After encountering three demon kings, I came to my own conclusion. For now, I must not see them simply as enemies to be defeated.
There's no chance of winning in a direct confrontation. I had to accept that. These demon kings were not foes against whom I could prove my warrior's pride. They were disasters to avoid, at least for the time being. In other words, I should focus on stopping the ritual.
Still, I had to ask, "The demon king has already been summoned?"
I followed Evan's calm gaze as he nodded. "Yes."
"But the solar eclipse hasn't started yet," I noted.
Still watching the sunset sky, Evan answered, "That's because it's Hadenaihar."
I paused before remembering Hadenaihar's title. "Could it be that the omen of Hadenaihar isn't a solar eclipse but a lunar eclipse?"
"You are half right," Evan said. "Of course, it isn't something visible to the naked eye. The erosion happens in the Otherworld."
Evan smiled. "It is the world of shadows, the realm beyond the lake, or simply the dream world. Another name for Hadenaihar is the Demon King of Two Sides. Light and darkness, two sides of the same coin. Day and night, sun and moon... The Demon King of the Blood Moon also rules over this false world."
Where should I begin, and how much of this man's story could I trust? I knew better than to believe everything he said. The members of the church had a long history of lying and deceiving others. Worse still, this man was a Young Dark Pope, the highest among them, capable of lying with ease while wearing a mask of virtue.
Still, I had my own way of sensing the truth. It wasn't as precise as Senior Brother Arang's biological markers, but it relied on experience and a touch of intuition. People usually struggled to lie when their survival was on the line. Not that it was impossible, but how many could keep a steady face with a sword at their throat?
With that in mind, I came to a conclusion about what Evan was saying now. He's likely telling the truth.
Not everyone facing death reacted with rage or panic. Some, instead of anger, fear, or despair, sank into a hollow stillness. That's exactly what I saw in Evan. He didn't look particularly scared. If anything, it felt like he had already given up.
Whatever the case, it was clear that Evan had awakened as a Young Dark Pope. That made his attitude all the more puzzling, so I asked, "Isn't it a good thing for you that a demon king has descended?"
The Dark Pope was unconditionally favored by the demon kings. From what Juan had said, the Young Dark Popes were treated in much the same way.
"That would be true if I had overseen the descent ritual," Evan replied. "But I barely escaped last night. Even though I died and awakened as a Young Dark Pope, the demon king still tried to kill me."
His words caught me off guard. I knew the Dark Church had factions, and their relations were strained, but Evan was still a Young Dark Pope. Even Juan had seemed to care for him. The Black Swamp Demon King had killed the priest presiding over the ritual without hesitation. Yet Evan, who had been in the midst of awakening at the time, had escaped death. In many ways, he was treated as someone special within the Dark Church.
The demon king actually wanted to kill this fella? Of course, it was possible that Evan was lying.
Evan continued, "Do you understand? At the very least, whoever caused this chaos lacks any sense of judgment. They would kill anyone who stands in their way. It doesn't matter if it is a Young Dark Pope or someone else."
He twirled a finger beside his temple. "Maybe the culprit is a little insane. They wouldn't have summoned Hadenaihar if they were thinking straight in the first place."
There was something off about Evan. Part of it could be the Evan Helvin I knew acting out of character, but it went deeper than that.
He doesn't seem loyal to the church. I'd suspected it before, but now I was sure. The Dark Church was still a religion. What guided its members wasn't loyalty, but faith. That kind of conviction left traces, but I couldn't see any in Evan. Was that why he was so quick to share church secrets with me?
There's one thing I'm certain of. The demon king had already descended. As absurd as it sounded, it was the only claim Evan had made that didn't feel like a distortion of reality.
Sometimes, life worked that way. The more I wanted to reject something, the more likely it was true. This didn't mean that all my questions had completely disappeared, though.
"In order to summon a demon king, three conditions have to be met: a land steeped in sacrifice, a source overflowing with mana, and a priest to recite the scripture."
First, calling the island where the academy stood a land seemed generous. Still, mana was abundant here. In fact, the Twilight River itself was practically a living current of mana. I'd heard that was why the capital—and the heart of the empire—had been built here.
"Let's be generous and assume the demon king is hiding somewhere in the academy," I thought aloud. "But what about the sacrifices?"
In order to summon even a part of a demon king, dozens or even hundreds of sacrifices were necessary. Such a number could not vanish unnoticed in the capital, let alone the academy. Of course, I knew a way to summon a demon king without those conditions.
"I don't think there is another Young Dark Pope," I murmured.
"Who knows?" Evan grinned. "After all, I am a member of the church. I don't feel comfortable disclosing everything about it."
I looked at him. "Do you know you're nothing more than a defeated warrior right now?"
