Chapter 37

Xia Zuoyi was escorted outside by Segalot.

Three corpses still lay across the corridor, blood flowing everywhere, and the smell hanging in the air was inevitably unpleasant.

"Walker."

Xia Zuoyi's call made Walker, who had been anxiously searching at the end of the corridor, look up at once. Joy immediately appeared on his face, and he quickly headed toward Xia Zuoyi.

Segalot stood inside the doorway, dressed in black as though he were hidden within the darkness, deep and still.

In his right hand, he concealed the small bird whistle Xia Zuoyi had taken off and handed to him. His fingertips slowly traced its finely carved patterns as he said softly, "I look forward to seeing you claim victory in the end, Little Rose."

Xia Zuoyi paused mid-step as he walked toward Walker. He involuntarily turned around and met Segalot's slightly dim golden eyes.

The latter curled his lips in a smile, then turned and returned to the room.

The door slowly closed before Xia Zuoyi.

"Lord Earl!"

Walker hurried to Xia Zuoyi's side and anxiously checked him over. Kneeling on one knee, he carefully examined him from head to toe. "Are you all right?!"

Xia Zuoyi came back to himself and shook his head. "I'm fine, Walker. Let's leave the church quickly."

"Okay."

Before picking Xia Zuoyi up, Walker frowned at the three corpses in the corridor and the tightly shut door beside him...

Just now, someone had been standing behind that door and speaking to the earl... Who was it?!

There was no time to think further.

Bass Riches's men were still inside the church. They had to withdraw quickly and rendezvous with the soldiers outside the royal city.

Xia Zuoyi had Walker take him to find Marco Case first.

As they retraced their route, they happened to encounter Marquis Case fighting the royal city knights midway.

After dealing with the royal city knights, the group fought their way toward the church exit under the soldiers' cover.

Segalot returned to the room and looked coldly at Bishop Bolton and the acting bishop.

He toyed with the delicate little bird whistle in his hand and said casually, "How much money and benefit did Bass Riches promise you to make you participate in this royal assassination?"

Bishop Bolton's face was covered in cold sweat. His lips trembled several times before he managed to speak clearly. Then he begged, "Y-Your Holiness, please forgive me..."

The acting bishop had likewise been frightened limp.

Segalot said, "You allowed Bass Riches to commit murder in the church, staining the divine statues with blood and disregarding the Sacred See's holy will."

"According to church doctrine, you will be stripped of your status, removed from office, and atone with your death."

"No! No, no..."

The acting bishop backed away with a pale, terrified face, trying to escape this room that was like a prison of death.

He tried to scramble up and rush out the door, but he was not faster than the black-robed man standing beside him like a statue. He was immediately seized by the hair and ruthlessly dragged to Segalot's feet.

Segalot's expression remained indifferent as he said, "Do it."

"Your Holiness, spare—"

Before the acting bishop could finish speaking, the black-robed man slashed his throat. Blood instantly sprayed out, blooming into a pattern across the floor.

Bishop Bolton knelt nearby with wide, terrified eyes as he watched the acting bishop futilely clutch his neck and struggle, before finally collapsing silently to the ground.

The black-robed man approached him with a bloodstained curved blade in hand.

Bishop Bolton shuddered.

He did not want to die like this. In panic, he pulled a dagger from his robes and swung it at the black-robed man, trying to seize the chance to flee the room when the man dodged.

However, he was merely a desperate lamb with nowhere to run. All hope was extinguished.

Moments later, the black-robed man drove his blade through Bishop Bolton's chest. He died before the door, swallowing his last breath with his eyes open.

"Your Holiness."

The black-robed man's muffled, hoarse voice sounded. "Is there any need to keep Kaies's church?"

Segalot put away the bird whistle in his hand and said coldly, "There is no need."

"Yes, Your Holiness."

The church in the royal city of Kaies suddenly caught fire.

The blaze rapidly grew fierce.

It began in the rear half of the church and gradually spread. The fighting was forced to stop, and everyone fled from inside, quickly moving away from danger.

This fire also bought Xia Zuoyi and the others time.

They successfully escaped the royal city knights' encirclement and temporarily hid with Marco Case in a concealed location.

"Walker, the medicine," Xia Zuoyi said.

Marco Case's back wound was rather serious.

Because he had kept moving, the wound had been pulled open repeatedly. Beads of blood were now seeping out, and his face had grown even paler.

Walker hurriedly took ointment from inside his armor and deftly bandaged Marco Case. "My lord marquis, Bass Riches has completely seized control of the royal city. The knights who threatened and coerced you in the church were only part of his forces."

"He must be mobilizing the other royal city knights now. You cannot stay here any longer, or your situation will become very dangerous. Leave with us—"

Marco Case shook his head and interrupted him. "No. My son Nat is still here. I can't leave."

Xia Zuoyi said, "Then we'll find Nat Case."

He asked, "Walker, where are Judith, Taylor, and Bana?"

Walker said, "Butler Judith and Bana secretly left the city to contact another group of soldiers, so they can receive us outside the city at any time."

"Taylor, meanwhile, is holding Keith William hostage to draw away my father and some of the royal city knights..."

Otherwise, it would have taken him longer to break into the church.

As though recalling something, Walker said, "By the way, quite a few clergy members were blocking us from entering the church earlier."

"But for some reason, everyone from the church suddenly withdrew afterward."

Xia Zuoyi understood why.

He recounted what had happened behind the church. "...Someone who could make both the bishop and acting bishop kneel on the ground, their faces full of fear and awe... I think there could be no one other than the Pope."

"Besides, Judith once mentioned rumors about the Pope to me."

"I heard he was born in the Sacred See within the Saint Airo Empire. When he was born, all the Divine Flower Belanka planted in the Sacred See bloomed, and they did not wither for a long time afterward."

