Chapter 317

Chapter 103 Breaking Free

I almost stumbled over as I rushed forward. Kanri’s sword subconsciously tried to block me, but was stopped by Reckert who reached out to hold him back.

Clang.

Captain Gray was thrown to the bedside.

I fell onto the pristine sheets, my two small hands stretched out in front of me, flailing anxiously before freezing mid-air.

I wanted to lift the sheets to check her injuries, to feel for her breath, to hold her, touch her face… but after hesitating for a moment, I ended up doing nothing, unsure of how badly she was hurt.

I wished she would scold me: You’re really foolish, this time you nearly died.

But Victoria had her eyes tightly shut, ignoring me.

She looked so weak…

I was at a loss.

“At that moment, three people attacked simultaneously…”

Reckert seemed to have walked beside me. His voice reached my ears vaguely, like a sound from a dream.

“…Two swords aimed at her chest… Her Majesty dodged one, and the other was blocked by the breastplate… There was another person behind her… The wound was actually very shallow, but the sword was poisoned… The attack was sudden… I was sent on another mission at the time, I…”

I craned my neck closer to Victoria’s face, listening to her breathing which was sometimes rapid and sometimes weak, her chest rising and falling slightly before stopping… then starting again after two seconds.

For just that moment, I thought she was dead.

My limbs quickly turned cold.

I didn’t know what expression I had on my face.

Thankfully, she was still alive…

I found her…

Now what…

Buzzing…

My head was in chaos.

I slapped my cheeks, shaking my head to gather my spirits.

“Where… is she injured?”

“At her side… The wound has been treated, but the problem is with the poison… This type of poison isn’t recorded in the Royal College’s medical books, it’s not from West Continent… We’ve tried everything… but…”

“It’s just poison…”

I interrupted Reckert.

“Just poisoned… With so many of you… you can’t do anything!?”

I couldn’t help but turn around, glaring fiercely at Reckert: “You! Kanri’s Sword! The kingdom’s, guardian!”

My hand was trembling.

My voice was hoarse, the words coming out not quite pleasant, as if they were breaking.

But I still scanned the room with my gaze.

“But now, why! Your, queen! She’s lying down! And you all, are standing!”

“Speak! Why!?”

The fierce accusation, the soft voice of the girl, these words roared like a roar, making the entire room eerily quiet, no one spoke, not even looking into my eyes.

Even though some of them might see me as just a “junior.”

Still, they didn’t know what to say.

Kanri’s Sword wouldn’t make excuses.

And I…

was just venting the accumulated emotions in my heart.

They could understand this, so they chose to remain silent.

Because now… nothing they said would matter.

What happened, why did it become like this… questioning or thinking about it was pointless.

I took a deep breath, feeling my mentality stabilize a bit, my mind gradually cooling down.

Save her first…

We’ll deal with the rest later.

So I raised my head and asked Reckert, “Who can antidote the poison?”

He immediately replied, “It’s not about who, it’s a miracle… maybe it can.”

Miracle can? Then…

“Why not go to the church for help?”

“The streets leading to the church have been blocked by the rebels. We’ve charged several times, and many people have died…”

So the miracle might really save her.

Otherwise, those people wouldn’t be holding on…

I suddenly understood.

No wonder…

No wonder the Iron Guard didn’t let us enter the city.

They were afraid that I or Margaret would find out about this and come to save Her Majesty.

“Hehe…”

Somehow, I seemed to be laughing.

I truly regretted it…

I deeply regretted why I didn’t kill them at that time.

I should have killed them…

I should have killed everyone.

“The priority now is to notify the Holy Maiden, let her…”

“I’ll go.”

I looked once more at that sleeping face, then slowly stood up, lifted the sheets, and gently picked up Victoria from the waist.

“I’ll take her to meet Margaret.”

She’s so light…

Much lighter than Captain Gray… her hair is so smooth, sliding softly over my arm, a little ticklish… ah, she’s frowning…

Victoria, are you in great pain?

Don’t be afraid, I’m back…

“Don’t be impulsive!”

I turned around and saw Reckert frowning, blocking my path.

“The palace is surrounded, enemies everywhere outside, if you carry Her Majesty out like this, once discovered, they will attack without hesitation… Even if you are a Papal Knight, you can’t stop so many people, it’s too risky, we should call the Holy Maiden—”

I took a deep breath, looking straight into Reckert’s eyes.

“Do you see how I came?”

“Uh…”

Reckert was hesitant. His mouth was half-open, his right hand waving in front of him, as if he wanted to point at me but was hesitating.

“You…”

“That flame…”

He circled around him and quickly walked towards the small balcony outside the room.

“Captain…”

Someone seemed to want to say something.

