Chapter 63
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Chapter 63
The moment Chesa heard the Holy Temple shatter, she thought: here we go.
These two men were fundamentally incompatible.
There was no way they could sit down over tea and exchange pleasantries.
She'd expected something would happen eventually.
'And now he's blown up the Holy Temple.'
Both Kieran and Hailon were the same in that regard.
Their personalities were polar opposites, yet whenever they lost their temper, they saw things through to the bitter end—she couldn't fathom why they were so alike in that aspect.
These men who seemed incapable of understanding the word "restraint" were nothing but a headache for Chesa.
"...shouldn't we go check?"
Ishuel tugged at Belzeon's sleeve as he spoke.
Belzeon and the Twins had reached an implicit truce for now.
Then they made their way toward Kieran, bringing Chesa with them.
They found where the power surged and looked down from atop the ruined Holy Temple building.
With the structure completely destroyed, climbing up undetected was trivial.
Kieran stood locked in combat with Hailon.
Fortunately, he remained quietly concealed behind Duchess Ibroyel.
He was unarmed, without even a sword.
Unless he resorted to dark magic, he lacked the means to stand against Hailon and his holy blade.
Duchess Ibroyel was indeed a formidable mage.
She wielded her magic with practiced skill, holding her own against Hailon.
'But ultimately, she will lose.'
This wasn't about measuring raw power.
This was combat.
When two fighters possessed comparable strength,
or even if one was stronger,
the one versed in battle could fell the stronger opponent with ease.
Duchess Ibroyel's days as a war hero were decades behind her.
She was incomparable to Hailon, who never knew a moment without the stench of blood clinging to him.
Especially if Hailon drew upon the holy relic—the Chain of Condemnation.
'A fairy...'
The dead Countess Basilian had been a fairy.
Her head still throbbed from the truth Karha had inadvertently revealed.
Confusion clouded her mind, yet the path forward remained clear.
Perhaps Kieran held the very truth she had been desperately seeking.
There was much she needed to learn from him.
'I have to keep him alive.'
Chesa made her resolve firm.
Then she tapped gently on Karha's chest, where his arms held her.
Once Karha set her down on the ground, Chesa looked up at the young men and spoke.
"Throw me!"
"...What?"
I pointed toward the heart of the fighting.
"At them!"
"What?"
"This won't work!"
"Have you lost your mind?"
Karha, Belzeon, and Ishuel all cried out at once.
It was enough to make one's ears ring.
I set about persuading them with patience.
"I'm tired of you all fighting over this...."
I eagerly put forward my opinion that I would step in and stop it myself.
The three brothers of House Basilian exchanged glances.
Whether I returned to the Basilian Estate or not.
Everyone agreed that this fight had to stop first.
"Hurry!"
I urged the hesitant boys onward.
No matter how they threw me.
Those three over there were more than capable of catching me.
They would surely stop fighting to catch me.
Yet the three brothers still held back.
Frustrated, I dashed toward the edge of the building.
It was when I was trying to check how the situation was unfolding again.
"Wh...?!"
With a sharp crack, the cracked building crumbled beneath my feet.
"No!"
The moment I separated from the debris, a great gust of wind wrapped around my body.
Ishuel had cast a spell.
The hand that had drawn out a somewhat clumsy magic circle was trembling violently.
The wind threaded with golden light succeeded in lifting my body gently into the air, but....
"...!"
It failed to carry me back to the building and instead swept me away in another direction.
I was carried by the wind and flew through the sky before plummeting down.
"Ahhhhh!"
Regardless, I had succeeded in achieving my goal.
I screamed loudly.
It was a cry made in hopes that everyone would pay attention to me.
The effect was successful.
Kieran, Hailon, and Duchess Ibroyel.
They all stared at me with wide eyes.
Everything had been going perfectly up to that point.
'Damn it! That insane dark mage!'
A shadow of black magic writhed and surged upward through the chains of condemnation spreading in all directions.
