Sister, I Hit You Because There Was a Ghost Behind You - Chapter 39

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 39. There Is No Mercy in a Sacred Oath
The note Rasputin left behind was ominous incarnate.
That vague phrase—”the place I trust most”—gnawed at our nerves. I crumpled the letter into my pocket and looked between Kairik and Demian, asking, “Does anyone have an idea where that might be? ‘The place we trust’—it’s far too broad.”
“Does anyone have an idea where that might be? ‘The place we trust’—it’s far too broad.”
Kairik crossed his arms and pondered for a moment before answering flatly.
“I don’t trust anything but my own fists, so I’m at a loss.”
But Demian’s reaction was different. His face had gone pale as a blank sheet. The usually composed Holy Knights Order Commander had vanished without a trace. Demian’s voice trembled as he murmured.
“The Holy Temple… the Grand Cathedral. It’s where all the Empire’s citizens entrust their hearts, the most sacred place. And for me, it’s no different from home.”
The Grand Cathedral. A colossal sanctuary in the heart of the Capital and the spiritual pillar of the Empire. If that place fell, the Empire would be shaken to its very roots.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, I immediately pulled out a communication stone and spoke.
“Let’s confirm it. I’ll contact the Chief Steward right away—he’s been guarding the main residence in the Capital.”
I infused mana to establish the connection. Static crackled through, and the communication linked. But the voice that came through was not the Chief Steward’s usual composed, measured tone.
―Aaaahhh! Die! Destroy it all!
Screams, shouts, and the sound of something shattering filled the air. It was like standing in the middle of a battlefield. I jumped in alarm and shouted into the communication stone.
“Hello! What’s happening! Report the situation!”
―M-My Lord! This is terrible! There’s a riot at the Grand Cathedral… Aaahhh! Let go! You mad priests!
Click. The communication cut off. Ominous premonitions always come true.
Demian lost his composure and shouted.
“We have to go! We must head to the Capital immediately!”
Kairik spoke with a troubled expression.
“From here to the Capital takes a week by carriage. Even riding day and night without rest, it’s at least three days. The Mana Train line that was tangled up has barely been restored, but the next regular train doesn’t depart until tomorrow morning.”
“Tomorrow morning? By then, the Grand Cathedral will already be nothing but ashes!”
At Demian’s desperate cry, I bit my lip. A decision was necessary.
Money or time. I could go straight to the station master right now, slip him a hefty bribe, charter an entire Mana Train, and race down the tracks at maximum speed. But to do that, I’d have to pour out an astronomical amount of my precious gold.
In the end, I reluctantly pulled out my trump card from my pocket, tears welling in my eyes.
It was a ‘Large-Scale Spatial Displacement Scroll’ I’d taken when I captured Rasputin. A one-time item worth a staggering 5 billion gold, but still cheaper than chartering an entire regular train.
I unfurled the scroll and spoke with grim determination.
“Hold on tight. We’re taking a 5-billion-gold taxi. Get your motion sickness bags ready.”
Whoooosh!
Space twisted with a blinding flash of light. A terrible nausea slammed into my stomach, but I had no time to endure it. The moment we arrived, acrid smoke and heat engulfed us.
“Cough! Cough!”
We had arrived at the plaza of the Capital, directly in front of the Grand Cathedral. But the scene before our eyes was far from a ‘sacred sanctuary.’ It was a massive fighting arena—no, absolute chaos.
“Heretic! Kill them!”
“How dare you touch my candelabra? I’ll strip your corn!”
Priests in white vestments were grappling with each other, rolling on the ground. Holy Knights had drawn their swords and were pointing them at one another, and the faithful who had come to pray had joined in the brawl.
People who usually smiled warmly, calling each other “Brother” and “Sister,” now had bloodshot eyes and were hurling curses at each other.
“Hey, you bread-faced bastard! I donated more than you!”
“That’s hilarious! What you gave was pocket change—what I gave was real money!”
I stood there with my mouth agape, staring at the spectacle and muttering.
“Is this… a Holy Temple, or a Back Alley fighting pit?”
Kairik whistled with interest as he spoke.
“Now that’s quite the spectacle, isn’t it? A holy fistfight, no less.”
Demian stood frozen in shock, unable to form words. How could he not be devastated watching the sacred place he’d devoted his entire life to protecting descend into absolute chaos?
Demian staggered forward and shouted.
“Stop this at once! Have you all lost your minds? This is the House of God!”
But no one listened. Instead, two Holy Knights nearby spotted Demian and rushed toward him.
“Wait? It’s the Commander! Hey! You cut my vacation last time! Today, it’s either you or me!”
My subordinates committed mutiny against their commander, swinging their swords. Demian panicked, desperately blocking their attacks as he cried out.
“Gerard! Thomas! Come to your senses! It’s me, Demian!”
“I know, you bastard! I’m sick of your preachy lectures!”
Clang! Crash!
