Chapter 140: Forced to Act

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Tsk, what’s that supposed to mean?

Is she saying she doesn’t trust me or what… fine, don’t tell me then!

Feeling a bit irritated, I turned my head away, and that’s when I noticed Sister Theresa below, leading the monks as they slipped silently into the adjacent narrow alley. They moved quickly, as if trying to circle around from the other end to cut off any escape routes in case things went sideways.

With me up here, how could they possibly run… but just to be safe, what she’s doing isn’t wrong either.

“Heads up, they’re coming out.”

“Looks like they’re here to collect the goods… keep your eyes locked on them.”

Hearing the woman and the hook-nosed man exchange words, I fixed my gaze in that direction, sure enough, 2 people had come out of the small building.

Leading the way was a powerfully built man, bare-chested and bald as a cue ball. He wore a broad, carefree grin, talking non-stop to the man in the top hat walking beside him. I strained my ears to listen.

“Deal… trust… I’ll take this batch…”

“All this time… thanks for looking after me…”

There was wind on the rooftop, so I couldn’t catch everything clearly, but the gist was plain enough, they were doing a deal.

The 2 of them walked all the way to the cargo truck by the entrance. The top-hat man looked impossibly small next to the muscular one, yet his manner was far more refined, or rather, a little too theatrical. The way he raised his hand to brush his hair back… the more I stared, the more familiar it looked.

…Ah! I remember now, isn’t this the guy from back when he came to the Winter City orphanage to pick up children, the one who kept saying “this humble one”?

I remembered him clearly. He was from Cataloma, a Grand Director if I recall… what was his name again… how is it him of all people?!

He’s with the Gate of Truth?!

I couldn’t help but glance toward Sister Theresa’s direction… she had already reached the end of the alley with the monks and was observing the situation from the other side of the buildings. The distance was too great for me to make out her expression.

If he’s a Grand Director, then that “humble one” guy is practically her deputy… she must be feeling pretty awful right now.

If he’s the one behind all this… no, a single Grand Director couldn’t open the royal city’s gates to heretics on his own. There has to be someone with real power pulling the strings from behind.

The top-hat man over there began directing people to unload the cargo, 4 crates being carried into the small building. The crates were sealed shut, so there was no way to tell which one held the guguo grass… was this to cover their tracks?

Looks like we’ll have to split up.

I turned my head, about to say something to the woman beside me.

The situation changed in the next second.

2 children suddenly bolted out of a nearby building.

They were filthy, their clothes worn and tattered, with long hair hanging over their faces so you couldn’t even tell if they were boys or girls. They seemed to be playing around, and before anyone could react, they went skipping and bouncing right up to the cargo wagon.

The 2 children were completely oblivious, just peering curiously at the adults in front of them with wide eyes.

“This is bad…” the woman beside me muttered under her breath.

“Find a way to get the children out of there, now!”

But it was too late.

The muscular man glanced around, then made eye contact with someone nearby. His hand drifted to the longsword at his hip as he quietly began closing in on the children.

“Damn it!”

The woman beside me swore furiously. Then I heard the hook-nosed man ask: “What do we do now?”

“The hell are you asking me for, get ready to move.”

I stood up and rolled my ankles loose.

I watched the top-hat man stride quickly over to the muscular man’s side, his face tense, words pouring out in a rush, and in the next instant, the wind screamed.

Whoosh—

A golden arrow of light tore through the air, and in a single heartbeat it punched straight through the muscular man’s shoulder. He hadn’t seen it coming at all, the sheer force of it sent his massive frame staggering back several steps before he barely managed to steady himself, glaring daggers toward Sister Theresa’s direction.

One of the monks slowly drew back her right hand, still faintly glimmering with golden light.

“A punishment miracle… Church dogs!”

“Pull out! Damn it, move!”

Where do you think you’re going!

Bang—

Ice spikes exploded across the rooftop beneath my feet, launching my small body skyward on a pillar of ice.

