Chapter 20 (1/2)
Three people had appeared next to the carriage Isabelle had been riding. One was bishop Rain, and the two others were holy knights of Maal disguised as mercenaries. Bishop Rain approached the trembling Isabelle.
“Do not be afraid. We are by no means the villains.”
Isabelle looked at bishop Rain with fearfully.
“Those words do not ring very convincingly to me.”
Rain smiled bitterly as he glanced around his surroundings. The mangled pieces of human bodies littered the floor, and no amount of convincing would change Isabelle’s mind.
“I understand completely. However, the first to initiate this feud was the church of Flora.”
Bishop Rain pointed towards Earl Wellington, who was standing silently.
“Five years ago, that person’s granddaughter was discovered to have a high affinity for holy power. She had been a fervent wors.h.i.+pper of Maal ever since she was young and wanted to become a saintess of Maal. Unfortunately…”
Bishop Rain coldly stared at the beheaded corpse of archbishop Aznan.
“The church of Flora wanted her for their own. They ambushed her and her escorts, an operation orchestrated by archbishop Aznan.”
He could not fail to convince Isabelle to become a saintess of Maal, so he continued his explanation in an attempt to win over Isabelle.
“Archbishop Aznan ma.s.sacred all the holy knights escorting Lena, and tried to coerce her into becoming a wors.h.i.+pper of Flora. Lena’s faith in Maal, however, remained strong and she adamantly refused to become a saintess of Flora.”
Isabelle seemed to have calmed down at least a little bit, and stopped trembling”
“So, what happened to her?”
“That heinous criminal, Aznan, killed her to keep the ambush a secret.”
Isabelle’s face paled as bishop Rain crossed his index finger across his neck.
“He didn’t seem like someone who would…”
“Even we were surprised by the findings of our report.”
Right then, Earl Wellington swung his head in a different direction.
“Someone is approaching on horse. I can hear the horses galloping.”
Bishop Rain’s expression changed. There could absolutely be no witnesses to the ambush that they had just finished.
The church of Flora was extremely powerful, and the small church of Maal stood no chance against them. Earl Wellington stepped forward, seeming to understand the bishop’s predicament.
“It seems we should silence them?”
“Please, it will have to be you.”
“Do not worry.”
Earl Wellington burst into a run towards the source of the sound. The holy knights of Maal could only watch as the aura master ran off at an incredible pace.
“As one might expect from a superhuman. Neither of us heard anything…”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
It was just as the earl had warned. Two horses with a figure upon them appeared above the hill. It was Luke and Kurotan, chasing behind the track of Isabelle. Their faces turned pale when a b.l.o.o.d.y scene greeted them on top of the hill.
“Wh-What the h.e.l.l?”
A carriage stood at a stop on the road, around which lay butchered corpses of the holy knights. Before they could even recover from the shock of witnessing the aftermath of a ma.s.sacre, a blurry figure speeded towards them at a rapid pace.
“Blame your poor fortune for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Earl Wellington spat coldly before releasing the full might of his killing intent. An intense force seemed to fall like a wave on Luke and Kurotan, binding them in place as a spider&rsqu
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o;s threads would.
Paaht.
It was another skill unique to aura masters called fear, where they used their aura to stimulate the most primal sense of fear that all living organisms carried within them.
Hihihing.
The horses carrying Luke and Kurotan neighed out at the fear the earl was spraying out and collapsed. Luke and Kurotan both rolled to the ground unceremoniously. Luke’s face stiffened.
“Wh-What’s going on…”
The tendril of fear bound Luke, and he lost the feeling in his legs as his vision darkened. The aura master’s fear was rendering Luke immobile. Earl Wellington suddenly appeared in front of Luke, having successfully bound him in place.
“Good bye. I will send you off without pain.”
A cold voice rang out as a cold white blur sped towards Luke’s neck. Right then, a roar burst out from next to Luke.
“Wuuhk!”
Kurotan roared like an animal and stepped towards the earl, swinging his axe. He was free from the effects of fear, unlike Luke.
Pukaang.
Kurotan’s body repulsed away from the aura master at the same speed he had been running towards him. However, the earl’s body also skid back a large distance from the shock of the impact.
“Who is this b.a.s.t.a.r.d? Why isn’t he affected by my fear?”
Earl Wellington had no clue. The fact was that Kurotan was an orc in the guise of a human… and orcs were a fearless race that did not cower even in the face of a dragon.
Kurotan regained his footing and lifted his axe. About half of the axe head had been severed in the clash with the earl. Had it been a sword, it would have been cut completely in half.
“Kewaaak!”
Kurotan ran at the earl once more, swinging his axe. A surprised earl nonetheless lifted his sword to parry. A disbelieving voice leaked through the earl’s helmet.
“I’ve never seen such a brute.”
The earl parried Kurotan’s blows a few times, after which his sword burst into purple light of his aura blade. Once the earl had recovered from the shock of Kurotan’s brutish charges and focused his aura into a blade, he was able to cut through the rest of Kurotan’s thick axe.
Kurotan’s hesitation after a part of his weapon to the ground allowed the earl to savagely kick him in the stomach.
Kwadang.
Kurotan fell on his back to the ground, as a cold voice crawled into his ear.
“Your bravery is commendable, but it’s not enough against me. Good bye.”
Right before the earl’s sword fell onto Kurotan’s neck, Kurotan whispered silently.
“Oh great Maal. Accept me into your kingdom.”
‘What the h.e.l.l? This b.a.s.t.a.r.d is a follower of Maal?’
The earl twisted away his sword as well as dispelling his aura blade in a hurry.