Saint Mallory Underground Passage (6)

When they entered, a vast underground warehouse appeared. Perhaps because a new building was to be placed on top of a building from the Age of Giants that had originally been there, foundations made of stone had been piled up in abundance, and various odds and ends that would be fine even if they got wet were stored in the gaps of the space created that way.

And the floor was soaked with blood. Perhaps it was a path for throwing away experimental creatures for magical research, because there were traces of bloody living things having been dragged along.

‘It smells no different from the laboratories of cults.’

Azadine frowned and moved forward while silencing his steps.

-Clack.

-Clang.

Azadine and Haine could move without making a sound, but sadly, Zebec and Ject made noise every time they moved.

“You two wait here.”

“What foolish thing are you saying?”

Ject refused Azadine’s restraint.

“I am cooperating with you in order to see the Rescue Knights Order’s secrets.”

“If you want to see those secrets, I think it would be better not to clank around here and there.”

“If you go look by yourselves and then keep your mouths shut….”

“Let’s be honest, Sir Ject. You and I both already have a rough idea of what the Rescue Knights Order is doing, don’t we?”

When Azadine asked that, Ject flinched in surprise.

“Even if you see it directly with your naked eyes, if the Order denies it, it’s not as if there will be definite proof. If they are truly doing something blasphemous and horrific, the Order will absolutely never admit it without quite substantial evidence. Right?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“What I am trying to find is a connection to the Northern Emperor. I have no reason not to share that information with you. You understand what I mean, right?”

He would not cooperate in finding a weakness that could destroy the Rescue Knights Order. In any case, finding such a weakness was realistically impossible.

On the other hand, the connection between the Wisdom Order and the Northern Emperor, how they were cooperating, how far that connection extended, and how solid that connection was.

There was no reason he could not share information related to the Northern Emperor. That was what Azadine was saying.

Sadly, what Azadine said sounded sufficiently reasonable even to Ject.

“Very well. Then I shall wait here.”

“Before that, captain. Isn’t there a very high chance that Sir Ject will take us hostage? And that man is a necromancer too. He might try to kill us or place a spiritual restraint on us.”

“I will not do that.”

When Ject said that, Azadine showed a smile.

“He says he won’t?”

“I can’t trust him.”

“If that is so, will you promise on your honor?”

Ject frowned.

“It may change depending on the situation, but at least today, here, I will not take advantage of Sir Azadine’s absence to bind or subdue them.”

“Promise that you will not harm us and will actively cooperate on our shared mission as well. Then I can trust the honor of a Holy Knight who relies on necromancy at least once.”

“…….”

‘Is this orc bastard mocking me, an inquisitor of the King’s Church?’

Ject wanted to say that, but he was the one at a disadvantage.

In truth, even he had not expected to make it this far so safely. After fighting the Angel of Corruption, when he heard another Angel of Corruption howling underground, even he had sensed the mission’s failure.

Unless he was certain that he could reenter the heart of the Rescue Knights Order, he had to make the most of this situation. He could not ruin the work here by pointlessly bickering with an orc.

“I swear it.”

“Then that settles it.”

Azadine infiltrated further inside together with Haine.

Everywhere they entered, the doors were locked, and some were even barred so they could only be opened from one side, but Azadine opened the doors with magic and carefully entered.

Since even the most excellent lockpicking master could not open a barred door, people usually became careless when they barred a door or sealed it with chains, so there were no special guards inside.

“Sir Azadine. Wait….”

“What is it?”

“Do you truly intend to expose the Order’s disgrace in front of Sir Ject? Even if this becomes known, it should be resolved within the Order.”

“Ah, that….”

Azadine gave a bitter smile.

“You’re already thinking about the aftermath when we haven’t even achieved anything yet.”

“Of course, I know that I am making the mistake of counting the price of the fur before seeing the forest. However, starting something without looking far ahead at the aftermath is also arrogant and foolish. Sir Ject will be difficult to handle. He fought the Angel of Corruption, yet he was not injured, nor was he greatly exhausted.”

Sir Ject was a strong opponent who would be difficult to handle. That was what Haine was saying.

But then Azadine covered her mouth. The sound of a newborn baby crying was coming from far away.

‘What is this?’

Haine wrote on Azadine’s palm and asked.

‘It seems we found the right place.’

Azadine wrote back on her palm, then carefully headed toward the place where the baby’s cries were coming from.

It was a huge mill.

On the wall, a large millstone driven by power transmitted from a waterwheel was turning, and beneath it was a huge plate placed to receive the ground material flowing out from the millstone.

Just then, the millstone was turning. With a heavy sound, something was being ground up, and the millstone became completely stained with blood.

