The forces Phantos had fought on his way here were nothing but a warm-up. The troops waiting in the central hall of the inner citadel were on a completely different level.
The Holy Knight Commander, though small in stature, was compact with dense power—that much was acceptable. The problem was the people standing behind him.
“I never thought the Heavenly Gate would actually be breached. Was there a traitor inside?”
A clear and unhurried voice, oddly out of place in this tense atmosphere.
The voice belonged to a woman with long white hair and red eyes.
She wore a white garment, and even her skin was so pale that aside from her crimson lips and eyes, everything about her was pure white.
No matter how beautiful she was, dressed like that she appeared not sacred but eerily chilling.
“It’s been a while, Sister.”
Ludger spoke to his sister, a fellow bearer of the Holy Sovereign’s bloodline.
Her red eyes gleamed as they swept over Ludger from head to toe.
“It really has been a while. So, you’ve finally come all the way here, my little brother whose face I could barely even remember anymore.”
“I didn’t expect this either. To think another of the Holy Sovereign’s bloodline would be guarding this inner sanctum.”
Diena von Bretus.
Ludger’s older sister, born with divine power and sensitivity nearly equal to Salesin’s.
Though she lost to Salesin and never ascended to the Holy Sovereign’s throne, her talent was so highly valued that she was spared and appointed as one of the Holy Nation’s senior leaders. Now, seated upon a golden throne, she looked down at Ludger.
“And not just one of you, I see.”
Ludger’s blue eyes flicked from side to side, observing those beside Diena.
Two figures stood by her golden throne—a young man and woman, both appearing to be in their late teens.
It was difficult to determine their exact appearance because their entire bodies were bound tightly with black and white leather belts.
Bondage—or perhaps the garb of mental asylum patients.
Their arms were strapped together, their bodies wrapped head to toe like mummies in leather, and even their faces were covered, leaving only their mouths and noses exposed.
The strands of white hair sticking out through the gaps in the leather gave a faint hint of what “those things” used to be.
“Lawrence von Bretus. Lorelai von Bretus. Have you developed some sort of perverse, sadistic hobby with our twin siblings?”
It made no sense to see members of the Holy Sovereign’s bloodline standing beside Diena in such grotesque condition.
It almost made Ludger suspect that his sister had some cruel pastime of tormenting her younger siblings.
“What in the world have you done?”
What Ludger couldn’t comprehend was how calm the other Holy Knights were.
They showed no surprise whatsoever, as if this were entirely natural.
“A kind of mercy,” Diena said lightly.
“Mercy? Did I misunderstand the meaning of that word?”
“A fight for succession to the throne always draws blood. Some surrender, but there are always those who don’t.”
Her words were horrifying.
“You mean those twins refused to yield and ended up like that after resisting to the end?”
“It was Brother Salesin’s form of mercy.”
Ludger couldn’t help but scoff.
Wrapping them in leather restraints like beasts—how could that possibly be called mercy?
“And by the look of them, they’ve lost their reason altogether. Can that even be called living? They’re nothing but husks barely clinging to life.”
No, it was worse than that.
It was obvious they had been brainwashed and drugged until their minds were bleached clean.
He would have preferred if they had been given an honorable death instead.
To do this to one’s own siblings just to use them afterward—disgust welled up in his throat.
“What could I do? Their talent was far too valuable to simply let them die.”
“So, you turned your siblings into toys because their skills were too precious? Members of the Holy Sovereign’s bloodline, no less? And the people around you just watch this like it’s normal?”
At this point—who were the real heretics?
“No. I see now—they’re all accomplices.”
Ludger’s sharp gaze swept around.
The Holy Knights and priests surrounding them weren’t normal either.
Among the corpses Phantos had left behind, Ludger had seen some that were far larger than any human—but he hadn’t expected more monsters like that to be here.
A towering brute over three meters tall with an executioner’s hood covering its face.
Another with grotesquely long arms and a plague doctor mask.
And one crouched on all fours, its eyes moving in opposite directions like a beast.
“Test subjects.”
They were test subjects.
Failed ones—grotesque experiments gone wrong.
Like a child tearing apart a broken toy and reattaching limbs in bizarre ways, the beings before him looked exactly like that.
There were still some people who looked relatively human, but their calm coexistence among those monsters meant only one thing—they had helped create them.
“Truly revolting. I knew you’ve been abducting orphans for experiments, but not to this degree. You call yourselves agents of the divine will? No—you act exactly like the beings you claim to oppose.”
“Silence, heretic! You who borrow the power of demons—how dare you speak of holiness!”
The one who snapped back at him was the Holy Knight at the front—the same one who had easily blocked Phantos’s thrown iron gate.
He was barely one meter sixty, broad like a turtle, beardless but built like a dwarf warrior.
On his shaved head, a tattoo of a cross and rosary gleamed.
“Pademan, Commander of the Holy Knights.”
The Holy Knights of Bretus were divided into four ranks—trainee, common, advanced, and elite.
Even the elite knights equaled high-grade imperial knights, [N O V E L I G H T] and when gathered, their strength rivaled master-class warriors.
Among those elites, the strongest earned the title of commander.
There were three such commanders in Bretus, and Pademan was one of them—protector of the nation beyond Galaharad Fortress itself.
In imperial terms, he was equivalent to Terina Lionhowl, the Warden of National Defense.
“You seem rather angry with me,” Ludger said dryly.
“You, who inherited the blood of the Holy Sovereign! You, gifted with such talent, dare betray the Holy Nation and still dare to speak!”
