Westminster Bank

Chapter 26: Chapter 23: Sacrifice and God

’Not good!’

The color drained from Zod and Maguire’s faces. They were about to warn Baron to be careful.

But it was too late. The brute’s left shoulder and a hidden elbow slammed viciously into Baron’s right shoulder!

Andre, surrounded by a throng of Demon Hunters, sneered. ’This Feinan People surely doesn’t think the punishment ended with a ride on a straw cart.’

’Anyone who dares provoke me, Andre, in Fude City has yet to—’

A low cry of pain rang out. It wasn’t the delicate voice of the Feinan person Andre had imagined. He peered past the firelight and saw the brute on the ground, clutching his elbow and gasping for breath. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead from the pain.

The surrounding Demon Hunters swarmed the fallen brute in a panic, their voices a nervous buzz. They stared at Baron, their indignation now mixed with bewildered suspicion.

Zod and Maguire were simply dumbfounded. They stared at Baron in utter disbelief.

It had all happened too fast, like a whirlwind. By the time they could process what they saw, the brute was already on the ground.

"What happened?" Yarilan’s Attendant stepped forward to ask.

Andre, his face moments ago a mask of fury, instantly put on a polite smile. "Please inform Lady Yarilan that all is well. Nothing has happened—just a minor squabble among Demon Hunters."

After the Attendant went to the front to report to Yarilan, the woman known as the "Pure-blooded Fierce Tiger" lifted her lovely face. Her sapphire-blue, gem-like eyes swept across the crowd of Demon Hunters behind her.

The Demon Hunters who met her gaze either lowered their heads shyly or puffed out their chests with courage, their faces glowing with a pride as if they were soldiers being reviewed by their Queen.

Andre met her gaze and offered an archaic bow popular only among the nobility. Yarilan gave a slight nod, her eyes moving on without pause.

Her gaze finally landed on a pair of black eyes, as placid as an ancient mural that had never seen the light of day.

Information about him surfaced in her mind.

’Suspected Feinan People. Feuding with Andre, but lacks a Demon Hunter’s bloodlust.’

With that, Yarilan looked away. She had her Attendant inform the church Priest that the bounty party had arrived and requested a guide.

「...」

A portly, thick-chested Priest opened the door, yawning. A disheveled Nun scurried out from behind him, but upon seeing the multitude of torches outside, she blushed and hurried back into the church.

The Demon Hunters who witnessed this exchanged winks and nudges, letting out excited whoops and derisive whistles.

The Priest reluctantly tore his eyes away from Yarilan’s fine curves. Hearing the Demon Hunters’ whistles, he frowned. "The Lord Marquis’s subordinates seem to lack discipline."

Yarilan replied coolly, "They are merely soldiers, temporarily conscripted. Where is the sacrificial ritual? If you would lead the way, Father."

The Priest shot another reluctant glance at Yarilan’s ample bosom, then clapped his hands and called into the church.

A moment later, a Little Nun of about eleven or twelve emerged, her eyes red and swollen from crying. She stood there anxiously, wringing her hands.

The Priest cleared his throat. "The one being sacrificed by the villagers is this girl’s younger sister. The village is just on the outskirts of town. She can lead the way...

...Your Excellency, Yarilan, in my opinion, it’s likely too late to go now. After such an arduous journey, are you sure you won’t rest a while in the church? I have the finest wine and..."

"That won’t be necessary."

Yarilan snatched the Little Nun, placed her on the saddle in front of her, and spurred her horse into a gallop.

Due to a Gillian law prohibiting vehicle traffic in towns at night, the Demon Hunters had no choice but to follow on foot, holding torches. They trailed behind Yarilan and Andre, who was also mounted on a black horse, the procession stretching out like a winding ribbon of red and yellow.

’She’s not Carmen.’

As he watched the red-clad figure on the white horse grow smaller in the distance, the tempest of emotion in Baron’s heart subsided. Their brief eye contact had allowed him to see her face clearly.

She was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Her face was delicate and alluring, yet her eyes held a frigidness that kept everyone at arm’s length. Her curly red hair and sapphire pupils declared in every way that she was not the Witch.

Moreover, by the light of the torches, Baron could make out the exquisite curves of her body beneath her Hunting Outfit—a mature allure that Carmen did not possess.

「...」

Thanks to the Demon Hunters’ superior physical prowess, the group quickly reached their destination.

