Chapter 62
Kierne slowly narrowed his eyes.
With his eyes slightly squinted, he stared intently at Hailon.
It was a much more docile reaction than expected.
‘That can’t be right.’
Thinking this to herself, Cheshire set down the teacup she had been gripping so tightly that her fingers turned white.
Clink, as the teacup touched the saucer, Kierne opened his mouth.
“By any chance…”
He tilted his head slightly.
His fine black hair smoothly cascaded down.
His lips moved slowly, and clear pronunciations popped out, one by one, in staccato bursts.
“Have you lost your mind?”
It was a question asked with genuine bewilderment.
‘That’s more like my disciple.’
Cheshire let out a chuckle that wasn’t quite a smile, clucking her tongue.
Then, she slowly pondered in her mind which spell to use, selecting an incantation.
Hailon was a formidable opponent in a different way from Kierne.
“I’m perfectly sane.”
He cut her off coldly and immediately fired back.
“It seems like Count Basilian is the one who’s lost his mind.”
His lips, which had only drawn straight lines, now held a faint sneer.
Kierne’s eyebrow twitched.
Hailon spoke in a calm voice.
“That’s why you get abandoned like that, Count.”
Cheshire couldn’t bear to watch anymore and squeezed her eyes shut.
‘It’s over…’
She let out a long sigh inwardly and pressed her forehead with her hand.
Then, matching Kierne as he slowly rose from his seat, she also hurriedly stood up.
Kierne was smiling.
Cheshire swallowed a curse and tightly grabbed her disciple’s wrist.
Then, he called out to Cheshire in a soft, languid voice.
“Master.”
There wasn’t a trace of anger in his voice, yet Cheshire let out a silent scream as if she’d heard a death sentence.
Kierne patted Cheshire’s hand gently and smiled brightly.
“Let go. I absolutely have to kill that bastard today.”
“You hold back.”
Cheshire pulled Kierne back with all her strength.
Then, Kierne drooped his eyebrows and said in a tone of grievance.
“But Master, you saw it too. That guy is acting like he’s dying to get killed.”
His tone and expression made it seem like he was throwing a cute tantrum.
But she knew very well that if she fell for it and let go, today would be the day the temple in the capital gets blown away.
“Count Basilian.”
It was at that moment, when she deliberately called him by his title to snap him back to attention.
A dazzling radiance flashed, illuminating all directions.
Like a bolt of lightning, a wave of white light swept through.
Soon, the light gradually subsided.
What appeared afterward was Hailon, who had drawn his holy sword.
The holy sword, forged from sacred minerals produced only in the Holy Empire and blessed, was given to those ordained as holy knights.
It was said that the holy sword’s power and form varied according to its owner’s divine power.
‘But to emit that much light…’
Cheshire furrowed her brows at the instinctive warning.
It was a force strong enough to make her hair stand on end.
Hailon was pouring his divine power into it without restraint, amplifying the holy sword’s might.
The holy knight wielding the pure white sword looked like a sacred punisher.
It was an appearance that could make not only sinners but even the innocent submit in fear and awe.
However, Kierne burst out laughing.
With a sly smile, he extended his finger straight out.
“You think that’ll do? Why aren’t you using that thing on your wrist? You’ve been drooling over it greedily since earlier.”
His red eyes gleamed wickedly.
“Desperate to capture me.”
Hailon slowly aimed his holy sword.
He gazed steadily at Kierne standing behind Cheshire and provoked him.
“If you want to be properly condemned, give it your all, Count.”
The pupils in his blue eyes, filled with divine radiance, contracted sharply.
“I mean, don’t hide—bring out everything you’ve got.”
As Hailon swung his holy sword, Cheshire unleashed the spell she had prepared in advance.
Boom!
The pure white divine power clashed with the purple magic, producing a thunderous roar.
A massive shockwave erupted, shaking the temple building.
Thanks to that, one wall collapsed, and the temple’s ceiling was blown clean off.
Inhaling the night air rushing in from outside, Cheshire shouted.
“Sorry about this, Sir Hailon!”
She chanted dozens of small spells simultaneously to block the holy sword surging toward her.
Every time the holy sword swung, fragments of shattered magic scattered.
“I have to find my goddaughter too. Absolutely! I’m not defying the name of God! Or doubting divinity! That’s not what this is about! I just want to take the girl with me!”
Hailon slightly narrowed his brow at her resounding shouts.
It must have sounded like nonsense, but Cheshire, who absolutely did not want to be dragged to the heresy interrogation room, strained her voice and yelled.
“I donate to the temple! Regularly! And generously at that! Keep that in mind!”
From behind, Kierne, who had been watching Cheshire’s desperate defense, chimed in.
“So that’s why you’re broke.”
“Shut up, disciple, because I’m not.”
Cheshire quickly drew a magic circle in the air.
The large magic circle flashed, emitting light, and shot out meteors of radiance.
The holy sword smashed through the magic with bangs and booms, resounding like exploding gunpowder.
In the midst of the chaotic melee, Kierne dodged the magic fragments raining down on him and asked.
“Master, whose side are you on—mine or his?”
“My goddaughter’s side, so shut up.”
Cheshire swung her hand widely.
Her body whooshed forward.
Clang!
The magic circle and holy sword collided right in front of her nose.
If she hadn’t blocked it, her body would have been split in half.
Seeing the merciless strike, Cheshire swallowed dryly.
Then, she looked at the ‘self-proclaimed holy knight’ in front of her.
Cheshire swallowed a thought she couldn’t dare voice aloud.
‘If this is a holy knight, then I’m the Holy King.’
Suppressing the urge to spew curses, she politely suggested.
“How about you back off this time, Sir Hailon.”
“Step aside, Your Excellency.”
“Count Basilian cherishes that child dearly. Without her, he can’t even sleep at night…”
She babbled whatever came to mind while completing the next magic circle.
As if finding Cheshire’s persistent blocking annoying, Hailon gracefully created distance and swung his holy sword.
However, Cheshire closed in again, clinging to his blade.
“It would be nice if you could at least give the Count a chance to talk with the child alone. As Chesha Basilian’s godmother, I’m asking.”
“I told you to step aside.”
A low hum began to resonate from the holy sword.
It was the sound of Hailon pushing his divine power to the limit.
He said to Cheshire with an expressionless face.
“There will be no more warnings.”
“Tch, so rigid.”
Contrary to her sulky tone, a clear tension clouded Cheshire’s eyes at that moment.
“Kwaaang!”
A baby fell from the sky.
The three of them—man and women—jerked their heads up at the small form plummeting at high speed.
And they moved simultaneously.
Cheshire chanted a spell, while Hailon and Kierne leaped precisely to the spot where Chesha was falling.
By a hair’s breadth, Kierne caught the falling Chesha in his arms.
Even though she was small, the impact from the fall should have been considerable.
Yet Kierne caught Chesha gently without his expression changing one bit.
“Haa, Chesha…”
He pulled Chesha close into his embrace and called her name in a trembling voice.
As he rubbed his face against Chesha’s soft cheek, he slowly lifted his head.
“…”
The entire temple was covered in pure white chains.
Entwined with black darkness.
The writhing shadows and immaculate chains tightly encircled Chesha’s surroundings.
Like a sturdy net, ensuring the baby would never fall to the ground.
The holy knights and priests who had belatedly rushed in stared at the mingled black and white scene with dazed faces.
The spectacle created by a black mage and a heresy inquisitor.
