The Fallen Saintess (41)

(City of Lunarian- Western Region)

(Base of The Inquisition- Tower of Trials)

A luxurious golden carriage slowly moved through the streets of the capitol city towards a certain direction.

Five powerful black stallions were attached to the reins of the carriage and a thick, velvet curtain hid the passenger from the sight of curious onlookers.

The driver was a young man dressed in the white armour of Varion Church with a longsword attached to his hip.

A dozen other knights surrounded the carriage and did not allow anyone to get too close.

Their faces were cold, and their intimidating auras made the bystanders on the sides of the road stay far away.

Saintess Marie peered out of the window and let out a heavy sigh as the carriage continued to move towards the tower in the distance.

Her golden eyes shone with purity and righteousness and the outline of faint translucent wings occasionally appeared behind her back.

The church needed a cleanse.

Saintess Marie knew that the systemic corruption and the sins committed in Lord Varion's name had angered their God.

Why else would she have been given these gifts?

But she could not do it alone.

The pope for all his talk about reforming the church was an ambitious old man eager to maintain his power and influence.

Prince Raul was part of the Imperial Family and therefore could not extend his influence on the upper rank members of the church.

Only one branch was capable of helping her.

The Inquisitors.

They were technically a sub-group of the holy knight order, but their independence made them an exception to the general rules that the paladins had to follow.

They were an ancient order that were founded centuries ago when the foreign races were still a threat and humanity were not as united as they were now.

Back then there were those who allied with the foreign races in exchange for power or wealth.

Those traitors were handed over to the Inquisitors to 'deal' with them.

The brutality of the Inquisitors was well known during those times and even now their reputation was still affected by the stories passed down from the ancient era.

Saintess Marie tapped her fingers against the wooden frame of the bench and thought about her next course of action.

She needed proof.

She had to meet someone associated with the freedom fighting dark elves or at least a way to get their information on which nobles kept foreign races as slaves.

But where? And who?

While the saintess was planning out the next steps of her plan, the carriage travelled through a labyrinth of roads and alleyways until a large grey tower was only two hundred meters away.

At first glance the building was quite unremarkable.

It was roughly four stories tall, and the exterior was a dull grey colour.

The path leading to the tower was quite deserted and only a few people could be seen walking in the distance.

A single wooden door was the entrance to the tower, and it was poorly maintained with a rusty doorknob and cracks in its exterior.

Paladin Markus got down from the driver's seat and respectfully knocked on the side of the carriage.

He was forced to use a bit of force since his first knock was too soft to be heard.

It was strange… Markus could not understand why it sometimes seemed as though his holy power was gradually decreasing.

Saintess Marie opened the door and quietly stepped down.

The holy knights surrounding the carriage immediately bowed respectfully.

"It is disrespectful to bring armed forces inside the Tower of Trials so I will venture forth alone," Saintess Marie explained calmly.

"Please guard the carriage and if any of the pope's messengers arrive… tell them that I am praying for the souls currently being punished inside the tower."

"My lady… I don't think it is…" one of the holy knights protested but Saintess Marie simply held up her hand.

"This is not up for debate. I will be entering the tower alone," she spoke firmly.

The holy knights exchanged glances but since their leader Markus seemed fine with the saintess' decision then it was decided to follow her order.

Saintess Marie slowly walked towards the entrance of the tower and took a deep breath once her back was turned to the knights.

Her silvery hair shone under the sunlight and faint holy runes floated around the body of the saintess.

Saintess Marie gathered her courage and rapped her knuckles against the old wooden door. She had to wait a moment before a raspy voice came from the other side.

"Enter."

The saintess grabbed the doorknob and turned. The wooden door swung open and the saintess stepped inside.

The door slammed shut behind her and the saintess found herself standing on a set of stone stairs.

There was no sign of the person who had just told her to enter, and the structure of the tower made Marie feel dizzy.

In the middle of the tower was a large empty pit that led to an underground level that Saintess Marie could barely observe using her enhanced vision.

The pit was lined with several stone staircases with some leading to the bottom of the pit while others led to mysterious side rooms.

Horrific screams and wails could occasionally be faintly heard drifting upwards from the pit and as Marie descended down the stairs…

They got louder.

She could gradually clearly hear the conversations happening on the underground level and shivers ran down her spine.

"No… please… I've told you all I know!"

"It was a mistake! I didn't mean to hurt them! My anger… I… ARGHHH!"

"Kill me… please… I can't take it anymore… KILL ME!"

Torches hung from the walls and cast a dim light on their immediate surroundings. The air was stale, and the faint scent of blood could be smelt.

It took around ten minutes for Marie to reach the underground level and what she found were hundreds of prison cells and dozens of knights.

Unlike the regular holy knights of the Varion Church, the knights down here in the darkness wore crimson red armour with an inverted sun on their breastplates.

In their hands were a variety of torture tools. Hot iron pokers, whips, pliers and other gruesome devices.

The men and women held in the prison cells were in various states. Some were completely bloody while others were lightly injured.

Still there was one thing in common… each prisoner stared at the knights with fear clearly visible in their eyes.

Saintess Marie's arrival did not seemingly attract any attention from the knights in the open space as they continued to carry out their tasks.

Of course, the saintess knew that there were eyes occasionally sweeping over her position and some were clearly malicious.

The saintess did not change her facial expression even when witnessing the horrors that were inflicted on those trapped in the prison cells.

Eventually she seemed to have passed the unknown test since the unfriendly gazes on her body disappeared.

A female knight with long black hair and several strange markings on her face walked over to the saintess and respectfully nodded.

"The High Inquisitor has been expecting you," the knight spoke politely as she gestured towards a certain direction.

"Please guide me," Saintess Marie replied with a gentle smile.