The Former Holy Knight. Having Lost My Job and Childhood Friend, I Decided to Start a Dark Guild - Chapter 81/82

The method to return from the dream world to reality that Lily told me is extremely clear. All one needs to do is awaken while making contact with the person they want to awaken. I, who am not affected by Lily’s skill, have a lighter sleep than others, allowing me to wake up at any time. Basically, I just need to hold Cecil’s hand and awaken.

However, the current situation makes even such a simple act difficult. The moment Cecil and I touch hands, the giant beast Spino swings down its fist. Cecil and I let go of each other’s hands and instinctively dodge the strike in mid-air.

With that blow, the eyes of Capone’s heretics all turn towards me. Every single one of them had their eyes wide open. Gradually, a clear hatred begins to light up in their eyes. One of the heretics shouted.

“That man is Leon Stein who killed Brother Grittz! Now is the time for blood revenge!”

With the heretic’s shout, flames and ice arrows were launched at me simultaneously, and the giant beast Spino swung its huge fist down from the sky. Indeed, since capturing Grittz, this is the first time I’ve faced Capone’s people with Leon Stein’s face.

Trapped in mid-air where movement is restricted, it’s truly impossible to dodge everything. I activate Kirke’s magic barrier skill, then twist my body, barely avoiding Spino’s fist. Then, the fire and ice arrows attack me, and while most are deflected by the magic barrier, several pierce my arm.

Landing on the ground and pulling out the arrows, light shines on my arm, and the wounds begin to heal.

I quickly looked up at Cecil and said,

“Cecil! You must not use any more sacred arts!”

“But the wounds!”

Given Cecil’s nature, she couldn’t stand by and protect herself while seeing another person injured. Even now, Cecil is applying healing sacred arts to the fallen holy knights. But continuing like this, the barrier protecting the real-world Cecil will disappear.

As I ponder how to make contact with Cecil, Spino targets me and charges while swinging its fist.

Dodging to the side, the fist heavily slams into the training ground, creating a massive tremor. If I had taken that strike directly, I wouldn’t have survived.

Then, Spino swings its arm horizontally. Just before the fist could hit me, I activate the “Electrify” skill. With a loud bang, the electrified Spino lets out a roar.

Immediately, Cecil descends from the air, wielding twin swords and delivering a slash that paralyzes Spino with lightning. Blood spurts from the giant beast as Cecil lands consecutive cuts. I quickly leap towards Cecil.

“What are you doing!?”

With her voice raised, I pick up Cecil on my shoulder and start running at full speed, turning our backs to Capone’s heretics. The holy knights, and even Capone’s heretics, stop in their tracks, stunned by my actions.

Cecil struggles on my shoulder. “Leon! What on earth are you doing!”

“Their goal is to buy time. Fighting here is just a waste of energy.”

“But, as the leader of the Holy Knights, I can’t just run away in such a disgraceful manner!”

Well, surely the sight of the Holy Knight Leader Saintess Cecil being carried away is enough to dumbfound everyone. I straighten Cecil’s disheveled holy robes as I speak.

“We’ll forget everything when we wake up from the dream. It’s a bit embarrassing, but right now, I need you to trust me.”

As I run, I try to wake up from the sleep, but I can’t awaken immediately. The current situation is too distracting.

After a brief moment of shock, Capone’s heretics shout, “Chase Leon Stein!” and start moving again.

I jump into a building near the training ground with Cecil in my arms. The building we enter is the classroom of the memorable training school.

“Leon, I can’t understand the situation. Do you have a plan?”

I set Cecil down from my shoulder and took her hand. “It’s a long shot, but I have an idea. Just stay with me for now.”

I say this and start running down the hallway with Cecil’s hand in mine. As time passes, my eyes gradually start to open.

As we enter the hallway, Cecil says, “This might not be the right time to talk about this, but”

“There’s something I must tell you about the illusion that Prince Raymond showed you.”

I cut her off before she could continue.

“Cecil, it’s okay. I know what happened without you saying it.”

