Chapter 64: Black Fangs VS Holy Church (3)
Chapter 64: Black Fangs VS Holy Church (3)
Lucy stared at the video unfolding before her with a grave expression.
As usual, she was handling patrol duties, covering for her senior as well. But then, something unexpected caught her eye—a dark ripple suddenly appeared by the roadside.
The moment she touched it, the video started playing.
Normally, the correct response in such a situation would be to quickly report the anomaly. But that wasn’t an option this time.
The video showed someone who appeared to be the leader of Black Fangs.
Although the figure’s face was blurred, making it hard to tell if it was truly the leader, the method was all too familiar. It was a tactic often used by the Black Fangs’ leader.
Most likely... it was the real deal.
Lucy had been on the lookout for clues about Black Fangs, and now she found herself staring at one.
She considered herself lucky—until...Her face hardened.
It was only natural.
What the video revealed was the ugly truth about the Holy Church.
All sorts of horrific scenes flashed before Lucy’s eyes, each one more terrible than the last. A cold sweat ran down her back.
She had a bad feeling—a very bad feeling.
“...Idiot. If you like it so much, why don’t you go do it yourself?”
Her senior’s words echoed in her mind.
Their job was to guide those in need to the Holy Church. But every time Lucy saw her seniors slacking off, not fulfilling their duties, she had questioned them, only to receive the same dismissive response.
They abused their authority as knights, exploiting the very citizens they were supposed to protect.
They had thrown away all sense of honor as knights, and as people.
She used to think that’s why they hated the important task of rescuing children. But what if... what if that wasn’t the reason?
What if the Black Fangs leader was telling the truth? What was the Holy Church doing with those children?
A group so obsessed with money, a group that didn’t care if people died for it—why would they bother saving children?
What exactly were the children being “used” for?
Her head spun.
The image of her guiding the siblings to the Holy Church, assuring them that she just wanted to help, played in her mind.
She could still see the smiling face of the child, waving cheerfully as they promised to meet again later.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shake the dark thoughts swirling in her mind.
There was only one thing she could do now.
She had to find out the truth.
No matter what it took.
Lucy quickened her pace, praying that all of this was just her overactive imagination.
*****
Caron did his best to calm himself and grasp the situation.
‘What impact will that video have?’
It would be huge.
Unignorable.
The video was highly polished, with a structure that made it easy for anyone to understand the situation.
If it spread across the entire empire—or even beyond to other countries—the damage would be astronomical.
The trust the Holy Church had built up over the years would crumble in an instant.
No matter how well they handled the situation, they could only hope to mitigate the damage.
Preventing the loss of trust was impossible.
...But.
There was a more pressing issue.
‘How much does the leader of Black Fangs know?’
Certainly, that video was significant. It had the potential to bring down everything the Holy Church had built over the years.
But even so, compared to what truly mattered, that video was nothing more than a small, trivial concern.
‘If this is all the leader knows, we might be lucky... But is that really the case?’
The video did indeed expose the reality of the Holy Church. It was clear that Black Fangs had been carefully observing the Holy Church, planning this attack for a long time.
But was this really everything they had uncovered?
Could it be that the Black Fangs’ knowledge of the Holy Church’s secrets was limited to just what was shown in the video?
Caron couldn’t bring himself to believe that.
If the corruption shown in the video was all there was, it could be dismissed as the moral failure of a few clergy members.
But what if Black Fangs was holding something even more damning?
‘The Holy Grail’s main ingredient, the corpse of the former hero, the whereabouts of his daughter…’
If even one of those secrets were exposed, it would be the end.
This was not just about the Holy Church losing the trust it had built. As the leader of Black Fangs arrogantly proclaimed, the Holy Church would be shattered into pieces.
A decision had to be made.
Before Black Fangs could spew more nonsense, before they could prepare their next move, they needed to be crushed.
“C-Cardinal…”
A subordinate nervously watched Caron, shifting uneasily.
It was only natural. After all, playing such a video in a public place… it was bound to unsettle everyone.
If they weren’t anxious, that would have been more surprising.
Caron, wearing a gentle smile, finally spoke.
“Do not waver. No one knows our sincerity better than ourselves.”
On the surface, it sounded like a kind, comforting statement. But the faces of those around him were pale.
It was only natural.
That smile was a clear sign of his fury.
Those who appeared in the video were now apostates. No matter how much they cried out, claiming everyone was doing it, that they were just unlucky, begging for their lives—it wouldn’t matter.
Not only would they be executed, but their entire families would be wiped out, their lineage eradicated.
And, of course, torture would come first.
‘Their faces were blurry, so it’s hard to identify them…’
But from Caron’s perspective, it didn’t really matter if he couldn’t identify the exact individuals.
Anyone would do.
All he needed was to make an example of them.
By publicly punishing those who had failed and gotten caught, he would ensure that such a thing would never happen again.
As long as the punishment was brutal enough to make everyone fear becoming like them, it didn’t matter who was executed.
To Caron, every person was merely a tool to be used. As long as efficiency improved, he didn’t care about the lives of individual tools.
Even as he thought this, Caron maintained his gentle smile and spoke once more.
“Truly deplorable. What a cunning trick it is, to whisper such venomous words into the ears of devout believers.”
This video would be dismissed as a deceitful ploy by that wretched demon, the leader of Black Fangs.
The narrative would be that the demon fabricated all sorts of evidence to shake the faith of the devout.
Caron intended to use every ounce of the Holy Church’s power to control public opinion and prevent the spread of the video.
Several of his subordinates, having understood the hidden orders within Caron’s words, hurriedly moved into action.
While Caron disliked entrusting such a critical task to subordinates, this time, it couldn’t be helped.
There were more urgent matters at hand than simply controlling the narrative.
“The leader of this heretical sect tempts the innocent with lies, and surely, the Lord is grieved by this.”
“Y-Yes, of course!”
The remaining people quickly agreed with Caron, desperate to appease him. Their eagerness to win his favor was almost laughable.
Watching them, Caron maintained his facade with a polite smile as he continued to speak.
“As someone who has vowed to devote his life to the Lord, I find this utterly shameful.”
Those were just some empty words.
Caron had no intention of following the will of any god.
In truth, he didn’t even revere the divine.
His rise to this position wasn’t because he worshiped more devoutly than others but because he used the concept of faith more skillfully than anyone else.
Instead of fostering genuine faith and seeking divine approval, it was more efficient to turn children into machines that could do nothing but recite prayers.
There were plenty of priests capable of healing wounds. But Caron’s method was far more efficient: mutilate the children, cut into their bodies, extract what was inside, and force them to sing praises through endless torture.
Repeat it enough times, and it would yield a purer, more potent form of divine power.
Of course, there was the downside of creating something “impure” in the process, but even with that in mind, his method was undeniably efficient.
“We cannot continue to allow such behavior,” Caron said.
All eyes were on him.
With a soft smile and a gentle tone, he spoke again, “I will personally purify that vile demon’s mind.”
The expressions of those present immediately stiffened. It was only natural.
Not a single person there misunderstood the true intent behind Caron’s words.
Everyone sprang into action, preparing for what was to come.
This was why the Holy Church had maintained its power for so long—by performing the ritual that invades another’s mind.
As they hurried to prepare, Caron smiled. But this time, it was a genuine smile, one of malice and cruelty.
‘...Black Fangs.’
No doubt, they felt like they had the world in their grasp, smugly believing everything was within their control.
But soon, they would learn the truth.
There are some enemies in this world you should never, ever provoke.
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