Chapter 313

Chapter Ninety-Nine – Invitation

Trot… trot…

The orxy beast galloped like the wind across the prairie.

Margaret’s words were swept away by the wind and lost in the night as soon as they left her lips. After a moment, she raised her right hand slightly, and golden light bloomed quietly before her, forming a palm-sized sphere that pierced through the darkness and floated up to illuminate our path ahead.

My habit was billowing with wind as soon as the orxy beast started running, the sleeves and collar flaring up, and I wasn’t wearing an undershirt, so it felt quite strange.

So I held the Holy Maiden tighter, pressing my chest firmly against her warm back, my forehead resting against hers.

“Margaret…”

The howling wind made me unconsciously raise my voice.

“After I fell into the abyssal mud… what happened next?”

Margaret was silent for a while.

Ah…

Maybe it was too difficult for her to talk about?

Just as I was about to say “it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it,” Margaret slowly began to speak.

“Afterwards… I wanted someone to spread the message, but Cardinal Nero wouldn’t allow it. He claimed that my faith had deviated from the will of the deity and wanted to imprison both me and the members of the Holy Maiden’s party. After everything was over… I was very agitated at the time and declared his crimes on the spot, using Nero’s violation of canon law and killing a Papal Knight as the reason. Then we got into a fight…”

“Later, I tried to lead the Holy Maiden’s party out of the canyon, but it was very difficult… We were captured. Just when I thought I was going to die there, the Second Legion’s knights had an internal conflict… Do you remember the knight captain who welcomed us?”

“Mmm…”

“That night, he led his men to rescue me and took us to the stables to prepare to leave the canyon. But we were discovered… He died there…”

“…”

For a long time, neither of us spoke again.

I held Margaret around the waist, feeling her breathing become less steady.

“Hah—”

Suddenly, she exerted force in her waist, sharply clamping the orxy beast’s belly as if trying to vent the emotions pent up in her heart. The orxy beast sped up once more, and the howling wind became even louder.

“Miss Sylvie!” the Holy Maiden shouted in the wind, “The knight captain told me that he believes in you! You’re not some monster; you’re a hero!”

“Because he believed in you, he also believed in me! He wanted me to tell the Pope about what happened in the canyon! He said that such heroes, even if they die, should be remembered by millions, and their names should never be tarnished by false accusations! Your heroic deeds should be written in poetry, sung by wandering bards, and praised for all eternity!”

“He originally wanted to be a hero like you, but in the end, he became a perpetrator of your misfortune. He feels unworthy of the title of knight and doesn’t deserve to live! He cut off his own retreat, risking his life to give me time to escape. He died there…”

Gradually, Margaret’s passionate shouting faded into faint whispers amidst the howling wind.

“The reason I could escape smoothly is because someone believed in you…”

“Someone was willing to… defend your dignity and reputation with their lives…”

“And I…”

The hooves of the orxy beast pounded urgently.

The Holy Maiden’s words finally came to a halt at “And I,” with no further explanation.

I no longer wanted to ask about those matters.

After a long time, I cleared my throat.

“After everything is settled, tell me everything about the Holy Church and everything else.”

“Okay.”

…

The town was really close to the capital, closer than I imagined.

But even so, it made me bounce around on the orxy beast for a long time… I felt like my bottom was about to split into eight pieces. Just as I was about to endure no longer, I saw the familiar bustling city and the bright lights in the distance.

“We’ve arrived!”

I shouted at Margaret.

At this moment, the red dawn was already rising on the horizon, and the clouds in the sky were dyed with brilliant halos. Soon, the night would completely fade away.

Under the dawn, the silhouette of the capital gradually became clear. The dense lights of the city were scattered like stars among buildings of varying heights in the distance, the towering walls standing firm around the city like solid rocks. However, one could faintly see numerous scattered lights moving in orderly lines outside the city, as if countless ants were waiting to topple an elephant. And far to the east, in the wilderness, one could vaguely see the corner of the ironclad guards’ tightly packed tents.

They’re still here…

The abyss has slipped into the city. Are you prepared to face it?

“After we enter the city, let’s go to the church first. If it’s just the two of us, it will be too slow to find the abyss. I need to mobilize all the clergy in the city, focusing the search on young girls of unknown origin. If necessary, we might have to seek help from Her Majesty… Miss Sylvie, may I ask impertinently, can you sense the presence of your kind… I mean… its aura?”

I thought for a moment and then gently shook my head.

“She can, hiding.”

Logically, abysses should be interconnected. If there was any aura nearby, both of us would feel it immediately, making it easy to locate.

But this abyss is somewhat special… Her ability is “illusion.” The little girl might have learned how to hide her aura, allowing her to arrive in the city early, observing me from afar, and even using chaotic power to ensnare me in an illusion, which I failed to detect entirely.

“I understand… Hah—”

Margaret urged the orxy beast to accelerate again.

“You see… At least now, the capital is still safe and shows no signs of being attacked by the abyss, indicating that it hasn’t begun to devour the city’s inhabitants en masse.

