TWCMH 10

Chapter 10

**To You Who Called Me a Temptress

The Paladin knights, who had avoided dawn in the nearby village, procured a small cart as soon as the morning sun rose, loaded the unconscious woman onto it, and raced off frantically.

The fiercely clinging wind pierced through the knights’ cloaks, stabbing them with cold.

Even as the harsh cold froze their entire bodies, only one thought occupied their minds.

‘What on earth was that last night?’

They were not ordinary knights, but Holy Knights.

They were not easily overcome by sinister sorcery or cunning magic.

Because God watched over them, their mental walls were stronger than anyone else’s.

And yet, their souls had crumbled in an instant.

No matter how off guard they had been, to be so easily overcome by something that was neither poison, nor drug, nor magic…

Beatrix, guarding the rear, stared with cold eyes into the wooden cart where the woman was imprisoned.

The woman, knocked unconscious by Lampez’s divine power, had not awakened even by dawn.

Her groaning voice, as if she had received a strong shock, held a feverish warmth. They had to move the unconscious woman, but the stench emanating from her entire body was so foul that Midas, who had a weak stomach, couldn’t even come near her.

Even Periart was making a fuss, taking deep breaths, and Ruan’s face had turned pale.

Unable to stand their pitiful state, Hugo moved the woman himself. The others, while floundering, could only watch the scene. It was the first time they thought they envied his inability to smell.

Even with such a putrid stench emanating from her, there was no denying that this woman was indeed the ‘Flona.’ The shock of last night had been that great.

“……”

They couldn’t see it, and they couldn’t block it. The great knights, lauded as such, had lost their power helplessly to a single scent that tickled their noses.

It was foolish to describe such a being with just the term ‘living flower.’

Having experienced it firsthand, the Flona was a being that required far more caution.

The only saving grace was that very few Flonas appeared in a generation, and their lifespan was known to be very short.

As Beatrix stared at the cart with complicated eyes, Periart quietly approached and asked.

“Vice-Commander, is your hand alright?”

Beatrix raised his hand and made a fist as if it was nothing.

Though cut deep enough to show bone on the back of his hand, he was not a man to complain about such a wound.

“Well, since the Commander himself treated it, there shouldn’t be any inflammation or poison.”

Even if they weren’t priests or mages, Holy Knights also possessed some healing ability.

They couldn’t cure illnesses, but they could easily heal physical wounds, poison, and curses.

The unfortunate part was that they could not heal themselves with divine power.

Divine power could only be used to help others; alone, one could not be perfect.

Also, it went without saying that the stronger the divine power, the better the healing ability, so with Hugo’s level of divine power, the metal poison in Beatrix’s hand was easily dealt with.

“But Vice-Commander, that thing we experienced last night… that was the Flona’s sorcery, right?”

Midas, who had been watching Hugo’s lead as he surveyed the front, quietly approached Periart and Beatrix and asked.

“It’s truly bizarre, isn’t it? It was clearly a foul stench, but then suddenly a really pleasant fragrance came out.”

“Right. Wow, for real! That was the first time I truly understood what it meant to be bewitched.”

“My head went blank, and then suddenly my heart dropped.”

“You too? My heart felt like it was tearing apart. How can a mere fragrance manipulate people’s hearts like that?”

“Can’t you be quiet? What are you making such a fuss about? We should be reflecting on it!”

“I’m just curious. Curious! And earlier, that was just because I was caught off guard. From now on, I won’t let my guard down. I absolutely won’t be affected.”

As Midas boasted, Periart snorted from the side.

“For someone who even shed tears to say they absolutely won’t be affected… I find that hard to believe…”

“Shut up?”

“Oh, I won’t. I won’t shut up, I won’t.”

“I’ll kill you.”

Just as Midas, his face flushed red, reached for the weapon on his saddle, Beatrix threatened in a terrifying voice.

“You bastards, is this the time for jokes? You’re feeling too comfortable, so your mouths are running wild, huh?”

At Beatrix’s scolding, Periart and Midas quickly shut their mouths and returned to their positions.

However, no matter how much Periart tried to compose his emotions, he couldn’t stand the burning curiosity about the true nature of what he had felt last night.

‘What on earth was that?’

Emptiness? Helplessness? Sadness? Anger? Loss? Perhaps it was a despair tangled with all of those…

To be swept up in emotions after smelling a fragrance. No, did emotions even have a scent? He had never heard such a thing.

But he swore to God, the moment he felt that fragrance, he had definitely lost his strength to frustration.

‘…How did she do that?’

Periart, tilting his head, looked at the cart carrying the Flona.

‘A woman looking like that is the Flona…’

She was far too shabby and ragged to be called a temptress or witch. So small and pitiful that she looked almost pathetic…

Hugo warned them not to be bewitched, saying even that was her sorcery. He said that wicked beings even exploited human compassion.

Lampez’s words were right.

It was a being that could lead humans into depravity in any way, so it was right to be on guard from the start.

Periart sharply averted his gaze, which had unconsciously begun to harbor sympathy.

Consciously erasing his thoughts about the Flona, he posed another question to Beatrix.

“But the Commander seemed unaffected yesterday. How is that possible?”

“Well, the depth of his divine power is different. He didn’t rise to the 4th rank for nothing. Even reaching the 3rd rank takes a lifetime of effort that might barely be achieved, and he achieved the 4th…”

Even among past popes, the number of saints who achieved the 4th rank could be counted on one hand.

And most of them reached that superhuman level only in their sixties, or even over eighty…

Hugo Brighton had surpassed the 3rd rank at just twenty, and achieved the 4th at twenty-six.

Even the previous Pope had said he couldn’t fathom how far he would rise.

It was a source of pride that such a man led the Paladins, but on the other hand, it was deeply regrettable that such a great Holy Knight had been born in the current era.

After the current Pope ascended, much had changed in the religious order.

The young Pope was exceptionally capable in many ways, and he had many desires for the order. He was equally ambitious.

He wanted this Temple of Ademors to have its own independent holy land.

It was a dazzlingly grand ambition, but also an absurd goal for a temple that should be serving the people.

Moreover, was it right to use divine power for private purposes in the name of a great goal?

He meant, was it right to use divine power for errands for the royal family or private institutions under the guise of serving the temple?

‘Even now, humans and beasts corrupted into demon beasts from the Black Lands are constantly being recreated. Is achieving the holy land really the more urgent matter?’

Beatrix swallowed a sigh and followed the back of Lampez, who was said to possess unprecedented divine power in history.

The boy whom the previous Pope had discovered shining in a dark alley and raised had grown into the greatest Holy Knight in history.

Following the previous Pope as his father, learning morality and doctrine in the bosom of Ademors, and learning right from wrong, he was God’s blade, sharper and keener than any priest.

He was the unyielding justice, the guardian of this order, and the torch that all who trained in divine power aspired to.

The pride of the Paladins, the glory of the order. A man who would stand alone and aloof even if all the evil in the world descended upon them.

That even the Flona’s fragrance would not shake him was proof of Lampez’s greatness.

For that reason, Hugo Brighton was indeed the most suitable person for this mission, tainted by the private dealings of the palace and the temple.

Even if everyone in the world fell to the Flona, that one man would never fall.

Yes, I believe in that man. I will believe in and follow only Lampez.

Beatrix, looking at Hugo’s back ahead with eyes full of faith, raised his gaze to the sky.

“Oh no…”

In an instant, a voice of dismay escaped like a sigh.

A white shadow fluttered over Beatrix’s dark brown eyes.

At first glance, warm, hazy, round snowflakes were fluttering about.

It was a precursor to a blizzard.