Chapter 95
Deception
Shaperia could not hide her bewilderment.
What was happening before her was far too sudden.
The round platform she was riding had abruptly begun to descend.
It was plummeting deeper underground.
As the edge of the platform scraped against the walls, a heavy grinding noise erupted.
Krrrrrrr—!
Fragments of stone flew in every direction.
Violent vibrations battered her entire body.
Shaperia lowered her stance and tightly gripped the platform’s handle.
Her expression had gone rigid.
She was tense and anxious.
An urgent cry burst from her lips.
“Baron!”
Johan’s expression was perfectly calm.
“We’ll arrive shortly, so please bear with it a little longer.”
Apparently, he was accustomed to this.
Shaperia could not help feeling slightly resentful toward him.
“N-next time, please give me some warning!”
Had she known they would be falling, she would not have made such an embarrassing display of herself.
“I’ll warn you now. Brace for impact.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than a tremendous impact struck her entire body.
The deafening crash hammered against her eardrums.
A thick cloud of dust billowed into the air.
The platform had touched the ground.
They had reached their destination.
Breathing heavily, Shaperia looked at Johan with reproachful eyes.
“…I truly thought I was going to die.”
“Just a moment, Sir Shaperia.”
There was something odd about Johan’s expression. His face, calm until moments ago, had subtly stiffened.
“What is it?”
Johan gave no answer.
Shaperia immediately turned to look in the direction he was staring.
It was pitch-black ahead.
Not even the faintest trace of light could be seen.
Johan spoke in a low voice.
“It seems we have a problem.”
At that moment, two crimson lights flashed in the distance.
Their blood-red glow resembled a demon’s gaze.
It possessed a force capable of freezing a human in place.
Wariness spread across Shaperia’s face.
“…W-what is that?”
Could a demon possibly be dwelling beneath the lord’s castle? Having never visited the Forbidden Archive before, Shaperia was deeply confused.
Johan spoke tensely.
“I believe it’s His Highness. Most likely.”
Shaperia’s pupils widened.
She stared intently at the red lights.
“Do you mean His Highness the Third Prince?”
“That’s right. It appears the corruption progressed faster than I anticipated.”
The Third Prince, Gawain, had become a demon.
Although the revelation shocked Shaperia deeply, she did not simply stand there in a daze.
She immediately drew the sword at her waist.
“Put away that pathetic little blade, Shaperia. I have no business with you.”
The voice came from directly ahead.
Though cold, the strangely composed voice filled Shaperia with an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
She stammered.
“Y-Your Highness! Is that you, Third Prince?!”
The red lights in the distance blinked once.
“Yes. We meet again.”
For some reason, the voice sounded slightly closer.
Shaperia unconsciously took a step backward.
“Are you all right? I heard you were afflicted by a demonic curse.”
The red light flickered once more.
Its glow had grown slightly larger.
An eerie chuckle echoed through the darkness.
“A curse? You call this a curse? Shaperia, it seems you, too, have been deceived by that treacherous man.”
A biting chill seeped into Shaperia’s skin.
She swallowed dryly.
“What do you mean by ‘treacherous’…?”
The red lights flashed again.
A pitch-black silhouette slowly began to emerge.
The distance between the glow and Shaperia had unmistakably narrowed.
“I mean the man standing beside you.”
Shaperia clenched the hilt of her sword.
“…Your Highness, come no closer.”
The crimson eyes abruptly vanished.
Shaperia swiftly scanned her surroundings.
She could not sense a presence anywhere.
Johan spoke in an extremely quiet voice.
“Sir Shaperia, when I give the signal, run straight ahead. With everything you have.”
Shaperia nodded.
At that moment, she felt something unpleasant brush against her shoulder.
A pitch-black hand stroked down her shoulder blade.
A voice cold enough to make her shiver sounded directly beside her ear.
“I’ll say it again. I have no business with you. So leave.”
Terror overtook Shaperia’s face.
Johan shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Now!”
Johan seized Shaperia by the wrist and broke into a run.
Together, they sprinted toward the Forbidden Archive with all their strength.
Thunderous laughter erupted behind them.
“How do you intend to escape from me?”
As they ran, Shaperia shouted,
“Sir Johan! Do you have a plan?!”
Johan bit his lip.
“Even if I don’t, I must find one somehow! We cannot release His Highness into the world in that state!”
When a human fell and became a demon, the strength they gained was usually proportional to the power they had possessed before their corruption.
Gawain had already been a transcendent being.
Now that someone like him had fallen, a horrifying calamity had been born.
The moment he manifested on the surface, the world itself might truly come to an end.
Shaperia knew that well.
She spoke urgently.
“If there is anything I can do, I will do it! Just tell me!”
Johan rapidly surveyed their surroundings.
He groaned.
“It’s too dark! I can’t find any useful holy relics!”
“Please wait a moment!”
Shaperia pulled a small orb from inside her clothes.
She threw it into the air.
A burst of pure white light exploded overhead.
The interior became brightly illuminated.
“Well done, Sir Shaperia!”
Shaperia’s eyes widened.
“W-what is all this…?”
The full expanse of the Forbidden Archive entered her view.
