Chapter 63
“There is a rat hiding in here.”
At the words that popped out of my mouth, the atmosphere turned icy.
The knights, the Lord, and even Sera looked at me with flustered faces.
They must be wondering why I was suddenly acting like this.
Until just a moment ago, I had been planning to offer a warm word of blessing.
But earlier, when I turned on [Appraisal Eye] up close to get a better look at the Knight Order’s status, I accidentally discovered it.
[Name: Ren (Alias)]
[Real name: Julius, Ordinary Priest of the Holy Imperial Church]
[Status: Harboring ulterior motives inside]
The status window of a young man who was blending in naturally among the knights.
Not only was his name an alias, but he was an Ordinary Priest of the Holy Imperial Church.
'You bastard. You’re dead to rights.'
To think a spy dispatched from the enemy Faction was hiding inside the Knight Order right before the war.
I threw my gaze toward the stiffened Knight.
* * *
Rookie Knight ren. No, Julius swallowed dryly as he felt cold sweat flowing down his spine.
Disguised as a Knight, he was actually an Ordinary Priest working under a Bishop of the Holy Imperial Church.
His mission was to infiltrate Arden Castle a year before the war broke out, pose as a Rookie Knight, and siphon the Territory’s internal information and offer it to the Bishop.
“If only this war ends safely…”
He could spread the Doctrine of Light far and wide, and drive out the darkness dwelling in this land.
He had absolutely no interest in secular rewards like promotions or wealth and glory.
Only the pure faith of upholding the great God’s Will to purify the Arden Domain.
For that single belief, he had silently endured for a year, hiding his identity and playing the role of a Knight in this place.
But suddenly, a ridiculous variable had popped up.
Not only did some Unidentified girl appear claiming to be a Distinguished One, but the power of the servants she brought with her was beyond imagination.
Even Sera, who had been nothing more than an Apprentice Knight, had returned as a powerhouse in such a short period of time.
“…This is dangerous.”
Outwardly, he clapped his hands, pretending to cheer and marvel like the other knights, but inwardly, he couldn’t hide his astonishment.
He had to immediately inform the Bishop that such a fighting Force had joined Arden Castle right before the start of the war.
Just as he was racking his brain on how to properly slip away and make contact.
“There is a rat hiding in here.”
Such words came out of nowhere.
The girl who slightly lifted her parasol.
A cold smile of contempt hung on her lips.
Her red eyes pierced exactly at Julius.
In that moment, he felt his breath catch in his throat.
Vertically slit pupils.
His entire body stiffened as if he were under the Illusion of directly facing the eyes of a demon described in the scriptures.
“A rat… Are you saying there is a traitor or a mole in here?”
When the flustered Knight Commander asked cautiously.
The girl nodded wordlessly and extended a small, white finger to point at Julius.
Following her finger, the Knight Commander, the Lord, and all the knights converged their gazes on him.
“Ren…?”
“Ren is a traitor?!”
“Yes. None can escape my eyes.”
At the girl’s voice driving the wedge firmly, Julius hastily managed his expression and stammered.
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about! I am ren. I am a Sworn Knight of Arden!”
He appealed as if he were wronged, but his mind had already gone completely blank a long time ago.
“This is a disaster…! How was I found out? I thought I was perfectly hidden.”
Then, the girl parted her lips as if to mock him.
“Are you asking how you were found out?”
In that instant, Julius’s heart sank.
“You called yourself ren with your own mouth. So why is it that to my eyes, you appear as Julius, an Ordinary Priest of the Holy Imperial Church?”
“…!!”
At that single remark that perfectly saw through his true name, and even his real affiliation and identity, Julius’s pupils quaked as if an earthquake had struck.
‘Nonsense…! She’s even reading my inner thoughts?!’
As the surrounding knights looked at him with suspicious glares, his heart began to pound like crazy.
At that moment, a flashing thought crossed his cornered mind.
“Wait a minute. Pale skin, red eyes, and using a parasol to avoid the Sunlight…?”
The knowledge he had been secretly taught in the Holy Imperial Church came to mind.
Monsters are now treated only as legends.