Demian fumbled as he parried the relentless attacks. I examined them with my spirit sight. A crimson haze shimmered above their bodies. Greed, sloth, and now the third calamity. I spoke with absolute certainty.
“It’s ‘Rage.’ A curse that detonates suppressed anger.”
The temple people must have spent their lives restraining their emotions due to discipline and morality. When that pent-up rage collided with the curse, it erupted into an unstoppable riot.
Kairik casually kicked aside a charging priest and asked.
“So, how do we fix this one? Going to yell again?”
“No. Yelling at angry people only makes them angrier.”
I scanned the surroundings, searching for the epicenter of this pandemonium—where the curse had originated. Then, from the highest point of the Grand Cathedral, the Bell Tower, a crimson light flashed, and the sound of bells began to toll.
Dong— Dong—
With each bell toll, people’s eyes grew redder, and their fighting intensified.
“There it is. The cursed bell.”
I pointed at the Bell Tower and shouted.
“We have to stop that bell! Otherwise, the entire Capital will turn into a fight club!”
Demian knocked his subordinates unconscious and approached, gasping for breath.
“To reach the Bell Tower, we must break through the Main Hall. But….”
The entrance to the Main Hall was blocked by hundreds of enraged worshippers like a barricade. They snarled at us as we approached. They looked like a zombie horde, except their weapons were candlesticks and holy books.
Kairik cracked his knuckles with a grin.
“Breaking through is my specialty. Should I just sweep them all away?”
“No! They’re all innocent citizens! If you kill them, I’ll lose customers!”
I stopped Kairik and racked my brain.
How do you calm down angry people? Financial therapy?
No, their rationality is completely shut down right now. Money won’t work.
Then….
I pulled another item from my bag. A glass vial containing the ‘Fog of Sloth’ that I’d brought from the Northern Mine. It was a sample the witch had given me for research purposes. I grinned wickedly as I held it up and shook it.
“Fighting fire with fire, as they say? We counter the curse with another curse.”
Demian asked in alarm.
“You intend to use that? It’s dangerous!”
“Better to have them take a peaceful nap than rampage in anger. Much more civilized.”
I handed the vial to Kairik and gave my instructions.
“Your Highness, throw this into the center of the Main Hall. Strike!”
“Just leave it to me.”
Kairik von Herzen positioned himself like a baseball pitcher. Then, with all his strength, he hurled the glass bottle.
Whoooosh—!
The bottle traced a parabolic arc through the air, landing with perfect precision in the center of the Main Hall where the brawl was raging.
Crash!
Purple smoke exploded outward in a billowing cloud. The people grappling and fighting inhaled the noxious fumes.
“You bastard! I’ll kill you… haaah…”
“I’ll bury your bones… mmm, so sleepy…”
The fists swinging through the air slowed to a crawl, and the roaring voices devolved into yawns. The murderous gleam in their eyes began to fade.
“Ugh… fighting is such a hassle…”
“Let’s just… fight later…”
Thump, thump. One by one, people collapsed to the ground and fell asleep. The courtyard before the Holy Temple—moments ago a cauldron of frenzy—had transformed in an instant into a massive open-air dormitory.
“Success.”
I nodded with satisfaction as I spoke.
“Now that it’s quiet, shall we proceed to the main event? Time to demolish the Bell Tower.”
We passed between the snoring sleepers and entered the Great Cathedral. The interior was a disaster. Shattered chairs, torn tapestries. But the real problem awaited at the top of the Bell Tower.
As we attempted to climb the stairs leading to the Bell Tower, someone looked down at us from above. A man in a crimson priest’s vestment. He held a red Mana Stone in one hand and gazed down at us with eyes ablaze with madness, laughing.
[Welcome, uninvited guests. So you’ve come to disrupt my orchestra.]
Demian Lyart gasped in shock upon seeing him.
“V-Vice Commander?! What are you doing up there!”
The Adjutant whom Demian Lyart trusted most, the candidate to become the next Holy Knights Order Commander, was a traitor. He held the red Mana Stone to his lips and whispered.
[Demian… you, always so perfect and righteous. Do you know how much I despised you? If only you didn’t exist, I would have been the Commander!]
Behind him, a dark crimson shadow rose up. The third calamity, the Rage Demon, had made him its host. As it snapped its fingers, the Bell Tower’s bell began to ring of its own accord.
Dong—!
A devastating shockwave crashed down upon us. It was no mere sound. It was a physical wave of lethal force. I covered my ears and collapsed to my knees, groaning.
“Ugh! My eardrums are going to burst!”
Demian Lyart’s eyes wavered. The betrayal of a trusted comrade, the shock of it threatened to shatter him. But this was no time for that. I slapped his back hard and shouted.
“Get it together! You can wallow in betrayal later! Right now, we need to stop that bell!”
I gripped my hammer tightly and charged toward the stairs.
“Out of the way! Ringing bells is my specialty! Time to make the Golden Bell sing!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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