#62
The Great Temple Raid Incident (1)
Things proceeded with remarkable speed.
“How are the preparations coming along? Do we have enough forces to move immediately?”
“Please do not worry. We had made preparations to some extent in advance, so we have ample reserve forces. In any case, we were planning to dispatch only our very best this time.”
The place where the energy had been detected was the western edge of the continent.
Given the distance, there was a limit to how many people they could send in the shortest possible time.
If they gave even the slightest hint that the Order had caught the scent, they had no idea when or where the bastard might flee again, so they could not summon an Immortal King subjugation force from the Talia Kingdom as they had before.
Since forces below a certain level would not be of much help anyway, the Talia Temple decided to request support only from the knight orders and combat priests of high priest rank or above.
“Four Paladins will be participating in the operation, and three archbishops, including myself. The Inquisitors will also be taking part.”
It was an operation to gather every powerful individual who could move right away into one place.
Three of the Paladins stationed at the Rosellia Great Temple and two archbishops would participate, while one Paladin and one archbishop who had been dispatched to the west would join them on-site.
In addition, the topmost talents selected from each knight order and among the combat priests were scheduled to be dispatched as well.
“And… Cardinal Pirei of the Jeron Great Temple in the Empire has also declared that he will join us.”
Even a cardinal, the highest authority of one of the few Great Temples on the continent, had personally declared his participation in the battle.
“Mm… Well, he has always been unusually belligerent. He was a holy knight himself, after all. I heard he was quite regretful that he couldn’t take part in the first subjugation.”
“It seems he happened to have time this time. Since the situation calls for a small elite force, it worked out rather well.”
There were two cardinals at the Rosellia Great Temple as well, but they had entrusted all matters related to the Immortal King to the Saintess and were focusing solely on operating the Great Temple and the Order as a whole.
“Ahem… In that case, I too…”
“Saintess, you may not.”
Archbishop Latius cut her off firmly before she could even finish speaking.
“Now that His Holiness the Pope is bedridden with old age, you are the symbol of the Order of the Main God, Saintess. It is precisely at times like this that you must hold your place all the more.”
“But the cardinals are here too…”
“Even as it is, a considerable portion of the Great Temple’s strength will be leaving. Please, Saintess, protect this place. No matter how secretly the operation is carried out, there is always the possibility of an unforeseen situation.”
“Haa… Very well.”
And the aftermath of that conversation returned to Heinrich in full.
“Hmm… Sir Heinrich Landguard, I think it would be best for you to protect the Great Temple together with the Saintess this time.”
“Me as well?”
Heinrich, who had naturally assumed he would participate since he had been deeply involved in this matter up until now, widened his eyes.
Archbishop Latius took him to a quiet place and spoke with a grave expression.
“The Saintess seems to be quite disheartened, so I would like you to stay by her side, keep her company, and comfort her. And…”
The archbishop paused for a moment, then let out a sigh.
“This will be an extremely dangerous operation. Since the cardinal will be going with us as well, the bastard won’t be able to flee as easily as last time. A fierce battle will likely break out.”
Since they had a record of losing Hans even after setting up a barrier last time, this time they would prepare even more thoroughly, with a cardinal joining them.
“In the midst of that, many will die or be injured. There is no guarantee that I will not be among them.”
And Heinrich was too precious a talent to be sacrificed on such a battlefield.
His current skill was not lacking for participating in the operation, but even so, he was only on par with the holy knights selected this time.
The archbishop judged that his true value would come after his growth was complete.
A seed of a hero, one with a steep growth trajectory who had even received the attention of the Main God and the Saintess.
There was a need to prepare for the worst.
“We must also consider the possibility that the operation might fail. The possibility that all of us might be annihilated.”
They had already prepared more than enough forces, but no one could know what would happen from here on.
And if that time came, the Saintess and Heinrich could become the Order’s hope.
“…Understood. I will follow your wishes, Archbishop.”
“Thank you for understanding. You must have been steeling yourself all this time as well.”
At the sight of Archbishop Latius wearing a resolute expression, Heinrich could only put on an awkward look.