Today, after entering Cecil’s room with Prince Raymond and talking to the mind-controlled Lily, I understood everything. Cecil’s changed demeanor towards me, the implausible illusion, the antidote Cecil drank.

It’s characteristic of Prince Raymond, who has been scheming for a long time to ruin the relationship between me and Cecil.

Silently, I continue to run through the nostalgic scenery. The armory where Cecil and I polished swords and armor, the indoor training ground where we clashed swords. These are times that will never return.

Cecil said,

“Leon, come back to the Holy Knights. No matter what Prince Raymond plans, I will protect you with all my might. We can just return to how things were, without worrying about the prince.”

Before I could respond, a thunderous noise caused the ceiling of the school corridor to collapse. The giant beast Spino, from outside, swung its fist and destroyed the building. A hole opened in the wall, and Capone’s heretics quickly surrounded us.

I said,

“Cecil, that’s impossible.”

“What?”

Cecil stiffens at my words. The surrounding heretics, perhaps wary of Cecil’s sacred arts, cautiously approach us. However, I can’t afford to let Cecil wear herself out further, and we don’t have time for a battle.

I activate the Demon Lord Nina’s sub-skill “Necromancy.” In the next moment, skeletons, ghouls, and dullahans begin to appear from the ground. Cecil, standing next to me, swallows her breath.

And in an instant, the multitude of undead surround us protectively. Capone’s heretics stop in their tracks at the sudden development, and Cecil is completely frozen.

As I awaken halfway, I say to Cecil,

“As you can see, I’m a heretic. I can’t possibly return to the Holy Knights. Moreover, tonight, I killed an inquisitor. The Leon Stein you knew no longer exists.”

With those words, the bodies of Cecil and I disappeared from the dream world.

◆　Cecil PoV　◆

As I was waking from the dream, Leon said, “Now that my skills have newly unlocked, I might be able to control Lily. Cecil, you must fulfill your duties as the commander of the Holy Knights.”

I could only grasp Leon’s hand in my confusion. I wanted to convey something, but the words wouldn’t come. I was simply overwhelmed by what Leon had achieved, surrounded by Capone’s heretics.

The undead, such as skeletons and dullahans, which the Demon Lord once freely controlled, were massively generated by Leon’s skills to protect us. To put it mildly, the sight was nothing short of bizarre.

From the perspective of a Holy Knight Commander who has witnessed countless inquisitions, Leon is not just a heretic, but a special kind of heretic with abilities that would go down in the history of the royal capital. Naturally, the outcome of a heresy inquisition was evident.

But more than that, I wanted to say something to Leon. No one had desired to become a holy knight more than he had. It was cruel that he had manifested heretic skills.

Yet, I couldn’t find the words. As this went on, the dream gradually faded, and Leon’s presence, holding my hand, drifted away.

I wanted to stay with Leon a bit longer, contrary to my wish, he disappeared. And with him, the memories of the dream began to blur and fade away. No, even if it was just a dream, I didn’t want to lose the memory of running through the old school with Leon. With these unspoken words, I woke up.

I opened my eyes and gasped in horror.

Prince Raymond, half-naked and with bloodshot eyes, was staring at me from close range. He was forcibly pulling at my holy robes and pressing a small bottle to my lips.

I immediately knocked his hand away and leaped back. Raymond looked surprised.

“Lily, what is this?”

“Eh?”

“Lily! Cecil has awakened. This isn’t what we agreed upon!”

I grasped the situation from his words. Prince Raymond had been waiting for my barrier to weaken and was intent on making me drink the suspicious liquid in the small bottle.

Raymond shouted, “Lily! Put Cecil back to sleep!”

That would be bad. If I fell asleep, with my mana depleted, I would be utterly defenseless. The next time I awoke, it might be to find Prince Raymond gyrating over me. I couldn’t stay here, so I decided to run toward the door.

I heard Raymond’s angry voice behind me.

“Cecil, if you leave this room, I have ordered the assassination of Duke LeBlanc!”

