The vast library space grew suffocatingly tight following the Priest’s suggestive inquiry.
His shadow cast long upon the ground, completely eclipsing Loona’s subtly trembling frame.
Beholding the young girl’s pale countenance and rigid posture, Priest Malachi suddenly erupted into a soft, gentle chuckle.
He raised a finger, lightly gesturing toward the skin beneath her eyes as he shook his head:
— “Look at those dark circles; they are as pitch-black as a little panda’s.
If the bed in your new room is uncomfortable or unfamiliar, I shall instruct Sister Clara to swap your bedding for something softer, alright?”
Hearing this, the crushing weight hanging in Loona’s heart partially lifted.
She swallowed hard, hastily waving her tiny hands as she scrambled for a logical excuse to gloss it over:
— “No, no, it’s perfectly fine, Father!
The bed is exceptionally plush.
It’s likely…
likely because I devoured too many books yesterday and my mind grew a bit heavy, making it difficult to fall asleep.”
— “Oh, is that so?” Malachi arched an eyebrow, his characteristic benevolent smile returning to his lips.
“Then continue your research here, young lady.
I shall depart to tend to some matters.”
— “Yes…
goodbye, Father.”
The moment the Priest’s towering frame completely vanished behind the library doors, Loona finally released the tension in her chest, exhaling a long, ragged sigh of relief.
She collapsed onto the wooden floor, cold sweat drenching her palms.
Standing before an individual possessing two such terrifying, diametric countenances, the psychological pressure was simply monumental.
She stared blankly at the biology textbook before her, her mind caught in a fierce internal tug-of-war: “Should I reveal this horrific truth to Brother Shin and Brother Kento?”
A Fleeting Respite
By late afternoon, when the blistering summer heat had finally subsided, the spacious courtyard of the convent became more vibrant than ever.
To provide some entertainment for the orphans, the sisters, along with the Priest and Mother Superior, organized a casual football match.
The atmosphere was exceptionally lively and joyous.
Priest Malachi donned a whistle, voluntarily acting as the referee with an immensely impartial expression.
Mother Superior Agatha sat at a small wooden table, her pen silently logging the score, while Sister Clara stood at the sidelines, continuously shouting and enthusiastically cheering for the children.
The match grew fiercely competitive when Shin and Ling Mo were placed on opposing teams.
Though merely an exhibition game, given the astonishing physiology and intrinsic speed of the two martial prodigies, the ball contests between Shin and Ling Mo left the surrounding children constantly marveling and cheering without pause.
Following that exuberant athletic exchange, nightfall descended.
The sisters quickly rushed to the kitchen to prepare a sumptuous feast for the youth.
At the massive dining table, Shin, Kento, and Ling Mo ravenously shoveled down their food with relish.
All three had spent a long, exhausting day drilling their techniques at Sensei Ren’s dojo, leaving their stomachs completely hollow.
However, at the opposite corner of the table, Loona clutched her spoon in a daze.
Staring at the mouth-watering dish before her, she simply couldn’t swallow a single bite, her mind continuously haunted by the memories of the subterranean vault from the night before.
To enliven the dining atmosphere, Priest Malachi suddenly stood up, gesticulating dramatically as he began spinning a primordial tale for the children: “The Knight and the Dragon.” With his resonant, shifting tone and vivid, immersive expressions, his storytelling was so captivating that the surrounding children listened with gaping mouths, entirely forgetting to eat.
Sister Clara giggled quietly at the children’s naive expressions.
Meanwhile, Mother Superior Agatha merely shook her head, helplessly watching the Priest’s exaggerated performance, thoroughly accustomed to the fact that he brought an elaborate story to every single meal.
— “Perhaps Father should consider writing novels instead; I guarantee you would become quite famous,” Agatha remarked in a dry, monotonous sneer.
Malachi paused, winking at the kids before laughing heartily:
— “But I do not wish to be an author.
I only desire to tell stories to the young ones of this convent.
Isn’t that right, children?”
— “Yes, that’s right!” the children shouted in unison.
“Keep telling it, Father!
The part where the knight draws his sword is so awesome!”
Once dinner concluded, the children enjoyed a brief period of light activity before curfew.
Beneath the cool, breezy shade of the ancient tree outside, Shin, Kento, and Ling Mo huddled in a corner.
Shin and Kento enthusiastically discussed the grappling positions and force-rotations of Aikido they had learned that afternoon.
To illustrate the techniques, the two brothers decided to lightly ignite their Sophion energy.
BOOM…
From Shin’s body, a dense aura of blending crimson and absolute black surged forth, coiling like a spectral, authoritative nether-fire.
Beside him, Kento refused to be outdone, channeling his focus to release a pure white Sophion shroud.
If Kento’s white aura back in the Dark Zone had appeared exceptionally fragile and weak, then after his continuous days of frantic Kyokushin Karate training, that white hue had now become dense, solid, and radiated a razor-sharp force.
Sitting beside them, a sharp glint flickered across Ling Mo’s eyes.
Without a word, he gave a subtle shift of his shoulders, unleashing a deep-blue Sophion shroud that churned like a subterranean oceanic tide, proving his status as the strongest disciple of the Asuka Dojo.
The three youths continued exchanging martial insights under the cover of night until Sister Clara approached to remind them it was bedtime.
Retracting their energy, they reluctantly returned to their room.
Inside the three siblings’ bedroom, as Shin and Kento finished changing and prepared to climb into bed, they suddenly noticed Loona standing frozen in the center of the room, her hands tightly interlaced, her face etched with a fierce, agonizing internal struggle.