Kieran had used dark magic to catch the falling Chesa.
There were two perfectly capable men here who could have caught her properly, so why—!
Chesa let out a genuine shriek of exasperation.
Nothing ever went right because of Kieran.
'I only stepped in to hide the fact that he's a dark mage!'
Her short tongue worked frantically as she prepared to unleash a torrent of curses at Kieran.
But the moment her gaze met those crimson eyes.
Chesa found herself unable to speak.
He was looking at her with desperate eyes.
His reaching hand was frantic.
It seemed he had unconsciously channeled his power.
Otherwise, there was no way he could be so anxious and afraid that she might fall to the ground.
Without thinking, Chesa reached back toward him.
From the sky to his embrace.
Every moment of the descent felt achingly slow.
Chains and shadows spread like a net from all sides, and violet magic circles scattered their light.
Amid the tangling of colossal forces.
Chesa descended into Kieran's arms.
As he caught her small body falling like a meteor, the breath he had been holding burst forth.
"Haah, Chesa...."
As if someone had finally released the throat they'd been strangling, he gasped for air.
Thump, thump, thump.
Feeling the pulse of Kieran's heartbeat, Chesa belatedly muttered something.
"Mer-choi...."
"Hm?"
She had meant to call him an idiot, but she'd spat it out so carelessly that it came out as an unintelligible sound.
Of course, Chesa had no intention of repeating herself.
She simply continued to pile up unfinished curses in her mind.
"Haha."
Selea laughed with a hollow sound.
As she dispersed the magic circle she had created, she expressed her feelings simply in one phrase.
"Damn it."
Merely venting the curse she'd been holding back wasn't enough, so she let out a scream as well.
"I should have just told him to fight from the start! I wasted all my energy for nothing."
Selea threw both her hands up to the sky and shouted loudly.
"Get arrested, get arrested! Go rot away in the Heresy Interrogation Chamber for the rest of your life!"
Whether she cursed him or not.
Under the gaze of countless eyes, Kieran turned to Chesa with tender affection.
"Did you come to see Father?"
He appeared delighted.
His face was even flushed with joy.
He seemed so utterly captivated by Chesa that nothing else existed in his world.
"What a scare.... Why did you do something so reckless? Who threw Chesa from the sky?"
At his gentle questioning, Chesa felt her spirit deflate.
Her identity as a dark mage had been completely exposed.
The Basilian Family now faced annihilation, yet he seemed utterly indifferent to it all—a reaction that left her speechless.
"So you were indeed a dark mage."
A low voice cut through the air.
Only then did Kieran turn his gaze toward Hailon.
"And you were a Heretic Inquisitor."
He smiled faintly.
"I've heard rumors. That an extraordinary Heretic Inquisitor was born in this generation. One who wields sacred relics that no one else could handle with such freedom."
Kieran gazed in admiration at the chains densely woven throughout the space.
"Truly.... A remarkable sacred relic indeed."
As Hailon sensed something amiss in Kieran's peculiar composure and began to narrow his brows, a sharp snap echoed out.
The sound of fingers flicking was unnaturally crisp and clear.
Crimson eyes flickered like dancing flames.
The sound of blades being drawn rang out from all directions.
The Holy Knights who had rushed forward unsheathed their holy swords.
And pressed the blades against their own throats.
Those without weapons seized their own necks with their hands.
As if they would strangle themselves with all their might until they suffocated.
It was mass mental domination.
He had imposed mental control upon dozens of people at once—and those who possessed holy power at that.
Hailon's eyes darkened.
The Chain of Condemnation trembled faintly.
The sound of chains grew gradually louder with a metallic scraping.
"Please, do not misunderstand. I harbor no intention of harming the knights and priests. I merely created an environment conducive to conversation."
Kieran smiled as he soothed Hailon.
"Otherwise, you would not even pretend to listen to what I have to say."
"Otherwise, you won't even pretend to listen to what I have to say."
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org