TBFIAV 3

The Holy Empire of Hilderd was a city-state ruled under the divine protection of the Holy King, governing over holy priests and holy knights.
It was also a nation granted extraterritorial rights, exempt from the laws of all other countries.
This was because it was a nation established in the name of God.

The reason why their ruler was called the Holy King instead of the Divine Emperor was to signify that he was beneath God.

Hilderd was responsible for maintaining order across the continent.
To eliminate heretics who had strayed from God, they spared no means or methods.

Among them, the Inquisitors, an elite force of holy knights selected from only the most exceptional, were so feared that even crying children would fall silent at their name.

All the nobility of the continent, even royalty, were careful with their words and actions in front of the Inquisitors.
No one dared to provoke them unnecessarily.

However, Chesha was a sworn enemy of the Inquisitors.

She was the daughter of a deranged fae, born with a power that defied the natural order.
She was the very symbol of heresy.

Living quietly would not have been enough to erase suspicion, yet she constantly stirred up incidents and accidents.
To the Holy Empire, she was a thorn in their side.

Chesha recalled the man who had always relentlessly pursued her.

A man who had always met her gaze straight on, his blue eyes burning.

His words, whispered in a voice as cold as ice, still echoed vividly in her mind.

“Just how far do you intend to corrupt me, witch?”

The clinking sound of white chains rang in her ears like an auditory hallucination.

Frowning, Chesha rubbed her palms against her ears.

It’s about time they came looking.

She had been holed up in the orphanage for a whole month.

Normally, she would have caused at least a couple of incidents in that time, so they must have started searching for Ritesha, suspicious of what she was plotting.

But even so, conducting inspections? That’s a bit much.

It was likely because she had gone into hiding without leaving a single trace for an entire month.

Just wait a little longer, you bastard.

As soon as she was done dealing with the Basilian household, she planned to cause a grand disturbance.

Just imagining how she would torment the holy knights and priests filled her with glee.

Chesha was smirking mischievously when—

“Witch Ritesha, huh.”

Kierne murmured as he lightly brushed his chin with his long fingers.

“Now that I think about it, things have been quiet lately.”

The underworld was a neutral zone in a different sense than the Holy Empire.

It was a place where society’s outcasts gathered—
A realm of lawless chaos that often influenced the outside world.

Thus, even across the continent, the name Witch Ritesha was quite well-known.

However, there was something peculiar about Count Basilian’s remark.

He’s speaking as if he knows her really well.

While Chesha was mulling over the strange feeling, a holy knight respectfully requested—

“Excuse me, may I see your identification badge?”

Kierne responded with a bright smile.

“I don’t want to.”

“……”

Both Chesha, who had been fidgeting, and the holy knight conducting the inspection were momentarily speechless.

Kierne leisurely stepped out of the carriage.

Sensing something amiss, the holy knights placed their hands on their sword hilts.

But Kierne paid them no mind.

Instead, he lifted Chesha into the air with both hands.

“She’s cute, isn’t she? My daughter.”

At the absurd act, someone let out a deflated chuckle.

Hearing that, Kierne’s eyes curved into a crescent moon as he smiled.

“But you see, I’d prefer if the fact that I adopted a daughter remained a secret for now.”

A strange light flickered in his crimson eyes.

He whispered in a gentle tone—

“I’d like you all to forget.”

It was a whisper that slithered into their ears like a snake—ticklish yet deep.

The holy knights, who had been about to draw their swords, all had their gazes turn vacant at once.

Just like the orphanage director and children earlier.

Chesha suddenly recalled where she had seen something like this before—

And then, she stiffened in shock.

Count Basilian is a dark sorcerer?!

As she was on the verge of passing out from sheer surprise, Kierne snapped his fingers.

Shadows surged from beneath his feet, rising in all directions.

Complete darkness swallowed Chesha whole.

When the darkness cleared—

The scenery around her had completely changed.

Just moments ago, it had been an ordinary road.

