Chapter 292

The civilized mercenaries were discussing something with serious expressions on their faces. Basha, who overheard them from a distance, widened her eyes and hurriedly ran to Gottval’s tent.

“Father Gottval, Lou has answered my prayers!” Basha shouted as she entered the tent.

Gottval, who was praying on his knees with slumped shoulders, answered without even turning around.

“...What prayer are you talking about?”

“Lou has answered my prayer to kill the barbarians! Urich and his barbarians are dead! Lou’s judgment has finally come!” Basha exclaimed as her cheeks flushed with excitement. She was so happy that she could dance around.

‘Lou has answered my prayer. I knew He was still watching over me.’

Gottval slowly rose from his prayer.

“Lou does not answer such prayers. In fact, it is the god of the barbarians who listens to such prayers filled with hatred.”

“You just don’t get it, Father Gottval. Lou told me to kill the barbarians, and He even gave me the power to do it for him.”

Basha spoke as she bounced around, unable to contain her joy. She felt that Lou, who had been feeling more distant than ever, had blessed her once again.

“Basha, do not use Lou, or any gods that is, as an excuse to justify your anger and hatred.”

Gottval raised his voice, but Basha’s smile did not fade.

“You should be happy too, Father. The calamity is over, and peace will return now.”

Gottval’s brow furrowed further. He, too, had heard the news that Urich might be dead, and his heart ached.

‘I have seen the deaths of many people, but...’

Urich was a special person to Gottval. He was a symbol and proof that civilized and barbaric people were equally Lou’s children and human beings.

‘It’s hard to accept that you are dead.’

Gottval looked at Basha with half-closed eyes. He resented the girl who was genuinely rejoicing at Urich’s death.

‘What I should resent is my own heart filled with anger.’

Gottval closed his eyes, then took a small breath and exhaled.

Gottval understood where Basha was coming from. She was a girl whose peaceful life had been completely taken away by the barbarians. The Sun priest, whom she had thought of as her hope, had violated her. Basha was a person left with only hatred and anger.

‘If I don’t understand Basha, who will?’

Gottval placed his hand on Basha’s shoulder.

“It is not right to rejoice over anyone’s death, whether they are a person of civilization or a barbarian.”

“I am going to be happy, and I know I won’t be the only one. There are countless people who will be glad to hear about Urich’s death.”

Gottval smiled bitterly as he knew that Basha was not wrong. It was true that Urich had caused pain to many innocent people. He was undeniably an enemy of the civilized world.

“Basha, Urich’s death has not been confirmed yet.”

“Urich is dead. Lou Himself whispered the death of the barbarians to my ears.”

“The Urich I know is blessed by the gods. He wouldn’t be taken away like this.”

Basha looked at Gottval with a grumpy expression.

‘Why does Father Gottval defend Urich so much?’

Gottval was an excellent priest. He was so good to the point that the title ‘One-Armed Saint’ was no exaggeration. Such a person liking the leader of the barbarians was hard for Basha to understand.

Most barbarians felt the same way as Basha did about the relationship between Urich and Gottval, and they were displeased with the Sun priest’s closeness to their Great Chief.

“...Basha, things are not great right now. The only reason we have been able to stay here was because Urich was looking out for us. Without Urich’s protection, our lives might be in danger.”

As soon as Gottval finished speaking, they heard someone approaching the tent. Basha also tensed up and looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon.

“Gottval, are you inside?”

The voice spoke in slurred Hamelian. Three armed warriors entered the tent.

‘I need to at least get Basha out of here.’

Gottval was prepared to sacrifice himself if necessary to ensure Basha’s survival.

“It is time, Gottval.”

The warriors took another step closer with their faces filled with fierce expressions.

Basha cautiously picked up a fire poker, but Gottval shook his head as he looked at Basha as he knew there was no way they could win against three warriors.

“Great Chief Urich told us...”

One of the warriors spoke, looking back and forth between Gottval and Basha.

“...to take you to King Varca if anything ever happened to him. We have to move right away, so pack only what you absolutely need.”

The warrior gestured with his chin and crossed his arms.

Gottval’s eyes widened.

“Urich...”

Urich had instructed his subordinates to ensure that Gottval could return safely even if he died.

“Follow us. The situation within the Alliance is becoming unstable.”

The warriors urged Gottval. Gottval and Basha packed only the essentials and moved.

“Stay close. It wouldn’t be surprising if someone attacked.”

The guarding warrior glanced around.

As they left the tent, they were met by warriors who glared at Gottval with murderous intent evident in their eyes with some even gripping their axes tightly and waving them menacingly. These were warriors who had been waiting for a chance to kill Gottval.

“Lou will protect us, Father, so you don’t need to be afraid of these barbarians. Just as they punished Urich, they too will be punished.”

Basha walked with her shoulders proudly straight. Hearing this, the guard warrior frowned and grabbed Basha’s wrist.

Slap!

The warrior slapped Basha’s cheek with his thick hand.

“Y-you barbarian!” Basha retorted with a reddened face. The warrior sneered and continued slapping Basha’s cheeks alternately.

Slap!

Blood trickled down Basha’s lips as the flesh on the inside of her mouth tore open. She glared at the warrior, panting.

Slap!

The warrior slapped Basha’s cheek once more. Bruises appeared on her cheeks.

“The ones protecting you right now are us who were ordered to do so by Great Chief Urich, not your god. Do you still not get that?”

Basha spat blood-tinged saliva on the ground and wiped her mouth. Before she could say anything back to the warrior, Gottval pulled her by the shoulder.

“That’s enough, Basha. You were the one who was disrespectful.”

