Chapter 79
Chapter 79
Cardinal Barneo's Adam's apple bobbed heavily.
Two charred corpses lay sprawled before him.
The holy knights who had been alive and crying out in praise of God's glory just moments earlier had been reduced to lumps of charcoal by a single bolt of lightning.
'I never thought they would truly spill blood against the church.'
Even for a great mage, it was unthinkable to summarily execute the church's holy knights at night, and at the academy no less.
And the density of mana gathering around that woman, Iris von Evergarden, was anything but normal.
Wooooong───!
The air trembled with a scream.
The overwhelming energy pouring from the tip of her staff churned as if it would reduce every holy knight before the main gate to ashes at any moment.
"Your Eminence! We have to respond too!"
Saint Abel, commander of the Order of the Eastern Cross, shouted through gritted teeth.
"They've imprisoned the saintess, insulted the church, and now they've slaughtered God's knights as well! Give the order to charge at once!"
"…A charge?"
Cold sweat beaded on Cardinal Barneo's brow.
There could only be one reason they were being so defiant.
Evidence.
It meant the other side already had irrefutable proof of Saintess Lily's abuse.
'Then the only option in this situation is... not retreating, but forcing our way through.'
If they tucked their tails and retreated now, everything would be for nothing.
The moment he ignored the pope's summons and mobilized troops, he had already crossed the point of no return.
Even if the entire holy knight order were to burn to ashes at that witch's hands.
'We have to at least create a pretext that the academy massacred the church!'
Dark madness surged into Cardinal Barneo's eyes.
He nodded toward Saint Abel, just as he was about to speak.
Clatter! Clatter!
Clip-clop! Clip-clop!
From far away, the sound of carriage wheels and furious hoofbeats tore through the night air as they drew near.
Cardinal Barneo instinctively turned his head, then gasped when he saw the banner flying at the front of the procession racing toward them at tremendous speed.
The emblem of the church.
And not just any emblem—the pope's emblem, four intersecting crosses, and beside it the golden cross emblem representing the church's highest armed order, both fluttering in the night wind.
Barneo's face soured in an instant.
"Why would His Holiness himself…"
But what shocked him even more was something else.
Because in the middle of the pope's procession of carriages was a single dazzling carriage that looked completely out of place.
"T-the imperial family? How…!"
It was a golden carriage emblazoned with the imperial symbol, a large two-headed eagle.
The procession, boasting an utterly overwhelming presence, came to a dead stop only after entering right up to the boundary line where the academy faculty and the knight order were facing off.
Creak—
As the carriage door opened, Pope Heinz, the oldest and frailest among them, appeared.
And from the golden carriage beside it, Princess Iveline leaped out in a hurry, her dazzling blond hair streaming behind her.
'How, how could His Holiness be with the princess...'
Cardinal Barneo was dumbfounded.
The pope looked at the two knights sprawled on the ground, blackened beyond recognition.
"Oh, God."
The pope sighed, making the sign of the cross over his chest.
Then he turned his gaze to Cardinal Barneo.
"Cardinal Barneo. Wouldn't it be better to stop now?"
"…Your Holiness."
"God embraces those who repent, but His mercy does not absolve sins committed while selling out your faith. Pull your knights back at once and kneel here to atone, my brother."
"…!"
At the pope's rebuke, Barneo's face flushed red and purple.
His grand plan, the power he had spent his whole life building, was about to scatter like dust with a single word from an old man.
"Your Holiness! They're no different from heretics! No, they're devil worshippers! Look at those charred corpses! They kidnapped the saintess and insulted our church with demonic power…!"
It was just as Barneo, having completely lost his reason, was about to spit out his fury at the pope.
"Shut your mouth."
"…!"
A voice as cold and sharp as a blade cut through the night air.
It was Princess Iveline.
She walked toward Cardinal Barneo with crisp, clicking steps, staring coldly at him with her bright red eyes.
"If you dare utter one more slanderous word insulting the imperial family and the academy here,
"…Your Highness?"
"I will brand Cardinal Barneo, and everyone allied with you, as traitors to the Empire and crush you all."
Barneo's mouth fell open.
His two hands began to tremble violently.
* * *
Iveline looked down coldly at the cardinal, trembling with rage.
His grotesquely twisted expression was so revolting that she felt nauseous at once.
Did he even realize what he had just tried to do?
