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The heretic inquisitor looked emaciated, as if he’d endured brutal torture.

Hamel sensed his life was nearly spent.

Yet the man’s eyes were still bright and piercing.

“Can you answer my questions?”

He nodded without hesitation.

Hamel asked the question that had been gnawing at him.

“Was the ritual to kill the old god in this domain your doing?”

“…No.”

“Then?”

“I don’t really know who they are.”

‘…They?’

Does he know something?

Hamel’s gaze sharpened.

The inquisitor continued. “But I did see them. They wore black hoods.”

“Black hoods…”

Hamel turned the phrase over in his head, then asked another question. “What happened? Why were you imprisoned?”

“…”

The inquisitor opened his mouth briefly and, weary, spoke. “Something happened… Yes, there was. Do you know the identity of Azidahaka?”

“Azidahaka… if you mean—it’s a malevolent god from the south…”

“No.”

The inquisitor cut him off decisively, then turned his head to the captured Ashitaka family’s knight. “The Azidahaka that’s been making noise here in the west is the very god worshipped by the Ashitaka family.”

“…!”

Silence fell at the shocking revelation.

What did that mean?

The order that worshipped Azidahaka had clearly been rising in power. Wasn’t that why Ashitaka had been wary of them?

Hamel fell silent, perplexed. Then the inquisitor, suddenly lucid, continued calmly. “Its original epithet is ‘the serpent with nine heads.’ A hardy old god with countless abilities. But even so, it wasn’t powerful enough to dominate the west.”

“…”

Hamel already knew that part.

The Ashitaka family’s god had granted them more strength than other western houses, but not enough to unify them. The divinity they worshipped had clear limits.

“But there were those who showed them how to grow that divinity.”

“…You don’t mean…”

“Yes. Those wearing the black hoods I mentioned earlier.”

The inquisitor trembled. Fear and rage clawed through his eyes; veins stood out on his temples and a trickle of drool ran from his mouth.

Hamel laid a hand on the man’s back. “Calm down. Breathe slowly.”

Warmth spread from Hamel’s palm. It was too late to heal him, but it eased the pain enough.

Whether it helped or not, the inquisitor gradually settled. “…Thank you.”

“No.” Hamel shook his head at the gratitude. The man could die at any moment; whatever kept him alive now was duty, and Hamel respected that.

The inquisitor forced out more words. “Using the rituals and artifacts those men taught them, the ‘serpent with nine heads’ was able to mimic a new divinity and draw in divinity, all without being restrained by the other great houses.”

“So they used the name Azidahaka for that purpose.”

“Yes. Moreover, the hooded group killed old gods like in this domain and transferred that god’s divinity to Ashitaka’s divinity.”

The heart of the slain old god. Human sacrifices and offerings branded with the crow emblem. A familiar method.

“Did that hooded group have a tattoo like this by any chance?”

Hamel produced the stone he’d taken from the girl.

When the inquisitor saw it, his eyes widened. “They did. The wrist of the man who tortured me had the same tattoo…”

“…”

The mismatched pieces began to snap into place. Once meshed, the gears started to turn.

‘I roughly understand.’

Hamel nodded.

The inquisitor collapsed as if his strength had drained. Hamel supported him while the man spoke in a thin voice. “There are inquisitors who escaped Ashitaka’s trap…”

His breathing slowed. “…They will aim for Ashitaka’s divinity… Please help them… to take down the Ashitaka bastards…”

“Yes.” Hamel took his hand. “I’ll do my best.”

“…”

No reply came. The inquisitor, no longer able to close his eyes, drooped his head.

A heavy silence followed. Antonio finally asked, “What will you do now?”

“We’ll head to the Ashitaka family’s mountain sanctuary.”

“Mountain sanctuary?”

Several people showed puzzled expressions. Hamel nodded. “It seems the Ashitaka family has allied with a crow-shaped malevolent god, and they’ve pretended to be victims while attacking other western houses. The inquisitors sent after them were likely intercepted. Still, some escaped and tried to strike back.”

‘It’s a family matter. Don’t concern yourself.’

Saburo Ashitaka, head of the family, had hardened his face when he heard that the sanctuary had been attacked. Those attackers were surely the surviving inquisitors; the god of Ashitaka resided there.

‘Not all of the heresy inquisitorial bureau were in league after all.’

But the purification garden had clearly fallen under the malevolent god’s influence and orchestrated this. Leo Benedictos—he who had distributed offerings branded with a crow—was definitely part of the group. From the start, both members and leaders had been under the crow’s command.

Hamel steeled himself. “We’ll go to the sanctuary and ask the Ashitaka family for the truth.”

