21. Knight?

Sylvester felt cold… to the point that he could feel his eyebrows freeze and accumulate snow. His heart beat fast seeing the towering phantom-like figure in front of him. He could feel that it was looking at him.

'Th-This taste in my mouth… so bitter. I can't breathe with this… ugh! Is this what death smells like?'

The thing kept staring at him for five minutes as if searching for something. Its tentacles, like flares of white fire, kept closing on him inch by inch. Everyone had sensed that it was going for Sylvester, but they could not do anything.

Sir Dolorem had stopped praying and silently tried to get up. To him, saving God's Favored was his life's duty. If he failed here, he failed at life.

"Chosen by God?" Shocking everyone, the phantom made a muffled borderline demonic voice, opposite from its melodious whistling and humming. " Time shall tell. Until we meet again… farewell."

It stopped its advance and turned back to Sir Druig. Then, mercilessly, it sent out the white flames and drowned the Inquisitor Knight's whole body in it. Just a moment later, when the fire vanished, Sir Druig looked like a deflated balloon. His eyes dropped out of his socket, and his teeth fell off. All his veins were visible and dry, and then his skin became a tight wrapper around the bones.

But it did not stop there and moved to Sir Ronald and did the same, turning him into a dry leaf, ready to wither with a touch. The phantom also touched the other inquisitors, and one by one, they all died without being able to utter a single word.

They were laughing, eating, and chattering a few minutes ago and have now perished. Life was too unpredictable in this world, and there couldn't be a better reminder than this.

Then as the phantom appeared, it vanished with the diminishing mist. In a few minutes, the temperature returned to normal, the sky became clear again, and owls and insects started to make noise—as if nothing had even happened.

"Haah…" Sylvester, Xavia, and Sir Dolorem fell to the ground, their breaths uncontrollably fast.

"Are you all right, Master Maximilian?" Sir Dolorem quickly gathered himself and ran to check Sylvester.

Xavia did the same and checked his body closely. However, Sylvester knew he was fine and instead felt more worried for Miraj as he had fallen unconscious long ago. It seems the pressure was too much for animals. Maybe that's why everything turned silent when that phantom appeared.

"I'm fine. Check them first… I don't think they are alive." he pointed at the knights that had died.

Sir Dolorem sighed and went to touch the bodies. "The curse of dying this way is that…" As he touched them, the bodies turned into such fine dust that they simply flew away and became one with the air. "It does not even leave anything to give to their families."

Sir Smith and Sir Silvereye were not harmed, however. Only the team that had caught the elf and tortured it were killed. But no one thought it had anything to do with the elf. In their opinion, the inquisitors must have sinned before the recent case.

"W-We need to hurry back and get to the Holy Land. The Inquisitor High Lord must know about this." Sir Silvereye said.

"No, we can't. It's night, and it may cause more harm to us. The Shadow Knight was here, so we can be sure that no creature of the night would dare wander near. Go to sleep, and we shall resume the journey early." Sir Dolorem instructed, as the most senior on this excursion.

None could disobey, so they got into their tents and went to sleep. Sylvester picked Miraj, entered the stagecoach with Xavia, and fell asleep in a hug. The night's experience was nothing less than an unforgettable nightmare for them. They saw a legend, and it was too strong.

Too damn strong.

…

The next day, they traveled silently. Everyone had something going on in their mind. Sir Dolorem was thinking about telling the news to the Inquisitor High Lord. Sir Silvereye and Sir Smith wondered what would have happened if they were also sinners. Xavia was just in shock that something like this was real and nearly killed her son.

Sylvester was thinking about what the Shadow Knight said. 'What did he mean by meeting again? Was that a challenge? Is he going to fight me? How am I supposed to beat someone stronger than the Inquisitor High Lord?'

He had no idea if he had made an enemy or a friend. However, Murphy's Law says everything that can go wrong will go wrong. So he was inclined to think that he'd have to fight this being someday in the future.

'I at least don't want to die. I should start focusing on learning more magic… but the school won't start until I'm eight. What to do until the… Wait, isn't Sir Dolorem also a Knight of Silver Rank? I never tested if I had Knight's talent as well!'

"Maxy, I'm hungry!" Miraj whispered carefully near his ears.

He caressed the furry boy, took out some dried beef from Xavia's pouch, and secretly gave him. Miraj was unconscious until late into the morning and missed breakfast time.

They never took chances again and always rested in a town or a village on the way. Soon, they crossed the Green City, and the roads became wider and even. The closer they got to the Holy Land, the faster their speed was. The surroundings became more pleasant with trees, and various travelers and merchants appeared.

Thankfully, the Church always has the right of way, so all other horses, carriages, and coaches would give way after seeing the Church's flag.

They didn't have to stop at any checkpoint either. No guards from any large town or city on the way stopped them. Truly, being an official of the Church was like being the police and the government simultaneously.

So their journey smoothly concluded by the end of the week, and the stagecoach stopped at the main palace of the Magna Sanctum, the Pope's Palace.

