The sound of someone praying echoed in the empty prison.
Although the stone floor felt the winter cold, the man knelt reverently.
Bishop Pedro chanted a prayer as he looked through a small window in the prison.
"…Dragulia was helping and instigating this."
Gunther, who was observing the scene outside the window, frowned at Pedro's last response.
Perhaps they didn't believe everything he said, but Monsignor Pedro was also deeply connected to the current situation.
"Is there any reason for someone bound by an oath to do something like this?"
"I believe it's now my turn to ask a question."
Pedro, who had finished praying, rose slowly.
A Vatican bishop who returned to Moshiam to finish an unfinished job.
A small ray of morning light floated behind his tall and imposing figure.
"Did you happen to tell the boy from Bayezid?"
"What do you mean?"
"The majestic will of God. The sword of the faithful that defeats the devil."
Pedro's eyes were sharp as he stood in front of the bars.
Pedro and Gunther decided to exchange questions and answers instead of foolish attempts like interrogations or torture.
Pedro, who had honestly answered Gunther's question, now posed the question he had promised.
"Now, I ask if the Northern Orthodox Church taught a man named Vlad the essence of the Trinity."
"…"
The dark dawn from yesterday.
There was a majestic divine will rising from the fog-filled city.
Indeed, it was a column of light so straight and tall that even Pedro, who prepared the magic, was surprised.
"I should have shared. Is breaking away from the central headquarters and acting as if they were the owners just a whim of the nobility?"
That's why Pedro has no choice but to suspect.
Because the sword that Vlad showed yesterday was too grand to have been achieved by the improvisation of a single knight.
The essence of unity, which cannot be achieved without learning, was clearly on the tip of the young man's sword.
"If you wanted to sell something, you should have sold indulgences. If you forsake the church's essence in that way..."
"We never taught him."
"…You never taught him?"
But his anger was misdirected.
As Gunther said, the Northern Orthodox Church has never taught any essence to outsiders.
"Then, by any chance, is it Andreas?"
"Bishop Andreas is not an exorcist. It's impossible for you to know our methods."
There was an outcome, but there was no cause.
Pedro clearly witnessed the merging of worlds at the tip of Vlad's sword, yet it is said that no one taught him.
So, who guided the boy from Bayezid along the way?
'Does this make sense?'
The essence of the Trinity can only be used if there is an authentic source.
For the essence to stand alone, there had to be a ground that sustains all worlds.
'It's a skill that cannot be used if there's no one to properly support it...'
Pedro's divinity, Nibelun's mystery, Vlad's Aura.
And the lowest source backing them.
Pedro had no idea what kind of world lay beneath.
However, one thing is certain: the world of Aesongi originated from someone who had much more knowledge than expected.
Otherwise, there would be no way for the light Vlad wielded yesterday to cut down the wicked Upside-down Sky Tree.
***
The room was filled with the warmth of the fireplace, but Jean's lips were still blue as he lay in bed.
Vlad couldn't relax his stern expression as he listened to Jean's increasingly shallow breathing and watched his lips turn blue.
"About three days left?"
"Maybe. Right now, the leader is doing everything he can to find a way."
It was said that children infected with the curse displayed common symptoms and died.
Deep sleep, similar dreams, and a progressively lower body temperature.
The children, who slept fitfully when the sun rose and woke up only when it set, trembling with chills, said they couldn't hold on for a week.
And today was the fourth day since Jean fell under the curse.
"He said please take care of him."
Vlad felt depressed as he recalled Andreas saying he would take good care of the young deacon.
Then he should have somehow killed the cursed tree.
If he had done that, Jean wouldn't have fallen asleep again.
"…"
Justia looked worriedly at Vlad, who didn't leave Jean's side.
Vlad clearly blamed himself for exerting himself despite needing rest.
"Don't blame yourself too much. No one could have handled it as well as Lord Vlad if they faced that situation for the first time."
