Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 514

“Huh… Gasp…”Catching his breath, Arendt stared blankly at the breathless Iris. He couldn’t even tell if what he was seeing was a hallucination or reality.

Arendt, gripped by a sense of futility, stood there for a long time as if nailed to the ground.

His vision was blurry.

Blood began to flow from Iris’ neck, soaking the ground. Only then did Arendt regain consciousness.

‘…It’s over.’

No.

‘I missed it.’

Anger boiled within him. His hand holding the sword began to tremble.

Then, a terrible sense of humiliation and defeat came over him.

“Oh, shit…”

Arendt gripped the sword with both hands, gripping it with all his might. Then, overcome by impulse, he raised it high.

The sword blade, struck down without mercy, landed right next to Iris’ neck, where she lay breathless.

“Huk, huh, huh…”

Arendt looked down at Iris for a long time, his grip on the deeply embedded sword firmly in his hand.

She looked so peaceful, as if she were asleep. If it weren’t for the stab wound on her neck, he could almost see her as resting comfortably.

It was as if she had no regard for the people who suffered and the countless lives lost because of this damn war.

“…”

A surge of anger welled up inside him, with nowhere to go.

For Iris, even death was merely a refuge. She hoped to return to this land someday and dream of Chernion’s return.

Blood ran down his hand that held the sword. The urge to tear her apart like this overwhelmed him.

But that was meaningless.

Furthermore…

His fight wasn’t over yet.

‘The High Priest.’

Arendt staggered to his feet, straightening up. The sword was drawn out with a slash.

In his increasingly blurred consciousness, only one purpose remained in his mind.

Even now, the Great Temple was burning continuously.

He had to go out and find Lumiel before anything went wrong.

Arendt limped away. Before leaving the room, he took one last look at Iris’ body.

The culprit who drove this world into hell was simply sleeping peacefully.

Arendt closed his eyes tightly and turned around, jumping into the flames.

“, High Priest! High Priest!”

Arendt roamed the interior of the Great Temple like a madman. Red flames shot up from all sides, trying to engulf him, but Arendt paid no attention.

The artifact, the chill of the Frosty Touch, protected Arendt from burns. But as Arendt’s magic power completely depleted, its effectiveness began to wane.

His hands, which had been wrenching doors open without restraint, were now beginning to show burn marks across the knuckles and fingers.

But Arendt didn’t even seem to notice that.

“High Priest!”

As he opened the sealed archive door, he was met with the sight of priests who had already taken their last breaths.

They realized Iris’ death, and after carrying out the final order to burn down the Great Temple, they took their own lives.

Arendt turned around without hesitation.

He searched the prayer room, the archives, and even the priests’ quarters, but Lumiel was nowhere to be found.

And finally.

Arendt reached a hallway that the flames had not yet fully consumed.

It was a room that was rarely used on a daily basis, but was opened when important guests visited.

Laius, who was running in a hurry, found Arthur standing precariously, leaning on his sword.

“Arthur!”

The surrounding area was littered with corpses, and anyone could tell he’d just finished a brutal fight. Arthur had been seriously injured even before they parted ways, but he still seemed to be able to move without any major issues.

But now, it seemed like all he could do was stand.

“Captain… Sir.”

Arthur, staggering, turned his head and chuckled. But that was only for a moment, as his legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground.

Before Arthur could fall to the ground, Laius managed to run over and catch him.

“Arthur, are you okay?”

“I’m okay, I’m okay.”

Arthur tried to push away Laius’ hand. But in his current state, he couldn’t overcome Laius’ strength. Laius helped him up and sat him down on the clean ground.

Arthur, barely able to lean against a tree, muttered incoherently.

“Inside, suddenly there’s a fire… Arendt is inside. That guy… We have to go save that guy….”

“Okay, calm down.”

The charred beams collapsed, sending sparks flying everywhere. The beautiful statues of the Luce Temple were all engulfed in flames.

Laius carried Arthur to the safest place possible.

“Wait here. I’ll bring Arendt and the High Priest out.”

“Captain, it’s dangerous! Let me go with…!”

Arthur tried to force himself to sit up, but Laius grabbed his shoulder and forced him back down.

“Trust me. We will definitely come back together.”

“…”

Only then did strength drain from Arthur’s body. Laius patted Arthur’s shoulder twice and then rushed into the burning temple.

Arendt would have gone to Lumiel’s office first to find her.

Laius ran straight into Lumiel’s office, fighting his way through the flames.

“Arendt! High Priest…!”

He threw the door open, shouting, but was soon hit by a blast of heat and had to back away.

Laius barely opened his eyes to find a corpse lying in the middle of the burning office.

The half-burnt body appeared to belong to a very tall woman.

“This is, surely…”

Although he couldn’t make out her clearly because she was engulfed in flames, Laius instinctively knew that she was the Saintess.

