Chapter Eighty-Nine: Jan Has Already Become a Legend!

Smoke choked the air.

Rocks stood staring at the passage before him, his face dark, yet no words would come. Beside him, Archbishop Bosen’s expression was likewise grim beyond measure; the eyes that already resembled a vulture’s now flickered with cold, sharp light.

Truthfully, Rocks had guessed that Baron Balf would resort to some means, but he had never imagined the matter would end in such a catastrophe. What had begun as nothing more than a commonplace clash of pride had turned into a full-scale slaughter. Wherever he looked in the passage, corpses lay strewn about. Most had been slain by Jan, while others had perished when caught up in the battle between Jan, Pattylina, and Gustav; the rest had been crushed to death by falling stone.

In the firelight, only bodies buried beneath rubble could be seen, along with blood still flowing in streams, dyeing the entire passage a vivid red. Even with prior warning, Rocks could not help but shudder at the sight, as though he had stepped straight into hell.

“Well now, Captain of the Holy Knights, aren’t you a little late?”

Seated on a rock, Jan still wore that same languid, careless expression. Seeing him like this, Rocks felt a surge of anger rise to his head. He lifted a trembling hand, pointed at Jan, and roared:

“What have you done?!”

“What does it have to do with me?”

At Rocks’s furious bellow, Jan gave him a contemptuous glance.

“I didn’t summon these soldiers, and I wasn’t the one who struck first. Must I really stand there like a fool and let them kill me before it counts as a ‘good deed’?”

“You...!”

At Jan’s answer, Rocks fell speechless for a moment, unable to find a retort. He already knew the full story from Liam, which was why he had rushed back so hastily. What he had not expected was that Jan would be this formidable, cutting down hundreds of elite guards as easily as chopping melons and vegetables, and sparing neither Baron Balf nor his father.

This was madness.

“Archbishop Bosen, what do you think...?”

Faced with this scene, Rocks was at a loss. He could only sigh inwardly before turning to Archbishop Bosen beside him. Though he and Bosen were hardly on good terms, they were both members of the temple. Now that two nobles of the Valkyrie Principality had died, the principality would surely fly into a rage and come after the Temple of the God of War. They would not care what manner of person Jan was. To the Valkyrie Principality, the fact remained that the deaths had occurred on temple ground, and so the temple must provide an explanation.

For the already weakened Temple of the God of War, this would be a grievous blow. If matters went poorly, the temple itself might even fracture and collapse entirely.

And yet, to have Jan arrested? If this had happened before, Rocks might still have considered it. But now he no longer wished to do so. First, Jan was simply too powerful; whether he could be captured was an open question. Second, Jan was now the temple’s only lifeline, and Rocks did not wish to offend him lightly. As for the Valkyrie Principality... in any case, the two sides had long been merely pretending cordiality while harboring mutual distrust. There was no harm in offending them a little more.

“Archbishop Bosen, what on earth is going on here?!”

At that moment, beside Archbishop Bosen, an armed officer with a grim face looked upon the scene before him. He was one of the representatives of the Valkyrie Principality assigned to monitor the gate. He had naturally heard by now that the affair had become enormous. Gustav and Balf were both highly important figures within the principality. Leaving aside Gustav’s military power, even his son Balf was regarded as one of the principality’s rising stars. After all, to have reached the legendary realm at such a young age meant his future was beyond measure.

But now Gustav and Balf were both dead here, and the officer felt his legs weaken. He was certain he was finished. The principality’s two most valued men had died before his very eyes; once the higher-ups learned of this, his good days were over. If he were fortunate, perhaps he would spend the rest of his life in prison. If not... Thinking of that, the officer could not suppress a shiver.

Then he turned toward Jan in fury, thrust out a finger, and shouted:

“You have some nerve, daring to murder a noble of the principality! Men, seize him! Seize him!”

Unfortunately for him, no matter how wildly he shouted, not a soul moved to obey. On the contrary, both the holy knights and the principality soldiers who had arrived later looked at the red-faced officer as though he were an idiot. Had the man been scared stupid? Did he not see how ruthless the other side was, having slaughtered Baron Balf’s entire guard to the last man? If they went up, would they not simply die as well?

As for Jan, he sat tilted on a chunk of broken stone, looking utterly relaxed, even smiling faintly at the crowd as though he posed no threat at all. Yet in combination with the countless severed limbs and mangled bodies around his feet, the sight was only more chilling.

Hearing the officer’s words, Archbishop Bosen turned and glanced at him, and within his dark eyes flickered a wavering, uncertain light. Then he raised his right hand and took the holy emblem of the God of War from his robe. When the crowd saw this, their expressions all changed slightly. May the nine saints protect them—hadn’t the fighting been enough already? Was this the prelude to a second battlefield?

