The Return from Beyond: Rescue

"Huff... huff... hey... do you have to be so dramatic? I'm exhausted, okay?"

"..."

"Say something to me!"

"..."

"I've personally taken care of hundreds, if not thousands, of people over this long period, and you're the first one who hasn't said a word until now! Are you deliberately trying to embarrass me!?"

"..." "Tsk!"

Selace angrily threw the pliers he was holding onto the metal rack, making a loud noise. He grabbed Nid's unwashed hair, which hadn't been washed for days, and forced him to look up.

He was a little surprised for a moment.

Nid's left eye had long since rotted away, with dark green mold covering the area around the eye socket.

His right eye, which was still relatively intact, was surprisingly calm at that moment.

Unlike the emptiness of the past few days, nor filled with fear or anger, I simply met his gaze calmly.

"..."

For some reason, Selace suddenly felt a pang of heart palpitation.

For a fleeting moment, though only a moment, he did indeed have the illusion that the roles of hunter and prey had been reversed.

This made him very unhappy.

"... Ha, what's wrong? Why are you acting all high and mighty again? Who was that guy I was beating up so badly before? Huh!?"

With a soft thud, Selace plunged a small knife into Nid's right eye, violently twisting it until the eyeball was completely crushed, rendering Nid blind.

But Selace didn't feel relieved at all; on the contrary, the inexplicable feeling of palpitations intensified.

Time... I glanced at my watch. Is it already this late? It's practically midnight...

"It's getting late, let's call it a day. Hopefully, you'll be able to--"

--boom!!!!!

A sudden booming sound came from directly above, clearly audible even in the underground courthouse! The ground above shook violently, with soil and debris falling continuously, just like an earthquake!

What the hell? An enemy attack!?

A cacophony of sounds erupted from outside the torture chamber: shouts, running, and strange, slurping, sticky noises—it was utter chaos.

With a thud, the door to the interrogation room was violently flung open, and a breathless member of the tribunal rushed in.

"Director!!"

"What exactly happened?!"

"The ground units have been suddenly attacked! The main chapel and one of the side chapels have been severely damaged! The entire Cathedral of the True God is now in complete chaos!"

"Huh!? Could it be the Revolutionary Army has attacked? How could they possibly bypass the outer Gloria City and come straight here?"

"No... it's... I'm afraid..."

"Stop stammering like a girl! Keep talking!"

"We just discovered... that the seal on Sin Annihilation has been broken from the inside, and she herself is currently... nowhere to be found!"

"..."

Selace's mind went completely blank for a moment.

The damage caused is secondary.

The problem is--

"All members of the Inquisition with direct authority over the Sin Annihilation must immediately move out! Hurry! The Sin Annihilation must not be exposed to the outside world under any circumstances!!!"

At the time of the incident, the spirit was being escorted back by the patrol team when a sudden, loud roar from the main chapel startled everyone.

"What happened?"

"There's been an explosion at the chapel!"

"What!?"

"Protect the Priestess first!!!"

At the patrol captain's command, several paladins immediately formed a circle to protect the spirit, but the person being protected shuddered. Almost instinctively, she sensed a familiar fluctuation coming from the direction of the rumbling sound.

It's the aura of Goddess!

But Sister Tianlu went out to fight the remnants of the Rebel Army, and Prayer Jiang stayed in the Pure Courtyard, while she herself is here...

The image of the gray-haired girl who had brushed past her in the Sadington City underground shelter suddenly flashed through her mind.

"--!!!"

Could it be that over there...?

Georgia Soren, the Sixth Seat Templar Knight, led his elite patrol to the scene of the incident. Just a few nights ago, he had told his men that since the Rebel Army Leader had been captured, there would be no more trouble. Who would have thought that such a big thing would happen today!

Who did it? Did the Rebel Army come to rescue their Leader? But how did they bypass the garrison in Gloria City and the cathedral's Imperial Guard? Was it some other hostile force?

As the old knight pondered these things, he arrived at the main chapel. The once magnificent, pristine white hall was now half-ruined, white bricks and rubble scattered everywhere. Thick smoke billowed from within, and something enormous seemed to be moving incessantly.

"--Gaa..."

The screams grew louder as they approached, and a paladin clad in armor flew out, only to be caught by the old knight just as he was about to land.

"!? Lord Soren?"

"What's going on inside? What exactly happened?"

"There's a monster!"

"Ah?"

Seeing the old knight's suspicious expression, the young paladin quickly repeated himself.

"It really is a monster, probably some kind of unknown demonic beast, who knows where it came from!"

"Judging from your disheveled appearance, this seems to be quite troublesome..."

"It wasn't too difficult. That thing just moved around randomly and had no intelligence whatsoever, so... ah, no sound. Looks like it's finally suppressed."

