Chapter 86: Descent
Outside York Town, inside the Church.
Corleon opened his eyes.
His expression appeared somewhat fatigued.
Not long ago, he had sensed a disturbance.
For the past few days, he had been using Revelation to locate the werewolves, but to no avail.
And now, this disturbance—he initially thought it signaled the trace of werewolves.
However, what he received from this Revelation was not an image, but a war.
Civilians were assaulting the estate, while George and the others were chanting the Holy Scriptures.
Was this a rebellion?
Corleon recognized it.
Then, he sensed an atmosphere of intense and fanatical Faith.
It wasn't just the numbers—just a single individual’s conveyed Faith was even stronger than that of the Temple Warriors.
This went beyond the normal bounds of Faith.
These people were mad.
It was precisely because Corleon feared this kind of religious fanaticism that he would not permit extremists to become monks, and later priests.
Such acts erased human spirituality, were inherently wrong, and would lead Believers to lose their sense of self.
Nevertheless, Corleon noticed that the estate’s high walls were extraordinarily tall—so tall that ordinary civilians couldn’t possibly scale them under normal circumstances, walls that severed their hope like a towering divide.
Then, Corleon saw the one holding high the blood-red flag bearing the cross.
His gaze was bright and resolute, yet his body was extremely thin.
In this state of Descent, Corleon could feel that the man’s body had lost something, as if his life had been severed.
He appeared no older than twenty, yet his vitality resembled that of an old man.
Then, Corleon saw a group behind the man rush forth, carrying jars filled with fire oil, setting the estate’s wooden walls ablaze.
The flames roared, driving away those behind the walls with waves of heat, while those outside seemed momentarily hesitant.
Just then, the man who waved the flag declared it to be the Purifying Flame of Evil.
At that, those outside the wall, though previously retreating, once again climbed upward madly, completely disregarding the flames engulfing them.
In silence, even though Corleon did not understand the cause of all this, based on the experiences of his past life, he understood—this was less of a rebellion and more of an uprising.
George could no longer bear to watch the tragic sight, so he closed his eyes.
He and the Temple Warriors were chanting the Holy Scriptures, bestowing Blessings upon those who had risen up.
Corleon believed in George’s purity, so, accompanied by the chants of George and the Temple Warriors, he bestowed Blessings.
Those flames would be the Purifying Flame of Evil, and also flames that consoled kind hearts.
Such a group of people should not lose themselves because of Faith.
But this act of Descent, of bestowing Blessings upon nearly a hundred people, took a heavy toll on Corleon.
While consuming a few mouthfuls of the power of Faith, his spirit also waned.
Taking a deep breath, he composed himself and turned his gaze to the letter on the table.
It was a letter from Nyx.
「Last night, those werewolves appeared once again and slaughtered Holmes Village.」
「And just like the message you sent, they killed some, extracted the hearts, and abducted another group.」
「Today, Knight Wolf will send people to the remaining two villages to relocate all villagers outside York Town. Perhaps more people will come to the Church to take Sacrament in the days ahead.」
「Additionally, Knight Wolf’s people have confirmed that this group of werewolves entered York Territory through the mountains in the north, passing through Marquis Demitri’s domain.」
「Perhaps there has been some upheaval in the Marquis’ Territory, or maybe—」
「Oh, let’s hope it’s just the ramblings of this old man. Things are chaotic enough outside as is.」
「The battle in the western Barony continues, and those Dark Creatures have brought out two Holy Relics this time.」
「Just the consumption from using these two Holy Relics alone, even if they had seized the Mystery from Baron Sacker’s Church, it still wouldn’t be enough to offset it.」
「We suspect that they may not only want the Mystery, but also aim to seize this land.」
「Damn it, the Southern Grand Duke's succession struggle is ongoing, the Principality of Corlay in the east is at war with the Fishmen, the Dark Creatures from Blackrock Point have emerged to meddle, and the lords in the west are also under attack from hidden Dark Creatures in the Northwind Mountains.」
「Only our region remains relatively quiet, but now a group of Werewolves has entered from the north—」
「And the Lord is being threatened to get involved in the succession dispute as well. That fool Demitri, damn—」the rest was a series of blacked-out words.
「Bishop, please have the Temple Warriors return as soon as possible. If it's really a pack of Werewolves led by multiple upper-ranked ones, then judging by the current situation, their numbers are at least four hundred.」
「The town currently has no extra capacity to deal with these Werewolves. We can only rely on the city walls for defense.」
「If the three baronies in the west are taken by those Dark Creatures and the Mystery is seized, then we will have a serious problem.」
「We'll have to wait until the fighting over there ends, or until the Lord returns with the army.」
「Of course, the best case would be for the Lord to return. In that case, we must charge into the mountains and slaughter those bastards.」
「They’ve forgotten how the Golden Lion of the Noble House of the Twin Lions once charged into the Northwind Mountains and annihilated three clans.」
「They need a new fear!」
By the end, the parchment seemed as if it would be pierced through by Nyx’s fury.
Putting away the letter, Corleon sighed.
After Temple Warrior Hack returned with clues found alongside Hode, Corleon had immediately contacted Nyx.
And on that end, the matter was taken very seriously.
But only taken seriously.
The number of soldiers in the territory right now wasn’t enough to form another army, unless those villages were merged, only then could enough warriors be gathered to form a force.
But even Corleon knew that was impossible.
They would rather be drowned by the wolf packs clinging to their village than give up their grip on power.
Especially with the Lord absent.
You, Wolf, are a knight—but my family has knights too.
With such a faction in opposition, others now had a stance to take.
Especially since the family of Knight Wolf would also oppose this decision.
As for Administrator Piero, he wouldn't oppose it; his family was one of the town's native families.
But how many warriors can your family pull out?
So in the final assessment, the decision over there was to maintain the status quo.
Then, to relocate the two villages without family integration to the vicinity of the town, establish a temporary settlement, and quietly wait.
But Gobelow Village was already gone.
Thinking of the man waving the flag—even though Corleon had lifted the Descent after seeing the estate gates opened from within, he knew that they would never remain in York Territory.
Rubbing his forehead, Corleon still picked up the pen to write a letter.
He told Nyx he hoped Knight Wolf could support the Church with some equipment, and that he would send the Temple Warriors to hunt the Werewolves.
As the Lord’s Servants, the Church of the Sanctuary must resolutely purge these Dark Creatures.
For ordinary people to eliminate this many stealthy Werewolves across such a large territory, the only way would be to send out convoys and plow through the land.
But when it came to striking Werewolves—these Dark Creatures—it was considered a specialty of the Temple Warriors.
It was just that their current equipment was too fragile—merely thickened cotton cloth. Corleon needed a batch of quality gear.
Corleon intended for the Temple Warriors to hunt Werewolves—not to be sent to their deaths.