Nibelun, standing awkwardly by the door, nodded as if agreeing with Justia's words, but Vlad, who was actually involved, just looked down at Jean with his head bowed without responding.
"Are you busy?"
"Hey!"
At that moment, Gunther's voice suddenly echoed in the silent room.
The eyes of the three were focused on his presence, which not even Nibelun, standing in the doorway, could sense.
"No."
"Then, can I talk to you two for a moment?"
His well-combed but slightly tousled hair gave a hint of Gunther's concerns.
However, Vlad's bloodshot, red eyes also elicited pity, so the two, who shared the same worries, didn't hesitate to speak of it.
"Let me apologize first. The reason we tried to forcibly retrieve Jean's body was because we believed we could break the curse with our own strength."
Vlad and Gunther, stepping out into the hallway, exchanged wary looks.
Though their first encounter was a bit different, now the two had to solve the same problem.
"I admit my shortcomings. It turned out to be bigger than I expected."
"I understand."
"Alright. Can we say that the issue between us ends here?"
"Because I have more urgent matters."
If you were in a position like Gunther's, there would be no need to explain the situation to Vlad, who was just a knight.
However, Vlad of Soara was the one who cut down the Qliphoth tree, a symbol of the inverted sky, so this was also an act of respect towards Gunther's way.
"The situation is more serious than I thought. The city will be sealed off soon. I plan to issue an evacuation order and clear out this area."
"What about Jean?"
"That's the problem."
There was no doubt that the Qliphoth tree was the cause of the current illness not only in Moshiam but also in the Barony of Utman.
Though what they were trying to protect was slightly different, Gunther and Vlad agreed that the cursed tree had to be killed.
"The hole through which the tree escaped has already become a space beyond the reach of God's will. It means you can't physically touch it."
The hole in the cemetery investigated by the Holy Knights was like a bottomless abyss.
It looks like an entrance, but it turns out to be a trick.
You'll never reach the Qliphoth tree through that hole, which is as intangible as the faint mist surrounding the city.
"And so? Is there no solution, Captain?"
"It's not that there's no way."
With those words, Gunther began to scrutinize Vlad closely.
Vlad was taken aback by the look in his eyes as if it were something new.
"How old are you this year?"
"Why suddenly..."
"It's important, so answer quickly."
The question was mundane, but the power it granted was significant.
It was the kind of impulse that only those with confidence and alternatives could exude.
"I'll be twenty."
"Your current age."
"Twenty or two months less."
"You're still nineteen."
Vlad had increased his age, as was customary in the alleys, but in front of the leader of the Northern Orthodox Church, that was out of the question.
"It's impressive."
Not yet 20 years old, but already here.
Gunther made a puzzled expression as if Vlad's young age had struck him again, but in the current situation, it seemed an appropriate age.
"Why do you suddenly ask my age?"
"I see an entrance that's still open."
The Qliphoth tree, which is still devouring the young deacon and the baron, doesn't belong to this world, so you can't physically communicate with it, and it's already hidden in darkness and can't be revealed.
However, Gunther managed to find the only way to communicate with the tree.
"It's a curse only children have."
Gunther pointed with his chin towards the room where Jean lay.
"And right at this moment, there's a knight standing in front of me who's between adulthood and youth."
And this time towards Vlad.
Now, in front of Gunther, there was a knight with a strange appearance who was mature enough to be a child but still young enough to be a young man.
"It's possible you can reach that tree through a dream."
"...!"
At Gunther's words, Vlad remembered the dream he had in Moshiam.
The darkness was like a mother's embrace and a distant bonfire.
The dream where I escaped with the help of the voice was clearly the same dream Jean had.
"And the entrance is small, so only you, who are still young, can pass through."
"...I understand."
Faced with Gunther's gesture, a paladin standing in the hallway quickly approached and opened the box he was holding.
Inside the box was a shiny black liquid, along with a syringe that looked blunt.
