Two Venomous Snakes

A sword flashed.

Holy light cut through the mist, and with a piercing scream, the undead figure rapidly retreated and vanished once more.

Duncan gripped his longsword, his face weary, and the other paladins looked no better. After learning a bloody lesson that had cost a certain idiot his life, none of them had made the same mistake again. But the undead seemed to have changed their tactics as well. Instead of confronting the paladins head-on, they had launched a relentless campaign of harassment. Whether the group was traveling or stopping to rest, a few undead would appear and put them on edge again. Yet whenever they prepared to destroy them, the undead would swiftly withdraw. Duncan and his party had been put through the wringer on the journey.

The undead had never been this clever before.

Duncan was suspicious. Though he had never ventured this deep into the area on his previous visits, the undead outside had never been so clever. Driven by their desire for bodies, they had almost always charged straight in to attack. Now, however, not only had they lost their former obsession with living flesh, they seemed to be fighting like an army.

Had some terrifying being taken control of this area during the year he had been away?

It was possible, but Duncan dared not say so and damage morale. For one thing, they had traveled for days and had only just managed to approach their destination. Turning back would take just as long, if not longer, and everyone was already almost completely exhausted. Even the halos cast by the two priestesses were barely visible, scarcely strong enough to hold back the thick mist outside—the dead's nightly wails had kept them from getting a good night's sleep. The belief that they would reach their destination was all that kept them going. If he gave that order now, the morale holding the party together would crumble.

Whether they could make it back then would be another question entirely.

Even so, Duncan still wondered how this city could be so enormous.

It was no wonder he thought so. Although Li Lin had shown them the shortest route, it was still just a road. During the Magic Empire, the city had been full of portals, making it easy for people to travel back and forth without walking very far. It was like a hundred-story skyscraper: though it had emergency staircases, who would be bored enough to take the stairs instead of the elevator on an ordinary day? The route Li Lin had shown them was merely a "safety passage" built as a precaution during the Magic Empire, so naturally it had not been designed with the traffic planning of a modern city in mind. After all, teleportation stones had been placed in convenient locations, so there had been no need for passages like this to connect them.

At present, Angela and Li Lin were the only ones in the group who were still full of energy. The former had made remarkable progress with Fina over the past two days. Perhaps Li Lin's earlier seduction and successful killing of the paladin had stirred the little loli's competitive spirit, for she had even begun taking extraordinary measures to control Fina. And because Angela slipped into Fina's sleep to train her whenever they rested, the poor priestess not only failed to recover from her fatigue, but became even more exhausted than when she was awake.

As for the latter... as the commander in chief of this "harassment attack" operation, Li Lin naturally had no problems.

Although he intended for the paladins to reach their destination alive, he had no intention of letting a spirited group of knights arrive there after a string of victories.

"This is the place."

Li Lin stopped, and his words finally put everyone at ease. The joy of nearing their goal temporarily dispelled their physical exhaustion. An enormous building towered before Li Lin. Though the mist hid its true appearance, they could still feel a certain pressure. It came not from the building's broken form, but from the knowledge that it had been built a thousand years ago, which made it hard not to feel a measure of respect for it.

Everyone except Li Lin breathed a sigh of relief. Mina helped Fina down from the carriage, while her younger sister was already utterly exhausted. For the past few days, her dreams had not even had any clear scenes. Apart from the naked bodies that appeared again and again and the pleasure that brought her to climax over and over, the young priestess could remember almost nothing. Even so, she instinctively took Angela's hand, as though attending to the girl before her.

"You, gather the supplies. Take everything you can carry."

Though Duncan knew everyone was exhausted, he did not intend to rest here. The earlier harassment tactics had already drained too much of their strength. Rather than remain in such an exposed place, they would be better off going inside first. The undead could pass through walls to attack, but that was still better than not knowing which direction the enemy would come from... in a place shrouded in thick mist, that was simply too taxing.

The paladins quickly unloaded the food and water from the carriage and followed Duncan and Li Lin into the enormous building.

Although the heavy wooden doors had long since rotted away without a trace, the mist was held outside as though by an invisible barrier. The group had not seen their surroundings so clearly in days. They looked around with wide eyes, as if they could not take it all in...

Several mournful whinnies came from behind them. The horses they had left outside lost the protection of the halos and were soon enveloped by the mist, dying in agony.

