Concert (3)
A few days ago.
Charlotte received a piece of news from the intelligence department.
It was news that one of the branches of Liszt had been attacked.
Although it was a small branch and the incident wasn't big enough to be known to the outside world, the fact that dark mages were involved meant that it had to be taken seriously.
Upon hearing the report, Charlotte immediately set out to investigate.
-Are you going again?
-I understand that Your Highness is working for the 'Rose,' but using them to cure your illness is a very dangerous idea.
-Times are already turbulent.
-Please be aware of the responsibility you carry on your shoulders.
The usual nagging followed, but she ignored it.
She had been chasing traces of the cult for months, so she headed to the scene without hesitation.
She didn't inform the Imperial family of her actions.
Because there were very few people she could trust.
Charlotte moved with only a small escort.
'This is difficult.'
The girl arrived at the branch.
They closed down the cathedral and began investigating, but there was little to be found.
Only the pools of blood reported earlier were all that remained.
It was frustrating for the investigators that there were no bodies or flesh to be seen, despite such a gruesome scene.
Charlotte racked her brains with her usual indifferent expression.
Did they really smuggle the missing people out?
Then where should she look for them?
Should she change the search route to the surrounding cities now?
It was while she was pondering these thoughts.
"What is this···?"
When she returned after briefly stepping away to make a call, the guards who had been guarding the cathedral were all unconscious.
Even the aides she had brought as escorts were unconscious.
The cathedral doors were wide open.
It seemed like something unusual was happening.
Charlotte held her breath and moved towards the inside of the cathedral where she heard a presence.
She didn't forget to grab the sword at her waist.
"······."
A dark hallway with only an eerie aura flowing through it.
She walks along the faint light.
As she steps down the stairs leading to the basement, she sees unidentified figures standing around the corner.
They were all dressed in white robes.
'That's···.'
The figures seemed to be searching for something.
Charlotte, who was closely watching their busy movements, soon noticed a familiar face among them.
Her red lips unconsciously murmured the boy's name.
"······Judas Snakus?"
The person Charlotte had been interested in.
A few months ago, through a chance encounter, she learned that Judas was hiding a terrifying power, and since then, she had been watching him closely.
Of course, it wasn't out of wariness.
It was simply out of curiosity.
If he had such power, he would surely reek of danger, but the boy didn't smell dangerous at all.
Rather, he had a refreshing winter scent that she wanted to keep smelling.
'Why is he here···?'
Could he be involved in this incident?
Charlotte hid behind the wall and continued to watch the scene unfold.
A short time passed.
-Shatter.
Suddenly, the boy chanted a single word.
The bullet that was fired hit the dead end wall and shattered the numerous barriers, revealing a hidden space.
It was the moment when the traces that were invisible to Charlotte's eyes were revealed.
-Such petty tricks won't work on me.
With a light murmur to himself, the Snake stepped into the unknown corridor.
The other figures followed him.
Charlotte hesitated where she stood.
Rationally, it would be better to retreat here, but her intuition kept pulling her hand.
She felt like she would miss something important if she didn't follow.
'Maybe··· I can find a clue about the Rose.'
After a brief moment of contemplation, Charlotte took a step forward as if she had made up her mind.
She minimized her presence.
The white robes of the figures fluttered.
A long, crimson corridor.
The strangely lingering sound of music.
It was a rather bizarre scene, but the young princess didn't hesitate.
Thinking of the Rose waiting for her among the stars.
***
We strode down the hallway without hesitation.
A wide and long path.
Perhaps because everything was red, it was aesthetically very jarring.
What can you expect from cultists anyway?
"Master."
As I looked around the empty surroundings, the girl next to me spoke softly.
It was Neria, who had been looking through documents.
It seemed she had finished grasping the current situation.
"I've examined the cathedral's blueprints, but there's nothing particularly special. The corridor we're currently walking through shouldn't exist. It seems the cultists created this space themselves.”