"It is said that this was the Creator God's favor toward him—the current Pope, Augsger."

The Pope's full name was Segalot Wordsworth Augsger.

Xia Zuoyi said, "His age fits, and the black-robed men at his side... I saw a glimpse of golden armor beneath one of their robes..."

He had caught sight of it by chance while the black-robed man fought the three knights pursuing him in the corridor.

Marco Case could not help nodding. "They should be the golden-armored knights who follow the Pope. Every one of them is highly skilled, and they are responsible for protecting the Pope."

"What the earl said is also correct. What happened when the Pope was born truly took place."

"The Pope is deeply favored by the Creator God and showed traits unlike ordinary people from childhood. Otherwise, he would not have inherited the Sacred See at such a young age and gained such great prestige."

Walker had not expected the earl to encounter the Pope in Kaies's church.

He could not help feeling sincerely relieved. Because of that, the earl had remained safe before Walker found him.

They did not know why the Pope had come to Gadayat.

But the most urgent matter was to leave the royal city of Kaies as quickly as possible.

If Bass Riches led the knights to block the road out of the city, their situation would become even more dangerous.

Walker contacted Taylor through the bird whistle.

Taylor and the others had restrained Harry William's actions by holding Keith William hostage and were steadily moving toward the city gate according to their prior plan.

By the time Walker arrived with Xia Zuoyi and Marco Case, Harry William was already furious, his face livid with rage. Upon seeing Walker, he nearly attacked without regard for Keith William's life.

Harry William said, "For an outsider, you actually want to defy your own father?!"

Walker said, "You did something wrong. I cannot follow you into wrongdoing, Father. It is still not too late to stop..."

"What do you know?!" Harry William roared.

His cold, sinister gaze swept toward Xia Zuoyi. "Walker, think this through."

"Are you really going to oppose the duke for an irrelevant outsider?!"

Walker frowned and said nothing.

But he stood firmly behind Xia Zuoyi. His stance was already perfectly clear.

"Fine, you've grown bold..."

Harry William gritted his teeth, his hands shaking with fury.

Yet he could not make any move, because Keith William was still in the other side's hands.

Just then.

Bass Riches finally arrived with a group of knights.

The royal city knights wore armor, their footsteps heavy and cold, carrying an oppressive aura... Behind them lay the empty streets of the city district. Commoners and slaves had been frightened into hiding, while bright flames still burned in the distance where the church stood...

For a moment, Kaies fell silent.

Bass Riches's sharp, sinister gaze swept over Xia Zuoyi and the others. He then raised a hand, and two knights behind him came forward, each gripping one arm of a person.

"Damn it, let me go." The captive struggled continuously.

"Nat!" Marco Case shouted at once, panic appearing on his face.

The person Bass Riches had captured was Nat Case.

After seeing the church on fire, Nat Case had gone to search for his father Marco out of concern. He had not expected to walk right into Bass Riches's men.

The knights' grip was strong enough to make Nat Case's face scrunch up in pain.

"Let him go!"

Marco Case became so agitated that he accidentally pulled at the wound on his back. His face turned even paler and weaker.

Bass Riches said, "I can let him go. Exchange him."

He lifted his chin and pointed at Keith William.

Xia Zuoyi agreed. "An exchange, but not here..."

They had to go to the city gate. Otherwise, once they lost the hostages in their hands, escaping the heavily guarded royal city would become even harder.

"Duke."

Harry William's eyes were anxious. He had to save Keith.

Bass Riches's expression shifted uncertainly.

But he still followed Xia Zuoyi's suggestion, and both sides slowly retreated to a place not far from the city gate.

Xia Zuoyi called out to Walker.

Walker raised his hand. The soldiers behind him all blew their bird whistles, producing piercing, shrill cries. Amid Bass Riches and the others' ugly expressions, bird whistles suddenly sounded in response from outside the royal city, carrying the message.

Kaies's city gates opened with a boom.

Judith and Bana were confronting the knights guarding the city gate ahead, fully prepared for battle.

Xia Zuoyi said, "Exchange them now. One person brings one person, and they walk toward each other."

Taylor said, "My lord earl, I'll go."

Xia Zuoyi nodded.

Marco Case could not help clenching his fists in worry.

As the two sides slowly approached each other, Keith William inconspicuously exchanged a glance with Harry William.

Once they reached each other's side, Keith William suddenly exerted himself and broke free of Taylor's restraint. But Taylor reacted swiftly as well. When he realized he could not pull Keith back, he immediately went for Nat Case.

Taylor kicked away the knight restraining Nat Case and dragged him rapidly backward.

However, Harry William shouted at that moment, "Archers, fire!"

Arrows shot toward them from hidden corners...

The tense stalemate shattered in an instant, and both sides began killing each other. The cold scent of blood gradually spread.

Taylor alone found it difficult to hold them off, especially while bringing Nat Case with him. Gaps inevitably appeared in his movements... Just as they were about to rendezvous, an arrow flew toward Nat.

"No!"

Marco Case moved with a speed completely unlike that of an injured man. Before anyone could react, he threw himself in front of Nat Case.

Nat Case widened his eyes and cried out, "Father!"

Xia Zuoyi immediately shouted, "Walker, Taylor, bring them back quickly!"

The chaos continued.

The soldiers led by Judith and Bana dealt with the knights guarding the city gate almost instantly and came to support them.

Fortunately, Bass Riches had not prepared many archers. Once they exceeded a certain distance, they were out of range.

Therefore, under the soldiers' cover, Xia Zuoyi and the others quickly escaped the royal city.

"Chase them! We cannot let them leave Kaies!"

"Yes, Duke."

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