Rocks was stunned as well. He hurried forward, intending to say something.

At that very moment, an unexpected change occurred.

Bright radiance suddenly burst forth from Archbishop Bosen’s holy emblem, spreading like fierce sunlight and bathing Jan and Pattylina in its glow. Seeing this, all the holy knights, Rocks included, widened their eyes in disbelief, as though they could not trust what they were seeing. And then, within that luminous haze, an emblem of a crossed sword and shield appeared out of thin air, before dissolving into particles of light and vanishing swiftly into the air.

After that, the glow that had risen from the holy emblem faded once more into silence.

This was...

The officer was also taken aback. He had thought Archbishop Bosen was about to act, but the scene before him did not seem to suggest that at all.

“Archbishop Bosen! Please issue your orders at once and seize this murderer!”

“...............”

Yet, to the officer’s astonishment, not only did Archbishop Bosen ignore him this time, even Captain Rocks gave no answer. Instead, both men frowned at him as though looking at a clown. Worse still, the officer realized with shock that even the holy knights around them were now mostly gazing at him with faint hostility.

What on earth was happening?

“Mr. Jan.”

Only then did Archbishop Bosen finally speak, and his tone, to everyone’s astonishment, was unprecedentedly courteous.

“I am deeply sorry that you have been made to endure such a thing. This was our oversight. I assure you that nothing like this will happen again.”

“...............”

At these words, everyone present stared at Archbishop Bosen in utter shock. Whether mercenaries or principality soldiers, all were left dumbstruck. They had thought that Jan, having gone on a killing spree on temple ground and slain so many soldiers, even killing two nobles of the principality, had committed an act that was nothing short of a provocation against both the church and the principality’s authority. By all rights, the two sides should have joined forces to bring him down at once. Yet who could have expected Archbishop Bosen to suddenly change his tune and begin protecting this murderous devil?

“Archbishop Bosen, what do you mean by this?!”

Even the officer was stunned. What was this supposed to be? This man had killed two important figures of the principality, and yet the Temple of the God of War intended to shield him—why? Did they not understand that this would trigger a full-scale conflict between the Temple of the God of War and the Valkyrie Principality?

“Hmph.”

But Archbishop Bosen paid the officer no heed whatsoever. Instead, he turned toward Jan and respectfully extended an inviting hand.

“Mr. Jan, this is no place for conversation. I imagine you must be fatigued as well. Why not rest first in the stronghold, and then we can sit down and discuss in detail the matter of exploring the Underdark?”

“Hah?!”

At this remark, the onlookers behind them were completely floored. What in the world was this all about? Could it be that this man had some murky, unspoken connection to the Temple of the God of War?

Jan, however, did not answer immediately. Instead, he narrowed his eyes in thought for a moment, then rose to his feet and offered Archbishop Bosen an elegant smile.

“In that case, I shall not be so discourteous as to refuse.”

What followed was beyond everyone’s expectations. The holy knights respectfully ushered Jan and the others into the stronghold. They paid no mind to the Valkyrie Principality’s reaction; though the principality garrison attempted to step forward and demand answers, they were given the cold shoulder and had no choice but to withdraw for the time being. The officer in charge naturally stormed off to report the matter to the principality’s higher authorities, while the remaining soldiers were tasked with collecting the bodies left in the passage.

Seeing that there was no longer any spectacle to watch, the mercenaries dispersed as well, though this did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm for discussing what had happened. After all, Jan’s overwhelming strength, coupled with his “feat” of killing two nobles at once, and the Temple of the God of War’s baffling reaction afterward, all made for exceedingly rare and valuable gossip. Only one thing remained beyond everyone’s comprehension: why, after Jan had killed so many people, was the temple still treating him so well?

Could they truly be afraid of this death-dealing fiend?

“My lord, I truly cannot make sense of it.”

Even Iris now frowned, her face full of confusion. When she first received the holy knights’ invitation, she had thought it was merely a delaying tactic—that they intended to lower her guard before seizing them all at once. But to her surprise, these holy knights had truly treated them with deference, not only arranging the finest rooms in the stronghold for them, but even preparing a generous spread of tea and refreshments. It looked nothing like the confinement of prisoners; rather, it resembled the reception of honored guests.

What was going on?

Iris had originally assumed that, given Jan’s actions and her own, the holy knights would at least not welcome them warmly, even if they did not arrest them. Yet now it seemed that was not the case at all. This left Iris deeply perplexed, unable to understand how this script had been written.

“I can guess a little, of course it’s only a guess. But there is one thing I know for certain...”

Leaning sideways on the sofa, Jan lifted the black tea beside him and took a small sip, then said:

“...the seat of the God of War is still vacant.”