Chapter 20: Chapter 18.1: Prelude

“Lord Lancelot!”

“Hm?”

In the branch Holy Church of Melis, a priest barged into the office of a certain man.

Specifically, he was known as a Heretical Inquisitor.

Lancelot, the highest ranking member of this branch. He had just started his first year as a high official after being promoted by the Pope.

There were two weapons hanging on the wall behind him. They were proof of the trust the Theocracy had towards him.

The two Divine Star-Class Swords: 《Praise 》and 《Worship》.

The swords were acquired from an ancient relic tomb located somewhere in the snowy mountains ruled by dragons.

Being a duel swordsman, it was the perfect pair of weapons for one such as Lancelot.

Lancelot had received his own branch after his promotion so he was the head of office in this section of the capital of the Holy Arzial Empire.

Behind the desk was a young adult man with blonde hair and green eyes. Lancelot's handsome features could even be seen under the low light of the setting sun. The light gave him a sort of elegant glow.

“What is the meaning of this, priest? I will cut off your head if you intend to waste my time.”

“I-I humbly apologize for bothering you. However! This is an emergency!” The priest shouted and knelt. “We have heard from one of our branches that they saw someone resembling Flora Luthial of the fallen Luthial Kingdom! I finished speaking with a fellow priest a few minutes ago!”

That name made Lancelot finally look at the man.

“Continue.”

“Yes! Looking at the information we received, it seems that she was walking alongside another individual who wore a mask. The two massacred an entire gang.” The priest was reading from a piece of paper. It seemed he made notes during his call with the other priest.

“Any survivors?”

“Unfortunately, no. Either some managed to escape undetected or all of them died. As of now, we don’t know what their objective was. They caused such a ruckus that the temple priests stationed in the city immediately headed towards the scene to heal anyone who was wounded.”

Said priests had informed the Church in the Holy City about who they saw. They were on their way to the scene when they saw two individuals walk down the same street as them. One was carrying a person who was covered up by a blanket. The other one was a female who matched the description of the Purple-Haired Princess.

Flora’s magic item had broken since she was fighting. Of course, she tried to stay inconspicuous as much as possible. In the end, however, she failed to hide her identity.

The priest finished explaining and timidly looked up. His entire body shivered when he saw Lancelot’s expression.

Although his face was as expressionless as always, there was a certain shadow which added an air of malice around him. The pressure from his superior vanished a moment later.

“You couldn’t locate where she is currently residing?” Lancelot leaned back in his seat.

“Indeed. All we know about that woman is that she was being accompanied by a strange swordsman. Traces of aura was found inside a certain bedroom where a headless corpse laid. Said aura was used to completely destroy a large chunk of the mansion. I am currently waiting for the priests to send us a sample.”

“A headless corpse, huh. It seems that she has an accomplice in her killing sprees. We have lost too many men from the day we invaded the Luthial Kingdom.”

Lancelot didn’t take part in the battle since it would’ve been overkill to have him there. If they did send him, however, he would’ve been able to finish the job properly.

He loathed the ones who held him back. It was their fault that one of them survived.

‘That demon accomplice is right under my nose. I must eliminate her.’

Only then could he be satisfied. He heard that she was a very powerful swordsman.

Although, that didn’t scare him in the slightest. As long as his goddess continued being by his side, there was no adversary he couldn’t face.

“How did the paladin corps respond to this?”

“They a-are indifferent towards the matter. They say that it’s baseless rumors….”

‘What are you thinking Alitus. We cannot allow a demon’s accomplice from slipping away. Well, I do not need your help. I will handle this myself.’

He might not have been a man chosen by the goddess like that paladin named Alitus who carried the Sanctity Knight’s shield. However, he was powerful enough in his own right.

‘I feel ashamed of this jealousy I still carry for him.’

Alitus has the role of a Paladin. That meant that he was the guard of the Oracle of the Goddess, a young woman Angelica.

Of course, this woman was the one he fell in love with. She was also his childhood friend.

He was the one who was supposed to protect her. As he always had ever since they were children who lived in that abandoned church.

“L-Lord Lancelot? May I receive my orders? What shall I do?”

“…Hm? Ah…right. Gather all the priests we currently have.”

“Should we not inform the Pope of this?”

Lancelot glared at the man.