The howl of the wind filled my ears as I shot upward. I squinted against it, feeling the upward momentum slowly ease… then stall… then the freefall kicked in.

I locked onto the muscular man’s position, pressed both arms tight to my sides, and let the frost current surge from the soles of my feet, like a cannonball launched from a barrel, I dropped straight toward him.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

Take my headbutt!

“What the… go f—”

I could faintly hear him gasp in shock, voice trembling.

Crack—

My head slammed straight into his chest. That solid wall of muscle caved in with one hit, the sickening crunch of shattering bone rang out. His body, easily 3 times the size of mine, buckled and then crashed to the ground with a thunderous impact.

BOOM!

Clouds of dust and debris exploded in every direction.

Using the momentum of the collision, I flipped back and landed cleanly on my feet, then held my breath and sprinted at full speed to the 2 children’s side. They seemed to have been scared stupid, frozen in place, rigid, not daring to move a muscle.

I scooped one up in each arm. I didn’t dare use Moon Step, that kind of speed would hurt them. So I turned and ran straight for the alley entrance instead.

Behind me, everything erupted into chaos.

Men and women screaming, a baby crying at the top of its lungs. Miscellaneous objects crashing to the ground. A startled horned beast stamping its iron hooves. Above, the silhouette of the Sword of Kanri swept through the air; to my side, from Sister Theresa’s direction, came the loud ringing of a bell.

“Charles—!” someone roared with every last breath of air in their lungs, I could tell it was the muscular man.

“You told me this place was safe! You dared to set me up—!”

“This humble one didn’t… this humble one had no idea… what’s going on… the Church’s people… why… this humble one doesn’t know either…” The top-hat man’s voice was small and helpless.

“Then we die together!”

BOOM—!

A wave of heat came crashing from behind. Roaring flames crackled and spat.

“What… you are… what is this…”

“I’m on fire! I’m burning! Aaah—!”

“AAAAH—”

Agonized screams tore through the air without end. My heart was on fire too, I pushed my legs harder, and at the same time hollered at the top of my lungs: “Don’t touch those flames—!”

Then I immediately realized that was a stupid thing to say, and yelled again: “Don’t let him bleed!”

“If we don’t draw blood, how are we supposed to fight—!”

That voice sounded like the Sword of Kanri woman.

“Use blunt force!”

“Hurry hurry hurry! Kill him, kill him!”

“Those people are on fire… get the women and children out first, move!”

“It’s too hot! There’s no way to get close… there’s no time…”

I finally reached the alley entrance and slammed to a halt. The ear-splitting screech of my soles skidding on the ground sent up a thin wisp of smoke from my gorgeous boots. Once I steadied myself, I set the 2 children, both too frightened to make a sound, down on the ground and said: “Run.”

But both children’s legs had given out. They collapsed on the ground, too shaken to do anything.

There was no time to deal with them. At least this spot was safe enough.

I spun on my heel immediately, ignoring the sting of the wind against my cheeks, and launched into a series of Moon Steps back the way I came.

What filled my vision was dark brown flame, the Fire of Sin, consuming the path ahead, setting the surrounding buildings alight alongside it. The closer I got, the more that staggering wall of heat pressed into me… this was clearly not a heretic still in the first stage. At the very least, this one was on the same level as Valarr.

Above the flames, suspended in the air, hung a golden bell that looked almost familiar… it was the same miracle the robed old man had used on me back then, only much smaller in size. Even so, it was more than enough to render everyone below completely immobile.

I spotted the woman clutching the infant, she was on her knees, staring back at the Fire of Sin closing in behind her with an expression of total despair, trying desperately to flee but unable to move her body at all, unable even to stand. The baby held tightly in her arms had seemingly lost the ability to breathe; the tiny, scrunched-up face had already turned purple from the strain.

From far away I heard the usually gentle nun hurling out a furious curse: “Idiot!”

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