Dry wind passed over the earth. The wind scattered sand throughout the desolate wilderness. It caused the sand to spin in the air and fall all over the horizon; some pieces landed on nameless plateaus, some hit spiky rocks, and some even landed on small shrubs. The only vegetation that this place had were a few small shrubs scattered across the earth. In this area, farming was impossible, and game was scarce. In this desolate wilderness, two people on horses began to appear in clear view.
It was Zich and Weig. After reaching the peak of a low valley, Weig pulled up the reins of his horse and looked ahead. Beyond the endless wilderness, Weig could see the horizon dim. The vastness of the earth left Weig in awe and he exclaimed, “The world really transcends human imagination. I would have never imagined that there was a place like this.”
Zich stood next to Weig and said, “Even a great person like you with a lot of experience must have never seen a spectacle like this.”
“Since my job is to protect Lady Lubella and fight against heretics, I never had time to leisurely explore the world. Of course, I personally thought I saw a lot of the world already, but it seems like I was too arrogant. I tried to measure the world that God created according to my limited perspective.” With reverence, Weig drew a sign of the cross.
“I guess people who serve a god will have that kind of sentiment.”
“If you start to believe in God Karuna, you will also share my sentiments. How about it? Our door is always open for you.”
“Thank you for your offer, but I refuse.” As usual, Zich lightly rejected Weig’s offer.
Weig had also expected Zich to refuse, so he was not disappointed. Moreover, there was something more important. “That’s regretful, but I guess it can’t be helped. But Zich, is it really true that the northern branch of the Bellid is here?”
The reason why Zich and Weig came to this wilderness was to confirm the existence of the northern branch in this area. Even though Lubella and Weig trusted Zich, this was not a decision that could be made on trust alone. If they really wanted the Church to fight against the northern branch of Bellid, even Aine Lubella and Belri Weig’s words in favor of Zich’s words would not be enough. They needed to bring solid evidence to the Church. For that reason, Zich and Weig were all the way in this wilderness.
“It’s not that I don’t believe you, but I don’t think this is the type of place where those Bellid bastards would build a temple.”
The god that Bellids served was the god of water, Bellu. For that reason, there was one absolute principle that the Bellids considered when choosing land to build a temple: water. Whether it was next to a lake, river, or ocean, Bellid’s temple had to be built next to a body of water. Moreover, the bigger and more important the temple was, the body of water next to it needed to be significantly larger than usual.
For that reason, when Karuwimans were investigating the Bellid temple, they always started their search by looking around places of water. They were currently searching for the northern branch of Bellid. Considering the significance of the northern branch, there needed to be an enormous body of water.
But no matter how much Weig looked around the area, it didn’t seem as if a large body of water would be nearby. On the other hand, the dry landscape made it seem like water was extremely scarce, so Bellids would strictly avoid this area.
“From the surface, it looks like that. But it’s precisely for that reason that people weren’t able to find them here.”
“Well, you have a point.”
If there really was a Bellid temple here, this desolate and dry wilderness was a perfect diversion against those who specifically searched for humid and water-abundant areas.
“We just have to go a little further.” Zich pulled on the reins of his horse to start moving.
Likewise, with a hopeful heart, Weig followed Zich. Not long after, they reached the entrance of a deep canyon. To their sides, steep cliffs stretched on without end.
“Let’s hide our horses here.”
Zich and Weig found a deep groove in the cliff and tied up their horses. After they threw a few pieces of hay in front of them, Zich and Weig started walking forward. They walked out of the groove and headed towards an enormous rock. The rock was about four or five times bigger than an average person, and even though harsh winds were pressing against the rock, it stood firm.
However, the rock was not the important part. It did not matter when and how long the rock could endure the harsh climate of its surroundings—what Zich was interested in was the hole underneath the rock.
“This is it.”
The size of the hole was pretty big. It was big enough for one person to stand and walk. Weig bent his knees and looked around the ground. It was hard to tell, but the top of the stone floor was slightly worn out.
“Someone or something definitely passed through this.”
“We have to be careful from now on. This is their home base.”
“Why, are you afraid?” Weig jokingly asked, and Zich nodded while laughing.
“I’m afraid that those bastards might realize we found out about them and run away before we can destroy them.”
“Yes, that is definitely a situation to be afraid of.” Weig agreed.
The two of them went inside the hole. The hole was connected to an extremely large cave. Weig was amazed that such a large underground base would exist under a desolate wilderness.
“In a lot of ways, this journey has definitely expanded my perspective.”
“Sir Weig, if you become a traveler, you’ll be able to see even more interesting and strange things in the world.”
“Hey! Is this revenge for my constant badgering for you to join Karuwiman? You got me.”
The two continued to move inside the cave. As soon as they moved away from the entrance, they entered a place where there was not even a trace of light. But they could both use mana to brighten up their eyesight so there was no hindrance in their progress. The cave was long. It was when they walked three hours on a bumpy and slippery cave—
A light appeared. Both of them immediately lowered their bodies and quickly found a rock to hide behind.
“…There is a place like this here…”
What appeared in front of them was a vast underground lake. The size of the lake was so prodigious, it was hard to see the other side of the lake.
‘Considering the size of this lake, it’s completely understandable that those Bellid bastards would build one of their most important temples here.’