“And the Holy Nation trying to kill me was right, then?”
“You should have died! To crawl back from death and raise your blade against the Holy Nation—how vile!”
“So all this is righteous, is that it? Or maybe your rage comes from somewhere else.”
Ludger’s lips twisted into a sharp smile.
“The death of Bentham, Commander of the Knights of Light—was it truly that painful?”
“...!”
Pademan’s eyes widened in fury. Ludger had struck the sorest part of his heart.
“Yes. That’s it. You were close to Bentham, weren’t you? Should I tell you how he died?”
“W-what did you say?”
“He died miserably, unbefitting of his title. His bones shattered, his muscles torn, yet he kept regenerating, clinging to life like a cockroach.”
“You bastard...!”
“In the end, he begged for his life, sobbing and screaming. Do you know what I did? I granted him mercy—a clean death. No body left behind. He burned golden and crumbled into dust like a statue of stone. Quite a fascinating sight, don’t you think?”
“You filth!”
Veins bulged grotesquely across Pademan’s forehead.
Unable to contain his rage, he stomped the ground and charged at Ludger.
Despite his small frame, his speed was astonishing—but Phantos moved first.
The beast caught the charging Pademan’s massive shield in his two brutish arms.
“Your opponent is me, prey.”
“You filthy beast! Do you know who you face?!”
Pademan strained against the shield, but Phantos didn’t budge.
The Holy Church of Lumenis declared all non-humans heretics, so to Pademan, Phantos was nothing but an abomination.
But this strength—something was off.
Even without going all out, Pademan’s charge could overturn a chariot.
“Catching that barehanded? And the shield isn’t even moving?”
A glint of excitement sparked in Pademan’s eyes.
“Fine! You’re not normal, I see. Let’s test your mettle!”
As Pademan gathered strength, Phantos sensed the seriousness and matched his power.
An invisible sphere of pressure rippled around them, distorting the air.
Crack. Crack!
The reinforced floor split and fragments floated into the air.
After a tense struggle, both broke apart simultaneously.
Then, in the next instant, both vanished from sight—explosions erupted across the vast hall as shockwaves rolled through.
Their battle was the signal flare.
The test subjects behind Pademan surged forward.
“I’ll take those,” Alex said, drawing his sword with a clear metallic hiss.
“I needed a chance to put my recent insight into practice anyway. Though this barely counts as a warm-up.”
Alex collided with the test subjects, while Arfa and Violetta stepped forward to face the priests and knights.
“Fighting! You can do it!”
“Y-yeah, we’ll cheer you on!”
Seridan and Bellaruna, who were of little use in direct combat, withdrew to a safe distance, peeking out only to shout encouragement.
Ludger’s gaze locked on Diena.
Sensing the intent in his eyes, Diena smiled faintly and spoke to the twins.
“Lawrence, Lorelai. It’s your youngest brother. Go show him your affection.”
The two figures, motionless like wax dolls, turned their heads in eerie unison toward Ludger.
Even though their eyes were covered by leather, they looked straight at him.
Through the gaps around their faces, red light seeped out.
Boom!
The twins vanished from their spots.
“Ater Nocturnus.”
Shadows wrapped around Ludger’s body.
From his feet to his head, darkness cloaked him, shaping a crow mask over his face.
He spread his shadow-covered arms wide.
At that instant, the twins’ simultaneous kicks were caught in his hands.
Boom!
Just from blocking the attack, the floor beneath Ludger sank into a crater.
Even through Ater Nocturnus, a tingling sensation ran up his arms.
“Extreme physical enhancement through divine power, huh.”
As expected of the Holy Sovereign’s bloodline—their physical prowess far surpassed any ordinary Holy Knight.
They weren’t even wearing the typical armor or white coats that symbolized their order.
“No, those bindings over their bodies actually help circulate divine energy internally.”
At this moment, Lawrence and Lorelai’s physical ability exceeded even master-class knights.
“And the troublesome part...”
This wasn’t their full power.
And Diena wasn’t going to just sit back and watch.
A faint light emanated from the golden throne beneath her.
The golden glow spread across the hall, seeping into Lawrence, Lorelai, and the test subjects.
Their already fast movements became so rapid that they were now invisible to the naked eye.
As Ludger lowered his head, Lawrence’s leg whipped past like a razor-edged whip.
Slash!
A deep mark split across the distant wall as if sliced by a sword.
Ludger reached to grab Lawrence, but Lorelai was already sliding low into his blind spot.
Her bare leg split into a perfect 180-degree kick aimed at his chin.
Ludger abandoned his grip on Lawrence and crossed his arms to block.
Bang!
The impact exploded like a bomb, sending Ludger’s body flying upward.
Before he could regain balance, the twins dashed across the ceiling, walls, and pillars, their legs whipping from both sides.
In that instant, Ludger’s body compressed into a single point and disappeared.
...!
The twins, missing their target, glanced around before lowering their heads.
Sniff, sniff.
They sniffed the air, then, without hesitation, launched themselves high into the air.
Clangclangclang!
From the shadows where they had just stood, sharp spikes shot upward.
Had they delayed even slightly, they would’ve been skewered.
But it was a feint.
As Lawrence kicked off a pillar mid-air, Ludger appeared behind him like a ghost.
He swung his swordstick down to strike—
Lawrence’s head turned 180 degrees, owl-like.
“What the—”
It was already shocking that his neck could twist at such an impossible angle, but what came next was worse.
“GRAAAAH!”
Lawrence opened his mouth wide, and with a roar, a beam of pure white light burst forth, engulfing Ludger whole.
