The sun hadnāt even come up and yet Pope Helmut Helvine was busy washing his face.
While he was known to not sleep very much, today it was for a different reason. His attitude wasnāt normal.
Helmut silently swore repeatedly as he scrubbed his face.
His face was swollen red and his pale expression made one wonder how long heād been doing this.
āShit, damn itā¦ā¦ā¦.ā
He looked at his face into the mirror on top of the sink.
An old manās face with wrinkles and black spots. Heād heard often that his face looked sly, but Helmut didnāt have too many problems with how his face looked.
Sneakily, he had made sure anyone whispering rude descriptions paid the price.
However, this time it was different.
āWhy. Why is the smell of blood not going away!ā
Helmut furiously cursed out in anger.
A few days ago, a saintress was prohecising as usual on the altar.
On that particular day, there were no messages from the oracle, therefore the saintress had been declaring made up prophecies that Helmut had instructed her to say.
But then, after going into a seizure, the saintress suddenly cut out her tongue after professing that āshe no longer wanted to lieā.
Helmut whoād been praying from the front row was on the receiving end of the blood that sprayed from her mouth.
Freaking out, he had quickly moved away, but not before her blood had already sprayed onto his face.
The tongue-less saintress giggled and convulsed in front of him. After arresting her, theyād healed her condition back to normal, but a saintress without a tongue was of no more use to him.
Then came the other problem. No matter how many times he washed the saintressās blood from his face, the smell and the stickiness didnāt disappear.
After vigorously washing his face a few more times, Helmut threw away the wash bucket. A female apprentice priest came running along after seeing the water spill onto the floor. She picked up the bucket.
āā¦ā¦Bring me clean water.ā
The apprentice squirmed as she backed off. Helmut thought about how heād look in the eyes of the scared apprentice priest. Most likely a lunatic.
He couldnāt take it any longer. The Pope called out and stopped the female priest carrying the wash bucket.
āYou, wait.ā
āYes, your holiness.ā
āCome here and smell my face.ā
The female priestās face panicked. But knowing that the Pope didnāt like to repeat things twice, she carefully approached him and smelled his face.
āWhat do you smell?ā
āā¦ā¦ā¦Nothing but the smell of soap, your holiness.ā
Helmut had been about to rage, but realised she had no reason to lie.
Upon feeling a wave of tiredness sweep in, Helmut waved at the priest apprentice to leave.
āThatās all. You donāt bring me the water.ā
The female priest lowered her head in a sigh of relief and quickly left the room holding the wash bucket.
Helmut thought about what had happened to him. Maybe he really did go mad.
His mind wasnāt so weak that he was shocked at seeing the saintress cut of her own tongue.
Helmut had been a soldier since the days of the emperor, and after his eternal sleep, he had committed purges after purges.
He had seen some indescribable things and would win against most knights in how much blood that was on his hand.
āHmmā¦..Maybe, there was something else in the oracleās message.ā
The title of saintress was a mere formality. They took any virgin women or female priest and named them saintress before placing them on the altar.
It was an act to calm the public and stay popular with people of the empire.
Though it was strange to see a saintress be named this way, there were times when they unexpectedly professed a prophecy spontaneously.
Having created the position of a saintress, Helmut didnāt believe or have much thought in the position, but anytime an unprepared prophecy was revealed, he noticed that in nine out of ten times it became true.
And recently, these incidents have been occuring more often. The prophecy about the black haired emperor, and the tongue cutting prophecy were the worst of the bunch.
Helmut thought deeply whether he needed to abolish the position of the saintress. But in these times when the public was uneasy, it would be even harder to control the public sentiment without a popular saintress.
āIāll need to make sure the next saintress is the most bland, average woman that I can find.ā
As he thought about his next course of actions, he heard a knock on his door. The apprentice priest from before had come back with a rolled up black scroll.