I didn’t turn back, ignored everyone, and carried Victoria forward briskly. There were no footsteps chasing after us behind me.

“What power is that flame…”

By the time I reached the balcony, Reckt could no longer hold back his question.

Without facing the abyss before, he clearly couldn’t recognize that it was the power of chaos.

“Sickle, put it here for now.”

Since Reckt couldn’t identify it, there was no need for me to explain.

Anyway…

They would all know soon enough.

“I’m leaving.”

“…thank you very much. Do we need to do anything…”

“No.”

In the next moment, black flames ignited from my back.

Unlike before, this time the black flames did not wrap around my body. The blazing fire flashed with glaring white light, carrying black smoke, spreading out from just below my shoulder blades like a snake, twisting and flickering its tongues rapidly to both sides, forming a pair of nearly two-meter-wide black flame wings.

“Huuu—”

I took a deep breath and looked up at the sky.

The dawn broke through the clouds, and the blue sky was spotless.

The long night had already faded away.

At this moment, something inside me seemed to shatter with the unfolding of the wings and the breaking of the cloud layer by the morning light.

I had always been trying hard to restrain myself.

Because of having terrifying power and being feared by humans, I strived, strived to abide by the rules of this world.

Margaret said, the Pope’s knight cannot do this, cannot do that.

Alright, I’ll listen to her.

She said the internal struggles within the Church were complex, Bishop Nero was very powerful, and I shouldn’t pursue him. I was important, and couldn’t afford any accidents.

Alright, I’ll listen to her.

She didn’t want me to take action against those people outside the city. Because for the Church, it was a violation of doctrine; we had no position, did not participate in wars, only saved civilians.

Alright, I’ll listen to her.

I listened to everything she said.

I didn’t want her to think of me as an uncontrollable monster. I understood the rules of human society and was willing to abide by them. I was a sensible, discerning monster who posed no threat to humans—I wanted her to understand this.

I wanted her to feel that compared to the monsters of the abyss, I had more “human qualities.”

I wasn’t a monster. I was a human, your companion.

I wanted her to know this.

I wanted the Pope behind her to know this too.

I wanted everyone to know this.

No matter what happened, I stood on the side of humans.

I didn’t want them to feel afraid, didn’t want them to have too many concerns. I began to learn to see things from Margaret’s perspective, from the “God’s viewpoint.” I hid my emotions and did what they hoped I would do, so they could understand that it was also what I hoped for.

Even though I almost got killed by Nero.

But it was fine, I could temporarily ignore him. I was willing to listen to Margaret, even if I was actually very scared, afraid of leaving a huge隐患, afraid that one day Nero might suddenly appear beside me and kill me unprepared.

When I was about to leave the city, I considered killing the commander of the Iron Guard first, but I thought of Margaret and was afraid that I couldn’t escape her notice. If she found out, she might think too much. More importantly, I felt that if I did that, it would be like… losing something.

Then I did nothing.

And then?

I was so obedient, so compliant, wanting to save the people of Ethenbel from the abyss, yet I almost got killed as a monster.

The power of the Gate of Truth kept me alive, while the chaotic power of the abyss almost made me kill my enemy… I even ate a few guys who had attacked me.

But maybe that was wrong…

Thinking this, I changed into a nun’s robe and returned to the royal city.

Then I found out that Victoria was about to die.

From beginning to end, I held back because of this concern, that worry, so I hesitated.

Enemies wanted to put me to death, and I hesitated.

Someone wanted to kill the person I cherished, and I hesitated.

Hesitate, hesitate, hesitate, hesitate, hesitate, hesitate…

I…

[Sometimes, bloodshed is necessary to solve problems.]

I remembered Carlos sitting on the bed, his eyes drooping as he spoke to me with his beard-covered face.

[If you can’t make a decisive move on necessary matters, it may eventually lead to a greater tragedy… Can you understand that?]

[You are a Pope’s knight, not some indecisive fool.]

He was right.

So Margaret, I don’t plan to listen to you anymore.

I want to listen to Carlos.

Or perhaps…

I won’t listen to anyone, I’ll just listen to myself.

Ssssss—

The wings behind me spread out fully, the dark flames swirling and flowing, embers drifting before my eyes. I held Victoria tightly.

The room behind me erupted in commotion and screams, mixed with Reckt’s shocked voice: “Paylo… you…”

In the next moment, the fiery wings flapped.

Boom—

A strong wind howled, sweeping away the potted plants on the balcony and tearing the vines wrapped around the railing into pieces. The black flames, trailing their tails, soared into the sky, the petite figure slicing through the air like an arrow, shooting up into the blue sky.

Then it made a sharp turn, flying rapidly toward the palace gate.

…kill first, then save.

Or save while killing.

Isn’t this what most heroes do?