Episode 24. Search and Annihilation (1)
Not long after Isaac purified the sanctuary, the plague subsided.
There was no need to examine the other patients; simply checking Isolde’s condition was enough.
Isolde, who had been in the most critical condition within the monastery, lay sleeping on a bed in the isolation room. Most of her wounds were now healing, and her illness was difficult to detect.
A few scratches and bites from the wolves would leave scars, but they were not in noticeable places. She was simply asleep, so she would wake before long.
“To see such improvement in a single day is astonishing.”
“Surely the monks’ prayers have reached the heavens.”
Yevhar muttered in surprise upon seeing the signs of plague vanish from Isolde. The monks had realized as well that the plague was receding from the monastery. Most of the monks who had been afflicted were gathered in the chapel, praying.
When their conditions noticeably improved, they immediately informed the abbot, and Abbot Yevhar came straight to Isolde, where the plague had begun.
Isaac, who had already gained as much as he could, showed no attachment and attributed all the credit to the Codex of Light. There was no explaining such a recovery in a single day except as a miracle of God. Besides, the power and credit Isaac possessed were not things he could boast of.
“No. This is clearly your achievement, Isaac.”
But Yevhar did not simply pass it off as divine favor.
“Of course, I knew the Codex of Light would save us. But I could not know when that would be, or how many of us would be tested and sacrificed before then. It was clear this was no ordinary plague.”
Yevhar said, patting Isaac’s shoulder.
“If the Codex of Light has aided us, then sending you in His stead is that aid.”
Embarrassed by the unexpected praise, Isaac grew awkward. He had simply helped because he could not watch people he had shared meals with for years die off like that; receiving such extravagant praise left him speechless.
“Mmm……”
Just as the atmosphere was growing awkward for both the one giving praise and the one receiving it, a welcome groan was heard. Isolde, who had been hovering between life and death for days, was finally regaining consciousness.
Seeing her eyes open faintly, Isaac quickly bent down.
“Hey there. Are you awake?”
Isolde’s pupils, wandering unfocused on the ceiling for a moment, turned toward Isaac. She seemed unable to focus clearly, but soon, upon meeting Isaac’s face, tears streamed down her cheeks.
At the sudden tears, Isaac thought, ‘She seemed unconscious; was she in that much pain?’ But the words that came from Isolde’s mouth were unexpected.
“You have come to take me.”
“Yes? Uh, yes. Mr. Gebel and I went out personally to bring you in.”
“Gebel? It is a name I have not heard before, but surely there are heroes we do not know of. I am moved that a Bright Archangel bearing a name has come to receive me.”
Isolde mumbled, looking at Yevhar with red-rimmed, teary eyes.
“Archangel Gebel, I am prepared in heart. I consider it a blessing to simply follow Your will unto death, and that I might dare to reach the eternal kingdom filled with light……”
Isaac fell silent for a moment, then decided to correct her misunderstanding.
***
A short while later, Isolde sat up in bed, her face as red as her eyes had been, and replied.
“You are not an angel.”
“Yes. I am not.”
Isaac could not see her face. Isolde had buried it in her hands, down to her knees. However, seeing that even her earlobes were bright red, he worried a blood vessel might burst from her blood pressure.
“I am sorry. I... without any trace of decay, that is... your face...”
“I understand. It was an extreme situation, and you must have been afraid.”
Isaac hurriedly mumbled before Isolde could say something she would regret even more. When she had first encountered Isaac, Isolde had also muttered nonsense like ‘An angel?’ before fainting. Since Isaac was actually a Nephilim, a half-blood of an angel, it wasn’t a complete misunderstanding.
However, Nephilim were extremely few in number, and it would be troublesome if his identity as one were discovered, so he had to prevent that thought from crossing her mind. Fortunately, Isolde hastily accepted Isaac’s excuse.
“Yes, yes. That’s right. I thought I was dead, so receiving unexpected help...”
