course, gladly.”

Bels handed over the paper and quill he was holding to Lacey. She had retrieved them from a nearby room while interrogating Robert.

“Here, Robert. Even if you can’t speak, your right hand, which I healed, should still work. Take this pen and paper, and write down all your sins. If you’re truly remorseful, I believe you can fill at least one page.”

Lacey crouched down and gently placed the quill in Robert’s right hand, guiding it toward the paper. Her expression was like that of a kind teacher instructing a blind girl, but the scene was anything but gentle.

“Ugh… ugh… ugh…”

Robert’s hand trembled violently. Two kinds of fear clashed within him—the terror of the searing pain he had just endured and the dread of what his confession would bring. Either way, it was a nightmare for him.

Should’ve thought about that before betraying your faith. Should’ve just not believed in the first place, like me.

“Can’t remember how to write? Or do you not even have the strength left?”

The quill slipped from Robert’s hand. Lacey, holding the pen, smiled softly, like she was soothing a child.

“Let me help you.”

A drop of ink glistened on the quill’s tip.

“GYAAAAAAAH!”

A deafening scream echoed through the ceiling. Robert convulsed like a madman, drumming the floor with his broken limbs.

Feathers sprouted from his empty eye sockets.

Lacey flicked her wrist, conducting like an orchestra maestro, full of passion.

“KIIIIEEEE! GYAAAAH! HIIIIYAAAAH!”

Robert proved he had the talent of a soprano. Too bad he was too old to become a castrato.

“Looks like your energy’s back. Let’s keep going.”

The sharp quill scraped through his melted optic nerves, tattooing the inside of his eye sockets with crimson ink. Robert foamed at the mouth, crying tears of blood.

“There. That should be enough. I’ve engraved the art of writing directly into your eyes. I trust you’ll remember it well.”

Lacey pulled out the quill and placed it back in Robert’s right hand.

“If you still find it difficult, I’ll have to engrave the other eye too.”

That wasn’t necessary. Robert, having finally made up his mind, began writing his confession at a furious pace. Guess the pen really is mightier than the sword.

—-

“Conspiring with a witch to indulge in her banquets, offering young priestesses as sacrifices, raping them, and secretly burying those who caught on… Not to mention countless embezzlements. This should be enough to deliver a fitting judgment.”

Lacey skimmed through Robert’s signed confession, her face full of disdain, and delivered the final verdict.

“Robert, by the authority of Elmain, I hereby excommunicate you. All your titles and privileges are revoked as of this moment.”

Robert, having finished his confession, slumped down with a vacant expression. He looked like he had lost all hope—or perhaps he had just realized there was never any hope to begin with.

“You are no longer the Elector of the Empire or the Archbishop of the Church Order. You are merely a heretic. You know the punishment for heresy, don’t you?”

Burning at the stake, probably. Or crucifixion.

“Considering your willingness to confess, I should show some mercy… but your sins are far too grave. So, there’s no other way.”

Lacey calmly delivered the final sentence.

—-

That day, nine crosses were erected in front of the cathedral.

Robert the heretic and his accomplices. All of them were sentenced to death by Lacey’s judgment.

The Purification Baptism.

A punishment where nails were driven through wrists and ankles to bind them to metal crosses, then oil was poured over their heads and set ablaze. They were to burn like that for at least three days.

“KIIIIAAAAH! IT BURNS! IT BURNS!!”

“MY BODY! MY BODYYYY! GYAAAAH!”

The burning sinners screamed in unison, their voices tearing through the air.

Healing priests stood by, pouring out healing spells to ensure they didn’t die before their sins were fully purified.

Though the trial was forced, no one objected to the verdict now. There was a good reason for it.

As I watched the sinners burn like torches, I recalled what had happened an hour earlier. Right after Lacey sentenced Robert to death, we dragged his limp body out of the cathedral.

—-

“Drop your weapons and surrender immediately!”

Waiting for us at the cathedral’s back door was an army of priests and knights. While Lacey had been interrogating Robert, they had gathered their forces. If it were just me, maybe I could’ve handled it…

It seemed like a tough number to break through, even with Lacey in tow.

“Surrender? You speak as if we are criminals.”

Lacey stepped forward, her calm gaze fixed on them.