‘Mm, well… It’s nice to see him so earnest.’
The transfer through the gate was carried out in stages, with the Saintess and the priests who were not directly participating in the operation all mobilized.
Though only a selected few elites were being dispatched, their number still reached several dozen, so it inevitably took another day for all of them to be sent to the Talia Temple.
“It is a distance that cannot be covered in a day or two anyway, so there is no need to hurry too much. He won’t suddenly move elsewhere in such haste from the place where he has been hiding all this time.”
Archbishop Latius led the personnel dispatched from the Rosellia Great Temple and proceeded with the work step by step.
Wooooong—
While the last group to be transferred waited, the gate vibrated once more and began to operate.
And the archbishop included among that group turned his head to look at those who had come to see them off.
After gazing steadily at the group, including the Saintess and Heinrich, he nodded with a look full of conviction, then turned and headed toward the gate.
His solemn back seemed to exude the sentiment, “If the worst should happen, I leave the rest to you.”
‘…Just go get some fresh air and come back safely.’
With a subtle smile, Heinrich watched him disappear beyond the gate.
Wooooong—
The blue vortex of the vibrating gate.
And so, all personnel completed their movement to the Talia Temple in the western part of the continent.
***
[Hmm… I wonder how long it will take those gathered at the Talia Temple to arrive here. Since they’re all elites, it shouldn’t take too long.]
From the capital of the Talia Kingdom to the depths of the Forest of Monsters.
Ordinarily, even if they came as quickly as possible, it would take over a month, but since there was no telling what blessings they might possess, it was too early to jump to conclusions.
Heinrich himself had “Blessing: Leap,” after all.
The other side would want to shorten the time required for travel as much as possible.
They would likely set out immediately after joining up at the Talia Temple, using every means available to them.
[Shall I start preparing soon, then?]
Hans slowly left the cave.
Fwoosh—
With each step he took, the flames of hell rose and melted away everything left inside the cave.
From the waste produced during the course of his experiments to every trace of the various barriers that remained inside.
[There’s no need to hand over any other information, is there? Kheheh…]
As a result, the barriers collapsed, but layers upon layers of concealment fields had already been spread over his entire body to hide the existence of the fragment.
‘Then at what timing should I begin?’
Right now was when the defenses of the Rosellia Great Temple were at their weakest.
After all, that was the place from which the largest number of forces had been drawn to capture Hans.
‘On top of that, the priests must be exhausted from overworking the gate.’
Judging by the level of the seal surrounding the fragment, undoing it would not be easy.
It would probably take quite some time to get his hands on the fragment.
In preparation for that, he needed to draw as much of the Great Temple’s strength outside as possible.
Since the High Elf’s search had begun just in time, the timing was appropriate as well.
He could have deliberately revealed his presence to lure them in, but if he did, there was room for the Order to find it suspicious.
So he did nothing, merely finishing his preparations and allowing himself to be discovered naturally.
‘The cooldown of the otherworld transfer formation has also been adjusted in advance.’
He could now act at any time, but Hans stood in place and waited until night fell.
So that even if the personnel dispatched to capture him received word belatedly, they would be unable to do anything.
[Khehehe… Now it begins.]
Midnight, when the moon had risen high.
In the moonlight illuminating the forest, all things cast shadows…
But there, Hans’s shadow no longer existed.
***
《Transfer to the dimension of Outerica has been completed.》
The first thing he saw was light.
An overwhelming amount of radiance poured out from every direction, as if intending to blind him.
[Kheh, I expected as much, but this is more impressive than I thought.]
The concealment fields wrapped around his body were burned away by the light in an instant, and the black magic power hovering nearby began a contest of strength against the holy power.
‘This isn’t very good.’
Everywhere around him was a space hostile to Hans.
If things continued like this, he would not be able to retrieve the fragment intact.
He had intended to finish his business peacefully and leave if possible, but if this was how it was, there was no helping it.
Hans raised his staff upward.
[Kahahaha! All of you, break apart!]
The black magic power gushing from him gathered densely in one place…
And the black flame blooming from the tip of the skull staff swelled in size in the blink of an eye.