“If what the author says is all true?” Daniel asked.

Hamel answered as if it were obvious. “They must atone. Even if that means killing the god they worship.”

“I like that.”

Ono snorted. The others were wordless but nodded; calm faces hid smoldering anger—at Ashitaka’s deception, at their offering of other houses’ old gods and children, and at the innocent inquisitors who’d died.

“Let’s hurry.”

They packed in silence and mounted their horses.

The bound Ashitaka knight they had captured shouted hoarsely, “How dare you go anywhere, you uncivilized apes…” His scream cut off.

Daniel drew his sword in a flash, swung, and sheathed it. As the blade slid home, the knight’s head dropped to the floor with a thud. He continued opening his mouth, as if unaware he’d been decapitated.

The ride from the Albre domain to the Ashitaka family’s mountain sanctuary didn’t take long. Hamel and his party pushed hard and halted at the sanctuary’s entrance.

Not because they were stopped, but because of the sight before them.

“…We’re late.”

Ono muttered, scowling. It couldn’t be helped. The approach to the sanctuary looked like a battlefield—torn limbs, spilled entrails, soil sodden with blood. Corpses lay everywhere; almost all of them were Ashitaka soldiers, guards who had protected the sanctuary. The inquisitors’ ambush had been devastatingly effective.

“They really caught them off guard,” Daniel said. A surprise attack could produce such a result.

Ashitaka must have expected surviving inquisitors to return to the bureau and so had dispersed his forces to capture them. But the inquisitors had not returned; they had pooled their strength and struck at Ashitaka’s core—the sanctuary.

‘They didn’t intend to return alive.’

They had risked everything to topple the god Ashitaka worshipped and its altar.

Hamel dismounted. “We don’t know yet.”

“…Alright, let’s go up and see.”

Daniel, Lena, Antonio, and the Bremen troupe who had tagged along hurried up the mountain. Signs of battle continued all the way—rows of fallen Ashitaka troops who had tried and failed to stop the inquisitors.

Ono let out a hollow laugh. “Could it be they actually succeeded?”

‘If so, that would be ideal.’

They could finish Ashitaka off once the family’s god’s blessing was gone. Yet Hamel folded away the hope. Saburo would have gone to the sanctuary before them.

They pressed on.

Some time later, they stopped in front of a long straw rope stretched between trees, with white papers tied at intervals.

“This is…”

“It’s a sacred boundary rope.”

Hamel touched it. “From here on, this is the land of the god worshipped by the Ashitaka family.”

“That sounds ominous.”

“It’s not a good sign.”

Daniel drew his sword and asked, “What if we cut them all down?”

“It’s merely a marker for human eyes. Removing it won’t change that this is the god’s land.”

Daniel clicked his tongue in disappointment, but no one planned to turn back. Led by Hamel, they crossed the boundary rope.

Not long after, a massive temple rose into view.

“…”

“…”

Dozens of inquisitors lay butchered there—chunks of flesh stuck to the temple walls. Unlike before, there were no corpses of Ashitaka’s forces; only the bodies of the inquisitors were scattered around.

The sight stole their words.

‘They were struck in an instant.’

Like an ant colony crushed under a finger. They’d died before they could react.

“Let’s go.”

Hamel forced himself to ignore the sticky unpleasantness on his boots and stepped forward. The Bremen troupe couldn’t hold back and vomited, but they followed—the group couldn’t risk leaving them behind.

Silence greeted the party as they entered the temple. They had expected spears and swords to fly at them, but instead the place felt oddly empty.

‘Could they have already returned?’

No—there should still be guards.

Hamel moved through the uneasy quiet, passing a large, well-kept garden inside the temple: sand and rocks, trees and a lake—natural-feeling but meticulously tended. They crossed it and arrived at a building. Hamel flung open the door.

The door swung open easily.

They stepped inside and immediately halted. Ono blurted reflexively, “Again?”

How many times in one day would they see the same scene?

This time the corpses were Ashitaka family members—elites who had been dispatched with Saburo. Familiar faces.

Why were they dead? Who had done this?

Hamel’s head throbbed from the succession of shocks.

‘Are the enemy’s enemies on our side then?’

‘Or perhaps…’

Hamel drew his sword and moved deeper. Someone who committed these acts must be nearby.

They continued; the farther they went, the more bodies of Ashitaka family members they found—knights and soldiers, priests and servants. All of them dead.

As they walked on, a sudden stillness fell.

Hamel stopped and fixed his gaze straight ahead at the largest room, where the god’s painting and statue dominated the space.

In the center sat a familiar man.

Hamel murmured the name. “Saburo Ashitaka. Did you do this?”