The Crimson Magister Chapter 113: V3-C41: Something Foul

Read chapter 113 of The Crimson Magister by Okram on NovelPedia.

V3-C41: Something Foul The sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon, giving rise to the long shadows that would cover even the sloppiest thief’s tracks. Golden Fang and a small contingent of his remaining forces dashed through the thick woods toward the exalted temple of his mistress. “Everyone split and investigate the surroundings. Leave the temple to me.” With an order, the golden rose split, and Fang dashed through the forest, soon revealing what was supposed to be a magnificent temple to his lady. However, what he witnessed appalled him. The glorious temple had been desecrated and ruined. He could smell the iron in the air, and the atmosphere was silent. He stopped dead in his tracks, his fists clenching. Who dared! He stepped closer to the remains of the grand temple door, its wood was shattered, and it was covered in blood. He crouched and picked up the wood, and brought it to his nose. “This is fresh.” “Perhaps a day old, at most.” He dropped the piece and [Shadowmeld] took effect. He merged with the darkness and passed inside the once glorious halls. The lights were long extinguished, and decaying corpses of dark-clad priests littered the walls. Whoever did this. He grit his teeth; the temples of his lady were sacred, and anyone who dared desecrate them so would perish. His form was a blur, he passed through the empty halls and soon arrived at the large stairwell that led deep underground. Much like all other entrances it was shattered. “Corpses of priests of all kinds, elves, and even various beastmen.” He slowly descended. The corpses he witnessed wore crude clothing, and their broken weapons were made of bone. Soleah, your kingdom really is pathetic. His nostrils flared and brows furrowed. The inability to protect a temple of his lady was heretical. While the temples were safe due to the existence of their paladins and even blessed children, it was not uncommon for them to be besieged by someone stupid enough. Yet, when he saw who the attackers were. “How did this scum beat the paladins?” Soon, he arrived at the bottom floor of the temple, deep underground, where a great vault of night held various artifacts. Usually, nobody could open the vault, yet what stood before him defied that expectation. The great metal door was melted, and the vault was empty. “Where are the paladin corpses?” He asked nobody in particular, his eyes scanned every corner of the vault. While the darkness-clad priests were present everywhere, there was a distinct lack of paladins. He passed deeper into the vault, which was completely empty, everything of value was gone. From mundane gems to powerful magical weapons. He rubbed his chin and walked forward. “So the beasts attacked the temple, killed everyone, and stole everything of value, but that can’t be everything.” There were temples that had much less defense and vaults filled with even more powerful artifacts. “Maybe the seventh moon had a secret weapon I wasn’t aware of.” He nodded. It made sense to him that they would try to steal it to gain an advantage over the elves. He delved even deeper into the vault. Step.Step.Step It’s strange that even beast priests were slaughtered. His arms crossed, and his steps stalled. “This smells foul…” He stopped in front of a former secret entrance. In front of him was the mangled corpse of a woman wearing armor decorated with Len’s symbolism. He kneeled in front of the Bishop and inspected her wounds. “This is not the work of a crude weapon.” The slices were too clean, and the woman seemed not have put up much of a fight. Bishop is being easily defeated. His fists clenched. “This is not an act of beasts. Who could it be…” He raised his head and headed toward the secret entrance that the bishop had defended with her life. Before stepping in, he turned to the bishop and picked up her body. “I won’t allow a body of night’s faithful to rot.” He placed her against the wall and stepped back. He opened his palm and looked at the lifeless body. “Your service