"This is the territorial sea of the Prince of the North Sea of the Gallic Empire!"
A Penitent Knight swiftly flew toward the giant whale of mysterious origin, shouting sternly, "Leave this place, or you will be sent to the stake in the name of heresy! You and your entire clan will all be burned to death!"
The sound of the bronze flute stopped abruptly. Standing atop the whale, the middle-aged man in an antique-bronze robe, his black hair flying behind him and his face bearing an eerie bronze hue, gazed coldly at the Penitent Knight and asked, word by word, "Penitent Knight?"
The Penitent Knight puffed out his chest. The enormous Temple of Punishment badge on his breast suddenly spouted threads of golden flame. That gesture alone was enough to prove his identity. The Order of Penitent Knights was renowned throughout the Western Continent, feared enough to stop children crying at night. Ordinarily, once this scale-patterned emblem was displayed, no one dared stand before a Penitent Knight's horse.
"So it really is you lot!" The middle-aged man standing atop the giant whale smiled and nodded. "Bullying children isn't very glorious, but when it comes to the Temple of Punishment's holy-stick swindlers, why bother with such scruples? Kill one more, and the world is that much more peaceful—isn't that the logic?"
With a flick of his bronze flute, a stream of seawater suddenly shot into the air, transforming into an arrow of water that streaked forth.
The imposing Penitent Knight floating in midair merely saw a flash of watery light before him. Then a sudden, piercing pain exploded between his brows. His vision went black, and he lost all awareness. The thumb-thick, more-than-a-foot-long water arrow pierced his skull, shattered his helmet, and extinguished his soul before turning into a streak