Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 483

It took the Crown Prince a moment to fully grasp what had been said. After a moment of silence, Cantares stammered out a question.“What do you mean by ‘his skin was peeled off’?”

“Just as it sounds, Your Highness. His skin was completely removed. I’m not sure of the exact method… but it seems they used it to disguise themselves and infiltrate the palace.”

Duke Lancelot answered calmly.

“After the situation calmed down, I conducted a private investigation… and found several similar corpses near the capital. It seems other victims were also switched in the same way as Count Byte.”

Young servants, nobles, merchants, and anyone else who frequented the palace; none were spared. Kendrick groaned.

“Swapping them… That’s how they were able to avoid Lord Lexion’s guard. And since no magic was used…”

“They went so far as to have the priests commit suicide to unleash the ghouls…”

From within the trembling bundle of blankets, no, from Arendt, a voice emerged.

“…They must have been conscious of Lord Lexion. If they had brought a summoning stone, they would’ve been discovered before even stepping into the palace. No, wait.”

Arendt added, moving closer to the fireplace.

“The attack using the summoning stone was a trap.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s just a guess at this point.”

At Diana’s question, Arendt lifted the blanket slightly and raised his head.

“When guarding the palace entrance, that was the first thing we considered.”

He scanned the pale faces around him.

“…That’s right.”

Laius met his eyes and sighed.

“We didn’t allow any summoning stones inside, and focused heavily on thorough body searches and inspecting luggage.”

“We did fully consider the possibility of people being switched, but we were only wary of the enemy disguising themselves as homunculi or priests and infiltrating.”

Kendrick also muttered with a grave expression.

They never expected that life itself could function as a summoning stone.

Diana said briefly, rubbing her face once.

“In the end, it was all to avoid the magic power detection.”

It was clear that if they polymorphed the skilled individuals and sent them into the palace, they would be caught right away.

Because of the strict security, it was impossible to even sneak in the summoning stones.

So, they chose to use the victims’ skin as camouflage.

Arendt buried his face in his knees again.

It was because the cold air coming from within was unbearable.

“. And one more thing… The shape of the magic circle was a bit different than before. It seemed closer to teleportation than summoning. I’m not a mage, so I can’t explain exactly what it was.”

“…You really are something else.”

Even though he looked at him with pity, Duke Lancelot couldn’t help but click his tongue.

“You were fighting the ghouls while trapped. Even in that situation, you managed to examine the magic circle so well.”

“Whatever needs to be done, must be done. . Anyway, this time, it’s certain they used a completely different method for summoning. My guess is…”

Arendt, poking his face back out, continued.

“There’s probably a place like a ghoul ranch. They teleported them from that place to the palace. It’s fundamentally different from summoning magic. Perhaps this was also an attempt to deceive us.”

“So far, we’ve only been wary of summoning magic,” Arendt added irritably.

“In short… we got sucker-punched. Hard.”

Cantares, who had been watching him blankly, said with a sullen expression.

“You should stop talking now. Even I, who’s watching, am starting to tremble.”

“That’s music to my ears. I was just about to get annoyed, feeling like I was the only one shivering.”

“I’m going crazy. Captain Laius, shut that bastard’s mouth.”

Even in a situation like this, that guy wouldn’t stop spouting nonsense, and it was driving him mad.

Laius answered with a complicated tone.

“I’ll try my best.”

“And about the homunculus. If what the captain said earlier is true, !”

Regardless of his coughs, Arendt continued to speak.

“At some point, it seems like they’ve started imitating God Chernion… That’s what’s bothering me.”

“…What do you mean by that? Isn’t this the first time they’ve made something modeled after the Evil God?”

As Kendrick frowned slightly, Arendt muttered in reply.

“The homunculus we encountered in the Everan Kingdom last time was like that. It resembled a god.”

“What?”

A stunned chorus rose from everyone.

Arendt pulled the blanket closer and continued speaking with a sour expression.

“At the time, I simply thought it was a coincidence. They had simply used so much divine power to create the homunculus that it resembled a god.”

But today his thoughts have changed a little.

“Maybe they did it on purpose.”

Arendt frowned and looked down.

“Could it be that they were trying to create a different type of homunculus than the combat homunculi? Those used in the Everan Kingdom were test subjects created during that process…”

Arendt paused for a moment.

“But Jiklin probably didn’t know that her homunculus resembled a god. She probably just did as the saintess told her.”

The homunculus, which was half-subdued by the attacks of the three, evolved on its own in a moment of crisis.

It was to fulfill Jiklin’s wish to kill Arendt.

‘It must have been something Jiklin hadn’t expected either.’

At that very moment, Jiklin seemed to feel an overwhelming joy.

However, when she failed to kill Arendt due to Richt’s interference, she began to go mad.

Kendrick, who had been silent, asked.

“…By the way, Sir Arendt, how did you know that was the image of God? You said that what appeared then was a monster with an imperfect form.”