However, those of the Priest rank or higher within the Holy Imperial Church knew that it actually existed.
Bloodthirsty demons were now mostly subdued, leaving only a very few behind.
“A Vampire…!”
If that girl were a Vampire, everything made sense.
That chilling aura, those bizarre abilities. Even the way she commanded powerful individuals like her own limbs.
At the same time, a single hopeful fact surfaced in his mind.
Vampires were extremely vulnerable to divine power.
* * *
“Gotcha, you little punk.”
Julius was flustered by my interrogation, sweating profusely.
To think a mole from the Holy Imperial Church had been planted here.
No. But aren’t those Holy Imperial Church guys supposed to be a Church in name?
What’s with planting spies so underhandedly?
The moment I clicked my tongue inwardly and checked [Appraisal Eye] again.
[Status: Preparing a surprise attack with a do-or-die resolve]
“Ah…!”
Julius’s status window changed.
As if he was about to counterattack.
I immediately tried to give the order to my Retainers to Subdue him.
But the guy was faster than that.
“Die, you evil monster!!”
Fwoooosh - !
A bright light that seemed ready to swallow the surroundings erupted from the pendant Julius wore around his neck.
“Ugh…!”
I reflexively squeezed my eyes shut.
What is this? The glare is no joke!
But the next moment.
BOOM - !
“Keheugh…!”
In a flash, Katarina and si-yeon shot forward and slammed Julius’s limbs into the floor.
His pendant shattered and lost its light.
However, even with his face crushed against the dirt floor, he screamed at the top of his lungs in a madness-filled voice.
“Everyone, listen to me! That girl is not a Distinguished One who came to save Arden! She is an evil monster, a Vampire!!!”
“…!!”
“She must have suffered terrible burns from the holy relic I just activated! Look, isn’t she desperately covering her face with that parasol! Check that woman’s appearance!!”
The surroundings grew noisy at his shrieking voice.
“A Vampire…?”
“An evil monster?”
The knights murmured and cautiously examined my direction.
The Lord also had a flustered and troubled face, not knowing what to do.
However
I, who was actually covering my face with the parasol.
“Eh?”
I was just bewildered.
That was divine power just now?
It was just so bright that I covered myself with the parasol to protect my eyesight. That was all.
There wasn’t even a tickling sensation, far from the pain of my skin burning.
I subtly shifted my gaze to check on my Retainers.
Katarina and si-yeon, who were pinning Julius down, as well as Riri and Sera.
They were all perfectly fine without a single scorch mark anywhere.
There was no sign of struggle at all either.
‘What the. Compared to Sunlight, this is nothing, isn’t it?’
I was so dumbfounded that I let out a hollow laugh inwardly.
At least Sunlight made me feel Nauseous, but it really did absolutely nothing.
“What completely trash divine power!”
To think it couldn’t even deal any damage to me, the very embodiment of a weakling Vampire vulnerable to garlic and Sunlight.
I didn’t know if that holy relic thing was just weak, or if all divine power was weak.
What was certain was that divine power didn’t seem to be as dangerous to vampires as I had thought.
I slowly walked down from the Parade Ground podium, click, clack.
“H-how…!”
Julius was pinned to the floor.
[Status: Feeling immense confusion over the Vampire being completely unaffected by divine power]
He looked shocked that I, whom he thought he had landed a hit on, was moving perfectly fine.
I approached him and stopped my steps.
“Divine power, you say.”
I tilted my parasol at an appropriate angle so that my face wouldn’t be visible to the others.
Only Julius, crushed against the floor, could see my face.
“If that is the divine power you believe in, it is far too shallow.”
My voice fell quietly.
“If you have eyes, look. Check my face for yourself.”
When Julius confirmed my flawless skin up close, his face became dyed in deep despair.
[Status: Faith slightly cracking]
Looking down at him, I whispered softly.
“Answer me, human. Is divine power not something holy and sacred?”
“…”
“In other words, something so noble that mere Mortals dare not carelessly touch it…”
I smiled chillingly beneath the shade of the parasol.
“Would that word not be more fitting for me, a True Ancestor?”
Revealing the fangs that were the symbol of a Vampire.