Helmut frowned. A black scroll meant it was an urgent report. It wasnāt something that a mere apprentice priest should ever have in her hands.
āWhat. Who delivered it?ā
āA priest in black clothing, your holinessā¦ā¦ā
The female apprentice carefully handed the scroll to Helmut. Black clothed priests were doctrine enforcers. And those enforcers working at Holy city of Torra were those that were carrying out Helmutās secret assignments.
Helmutās face hardened. He hastily opened up the scroll.
Quickly scanning through the message, Helmutās face alternated from blue to red and then finally turned pale. The anger that filled his entire body up to his head strangely made him calm.
[ Messenger sent by Pope missing. Holy Paladin knights, White crow order commenced attack on Hiveden. White crow knights annihilated. Only a fraction succeeded in fleeing. Many witnesses but knowing this matter is of grave importance and mysterious, will investigate more for now. Subsequent reports will be delivered. ]
āYou want me to believe this?ā
Every detail inside the report was of terror. Helmutās hand shook and his breathing fastened as he clutched the scroll in his hand.
Upon seeing his rage, the female apprentice quietly whispered.
āPlease calm down, your holiness.ā
āCalm down?ā
Helmut realised why his doctrine enforcers didnāt deliver the message themselves, and handed it to the female priest.
They knew that the Pope would be infuriated after reading the contents of the report.
Helmut grabbed the wash bucket and slammed it down onto the apprenticeās head.
The female priest lightly screamed but Helmut didnāt stop. Repeatedly, he slammed onto the female priestās head. The female priest tumbled to the ground as a strange sound echoed.
But even so, Helmutās hand didnāt stop swinging.
Sound of blood gushing and bones breaking filled the Popeās personal chamber.
Everytime Helmut swung down, the female priestās body convulsed.
After a long time, Helmut threw away the wash bucket that had been dented out of shape. The room was covered with blood stains. Only a small portion of the female priestās head remained.
Helmut breathed in and out deeply then slowly raised his index finger.
What was left of the female priestās head instantly started to restore.
Like a newly growing tree, starting from the spine, then nerves, arteries and veins, bones, flesh all instantly regenerated. The female priestās body shook for a while then she suddenly gasped for breath.
āEeeeekā¦ā¦..!ā
seeing the blood, bones and brains on the floor in front of her upon opening her eyes, she screamed.
Then soon realised it was hers. In an instant her eyes filled with terror.
Helmut gestured with his chin with a tired expression.
āClean that up and bring me a new bucket of water.ā
*****
Roen basin near the holy city of Torra.
After popular belief that an ancient god had crashed into the basin, it was famous for not growing anything but some light grass.
Time to time, there were people that had travelled to this land in search of scenery to train. But after being selected as an exclusive training spot for the knights at the capital, general entry into the land was banned.
However, the truth was that this was a lie.
This was a piece of land that was difficult and even made someone like Commander of the Capitalās knights, Pavan Peltere nervous.
Hearing a heavy sound echoing across him, he slowly started walking over.
Not long after, Pavan was able to find one person.
An elderly white bearded man that had a body mass that was twice the size of Pavanās and full of scars from the countless battles heād participated in.
Just approaching the old man made Pavan feel as if the air around him became more tense.
In front of the old man, a 10 metre long golden cow stood.
Currently, the old man had the cow by the horns and stuffed into the ground.
Angrily spitting out saliva from its mouth, the cow was struggling against the old manās strength. The old man comfortably held the cow in place and didnāt move an inch.
Pavan looked for an opportunity to begin a conversation but found it difficult to know the right time.
āA beautiful creature, isnāt it?ā
A deep, grand voice flowed out and entered Pavanās ear.
āNot a good time, Pavan. Iām in the middle of a taming session.ā
āItās quite theā¦ā¦..majestic beast sir.ā
āIts a Shinsoo[1]. Contrary to popular belief, a few things that were left behind by the gods are beautiful, like this one. Iām guessing it may be your first time seeing one.ā
A surprised Pavan nodded his head. A Shinsooā¦ā¦
Beasts that were once pets and agents of gods.