"Of course."
"Is that why you're so confident, coming out swinging like this? Do you really think I can't easily handle my former roommate, Evan Helvin?" I smiled deliberately, but Evan offered no response. "Well done."
"What?"
"If you'd laughed again, I would've cut off one of your arms," I informed him.
Luckily, he wasn't stupid. He seemed to understand that I was serious. It wasn't fear that silenced him; he simply became more careful with his words and actions.
In any case, Evan is a Young Dark Pope. Extracting information through interrogation or torture will be impossible. That was the reality of being a church member. They could not be broken by pain, had no family outside the church, and lacked other vulnerabilities.
This meant information had to be drawn out through guided interrogation in natural conversation. Only an inquisitor skilled in handling church members could do this. Someone like Ainsburn, who the Iron-Blooded Lord had interrogated recently, wasn't even a church member.
I changed the subject. "So, you're saying everyone in the academy is going to die soon?"
"Yes. Judging by the timing, it will likely happen around this month's full moon."
The second full moon. That matches exactly with what Seren had mentioned. I nodded. That was probably all Evan was willing to give for now. If that were the case, it was time to get down to business.
"Evan." I called him by name for the first time. That, in its own way, was my way of acknowledging him. He had awakened as a Young Dark Pope and changed a lot, but he was still Evan.
"Yes?" he replied, tilting his head slightly. He didn't look much different from the Evan Helvin I knew.
"Let's work together."
"Work together?"
"While we are in this academy, why don't we cooperate to drive out the demon king?"
Evan stared at me with wide eyes, then suddenly burst into laughter. "You want me, a Young Dark Pope, to join forces with you? Someone who carries the blood of the Badnikers?"
Every time something like this came up, the name Badniker grated on me. No matter the topic, it always circled back to that name. It felt like people had already made up their minds about me, ignoring my true intentions and actions.
"I'm not like the other Badnikers. You can feel it, can't you?"
"I felt it," Evan admitted, "but I didn't expect you to speak about cooperation so openly. Are you a church member too?"
"That joke is a little offensive."
"Apologies."
"If I am a heretic among the Badnikers, aren't you also a heretic among the church members?"
"Me?"
"In a way, I'm suggesting treason to you."
Evan chuckled at my words. "You're not wrong. But my values about the demon kings differ from most."
"Differ how?"
"I believe humans should solve human problems," he said quietly, then looked at me and smiled. "I'll take your offer seriously. A typical Badniker would have cut my head off the moment they learned I was a church member. Nevertheless, I have some conditions."
"Go on," I said.
"First, do not reveal my identity to anyone."
I nodded. "Understood."
That condition was no surprise. It actually worked in my favor. If I brought him in now, sooner or later he would meet other group members like Seren. Revealing his identity then would only cause confusion.
"Second, you must trust me completely in this operation."
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
"It's exactly what I said. In this temporary partnership, my goal is to survive. I don't want to die yet." Evan shrugged and added, "I will draw on all the Memories of Evil I gained during my awakening to stay alive." "Isn't that a good thing?"
"It is, but the church's common sense is far from what you know. You seem flexible for a Badniker, but following my instructions without doubt will be challenging," he explained.
"That's a pointless worry. I'm more adaptable and experienced than you realize," I said with a smile. My sense of normalcy had already been shattered during the ten years I had spent on Spirit Mountain.
Still, I told him, "I can't follow everything you say blindly, but I promise I won't dismiss it as nonsense."
"That's enough." Evan nodded seriously. "Right now, the two most suspicious people I've identified are Glenn Scarlett and Perist Scarlett."
"The prince and the princess." I felt a flicker of surprise. It had only been a few days since we arrived at the academy. How had he come to that conclusion so quickly? Was he just that perceptive, or had he used some unknown method like Seren? This was a spontaneous choice, but maybe bringing Evan in had been a good decision.
"Exactly," Evan confirmed. "It's hard to be sure which one is the church member. We can't be more specific. As I said, time is short. Intimidation, torture, or interrogation won't help. If they led Hadenaihar's descent, they must have lost their minds. So, I've come up with a plan."
"Tell me."
"Kill them both. I'll take the princess. You kill the prince. How does that sound?" Evan looked at me as if waiting for praise.
I mulled over it for a moment, but I couldn't find any hidden meaning in his words, so I said bluntly, "That's bullshit, damn it."
Evan blinked in confusion, then suddenly slapped his forehead as if something had clicked. "Ah, I get it. Fine, I'll kill the prince. You kill the princess."
I looked at Evan, who seemed to be asking, Does this work for you?
I slapped my forehead too, though for an entirely different reason. This alliance was already off to a rough start.