Chapter 9: Truth

As the opponent’s unyielding face gradually disappeared into a completely blurred void, the entire starry magic matrix began to shake. Intense spatial fluctuations affected the entire structure of Damorlensk Fortress, even the castle walls seemed to tremble. Noroyla skillfully plunged her staff deep into the ground, using all her strength to transform her light magic into void energy.

Starry magic was no stranger to Noroyla. It involved utilizing the shifting positions of stars in the sky to guide and transform spatial energies—this was the fundamental principle of starry magic. Unlike elemental magic and light/dark magic, void energy was theoretically derived from the forces emitted by the sun, moon, and stars. Magic practitioners more or less encountered this energy during their training, but mastering it to enhance and control it as one’s own magic was the true essence of starry magic.

Noroyla unleashed her only viable starry magic technique—Starry Inversion. Originally designed as a special magic for counterattacking, it was used here for the first time against a starry magic matrix. After she activated Starry Inversion, the outward-radiating energy of the starry magic showed slight anomalies. Noroyla cleverly redirected this uncontrollable energy using her technique, turning solid energy into void energy. The immense power of the starry magic was gathered by the magic matrix and surged in the direction guided by her staff, while the matrix pillars on the ground gradually stabilized as well.

Damorlensk Fortress, which had been in turmoil, finally calmed down. Lorenzo, whose face was pale, seemed to have aged ten years. Noroyla wasn’t much better off either; sweat beaded on her forehead. Reversing the power of such a massive starry magic matrix with Starry Inversion was extremely demanding, even though it only involved redirecting the energy.

Karu and Boriz tightly blocked all of Rebrí’s escape routes. Rebrí, whose magic had been exhausted by the Howl of the Wind Dragon, had no hope of escaping his former colleagues. Komer, having been thrown into another dimension, had also lost all confidence. Against Noroyla and Lorenzo, he had no chance at all—although both Noroyla and Lorenzo were also exhausted.

“What should we do now?” Noroyla wasn’t surprised to see Karu and Boriz with nothing to show for their efforts. Last time, the two had already alerted the target, and with that noble’s nature, he wouldn’t wait for the Tribunal to arrive before frantically hiding—should there be any clues, he would have hidden long ago.
In places like the Caucasus, there were too many spots where one could hide. Noroyla and Lorenzo never expected to find any evidence under such circumstances. The question was, what to do now? Rebrí had been captured, and that degenerate must be taken back to the Tribunal to atone and cleanse his tainted soul. That poor countryman had fallen into an otherworldly realm; no one knew which corner of that infinite space he was in. Just thinking of “otherworldly realm,” a term almost mythical, made it clear that his existence could be completely ignored.
The immediate problem was how to explain this to the outside world. Although they had acted without informing anyone before, this was different—this man was a lord, and his status was somewhat important given the delicate situation in the Kingdom of Nicomedia. The most troublesome part was that they still didn’t have any evidence to prove his involvement with dark forces. His performance in this battle couldn’t be used as evidence, and no one would believe their side’s words under such circumstances.
Such actions were undoubtedly a grave offense, especially since the relationship between the Kingdom of Nicomedia and the Church of Light was in a particularly sensitive state. It could easily be seen by secular forces as the Tribunal helping the Church gain unfair advantages, even using violent means to eliminate those with differing beliefs. Noroyla didn’t want to bear such blame.
Perhaps the Homers would be secretly overjoyed, but on the surface, they would still launch fierce attacks. No secular force would approve of this method—it would undoubtedly encourage the Church to punish nobles arbitrarily without any basis, seen as an open challenge to all secular forces on the continent.
“Lord Noroyla, we’re in trouble. We can’t make this public because we have no evidence yet. That would only put us at a disadvantage,” Karu said after a pause.
“Does this guy have no heir?” Lorenzo asked, tilting his head.
“He’s unmarried and has no children; he has no legitimate heir,” Karu shook his head.

