Chapter 55. Breaking off.

When the party came out of the Bloody Tears of Underground Citadel, they saw a paladin looking exhausted. He was vigilant about his surroundings with a haggard appearance and then raised his sword, startled by their sudden presence.
“Who are you?”
The Paladin frowned while screaming like that. Because he realized that not long ago, he had met them in an abandoned castle.
“Lower your weapons. I have no intention of fighting. It’s not even the first time I’ve seen you.”
Ivan waved his hand and examined the condition of the Paladin.
A tired face, dirty armor, and a high level of vigilance.
When the appearance of a paladin who whips himself with faith and training looks like this, then it’s clear that there was a fierce battle outside while their party was suffering underground.
‘Well, in the Bloody Tears of Citadel, the warlocks didn’t really do much. They must have been blocking the main force outside.’
As Ivan blinked, Delfino took a step forward. Judging from their previous attitude, it was the right thing to do.
“You look exhausted. What happened?”
Delfino unleashed the divine power of Arun, the god of light, to restore the Paladin’s stamina. The Paladin flinched for a moment, but after confirming his divine power, the tension seemed to have been relieved.
Men could lie, but divine power did not lie. The Paladin, acknowledging that they were not with the demon worshipers, answered with a slightly softened expression.
“There was a battle with the warlocks last night. You said you’re after the demon worshipers, and you’re one step ahead of us.”
“We’ve seen warlocks in the underground fortress, too. We’ve just gotten out of dealing with them.”
Then, Delfino looked back and asked.
“Are you with that Inquisitor too? I found something quite unexpected inside.”
“Something unexpected?”
“I think I’ll have to tell Priest Pierre directly about that.”
At those words, the Paladin’s expression hardened slightly. Because he was just guessing what it was. He blew the flute briefly to signal the others and said to the party.
“Let’s go. I’ll guide you.”
The party was able to observe the situation outside while receiving his guidance. It was full of blood and corpses. Most were monsters, sometimes the corpses of undead and warlocks, and sometimes there were also paladins and priests.
‘Did the warlocks resist so fiercely? Why?’
There were so many paladins and priests that could be said to be the ultimate enemies of demon worshipers. Usually, they would realize that they were at a disadvantage and would have fought in moderation, but this time it’s different. (dlazarturead(dot)wordpress(dot)com)
‘Is this ceremony so important? Or that?’
Ivan glanced at the box Delfino was holding. It contained the Red Goblet, the core of the Bloody Tears of Underground Citadel.
The Red Goblet, once said to be a holy thing, was already corrupted by demonic magic. Delfino poured his divine power into it and temporarily sealed it.
Unless he was a strong-willed person, the goblet was spewing out so much magical power that someone could be possessed by it. He was not unusual.
Flap!
Upon entering the temporary camp, Pierre Lorraine was seated. Even his cold, hard expression showed tiredness.
“So, you said you came for me?”
He got up slowly, and suddenly his eyes stayed on the box that Delfino was holding. Even though Delfino, an excellent exorcist, was almost completely sealed off its energy, Pierre Lorraine is not an ordinary man since he recognized it at once.
“What is that?”
“This item was found in an underground fortress. It became a dungeon core, and then became a core of rituals performed by demon worshipers. I barely brought it.”
Then, as Delfino held out the box, Pierre Lorraine took it with his trembling hands. And suddenly, it radiated holy power as hot as flames and embraced the camp. He is indeed a heresy interrogator. The quality and quantity of divine power were considerable.
Clank!
The seal that Delfino had temporarily made was released, and terrible magic flowed out. The dark energy was trying to go out, but it was blocked by divine power like flames and burned it up.
Inside the box was an old golden Goblet full of scratches. What had once been sacred lost its light and ended in the darkness.
“The Red Goblet, why is the lost holy relic like this?”
Pierre Lorraine, who was unintentionally trying to raise the red glass, frowned. It was because the dark and evil demon’s magical power had permeated his hand.
Even though he had such a strong divine power, it dared to dig into his hand. The demonic energy was truly terrifying.
In the end, Pierre Lorraine, who put down the Red Goblet again, covered the box and suppressed it with his divine power. He lifted his head only after sealing it so that the magical energy emitted by the red goblet did not leak out.
“Was it found there? In the Underground Fortress of the Exiled?”
“Yeah. Even though its appearance has changed that much.”
Once upon a time, it was a holy relic used by the red-blooded saint Alberto to perform miracles. Alberhom was a priest of the Kundara Temple, so the Red Goblet is also a sacred object of the Kundara Temple.
For such things to have been hidden for hundreds of years, to be discovered in this way in the fortress of an exiled country, Pierre Lorraine had no choice but to be very upset.
He asked while stroking the box that sealed the red glass and letting go of his emotions.
“There must be a reason you brought this to me, so do you intend to return the Red Goblet to the Kundara Temple?”
Delfino nodded his head at the question.
“That’s right.”
The Red Goblet had great power. But in order to use it properly, he had to drive out the power of the devil and purify it again.
It was completely different from temporarily sealing it, so it will take several years. It wasn’t something a few people could do.
