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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Demon God]
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Chapter 82 - The Concert (3)
A few days prior.
Charlotte had received a report from one of her informants: a Licht branch had been attacked.
Though it was a small branch, and the incident hadn’t made it far beyond local news, the involvement of dark magicians made it a serious matter.
Upon hearing the report, Charlotte immediately set out to investigate.
—Are you going again this time?
—Your Highness, I know you’re working tirelessly for “The Rose,” but using them to cure your ailment is a dangerous gamble.
—The current political climate is already volatile.
—Please remember the responsibilities that weigh upon you.
As usual, her advisors’ voices of caution trailed after her, but she brushed them off.
For months now, she had been tracking signs of cultist activity, and without hesitation, she prepared to head to the scene.
She didn’t inform the imperial family about her movements.
There were precious few she could truly trust.
With only a small guard detail in tow, Charlotte made her way to the branch.
‘Complicated…’
Arriving at the branch, she had the cathedral sealed off to conduct her investigation, but there was little to find.
Only the bloodstains that her informants had reported remained.
Despite the grisly scene, no bodies or remnants of the missing priests could be found, leaving the investigators at a loss.
Charlotte surveyed the scene with her characteristically calm expression.
Could the missing people really have been spirited away?
If so, where should she even begin searching for them?
Should she redirect her search to nearby towns?
As she pondered these questions, deep in thought, she returned from a quick call only to find every guard posted at the cathedral lying unconscious.
Even her personal guards, who had come with her, were out cold.
The doors of the cathedral were wide open.
Clearly, something unusual was taking place.
Charlotte kept her footsteps as light as possible as she moved toward the interior of the cathedral, listening for any signs of life.
Her hand stayed close to the hilt of her sword.
“…”
The dim hallway was thick with an ominous atmosphere.
She followed the faint light as she walked.
Descending the steps that led to the basement, she spotted figures standing just around the corner.
Each was cloaked in a pristine white robe.
‘Those are…’
They appeared to be searching for something.
Watching them intently, Charlotte soon noticed a familiar face among the strangers.
Her lips moved unconsciously as she whispered the boy’s name.
“...Judas Snakes?”
Judas, the boy who had piqued her interest for some time.
A few months ago, by chance, she had discovered that Judas harbored an unsettling power, and since then, she had been circling around him, observing from afar.
It wasn’t out of caution.
Rather, it was out of sheer curiosity.
If he possessed such a power, one would expect a dark aura about him, but Judas radiated no such danger.
Instead, he carried a fresh, wintry scent that felt strangely inviting.
‘What is he doing here…?’
Was he somehow involved in all this?
Hiding behind the wall, Charlotte continued to observe the unfolding scene.
Only a short moment passed.
—Shatter.
With a quiet incantation, Judas fired a bullet at the wall, shattering the hidden barriers and revealing a concealed space.
It was a spot even Charlotte’s eyes had missed.
—Little tricks like these won’t work on me.
Muttering to himself, he strode down the mysterious corridor.
The other robed figures followed in his wake.
Charlotte hesitated.
Rationally, she knew it was best to withdraw, yet her instincts pulled at her, urging her not to turn away.
She felt as if she’d miss something vital if she didn’t follow.
‘Perhaps… this could be a clue about the Rose.’
After a brief moment of contemplation, Charlotte steeled herself and followed.
She kept her presence hidden as best she could.
White robes fluttered ahead, leading down the long, blood-red corridor.
Faint strains of music echoed in the distance, slightly unsettling.
Yet the young princess continued without faltering.
She thought of the Rose waiting for her beyond the stars.
***
We strode confidently down the corridor.
The path was long and wide.
The endless red hue was visually jarring, though I suppose there was no point in expecting aesthetic taste from cultists.
“Master.”
Scanning the surroundings, I heard a soft voice at my side.
It was Neria, leafing through some documents she had been examining earlier.
She seemed to have finished her assessment of the situation.