The noise in the chapel finally subsided. The old knight put him down, made a "follow me" gesture, and led his elite troops into the chapel.

Then, the large mass of flesh that appeared before him made him frown.

This huge pile of things was so illogical, taking up at least twenty or thirty square meters. It was like a bunch of organs, flesh, nerves, tentacles, and bones forcibly glued together. It was indescribably disgusting and too bizarre to be described as "a huge mass of flesh".

The thing was now lying limply on the ground, trembling slightly. Dozens of swords engraved with Divine Word related to sealing and suppression were stuck in its body. Its several large tentacles, which had been cut off by the paladins present, were wriggling like gecko tails, but they were no longer a threat.

"... This is the monster?"

"Yes, Lord Sauron! It was rampaging and fighting wildly from the very beginning, its destructive power was terrifying, and its vitality was also very tenacious, but fortunately we subdued it in time!"

"Thank goodness the disaster didn't escalate... By the way, did you guys—"

"Have you seen anyone else here?"

Before he could finish speaking, a rude voice forced its way in. Sometime earlier, Selace and several men in black had appeared beside the monster. The men in black were examining the monster's corpse, and Selace, unusually, wore a very serious expression.

"It's you, Selace, still as repulsive as ever." The old knight had never had a good impression of the Inquisition.

"We can talk about that later! Right now, I just want to know if anyone else witnessed anything else at the time!"

Why ask that?

"I told you to stop talking nonsense, you old geezer!"

"... According to my men, when they first arrived here, only this 'thing' was causing chaos; they didn't see anyone who seemed to be manipulating it." Although reluctant, the old knight answered honestly. Selace held a very special position within the Divine Law Cult, and even as the Sixth Seat of the Templar Knight, he didn't want to provoke him further.

"Is that so... that's good."

Selace's expression softened somewhat.

In that case, that guy, Sin Annihilation, shouldn't have been exposed to the public yet.

... etc.

So what's with this big chunk of meat?

This thing is clearly a product of Sin Annihilation's own internal organs multiplying and splitting apart, meaning she created it and then just left it here? Why?

"Hey, no way... could it be...?"

By this time, the old knight and his patrolmen had approached the still slightly wriggling mass of flesh.

The bizarre stench of blood, flesh, and fat forced them to pinch their noses; the closer they got to the creature, the more nauseating it became. The old knight, despite his vast experience, couldn't recognize it. This thing was unlike any other creature he had ever seen.

"Lord Sauron, would you like to...?"

"Okay, let's get started."

Following the old knight's instructions, the young patrolman immediately drew his longsword and cleaved it fiercely at what appeared to be the center of the chunk of flesh.

Blood and flesh splattered everywhere.

The pungent smell of blood and faint steam emanating from inside made the young team member wrinkle his nose. While silently reciting the teachings of the Supreme God to distract himself, he quickly chopped and sliced away large chunks of meat, soon revealing the core of the large mass of flesh.

"Any decent demonic beast will have a core, so if this guy is a demonic beast, he should also have one... Hmm? What's this?"

However, what was exposed was not the essence.

The thing was a rather peculiar bulge, swollen in the middle, with openings at both ends connected to thin tubes...

"The human stomach?"

That's strange, why would there be human organs inside this thing? And a stomach at that.

Only Selace immediately realized what this thing meant.

In that instant, his soul almost flew away.

"Evacuate everyone—Quickly!!!!!!!!!"

Shouting, he dashed out of the chapel's dilapidated doors at his fastest speed ever. The nearest Inquisition members immediately followed, while the patrolmen and the old knight lagged behind.

In that instant, the "stomach" sacrificed by the Sin Annihilation exploded like a terrifying Acid Bomb.

The screams outside the door finally stopped.

The slippery, wet sound no longer came.

The entire underground courthouse fell silent; the extreme quiet was unsettling, but Nid, bound to the torture chair, showed no fear whatsoever.

Click--click--click--

The sound of locks being unlocked echoed repeatedly until finally the door opened, and Nid felt the light from outside for the first time in many days.

There's someone at the door.

Even though Nid's eyes had been destroyed, he could still easily sense these things.

"... Nid Bradwich?"

What reached his still relatively intact ear was a girl's voice, devoid of any inflection.

"Yes...it is..." The tongue, which had been torn to shreds countless times, slowly wove together the words.

"But could you tell me first... how did you find this place?"

"Someone told me where you are."

"... I see."

So... the Revolutionary Army's mole within the Vatican wasn't idle after all, but rather had been waiting for his opportunity?

"Very good. Next, while they are all drawn to the chapel, I will help you escape, but..."

"... but?"

"But I need you to be my guide, so I can move freely within the Revolutionary Army and find Xiao Wu."