It would be easier for both herself and others to accept that she had thought him an angel because she had died and come back to life, rather than because of his appearance.
Isolde nodded frantically as if convincing herself, then finally raised her face. Having persuaded herself, her face was somewhat less red than before.
“Come to think of it, there was a blacksmith apprentice who traveled with me. Did the child arrive safely as well?”
“Yes. Hans informed us of your danger.”
“That is truly... a relief...”
Only then did Isolde seem to recall why she had come to the monastery and urgently began searching for her belongings. Isaac held out her bundle to her.
“We had no choice but to burn your clothes and bag to stop the plague, but the books, documents, and tools seemed impervious to the plague’s intrusion, so we sealed them away. Please forgive us for burning your clothes.”
Most of Isolde’s belongings were processed to resist contamination by other faiths or curses, befitting an inquisitor’s equipment. Among them was the Sword of Judgment that Isaac had secretly used until now. However, it was difficult to process every single article of clothing in such a manner, so they had no choice but to burn them.
However, Isolde did not seem to care in the slightest that she had been stripped naked in a monastery full of only men. She frantically rummaged through her things, and upon confirming that everything she sought was there, let out a sigh of relief.
“Nothing is missing. Thank you for keeping them safe.”
As she said this, she looked at Isaac with a gaze that seemed to be checking something.
“Have you by any chance read the letters and documents here?”
Isaac and Yevhar looked at each other with awkward expressions.
Reading an inquisitor’s confidential documents was something that could be branded as sacrilege. As it was, there were already two people in this monastery with secrets to hide. Adding the abbot who was hiding the fact that Isaac was a holy vessel, that made three. Thanks to that, there had been much debate over whether they should read those documents or not.
However, Isaac opened his mouth calmly.
“Yes. I read them. I couldn’t make sense of them.”
“Isaac!”
Yevhar scolded him in surprise, but Isolde shook her head.
“It is fine. The situation being what it was, it could not be helped. Rather, if you had read them, you might have improved the situation more quickly. The reason I came here was also because of this plague.”
“Because of the plague?”
Yevhar asked in surprise. They already knew that the plague sweeping through the monastery was not a normal one, but caused by a curse or conspiracy. But they had not expected that an inquisitor had come here for that purpose from the start.
“Yes. The Undying Cult’s sinister hand has reached this monastery.”
She muttered, her eyes burning.
***
Isolde changed into spare clothes from her bag, which had been sealed off from the plague, and returned to the abbot’s office. She wore a practical uniform with a deep red hood pulled low.
This time, Gebel was present as well. He had found meeting the awakened Isolde awkward, but since she had insisted on seeing him, he had no choice but to come.
“I heard you saved me. Thank you very much.”
“The one who saved you isn’t me, but that baby-faced brat over there who can’t even grow a beard.”
Gebel waved his hand as if he wanted no attention and leaned against the wall. Isolde decided to respect Gebel’s desire to avoid conversation. But she had not called for him merely to express her gratitude.
“How many people in the monastery can wield a blade?”
“A blade?”
Yevhar hesitated at the unexpected question before opening his mouth.
“I do not know what level you require, but I myself have experience serving in the Dawn Army. There are also several monks who have been on pilgrimage. However, even if I and those monks all rushed at them together, we could not defeat Isaac and Gebel here.”
Isolde looked at Isaac as if asking if they were truly that capable. Isaac wished Yevhar had not been so honest, but there was nothing to be done since it was already revealed. In fact, there was no need for Gebel to even step in. Isaac was confident he could handle the monks alone.
“Is there a reason you need blades rather than miracles?”
The greatest weapon to be expected from a monastery was miracles. Yet Isolde wanted blades.
“This plague is a conspiracy of the Undying Cult.”
“The Undying Cult... Isn’t it too far for the Undying Cult to be active?”
The Black Empire, where the Undying Cult was based, was two months away by horse. There were several small kingdoms in between. But possibility could not be denied based on distance alone.
