Necklace

Sir Koelhar paced through the Keep together with Archbishop Weissner and Duke Rimmenwolfe.

They passed through the winding passageways in and out of the stronghold since the main halls were on lockdown due to the rebels holding the central gate control tower.

The tower was a structure of humble complexity that was far ahead of its time and was regarded as one of the largest deterrents to attacking Dwenson Stronghold.

The Tower was equipped with a Mana Phylactery that stored and collected the ambient mana in the surroundings as a source of power.

There were hundreds of resonance stones inside the tower, each one was a separate pair that was linked to the other resonance stones that were embedded into each gate in Dwenson Stronghold.

The tower then injects a varying amount of magic to these said stones in order for them to resonate, immediately shutting off the gate.

Due to the importance of the Control Tower, it was guarded day and night and was subject to a shutdown the moment enemy forces enter the gate.

This was the problem.

The Tower was situated next to the Barracks, which was built on top of the Northern Dungeon.

It was supposed to block insurgents from town since residents were not allowed into the restricted area in the barracks.

They had not anticipated that the attack would have come from beneath the barracks itself.

Not to mention that the resident Magus, Master Lux von Chavez, had unfortunately passed away of old age during the months of Ice. Since he was the only Magus capable of understanding the principles of magical relativity, no one in the stronghold could manually deactivate the gates.

This played a vital role to the success of the rebels.

As to how, when, and where the organized riot actually started, they were about to find out.

They entered the dimly lit underground hall, Sir Koelhar saw 12 Templar Knights or, as they liked to be called, "Holy Knights of the Sun God".

They all surrounded a familiar young lad bound by chains from his neck to his ankles.

Koelhar saw from the corner of his eyes that one of the Templar Knights had an irregularly bent shoulder.

Sir Koelhar internally laughed as he felt proud that the boy he picked up really had a degree of tenacity.

The boy was armed to the teeth, Koelhar thought that if the boy had been his subject he would have been an elite squire.

However, things have changed now, the moment he was captured by the Church, the dark haired lad would have to say goodbye to his old life.

The Church had their ways around human minds. They weren't even trying to hide it.

"Archbishop Weissner, is this the captive you speak about?" The Duke asked as he held a particular interest to the young lad's hair. "Black Hair huh..."

"Indeed, your Lordship." The Archbishop smiled. "He was captured while trying to sneak into a departing caravan in the Eastern Gate."

"Did you always station your guards at the gates?" The Duke said with slight suspicion. "Is the Church also meddling with public security?"

"No, your Lordship. We do not dare." The Archbishop had a creepy smile. "We received a tip that there was a 'Demonic Child' seen in the suburbs."

'Demonic Child huh...' Koelhar thought.

Demonic was a title given to anyone with black hair or black eyes. In fact, the Church actively hunt down these 'Demons' and brainwash them in their dungeons to turn them into what was now known as Army of Sinners.

The justification of the Church for raising such army despite being a socio-political institution was that these were sinners that have changed their ways and were willing to sacrifice themselves for the glory of the Sun God as a sign of repentance.

Thus, this 'army' was very well adored by the believers and the ones that were not in the army of sinners were immediately reported.

Koelhar personally did not give a damn about the Church and was only acting as such since the church had a massive influence to the citizens to the point where the Church could incite a rebellion if they do not deem the Lord to be worthy.

"Nice to meet you again, Sir Knight." A voice full of hatred snapped him back to reality.

Sir Koelhar was taken aback and looked at the lad who spoke only to be met by cold eyes full of resentment.

Koelhar could not understand how could a young boy carry so much resentment in his eyes.

"YOU INSOLENT WORM!" A Templar Knight came and smacked he lad in the face. "A SINNER LIKE YOU ACTUALLY DARES TO LOOK AT A NOBLE IN THE EYE?! HERESY!"

Just as the Knight was about to smack the lad a second time, the lad suddenly pulled his head back and bit on the Knight's armored finger.