The light they witnessed was starting to flow out from the other side of the lake. It was far away, but they could clearly see that the light was coming off from the other side. Weig rejoiced.
‘It really exists!’
On the opposite side of the lake, there were many torchlights lighting up a large building into view. The building was tall enough to almost touch the high cave’s ceiling, and the size of its front resembled a great temple. Bellid’s mark stood on top of the building in clear view and welcomed them.
They also saw quite a few people going in and out of the building. With his senses that were sharpened with mana, Weig could see the clothes the people were wearing.
‘They are wearing Bellid uniforms!”
There was no need to see more. As Zich said, the place was definitely an important base for the Bellids.
“Do you believe me now, sir?”
With great conviction, Weig answered, “As soon as I return, I will prepare Karuwiman’s strongest army!”
* * *
Zich and Weig returned to Karuwiman headquarters. Weig reported everything he saw to the Church such as the wilderness, cave, the underground lake, and the Bellid temple. As Karuwiman’s greatest Holy Knight, Weig’s words carried a much heavier weight than ones from an outsider like Zich. Thus, the Pope immediately led an effort to prepare an army to subjugate the Bellids. Holy Knights and priests from important areas began to gather, resources were piled up, and weapons were delivered. The Church knew that this was a critical chance to wipe away the Bellids they hated so much.
The Karuwimans were thorough and secretive; they also made a cover-up in case their plan might reach Bellids’ ears. While the Karuwimans prepared for a looming war, Zich went to meet an extremely important figure.
The important figure was a scrawny old man. Wrinkles lined most of his face, and the arms that peeked below his sleeves were bony. He looked gentle like a wise grandfather, but his position made it such that even a king or the emperor couldn’t approach carelessly.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Zich.” Zich lowered his head. Then, he forcefully pressed down the nervousness he felt and addressed the man with his title.
“Your Holiness.”
“Hoho! It’s my pleasure!” The old man was very carefree; his smile almost seemed to have a halo effect, as if it would take everything in its embrace. At his appearance, an adult wouldn’t have been able to keep themselves from smiling while a child might have run around while clutching onto the hems of his clothes. He was the Pope.
‘It’s killing me.’
The same nervousness he felt when he first met Lubella and Weig went up and down through him.
‘I can’t believe I’m meeting the original zombie maker before Lubella.’
It was even more nerve-wracking that the Pope was greeting Zich in a friendly atmosphere. Before his regression—when he constantly clashed with the Karuwimans—the Pope had been a very tricky opponent. Moreover, before Lubella gained experiences from her travels around the world with Glen Zenard, he had been Karuwiman’s highest priest.
‘It’s not even a joke that I almost died in his hands.’
One time, as Zich’s notoriety kept growing with no signs of stopping, the Pope personally gathered an elite unit to take care of Zich. Without exaggerating one bit, Zich had almost died then.
‘My enemies just wouldn’t die.’
He could still remember it clearly: the Pope protected and healed the Holy Knights from the rear and even let out some support attacks. Zich managed to grit his teeth through it all and resisted with all he had to just survive. But even then he didn’t achieve a clear victory; the Pope’s troops had simply withdrawn to regroup again, and for a while after that, Zich avoided confronting Karuwimans head-on.
Of course, Zich had never fought with the Pope after he gained the title of The Demon Lord of Strength; the Pope was dead by then. However, Zich could never forget the Pope’s overwhelming holy power.
“Are those your servants behind you?”
At the Pope’s question, Hans and Snoc quickly bowed their heads after watching with their mouths hanging open.
“Yes, yes! I am Sir Zich’s servant, Hans!”
“M-my name is Snoc! T-This guy’s name is Nowem.”
“Hohoho! You guys are filled with energy.”
Hans and Snoc couldn’t calm down. In some ways, Karuwiman’s Pope was someone who was harder to meet than a king or the emperor, and they couldn’t believe that they were meeting the Pope in person.
“I apologize for my servants’ rude behaviors.”
“It’s fine. I am also just a humble servant of God Karuna too. There is no need for them to consider formalities as long as we maintain basic etiquette between humans.”
The Pope was a simple and easygoing man. The Pope offered them to sit at the table next to him. Zich sat in front of the Pope; Lubella sat next to the Pope and Weig sat beside her; and finally, Hans and Snoc sat next to Zich.
“Foremost, as the representative of Karuwiman, I want to thank you for telling us the hiding base of those vile things, the Bellids.”
No matter how benevolent and simple he was, the Pope proved that he was really a Karuwiman by the way he mentioned the Bellids.
“This is simply what I wanted to do. If you thank me too much, it puts me in a difficult position.”
“Bellid is not just Karuwiman’s enemy. They are pests that only cause harm to this world. Sir Zich, since you have done the world a great favor, you deserve my gratitude.” The Pope smiled. “But since you seem to be embarrassed about it, I will stop mentioning it. I came to you to thank you and see if there’s a plan that we could discuss. I heard that you wanted revenge—does this mean that you will join our battle against those cursed Bellids?”
“Yes, certainly. But I will move separately.”
“Then, what will you do?”
“While you all are attacking the temple, I am planning to infiltrate inside.”
“I see. You are planning to take care of the guy who killed the boy.”
The Pope was able to perfectly grasp Zich’s motive after hearing about the general situation.
Zich made a menacing smile. “Yes, I don’t plan on giving him an easy death.”