“I’ve reviewed the cathedral’s architectural plans, but nothing unusual stood out. This corridor we’re walking in wasn’t part of the original layout. It seems likely that the cultists created this space themselves.”
“As I thought.”
“What do you make of it, Master?”
“Considering they built such a large space and even cloaked it with barriers… there must be something beyond this corridor.”
“And the deeper we go, the thicker the dark magic in the air becomes.”
“We’ll proceed. Keep your guard up.”
“As you wish.”
We resumed our march down the blood-streaked hallway.
We had walked for about ten minutes when—
“Master. There’s someone collapsed up ahead.”
A figure lay sprawled on the ground in the distance.
Dressed in blackened robes, he seemed to be one of the priests who went missing during the recent attack.
“I’ll check his condition. If he’s alive, I’ll summon a medic at once to provide treatment—”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“…Pardon?”
“Just stay where you are.”
Though we had found him, I did not permit anyone to approach the figure.
I had a reason for caution.
The veterans who had fought in the Great Purge seemed to understand.
The priest’s robes, once white, had been stained pitch black.
‘As I suspected.’
I could hear faint music somewhere in the distance.
The priest’s body twitched a few times, then suddenly he sprang to his feet and rushed toward us.
His face was smeared with bright red blood.
His once luminous eyes were now filled with nothing but inky darkness.
“Kyaaahhhh!!”
The scream that erupted from his human lips was anything but human.
It was the cry of a beast lost in hell.
Dark, tainted blood streamed down his face like tears.
A priest, fallen into corruption.
Having succumbed to fear and embraced despair, he had abandoned his faith, and this was the price he paid.
With reason stripped away, he swung a mace wildly in his hands.
“…”
Screeeeeech—!
With his ghastly shriek, the rosary at his waist rattled.
The cross he once held in reverence was now stained with sin that could never be erased.
I raised my finger with a quiet gesture.
Then—
Swish—
With a faint sound, the priest’s head flew from his shoulders.
His unbalanced body stumbled briefly before crumpling to the ground.
It was a miserable collapse.
“Unpleasant premonitions… they never seem to miss their mark.”
I muttered under my breath.
I scanned the surroundings.
Despite being my first time in this branch, the layout was all too familiar.
I had cleared similar stages countless times in previous lives.
It seemed we were walking through yet another “work” of the same hand.
“Deputy Commander.”
“Yes.”
“From now on, kill any priests we encounter. Only if they seem fully conscious will we attempt a rescue. If there’s even the slightest sign of something wrong, eliminate them.”
“Understood.”
Neria nodded without hesitation.
I brushed off the shadows clinging to my fingertips and glanced down at the fallen corpse at my feet.
A priest, eyes rolled back, utterly tainted by dark magic.
‘I didn’t expect them to make a move so soon.’
That was when I started to hear the faint strains of music.
A sickeningly beautiful melody, flowing on insidious greed.
Lost in that eerie tune, I whispered the name.
‘The Conductor.’
A mid-game boss from the original story.
A self-proclaimed artist.
He was also the nightmare who had claimed the most lives during the Great Purge five years ago.
We had stepped into a world of his creation.
If this place’s structure was anything like the other stages I remembered, we didn’t have much time left.
Our ally’s life hung by a thread.
“We’re breaking through at full force from here.”
“I’ll take the lead.”
“Miss Irene?”
“These minor tasks… I can handle them faster.”
Fwoosh!
Stepping forward, Irene’s blade ignited.
Her auburn hair turned a fierce red.
Her eyes, which had held a dark glint, now burned crimson.
She swung her sword in a swift arc.
Screeeeeech—!
Another priest charged at us from down the hall.
Already too far gone to save, he was caught in the blade’s path and instantly engulfed in brilliant flames.
It was the purifying fire of life, consuming corruption.
Crackle—!
“Let’s go.”
The fire danced in the darkness, vivid and alive.
Irene looked back at me silently.
After a brief pause, I nodded, and our members began to sprint forward.
In our wake, only the fluttering white robes marked our path.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Demon God]
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