“Do you deny the crime of damaging the Exra-shapel Cathedral? Even as a candidate for sainthood, such disrespect cannot be tolerated!”

“The destruction of the cathedral’s main gate is indeed heartbreaking… but it was a necessary act to capture the heretic and apostate, former Archbishop Robert, who betrayed Elpinel. Surely, you understand.”

Lacey gestured towards Bels, who then threw Robert, whom she had dragged along, in front of them.

“T-Trier Archbishop?! How could this be…!”

An old man with empty eyes, tears streaming down, and limbs completely shattered. The horrific sight of the once core clergy of the capital diocese and the empire’s elector left everyone in shock.

“He is no longer the Archbishop. He is a heretic who allied with witches, betrayed the Church Order, indulged in luxury and pleasure, and led his brethren to death. The apostate Robert has already confessed everything after the trial, and we have secured evidence of his embezzlement.”

Lacey held up a paper filled with Robert’s confessions.

“This cathedral was built by human hands, but his crimes were against Elpinel. If we let go of someone who betrayed Him in His holy place just to protect human achievements, wouldn’t that be the true act of disrespect?”

“Do you expect us to believe that now? Destroying the cathedral, attacking the elector, and presenting a piece of paper obtained through torture?”

Indeed, Robert’s slumped appearance was enough to convince anyone that he had been subjected to harsh torture. Perhaps it was too brutal a method.

“That’s right! How could the Archbishop be an apostate? It’s impossible!”

“No, but… Lady Elmain said so…”

“Even if chosen by Elpinel, she’s only nineteen!”

Even though the saint candidate called him an apostate, the people’s eyes were filled with doubt and confusion, and few seemed to believe her words.

“Right. She’s still young, so she must have been deceived by Ka`har’s Carnivorous Beast…! There are rumors that he’s in cahoots with witches!”

What’s that guy? I’ll remember his face.

“Eek! The Carnivorous Beast is trying to kill me!”

As soon as I glared at him, he screamed and hid among the crowd. Wait, that guy?

“Even if he truly committed heresy, shouldn’t we have reported it to the Church Order and conducted a proper religious trial? Not this oppressive method!”

“If we had done that, we would never have caught him. Evil people, sensing danger, hide like rats. As a faithful servant of Elpinel, I have the responsibility to protect His children and destroy His enemies… I acted according to His will within my heart.”

Lacey looked up at the sky. A vast expanse of clear, serene blue.

“Elpinel is always watching over us. If I acted against His will, He will surely punish me.”

“Such sophistry…!”

– Crack!

A noise from above silenced the knight. A sound like a giant rock splitting in two. Everyone’s gaze turned towards the wall of the cathedral behind Lacey.

“Uh, uh…?”

“Wait, that’s…!”

The clergy pointed upwards in shock.

A black shadow descended like the night sky. Something massive, blocking the sunlight, was falling towards us.

The golden cross that adorned the cathedral’s outer wall.

Perhaps due to the impact on the main gate, the cross, torn from the wall, plummeted towards the ground like a catapult’s projectile. A mass weighing hundreds of kilograms, unstoppable.

“Lacey!”

I desperately called her name and turned my body. We had to dodge somehow…!

“It’s alright.”

Lacey calmly murmured, holding the cross in her arms and closing her eyes. Before I could do anything, the golden meteor struck the ground.

—-

A deafening roar shook the heavens and earth. The crushed ground surged upwards, and the shockwave tangled and tousled our hair.

Several clergy lost their balance and fell from the earthquake-like vibrations. Screams erupted from various parts of the crowd.

Those who didn’t fall stared with trembling eyes at the rising dust.

And then,

“My God…!”

“Elpinel…!”

As the dust slowly cleared, the result of the collision was revealed before everyone’s eyes. A golden glow reflected the sunlight, shining brightly.

Numerous priests knelt and made the sign of the cross. Even the knights were speechless, staring blankly at the scene before them.

“Ughhh…!”

On the overturned and shattered ground, Robert groaned with a dying voice. His lower body was completely crushed, turned into pulp.

The cross that had fallen towards the ground had hammered his lower body like a mallet. Without harming anyone else, only Robert.

Everyone present thought of the same word.

Divine punishment.

“Divine punishment! Elpinel has punished the apostate!”

A holy knight shouted loudly.

No one could deny it.