Moreover, the Kundara Temple will not just watch the red goblet, which was once their sacred object, wandering around in someone else’s hand, even in its corrupted state. It will hurt their self-esteem.
It is beneficial in many ways to just give it back to them and collect other rewards. If Delfino, the priest of Arun, the God of Light, was their opponent, there was no way the Kundara Temple would block his mouth.
Pierre Lorraine seemed to ponder for a moment, then looked straight at Ivan. This was the first time he had met Ivan’s eyes directly.
“You can’t trade the holy thing with money. So I’ll pay for it with this.”
Pat!
Pierre Lorraine took a dagger from his bosom and cut his forearm at once. The flesh cracked, red and hot blood dripped down to the floor.
‘Does that mean he is going to apologize for being disrespectful by hurting his arm? If you treat it with divine power anyway, he’ll be fine, but it’s not about cutting off his arm. What does that mean?’
Ivan looked at him with puzzled eyes.
Wounds and bleeding were not insignificant to them. It seemed like it would be a disappointment if it was just a simple performance.
Of course, it wasn’t.
Drip.
The blood suddenly stopped after wetting the floor vigorously. The falling drops of blood stopped in the air, and the blood that had dyed the floor rose upwards.
Suddenly, the red and hot blood changed its shape and became a red sword.
Smack!
Pierre Lorraine said with one hand holding the sword that had emerged from the blood.
“Brika, it’s a sword handed down through our family.”
Then Delfino exclaimed in admiration.
“Blood Sword Brika! Then you are the Blood Saint Alberhom’s…?”
“My distant ancestor. I inherited his blood.”
Pierre Lorraine said as he put the sword on the floor.
“I’ll give this to you, the warrior of Asgard. The price to get the red goblet back should be this much.”
Ivan saw his eyes and smiled. Even if he transforms into a dwarf and dresses up as a wizard, the opponent seems to see through it all. It was so frustrating that it made him laugh.
Whoops!
Ivan shrugged his shoulders. His bent back straightens, and his muscles fill up. He returned from a small dwarf wizard to a strong warrior and grabbed the sword.
The blood sword Brika was not warm. It was hot. It felt like he was holding a flame rather than blood.
Suddenly, the back of his hand was tingling. When he turned it around, Ivan saw that a beautiful sentence had been engraved on it, but then it permeated and disappeared. It means that a kind of owner authentication is over. (dlazarturead(dot)wordpress(dot)com)
A rare sad feeling passed through Pierre Lorraine’s eyes as he looked at it.
“Brika welcomes you. It seems that our family has been holding on to it for too long.”
Ivan stared at Brika and hid it in his own blood. He knew right away how to use this sword when he grabbed it.
“It’s a good sword. I’ll use it well.”
Pierre Lorraine nodded slowly.
“I’ll give you a tent. If you want to rest, rest there.”
After staying there for a few days and finishing their work, the party parted ways with the Kundara Temple and headed for Irene’s residence.
The horse and carriage left in the village before going to the underground fortress were fortunately returned without the use of the ax. Thanks to that, they were able to come back comfortably without walking.
Everyone arrived at Irene’s residence and sat down on chairs. It wasn’t very long, but it was quite a difficult schedule. Frankly, they were very tired.
“Still, we solved the quest well.”
“I admit it. You were pretty good.”
Whoosh!
Irene lit the tobacco pipe and sat down on the chair. Her expression, which had a look of annoyance, softened.
“What did the commissioner say? Restoring the lost eye? Then you will have to go back to the fairy forest. You need the power of the World Tree to heal that eye.”
“Maybe. Now I can take off this stuffy eyepatch.”
Tuk tuk.
Ivan tapped his eyepatch. He rarely got used to the unpleasant feeling. He didn’t even want to get used to it.
Ivan slowly nodded his head upon arrival as he watched Ferocious Tooth go into the bath.
“I’ll owe you for a few days. Let’s break up after that.”
“Suit yourselves. There are many rooms here.”
However, the group did not rest comfortably. The next day, someone came knocking on the door hard.
Bang bang!
Ferocious Tooth, which was disturbed by that since he was going to wash in the morning, opened the door hitting the floor with its tail.
Tak Tak Tak!
“What’s going on!”
The man who had been breathing in an unpleasant breath suddenly shut his mouth. Because he realized that his opponent was unusual.
“Who is it? No one visits here usually.”
Irene, who was burning her cigarette with a somber expression, narrowed her eyes.
“Paladin of the Kundara Temple? What do you want in my house?”
As the saying goes, the paladins were standing in front of the door with hard expressions. It didn’t seem like a very pleasant reason to have all of them armed.
The Paladin, who looked inside and confirmed the party’s appearance, spoke in a very dry voice.
“Priest Delfino of Arun, the god of light, and his party. Right?”
“That’s right, but…”
“I’ll have to investigate for a while. It’s an urgent situation, so please forgive me.”
“Investigation? What kind of investigation are you talking about? What’s going on?”
When Delfino asked with a frown on his forehead as if displeased, the Paladins had a sombre expression on their faces. And after hesitating for a while, he answered.
“Twenty-seven paladins, nine priests, and one heresy inquisitor are all dead or missing.”
Ivan, who was listening from behind, abruptly stood up.