Chapter 55 - The Church
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
A few days later, another group of knights entered Bull Mountain Range. They were heavily armored, wearing cloaks and carrying swords. Each of them bore the sigil of the sun on their cloaks.
An old man wearing a long dark red cardinal robe walked out of the group of people surrounding him and into the tomb. He immediately saw the bodies littered on the ground and the empty golden coffin. The underground tomb was in chaos.
A few filthy slaves were tossed in front of the red-robed cardinal. A few knights carried forward a few gold coins along with some gold and silver wares, among which was the mask worn by the Golden King.
The red-robed cardinal looked at the items and nodded. If the slaves weren’t trying to sell these items, they wouldn’t have discovered this place. The cardinal looked at the kneeling slaves, “Did you find these here?”
The slaves were trembling. Before them was one of the ten red-robed cardinal of the Church of Light. The number of people in such a high position can be counted with the two hands. His name was widely spread within the Alen continent. Even the emperor of the Crete Empire would have to treat a red-robed cardinal of the Church of Light with respect.
Normally, the slaves would never have the opportunity to meet a person like the cardinal, who claimed to be people closest to God; not to mention get the opportunity to talk to them. But at this moment, there was only fear in their hearts.
One of the knights put a sword to a slave’s neck and said, “Speak!”
historical
The slave could not handle the pressure and shouted, “I’ll speak. We’re Viscount Tena’s slaves. We entered the Bull Forest a few months ago. Over these few months, we have always been following the master’s orders and excavating here. At first, we did not know the reason for what we were doing, but later we found out that the Viscount was searching for the tomb of the Golden Dynasty!”
The cardinal nodded. This was information he already knew. The Tena family was the master of this area, but the Bull Forest was not under their control. They have already violated the laws of the empire, but that was not the red-robed cardinal cared about.
“What did you see here, tell me everything!” Even the red-robed cardinal was at awe of the large amount of treasures before him. But he appeared collected. He was not a small noble by the countryside that have never witnessed such a scene!
The slave continued with a shaky voice, “That day, we excavated a pit and discovered this place. There were many traps along the way, and many of us died. But the master continued commanding us to go forward. We opened the door and found this room. We found the coffin of the Golden King!”
“Get to the point. What else did you discover?” a priest wearing a black robe standing behind the cardinal asked hurriedly.
The cardinal turned his head and stared at his subordinate, causing him to retreat in embarrassment, “You need not hurry, take your time.”
The slave nodded, “Viscount Tena said we should open the coffin, but Lord Sova objected, saying God would curse us. After all, this is the tomb of the Golden King. But that didn’t stop Lord Tena. They then opened the coffin.”
At this point, the slave’s eyes revealed an expression of extreme fear, ” Back then, the Golden King seemed to be alive. He did not seem dead. But after we opened the coffin, he disappeared like a ghost!”
“Then, then they were all struck by a curse they started killing each other. They killed each other manically!” The slave was immensely frightened as he recalled the scene.
The cardinal frowned. “What did they find in the coffin?”
The worker thought about it and said, “First, they found a sword. They said it was a divine sword given to them by the God. It still had a cold glow, able to slice a knight’s sword into half with a strike. It was still shiny as snow despite being in the tomb for over a thousand years!”
His words shocked everyone present, including the knights of the Church. Everyone had a longing and excited expression, “It is the Sword of the King. God has given us the authority of the king and had chosen the emperor. It must be a true divine weapon since it was found here!”
The red-robed cardinal was very excited. A divine weapon that had been gifted to them by God could truly represent the orthodoxy of the Church of Light. They had to obtain it. That was the whole reason why they had come here in the first place. If he was successful, it was highly possible that he would take the position as the next leader of the Church.
At this moment, the red-robed cardinal suddenly remembered something, “You said they first found the sword. What else did they find?”
The slave realized that he had chosen the wrong words, his gaze wavering. The red-robed cardinal’s voice became stern, “Speak!”
Nervously, the slave shouted immediately, “They found... ichor!”
The atmosphere instantly became quiet. The cardinal shivered as he asked, “What?”
The slave quickly continued, “They later found a golden gemstone in the coffin. There was ichor sealed within. When they took the gemstone out, a picture was instantly projected onto the wall. It was a picture of a scene that happened a thousand years ago, the scene of God giving the Golden King his divine mission. Back then, God did not only give the Golden King his divine sword and seeds. He also gave him ichor. God told the Golden King...he said...!”
“What did he say?” the cardinal could not help but grab tightly on the shoulder of the slave. He did not care if the slave was filthy anymore.
The slave shivered as he said, his voice becoming shriller because of his fear, “God said, ‘he who drinks the blood of God will become a descendant of God, and will wield the power of my Almighty!’”
The red-robed cardinal reacted immediately. He shouted manically, “Kill all of them, kill all of them, as well as all who knows about this. Leave no one alive, kill all of them!”
“No you cannot do this! We did everything you said!”
“Oh Goddess Maria above, you’ll face the punishment of God...”
“Spare me, don’t kill me!”
The knights charged forward and killed all of the slaves. The heavy atmosphere made breathing difficult. Some time later, the red-robed cardinal finally collected himself, “Send a message back to the Church. This is top secret, no one here is to speak a word of this. Anyone who speaks a word of this will be hunted by the Church of Light for the rest of his life!”
“Also, lead the knights of the Church and find all the slaves that were here back then. We must find the sword and the ichor!”
“The rest of you are not to leave this place. Seal this place. Do not allow anyone to enter or leave the Bull Mountain Range!”