Gottval’s and the guard warrior’s eyes met. The guard spat at Basha’s feet and walked on.

“L-Lou will protect us. Right? Father?” Basha said as her lips trembled. Gottval nodded quietly and patted Basha’s shoulder.

Gottval and Basha were escorted by the warriors to King Varca. Varca took the two under his protection and ordered his knights to guard them.

‘Things aren’t looking great with the Alliance.’

Varca smiled bitterly. The siege was still holding, but at this rate, it was only a matter of time before it collapsed.

* * *

Urich and the warriors followed the Serpentine down the waterway.

"So who exactly is that man?" Georg asked Urich.

Urich checked behind to see if they were being pursued before answering, "He's a Serpentine. Serpentism is secretly widespread among the lower classes of Hamel."

The man ahead nodded at Urich's words.

"That's right. You were the reason we were able to survive in this city, Urich. Thanks to you, we managed to avoid the empire’s eyes and have deeply rooted ourselves in Hamel."

Emperor Yanchinus and the Imperial Army thought they had eradicated Serpentism in Hamel, but with the subsequent western expansion and wars, it only flourished more than before. The empire, embroiled in difficult wars, had no capacity to deal with Serpentism.

"How much further do we have to go?" Urich asked, noticing that the warriors needed a place to rest. There were several who were practically walking corpses at this point.

"We’ll be there soon," the man answered and continued down the path without hesitation.

Creak.

The man pushed what seemed like a blocked wall, which rotated to reveal a passage inside.

"This place wasn’t originally made for the sewers, was it? It seems like a newly carved out space."

Urich followed the Serpentine inside, realizing it was a whole new hideout of the Serpentines.

"In the early days of Hamel, an underground cavity was built to store water to prevent floods, but it was sealed off after the construction of the sewers was completed. Now, even the Imperial Army doesn't know about this place."

People gradually came into view as vagrants sitting on either side of the dirty passage stood up one by one.

"Oooooh."

"That's Urich."

"The Beast of the Apocalypse chosen by the world."

Some even knelt before Urich. It was truly a bizarre sight.

‘They’ve grown. A lot.’

Urich looked at the significantly increased followers of Serpentism. At the end of the passage was a large cavity that was large enough for hundreds of people to move around thanks to its original purpose.

Urich raised his hand to command the warriors to rest while those who were still in decent condition took up arms and stood guard.

"Where is Trikee?"

Urich urged the man, but the man only gestured for them to keep following.

"Georg, Olga. Come with me."

Olga led three or four other warriors and followed Urich.

‘I don't see anyone I know.’

Urich recalled the two key figures of Serpentism: Trikee the Ark and his disciple Baldor, who was a noble.

At the end of the underground cavity was a room resembling a shrine where candles were lit to illuminate the flanks of the entrance.

"I have brought Urich," the man said, knocking on the stone door.

Creak.

The door opened to reveal men in relatively clean clothes, who muttered among themselves upon seeing Urich.

"That must be the Urich the Ark and Baldor spoke of," they murmured, staring at Urich.

"Where is Trikee?"

Urich asked once again. The men raised their hands and pointed to the altar.

Urich brushed aside a translucent cloth and stood before the altar. His eyebrows twitched, and his mouth twisted slowly.

"You’re telling me this is Trikee?"

"The Ark often spoke of you, and now you’ve appeared leading an army. You have been chosen as the destroyer who will break this world."

The men said as they stood behind Urich, almost whispering.

‘The body isn't decaying but dried up like a tree in the dry season,’ Urich thought as he looked at the dried corpse on the altar.

Trikee's corpse was bizarre. It was not decaying but dried, and Urich could not figure out how it ended up like this.

‘Is this how they deal with the dead in the south?’

Urich didn’t even consider the possibility that it was a miracle or magic.

‘It’s just some method I don't know that made the body like this. It’s not a miracle or magic.’

A few years ago, Urich might have believed it was some strange magic or sorcery.

"So Trikee is dead," Urich muttered. Trikee lay on the altar as a non-decaying corpse.

"He is neither alive nor dead. When the time comes, he will rise and lead us to the next world. He is the Great Ark, after all."

"No, he's dead. His heart isn't beating. That means he's dead," Urich declared. The men frowned and glared at Urich’s back.

"Is there no one who knows me here anymore? Does everyone here only know stories about me?" Urich asked, looking at the priests of Serpentism.

"All who knew you have been martyred. Their deaths were those of great saints, and it was their deaths that made Serpentism grow this large. I am Ludmil the Guide."

The man who called himself the Guide spoke at the center of the priests.

"I’m Urich of the Stone Axe."

Urich accepted Ludmil’s handshake. After all, the only people that helped him now was Serpentism.

"Fulfill the promised apocalypse according to the will of the world, Urich," Ludmil said with wide eyes.

"Forget the will of the world. Give us some food as well as some ointments that work well on burns. We’re going to need them if we’re going to crush the imperial bastards," Urich said, then looked at the withered Trikee once more.

"Death sometimes comes without warning, Trikee."

Urich smiled bitterly and walked away from the altar. He observed the Serpentine priests.

‘This doesn’t feel like Trikee’s Serpentism that I expected to see. There’s a suppressed ferocity in their eyes.’

Trikee tried to civilize the barbaric religion, but he ended up dying sooner than expected.

"Beast of the Apocalypse, please break this world that is full of pain."

As Urich passed by, vagrants grabbed his ankles and murmured.

Georg, also with a pale face, looked at Urich and asked, "Urich, these people w-worship you. What exactly did you do in Hamel when you were here before?"