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In a tavern at the dock of Archduke Island.
Joe fumbled a wineglass restlessly as he glanced towards the door from time to time.
He had never been so fidgety before.
Although his mind was crowded with a multitude of feelings, he could do nothing but wait miserably in regret whilst feeling afraid and lost.
Joe felt a little relieved when a hooded man came and sat down next to him, but he soon felt even more nervous.
How… is she doing?
asked Joe.
Joe fixed his eyes on the man’s lips, dreading for the worst scenario.
She’s still alive,
replied the man.
Hearing this answer, Joe let out a sigh of relief.
But Ms. Farrina isn’t in a good condition,
said the man as he took off his hood.
It appears that the bishop wanted to get something out of her, so he tortured her every day. Sometimes, I’ve even heard her screams reach the hall. If things go on like this, she won’t be alive for long.
Joe tried to convince himself that this was inevitable. After their plan had failed, he had foreseen the fierce retaliation from their enemy. As the traitor wanted to know the whereabouts of the Holy Book, he would definitely use every possible means to get Farrina, the leader of the operation, to open up.
_
At least, she’s still alive, _
Joe muttered under his breath.
He slowly made his hand into a fist with his nails sinking into his flesh. He did not want to picture what would happen to Farrina if he failed to rescue her. Perhaps at the end of the day, death may actually give her relief.
_
Damn it! Why did I agree to her plan?
_ Joe thought savagely. He should not have let Farrina act as the diversion. He would rather fight to his last breath and die with her in the castle than retreat alone.
Sir…
The man hesitated for a moment and asked,
Do you know what the bishop is asking for? Maybe you should just let him have it. That will at least free Ms. Farrina from…
_
He’s not a bishop, only a traitor!
_ Joe said within himself. He replied through his teeth,
I don’t have what he wants. It was destroyed when Hermes Cathedral fell.
There was a hint of melancholy in his look when the man heard the word
Hermes
. He murmured,
May God bless us…
Joe thought it pretty ironic. Back in the old days before the fall of the new and old Holy Cities, as one of the most outstanding Judgement Warriors, he had always been surrounded by the most prominent figures in the church. At that time, he would have never taken an oridnary believer seriously. But now, with the betrayal of the bishop and the priest, he could trust no one but this believer who came from the bottom of the pyramid. It appeared that this man had a deeper love for the church than many of the executives. He had come to him when he had sunk to his lowest dejection.
The man also felt bitter about Lorenzo’s betrayal, but with little power, he could not openly defy him. The night the castle had been attacked, he had caught a glimpse of the invaders. From then on, he had started to look for Joe around the castle, and this was how they had met.
Joe did not care whether this man was a spy sent by Lorenzo or not, for he practically had nothing else to lose. If this man was indeed a spy, he should have noticed that he had nothing to offer by now and thus killed him.
Unfortunately, this man was just a servant of the lowest rank in the castle. The information he could provide was very limited.
I’ve got to go.
After a long silence, the man pulled his hood on.
The butler would suspect me if I lingered too long. Are we still meeting here in three days?
Ah…
Joe suddenly came back to reality from his reminiscence.
Sounds good to me. If anything changes, I’ll let you know.
I see.
The man paused for a few seconds and then said,
Sir, you must pull yourself together. You are now the only person that can save Ms. Farrina.
_
Me? No… I can do nothing.
_ Joe left his words unsaid.
He was walking in the dark, hapless and hopeless. God had turned a deaf ear to his prays.
Joe nodded blankly.
Right,
The man turned around again,
Something happened in the castle lately. One of the bishop’s henchmen, Priest Hagrid, went to the southwest. The coachman said they were heading to Cage Mountain. I thought you might… want to know about it.
His voice trailed off towards the end. It was a very unconfident consolation.
It was perfectly normal for a lord to send his men to some other domains, even though Cage Mountain had nothing to do with Archduke Island. As long as the God’s Punishment Warriors were still there, it was impossible for him to get Farrina out of the dungeon.
Noted. Thank you.
Anytime, sir…
The man dipped in a bow before he said,
This is all I can do for you.
_
Cage Mountain… It looks like everybody is talking about it lately,
_ Joe thought as he drained the glass. His mouth was soon saturated with the bitter taste of ale. The next moment, however, he stood transfixed.
_
Hang on… Cage Mountain?
_
An idea suddenly flashed across Joe’s mind.
_
Perhaps there’s a chance of saving _ Farrina _
after all!
_
…
After returning to his abode in the suburb, Joe rested his eyes on a black book on the desk.
It was the
last will
of the acting pope Tucker Thor before he had jumped off the city wall.
It was not the Holy Book that contained the method of creating the God’s Punishment Army but a request from Tucker. The book talked about the history of human beings and demons, as well as the origin of the Battle of Divine Will. Joe was agape as he read the story and suddenly understood the reason why Tucker had asked them to leave Hermes.
Everything is over.
Worry no more about the battle. Live your own lives.
Farrina did not want the church to fall apart probably because she did not want to see Tucker’s sacrifice to be for nothing. She wanted Roland Wimbledon and his Kingdom of Graycastle to fall before the church.
But now, Joe saw a ray of hope in the very king who had destroyed the church.
He did not expect Graycastle to help him.
They would never save the remaining church members.
However, he could direct them to attack the traitor.
He had not given much thought to Cage Mountain until the believer had reminded him. At first, he had thought this was just another groundless rumor and he did not want to deal with Graycastle anymore. But now, he remembered that Lorenzo had indeed found a treasure at Cage Mountain and had even reported to the church when he had been the caretaker for the items looted from the Kingdom of Wolfheart. He did not know whether the treasure had been shipped to Hermes, but it did not matter. What mattered was whether the King of Graycastle was also looking for it.
The nobles in the Kingdom of Wolfheart might fear its cursing power, but Roland would not.
Nobody could stop his impregnable army.
As long as Roland could help him weed out the traitor, he would have a chance to save Farrina.
Even if Farrina was, unfortunate to be captured by Roland, it would be still better than the endless tortures here.
Joe took a deep breath.
If in the end, Farrina fell into Roland’s hand, he would come forward.
He wanted to be there for her until her final moments.
Because… he loved her…
He had been in love with her ever since the first day he had joined the Judgement Army with Farrina.
This time, he did not want to leave any regrets.
