"Hell... this is hell descending! Oh, great Lord, please save your faithful..."
As the scene that seemed like doomsday itself unfolded, chaos engulfed the entire harbour town. The hastily organized militia was powerless to maintain order, and throughout the streets and alleys, one could see frantic figures running.
The roaring flames that had erupted from the docks continued to expand in the direction of the wind as if they aimed to engulf the entire harbour town.
"Get the things causing the fire moved away, create a large enough open area! Where is the fire brigade? Get moving!" Captain Teris, the temporary leader of the guards, shouted desperately, attempting to use the isolation spell taught by Priest Aydan to block the spreading fire.
Unfortunately, the morale of the entire guard was on the brink of collapse. Many people had abandoned their weapons and were running away from the harbour town as if in a frenzy, completely ignoring his orders.
Seeing the advancing tongues of fire, Teris was already in despair.
It was at that very moment that a thunderous voice resounded in his ears.
Hail Aila—[The Kingdom descends]
At this moment, the intensely chaotic harbour town seemed to freeze in time. Everyone who had been frantically fleeing came to a halt, almost instinctively stopping in their tracks, looking up at the night sky.
The dust cloud that had shrouded the city's sky was torn apart by the influence of some powerful force. Subsequently, a dazzling white radiance descended from the heavens, bathing every corner of the harbour town.
Under the cleansing light, everyone felt a surge of renewed vitality, and the despair and fear in their hearts quickly receded.
A man who had his leg crushed by falling debris during the disaster astonishingly found that his broken leg had miraculously healed. His face displayed an overwhelming fervour of devotion.
The blazing flames, referred to as the hellfire, the embodiment of the devil, which had covered half the city, rapidly extinguished and vanished without a trace under this power.
Following that, the pure and untarnished white radiance gradually coalesced into the ethereal figure of a holy and noble goddess. She gazed down upon the people, her eyes sparkling with stars, exuding an air of mystery and majesty.
"Oh, Lord, you have not forsaken your most devout followers!"
"The devil... the devil is dead... Oh, great Lord of the Stars, Aila, we thank you for your redemption..."
"Oh, Lord, I must repent for my sins..."
Thousands of townsfolk in the harbour town knelt down one after another, continuously praying and expressing their gratitude for the grace of the Lord. Many of them passionately kissed the ground, demonstrating their piety.
Among all the people present, the only one who managed to retain some sense of reason was Teris.
After being bathed in the white light, he, too, felt a fervent devotion welling up within him. However, he did not kneel down on the spot; it was as though some mystical force had prevented him from doing so.
Unbeknownst to him, a middle-aged man wearing a red and gold robe, with an iron mask, had appeared by his side.
"Archbishop Edwin!" Teris immediately recognized the newcomer's identity from his attire and respectfully saluted.
"Where is Anluke? Why has the harbour town turned into such a state?" Edwin glanced at the townsfolk who were devoutly praying and asked directly. "If I'm not mistaken, the witch-hunting ritual was supposed to begin tomorrow at noon."
Two days ago, the Holy See had received a plea for help from Anluke, the Archbishop of Nordland. Leading an elite guard, he had almost been wiped out while attempting to capture several witches. Even the use of divine magic hadn't allowed him to apprehend any of the witches.
According to the Inquisition's procedures, even the most troublesome witches weren't worth his personal intervention. However, Anluke had specifically mentioned in his letter that the witch in question was very young and could pose a future threat to the Church.
What was even more terrifying was that this witch had the ability to wield a unique hellfire. If it spread, it could likely consume an entire town in a short time, and Anluke had no means to counter it.
Considering this, to ensure that nothing went wrong, he had decided to personally visit the harbour town. Along the way, he had sensed the fluctuation caused by the eruption of divine power and had rushed here as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, he was still a step too late.
"The situation is as follows, Archbishop Edwin. Earlier tonight, two devil's disciples infiltrated the harbour town and set fire to the granary..." Teris recounted the events concisely.
Upon hearing that the one responsible for destroying the harbour docks was the very witch he was pursuing, Edwin's expression grew solemn.
The fact that a powerful wizard had been concealing his abilities, lurking within the borders of Nordland, implied that he was plotting some conspiracy against the Empire and the Church.
With this in mind, Edwin used the divine projection through his sight to observe a sailing warship entering the fog from afar. After a rough estimation of the distance, he quickly abandoned the idea of taking action. Even with his most potent divine magic, it was not enough to threaten a powerful wizard from such a distance.
"You've done well this time, at least it hasn't caused the Empire greater losses."
To Edwin, revealing a deeply hidden high wizard at the cost of half of the harbour town was a reason for celebration.
Previously, he had considered Anluke a useless leader, being brought into such a dire situation by a formal wizard. He had intended to relieve Anluke of his position as Archbishop after this incident. However, now it seemed like an unjust accusation. Anluke's failure was solely due to the overwhelming strength of the enemy.
Moreover, the casualties among the harbour town's residents were much lower than he had expected. Edwin had anticipated that in a disaster of this magnitude, at least over half of the tens of thousands of townspeople would have been killed or injured. However, from the number of spirits collected within the sanctuary, less than five thousand people had died, including three thousand Black Armor Guards.
This was nothing short of a miracle.
"This was all Priest Aydan's instructions," Teris said with no intention of taking credit, his face bearing a hint of resentment. "But Priest Aydan has already followed Archbishop Anluke into the harbour, and now, I'm afraid..."
"What a pity," Edwin lamented. Being able to swiftly quell the chaos in the harbour town and organize the militia guards to evacuate the townsfolk was a rare talent for command.
"Has Anluke gathered any information about that high wizard in these past few days?" Edwin inquired once more.
Teris hesitated for a moment. These were not things that he, as the captain of the guard, could access. Thankfully, the lord of the harbor town, Merk, had arrived at this moment. Upon learning of Archbishop Edwin's request, he promptly retrieved the information that Anluke had previously handed over.
However, after skimming through the parchment scroll for a few moments, Edwin's expression quickly hardened.
Karl... the illegitimate son of Viscount Stedlan of the Empire, only seventeen years old, went missing six months ago, around the same time that the captured wizard, Kora, arrived in Stedlan territory. It was speculated that this individual named Karl might be one of Kora's apprentices.
"Who collected this nonsense of information?" Edwin scolded angrily.
This was utter nonsense. An apprentice, not even in the service of a formal wizard for more than half a year, using magic capable of destroying half of a harbour town? The intelligence personnel of Nordland territory must have gone mad...
The lord of the harbour town quivered and did not dare to reply.
Edwin paid no further attention to Merk but retrieved a golden tome from his waist and flipped to the most recent page. Using his finger as a pen, he inscribed the new information.
[
Name: Karl (Unconfirmed Real Name)
Highly Dangerous (High Wizard)
Crimes: Killing Archbishop Anluke, annihilating three thousand Elite Guards, destroying half of the harbour town.
Reward: 50,000 Sekas gold coins.]