“I cannot allow that. If you do that then His Holiness will send one of those people from the [Warriors of the Word of God]. This is my chance to make up for my past blunders.”

Even if the fault lie with the high officials who held him back, he was in the wrong for allowing them to even stop him from fighting in that war. Because of his inaction, many begun to look down on him. Even though he was one of the most decorated inquisitors, some would always say bad things behind his back.

Those snakes who were high officials managed to point the blame towards him in the end.

That wasn’t what bothered him. What bothered him was what the Pope would think of these rumors going around of him.

Lancelot was a man who not many could defeat; if he was part of that battle then their problems would’ve faded away and no blood needed to be shed anymore. Their only obstacle left would be the Greater Demon.

However, before that he had to get rid of the fallen princess first.

“Where did they see the woman?”

“The castle city of sir Marcus von Berkley.”

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Lancelot’s eyebrow twitched.

“It will be careless of us to simply walk into another nation’s city. Especially if the lord of that city was a powerhouse of said nation.“

“Surely he would not mind?”

“It is too risky. If I suddenly kill a fugitive in his city then public opinion towards us will shift. And not in a good way.”

Lancelot looked down with a troubled expression on his face. He stayed silent for a minute.

“That’s it…”

“Yes?”

“You mentioned something about a masked warrior who was with her.”

“Yes, I did. What about him?”

“Did you get a good look at who he was? Did anything give it away. A family insignia or something?”

“Unfortunately, there was no such thing on his person….”

The priest lowered his head apologetically.

“This is troublesome. If I can find him then he can lead us to her. This is assuming he will cooperate.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“I will force it out of him. I am still a Inquisitor before a high official, am I not?”

“That, that is true.”

‘I find it troublesome but I will have to use my beloved swords.’

Lancelot thought as he turned his chair to the right. He looked up at the wall behind him.

There they were.

The ultimate pride of an inquisitor was their weapons. And the weapons he had were two of the most treasured items of his nation.

“You’ll use them…? Isn’t that a bit…”

“I do not need your understanding nor do I need your opinion.” Lancelot said coldly.

“Eek! Yes!”

《Praise》 and 《Worship》had been a symbol of peace and reverence towards the goddess they believed in. The two swords were usually kept inside the Head Church of the Holy City. Whenever a paladin was knighted or a person was promoted to a higher position in the church, the Pope would choose either one of the swords to bless those people.

Lancelot had gone through the same when he became a high official. That one moment of having contact with the sword sent shivers of joy into his spine.

He wished to experience that feeling again.

“….” Lancelot’s entire body shuddered when he took hold of the swords.

It was like the holiness of the goddess was flowing through the swords.

One was ash black in color with an ominous aura leaking out of it. The other sword was a golden sword with beautifully crafted ornaments embedded into its hilt.

There were suspicion of the black sword being of demon origin, however, those rumors were just rumors in the end.

It was common knowpedge that a demon blade must have an evil will; Lancelot could feel none of that from the sword. All he felt was a powerful blade strong enough to break through any defense.

“I read somewhere that a demon sword only responds to malice and a person who has high amounts of negative karma. Surely only demons have such distorted infamy. I, on the other hand have the purest of hearts. A mere sword cannot reject my will.” Lancelot grabbed the sword which was still rejecting his grip. It was vibrating like crazy to leave his side. But since it was just a weapon—an object of killing—it could do only that.

“You will obey me.” A golden aura covered the black demon sword. The ominous aura disappeared and was replaced by a golden bladed weapon. It was now a replica of the other sword.

A fake Holy Sword.

One sword was of holy origin and the other was but a mask of divinity.

“Good. You now know your master.”

“U-Um…”

“You’re still here?”

Lancelot pointed his sword at the priest who was looking at him with admiration and fear at the same time.

“Do as I have ordered you to. I will go to the city myself and deal with that masked individual. At the same time, I will slay the demon princess.”

“R-Right away!”

The priest quickly left the office that was bathed in killing intent.

“Please watch over me and help me slay that evil accomplice, Goddess Melis.”

Lancelot took a knee to the goddess statue as he put on his inquisitor mask.

It was a ritual he did daily to prove his faith to the church and the watcher above the clouds.

“I will most certainly cleanse this continent of any and all evil.”

Lancelot stood up and sheathed the two swords behind his back and put on his coat.

“You will be my next prey, Greater Demon.”

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