NOVEL NEXT Chapter 86: I Was Locked Up in a Strange Place
The capital was already in sight.
「H-Huge…」
I unintentionally got overwhelmed by its majesty.
The reason for this was the giant tower erected in the middle of the capital.
Its solemn appearance alone was enough to convince me that it was a religious institution.
In short, it was some sort of temple.
「As expected of the biggest religion. Even the money collected from the believers is unfathomable.」
「Hey, stop saying something that seems like you're mocking us.」
When I said what I thought, it seemed the female Holy Knight (aka believer of said biggest religion) heard that and glared at me.
We entered the city while being escorted by the Holy Knights.
It was a lively city.
Although it looked like a solemn city from the outside, the inside was bustling with energy like a normal city because of the number of people who came for their pilgrimages.
But the atmosphere started to change the closer we were to the center of the city.
It suddenly turned really quiet with barely any conversation around us.
And then, we finally arrived at the base of the giant tower in the center of the city.
It really was a temple as the believers kept going into the tower.
On the other hand, we entered from a different place. The staff entrance was separated from the visitor entrance.
We continued to the tower after we entered the staff area.
And just when I thought we were going to climb up the tower, it turned out we were heading toward the basement instead.
The place we arrived at was a huge basement.
Many priests were lining up in this basement, chanting some sort of spell.
A tall and muscular man came out from the center.
I was left in awe since he had the same majestic air as that Hero King.
A single glance at his vestment was enough to convince me that he was a bigshot amongst bigshots.
The vice-commander, an old man, then knelt in front of that man.
「We bring the said No Life King, Your Eminence Pope.」
「Thanks for the hard work, Daruel.」
Turned out he was the top dog of this country.
His sharp, falcon-like eyes were looking at me.
But he didn't say anything, just gesturing as if telling me to come to him.
「The magic circle…」
The place he pointed at was a huge magic circle.
It seemed I had to stand in the center of this place.
…Finally.
I was really surprised since my heart that had already stopped beating skipped a beat.
Finally, after all that happened, I could finally die.
Moreover, it was also mixed with anxiety about whether I could really be purified.
When I turned around after I stood in the center of the magic circle, my line of sight intersected with that of the female Holy Knight.
For some reason, she didn't say anything and only looked at me with a complicated look on her face.
…I wonder what she really felt right now?
At that moment, the pope raised his right hand.
「Everything has been prepared. Invoke the magic.」
The next moment, the priests' chant became even louder.
The magic circle started to cast a blinding light.
…Eh?
Nothing… happened to me?
The magic circle just shone. Nothing happened to my body.
When the light subsided, I stood in that place, practically unscathed.
Are they… failed again?
「?!」
I turned around the moment I felt an unpleasant sensation from behind.
Then, I saw a giant gate that didn't exist before right behind me.
It was just a rustic white gate without any decoration. The most unusual thing about that gate was its size and the fact that it floated in the air.
At that moment, countless chains came out from the gate and restricted my body.
None of my body parts was spared from its binding, basically from head to toes.
「―Open, the gate of the holy dimension prison.」
The moment the pope said so, the gate slowly opened up.
「?!」
And I got pulled in by the chains.
And just like that, I got pulled toward the gate.
「W-What… kind of place is this?」
The place where I arrived was a pure white space.
The gate was shut as I was standing dumbfoundedly, looking at the seemingly endless, white space.
And then, it vanished as if it never existed from the very beginning.
「…What's the meaning of this?」
◇◇◇
===A Certain Female Holy Knight===
「W-WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS, YOUR EMINENCE?!」
The No Life King vanished into that mysterious gate.
Lumile, who felt an ominous premonition upon seeing that gate, quickly approached the pope.
「It's called a holy dimension prison, a sacred place to imprison wicked beings. It's located in the crevice between dimensions. There's no way out of that place, even if the other party is the No Life King.」
The pope replied coldly to Lumile.
「I-It's not purification?!」
「If even the Divine Sword carried by Commander Celestia failed to purify him, it's pretty much impossible to purify the No Life King by any means. 」
「…N-No way!」
In short, this was the pope's plan from the very beginning.
Seeing the dejected Lumile, the pope opened his mouth.
「It was for the greater good, Holy Knight Lumile. The appearance of the No Life King has brought unprecedented chaos and panic into this world. But what you did saved countless lives.」
And praised her as he stood.
Yet Lumile did nothing but stand dumbfoundedly in place.
「That fella… He never harmed humans… All he wanted was to be purified… And yet, we…」
Lumile knew this very well after staying by the undead’s side for so long.
Even the reason for him to come to the Holy Land was to be purified.
And yet, all he got was cruel treatment, namely an eternal imprisonment in a place that not even him could get out from.
「…Sorry… If only, I… didn't bring you to this country…」