Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1307: Husk (2)



The hallway was clear of bodies, but bloody footprints could be seen. There appeared to be three sets of them trudging ahead in odd patterns.

Elita and Skullius walked on until they reached a wide chamber with two altars on opposite ends. The walls were embossed with three, three-pointed stars that gave a subtle reassuring glow. A red carpet with the same symbol spread on the smooth floor, under great, clay flowerpots and the many, human-sized faceless statues of the Deities.

"Just how many of these statues are there in this place?" Skullius asked.

Elita gave what appeared to be an embarrassed smile.

"You won't bother to ask soon enough."

Skullius could see the emotion in the woman's eyes. She had attachments to this place, he knew. Elita had genuinely desired to fight for justice. She was a true Paladin Champion, and for a long time, she had tempered her faith in this place.

"There are many chambers like this on this level. Of course, you know that," she said with a smile. "Before going deeper down, every Knight must make a prayer and pledge their faith in the Deities on any one of the altars every day. I used to love doing that," she said.

She then showed Skullius the thin passage that led from the Purity Knights' Barrion to this place as they walked through a corridor coursing through each of the chambers. Soon, they were descending down another flight of stone steps, this one much wider than the last. They followed after the bloody footprints.

They appeared on the second level, which spotted a massive pool of water; at its centre a great feminine statue holding a great jar sprouted out from below, solemn and sacred. There was a corpse floating close to where it protruded from the surface of the pool. It was dressed in a heavy set of robes. The gashes on its chest from where blood escaped, turning the great pool red, looked awfully similar to the three-pointed star of the Purity.

"That was a Grand Priest," Elita said bitterly and her face hardened. "Whoever did this... they were clearly mocking the Purity, and not just because of the slashes. As I recall, Grand Priests are supposed to bathe themselves in this pool everyday to connect to Listafelle, and I'd heard it said that if they've done something impure, when they enter the waters, they will turn black around them."

Skullius merely nodded.

He could tell Elita was upset, but he didn't have the capacity to quell her emotions; not in these matters.

Like the first level, the second spotted multiple pools divided by thick partitions. There were twice the number of statues on this level compared to the last.

Elita and Skullius didn't linger. They went down the third, fourth, fifth and six levels briskly, finding nothing or more corpses desecrated in meaningful ways.

More and more, Elita was convinced that someone who truly hated the Purity had done all this, but she couldn't imagine someone who would care enough to attack the headquarters just to spite the faith. This didn't appear to be the work of the Cavern. The bloody prints told her that it was not one person, but three, oddly enough.

The duo arrived on the seventh level. Upon being confronted with another torchlit hallway, they walked down it, but the closer they got to its end, the more they felt something ominous building ahead of them.

Skullius narrowed his eyes.

This was exactly why he didn't just teleport Elita and himself to this level. This was where the interference to his senses grew bolder, and just two levels below was where he felt the effects of a Treasure pushing back against his Null Life Essence.

Both experts raised their guard. Suddenly, Elita looked even larger than she already was in the black and silver scale armour she had picked from the Warmoth's Treasury. She dual-wielded Broodweiler and another one of the two swords she had chosen as well; as she kept the great maroon bow on her back in plain view, it seemed she was ready to use it at a moment's notice too.

A triangular space appeared at the end of the hall. On the walls were nine netted orifices. Elita knew them to be where the nine spoke from. She had just been here the day she was demoted for apparently allowing a manic undead creature to ruin the homes of noblemen in Eofel.

There were more corpses in this place. Many, many more than before.

Two belonged to Paladin Champions.

Elita recognised them at once. They were the Fourth and Eighth ranked Champions!

Powerful slashes had carved through their armour and flesh.

Elita dashed towards them, but the instant she got close, they opened their eyes.

...!!!

The former Paladin Champion retreated in a breath.

The corpses' eyes rolled in their sockets, and then they whipped to their feet.

"A true delight it is that you have joined us, my dear. Though, I truly wish you had been a bit more patient as I advised."

The voice that spoke from one of the netted orifices was wet, crooked and old. A nasty coughing fit followed after it.

Skullius hid his surprise. He hadn't sensed that there was a living person here at all.

'Did the abundance of corpses confuse my senses?' he thought, but immediately answered himself with a 'No'. NOW he could sense life from the geezer behind the net, but it was thin. Very thin. It was hidden by an overwhelming presence of...

"So it was you," Elita said sharply, facing the netted hole in the wall with a shadow behind it. "Paladin Champions aren't allowed some agency anymore?"

The old thing behind the net guffawed and cast away all false courtesies.

"Ha! You were never a true Paladin Champion! We only humoured you because your fellows saw you kindly and regarded your achievements well. If we hadn't promoted you, it would have looked suspicious. We did intend for it to appear as though you Cursed Bloods had an equal right to stand as Knights for the Purity as any other."

Elita's scowled.

"Is that so? How virtuous. The fact that you'd even confess such a thing..." she said, disgusted.

"Who cares? You are of no importance." The shadow behind the net danced crookedly, "Behold, these are the true Paladin Champions! The ones who stood by us when we were under threat by that feral friend of yours, another false Champion who succumbed to

darkness!"

Elita froze.

"What?"

The two arisen Paladin Champions stumbled forward like new collections of flesh and bone.

"These are the true Champions of the world, and they are fit to partake in the New Power! The New Order based on the price of the old!" the old shadow cried.