If so, it was clear that Arendt had been here until recently.

Laius quickly began searching for traces. Soon, he discovered a trail of blood on the floor.

The blood trail stopped in front of the body and then quickly headed back out the door.

Laius didn’t pay any more attention to the Saintess’ corpse, and immediately turned around and began following the blood trail.

“Arendt! If you can hear me, answer!”

Lumiel raised her head at the sound of a rough noise coming from outside. At first, she thought it was the sound of the ceiling collapsing due to the fire. But it soon became clear that wasn’t the case.

The tightly locked doorknob began to shake with a much rougher sound.

“…No way.”

The bound Lumiel muttered.

The sound became more frantic. And soon after…

The door was completely shattered and flung open helplessly. Before Lumiel could even look at the person, the stench of blood hit her.

“Hah…”

The familiar sigh of a young man was also present.

“I finally found you.”

The young man, leaning against the doorway with his body covered in wounds, spoke briefly.

“High Priest.”

Lumiel froze, unable to respond. She didn’t know how to face him.

“Sir Arendt…”

“I’ve been… looking everywhere…”

Arendt limped slowly toward Lumiel, his golden pupils unfocused and shaking.

One step.

And another.

Arendt slowly approached Lumiel, but before he could walk any further, he collapsed.

“Sir Arendt!”

Lumiel screamed. She tried to rush towards him, but her body was bound, and she couldn’t move.

“Sir Arendt, come to your senses! Sir Arendt!”

The tears she had been holding back burst out again.

“Open your eyes! You can’t stay here like this! Run away, please!”

Every visible wound was horrific. It was hard to fathom how such a body could have survived the flames.

“Sir Arendt!”

“…High Priest.”

A fragile voice came from the fallen man. Arendt, barely able to raise his head, began to approach her again, half dragging himself.

“You promised to take that walk with me, Your Excellency.”

Arendt muttered, as if half-conscious. Lumiel was dumbfounded.

“Sir Arendt…”

“You said you wanted to go for a walk… on a nice day.”

Arendt crawled all the way to Lumiel and took out his sword to free her from her bonds.

But that was all he had left. As if exhausted from his last strength, Arendt collapsed into Lumiel’s arms.

“Sir Arendt!”

Lumiel hugged him urgently.

Hot tears dripped onto his blood-smeared, battered face. His eyelids trembled, then slowly lifted.

“…High Priest.”

Through his wavering vision, the distorted features of the old woman filled his sight. Arendt tried to reply, “It’s okay.” He said they could easily escape together, and his injuries weren’t serious.

“How much…”

But the next words that came out of her mouth.

“How lonely must you have been…?”

Arendt froze. Lumiel’s wrinkled hand stroked Arendt’s face tenderly. Tears fell, dripping down Arendt’s cheeks.

“…How lonely you must have been. Alone, in this place with no connections…”

The High Priest’s trembling voice made it clear how deeply the thought pained her.

“Didn’t you lose everything to Lord Luce? Your place of residence, your past life.”

“…”

Arendt, who had been blinking blankly, soon began to understand the general situation.

Iris confessed to Lumiel that he was an outsider from another world.

“As the one who served Lord Luce closest, I must have seemed unforgivable to you. But why did you say you would save me…?”

Hot tears flowed ceaselessly from the wrinkled corners of her eyes.

“Why are you doing this? Why on earth?”

A rather rough hand stroked the young man’s cheek without stopping.

Arendt parted his wounded lips, trying to speak.

His head was dizzy, but at the same time, he felt somewhat refreshed.

Had he been lonely? Perhaps he was at first. But…

“I’m all right.”

Arendt reached out and pulled Lumiel into an embrace. The small movement caused Lumiel’s eyes to widen.

The young man buried in her arms was speaking in a halting manner.

“I was definitely okay.”

The voice continued as if it would cut off at any moment.

“I wasn’t that lonely… really.”

Lumiel’s face contorted even further. It was as she realized that Arendt was still trying to comfort her at this very moment.

Arendt felt the warmth in Lumiel’s arms and activated his magic for the last time.

White frost flowers began to bloom around the two.

A surprised Lumiel hugged Arendt even tighter.

“Sir Arendt! No, stop it now!”

But Arendt just smiled brightly and didn’t stop the artifact.

The pure white frost quietly extended its silvery hand to Lumiel, without causing even the slightest harm.

“Arendt! High Priest!”

Laius, who had rushed into the room to find the two, was frozen in place by the snowy field that unfolded before his eyes.

“…”

It was a sight as if a blessing of frost had descended upon the burning hell. The frost, falling silently, completely protected Lumiel from the fierce flames.

And Lumiel was hugging Arendt with all her might, as if she was afraid of losing him.

The High Priest’s shoulders trembled slightly. Tears fell incessantly, soaking the apprentice knight’s scarred face.