Countless holy relics and treasures stood in orderly rows.
The chamber was filled with objects of incalculable value.
The Forbidden Archive truly was a treasure house of the continent.
Not even the Empire or the Holy Kingdom possessed a place like this.
Every relic inside radiated a brilliant light.
To think all this radiance had been swallowed by darkness—just how immense was the malice of the demonized Gawain?
Shaperia could only stare in astonishment.
As she stood there with her mouth hanging open for several reasons, Johan shouted,
“This is no time to admire them! Find a holy relic we can use immediately!”
Shaperia instantly came back to her senses.
She quickly looked around.
But she could only despair.
Without the ability to wield divine power, there was no way for her to use any of the holy relics.
All of her divinity had been withdrawn.
“B-Baron. I do not possess the power to activate a holy relic!”
Johan clicked his tongue.
“Neither do I!”
Johan had yet to learn how to wield divine power.
Despite all the holy relics before him, he could not use a single one.
They might as well have been paintings of food.
A chilling laugh echoed around them.
“What an utterly incompetent pair. You’re so pathetic that it’s painful to watch.”
Johan and Shaperia turned around.
Gawain, consumed by malice, was chuckling.
Apart from the slight darkening of his short purple hair and pale skin, he still looked human.
Gawain slowly stepped forward.
Covered in all manner of restraints, he approached Johan.
Johan swallowed a groan.
“Sir Shaperia, we don’t have much time.”
Sooner or later, Gawain would shake off all those shackles.
And the moment he did would likely mark Johan’s death.
Johan had to subdue him as quickly as possible.
Shaperia desperately looked around.
As expected, there was not a single holy relic she could use.
Her entire body trembled.
“…I’m sorry. This is all because I’m inadequate.”
Johan shook his head.
“Do not give up. There must be a way.”
Rather than despairing, he continued desperately racking his brain.
Shaperia refused to lose heart as well.
“I have no intention of giving up either!”
Johan, who had been deep in thought, suddenly spoke.
“The Brilliant Sigil!”
The Brilliant Sigil was a pentagram seal created from the Sacred One’s holy blood.
The moment it was embedded into one’s forehead, the user could borrow the Sacred One’s divine power for a brief time.
Hope entered Shaperia’s voice.
“The Brilliant Sigil is here?!”
“I’ll retrieve it. Wait here for a moment.”
Johan immediately headed somewhere.
A short while later, he returned with a dark-blue pentagram seal in his hand.
Shaperia’s expression brightened.
She held out her hand to Johan.
“Baron, give it to me.”
Johan shook his head.
“No. I will use it.”
Shaperia’s expression stiffened slightly.
“…Don’t you understand? You will die from its side effects.”
The Brilliant Sigil burned away the user’s soul and converted it into the Sacred One’s divine power.
The moment the sigil was embedded into one’s forehead, death began.
Johan spoke calmly.
“Of course I understand. But I must be the one to use it.”
“Why?!”
“As the Watcher of the Abyss, I must bear responsibility for every demonic incident that has occurred in the South. Even if it costs me my life.”
Shaperia cried out desperately.
“You cannot! Think of the greater good! You are destined to accomplish far greater things! If you die here, I will not be able to face the Sacred One! Hurry and give it to me! I can no longer serve the Sacred One anyway!”
Johan shook his head.
“You are the Sacred One’s favored child. One day, you will regain your power and protect humanity once more. Please preserve your life until that day.”
Gawain snickered.
“What a touching sight. It’s quite entertaining.”
Shaperia ground her teeth.
She suddenly lunged at Johan.
She intended to seize the Brilliant Sigil from him.
But Johan was faster.
He had already embedded the pentagram into his forehead.
Shaperia’s eyes trembled.
“…S-Sir Johan.”
Johan slowly rose into the air.
Brilliant light poured from his eyes.
Pure white holy flames blazed across his entire body.
Shaperia could not tear her eyes away from him.
Johan looked like the Sacred One incarnate.
A majestic voice emerged from his lips.
“Sir Shaperia, receive my blessing.”
A blessing allowed recruits who could not wield holy power to fight by borrowing the strength of a priest or paladin.
Divinity of extraordinary purity erupted from Johan’s body.
The entire area was dyed pure white.
Shaperia tightly gripped the hilt of her sword.
“…Sir Johan, I will remember your name.”
Brilliant light seeped into her blade.
Amid the blazing white holy flames, Shaperia pointed her sword at Gawain.
Gawain retreated.
“Shaperia, you are being deceived by that treacherous man.”
Shaperia charged at him and shouted,
“Do not insult Sir Johan! He tried to save Your Highness until the very end!”
The moment she swung her sword, a stifled laugh came from the high ceiling.
A sweet, melodious voice followed.
“She really is an easy woman to manipulate.”
Johan looked up at the ceiling and furrowed his brow.
“…Illea, don’t act rashly. She might discover us.”
Sitting astride her broom, Illea smiled with her eyes.
“I’m sorry. It was so funny that I couldn’t help myself. But you agree with me, don’t you?”
Johan found it difficult to deny.
Belzarak was snickering in Illea’s hand.