Became an Apostle of an Ancient God

Chapter 20

Iron Mask declared right then and there that he would break out of prison. Amelia glared at him with eyes full of disbelief.

From her perspective, it was only natural.

She had been raised in Lusis since childhood and had believed all her life that faith in Serre was justice.

Even if someone were fundamentally a good person.

'The justice I believed in until now was actually evil.'

'You've been deceived all this time.'

Hearing such words, one couldn't easily accept them at face value. Even if those words were nothing but the truth.

"Don't say such nonsense, Iron Mask. I will never cooperate with you."

"Is that so?"

"I heard you're from Anatolia. People from Anatolia don't believe in gods, right? Don't you just want to deny Serre and all the gods of this world?"

At Amelia's words, Iron Mask sighed and stood up.

"Haa. Hey, nun. What does me being from Anatolia, or not believing in gods, have to do with Lee Haru's life being in danger?"

"Obviously, it's because you want to escape this damp place. By using my power."

"Even without your help, I could've escaped long ago. This plan didn't need you in the first place. I just gave you a chance. A chance to face the truth. A chance to save Haru, who you cherished."

Every word from Iron Mask, who relied on no faith, came with weight. Amelia looked up into the eyes hidden behind his mask.

There were the eyes of a strong human, walking their own path without leaning on gods.

"The plan... Fine. Let's do it on the day of Lee Haru's funeral. That day will likely have the loosest security. Whether you report this to the guards or distract them that day is up to you."

Iron Mask snorted and stepped back, driving in the final nail.

"No matter what you do, I'll save that kid and expose the shadows of this hall with my own hands."

With those final words, Iron Mask knocked his head against the door of the meeting room. He had no hands free to knock otherwise.

'Maybe...'

Iron Mask's words echoed in her head.

Amelia clasped the symbol of Serre in both hands and continued to ponder.

'Maybe. Just maybe...?'

* * *

Three days later.

That day was the day of the Chosen Child's funeral.

It was a large-scale event, one that hadn't occurred in quite some time, involving most of the priests and prisoners in the Hall of Atonement. However, the most heinous prisoners and the Heretics locked in their cells were not allowed to participate.

Among them was a man who denied all gods.

The man in the Iron Mask from Anatolia quietly knelt in his straitjacket, eyes closed, waiting for something.

He hadn't moved for hours now. Even the guard watching him was unnerved. Just then, as Iron Mask waited for the right moment, a sound came from above the cell.

"P-Priest. Why are you here...?"

"Bishop Luther instructed me to oversee this area today. Would you like to attend the funeral? The Chosen Child's memorial service is currently underway."

This voice was unmistakably from the guards' overseer and Amelia.

"We didn't receive any separate notice, though."

"Bishop Luther has been quite busy. This is a message from his attendant, Ismael."

At Amelia's words, the overseer listened silently, then nodded.

"Understood. You're a priest of the moon rank. There shouldn't be any problem. However, all the prisoners here are extremely violent. They haven't even received atonement yet. Please be cautious."

"Yes. I'll be very careful."

With those final words, the overseer's voice disappeared. Then, accompanied by the sound of a woman's footsteps, a nun with blonde hair descended into the underground cell.

It was Amelia.

"I heard there's a heinous criminal down here. According to the overseer."

"Ah, is that so?"

Iron Mask chuckled softly and lifted his head.

Amelia sat beside the guard who was watching Iron Mask. Only two people were watching now. Excluding Amelia, just one.

"Shouldn't you be going? It's the Chosen Child's funeral, after all. Though the kid isn't actually dead."

"I've finished mourning."

"I see."

Iron Mask looked up into the air. Despite it being daytime, mysterious glowing fireflies floated in the sky.

"Those are...?"

Amelia's eyes widened. She remembered seeing those fireflies somewhere before.

Before she could recall where, a small beetle flew in through the bars and landed on Iron Mask's straitjacket.

And then.

Wuuuung...

PAAAANG!!!

With an ear-splitting rupture, the beetle exploded. The blast distorted, contracted, and expanded the space repeatedly, as if it embodied the very concept of spatial rupture.

"What...!?!"

"Ah... damn. Damn it... well, as long as I'm not dead."