Even then, the holy power continued to gnaw away at the black magic, but Hans was no longer at a level where such interference could shake him.
Fwoosh— Kwa-gwa-gwang!
The enlarged hellfire split into several branches in an instant and exploded toward the walls on every side, where golden emblems shone.
Rumble, crumble—
As the emblems on the walls fell away and melted, the energy suppressing the black magic power weakened.
‘Much better.’
To begin with, this was a sealed ground created to suppress the impure energy inside.
It was inevitable that preparations against direct impact would be lacking.
‘One more time!’
Sssss— Pa-pa-pat!
The ground around Hans turned black and spread in all directions, and blades of shadow bursting out from it began to hack away at everything around them.
As the light of the damaged emblems slowly dimmed, the holy power weighing down on his body weakened.
[Kheh, now I finally feel a bit relieved.]
Of course, the only thing that had decreased was the force directly attacking him; he was by no means in the same condition as usual.
‘I have no idea how many holy barriers are overlapping and activating.’
At the same moment Hans intruded, all kinds of barriers installed throughout the Great Temple had activated simultaneously.
‘I need to hurry. Still, it’s good that the approach route is complicated enough that it’ll inevitably take time for the Order to get here.’
With a satisfied chuckle, he headed toward the altar at the center.
‘But this place is still perfectly fine even after all that.’
Despite Hans’s black magic having turned the surroundings upside down, there was not a single scratch on the altar or the pillars sealing it.
Crackle—!
The moment his hand touched the chain binding the fragment, flames erupted along with pure white sparks and engulfed his arm.
[Hmm, yes. There was no way it would be that easy.]
Hans stirred his black magic power and shook off the flames clinging to his hand, murmuring calmly.
[From now on, it’s a battle against time.]
He had to undo the seal and retrieve the fragment before outside interference arrived.
He reached toward the fragment once more.
***
The incident occurred in the dead of night.
Flaaaare—
The patterns carved throughout the Great Temple, which had long been thought of as mere decorations, all began to shine at once…
“What?!”
“What is this all of a sudden!”
The holy knights standing guard let out cries of shock.
Emblems filled with holy power rose up from the floor, the walls, and the ceiling without exception.
Holy barriers that severed space, suppressed the wicked energy within, and bolstered the strength of those who possessed holy power.
At that moment, the Rosellia Great Temple was no different from an impregnable fortress.
‘Though it’s already allowed an intrusion.’
The holy knight standing guard with him was plainly flustered, but Heinrich looked around and leisurely offered his thoughts inwardly.
He was currently standing night guard in the passage leading to the sealed ground.
Since he had ended up protecting the Great Temple, he had naturally returned to his duties with the Radiant Guardian Holy Knight Order.
It was also intentional that he had volunteered to guard this passage, saying that since he could not take part in the subjugation force, he wanted to be of help in another way.
On top of that, since he had been absent from work for a while, he used the excuse of making up for it to volunteer for the night watch, which everyone avoided, and thus came to stand here now.
‘If I’m here, I should be able to grasp the general flow of the situation. While Hans is undoing the seal…’
At that moment.
[Emer—gen—cy—!]
Holy power that resounded inside his head burst out from within the Great Temple.
[Emergency situation! All forces, assume combat readiness! As soon as preparations are complete, assemble at your respective positions!]
[The holy knight orders are to move under the command of their commanders!]
A voice thundered inside his head.
It was the voice of a cardinal, whom he had only seen a few times.
The situation was turning urgent.
Whoosh—!
Just then, a group of about twenty people dressed in black came running toward them from one side.
Leading them at the front was the Chief Inquisitor, whom he had seen once before.
‘Though I’ve never actually seen his face.’
Like the others, his face was covered, but Heinrich could tell from the badge symbolizing the chief.
And that was practically the same as a pass for this area.
When Heinrich and the fellow holy knight guarding the passage hurriedly stepped aside, they vanished inward like the wind.
“…This doesn’t seem like an ordinary situation.”
The holy knight beside him muttered quietly in a stiff voice.
Just as he said.
The first internal intrusion in the history of the Rosellia Great Temple had only just begun.