“That is also the true nature of God.”

When Arendt answered without hesitation, Kendrick stayed silent.

“As the captain said earlier, it alternated between taking the form of a god and a strange monster. Both are the true forms of God Chernion.”

As if wrapping himself tighter, Arendt clutched the blanket even closer.

“. Then I can guess their purpose.”

“Keep talking.”

Arendt shot Cantares’ a sidelong glance at his words.

“I would have done that even if Your Highness didn’t say anything.”

“…You bastard, seriously.”

“I’ll keep it simple.”

Arendt continued, lightly ignoring the Crown Prince’s sigh.

“That homunculus, you said it was summoned in the square near the palace?”

“That’s right.”

Laius casually offered Arendt a snack. Arendt took it without a second thought and popped it into his mouth, continuing to speak.

“It must have been quite a sight. I’m sure more than a few people saw the Captain and the homunculus fight.”

“What are you saying?”

Laius offered him another piece, and Arendt took it again.

“Just as I said. Everyone, including those hiding in the building and the soldiers fighting the enemies nearby, must have seen the homunculus.”

Arendt, who had been chewing on the snack, spoke again.

“It was a life-threatening situation. The monster’s image must have been more etched in their minds than Captain Laius’. Everyone knows by now that it’s what God Chernion looks like.”

“So… was their goal to show us the appearance of the Evil God?”

Duke Lancelot frowned slightly. Arendt shrank into the blanket and nodded.

“To be precise, it’s more like inducing fear. If it’s imprinted in people’s minds as a fearful entity, it can have a stronger impact.”

Although he spoke in a calm tone, the words were terrifying.

Because it meant that the enemy wished to recreate the power of a god who had been forgotten and was condemned as evil on this earth.

The saintess’s ultimate goal was likely to bring people to their knees before Chernion through blood and carnage.

“…Even then, the fact that it appeared today means there’s a high possibility that it’s unfinished.”

“Most likely.”

Laius calmly responded to the Duke’s sigh.

“The enemy’s main force hasn’t even revealed itself yet. Today’s attack was merely a skirmish.”

Cantares scratched his head in irritation and muttered.

“Unbelievable. We don’t know where or how they’ll pop up… This is the worst-case scenario.”

“Judging by the way you’re talking, .”

Arendt coughed dryly and raised his head from under the blanket.

“It looks like we still have some time.”

“What?”

“I clearly told you to flee as soon as the enemy crossed the gates… but you didn’t even pretend to listen.”

Cantares flinched. His eyes met with golden eyes filled with displeasure.

Arendt averted his gaze and lowered his head again.

“Anyway… if you can call it the worst-case scenario, then it’s still worth living. If it were really the worst, we wouldn’t be here sighing deeply. .”

His muttering voice began to become increasingly muffled.

“So, come up with a plan… or leave it to us and run away for now. In the current situation… there’s nothing worse than our superiors dying.”

Arendt now had his face completely buried in his knees.

He looked more like a lump of blanket than a person. And yet, it was ridiculous how he still managed to say everything he wanted to.

“Just how twisted is your personality? If you’re worried, say so. Or just swear at me.”

“Either way, I don’t think you’ll listen properly anyway.”

When Cantares retorted irritably, a mumbled reply came from the blanket lump.

“Anyway… I don’t know what the hell those damn bastards are trying to do, but…”

Arendt’s mutters began to grow quieter.

“First of all… we need to find out where Lord Lexion is. I already told Llewellyn to look into it… but he seems to be somewhere not far from the Imperial Palace…”

His voice that had been trailing off soon stopped completely.

Diana frowned, noticing something strange.

“Sir Arendt?”

“He’s fine.”

Laius answered on Arendt’s behalf.

Diana didn’t immediately understand what exactly was supposed to be “fine.”

The others looked just as puzzled.

Laius took out the bag of snacks he had been hiding behind his back and showed it to them.

From earlier, Laius had been taking out one or two at a time and handing them to Arendt.

“His Highness told me to keep quiet.”

“What, me?”

Cantares blinked, confused, then suddenly looked like something had dawned on him.

“Hey, Captain Laius. Don’t tell me?”

Laius replied calmly.

“I had a feeling it might come to this. The important discussions were more or less done, so I figured… why not.”

It was impossible to break Arendt’s stubbornness anyway. Urging him to go to rest was certain to result in him not budging.

So, Laius waited for the right moment and fed him a sleeping herb snack.

“…”

Everyone was dumbfounded and at a loss for words.

The crackling of the firewood filled the quiet room.

The sound of the apprentice knight sleeping soundly was softly layered on top of it.

After a long silence, Duke Lancelot managed to speak.

“You are definitely not normal either.”

That thought occurred to everyone at the same time.

No, it would be more correct to say that it was Arendt who was the one who ruined Laius to this extent.

Either way, it was a headache.

“Haaah…”

For a brief moment, they forgot about the war and gods and all let out deep sighs.