Having broken free from the constraints of the prison uniform, Iron Mask stretched his body lightly. Though it was indeed Spatial Rupture, it seemed he had carefully controlled the power, as he wasn't seriously injured.

"E-Em... Em... Emergency! Emergeeency!!! The great criminal from Anatolia has escaped! We need reinforcements, now!"

The guard panicked in front of the suddenly activated rite. Iron Mask quickly tore off his straitjacket and tossed it aside, then placed his right hand on his mask.

"The source of magic that denies the gods."

With Iron Mask's short chant, his mask was engulfed in black flames and dyed in shadow. The dark shadow covering the mask soon enveloped his entire body, granting him the power of a monster, no longer human.

From the shadow at his feet, Iron Mask instantly drew a long black spear and swung it at the bars.

With three clean slashes, the prison bars were sliced like straw and scattered across the floor.

Iron Mask exited the cell and swiftly approached the guard before he could scream again, grabbed his head with his left hand, and smashed it against the wall.

BOOOOM!!

It was terrifying brute strength. With countless cracks in the wall, the guard collapsed to the floor, unconscious and unable to utter another word.

And then.

A noise several times louder than when Iron Mask smashed the guard's head into the wall erupted right behind him.

It was because the swarm of fireflies outside had simultaneously exploded, casting Spatial Rupture rites.

Just like that, a passage leading outside opened up right behind Iron Mask.

Though the passage created by the explosion looked like a hastily carved mine tunnel made with dynamite.

For Iron Mask, it was enough.

"Now! We're free!"

At Iron Mask's signal, the Heretics imprisoned inside the jail rushed out through the tunnel as if they had been waiting.

Before more guards could arrive, before they could be caught, they intended to escape.

"You... You tricked me. Weren't you supposed to escape alone!?"

"What are you talking about? I never once said I'd escape alone. I never lied."

"And saying you'd save Haru was a lie too! You just wanted to get out of this prison, didn't you!? Where on earth did you find a priest who could use such rites?"

To Amelia's barrage of questions, Iron Mask answered simply.

"That rite just now was Haru's."

"... What?"

"Haru used it. That's what I'm saying. So think about it in reverse. If Haru could use a rite, then doesn't that mean Haru isn't dead?"

"What nonsense."

"Don't worry. If it sounds like sophistry, I'll show you soon. The living Haru, with your own eyes."

With those final words, Iron Mask hurled his shadow spear at Amelia.

'To silence me... I see.'

Amelia tightly shut her eyes. But no searing pain came.

Instead.

"Guaaaagh!"

The guard who had been chasing Iron Mask and the escapees was pierced by the spear and screamed behind Amelia.

"I'm off, then."

At some point, Iron Mask had already grasped a new spear. With those words, he vanished from Amelia's sight.

The sudden explosion in the facility, the escape that took advantage of weakened security—outside, the guards who had noticed the great commotion were in a frenzy.

"The Masked Revenant has escaped! Requesting immediate backup!"

Iron Mask smirked in front of the guards surrounding him, aiming muskets and blunderbusses. Cloaked in the source of magic that denies the gods, the power of Shadow, ordinary bullets couldn't even scratch him.

"Doesn't matter if you kill him! Fire!"

Boom! Bang! BOOOM! Bang!!

Dozens of bullets poured toward Iron Mask. Behind the shadowed mask, Iron Mask smiled and swung his shadow spear once, stabbing it into the ground.

At that moment, from the shadows cast beneath the guards, weapons of every color burst forth and pierced them all at once. Longswords, broadswords, and various types of spears and polearms.

"Guaaaargh!!!"

"Sorry, nothing personal."

Retrieving the weapons of shadow, Iron Mask leapt high onto the roof of a nearby building, then quickly darted between rooftops to shake off the guards' pursuit.

In his hand was a guard's uniform, though no one knew when he had snatched it.

When using the power of the shadow monster, Shadow, one can store various objects within the shadows. When he killed the guards just now with weapons drawn from the shadow, he had secretly stashed one of the corpses inside it.

'Just wait for me, Haru. I'm coming to save you.'

Before another guard could give chase, Iron Mask swiftly changed into the guard's uniform, pulled the hood down as deep as possible to hide his noticeable mask, and began his operation in earnest.