Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 454 Martyrs

At the same time, the Border Management Bureau.

The official was awakened from his sleep. Upon learning that Bishop Solaris had personally called his name, he immediately changed into his uniform and rushed to the border administration overnight.

Everyone knew Solaris was a troublesome person; in their opinion, there wasn't a single normal person among the Vatican's ascetics.

Given Solaris's status, he could easily amass a fortune with just a few orders if he wanted to. However, the people of the border city knew that Solaris had always lived a life of poverty. When he was first transferred to the city, the Border Administration and the Kingdom Army had repeatedly tried to curry favor with him and recruit him.

However, all the gifts were returned.

Turning a blind eye to their behavior seemed to be the greatest tolerance this ascetic could show.

As soon as the director entered the room, he saw Solaris, who was sitting upright with a stern face.

He could only sigh inwardly; what was bound to happen had finally happened.

They didn't trust Solaris, because no one could say for sure when such a devout ascetic might suddenly lose his mind and come to the administration to demand answers.

They certainly knew that, according to both the laws of the kingdom and the precepts of the papacy, their past actions were capital offenses...

But anyone with eyes to see knows that all the laws and precepts are just a performance for the ordinary people who don't understand the situation, so that they will believe that this land is getting better and better under the joint governance of the royal family and the Papacy.

"bishop."

The director took the initiative to speak to Solaris, "May I ask what brings you to see me so late?"

"Today's attackers, tell me the results of your investigation."

“His name is ‘Stone,’ that’s what everyone who knows him calls him. He used to live on a small hill north of the city. His father was a miner in the ‘Saint’s Remains’ mine. He died in a cave-in a few years ago and has lived with his grandmother ever since.”

The director reported that the Border Management Bureau spent an afternoon investigating the attacker's background. "The reason people call him 'Stone' is because he is not mentally sound and has a personality like a stone. Although he may not be a true follower of Bazartos, the evidence of his attempt to attack the checkpoint with explosives is conclusive. We have decided to execute him in Church Square at noon tomorrow."

With this, the lingering problem that has persisted for several years can be declared over.

His father died in a mine collapse, his mother died of illness soon after, and his grandmother was hit on the head by the mine guards for stealing important strategic materials from the Vatican, and died not long after returning home.

Tomorrow at noon, the last bloodline of this family will be tied to the stake and burned alive—a method of executing followers of evil gods established since the time of Julius, with the Church believing that only fire can purify the filthy souls of these people.

A mentally challenged boy whose family has all died and who also suffers from severe intellectual disabilities would hardly be noticed even if he were burned to death.

When the bureau chief heard his subordinate's report in the evening, he finally felt relieved.

The attacker had no connections, so he deserved to die.

"lie."

Solaris held the scepter, coldly watching the director whose face was plastered with a fawning smile.

This man was as fat as a ball and always attended various aristocratic social events.

“This is the truth, Bishop, I can assure you.”

The bureau chief continued with a forced smile, "After we execute him tomorrow, this matter will be completely over."

However, the next moment, his smile froze on his face.

His obese body arched like a shrimp, his mouth agape, gasping for breath like a fish out of water before Solaris. Soon, his knees could no longer bear the strain, and he collapsed to the ground in a pathetic state. His short right hand supported him on the ground. As the eerie green runes climbed up his shoulders and extended all the way to his throat, a barely perceptible ruthlessness flashed in the director's eyes.

Solaris dared to cast a spell on him!

"the truth."

Solaris met his gaze without flinching, and with a slight downward tap of his scepter, the bureau chief's obese body collapsed to the ground, his cheek pressed against the cold floor.

This spell brought him more humiliation than anything else.

The Border Authority is an important agency, and even the kingdom's great nobles usually give him some face in social situations. Since he became the director, he has never been so humiliated.

He wanted to remain silent, but driven by the incantation, his lips moved uncontrollably.

"That fool's father discovered that the Kingdom Army was embezzling supplies, so he was silenced... We gave them a sum of money as compensation, hoping to settle the matter peacefully, but that old hag insisted on investigating further, and the guards had no choice but to kill her."

The director said with difficulty, "The border city is currently in a sensitive period, and she has some prestige among the miners. We can't let her say anything reckless."

His suspicions were confirmed, and Solaris silently closed his eyes.

Just now, the bureau chief used such simple language to describe the process of a family being torn apart and even on the verge of being wiped out.

However, he could not bring himself to righteously and forcefully rebuke the fat, big-eared bureau chief.

Rather than interrogating the other person, this is more like confronting one's own inner self.

Did he not know what was happening in this city all along?

When he turned a blind eye, when he stopped caring about the theft of supplies, and instead accepted an invitation to witness the public execution of the thieves, he should have known that there were many more people like that fool in the city.

He ignored it and acted as if it had never happened.

This was the dam he had built for himself in his heart, and now, Solaris was forcing himself to confront those corners he had ignored in the past.

He was never a champion of justice, but rather their accomplice.

The image of the chief crawling on the ground, so humble and shameful, flashed through Solaris's mind. He suddenly felt that perhaps in the eyes of the goddess of life, he was just as despicable.

"Believe me, Bishop, this is the best outcome."

The bureau chief struggled to speak.

"What else is there that I don't know? The Devout Chapter, and the mines."

"Solaris asked."

"That's enough. Just like before, leave these things to me."

The bureau chief's face turned bright red, and he forced out the words through gritted teeth.

He could prioritize the bigger picture. As long as Solaris left, he would consider it as the old man having taken the wrong medicine today and put the humiliation he had suffered behind him, because he vaguely sensed Solaris's purpose—they were rushing towards a dangerous place.