They all climbed the stairs and entered the palace to find the Inquisitor High Lord. Sir Dolorem was in the lead as he was close to the Inquisitor Lord. He could have sent everyone away, but he needed everyone to give testimony.

"May the holy light enlighten us!"

Sir Dolorem suddenly saluted with a serious face. There was not just the Inquisitor High Lord, but the Pope was also here, standing outside the throne hall, talking amongst themselves.

"You have returned, good. I hope the task went successfully and you removed the plague." The Pope cheerfully asked.

Sir Dolorem nodded and started. "They did. Lady Xavia and Master Maximilian healed the Pitfall Town. The plague was due to contaminated well water. But… on our way, we had an incident that killed twelve other Inquisitors…"

Nobody interrupted him and waited for him to finish. "Shadow Knight appeared in the middle of the night on our way. He killed them all."

The Pope sighed hearing that. "If it was him, we can not do anything about it. Shadow Knight does what he wishes, punishes those who have sinned. He is a force of nature."

"Who were the Inquisitors? Why were they at Pitfall?" Inquisitor High Lord questioned.

"They arrived in Pitfall with an enslaved elf woman. They wished to burn her… but she somehow found a blade and killed herself first."

"Was she violated?" Inquisitor High Lord asked as his body oozed with a dangerous aura and the eyes behind his visor turned bright red.

"Y-Yes… I and God's Favored saw her later… she was not well." Sir Dolorem revealed.

"Then they deserved death. They warrant it if they deem it's fine to taint their bodies by getting intimate with a heathen. I have no doubt they sinned against fellow faithful too. That's why Shadow Knight took their lives. Holy Father, I shall go and write their names in the Book of Damned. Sir Dolorem, Sir Silvereye, and Sir Smith follow me."

This left Xavia and Sylvester with the Pope. It was normal for Xavia to feel nervous, but Sylvester was chums with the boss of the Church. His constant shenanigans and sharing candy had worked like a charm.

"How are you, little one? I hope this incident didn't scare you." The Pope patted Sylvester's head.

'Scared? My life was in danger.' He muttered under his breath. But outside, he showed a big smile. "I'm strong, so I fear nothing."

"Haha, of course. You are the bard. Nobody can make your life hard. Come, let us eat lunch together. Mother Xavia, do you wish to join us?"

Xavia was flustered and hurriedly stepped back. "N-No, Holy father, I will return to my room and clean it. I must notify Great Mother about my return."

"Fine, child. Take care of yourself."

With that, Sylvester and Pope walked into the Palace to the personal chambers of the Pope. This was the first time Sylvester saw the Palace deeper inside, and he was left speechless by the grandeur. Everything was massive and beautiful. Gold engravings, paintings, and flower vases were everywhere.

'I, too, can live in such grandeur free of cost as long as I get to the high rank.' he thought.

"I learned that you have been training secretly with Sir Dolorem? You are truly talented, child. When I was your age, I was eating dirt and dreaming of eating sweets… good times." Pope dreamily expressed as if reminiscing about his childhood.

"Do you have a mother too?" Sylvester asked innocently.

The old man replied jokingly. "Everyone has a mother, but not all get to live with them. Mine died after bringing me into this world. My father then abandoned me on the stairs of a monastery. So you can say I've been a man of Solis since birth."

'Ah, of course. Everyone has a story.'

"Don't worry. I will always be your friend. Have candy." Sylvester, as always, took out two sour and sweet candies from his pocket and gave one to the Pope.

The old man merrily took it and ate. "You truly are like the bright sunshine in this Church. In stressful work circumstances, you bring me great mental joy. Never change, little one—never let anyone else change you either."

"Okie!" He acted cutely and ate the tasty food on the table. He was still not sure about how bad the Pope was. Yes, like others, he hated the 'heathens', but that was merely the common thought process of every being in the land. So he could not judge the man on that basis.

'Out of everyone, this guy has the hardest character assessment. Well, at least he's not after my life... Yet.'

He spent some more time before returning to the Bright Mother housing and went to the room to take a nap. Miraj had gone with Xavia already and was fast asleep on the bed.

Like this, his long month came to an end. However, today was the only day he could rest happily, for he wished to start knight training the next day.

…

It was the morning of the next day. Xavia had gone to the Bright Mother academy to get her graduation certificate. Meanwhile, Sylvester, Miraj, and Sir Dolorem arrived at the terrace of the building.

"I want to learn how to be a Knight." He wished.

"But not all have the talent to be a Wizard Knight." When Sir Dolorem said that, a trace of planned confusion appeared on Sylvester's face.

Seeing this, Sir Dolorem explained and instructed, "I will have to test you to check it first. Come here and hold the dagger. Try to imbue it with Solarium."

After months of practice, Sylvester had terrific control over the Solarium particles, so he knew exactly what to do. "That's it? I think I can do it."

He focused on the short dagger, wanting to cover it with translucent energy. But then something unexpected happened.

Woosh!

"Ah! How did this…?"

[A/N: His formal training will begin in the next chapter. School of Dawn will start. The road to becoming Pope will officially be in sight. New rivals, friends, and enemies will be made.

Fun times ahead.]