If your judgment is correct and it is indeed in the city, then it’s very likely that this abyss is a similar existence to you. Perhaps we can really negotiate with it…

I hadn’t slept all night… Perhaps Margaret hadn’t had a good night’s sleep for several consecutive nights; her voice sounded sticky, and her throat was a bit hoarse, clearly indicating she was in a state of extreme fatigue but stubbornly holding on.

“Are you okay?” I couldn’t help asking her.

“I’m fine.”

“Maybe we should rest once we get back to the city…”

I originally wanted to say, “Maybe we should rest once we get back to the city,” but then I thought, how could we possibly rest in such a situation… Actually, I was also very tired. Although my head no longer hurt, my eyelids were starting to droop—I would have surely fallen asleep if I were in the carriage.

“Once we get back to the city, why don’t you rest a bit?” Unexpectedly, Margaret turned the question back to me.

“No need.”

Hearing my firm reply, she turned her head aside: “If you can’t sense the aura of the abyss, you won’t be able to help with the search. It’s better to conserve your energy… I’ll take you to the church, where you can sleep for a while. If anything happens… hmm?”

Halfway through her sentence, Margaret’s face was half illuminated by the golden light used for illumination, revealing a hint of confusion.

“What’s wrong?” I tilted my head up, frowning at her.

“Your eyes…”

“Eyes?”

“They’ve turned black again.”

Hmm?

I instinctively touched my eyelids, quickly touching my eyelid before hugging Margaret tightly again.

If not for her reminder, I might have almost forgotten that my eyes were previously red…

Why are they black now? What’s going on? I can’t feel anything.

“What’s happening…”

“Red pupil.”

Margaret turned her head forward and said in a low voice, “When I first arrived in the royal city, I saw you devour the Sinfire. Perhaps the powerful devouring ability of the abyss has made your body possess the power of Sinfire, and a red pupil is one of its manifestations.”

“Even at the Gate of Truth, only a few high-ranking members of the Church and a few knights who have had contact with the senators of the Gate of Truth know about people who can manifest this power in their pupils. For us, a heretic with red pupils represents an extreme danger and difficulty to defeat.”

Red pupil… Sinfire…

I remember Teresa’s eyes turning red. Apart from her, other members of the Gate of Truth, like the Golden Mask and Varal, cannot do it.

So, is this the symbol of the third stage of power?

My brow furrowed even deeper. I wanted to bite my nails, but I dared not loosen my hold on Margaret, so I held back.

That night when I was both hungry and exhausted, my eyes had turned red once before; I was very scared…

But I should have devoured that power…

“Is this… dangerous?”

“I’m not sure.”

The wind was loud, and Margaret raised her tone slightly.

“For the Gate of Truth, I don’t know much information. Engaging with heretics isn’t a holy maiden’s responsibility. But I think… it might be an external manifestation of a kind of power. Like the divine light produced by miracles, order powers emit corresponding light, generally the same nature… I can confidently say that you have devoured and possess the power of Sinfire.”

“But, I also devoured…”

She suddenly stopped, tightly closing her mouth.

I also devoured the bishop—why doesn’t he emit golden light… In that case, I shouldn’t mention it…

“Ahh~”

I pretended to yawn.

“This situation is unprecedented for the Church, so I don’t know what the consequences will be. We’ll let His Holiness see it later; perhaps he knows something—”

At that moment, I heard hoofbeats coming from ahead.

Someone…

Suddenly, Margaret pulled hard on the reins, and the unicorn beneath us let out a long neigh, its running speed suddenly increasing, jolting as it took several big steps forward before abruptly raising its front legs.

“Aah!”

Feeling my body lurch backward, I screamed in fright and immediately tightened my grip around Margaret’s waist, wishing I could wrap both legs around her, pressing my face against her back, eyes wide open.

“Puff—”

Margaret seemed like a deflated balloon, exhaling deeply. Suddenly, she slapped my arm.

PIAPIAPIA!

“What’s wrong!” I shouted.

The unicorn’s front legs came down, its massive body swaying violently. I felt very anxious, tightening my arms subconsciously.

“Let go…” Margaret’s voice was weak, the force of slapping my arm increasing, “You’re going to strangle me…”

“I dare not!”

“Really, you’re going to strangle me…”

“I’ll fall off!”

“If you fall off… it won’t be a problem for you…”

“But I’m scared!”

“Why…”

Fortunately, the unicorn soon calmed down. Once I relaxed my arms, Margaret finally got some air.

“I’m sorry…”

I lowered my head, feeling somewhat embarrassed as I apologized to her.

Seeing Margaret’s arm swing behind her, she signaled me to be quiet.

“Somebody’s coming.”

The sound of hooves ahead grew closer. I poked my head out from behind Margaret and saw a group of cavalrymen in silver armor, carrying torches, riding towards us from a distance under the thin morning light, gradually slowing down and stopping in formation to block our path.

They are the Iron Guard…

“Who are you?!” someone shouted loudly towards us.

“Holy Church’s eighty-ninth Holy Maiden, Margaret.”

The gentle voice of the Holy Maiden had a hint of coldness compared to before.

Then, those cavalrymen whispered among themselves for a moment. Someone shouted again, “Respected Holy Maiden, Count Adrien invites you to talk about important matters.”