"It's a curse extracted from Jean. It's not perfect because it's urgent, but this will also be able to connect your world with Jean's."
Gunther's prediction was accurate, and Vlad, confident thanks to his experience, silently nodded.
All the entrances were blurry, but as Gunther said, there was still one entrance that could reach the tree.
The name of the entrance is Jean.
The young deacon and the tree in Qliphoth were still connected by a thread called a dream.
"I won't force you."
The black liquid dripping from inside the syringe is sinister.
The same color as the tears of a woman wandering in search of her son.
It would be a lie to say I didn't shiver at the sight of that all-too-familiar color.
"Let's do it. I'll go."
But Vlad decided not to hesitate in taking the syringe.
Jean, who now trembled as if standing in mud, would also need a light to lean on.
"Now I can finally live up to the name given to me by the bishop."
"I understand."
After confirming Vlad's determination, Gunther nodded.
Well, he must have had this level of power to be able to build the reputation he has now at such a young age.
"I'll definitely come prepared. Please wait a moment ."
With a gesture from Gunther, the door to the room opened again.
There were Justia and Nibelun, who waited for him with perplexed expressions.
And even the image of Jean still lying down and breathing weakly.
"Ha..."
With a brief sigh, Vlad walked over to the bed where Jean lay and took the young deacon's hand.
Jean's hands, clasped again, were a little colder than before.
It was a small hand that would probably permanently stiffen after three days.
***
There was no time, a decision was made, and preparations were completed.
Now there's only executing the plan left.
Vlad, lying next to Jean, closed his eyes as he listened to the prayer recited by Gunther himself.
The bed next to Vlad was already filled with the paladins and priests Gunther had selected.
Unable to open his eyes to check, but I believe Justia was probably reciting the same prayer I heard along with them.
"Tsk!"
A sudden feeling of numbness in the back of the neck.
With that sensation, Vlad gritted his teeth as if being sucked in.
The strangely warm sensation reminded him of his mother's embrace, but the chill running through his blood made Vlad shiver constantly.
"Mmm..."
Despite how warm it was, the terrible sensation subsided.
When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was total darkness.
Jean, who was by his side, and the prayer I heard had vanished into the total darkness.
"I came to the right place."
The bonfire I had seen at that moment wasn't visible, but Vlad felt he had come to the right place and silently took a deep breath.
"Mmm?"
Just like back then, everything was dark, but there was one thing that was a little different.
When he raised his head, he saw a light.
It seemed like starlight breaking through black clouds.
-If you're lost where you need to go, follow the light I'm sending you.
Gunther didn't leave all the burden solely on Vlad.
For Vlad, wandering through the world of curses, Gunther volunteered to be his guide.
He's probably still quietly reciting a prayer alongside Vlad to maintain the starlight.
"Alright."
Vlad still couldn't relax from the cold surrounding his body.
However, Vlad froze again when he saw a hand protruding from the darkness.
[I told you to flee.]
I hear a familiar voice along with a protruding hand.
Vlad, recognizing the man's identity by that voice, smiled a little.
"What can I do? You have to pay what you owe."
[Anyway, knights are famous for not listening.]
There's received grace and there's a vow to fulfill.
The voice in the darkness had no choice but to awaken Vlad, who returned to protect them.
Perhaps this guy rolling on the ground came back for what I said.
[Let's go. I'll guide you.]
"It feels strange to touch you with my own hands."
Vlad smiles, amazed by the fact that he's actually touching the voice he just heard.
The voice said, looking at the young man like that, who ended up laughing to himself.
[You stupid kid.]
The two worlds that had finally made contact embraced each other like this.
Just like when they signed the contract for the first time, the starlight in the night sky shone upon them.
***
All the worlds within this world are precious, but not all can be protected.
Yet, you are the ones who vowed to protect.
If you are where you should be, if you are in the right moment, do not hesitate.
That will be my second rule.
Do not hesitate to fulfill your oath and become a beacon that illuminates the darkness. My knights.
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