Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 413

“Hold on…”“It’s fine.”

Arendt jumped up from his seat, but Lexion simply waved a dismissive hand.

“So this is what it feels like to cross the line. I think I can understand now why you live so dangerously.”

Roughly wiping away the blood with his other hand, Lexion chuckled with a pale face.

“It’s not that bad.”

“Don’t say that while you’re bleeding. It’s creepy.”

Arendt snapped angrily, but quickly pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket.

“It’s okay. I won’t die. My body is just rejecting it. My condition wasn’t normal to begin with…”

At the next moment, Lexion vomited blood again.

Lexion took the handkerchief and roughly wiped his face. However, his clothes and the floor were already a mess from the blood he had spilled.

“This is driving me crazy, seriously. That’s enough, so shut up and get some rest.”

“So you know how to panic too.”

Arendt paused as Lexion burst into laughter.

The handkerchief that had been covering his nose turned bright red and blood began to drip onto the floor again.

“Keep living like that. Like a human being.”

But Lexion remained infinitely calm.

“This isn’t a duty that rests on you alone. I’ve known all along that heroes were nothing more than puppets, yet I’ve chosen to turn a blind eye and avoid facing it. Hiding behind insignificant beings like you is beneath my dignity, too.”

“…”

“Even a brat like you is desperate to stand up to them, so it’s time for me to take responsibility for my choices.”

Arendt, who was about to say something more, ended up staying silent.

It was because he saw a flash of regret that Lexion had never shown before.

“…It’s totally messed up.”

Arendt sighed briefly and said curtly.

“Don’t dirty the room anymore and just go lie down. I’ll ask a servant to prepare a room for you.”

Lexion didn’t respond.

His pupils that had been dilated had now returned to a shape similar to that of a human.

His gaze, subtly out of focus, seemed to be retracing some fragment of the past.

It was a point in his life where he couldn’t share with anyone, and there was no one left to reminisce with.

‘Ah.’

Arendt realized this too late.

Lexion was unjustly deprived of the life he once lived in the past by a god who sought to erase the years he lived from history.

Just like he had been robbed of his worn-out stage and the name of an insignificant, unknown actor.

“…”

Lexion was still bleeding from his nose and mouth.

He suddenly looked terribly lonely, clutching the bloody handkerchief tightly.

And the fact that he couldn’t help but sympathize with Lexion’s loneliness made him feel bitter.

Richt quietly left the palace and walked alone towards the temple.

There was hardly any sign of life on the road where the scars of war still remained.

‘It’s quiet.’

The hustle and bustle of the daytime restoration work seemed like a lie.

Materials were scattered around the areas that were still damaged and unrepaired.

No more fragments of corpses or ghouls could be found.

Only the graceful moonlight quietly shone in the place where the bloodstains had been erased.

Like a lament for the countless lives lost.

He had never doubted that in his entire life. But the story Arthur reluctantly told him contradicted the truth he had always believed.

‘There is no absolute justice…’

Arthur said that with a disgusted look on his face.

Kindness without a price was an illusion, and absolute justice did not exist in this world.

‘The Captain himself said that to Arthur, who had asked something similar.’

The saying that ‘justice is nothing but a mere convenient excuse’ was also one of Arendt’s favorite phrases.

He also knew well that it wasn’t just the bratty, childish complaints of an arrogant child.

However, the fact that Laius, the owner of the Holy Sword, said those words himself gave it a completely different meaning.

“Hah…”

A deep, frustrated sigh escaped.

Only the sound of Richt’s quiet footsteps could be heard on the half-ruined road.

Prince Llewellyn seemed very excited by the unexpected discovery.

The underground ruins contained a hallway filled with newly discovered statues.

Prince Llewellyn seemed to count it among his greatest discoveries.

Llewellyn, who had even hired painters to record the exact appearance of the statues, was determined to find out their names.

It would have been impossible in the past, but it was possible now.

‘If he puts his mind to it, he could even search through the records of the Elf Kingdom.’

Gathering data from across the continent would not be as difficult as it once was.

The Neumann Group’s informants have already spread everywhere, and there was even a Khan Union that could manage the information efficiently.

This was clearly a desirable change.

They would be able to respond more effectively in future battles and connect more easily in times of emergency.

In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the Lucain Kingdom was barely able to survive thanks to such connections.

Oddly enough, it was Arendt who initiated that connection.

‘Arendt used it to get his hands on a lot of information.’

Most of them functioned as a means to block the Evil Cult, but it could not be denied that they were also used to challenge the authority of God Luce.