But now, an imposing black castle loomed before her.

The castle, with its gray stone walls and black roofs, was adorned with fluttering banners.

The banners were black, bearing a silver serpent coiled around a sword—an Ouroboros devouring its own tail.

The fortress exuded an eerie aura.

It looked as if it would allow neither intruders nor escapees.

In front of the massive castle gates, dozens of knights in jet-black uniforms stood in formation.

They all knelt on one knee in unison and offered their greetings.

“Welcome back, my lord.”

Kierne ran a hand through his slightly tousled hair and smiled.

With a radiant grin, he turned to Chesha and said—

“Welcome to the Serpent’s Castle, my daughter.”

“H-hngh…!”

The man ran frantically.

Sharp branches and thorny bushes tore his arms and legs to shreds, but he felt no pain.
The sound of chains clinging persistently to his ears drowned out everything else.

No matter how far he ran, the sound never faded.
It gnawed at his sanity, consuming him.

The man, running like a madman, widened his eyes.

“Keugh!”

A pure white chain coiled around his ankle.

He collapsed onto the damp earth and rotting leaves, desperately clawing at the ground.
But it was already too late.

The white chains bound him and lifted him into the air.

Struggling, he gripped the chains wrapped around his body and tried to tear them away.

Drool dripped from his mouth as he let out a choked, shrill sound.

“Hik…”

A figure clad in pristine white uniform approached with measured steps.
A blue cape draped over one shoulder billowed in the wind.

The man, eyes bloodshot, stared at the slowly approaching executioner before pleading in desperation.

“P-Please, have mercy…!”

His desperate plea was never completed.

The man crumbled into fragments of radiant white light.

The chains, having annihilated their target, slithered back to their master with a metallic clink.
The chains that had filled the air vanished without a trace.

Standing amidst the scattering shards of light, the Inquisitor turned his gaze slightly to the side.

“Lord Hyllon!”

The holy knights, arriving belatedly, looked at Hyllon with eyes filled with reverence.

Hyllon spoke coldly.

“Clean this up.”

“Yes, sir!”

The holy knights immediately began purifying the area where the man had perished.

Sacred light consumed the corpse and blood, erasing all traces.

Watching their purification process for a moment, Hyllon then began walking away at a slow pace.

His aide, following silently, received a brief question.

“The witch?”

“Still nothing. Even after setting up inspections, we haven’t received a single lead. It’s as if she’s vanished without a trace…”

Hyllon’s straight brows furrowed.

Sending his aide off to assist the holy knights, he continued walking alone.

As he strode through the shadowed forest, he ran his fingers over the bracelet on his wrist.

The simple white bracelet was a sacred relic of the Holy Empire of Hilderd—The Chains of Judgment.

Only Hyllon could wield its power, and its function was straightforward.

Tracking. Restraining. And exterminating.

Since falling into Hyllon’s hands, the Chains of Judgment had never once failed to capture their target.

Except for once.

“……”

Hyllon bit down on his lip.

A slow heat bloomed at the nape of his neck.

A place hidden beneath his stiff uniform—

Just above his collarbone, a red floral pattern was imprinted on his skin.

An eerie, almost sensual mark that did not belong on his purified body.

It was a mark left by Witch Ritesha.

A symbol that he was her prey.

From time to time, the mark would radiate warmth, asserting its presence.

As an Inquisitor of the Holy Empire, she was an existence he must eradicate.

And yet…

“You’re my prey, Hyllon.”

Crimson eyes gleamed like blooming roses.

Sweeping back her dazzling golden hair, Ritesha had smiled seductively and pressed her mark upon him.

“So don’t die so easily.”

That was why he couldn’t die.

Even in moments when he should have perished, he survived in the end.

Hyllon twisted his lips into a grin.

He didn’t know what tricks she was plotting this time,

But no matter what—he would find her.

And this time, he would throw her into the underground prison—

So that she existed only before his eyes.

 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ✧: *. ꕥ .* :✧ﾟ. ───