"Such foolishness…"
Bishop Karl looked at the pitiful sight before him—a grotesque mess that didn't need to happen if only certain people knew their place and remained there.
By 'certain people' he meant the Heresy Cultists, and by 'their place' he meant the very bottom of the barrel… a place where even filth wouldn't call home. This was a Cult whose members were regarded as heathens by fellow heathens, and their name even showed how depraved they were in their ideology and practice.
Even then—
"None of this brings me any pleasure." As his gaze rested on the ten corpses that littered the ground before him—the pool of dark red nearly reaching his glistening sandals and walking stick—he felt nothing.
The man felt no joy nor sorrow.
He certainly didn't feel any regret either: they deserved this end.
"Now do you recognize your foolishness… Heretic Witch?" He cast his sights even further from the pile of dead bodies and calmly placed it on the woman who was now barely standing in his presence.
Her light brown hair was now disheveled, and her face appeared pale clearly due to sheer exhaustion. She swayed a little, trying to find her balance despite her eyes lacking proper focus.
"Haa… haaa…"
As her heavy breathing stained the otherwise silent night, interrupting the gloating of the Bishop who remained still where he stood, she clenched her teeth and hardened her fist.
She was yet to lose her resolve… even amidst such an obvious fate.
"Tsk tsk… I expected more from you, you know? Even though I knew you would be weaker than me, I expected you to at least be sensible… smarter." Bishop Karl's voice echoed calmly once again.
Lili said nothing, only responding with the deepest glare her heavy eyes could make.
"Still as feisty as I remember you." He sighed, shaking his head. "However, unlike the last time… when I was just a mere Deacon, there is no need for me to be so concerned with the false bravado you are putting up."
"...."
"In the spirit of fairness, and out of the mercy that our glorious God has bestowed upon us the Cathars, I will ask you for the final time…" The Bishop stretched out one of his hands, the other still tightly clinging to his walking stick.
"... Join us, Lili."
Her frown only deepened as she heard those words.
"I know you probably bear some resentment towards me for killing these men, but those on your side have killed hundreds of ours. The scales don't match, but I'm willing to overlook all of that if you just take my hand."
She still said nothing, simply breathing heavily as her eyes fell to the fallen Cult Members who gave up their lives to protect her while she was preparing the most potent Spell she could have possibly cast at the time.
Unfortunately, they died for nothing… and the Spell failed.
"The Cathars will even leave the Heresy Cult be—whatever is left of it, anyway—and we will even provide food and essential resources for the survival of your remaining members, since I know they're like family to you." He was making all of these exceptions and promises to Lili because that was just how badly he wanted the Heretic Witch on his side.
That was how valuable he considered her to be.
"I'll even spare that sniveling rat that's hiding in that corner over there, even though he disrespected the Cathars in our sanctuary and was involved in the death of hundreds of our members." Bishop Karl's voice was a little impatient now, as he had already run out of the compromises he could make.
This was the best he could do for a sinner like Lili.
"So… what do you say?"
His hand was still outstretched, and he even gave a charming smile as he stared straight into the Witch's ruby eyes. His dark gray hair fluttered with the wind as he stood still, expectant of a favorable answer.
For a few seconds, there was sheer silence between the two.
But, after swallowing enough large gulps of air and stabilizing her posture to a considerable extent, Lili made a rueful smile to the Bishop and sneered with passion.
"Never!"
"I see. Such a shame…" The Bishop spoke disconcertedly, obviously disappointed by the answer he ended up receiving.
He had expected Lili to be more logical than this, considering her great intelligence and high affinity for Spells. However, it seemed the religious nonsense of the Heresy Cult had turned her into a fanatic beyond saving.
It was a shame too, as he was actually willing to follow through with all his promises.
"Looks like this is it…"
"Har—"
~PEW!~
Before Lili could properly chant her Spell—something she should have already known was useless before him—Bishop Karl's walking stick shot a bright beam of light that cleanly passed through her chest.
"Guh!" She instantly flew back, her dainty body slamming against the hard ground. Not long after, crimson liquid oozed from the gaping wound and began to spread all around her limp, lifeless body.
The Bishop saw all of this and sighed, walking towards her body in gentle strides.
His body floated in the air, allowing him to easily cross the pile of corpses that stood between himself and her corpse. After a few seconds, Karl found himself staring straight into Lili's gaping eyes.
'It seems the Evil God of this world blinded her eyes from seeing the light, until the very end…' He closed his eyes with slight regret, thinking about just how pitiful the woman he highly respected had turned out.
Dirty, pathetic… and most of all… weak.
'Spells are only as effective as the materials used as catalysts. It is an equivalent exchange.'
A Witch of Lili's caliber would only be wasted on the Heresy Cult, which didn't have sufficient resources to survive, not to mention indulging in Spells. If she came to the Cathars, he would have personally seen to it that she got all the resources she needed to use the more advanced kinds of Spells.
'Such a waste…' He shook his head.
After a few seconds of looking at the Witch's dead body, he looked in the direction of the last person around. The young man was hiding behind the building, cowering like a sniveling rat, so he had been largely ignored.
… Until now.
"Step out." Bishop Karl said calmly. "I know you're there."
"...."
No response came.
This instantly annoyed the Bishop, causing him to send another beam straight towards the ground right next to the building where the young man was hiding behind.
"I won't miss again…"
This time, there was no delayed response at all.
Luca jumped out of his hiding place, his face doused in dread and his trembling body frightened beyond description. His eyes screamed that he didn't want to die, and even as he walked towards the Bishop, he kept looking at the many dead bodies around.
Was he going to be next?
"P-please spare my life!" He shamelessly screamed out, nearly buckling his knees, but bowing his head in sheer desperation.
As his motto was: he would do anything to survive!
"Oh? You're asking for a pardon after what you did? Do you really think I would accept that?"
Luca knew this was probably going to be the response of the Bishop, but he had nothing more to say or offer. All he could do was shamelessly plead to be spared.
'Ahh… is this really how I'm going to die?' He nearly burst out crying. 'It hasn't even been two weeks since I was spared by Lord Mors.'
What would happen to him now? For some reason, it was all a blurry mess that he couldn't properly think about.
All he could do was keep his head bowed and hope his demise would be quick.
"I suppose I could spare your life if you told me everything about the Heresy Cult, including where the rest of your members are. You'll have to take me around your premises, particularly Lili's quarters… where I'm sure she has some of her Grimoires hidden…" As the Bishop said all of these things, Luca's eyes broadened in pleasant surprise.
So there really was a chance at being spared!
"... And most importantly, you will have to denounce your evil ways and pledge your full faith to the God of the Cathars."
"...."
"So… what will it be?"
Luca was silent as he heard those words and digested their implications.
Here was a rope that was thrown at him—one he wouldn't have hesitated to take if it was him in the past—but for some reason, he wasn't jumping at it.
Why?
"Ahh…" Luca already knew why, and it honestly made him want to cry and laugh at the same time.
Even though he already knew the fate that awaited him if he didn't accept the conditions of the man before him, he found himself raising his head and making the same rueful smile that he saw on Lili's face before she was killed.
He also remembered her last words and followed in his Cult Leader's footsteps.
"Never!"
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[A/N]
I really love this moment! It's like a definining point for Luca, and also a good representation of the Heresy Cult as a whole.
I hope you enjoyed this… and thanks for reading!