The Knight Who Devours Magic - Chapter 55

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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 55. Heretic Inquisitors
“Chloe, who are these people?”
“Heretic Inquisitors from the Temple.”
“……I beg your pardon?”
“Is this the brother you mentioned? The one who tracked down traces of evil?”
Traces of evil?
At the unfamiliar phrase, Munno turned his head toward the voice and saw a middle-aged man with chestnut hair and a kindly face dismounting from a horse that gleamed with an otherworldly radiance.
As the rider descended, the light faded from the horse, which now stood with its tongue lolling out, panting heavily—a sight that caught Munno’s eye for a moment before his attention shifted to the approaching man.
‘What is this fellow?’
He felt those narrow eyes, their irises barely discernible, rake across him from head to toe.
From the motionless middle-aged man’s frame emanated a profound, crushing pressure.
‘Fourth Circle? Fifth?’
Even without visible physical changes, the body of an Enhanced Body User grew heavier with each stage of cultivation.
By gauging that weight through his ever-sharpening senses, Munno could roughly estimate his opponent’s level.
And it seemed the other man was doing the same.
“You look young, yet already Third Circle? Surely not……?”
Watching those narrow eyes widen slightly, Munno swallowed hard and shook his head.
“I’ve only just barely crossed the second threshold. Thank you for the generous assessment.”
“Hmm. At that age, already Second Circle—that’s remarkable enough in itself.”
Munno could only offer a bitter smile at the words of admiration.
Praise was praise, but it was the kind only someone looking down at you could offer.
And he had no choice but to accept that gap in power.
A Mage at Fourth Circle seemed as though he could defeat easily enough, but a Holy Knight was still difficult.
‘Well, just looking at Chloe alone……’
Considering that most ability users at the same level regarded Mages as the strongest, Munno now felt anew just how special and unusual his own power truly was.
Just as Chloe’s unstinting praise made clear.
“Moreover, he possesses an Artifact designed to counter Mages. At sixteen, he defeated a Fourth Circle Mage. You’re looking at a future Star of the Seven standing right before you, Mayer.”
At those words, the Heretic Inquisitor named Mayer’s eyes widened slightly.
Still, those narrow eyes—where the pupils barely showed—swept across Munno’s Gauntlet and Boots before turning back to Chloe.
“Ah. Quite an unusual design for Gauntlets and Boots. They appear to be formidable Artifacts indeed. Yet defeating a Fourth Circle Mage, even with such equipment……”
“It’s the truth. I was surprised myself when I witnessed it.”
“I’ve never seen you offer such high praise of anyone. Didn’t you introduce that Swift Wind Knight as merely a talented junior?”
“That’s true. If we compare them at the same age, Karina falls short of this one by a considerable margin. In both attainment and technique.”
At Chloe’s continued praise, Munno’s face colored slightly, and he could easily discern that she had acquaintance with this Heretic Inquisitor.
If that were the case……
“Could you be from the Temple in Trian?”
In the histories of his previous life and in fiction, he had never seen Heretic Inquisitors cast in a positive light, so he felt a certain instinctive wariness—but for now, at least, these people were on his side.
“Precisely, brother. Among cities in the northern Iron Kingdom, Trian is the only one that stations Heretic Inquisitors of this caliber.”
“I see.”
That made sense, naturally, though it prompted another question.
If Holy Knights of this caliber existed, then why?
“Then, when matters unfolded in Trian, why didn’t you……?”
Step in?
To that question, the narrow-eyed Heretic Inquisitor chuckled softly and shook his head.
“There was no need for the Temple to involve itself in disputes between nobles.”
“Yet a Demon Knight appeared, and a Mage was involved.”
“That was merely Trian’s one-sided account.”
“But Priest Anan also confirmed traces of the Demon Knight.”
At Chloe’s successive rebuttals, Mayer’s expression twisted slightly.
“That, too, is understood by the Temple as the personal deviation of an individual.”
The Temple understands it that way?
So his own thoughts differ?
Sensing Munno’s dubious gaze, Mayer offered a wry smile.
“Yes, well. It displeases me, but as I’m bound by orders from above, I had no choice. Of course, if it’s a matter like now—investigating a den of evil that Chloe reported—the situation is quite different.”
So they had refrained from involvement in the conflict between Arslan and Trian for political reasons.
“I understand.”
“But should this prove to be untrue, Chloe will find herself in considerable difficulty.”
“That won’t be the case.”
Before Munno could respond, Chloe stepped forward first and began climbing the mountain.
* * *
“Oh. Well, that’s….”
Fortunately, the acrid stench still rising from beneath the collapsed cavern—far too foul to be mere decomposition—dispelled Mayer’s doubts entirely.
“A Corrupt Ground born from the deaths of many seeds of evil. Confirmed. You’ve accomplished great deeds indeed, brother, sisters.”
“Do verify it properly. During our purge of this place, we allowed the strongest witch to slip away. We must find a lead.”
“No difficulty there.”
The moment Mayer gestured,
dozens of Heretic Inquisitors threw themselves down into the cavern floor without the slightest hesitation.
— There!
— It’s collapsing! Watch out!
Crash, rumble, tumble.
— Hold it! There’s another body down here!
— Focus your strength!
From the collapsed underground chamber came the grunting voices of multiple inquisitors straining against their work.
And even from where Munno stood, he could see a massive stone slab rise slowly from the depths below.
Then the Heretic Inquisitors in their gleaming armor surged forward and pulled out a corpse from beneath it—decayed, crushed beyond recognition.
And then, immediately,
— Divine blessing!
the inquisitors poured forth Holy Power in unison and began to purify the lingering Demonic Energy.
“Huh….”
