Isabel glanced at Leon next to her. Right now, the two of them were amongst the knights marching in front of the Abminster Monastery. And they both wore the same uniform as the knights.
"What is Duke Greyson planning? When he asked me to go look for Iris…. I didn't expect that we would be amongst the army of knights that Duke Albert was leading. What's more... they seem to be getting ready to attack the Abminster Monastery?"
As if noticing the doubt on Isabel's face, Leon leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Duke Albert intends to destroy the church of St. Varos. When it all starts, you and I will be moving apart from Duke Albert's mission… to locate Iris. After finding her, we have to get Iris out of here secretly."
Isabel gave Leon a glance.
"Is that an order from Duke Albert?"
Leon smiled then looked away from Isabel without answering her question.
There was an uproar ahead. It seems that Archpriest Jerome has arrived.
"Duke Albert, are you trying to go against the will of God and St. Varos by forcing your way into this HOLY PLACE?!"
Duke Albert who was standing at the forefront of the troops while riding his horse, "His Holiness… no…. I think the call is no longer valid. You are just a HERETIC. Not worth it to stand there. Today I come to punish you in the name of GOD and HIS JUSTICE."
Archpriest Jerome's eyes widened angrily, "THIS IS MADNESS. WHAT EVIDENCE DO YOU HAVE FOR ACCUSING ME?! MAY GOD FORGIVE YOUR ACTIONS!!!"
Duke Albert reached into his clothes and took out a book with a maroon cover with a golden emblem in the center. He then raised it high and then showed it off towards his knights.
"THIS IS THE PROOF! IT'S WRITTEN HERE THAT ST. VAROS PERFORMED THE AWFUL MURDER OF A CHILD WITH HIS BLACK MAGIC!"
Duke Albert pointed towards Archpriest Jerome.
"Furthermore, HE ALSO CONNECT WITH THE FREE INSURGENT TO AGAINST OUR KING! THIS PROVES THAT THE CHURCH OF ST. VAROS IS JUST A GROUP OF CRIMINALS NOT SERVANTS OF GOD AS THEY SAY!! AND TODAY WE WILL JUDGE THEM!!"
The knights who heard Duke Albert's speech cheered.
Archpriest Jerome stared in disbelief at what Duke Albert was holding.
"TH-THAT BOOK IS FAKE! ALTHOUGH THE BOOK HAS AN EMBLEM WHICH IS THE SYMBOL OF ST. VAROS- "
"YOU HEAR THAT?!! HE RECOGNIZED THAT IT WAS THE EMBLEM OF ST. VAROS!! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR…. CHARGE!!!"
Without giving Archpriest Jerome the opportunity to speak further, Duke Albert raised his sword and gave the order to attack.
Hearing the signal, the knights rushed forward to break through the temple knights standing guard at the entrance.
"His Holiness, run away and save yourself while you can. We will try to hold them back!" shouted one of the temple knights.
Archpriest Jerome with the help of the priests retreated inside.
Isabel and Leon who were in the middle of the knights followed the flow of the army that were rushing in.
======
Iris opened her eyes slowly. Her head felt dizzy. Slowly she wakes up….
Iris was in a strange place…. lying on a white tile floor that felt cold. Not only that, the place was also filled with fog. Her body felt shivering. When she tried to pull her coat, Iris realized that she was not wearing it. She was only wearing a short white dress instead of her winter clothes and barefoot.
"W-What happened….? Am… am I dreaming?"
Iris called out for Joshua. Her voice echoed. But there was no other sound besides her own.
She got up and tried to walk slowly aimlessly.
No matter how long it took or how far, Iris kept going.
Her efforts were not in vain. From a distance she saw a shadow through the fog.
Iris immediately sped up her way until she came to a high stone wall. She looked left and right looking for the shadow of the person he saw.
Surprise appeared on Iris' face when she realized what she saw.
On the stone wall appears a large painting with Joshua in it. Part of his body looked as if he had stepped out of a painting and around his body there were tendrils that entwined his body and there were many scary hands that were tearing his body. From the chest down his body had become a stone statue. Only a little bit of his human body remained.
"Joshua…."
Iris approached him and tried to wake him up. But Joshua's eyes were closed and just silent. But Iris could see the look of suffering on Joshua's face.
Iris tried her best to pull Joshua out of the painting.
"Kya!"
Suddenly the tendrils that wrapped around Joshua tightened even more and even moved to hurt Iris' hand so that she would let go of her hold.
Some blood dripped from Iris' hands.
"I-I must help Joshua…. "
A greenish glow suddenly flashed from Iris' injured hand.
"Maybe this could…."
Iris pointed her hands together. Her white magic made the ropes that bind Joshua weaken. When she was about to get closer to dispel all the tendrils…. a black shadow suddenly appeared from behind Joshua's body.
Quickly the black shadow covered Iris's hands and extinguished the light. Iris tried to free her hand but the black shadow gripped her hand firmly.
"….wHaaaT...aREeee...Youuuuu....dOInGgggg…..
... heEEE...Issss…..aLReeeeAdyyyy…..mINEeee..."
Iris was shocked to hear that. She didn't expect that the black shadow would let out such a terrible whispering sound.
Iris stammered, "I-I want to help him. Please…. free him. H-he is a very… precious person to me."
"….iNTe…..rESSSTinGG...yOuuuu…..WannTtttt….Himmmm….eVEENnnn….ThOuGHH…..hEEE...Issss….Nottttt....tAStYYY"
"W-What does that mean???"
"….rOTTeNNN….mEaTTT….cORPseEee....YOuuu….mOREeee….fREshhhh…..I….Likkkeee….YouRRR..…..BodYyyy…."
"Y-You like m-me? T-Then… how about you release him in exchange… you can have me…."
"….cANnnn….NoooT…."
"Wh-why? Didn't you say you like my body?"
"bEeecaUsee….Iiii….cANnnn….nOTtt….stAyyyy…. Innn…tHEReeee…..."
"I-I don't understand what you mean….c-could you explain?"
"..."
"Please…. isn't there anything you can do?"
"..."
The black shadow answered nothing. Just silent. Iris started to cry. Desperation began to eat away at her.
"…aAhH…maybe…. cANN….bUttt…Neee-….Ddddd….tIIIMMmmmme...."
Iris didn't have time to understand the black shadow's words. Suddenly, new tendrils appeared from behind the wall. This time they circled around Iris. Slowly they crawled up Iris' body from her legs and arms. They carried Iris' body into the wall beside Joshua. Iris vaguely saw that the parts of Joshua's body that had become statues were slowly returning to normal.
"Thank goodness, Joshua…."
After saying that, Iris slowly lost her consciousness.
"hEhEEhhE... hEhEEhhE... hEhEEhhE... hEhEEhhE... hEhEEhhE... hEhEEhhE... hEhEEhhE..."
There was an echo of the black shadow's laughter and all was dark to Iris.