“Only a few years ago, the apostate Kalsen raided a village merely half a day away from here. It was a horrific incident where not a single survivor remained.”
Yevhar desperately managed his expression to avoid letting his gaze drift to Isaac.
“That was possible because the captain of the Paladin Order committed apostasy. That is impossible now.”
“Of course, it is difficult to see the vanished Kalsen as being connected to this incident. But his influence may still reach here. They are sowing chaos in the rear with only a small number of personnel.”
Isaac felt as though he could read Isolde’s thoughts.
The Undying Cult had tried to commit a biochemical terror attack beneath the monastery.
“They were trying to resurrect an Ancient God beneath this monastery!”
Isolde declared solemnly.
Isaac nearly hiccupped but barely suppressed it.
However, despite her solemn declaration, the expected reaction did not come. Yevhar looked incredulous, and Gebel pressed his fingers to his brow as if he had a headache.
“So?”
“Yes?”
“Inquisitor, such a grand story might alarm the villagers, but I am an abbot. Ancient faiths cannot be revived, and most legends pertaining to them are exaggerated tales.”
“If the Ancient God is resurrected, the unclean monsters and curses of ancient times will also...”
“Even if one were truly resurrected, gods without worshippers cannot exert influence upon the world. They are dead gods. Just as the Nameless Chaos, which nearly drove the world to ruin, now cannot exert any influence upon the world whatsoever.”
Yevhar muttered, stroking his beard.
“Still, I think I understand what you mean. I have heard that there was once a plague faith in this region. Hundreds of years ago, they demolished that temple and used its bricks as cornerstones to build this monastery. If what you say is true, then this plague is the influence of that plague god, is it not?”
“Exactly. The Undying Cult intends to revive such ancient faiths throughout the Empire.”
There were Nine Faiths as the main religions of Nameless Chaos. But setting-wise, it had not been that way from the beginning. In the distant past, there had been hundreds of faiths. Anything even slightly powerful—beasts, monsters, special phenomena—had all been worshipped as gods. But with the beginning of the Age of Light, ancient faiths disappeared or merged until only nine remained. Even then, some of those nine faiths were on the verge of vanishing at any moment.
Take the ‘Nameless Chaos’ cult, for instance; wasn’t Isaac the only one?
“So what benefit does the Undying Cult gain from this?”
“Well, if discord arises within the Codex of Light, the Undying Cult’s followers would increase...”
“There is likely no faith less worried about followers than the Undying Cult. Their followers only increase, never decrease. Even if they do nothing at all.”
Isolde frowned but said nothing.
“More than anything, the Nine Gods would not wish for the resurrection of an Ancient God. Even the Undying Emperor cooperated in toppling ancient faiths that demanded the burning of children and massacres. If there is one point on which we and the heathens agree, it is that ancient faiths have no reason to be revived, and must not be.”
This was the greatest difference between ancient faiths and the Nine Faiths.
If ancient faiths were the domain of barbarism, the Nine Faiths were the domain of human reason and civilization. The fact that half of the Nine Faiths were of human origin proved this. Isaac thought that there was no one now who wished to return to those times.
‘Come to think of it, Nameless Chaos is also one of the Nine Faiths; why is it in such a state? Was it different before its ruin?’
That question flitted through Isaac’s mind, but it was not something he could ask anyone now, nor should he.
Isolde quietly bit her lip. Isaac realized she had already anticipated this rebuttal. Of course, she could have continued the theological debate if she wished. Doctrinal battles could go on for years without end.
‘She’s hiding something.’
Isaac quietly stepped back. Fortunately, Isolde and Yevhar were engaged in a battle of nerves with each other and paid Isaac no mind.
Yevhar opened his mouth.
“Inquisitor, if you need our blades, speak honestly. Why is the Undying Cult operating near here? Is it a matter that cannot be shared even between brothers of the same faith?”
The moment Yevhar shook Isolde’s resolve, Isaac used his newly acquired ability, the ‘Eye of Chaos.’