The two idiots struggled underwater and hacked away with their greatswords, but in the end, they failed to find the code for walking underwater. It also seemed that the time had finally come for them to breathe.
Their four-cylinder-engine lungs made every breath they drew or expelled sound like a steam engine venting.
But underwater, that became the biggest drawback, one that would suffocate them.
"Glug, glug..."
With a series of gurgles, countless bubbles rose from the armor of the two Holy Knights.
At last, their relentless hacking gradually came to a stop. Then they flailed their limbs about on the bottom like two struggling pigs being slaughtered for the New Year, thrashing like fish on a chopping board.
Norton gripped a rock beside him with one hand to keep himself from rising or sinking, watching the two Holy Knights die with cold detachment.
"Glug..."
A huge bubble rose from one Holy Knight's armor. Perhaps because he had drawn in too much water while trying to breathe and damaged his internal organs, a thick gush of blood came out with the bubble, along with even some expelled bits of flesh.
The blood spread through the water, and Norton felt a little regretful.
That was all food!
Norton thought it was a terrible waste, but he still did nothing.
The struggling on the bottom grew weaker and weaker. Finally, the two Holy Knights sank to the bottom like dead pigs and moved no more.
The two Holy Knights, who had displayed exceptional strength from their appearance through the fight, the church's true weapons of mass destruction, had drowned just like that in a deep pool less than ten meters deep.
It was utterly ridiculous.
Norton waited another half hour, but nothing unusual happened to the two corpses on the bottom.
Instead, some little fish and shrimp had already swum over and were drifting around them, seemingly feeding on the blood in the water.
But the steel armor kept them from actually getting inside to feed on the corpses' flesh.
Only then did Norton relax and slowly swim down to the bottom.
He reached out and pulled off the two Holy Knights' helmets, revealing two utterly ordinary faces.
It really was biotechnology. He had thought that golden knights this powerful would at least be burly men with fleshy faces, but these faces looked no different from those of ordinary, frail missionaries.
So what secret method had been used to train these weak people into powerful Holy Knights?
Norton couldn't figure it out. All he knew for certain was that the blood of Holy Knights this formidable had to be incredibly nourishing!
But he also had to watch out for the church poisoning their blood!
After all, plenty of movies in his previous life had featured poisoned blood. Some had gone even further, putting poison in 13! Even more horrifying to him was one who had scored himself like a piece of meat...
Those classic scenes compelled him to reach out a finger first, dab up a trace of blood, and put it in his mouth.
"Ah... exceptionally delicious, no problem!"
After waiting an hour and finding nothing unusual about his body.
Norton opened his mouth wide, revealing his white teeth, which had already begun to change somewhat.
"Awooo..."
Holy Lord Cathedral.
Father Mia stroked the head of the boy before him with a compassionate smile. "There, child, you've received the necessary blessing. I think that from now on you..."
Before he could finish, someone kicked the wooden door open.
"Damn it, who..." Father Mia flew into a rage and spun around to look at the doorway, not forgetting to tug at his clothes to cover his aged body.
But the intruder had already strode forward and seized him by the throat, then slammed him against the wall behind him.
"Rod Mia, enjoying yourself, I see."
An old man in distinguished purple robes walked in, his face dark. Looking at Father Mia, whom the church knight had slammed against the wall, he spoke in a deep voice.
Father Mia, who had just been furious, now stared at the old man entering through the doorway, his eyes instantly filled with terror. His mouth hung open as he was held by the throat, but he didn't dare make a sound.
Adam, the purple-robed archbishop! (In the Bible, Adam was depicted as the first man created by God, as well as the man who mated with God, giving birth to the primordial death god Jonah. Bishops in the church had holy names, and Adam was this archbishop's holy name. From now on, they would all be called holy names.)
The purple archbishop's robes he wore unmistakably displayed the old man's exceptionally exalted status and power.
An archbishop governed an entire state, which contained several districts. By ancient standards, his position was equivalent to a governor-general's.
His immediate superior was not a cardinal, but the pope himself.
A high bishop, one rank below him, was equivalent to a provincial governor.
A low bishop, two ranks below him, someone like Bishop Rosen, was equivalent to the mayor of a city within a province.
A cardinal, one rank above him, was more like a figurehead, primarily responsible for matters of ceremony, such as sacrifices and worship.
But that did not mean a cardinal lacked status or power. As an elder who served at the pope's side, a cardinal was more like a first-rank official in the capital. Though he could not act as a local emperor away from the capital, an archbishop was a good deal beneath him when they met.
Even so, cardinals generally did not offend purple-robed archbishops. As figures akin to ritual elders, cardinals were not eligible to be elected pope. Popes throughout the ages had either been chosen from among the purple-robed archbishops or trained internally by the pope and installed from above. (Do not apply this to reality; it has nothing to do with reality.)
Now, at the sight of the purple-robed archbishop's exalted figure, Father Mia was like a county magistrate confronted by a governor-general. Never mind being held by the throat-even if he hadn't been, he wouldn't have dared make a sound.
The terror on Father Mia's face had become almost tangible. He trembled as he looked at the purple-robed archbishop walking in; even the pain of being strangled could not overcome the fear in his heart.
The sudden intrusion left the boy in the room wide-eyed with fright. But living in this damned environment for years had long since taught him the instinct not to scream, even when terrified. He merely trembled and stared fearfully at the figure of the purple-robed archbishop entering the room.
Unfortunately, even so, he could not be forgiven.
A church knight entered the room, grabbed the boy by the head, yanked him roughly off the wooden table, and dragged him toward the door of the wooden house.
Less than two seconds later, before a cry for mercy could leave the boy's lips, the sound of a greatsword severing the bones in his neck rang out from outside the wooden house.
Father Mia's body shuddered violently, and he began pleading for mercy in even greater terror.
"Your Grace, Your Grace, I don't know what I've done wrong..."
"What have you done wrong? Hmph! Two Holy Knights perished because of you, and you ask what you've done wrong!
"A vampire appeared in the area under your jurisdiction, yet you didn't report it to your superiors. Instead, you concealed the news at once, and two Holy Knights were lost because of it. That is what you've done wrong!"
"What?" Father Mia turned pale with shock, his entire face twisting with terror.
"Holy Knights can die too? Impossible, that's impossible..."
"Shut up!"
Archbishop Adam snorted coldly, his face darker than ever. As he spoke, a trembling Bishop Rosen entered from outside.
The moment Rosen saw Adam, he dropped to his knees.
"Greetings, Archbishop Adam! Your Grace, I am guilty. I failed to keep proper control, allowing Father Mia to commit such a grave mistake. I beg Your Grace to punish me!" Bishop Rosen's admission of fault was extremely sincere. He knelt as soon as he arrived and confessed his fault as soon as he knelt, without offering a single excuse.
He had merely removed himself from the affair entirely.
You fucking bastard! We both agreed to send the Holy Knights out in the first place!
Father Mia was so angry at Bishop Rosen's words that his nose nearly twisted out of shape.