"YOU HERETIC SCU-GAAAHHH!" The knight could not finish as the lad twisted his head to the side and snapped the Knight's finger.

Koelhar could see the other Knights' reactions of terror. As a knight, a light armored gauntlet could dig through the soft leather lining below and cut the skin if the fingers were suddenly turned the wrong way.

The Templar Knight clutched his hand and winced in pain, he was bent down with a knee on the ground and was groaning.

He turned to look at the lad with eyes full of hatred but the lad spat on his eye before he could even fully turn.

Sir Koelhar really liked this lad, even in chains he still managed to cause substantial amounts of damage to a knights ego.

The Templar Knight was about to smack the lad again but the Duke stopped him.

"That's enough." The Duke spoke.

The Templar Knight looked at the Duke with a frown.

"Your Lordship, the Church does not tolerate the insolence of Demoni-"

"Enough." The Duke coldly repeated, halting all the commotion in the room. "Archbishop Weissner, may I?"

The Archbishop Smiled.

"Of course, your Lordship." The Archbishop handed him a relic.

The Duke then walked to Koelhar and handed him the relic.

"You question him, he seems to remember you." The Duke said flatly.

"Yes, my Lord." Sir Koelhar saluted.

Sir Koelhar walked along the clean stone brick flooring of the underground hall of the keep and stopped in front of the boy, carefully maintaining a respectful distance.

The lad just stared at him with seething eyes.

Koelhar began to ask the lad some questions.

"What is your name."

The boy did not reply and instead snickered and spat to the ground.

"What are your plans."

"Who is your leader."

"How did you escape."

The lad did not answer any question and smirked arrogantly.

"You wanna do this the hard way?" Sir Koelhar rested a hand on his sword.

"Try me." The lad grinned.

Torture would obviously not work since they were running out of time so Koelhar channeled mana to the staff-like relic on his hands.

The fine tendrils wrapping around the staff then unwound themselves and stretched out to touch the lad.

The lad tried to bite away the tendrils but one of them managed to reach his skin and connect.

When the connection was established, blue veins on the boy's skin boated and he started screaming in agony. The nerves of the lad were enflamed and could be seen though his pale skin as it flickered.

Moments later of intense screaming and spasms, the boy suddenly hunched over and all kinds of fluids constantly poured from his eyes, nose and mouth. The discharges pooled beneath him and heavy, labored breathing continued.

They waited for a few moments as the pupils oh his eyes rose to his sockets and only the whites of his eyes could be seen.

Koelhar could not waste time, his mana was draining quicker than expected.

"Name."

"Ro..wan." Rowan's mouth twitched to speak.

"Who is your leader."

"Leo...niin... of... Redd... wynn..."

"How did you escape."

"Guard... ga..ve....us...keys..."

"What are your plans."

"Es....ca..pe..."

"How will you escape."

"F....rom....air... duc..ts..."

"How many of you are escaping?"

"Si..x..." Rowan gasped for breath. "Thou...sand.....men."

Koelhar immediately stopped the channeling and the boy returned to normal.

Rowan immediately jerked up coughing bile and wheezed for air the moment he was free from the magic.

"What... what the hell did you do to me!" Rowan growled at him.

"Nothing much..." Sir Koelhar stepped back. "Thank you for the information, Archbishop Weissner shall now take care of you."

"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?!" Rowan pulled at the chains binding him.

"Hush, child." The Archbishop started to walk towards him with a creepy smile. "The mercy of the Sun God is endless..."

"Careful, I bite back" Rowan hissed at the Archbishop.

"Oh don't worry. We'll have lots of time together." The Archbishop then turned to Sir Koelhar. "Any last words?"

The Knight paused and looked at the lad.

Only now did he notice it but there was a necklace on Rowan's neck made of some thin rope with a shiny stone pendant.

Sir Koelhar chuckled to himself as he waved goodbye, leaving a few random words behind.

"Nice Necklace you got there."