NOVPUB
Chapter 41: 41:To The Church
"Tsk...Tsk!"
Kael narrowed his eyes. "Did you just click your tongue?"
Egon pushed up his glasses and sighed as he examined Kael’s wound. His veins were in complete disarray, twisted and ruptured, while his meridians looked like someone had shattered them from the inside. The injury was a mess—something that shouldn’t even be possible without a direct clash of heavy mana.
Egon gave Kael a strange look. "Just what did you do to achieve this?"
Kael shrugged. "Just a sword move."
"A sword move?" Egon frowned, glancing back at Baret and Gare, who stood frozen.
They still remembered that strike. At first, it seemed like Kael had moved at an impossible speed, but upon closer inspection, he hadn’t moved at all. The sword had simply... cut through space. It made no sense.
Egon clicked his tongue and shook his head. "This is beyond what I can do. If you had mana, it would heal faster, but you don’t." He sighed. "You need a Priest."
Kael slammed his hands on the table. "A Priest! That’s it!"
"I’ve been telling you that," Egon muttered, rubbing his temples.
Kael ignored him and turned to Baret. "Call Rami! Let’s go to church."
Baret hesitated and then looked at Egon "We have good healers in the estate, isn’t it?"
Egon kept his lips shut.
"No, no, no!" Kael waved his hands wildly. "I don’t need some half-assed healing shots. I need a High Deacon or a Bishop-level healer to fix my precious body!" He gestured dramatically. "This is the body of an Heir! If something happens to me, who’s gonna take responsibility, huh?"
Egon shut his mouth, clearly done with Kael’s nonsense.
Kael crossed his arms. "Besides, I need to be in top shape for the Awakening Ceremony."
The room fell silent. Baret’s face paled as he swallowed hard. ’Shit... I just hope this doesn’t turn into a world war,’ he thought to himself.
Kael clapped his hands and grinned. "Alright, stop gawking. Let’s go, boys!"
....
The Cathedral of the Holy Sanctum in Cole stood like a monument to wealth and power, its sheer size enough to humble even the grandest of castles.
Towering marble pillars stretched high into the heavens, their surfaces adorned with intricate golden engravings depicting scenes of divine intervention and miracles. The walls, sculpted from pristine white stone, shimmered under the sunlight, reflecting a near ethereal glow that made the structure appear almost otherworldly.
At its center, a massive dome crowned the cathedral, painted with celestial murals that seemed to shift as light streamed in through countless stained-glass windows.
These windows, crafted with breathtaking precision, cast a mesmerizing kaleidoscope of colors across the polished floors, filling the halls with an almost divine radiance. The air smelled of incense and sanctity, a heavy, cloying scent meant to instill reverence—but all it did was mask the stench of corruption lurking beneath.
Massive iron doors marked the entrance, each carved with the images of saints and priests, their expressions solemn, their eyes hollow.
Statues of deacons and bishops lined the grand stairway, their golden robes catching the sunlight, making them look like divine figures descending from the heavens.
But beyond the splendor and beauty, there was an undeniable air of arrogance—a place not for the common man, but for those who wielded power in the name of faith.
As Kael and his group approached, their footsteps echoed across the grand marble courtyard. However, before they could set foot on the main path leading to the entrance, an angry voice rang out.
"How dare you walk this path!"
A group of armored guards, clad in gleaming silver and gold, stepped forward, their spears forming a barrier. Their eyes, filled with contempt, bore into Kael’s group like they were filth.
"This path is reserved for the High Priests and Deacons. Use the commoner’s entrance like the rest of the filth."
Kael’s eyes flicked towards the alternate path they were being directed to—an unkempt, narrow alley that smelled of rot and was littered with beggars and desperate souls pleading for alms.
At the entrance, a sickly woman was being dragged away by guards, her cries for healing ignored as they tossed her into the mud. A child, no older than ten, was shoved aside when he tried to get past the guards, his small hands still clutching a half-eaten piece of bread.
Kael let out a low chuckle with his lips curling in amusement. "This is some next-level shit. They really bled the poor dry to build this place."
Silence settled in.
The moment those words left his mouth, the guards snapped.
"What did you just say, bastard?" one of them barked, stepping forward.
"Do you even know where you are?" another sneered, gripping his sword.
"Are you looking for death?"
Kael smirked, watching the group of glorified attack dogs bark at him. His eyes gleamed with mischief as he lazily stretched his arms.
"Hey, squeals. Do you know who I am?" he asked, his voice laced with mockery.
"Now go... go... move aside."
The guards of church, red with fury, were about to charge when suddenly—
CLANG!
A group of knights in blue armor, bearing the crest of the Veydrin Estate, lunged forward, intercepting the church guards. Swords clashed, the ringing of steel against steel echoing through the grand courtyard.
Chaos erupted as the fight spilled into the open, drawing the attention of priests and nobles alike.
Kael grinned, watching the beautiful mess unfold before him. He would have enjoyed it more, but then—
"You like to create trouble."
A deep, aged voice interrupted his amusement.
Kael turned his head slightly and found an old man standing beside him. The man didn’t seem outwardly strong, but the air around him crackled with authority. There was something about his presence, something dangerous, something ancient.
"STAND DOWN!"He scoffed loudly making both the guards of the Church and Blue knights pause and fall back.
Yet Kael showed no sign of fear. Instead, he smirked.
"Yeah, it’s troublesome," Kael admitted, stretching his arms. "But isn’t it fun?"
The old man chuckled, stroking his beard. "That’s certainly one way to see it."
Then Kael tilted his head and asked casually, "By the way, who are you?"
The old man expression froze. His eyes widened, his expression shifting to disbelief.
"You’re joking, right?" he asked, as if the very question offended him.
Kael shrugged. "Of course not."
SWISH!
".."
"...."
For a moment, the entire place fell into silence.