'Of course he doesn't.'
If he did, he wouldn't have gone and committed such insanity that could have toppled the Empire's fate itself.
Instead, he'd probably be ranting and raving as if he were the victim.
Iveline withdrew her arrogant gaze and faced the old, weary Pope Heinz squarely.
"If I may be so bold, this is a military matter involving the entire Order of the Eastern Cross, not just one cardinal. The matter is by no means light, so Your Holiness should not deem my decision to impose severe punishment unfair."
Even if she was a member of the imperial family, born of noble blood.
Under ordinary political circumstances, she would never have been able to say something this dismissive to the pope's face.
But no matter how arrogant and severe her words were, Iveline had no room right now to worry about anyone else's pride.
'In truth, this is practically treason against the Empire.'
Who did that foolish old man think he had so carelessly provoked?
It was a mythical being who, if displeased, might turn the entire beautiful imperial capital into a sea of fire in a single night.
'In ancient legends, dragons always rampaged in anger for absurdly trivial reasons.'
Because their sleep was disturbed, because their fun was ruined, or simply because having someone hover around them was annoying.
Iveline straightened her back despite the cold sweat running down it, and quietly turned her head to gauge Cassian del Farne's reaction.
On his face was an expression of interest and amusement rather than anger.
'Thank goodness.'
So he still had a little of his merciful patience left.
Right after Iveline had brazenly hurled such rude words at the pope's face.
Even though she had not even waited for the pope's answer and had gone so far as to look away from him and even survey the surroundings.
"Unfair? Not at all. I agree with Your Highness. This was all a mistake caused by my own inadequacy as the head of the church. There is no excuse."
Pope Heinz bowed his head deeply and apologized so readily, as if that were the natural thing to do.
Seeing the leader of the church bow so low, Cardinal Barneo finally exploded, veins bulging.
"Your Holiness! Why!"
"Cardinal Barneo."
"You still don't understand? Because you keep acting so weakly, our church is being trampled and mocked by secular power—"
But the cardinal, consumed by dark ambition, could not continue his blasphemy any further.
The moment Pope Heinz lowered his heavy eyelids and gave a brief nod.
Holy white radiance burst upward at once, cleaving the night sky.
"Kraaagh!"
A burly man in armor finely engraved with a golden cross on his chest.
Saint Luiten, commander of the Golden Cross Knights and the pope's personal guard, seized Cardinal Barneo by the nape of his neck.
"Do not drag the church into your petty ambitions any longer."
"L-Let go of me! Do you think you'll get away with laying a hand on a cardinal and still be fine!"
"Do you still expect to be treated as a cardinal? Heretic."
By then, the members of the Order of the Eastern Cross escorting Barneo had also all been disarmed and pinned to the ground by the overwhelmingly powerful Golden Cross Knights.
Cardinal Barneo's expression twisted as he plummeted from the pinnacle of power into the abyss, and deep despair finally spread blackly across his face.
"A heretic? How am I a heretic!!"
"Shut that ugly mouth. Take him away!"
Clack, clink!
As the situation began to settle down and the murderous tension that had blanketed the main gate melted away like spring snow,
Iveline gracefully turned her head and cautiously looked toward Cassian, who was standing at a distance.
Watching Barneo being subdued and dragged away, Cassian was whispering something to Professor Iris, who stood beside him.
"Wow, that old guy's line just now was insanely cool. 'Heretic,' huh."
"Shall I make one for you too? Something like, 'You who are indifferent to your master'?"
"Sometimes, Master, you seem a little too obsessed with my affection."
"That's because you only ever choose words and actions that treat your master far too casually."
Thankfully, it seemed the great being was pleased with how she had handled things.
But then,
Cassian, who happened to meet Iveline's eyes, stopped his joking and tilted his head.
It was such a lax reaction, as if he were asking, "What are you looking at? Did I get something on my face?"
At that insolent air, as if he didn't take the national emergency unfolding before them seriously at all.
'Ah.'
Iveline let out a deep sigh inwardly and realized.
Why, even though the great sages of history had been so wise,
why they still failed to appease a fickle dragon and ended up on the road to ruin in an instant—now she truly understood it in her bones.
'How can he be so carefree after casually pitting the imperial academy and the state church against each other like this.
This is just a difficult task.
A task so difficult that no one in history could have pulled it off.