No one looked back, but the whinnies brought to mind a question they had all been trying not to think about.

How would they leave once everything was done?

Duncan seemed not to notice their anxiety. He walked forward a few steps and carefully stepped out of the halo, only giving an order after confirming that the poisonous mist had indeed not entered.

"Everyone, rest here. Mina, Fina, you can dismiss your halos and get ready. We'll move on once we've recovered our strength."

After confirming that there was no danger nearby—or at least none for the moment-Duncan finally made his decision. The others raised no objections. The undead that had tormented them for days had indeed left the paladins exhausted.

"Knight Duncan."

Sitting beside the fire and watching their surroundings warily, Li Lin suddenly spoke.

"May I ask what exactly we came here to do? According to the records, this was a sanctuary the Magic Empire used to communicate with the gods. We..."

"We came this time to destroy those evil gods."

Perhaps because he was no longer worried about the secret getting out, Duncan considered the question only briefly before answering Li Lin. At the same time, he looked toward the other paladins and the two priestesses.

"The evil Magic Empire once used this place to communicate with those evil gods, bringing them here to manifest and discuss their plots and schemes. Even after a thousand years, though that terrible empire has been destroyed, traces of the evil gods remain here, trying to rise again. We must utterly destroy this place and the evil souls that have yet to awaken. This is the task and mission the God of Justice has given us."

"Evil gods?"

Angela's question broke the somewhat solemn atmosphere.

"Why are they evil gods?"

"Because they are evil, my child."

Duncan involuntarily gripped the hilt of his sword, then let go.

"Why are they evil?"

Clearly, Angela did not intend to give up.

"Because they oppose justice. That is why they are evil and cannot be forgiven."

Perhaps mindful of what had happened before, Duncan did not want Angela to draw him into that vicious circle again, so he hurriedly changed the subject. But this inevitably made the paladin seem somewhat unsure of himself.

"Now then, Mr. Li Lin, there are a few more things I need your help with."

As he spoke, he took several sheets of paper from inside his armor.

"Since you know so much about the culture and history of the Magic Empire, I hope you can help us find the place described here."

Li Lin took the paper and carefully examined its contents by the light of the fire. Then his eyebrows rose slightly, but he quickly returned to his usual expression.

"I'll do my best."

He gave nothing away and promptly returned the paper to Duncan.

"One more thing, Knight Duncan. I hope we can all return alive this time."

"Oh? Why do you say that, Mr. Li Lin?"

"I heard it from the bishop."

Meeting Duncan's gaze, Li Lin answered with a smile, as casually as if he were chatting on the street.

"You took the same team and the same people on your previous expeditions, but unfortunately, you were the only one who came back each time. There are two more of us this time... I hope things end well for us."

"Th-that's only natural, Mr. Li Lin."

A trace of embarrassment appeared on Duncan's face. The other paladins, meanwhile, looked uncertain and alarmed after hearing Li Lin's words. Clearly, this was the first they had heard of it.

"On our previous expeditions, we had no one with such knowledge of the Magic Empire. With you here this time, I believe we'll naturally make it back alive."

Although Duncan's voice remained steady and his expression was too solemn to look like a lie, Li Lin's earlier words had completely changed the atmosphere.

Time passed, second by second. No one spoke as they made the most of the time to recover their strength. Duncan, perhaps noticing the other paladins' suspicions, sat alone to one side in prayer, showing no intention of paying anyone else any attention. Two of the other paladins rested with their eyes closed, leaving only Li Lin and the remaining paladin to keep watch. Unlike the calm Li Lin, the young man was clearly not at ease. Without much hesitation, he walked over to Li Lin, bent down and gave him a slight bow.

"Honored sir, please forgive me for disturbing you so abruptly."

His face was weary, but he looked deeply earnest.

"I'd like to ask what you meant by what you just said to Knight Duncan. Of course, if it isn't something I should know, please forget I asked."

"There's really nothing strange about it..."

Facing the paladin, Li Lin put on a somewhat indifferent expression while secretly laughing to himself. The death of a companion and the incessant attacks had begun to affect even paladins who prided themselves on their steadfast minds. Young paladins in particular always wanted to know the truth and firmly believed that what they guarded was the truth. They naively believed all deception was an evil crime, making them the wavering candidates easiest to control.

"I thought you all knew..."

Watching the paladin's uneasy expression, Li Lin smiled smugly.