Having heard that the majority had gone extinct during the emperorās era, it was his first time seeing one.
Pavan couldnāt even guess where this old man may have caught a Shinsoo.
āSo, what is it?ā
Only then, Pavan returned to his senses.
āUrgent report from the Capitalās intelligence. Itās reported that the White crow knights sustained a heavy defeat.ā
Pavan quietly opened his mouth. But the old man didnāt even seem interested.
āItās said that the White crow knights refused Popeās orders and unilaterally attacked the Hiveden in search of the Hugin knights. In response the Pope sent a messenger, but the messenger has gone missing and the White crow knights still commenced their attack. Its likely that the messenger was murdered.ā
āWhat a mess.ā
āEven Bishop Rieto joined the battle but still only a few White crow knights managed to flee intact and Commander Ethan is nowhere to be found. I heard that the Pope is trying to use this incident to tighten up internal control.ā
āLars Raude, I didnāt expect much from that child. All the more so, considering that a Bishop participated. Thought it was the end for him when heād tried to assassinate me that timeā¦.ā
Pavan took a deep breath. Here came the main part of discussion.
āIt appears Lars Raude has died in battle.ā
The old man stayed silent for a moment. Then calmly spoke.
āIs that right. Soā¦ just like that, another sun has set huh.ā
āThereās one another thing to report sir. This one isā¦ā¦ Itās hard to believe its credibility. I think it may be false information that the Hugin knights purposely spread or an exaggerated event that manifested from Hiveden. Butā¦.Iām not sure what Pope Helmut is going to do with this information soā¦..ā
āSeeing you spout so many excuses like that, it really must be something ridiculous. Go on.ā
āApparently, Lars Raude had transformed into the God of death, Nigrato himself.ā
āā¦ā¦Had?ā
āYes. And that the emperor came forth and subdued him from this world.ā
For the first time, there was a reaction from the elderly man. The old man slowly turned his head.
Upon seeing the old manās face, Pavan became overwhelmed just from his gaze. The amount of pressure he exerted from his eyes made Pavanās neck stiff.
Furthermore, the circular white horns on top that almost signified a crown was seemingly giving a vibe of royalty.
Pavan quickly carried on.
āAgain, this is only a rumour spread from the battle sir. Lars had always been intertwined with undeads so I can see how this baseless rumour spread. It wouldāve been the first time heād appeared in front of the public. And the rumour regarding the emperorā¦..I think the Pope may have been behind it sir. Trying to strengthen his control and influence internallyā¦.. Instead of heeding to these blasphemous rumors, how about keeping a close eye on the Popeā¦ā¦.ā
With a tthu dduk sound, the giant cow shaped Shinsooās knees dropped to the ground.
A shock shook the surrounding area as the giant meat fell onto its side.
The old man, having twisted the Shinsooās neck 180 degrees with one gesture, took the broken horn from the cow and chucked it away.
āPavan.ā
Unknowingly, Pavanās mouth was closed and his head already bowed. He started to uncontrollably sweat everywhere on his body.
Not of his own doing, Pavanās couldnāt help but obey the will of the old manās voice. Pavan reaffirmed who he was speaking to.
āGo and bring me the ārightā information. The truth. Not rumours.ā
If this old man wanted the seat of the emperor, there was no one in the empire to stop him.
But, he did not do this.
He smirked at everyone as if he had no thoughts of being tied down to such a trifling position.
However, there wasnāt a single being that questioned his overwhelming strength that swayed the course of the wind in the empire.
There were many proclaimed names of his. High regent of the empire, General of the empireās military, last survivor of the Honsluin tribe, empireās number one.
Vares Valte.
āāāāāāāāāāāā
[1] ā I searched extensively for thisā¦.Pretty sure itās a made up word.
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