Over the years, they have indeed concealed many secrets from Solaris, but not all of them were of their own volition. Even the believers within the Church were doing the same thing, all of them hiding the same secret from those ascetics who were immersed in unrealistic fantasies.

Let these people live in their own "garden of life" for now; they're happy with that.

However, the director now discovers that Solaris has opened the gate to the courtyard and has voluntarily returned to the real world.

The lines spreading across his neck pierced his heart, causing a burning pain to the skin to which they were attached. "...Holy Remains."

Solaris didn't stop there. After a brief silence, he finally asked the question he should have known long ago: "What exactly do you intend to do with the Holy Remains?"

"war."

The director's face twisted in pain, but he couldn't resist the power of the Holy Word spell. "The Devout Warband, and the weapons they developed from their relics, will all be used in the upcoming war... Carlo Esposito will declare war on the Empire, so he needs a lot of manpower, a lot of cannon fodder to fill the gaps. They've transported the Papacy's secret weapons into the Empire. By the time the Imperial Knights realize the truth, it will be too late... We will win the war."

"What exactly is the Holy Remains?!"

Solaris raised his voice, asking the truth he should have known long ago.

He vaguely sensed the cruelty of the truth at the time, so he chose to escape.

“The remains of the goddess, we are excavating Her remains.”

A deathly silence enveloped the two. The director's eyes were bloodshot. He knew very well what such truth meant to a devout ascetic. Even Pope Carlo had intended to conceal the secret about the holy remains from Solaris.

Every word the director spoke struck Solaris's heart like a heavy hammer, causing him immense torment.

This gradually helped him understand everything.

Having understood why the goddess had summoned him, he seemed to hear faint sighs and cries.

His followers are excavating His remains and using them as tools to wage war.

Carlo must be stopped!

This was the first thought that came to Solaris's mind, but he immediately realized that the truth was completely beyond his control.

Will Carlo, who has become increasingly radical since Julius’ death, still listen to his advice?

The actions of this city... the Border Management Bureau, the mines, and the Kingdom Army have already answered everything implicitly. For them, the law and the precepts of the Holy See can be easily trampled underfoot at any time, as long as it is for a "greater victory".

At this moment, Solaris couldn't help but wonder if the prophecies of the Seventh Age and the Doomsday were just lies carefully crafted by Carlo.

But there was only one thing he really wanted to do—to wage a holy war against the Empire!

Solaris seemed to have foreseen his own end.

The fool, arrested on charges of being a follower of an evil god, will be publicly executed in the church square at noon tomorrow. This will likely be the end of his rebellion against Carlo. At that time, his ascetics will also be executed under various pretexts, just like the fool's family.

Even so, he had to do it!
Solaris's eyes were sharp.

The border city, the very frontier of the far west, will become his battlefield.

Write down everything you know.

He gripped the scepter tightly. First, he had to let more people know about this, so that the wavering factions within the Papacy would understand what Carlo had done.

Carlo Esposito's actions have tarnished the identity of the Pope; he has long been lost in anger and hatred.

Solaris pointed his scepter at his desk, his mind racing.

He also needed to contact newspapers in the far west, once he had gathered enough evidence—

All thoughts came to an abrupt halt, and the director's body, which had been manipulated like a puppet, also stopped.

Solaris lowered his head and looked at his heart.

A sharp dagger pierced straight through his chest, its pointed blade replacing his hand and merging with the assassin's entire arm. Not only his arm, but his entire body had been transformed into a sophisticated killing tool.

Solaris turned his head and saw a somewhat familiar face. He almost immediately realized that the assassin was the one he was looking for.

Choir.

This group, which should have disappeared with Julius's death, has somehow appeared here.

The assassin withdrew his arm, leaving a deep wound across Solaris's chest that stretched to the other side. Solaris could even see his own shattered heart, its beating gradually slowing until it stopped completely.

The splattered blood soaked the floor and walls, and left the bureau chief stunned in place.

Solaris's cane fell to the ground, and his body slammed uncontrollably towards the ground. Just as his vision was about to go dark, the chorus's mechanical, cold command came from behind him.

"Bishop Solaris was assassinated; the killer was an assassin sent by the Empire."

Then came the soft thud of an object hitting the ground; he tossed a pendant at the stunned border chief.

That is the Margaret family crest, which is sufficient to testify to the authenticity of the report.

This was by no means a spur-of-the-moment decision.

That’s it, that’s it!
So this was Carlo's real reason for sending him to the border city.

This wasn't due to years of friendship, but rather because Carlo knew from the beginning that he would eventually learn the secrets of the mine and the holy remains, and that when that time came, a dagger from the shadows would pierce his heart.

Solaris never expected that Carlo would actually kill him.

An assassin from the Empire, a symbol of the glory of the Margaret family.

These two factors were enough to push the ascetics, who represented the neutral faction, to the opposite side of the empire, and also provided Carlo with sufficient reason to wage war against the empire.

"I understand."

The director snapped out of his reverie and said respectfully, "I will make sure this news spreads throughout the entire border by tomorrow."

After saying that, he glanced coldly at Solaris lying in a pool of blood. "I warned you, this is all your own fault."

All the sounds Solaris could hear faded into the distance until they disappeared completely.

In the end, only one thought remained in his mind:
goddess,

I have failed your expectations.

My death became the spark that ignited the war.

War is now inevitable.

This time, he never returned to the Garden of Life; it seemed that only eternal darkness awaited him.

(End of this chapter)