Munno, watching from above, couldn’t help but let out a sound of wonder at their swift, efficient work.
This was the fourth or fifth time he’d witnessed it in half a day, yet it remained genuinely remarkable.
But still.
‘The traces of Demonic Energy I couldn’t track—will these priests be able to find them now? What sets the Heretic Inquisitors apart?’
The fundamental question persisted, leaving him unable to simply smile along.
And in that moment, an unfamiliar voice spoke from beside him again.
“I thank you once more, most deeply, for destroying this nest of evil and heresy.”
Mayer—a Holy Knight of the Earth Mother Goddess Ru and commander of the Heretic Inquisitor unit Mother’s Spear.
“Ah, no. It was simply a duty that had to be done, nothing more.”
To his courteous reply, Mayer’s slitted eyes—barely visible—curved into a soft smile.
“If only this world were filled with sincere souls like yourself. How peaceful it would be.”
“You’re too kind.”
“That is precisely why we shall exert ourselves to root out those barbarous masses entirely. The witch who escaped—you said she headed south, correct?”
“Yes. As I mentioned, I’m uncertain of the exact distance. But you should assume it’s roughly the distance from here to Trian.”
“Hmm. That will suffice.”
The slitted Holy Knight’s reply brimmed with confidence.
“I shall find that witch without fail, and punish all the guilty associated with her.”
“Yes. Surely….”
“Let us all pray together, brother, that we might tear to shreds every seed of evil that exists upon this land.”
“…Ah, um.”
…Was that a prayer?
The moment that gentle voice suddenly unleashed such brutally violent words, Munno was left utterly bewildered.
But when he felt the concentrated gaze of dozens of Heretic Inquisitors upon him, and saw Chloe—standing a short distance away and pausing mid-bite of roasted boar—shoot him a look, he had no choice but to nod along and at least pretend to pray.
“Our Father in heaven, we beseech the seven Almighty Gods.”
In his previous life, he’d had nothing to do with religion whatsoever.
And every time he heard the prayers of this world, they felt deeply strange to him.
‘How can the Father be seven beings?’
Granted, among those seven was a female deity like the Earth Mother Goddess—yet it still felt odd.
‘Six fathers and one mother. Even a mess of a household isn’t this messy….’
As he offered up these idle thoughts and opened his slitted eyes, he saw behind Mayer’s form two pairs of luminous wings flickering faintly.
‘So those are the wings of light I’ve only heard spoken of. Four wings means… a Four-Winged Priest. Though that alone wouldn’t make him commander of the Heretic Inquisitors, so his Hard Body Technique must be even stronger?’
Moreover, standing beside him, the other Heretic Inquisitors with clasped hands had at least one pair of wings each, with three being the average, faintly unfurling behind them.
Considering that most of them wielded both the Hard Body Technique and Holy Power—both supernatural abilities of the Holy Knight class—
the power this collective possessed was likely beyond what he could begin to estimate.
‘They’re certainly formidable.’
In a world where actual divine power, Holy Power, existed,
young Munno had worried even during prayer that he should be more careful, yet the soul of a deeply rooted skeptic remained unchanged even in this world.
He couldn’t help it.
Just as in his previous life, regardless of doctrine or creed, he simply couldn’t bring himself to accept religion on a personal level even now.
‘If the Almighty, the Absolute God, is all-powerful, why create a world like this?’
Perhaps it was because he’d always been contrary by nature.
In both his past and present lives, he saw far more unhappy people than happy ones.
No matter how he thought about it, if a religion claimed to worship an “Absolute God,” only two possibilities occurred to him.
Even if that Holy Power—that visible evidence—proved the existence of God.
Either the god they believed in was not truly omnipotent.
Or an omnipotent god was not truly good.
‘Either way, I’m just struggling to survive here too…….’
While the religious skeptic waited for the prayer to end, his mind churning through all manner of impious thoughts.
“Oh! The Goddess has answered us!”
“Ahhhhh!”
The narrow-eyed Heretic Inquisitor captain who was leading the prayer suddenly cried out in wonder, and the Holy Knights around him erupted in exclamation as well.
“What?”
What, what is it?
Why are you all acting like this? It’s terrifying…….
“Such a thing is rare indeed—this is all by the grace of the Mother Goddess!”
“Ah, Holy One…….”
As Mayer, his expression filled with emotion, raised his voice, the Holy Knights began their prayers anew.
‘What in the world!? A Divine Revelation? Could it be a Divine Revelation!?’
Munno was simply curious.
And the prayer continued long after that.
And then, at a moment when he was shuffling his feet with impatience that felt like his heels were wearing away.
Mayer finally spoke.
“If we identify those buried here and trace their connections, we may be able to root out the source of the Demonic Energy that has descended upon the Iron Kingdom—such was the Divine Revelation!”
What an obvious thing to say……?
Munno stood there dumbly, his mouth hanging open in bewilderment.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Exclamations burst forth from those around him.
‘Are these people all fools, or is something wrong with me?’
Should I shout “One plus one equals two!” at them? They seem ready to cheer for that too…….
While he stood lost in confused thoughts.
Chloe, who had drawn near without his noticing, patted his shoulder with a deadly smile.
“It means the Goddess has guaranteed that this investigation will yield meaningful results.”
“What?”
“It means we’ll be able to find that witch. Or that organization.”
“Ah.”
“They may not be your equal when it comes to sensing Demonic Energy hidden by that Veil Technique, but when it comes to tracking the tail by following already-visible traces of Demonic Energy, the priests are the experts. Trust them for now.”
After hearing that explanation, Munno too was able to wear a smile similar to Chloe’s.
And then, after the work of excavating the cave, the last thing the Heretic Inquisitor discovered was.
A severed woman’s foot.

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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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