"I see."
"What are your thoughts, Master?"
"Creating such a vast space and concealing it with a barrier... It seems there's something beyond."
"Indeed, the deeper we go into the corridor, the denser the magical energy in the air becomes."
"Let's continue forward. Maintain vigilance."
"As you wish."
We begin to tread once more down the blood-soaked corridor.
How long have we been walking?
Roughly ten minutes have passed.
"Master. There's someone collapsed ahead."
In the distance, we see a figure sprawled on the ground.
A man cloaked entirely in black.
Judging by the priestly garments, he seems to be one of the individuals who went missing during the previous attack.
"I'll check his condition. If he's still breathing, we'll immediately summon a medic to treat him..."
"There's no need."
"Pardon?"
"Just remain where you are."
Despite finding the man, I didn't allow my unit to approach.
There was a reason for my caution.
Those who had experienced the Great Purge seemed to have already noticed.
The attire, which should have been pristine white, was now stained a pitch black.
'I suspected as much.'
Faint music seems to drift from somewhere.
Simultaneously, the prone priest twitches a few times before abruptly rising and charging towards us.
His face is smeared with crimson blood.
His pupils, once filled with light, now hold only a deep, inky blackness.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
Though originating from human lips, the scream is anything but human.
It resembles the cry of a beast roaming the depths of hell.
Putrid blood streams down like tears.
A priest corrupted by magical energy.
Succumbing to fear, embracing despair, losing faith – the price paid by a lamb who abandons their belief.
The deranged priest wildly swings the mace in his hand.
"..."
Clank-
The rosary around my neck sways in response to the shriek.
Upon the cross, which once symbolized love for God, an indelible sin now stains it.
I silently snap my fingers.
And then.
Thud-
With a rather dull sound, the priest's head flies off.
His headless body briefly staggers before collapsing onto the floor, reduced to mere wretchedness.
A pathetically crumbling corpse.
"...Ominous premonitions never fail to come true."
I mutter under my breath.
I carefully scan the surroundings.
Come to think of it, the terrain felt familiar.
Including my past life, this was my first time visiting this branch, but I had cleared stages with similar layouts countless times.
It seemed to be a 'creation' touched by the same entity.
"Vice captain."
"Yes."
"From now on, we will eliminate all priests we encounter. We will only rescue those whose minds remain intact. Any individual exhibiting the slightest abnormality will be dealt with."
"Understood."
Neria nods silently.
I brush off the remaining shadows from my fingertips and gaze down at the corpse lying at my feet.
A priest, eyes glazed over, soaked in magical energy.
'I didn't expect him to start his activities so soon.'
Only then does the faint music become audible.
A maddeningly beautiful melody flowing on a current of abhorrent greed.
Amidst the unknown symphony,
I whisper the name.
'The Conductor.'
A mid-boss appearing in the latter half of the original story.
A self-proclaimed artist.
And the nightmare responsible for the most casualties during the Great Purge five years ago.
We had stepped into the world he had orchestrated.
If the structure of this place was identical to the other stages I remembered, we didn't have much time left.
The lives of the missing collaborators were hanging by a thread.
"From now on, we'll break through with all our might."
"I'll take the lead."
"Miss Irene?"
"I'll be faster at handling the small fry."
Whoosh-
Irene steps forward, igniting the tip of her sword with flames.
Her vermilion hair is bathed in a crimson glow.
Her eyes, once a deep black, now blaze with a fiery red.
The girl slashes with her sword.
Shing-
"Keeeeeek!!"
Another priest rushes from the opposite end of the corridor.
Already stained black and beyond redemption, he is exposed to the fiery red line, his entire body engulfed in brilliant flames.
The flames of life, purifying corruption.
Crackle-
"Let's go."
Flames dance vividly even in the darkness.
The fox silently looks back at me.
After pausing for a moment, my unit and I nodded and kicked off the ground.
As we ran, our pure white robes fluttered behind us.
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