After a long internal war, she decided she could no longer conceal it from her brothers.
Loona took a deep breath, stepping forward boldly, and lowered her voice to recount everything she had witnessed last night at the Cathedral: from the hidden vault, the Crusade oath, and the advanced armory to Priest Malachi’s runic greatsword.
Hearing this, Kento’s eyes went wide, questioning her with sheer skepticism:
— “Loona…
is everything you just told us absolutely true?
You didn’t misinterpret things due to drowsiness?”
— “I swear on my honor!
If I am lying, let the monsters of the Dark Zone snatch me away in the dead of night!” Loona declared resolutely, her face flushing crimson with absolute seriousness.
Shin fell silent, the sixteen-year-old’s expression morphing into one of severe gravity.
He muttered beneath his breath:
— “The Crusade Division…?
The Supreme Church…?”
— “Brother Shin, could it be…
that they are actually people who secretly protect this entire convent?” Kento hypothesized.
Shin shook his head, slowly analyzing with his sharp intuition:
— “That is entirely possible.
But if the Priest and Mother Superior truly harbored malicious intent toward us, with their terrifying power, they would have eliminated the three of us on the very first night.
There would be absolutely no reason to nurture us, feed us delicacies, and buy us candy until now.
Furthermore…
I believe his true identity aligns more with that of an assassin.
There is no logical explanation for acting as a benevolent priest by day and carrying a sword to execute missions by night.
The sole plausible theory is that he holds dual identities: a Priest and an Assassin of the Church.”
Shin looked at his siblings, his voice turning strict with warning:
— “We must keep this secret locked tight within our hearts.
Do not speak of it to anyone else, including Sensei Ren or the people at the dojo.
Act exactly as though we know nothing.”
Standing to the side, listening to his brother’s analysis, an exceptionally intriguing sensation suddenly surged within Kento’s heart.
He remained mute, offering no further words to Shin or Loona.
Kento resolved to keep this matter buried deep within his mind.
That formidable power, that profound opportunity for him to grow stronger to avenge his grandfather…
as it turned out, it wasn’t far away at all.
It lay right within his line of sight, at this very mysterious convent.
— “Alright, it is far too late.
You two should go to sleep; we will figure things out tomorrow,” Shin patted his siblings’ shoulders.
“Goodnight, you two.” This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
— “Goodnight, Brother Shin!” Loona and Kento replied in unison before climbing into bed, closing a highly tumultuous day.
Whispers in the High Tower
Concurrently, within the Priest’s office located on the highest tier of the tower, the door stood locked tight, with only a flickering candle illuminating the corner.
Priest Malachi and Mother Superior Agatha stood facing one another, the atmosphere saturated with the absolute gravity of individuals forged from blood and shadow.
— “Is everything at the convent still orderly, Agatha?” Malachi asked in a low tone, gently brushing away invisible dust particles from his sleeve.
Agatha crossed her arms over her chest, responding coldly:
— “Everything remains under absolute control.
Not a single soul in the convent, including the other sisters, harbors the slightest inkling of your movements last night.
As for the target of this specific assignment…
has it been dealt with smoothly?”
— “Naturally, Agatha,” Malachi curled his lip, a razor-sharp glint flashing across his eyes.
“Do you truly need to question my craftsmanship?
I sanitized the scene immaculately, leaving behind absolutely no traces linking back to the Church.
By the way…
I recently extracted an exceptionally critical piece of intelligence from our internal espionage network.”
— “What intelligence?” Agatha frowned.
Malachi walked closer to the window, staring out into the bleak, gray night sky:
— “Word from the supreme command…
Kusanagi Takeru has officially resurfaced!
Currently, countless rumors speculate that he will be the absolute figure to bring a decisive end to this chaotic Gen-Primal era.
I predict that within a maximum of four years, this blood-drenched generation will reach its conclusion.
And at that moment, a new generation will undoubtedly rise to seize power.
What do you suppose…
the next epoch will be?”
Agatha fell into brief contemplation before offering her assessment:
— “The new generation following the conclusion of the genocidal era?
I imagine it will revolve around clandestine political conflicts and the underground power struggles of nations.”
— “Oh, no…” Malachi shook his head subtly, his smile turning profoundly eerie.
“The next generation…
will likely witness the absolute coronation of raw Power and brutal Might!”
Speaking to this point, the Priest’s expression suddenly hardened, his voice dropping into a dangerous register:
— “But before we contemplate what lies four years from now…
I believe that currently, our hidden chamber’s secret has been compromised.”
— “What?!” Agatha jolted, her eyes instantly surging with lethal intent.
— “It is the young girl, Loona,” Malachi narrowed his eyes.
“This afternoon in the library, when I presented the candy and asked a casual question about her sleep last night…
my senses caught it with absolute clarity: her heart rate suddenly spiked abnormally, and her entire frame shivered with fear.
I am absolutely certain that last night, she took a wrong turn and accidentally witnessed things she shouldn’t have seen.”
Mother Superior Agatha’s eyes betrayed an unyielding cruelty.
Resting her hand upon the hilt of the dagger concealed behind her waist, she inquired in a chilling tone:
— “Then what do you intend to do?
Or perhaps…
shall I act on your behalf and silently eliminate the girl to eradicate any future liability?”
— “Hold on, absolutely not!” Malachi immediately raised a hand to halt her, his gaze reflecting the supreme gravity and absolute principles of a Crusade warrior.
“Our sole purpose of existence…
is to stand behind the Church to sanitize the toxic stains within the darkness.
We were trained and forged to eradicate malicious heretics, not to slaughter innocent children.”
END OF CHAPTER 15