Dawn in Vayne had never looked this crimson.
The sun, crawling up the eastern horizon, seemed to be spilling blood-red ink onto the grey clouds.
In the main square before the Northern Cathedral, a sea of people had gathered since the first bell tolled.
However, this was no devout congregation; it was a collection of dying monsters.
Thousands of Vayne’s citizens stood with trembling bodies.
Their eyes were bloodshot, sunken, and wild.
Low moans echoed from every corner, creating a suffocating harmony of horror.
The effects of the Lethal Joy from yesterday’s holy bread had hit rock bottom.
Their nerves screamed, their brains demanding the “dose” of happiness that had now turned into a fire burning through the marrow of their bones.
On the grand balcony of the Cathedral, adorned with gold carvings, Eliana stood wearing a pristine white gown that shimmered in the morning light.
Her innocent face looked like an angel descended from heaven, a stark contrast to the gruesome scene below.
Beside her, Inquisitor Malachi stood with a satisfied smirk hidden behind his white robes.
”My beloved children…” Eliana’s voice began to flow.
[System: Warning!
Manipulative sound waves detected.
This frequency is tuned to bypass emotional defenses.
Boss, put on your mental headsets right now!]
Eliana’s voice possessed a strange resonance—soft, yet it crawled into the skull like thousands of fine needles.
This was the Voice of Manipulation.
”I know you suffer.
This pain is proof that your souls are fighting against the darkness brought by the ruler of that castle,” Eliana said in a heart-wrenching, sorrowful tone.
“Azura Vayne has cursed this land.
She envies the happiness God bestowed through yesterday’s holy bread.
That is why you are sick…
because the demon in the castle refuses to kneel before the truth!”
The fragile souls in the crowd began to sob.
Their confusion and pain now had a target: Azura Vayne.
”Give us another blessing, Saintess!” a man shouted, foam bubbling at his mouth.
“Please stop this pain!”
”We have no more bread…
because the way has been blocked by Azura’s army of black knights,” Eliana wiped away fake tears.
“There is only this Holy Water.
Drink, and strengthen your faith to seek justice at the castle gates!”
The masses began to roar.
Azura’s name was shouted as a curse.
They were ready to march toward the castle to slaughter anyone in their way for just a drop of the promised “happiness.”
But, just as the crowd was about to explode into a frenzy, a heavy thumping echoed from the main road.
THOOM!
THOOM!
THOOM!
It wasn’t the sound of ordinary war drums.
[System: Yo, Metal Soundtrack Mode: ON!
Let’s give them a real stage!]
Music with heavy guitar riffs and bone-shaking bass (audible only to Azura) began to pump her adrenaline.
From behind the thin dawn mist, the Vayne knights emerged in disciplined formation.
At their head, Azura Vayne rode a jet-black steed, clad in deep blue knight’s attire with a cloak billowing like a raven’s wings.
Eliana fell silent.
She immediately ramped up the intensity of her aura.
“Look!
The Demon comes to silence your prayers!
Do not let her speak!”
Eliana’s voice hit Azura like a storm.
Thump.
Azura’s heart hammered.
The square of Vayne vanished, replaced by a dimly lit room in her old world.
She saw a man—her right hand, the one person she trusted most—smiling as he offered a glass of red wine.
”To our victory, Boss,” the man’s voice sounded as sweet as Eliana’s.
Azura felt her throat burn.
That betrayal.
The searing pain as hot lead pierced her back from the very people she had fed.
Her head felt like it was splitting.
Eliana’s voice continued to whisper in her ear: “You are alone…
you are unloved…
you deserve to die…”
[System: HEY BOSS!
WAKE UP!
Don’t get emotional over this broken tape recorder!
STATUS: HIGH DANGER!
SHOCK THERAPY INITIATED!]
ZAP!
A jolt of static electricity from the system slammed into Azura’s nerves, pulling her back from the abyss of memory.
Azura’s sea-blue eyes snapped open, now glinting with a frozen fury.
She took a deep breath, discarding the remnants of the manipulation with one cold exhale.
”Saintess…” Azura murmured, her voice low yet cutting through Eliana’s like a blade.
Azura pulled her horse’s reins, stopping right in the center of the crowd that was beginning to retreat from the intimidating aura radiating from her.
Beside Azura, Aurelia stepped forward in her scholar’s robes, her face looking utterly disgusted, as if she were looking at a talking pile of trash.
”People of Vayne!” Azura cried out, her voice echoing with absolute authority.
“You say you suffer from a curse?
You say you long for a blessing?”
Azura pointed toward Eliana on the balcony.
“The girl up there is not giving you heaven.
She is selling you hell in the form of bread crumbs.”
”Lies!” Malachi shouted from the balcony.