My steps halted. That’s right, the situation hadn’t changed—Duke LeBlanc and others were still being held hostage. I turned around to find Prince Raymond smiling.

“Give up, Cecil. The more you resist, the more nobles I will kill one by one. The country will be ruined. You have no choice but to accept me.”

Prince Raymond slowly approached and pressed the small bottle to my lips again. “Drink this. If you resist even a little, I’ll kill the nobles.”

The pungent aphrodisiac seemed much stronger than what I had been forced to drink before. What should I do? Can I withstand this drug now? Perhaps losing my saintess abilities is the only option left to me.

I was about to utter words unsuitable for a commander of the Holy Knights when suddenly, the bedroom door burst open.

Swiftly, someone flew in. The person who landed, having snatched the small bottle from Raymond’s hand, was an unexpected figure—Kano, an elf affiliated with the Michino Family. His face was red and swollen as if he had been tortured, yet he spoke energetically.

“Lady Cecil! The Giantstone Castle needs your power to protect it!”

Stunned, I was pulled by Kano, and we started running. Behind us, Raymond’s voice sounded almost deranged.

“What are you doing! I told you that if you step out of the room, I’d kill Duke LeBlanc! Cecil, come back to the room!”

Of course, I couldn’t let the duke die, but returning to Raymond’s room seemed unlikely to yield a solution. I kept running with Kano through Raymond’s room.

After leaving Raymond’s bedroom, I understood the situation in Giantstone Castle.

A man lay bleeding from the head in the hallway. No doubt, this man was Malquiri, a heretic affiliated with Capone. It meant that the heretics from the Dark Guild had infiltrated the castle while the holy knights were asleep.

I said, “Kano, you’re skilled in scouting, aren’t you? Can you pinpoint the heretics’ location?”

Kano’s ears perked up. “There are seven heretics on the fifth basement level. Two in the second-floor grand hall!”

“Thank you. I’ll pay you later, so please help!”

“Yes!”

As we descended to the third floor, where Duke LeBlanc’s room was located, a battle had already begun. However, it was not immediately clear who was friend or foe.

A man named Sokrates, affiliated with Michino, was holding the sleeping Duke LeBlanc and was in combat with the holy knights. Normally, I would assist the holy knights, but the circumstances seemed different.

Skillfully moving his large body, Sokrates dodged the holy knights’ swords and said, “Help, Kano! I must take Duke LeBlanc outside Giantstone Castle on Don’s orders! If I fight back, I might kill these holy knights!”

I made a split-second decision. Drawing my twin swords, I intercepted the holy knights’ blades. “I’ll handle this. Sokrates, take Duke LeBlanc to a safe place!”

“Got it!”

As I parried the holy knights’ swords, I assessed the situation. These holy knights were still being controlled by Lily’s skill while asleep. Even if Duke LeBlanc’s safety could be secured, the nobles in the grand hall surrounded by holy knights remained in danger.

I quickly knocked the helmets off the holy knights and struck them on the back of the head. The knights collapsed one after another to the ground. I thought to head to the grand hall when Giantstone Castle shook violently.

Next, something I had never felt before occurred. A terrifying presence enveloped my entire body.

Kano, standing next to me, gave an awkward smile. “It’s our demon lord… I mean, our ace’s doing. Please rest assured. Though he’s rough, Don has ordered him to protect Giantstone Castle without killing anyone.”

No, such a monstrous presence couldn’t belong to someone affiliated with a dark guild. As I puzzled over this, I heard someone call, “Lady Cecil!”

Turning around, I saw Lily and other high-ranking knights approaching. It seemed Lily’s skill had been broken, and they had awoken. I didn’t know who had broken Lily’s skill, but this was an opportunity not to be missed.

Maintaining my saintess skills while protecting the nobles was a seemingly impossible strategy, but now the conditions for success were aligning.

Who could have thought of such a reckless plan? I smiled wryly, raising my twin swords.

“The majority of people are still in danger! Not a single life must be lost!”