Zich and Weig moved inside the castle with the knights. Although the Bellid followers continued to attack, they failed to block Zich’s team. Weig was especially amazing. As if he were proving why he was nicknamed the slaughterer of the Bellids and was feared by them, he mercilessly sliced all the Bellid followers in their path.
Psh!
Weig’s sword took away another life, and the body pierced by his sword rolled on the floor.
“This place has been completely occupied by the Bellids,” Weig said and glared at the person he had killed with a look of horror. She was a normal-looking middle-aged woman wearing a servant's uniform. She wasn’t like the rest of the Bellid followers who tried to stop them so far. When Zich and Weig arrived, she had been hiding and trembling in fear without any bloodlust. The woman appeared to be an ordinary worker who only did what she was told in this pit of evil without knowing anything that was going on. Yet, when Weig extended his hand toward her, her eyes changed, and she thrust the dagger she had kept hidden toward Weig.
Of course, Weig didn’t fall victim to such an unskilled attack. Her attack failed to even graze him, and instead, his sword left a large hole in her chest. Although Weig successfully blocked a sudden attack, his face darkened. He could clearly tell that the woman was neither a Bellid knight nor a priest. However, he also didn’t feel the dirty Bellid energy coming from her, which meant that she hadn’t been brainwashed to follow them either. She was someone who followed the Bellu with her right state of mind, and the sight of such a person turned Weig’s insides upside down.
“Didn’t I tell you? Everyone inside the castle is connected to the Bellids.”
“It’s not that I don’t believe you, Sir Zich, but as a Karuwiman holy knight, I have to make sure…”
“Don’t worry. I completely understand.”
“Anyway, this is the third time this happened. Since all the workers I clashed with have shown the same response, I’m sure what you said is right, Sir Zich.” Weig inhaled deeply and exhaled. “I will wipe out everyone in this castle.”
“Let me repeat myself again: there is no ordinary person in this castle. Whoever they are, they are all Bellid followers. There’s no need for you to feel guilty about getting rid of any one of them.”
“That is one thing I’m satisfied with,” Weig said. Then, they started running again.
“As a new northern base, their forces are too weak.”
“Not only is the place still incomplete, but their forces also entered the forest where we clashed with the allied forces to capture me.”
“You really are great at dealing with cockroaches, Sir Zich.”
“I’m sure you mean well sir, but your word choice doesn’t make it sound so good.”
People listening to Zich and Weig’s conversation might’ve thought they were exchanging jokes while sitting on comfortable chairs with drinks in their hands, but the two continued to run while killing any Bellid in sight.
“You know where the destination is, right sir?”
“Certainly I do. Didn’t I say it before? I am an expert in exterminating cockroaches in their own homes. It’s obvious what kind of locations those dirty and nasty guys like.” After slicing another Bellid knight, Belri Weig looked below his feet. “It’s in the basement.”
Since it was clear that the Bellids were scattered all over this castle, there was no doubt that this place was the Bellids’ main base. Still, the more evidence there was, the better.
“If there are so many guys like this, even if the base isn’t complete, they must have set up a ritual spot.” Weig heaved from his nostrils. “How utterly unpleasant.”
“Let’s quickly find it and crush it. Something like that will cause harm to the world by just existing.”
“You mean something like this?” The two continued to go down the basement, and they soon arrived at a basement prison cell. The air was dreary, damp, and stuffy with a faint smell of blood. It did an excellent job of putting down people’s moods to rock bottom instantly. Surprisingly, Weig seemed to be pleased by this place.
“Ah, this is the perfect place for stuffing Bellid bastards inside. If those guys knew their place and gathered to live in a prison cell like this, I would’ve liked them a bit more.”
“Even then it wouldn’t influence your conviction to wipe them all off the face of the earth, right?”
“Of course. The evil they cause is too awful to bury with just a tiny bit of affection.”
There was no one inside the basement cell. However, according to the dried blood, it was clear that a considerable number of people must have died in it. The two soon reached the end of the prison cell, but there were no other paths. The other side of the cell’s cold wall darkly greeted them.
Weig scowled. “I’m sure there’s a secret passageway here somewhere. Those guys really like to act as cockroaches.” He sighed deeply and looked at Zich.
“Let’s go take care of the guys in the other places first, Sir Zich. I will inform His Holiness, the Pope, of this place and bring in a special expert. They will be able to find the passageway easily with their expertise.”
Yet, as if he was peeved by the fact that they couldn’t immediately crush the pests’ nest, Weig’s expression was still sour. Meanwhile, Zich intended to relieve Weig of his annoyance right now.
“Sir Zich?”
Zich half-ignored Wieg’s call and went past the metal bars. Since there were no prisoners, the prison cell’s door was half-open. Zich headed to one side of the wall and with his hand on his jaw, he searched the wall.