“She is a witch!
Do not listen to her!”
Aurelia stepped forward, unfurling a large parchment scroll with a violent snap.
“Shut up, you illiterate, fanatical old man!” Aurelia shouted cynically.
“I, Aurelia Vayne, have dissected what you call a ‘blessing’.
That bread contains Lethal Joy extract.
A substance that triggers false euphoria by destroying your nerve cells.
The pain in your heads right now?
That isn’t a test of faith.
It’s your brains rotting from withdrawal!”
The crowd fell silent for a moment.
Aurelia’s cold, technical explanation began to seep into the cracks of their remaining logic.
”And the holy water she’s holding?” Aurelia pointed to the vial in Eliana’s hand.
“That is just water laced with high-dose sedatives.
It won’t heal you.
It will only turn you into obedient living corpses until your hearts stop beating the day after tomorrow!”
”Where is the proof?!” a citizen screamed, clutching his aching head.
Azura gave a hand signal.
Arthur and the soldiers immediately lowered five giant cauldrons from the horse-drawn wagons.
A bitter-smelling green steam began to fill the air.
”Here is your proof,” Azura pointed to the cauldrons.
“This is an antidote crafted with science, not empty prayers.
Who among you is the bravest?
Step forward, and see for yourselves what lies within your bellies!”
A large man, nearly mad from withdrawal, crawled forward.
Arthur grabbed the man’s neck and forced him to drink a full ladle of the bitter green liquid.
Silence blanketed the square.
Thousands of eyes stared at the man.
two seconds…
”Gack…
BLEGH!”
The man suddenly fell to his knees and vomited a thick, pitch-black liquid onto the cobblestones.
The liquid smelled foul, like meat rotting under the sun.
The crowd screamed in terror and scrambled back.
”Look!” Azura’s voice boomed, thundering across the square.
“That is the ‘blessing’ you swallowed!
That is the filth the Church poured into your holy bodies!
How much more blackness do you want to keep in your stomachs before you realize that God never poisons His people?!”
In the crowd, Alaric Varentis, disguised as a commoner in drab clothes, began to play his part.
He shouted with a loud voice that triggered a chain reaction.
”Look at the vomit!
It’s poison!
The Church is poisoning us all!
They want to kill us so they can take Vayne’s land!” Alaric shouted with a tone full of provocation.
The once-hesitant people began to see the black liquid being vomited up by several others who were forced to drink the antidote by the soldiers.
One by one, the people began to realize the bitter truth.
The stench of the black vomit destroyed the lingering illusions of Eliana’s honeyed fragrance.
”Traitors!” a mother screamed, throwing a stone toward the Cathedral balcony.
“You poisoned our children!”
Crack!
The stone hit the pillar near Eliana’s head.
The “Saintess’s” face was now deathly pale.
Her previously holy aura cracked, revealing the fear of a teenage girl whose cunning scheme had been exposed before thousands of raging people.
”No…
this is a misunderstanding!
This is a trial!” Eliana tried to speak, but her voice was now drowned out by the roar of the people’s fury.
Malachi realized the situation had spiraled out of control.
He grabbed Eliana’s arm roughly.
“Get inside!
Quickly, get inside and lock the main doors!”
”Run then, Malachi!” Azura shouted from atop her horse, her eyes piercing the balcony.
“Lock those doors tight.
Because from this moment on, this Cathedral is no longer the house of God, but a prison for traitors!”
The masses began to storm the Cathedral gates, throwing anything they could find.
The Vayne soldiers quickly formed a perimeter—not to protect the Church, but to ensure the citizens received their doses of the antidote first.
Azura dismounted, walking among the people who were vomiting out their poison.
She no longer looked like an enemy; she looked like the only person holding a torch in the middle of the darkness.
Aurelia stood beside Azura, adjusting her glasses.
“It’s so exhausting talking to these idiots,” she murmured cynically, “but I must admit, seeing that Saintess tremble was worth every lost hour of sleep.”
Azura only gave a lethal, thin smile.
She glanced toward Alaric, who was smirking in the distance, winking at her.
”Science: one.
Dogma: zero,” Azura whispered softly.
[System: Ding!
Public Reputation has surged to 60%!
The people now realize you are the ‘Bitter Medicine’ they need.
Victory Soundtrack Mode: ON!]
Dawn had now fully broken.
The sunlight illuminated the square filled with black vomit—a horrific sight that marked the birth of a new loyalty.
Before the tightly locked Cathedral doors, the people of Vayne now stood with eyes beginning to clear, facing the castle, waiting for the next command from the woman they once called a demon, but who had proven to be their savior.
Azura stood tall amidst the destruction.
The night of decision was over, and now, it was time for the final checkmate against Malachi.