Blood and stone powder flowed out from the millstone and began pooling in the plate below. They were completely crushing the angel statues, grinding them, and extracting their blood.

The priests who had gathered a great amount of angel’s blood that way chanted spells and lifted up a newborn baby that had not yet been weaned.

With ritual daggers, they cut the child’s neck, palms, and soles, making blood flow from the entire body, then plunged the child into the tray filled with angel’s blood.

Then, as the priests chanted spells and imbued it with mana, a transparent amniotic membrane began forming around the child’s body. Before long, the membrane became a thick egg, and they took the egg out, wiped its surface with a towel, and carefully carried it away.

Next, what was brought in on a cart was not a child, but an old man’s corpse.

“Who is that man?”

“He is Count Dert, of the Rioneir bloodline.”

“A Yaegas God tribe member, then. Why did he die?”

“I do not know. His Majesty Cohen Rioneir specifically requested that he be reincarnated… He also prepared and sent the spellbook here.”

“Incredible, isn’t it?”

The spellcasters unrolled the spell scroll that had been provided together with the corpse loaded on the cart.

Seeing the letters burn on their own and rise into the air, it was unmistakably a magic book containing powerful mana.

And aside from that magic book, the cart was also loaded with silver-decorated cups and bowls, gold coins, silver coins, and the like. It was a bribe.

The spellcasters looked at the gold, silver, and treasures and swallowed their saliva.

“As expected, the Northern Emperor is very generous with his spending.”

“Even if it’s Ausander, the fiscal expenditure must be no joke.”

“He’s staking his life on this.”

“Let’s do it.”

They put Count Dert’s corpse into the millstone, ground it together with the angel statue, and newly mixed it into the plate of blood.

And they likewise obtained another child, soaked that child in the plate of blood, and turned the child into an angel’s egg.

They were using angel’s blood and the lives of infants to reincarnate the descendants of dead Yaegas God tribe members as Celestials.

“…….”

Azadine had hidden inside the gearbox that transmitted power to the millstone and was watching the scene by sending Arael’s voice.

He had expected that there would be a horrific secret behind the creation of Celestials. Even this current situation had been something within the range of what he had assumed.

But seeing it directly, its horror was beyond words.

They were violating the ruined remains of the angels who had devoted themselves to humanity, trampling on the lives and fates of infants who had only just been born, and creating Celestials through horrific magic.

“This is….”

Haine also let out a groan.

Like Azadine, she was hidden inside the gearbox, so she was in a position where she could not directly see the ritual. And yet, judging from her dark expression, it seemed she too possessed a skill that overcame blind spots in her vision.

“This is a secret we cannot share with Sir Ject.”

“You think so?”

“It is too shameful. It must not become known outside.”

“If you hide it because it is shameful, wouldn’t that itself be shameful to you?”

“What you say is correct in words, but reality is not like that, Sir Azadine. What do you think those foolish masses will think? Do you think that just because they reveal the truth, they will think of you, the Benevolence Order, and the Courage Order separately? And hiding shameful parts is not hypocrisy, but basic etiquette. Just as I do not walk around naked simply because I was born naked, but wear clothes as a minimum form of etiquette.”

“Shh.”

Azadine signaled Haine to be quiet. It was because she had become agitated and her voice was gradually getting louder. Because of the noise of the gearbox, ordinary speaking voices probably would not reach them, but even so, making loud noises during infiltration was dangerous.

“So. Do you think Sir Ject will accept it if we tell him nothing? He is not the sort of person who will stay still if we do not tell him at least something.”

“We will set a trap and kill him. If we say we will retrieve the angel’s egg and send Sir Ject, I will make sure the Wisdom Order discovers him and make Sir Ject and the Wisdom Order fight each other. If we assassinate him during that opening….”

Haine said that, then looked at Azadine’s expression. His handsome face held a subtle sneer.

“Is that the etiquette of hiding disgrace that you speak of? Sir Haine. You would make an excellent Guide to Rest.”

“Sir Azadine. I know that you do not want to dirty your hands. You probably think that even telling Sir Ject a small lie to lure him into a trap goes against a knight’s honor. However, this is a secret that must absolutely never be revealed. If you help me, the Benevolence Bishopric will support you. It would be reliable support incomparable to your current sponsor, Bishop Akenar. Come to think of it, you have not yet specified your affiliation, have you? Bishop Akenar belongs to the Courage Order, but he only concerns himself with the Order’s external affairs and does not know the inside well.”

Haine tried hard to win Azadine over. However, all the promises she offered were worthless to Azadine.

If he had desired wealth, honor, and fame, he would not have betrayed the Aragasa Clan in the first place. He could have obtained Vthuma and Korasar, so why would he covet such petty power now?