From a distance, Baron—who had been relegated to the outer edge of the group with Zod and Maguire—spotted a tall, white Cross. A little girl, about five or six years old, was bound to it, seemingly unconscious.

Moonlight spilled over the girl’s tiny form, making her look like a small bird trapped in a cage of light.

However, the local residents clearly did not welcome Yarilan and her group of intruders.

At the call of an old man in black robes standing beneath the Cross, the village’s able-bodied young men took up knives and pitchforks, pointing them at the newcomers.

The Little Nun leaped from the horse, stumbling and falling as she landed. She refused the help of Yarilan’s Attendant, wiped the dust from her face, and knelt on the ground, tearfully pleading with the villagers and the black-robed elder on the altar:

"Village Chief, the Demon Hunters are here! They’ll deal with the Divine Punishment Fire! I’m begging you, please, let my sister go! She’s just a child who doesn’t understand anything..."

"Silence, Olivia! How dare you disrespect God!" the Village Chief shouted in fury. "Sessi was the first to see the Divine Punishment Fire. If God demands a life, then she shall be the first!"

Yarilan frowned. Andre seized the opportunity and gestured to the Demon Hunters. "What are you gawking at? Go get that girl down from the Cross!"

The Demon Hunters heard him and prepared to move, but the Village Chief’s roar of "Who dares!" sent the young villagers into a frenzy. They brandished their knives and pitchforks with ferocious power, their expressions so resolute and fervent it seemed that not even a Demon, let alone a Demon Hunter, could stop this ritual.

"Ouch!"

One Demon Hunter couldn’t stop his charge in time and was slashed by the flurry of blades and prongs, suffering several cuts. If another Demon Hunter hadn’t reacted with lightning speed and pulled him back, he would have been killed on the spot!

’These insolent peasants!’ freeωebnovēl.c૦m

Andre’s expression turned grim as he drew his Alchemy Long Saber. The Alchemy Circuits exclusive to a Silver Demon Hunter—forged through the Magic Potion Trial—began to spread across his face. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

But Yarilan shook her head and murmured to him, "The girl is in their hands. We can’t act rashly."

She dismounted. Facing the knives and pitchforks thrust toward her, she showed no fear—and just as she expected, the weapons stopped short.

She looked past the array of weapons at the Village Chief on the altar. "If this God is benevolent," she said calmly, "then he will not let this girl die. If this God is malevolent, then he will return even after you sacrifice this girl. And any Evil God will surely be vanquished by us."

"An Evil God vanquished by you? Who are you? You’re just... just a pretty woman!"

A young man among the villagers, his face flushed, retorted, which was met with a chorus of laughter.

"Silence! How dare you peasants insult her!" Andre roared, drawing his blade in fury. The villagers raised their own weapons in response.

"Yes, I am just a pretty woman," she began. "But a pretty woman alone isn’t enough to lead so many Demon Hunters to vanquish a god."

She pointed to the Rose Medal on her Leather Armor and stated plainly, "I am Yarilan Frederick, leader of the Rose Commerce Association’s Rose Hunting Group, Viscount of Prole and Heidelein, and I hold the title ’Pure-blooded Fierce Tiger’."

"I have come to Mundra in response to the bounty posted by Baron Camberra to investigate the matter of the Divine Punishment Fire."

She spoke in a flat, dispassionate tone, yet her words carried an undeniable authority.

She had her Attendant produce the bounty order from the Hunter’s Guild. The villagers passed it around, exchanging confused glances, before finally handing it to the Village Chief, the only one among them who could read.

After reading the bounty order, the Village Chief’s shoulders slumped, and he let out a withered sigh.

"Honorable Lord Marquis."

He spoke with a tremor in his voice. "But God cannot be defeated! If Sessi doesn’t die, He will return once you have left!"

He pointed to the twin moons in the sky, then to the Cross. "It is just as the prophecy foretold. The Day of Regression is the day God awakens from His slumber. The Ghost’s Fire drifts through the woods, bringing an inexorable doom upon this world."

"If we do not offer the sacrifice He demands, I fear our entire village will be plunged into endless destruction!"

As if begging for forgiveness, the old man prostrated himself on the altar.

"Then we’ll just have to put the awakened God back to sleep. Permanently."

Yarilan helped the Little Nun to her feet and looked up at the twin moons. "I will wait for this ’god’ to descend. Then, I will kill the one who is playing God."

"All units, rest here! We wait for God’s arrival!"