Noyora frowned slightly. “It seems we can only stick to one version of events—that Viscount Komer and Lebrí were entrusted by our Church of Light’s tribunal to go to the Land of Mist to handle a matter, which may take quite some time. For now, the governance of the Caucasus and Leon territories is temporarily entrusted to…”
“Knight Pube!” Karu quickly picked up the thread.
“Yes, entrusted to Knight Pube to handle it temporarily.” Noyora was pleased with Karu’s quick thinking. “We won’t interfere in any secular affairs of the Caucasus and Leon. Even if outsiders suspect something, they’ll accept this situation, as we have no intention of changing their political status quo.”
“But what about the Caucasus…” Lorenzo hesitated.
“It doesn’t matter. What reaction can they have? We openly informed them where Viscount Komer and Lebrí have gone. If they don’t believe it, they can go to the Land of Mist to look for them. We also passed on Viscount Komer’s message that Knight Pube will temporarily handle governance. As for what will happen in the future, who can say?” Karu explained. “Even if they suspect something, they won’t be able to imagine what really happened.”
“Hmph, isn’t everything on the surface enough to prove it?” Lorenzo glanced at Karu disdainfully.
“Well, we can explain it by saying we’re concerned about whether Komer and Lebrí have the strength to explore the Land of Mist,” Karu said with a light smile.
“That’s reasoning by force. No one will believe it,” Lorenzo shook his head.
“Lord Lorenzo, the truth is in our hands. They have no choice but to believe us. Truth is eternal,” Karu said in a low voice, bowing his head.
“Truth? Maybe repeating it a few times will make it true after all.” Lorenzo snorted and said nothing more.
“Then it’s settled. Karu, go and inform those guys on our behalf. Don’t be too polite. Just tell them that Viscount Komer admires the God of Light and is willing to do this meaningful task to promote the teachings of the Church of Light. There’s no need to say more,” Noyora finally decided.
“Lord Noyora, what about us here?” Boriz finally spoke up.

“There’s no need to stay here anymore. Now that the root of the problem has been eliminated, we can inform the people of Freystadt so they can start preaching and spreading the faith here. As for the Order of the Ram Knights, for now, don’t tell them the truth. Just say we carried out a series of operations in the Caucasus to eradicate dark forces—no need to go into details.” Nuoyao La wore a thoughtful expression. What would Freystadt think?

Watching the group from the tribunal leave, Pube’s mind went blank. Ever since the half-orc guards were driven out of Damoronsk Castle, Pube had realized the seriousness of the situation. But he didn’t know much about Komer’s other side. Perhaps Reibri knew the most, but Reibri and Komer were both in Damoronsk Castle at the time—no one could tell what exactly had happened.

But from what he saw in the castle, it was easy to imagine how fierce the battle must have been—crisscrossing trenches, chaotic pits, and every room clearly ransacked. Add to that the thundering lightning and swirling clouds surrounding Damoronsk Castle at the time, and even someone like Pube, who knew nothing about magic, understood this was by no means some sort of test!

Damn it! Pube didn’t know what to do now. Although the other party had made it clear that he should take charge of governance, what Pube needed to know first was what exactly had happened, and where Komer and Reibri had gone.

“Lord Pube, it’s likely the lord was kidnapped by those guys!” Mahagumi’s expression was calm, but a hint of worry lingered on his face. “It’s the only possibility. They’re either Homa’s lackeys or the executioners of the Church of Light!”

“No, Mahagumi. The affairs within the Church of Light are quite complex, not as simple as you think. Even I’m not fully aware of the ins and outs.” Pube shook his head. He knew a little about it, “But one thing is certain: the relationship between the Church of Light, even the tribunal, with Homa or the kingdom isn’t something that can be explained in a few words. They won’t act based on the intentions of one side or one person.”

“Then why have they come this time? Has the Lord done something that offends them?” Mahagumi sighed, but a determined expression soon appeared on her face. “Our top priority now is to find the Lord right away. The Caucasus cannot do without the Lord! He certainly wouldn’t have gone to some unknown continent. We need to locate Miss Eve and the others immediately, and we must also inform Mihajic, Lomei, and Miss Shatima—only they have the ability to find the Lord’s whereabouts!”