‘So…’ Then, trying to recall his old memories, he began to press on a couple of stones that made up the wall.
Drr! Drr!
Even though he didn’t even exert much pressure, the stones on the wall were surprisingly pressed inward. Weig’s eyes shone, and he also went into the cell with Zich.
Booom!
A small sound seeped out of the wall Zich stood in front of, and a section of the wall big enough to fit one person moved backward until an entrance formed.
“I don’t think you need to call for another person to come here anymore,” Zich said while pointing at the tunnel.
“…Is the source of information about this tunnel also a secret as well?”
“I’m sorry to say this, but yes.”
Weig shook his head and stepped into the tunnel. “Sir Zich, you are really an interesting person. Well, I won’t try to pry after all this time. Let’s go beat up those dirty Bellids.”
Zich followed Weig and also stepped inside the tunnel. He glanced back at the door of the secret tunnel and thought, ‘Geez, as expected, that princess is really useful.’
If Serpina had heard his thoughts, she would have ground her teeth and trembled in anger, but Zich calmly entered the tunnel and disappeared inside. The other knights also followed behind them.
* * *
Baaam! Weig’s bright sword sparked a strong storm of holy energy. Two Bellid knights who tried to stop it groaned, but they successfully managed to block it and dissipate the energy.
Weig was infuriated by their actions, “You damn rubbish!”
His sword let out an even stronger light, and the holy energy rushed towards the two Bellid knights.
“Ugh!”
“Ack!”
However, they couldn’t stop Weig’s attack this time, and bright light struck their bodies. With a horrific scream, their bodies were torn apart into smithereens.
Danny had been watching this fight from behind, and he subtly asked Zich, “Isn’t he completely different from his usual self?”
Danny hadn’t known Belri Weig for that long, but Belri Weig was the very example of a true holy knight. He was just, strong, and kind to everyone. However, the violent sight of Weig mercilessly cutting down the Bellids made Danny suspicious if he really was the Belri Weig he knew. It was to the extent that he even thought that Belri Weig looked more like a Bellid than the Bellid knights as he crushed the Bellids like an evil spirit.
Zich replied, “This is how Karuwimans are when they face the Bellids. Even Saintess Lubella shows no mercy against the Bellids. So if you have no intentions to fight against the Karuwimans, you should thoroughly distance yourself away from the Bellids.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Danny shivered at how if things came to the worst, the holy energy currently crushing the Bellid followers might be directed toward him. While Weig was running wild, the others also didn’t stay still. Even though they didn’t have a religious duty like the Karuwimans to exterminate the Bellids, the Bellids was responsible for conspiring against the Steelwalls. The Steelwall knights also slaughtered the Bellids with great anger.
The underground Bellid facility was not very large. Compared to the northern branch they destroyed in the past, it was much smaller. However, considering that the entire estate was under the Bellids' influence, it was easy to see why they hadn’t built a huge facility.
Bam! Zich cut down the Bellids’ magic and rushed towards the Bellid priests. As Zich got closer, a priest hurriedly moved their staff in a hurry, but of course, they couldn’t move fast enough to block Zich.
Slice! Zich cut the priest into two and moved to find his next target.
Bam! Zich kicked the big door in front of him. The elaborately sculpted door was clearly made by an excellent craftsman, but there was no hesitation in Zich’s kick. Instead, he seemed to have precisely aimed for Bellu’s sculpture on the door.
‘This is the last room.’ The room looked like a prayer room judging by how elaborately it was decorated. The scale of the room was large, and each piece engraved on the wall was full of life.
About twenty Bellids were inside the room and holding up their guard against Zich, but among them, a person at the center of the group stood out. He was a wrinkled old man with a long white beard. Zich was also somewhat acquainted with him.
Zich said, “Woah, there’s a boss here.”
“That person is…” Weig followed Zich into the room, and he also recognized the old man’s identity. “Cardinal Vishipuna!”
“He’s probably the one in charge of the whole place.”
Weig laughed. Even though laughter was usually contagious, Zich thought that no one would want to laugh with him right now. Then he also thought, ‘Hmm, I shouldn’t steal his opponent, right?’
Vishipuna hadn’t angered him like Trislowa. If Vishipuna had done Zich wrong, Zich would have tortured Vishipuna for a long time and ended him regardless of what Weig wanted. ‘I got Trislowa, so I should let him have this prey.’
Zich said to Weig, “Sir, I’ll let you have him. Since I had a grudge against Trislowa, I ended his life, but it would look better if you finish him off as Karuna’s Sword.”
“You’ll let me have him? Thank you so much, Sir Zich!” Weig was exultant.
However, Vishipuna’s face was sharply distorted. He shouted, “Y-you damn fiend! Who do you think I am to talk about me like that?!”
Zich and Weig looked at each other. Then they looked at Vishipuna and said simultaneously, “A cockroach boss.”