‘It’s clear that one of his goals is to keep Lord Luce in check.’

Looking back now, that was the case.

It was so that the Caerleon Holy Empire does not rely too heavily on the temple.

While lost in thought, Richt reached the temple near the palace.

The inside of the temple was empty because the priests had also fled.

Richt, who habitually straightened his clothes at the entrance to the temple, entered the prayer room.

“…”

Even though all the priests had left, the prayer room was open.

With bright moonlight streaming in through the large window, the beautiful statue of God Luce looked down on the world with a smile.

Even though no one was around, Richt quietly muffled his footsteps.

He moved cautiously, as if he did not want to disturb the temple of God even a little.

Richt, who had sat right in front of the pure white statue, looked up at it with a troubled gaze.

‘If it weren’t for the strange connection Arendt created, the underground ruins of the Lucain Palace would have been simply considered a temple to Luce.’

The only things lining the hallway were angels serving Luce, and one would have guessed that the widest space would have housed a temple to Luce.

‘The Evil Cult invaded the Lucain Kingdom simply to avenge a past grudge.’

But Arendt eventually discovered that the Evil Cult had other purposes.

‘From the rebels to the Evil Cult, from the Evil Cult to Chernion…’

Looking up at Luce, Richt muttered quietly.

The ones who raided the East Safe were nothing more than rioters dreaming of rebellion.

Richt knew it as well.

As their identities were gradually exposed one by one, it was only natural that God Luce’s hidden side was revealed as well.

Despite everything, he believed.

“Even now, I…”

.

Strength entered his two hands that were clenched together.

“I believe that your justice exists.”

Had he not known, he wouldn’t have had to confront the problem, and that would have been fine.

All he had to do was simply believe in justice, trust his back to Laius, whom Luce had chosen, and risk his life to protect the world.

It was understandable why Arthur felt so uneasy.

“…Lord Luce.”

Luce was still looking down at him with a loving smile.

Richt’s blue eyes were filled with confusion.

“What is it that you want?”

A heavy, muffled voice echoed through the empty prayer room.

But of course, there was no answer. Thıs content belongs to NoveI-Fire.ɴet

Arendt, who disappeared with Lexion, returned alone a long time later.

He gave a vague answer that he was treated by Lexion, but it was easy to tell that it was a lie.

Even then, the tips of his fingers were still blue.

Arendt added briefly afterwards:

“Lord Lexion is sick in bed, so please let him rest for a while.”

…

What kind of conversation did the two have during that not-so-short time?

‘And why did Lord Lexion’s condition suddenly worsen?…’

How would Arendt have felt, facing the saintess alone in the ruins filled with darkness?

The guy who destroyed the historical evidence he had been so desperate to find with his own hands and then teased the Crown Prince, what was really going on inside that guy’s mind was…

“Hah…”

Richt sighed again and clutched his head.

Why did Laius, who was more faithful than anyone else, no longer believe in justice?

Questions kept piling up one after another.

What was more painful than anything else was that he couldn’t go to Laius or Arendt right now and ask them the truth.

He was afraid of knowing.

He just wanted to blindly swing his sword at the villains, using justice or goodness as an excuse.

‘Perhaps it would be better to die doing that.’

But now that couldn’t happen.

He’d been thinking about this endlessly for the past few days.

He couldn’t even sleep at night, and he tried to ignore Arthur’s anxious gaze.

Amid all that, he also had to painfully endure avoiding the sharp gaze of the perceptive apprentice knight.

And finally today, Richt made his decision.

The only reason he came here today was to apologize.

“…Please forgive me.”

After a long silence, Richt began to mutter quietly.

“I will graciously accept any punishment you give me.”

He couldn’t ignore Arendt, who suffered from severe insomnia, Arthur, who watched over him with a burning worry, and Laius, who had stopped praying at some point.

“So, I wish for Lord Luce to show me His perfection of justice. That You were not wrong… That You have always embraced us… please teach this foolish one.”

His praying voice slowed.

A shadow fell over Richt’s eyes as he stared at the floor.

“Even if I must be punished, I want to stand with them. So…”

If they were committing the sin of blasphemy, then he also bore his rightful responsibility for failing to stop them.

“I hope that me standing alongside them will not be a betrayal to you.”

Richt believed in the loyalty they had shown so far.

And he was ready to take responsibility for his beliefs.

By staying with them to the end of this journey, he would inevitably find the answers to all his doubts.

“Please personally teach this foolish one your justice, Lord Luce.”

A clear, unwavering voice filled the prayer room.