Ghislain tilted his head as he looked down at Ravier's severed head on the ground.
"What's with this guy? All of a sudden…"
He had activated his third core to kill Ravier as quickly as possible, but Ravier should have had enough strength left to resist a few more times.
Yet, it was as if he had lost his will to fight in an instant and simply took the attack. Someone of Ghislain's skill wouldn't have missed such a detail.
"Did he want to leave some final words?"
After pondering briefly, Ghislain shook his head. If there was one thing he had learned through countless battles from his previous life to now, it was that there was no need to listen to the words of a desperate enemy.
Too many times, listening had nearly cost him his life.
Now, there were more pressing matters than trying to solve an unanswerable question.
As the battle concluded, the knights rushed over, cheering.
"Wow! We got that guy!"
"See? Beating them down together works best!"
"I knew we'd win!"
The knights laughed with relief. Since their lord had never failed to crush any opponent, they had naturally believed they would win this time too.
Kaor, battered from head to toe, collapsed onto the ground. Panting heavily, he spoke while drooling slightly.
"That bastard can't fight for crap! Hey, did you guys see that?"
"…"
The knights remained silent. They didn't know how to respond to someone so shamelessly mocking an enemy despite being visibly in pain.
Belinda let out a sigh and also slumped to the ground. She could barely stand anymore.
"Whew, even though he had no real skill, he wasn't easy to deal with."
It may have looked like an easy victory, but in reality, it wasn't. The sheer force behind each of his attacks was overwhelming.
If they had taken a single hit directly, they could have easily died.
That was why Ghislain had focused on deflecting and dodging as much as possible.
If someone with that level of power had mastered proper combat techniques, there was no way they could have won so easily.
"Did fighting him before help? How did you know he'd use that technique?"
Ravier's final attack, in particular, was enormous. Without Vanessa preemptively channeling her mana and focusing, the three alone wouldn't have been able to block it.
"Well, the young master always hides so much… Even if we ask, he'll probably dodge the question again."
Belinda grumbled lightly.
As she suspected, Ghislain had been certain Ravier would use that technique when cornered. In his previous life, he had suffered significant losses because of it.
That's why he had instructed Vanessa to prepare defensive magic in advance.
With both the village chief and Ravier taken care of, no one remained to stop Ghislain's group.
"Destroy everything and see if there's anything suspicious."
At Ghislain's command, the knights began tearing down the village, digging into the ground to search.
The soldiers, who had been in a daze from watching the battle, also joined the knights in the search.
When Ghislain descended into the basement of the chief's house, he frowned.
"This wasn't made in a short time."
As Dark had said, a massive magic circle filled the space, with blood flowing through it. The corpses around it emitted an unbearable stench.
The knights who followed him were horrified at the sight.
"Ugh! What is this?"
"These lunatics… What the hell were they doing here?"
"Ughhhh!"
Even knights who had seen their fair share of horrors gagged at the gruesome and revolting scene.
"Check if there are any survivors."
At Ghislain's order, the knights broke the surrounding devices and pulled people out.
After thoroughly investigating, they shook their heads.
"They're all dead."
"They don't seem to have been dead for long."
"It looks like their blood was drained while they were still alive."
Hearing this, Ghislain clicked his tongue. The basement was filled with nearly a thousand skeletons. It was impossible to guess how many years they had been conducting this atrocity.
The energy emanating from the massive magic circle was similar to what he had felt in his previous life.
'It's certain. They opened the rift using this magic circle.'
A rift was like a tear in space. It emitted a blinding light, making it impossible to see what lay beyond.
Many had tried to enter it, but none succeeded. Only monsters from another world poured out of the rift.
The energy leaking from the rift was similar to the energy emitted by this magic circle.
"Vanessa, can you decipher the magic circle?"
At Ghislain's question, Vanessa shook her head with a grim expression. She was already analyzing it.
"Not exactly. There are traces of coordinate magic and mana concentration techniques, drawing in surrounding energy… But it operates differently from traditional magic. It seems like a method they developed independently."
"Hm, as expected."
Even mages far more skilled than Vanessa in his previous life couldn't uncover the true nature of the rift. It wasn't surprising that she couldn't either.
Vanessa spoke cautiously to Ghislain.
"They're definitely accumulating power using people's life force and the surrounding mana. Perhaps we could reverse-engineer it with time?"
"No, destroy it immediately."
"This, right now?"
"Yes. The longer we leave it, the worse it will affect the surroundings. Even if we set up a barrier, it can't be contained. It's a waste, but we have no choice."
Like Vanessa had said, this method operated differently from conventional magic, making it impossible to block the rift's energy with barriers.
When a rift opened, the surrounding area would gradually be consumed by its energy. Humanity had lost vast lands to such corruption.
And once a rift fully opened, closing it would require immense sacrifices. In his previous life, countless lives were lost to seal just one rift.
The magic circle had to be destroyed while it was still only emitting energy.
Ghislain looked at Vanessa and the knights.
"Stronger energy than before will try to seep into your body. If you keep absorbing it, you'll turn into mutants."
In his previous life, everyone who lived near rifts eventually became mutants.
Now, since the rift wasn't fully open, only the villagers had been affected, but once it opened, the corrupted area would expand exponentially.
The knights nodded. They could feel more energy invading their bodies the closer they got to the magic circle compared to when they were in the village.
And the thought of turning into mutants if they absorbed too much was deeply unsettling. They wanted to smash the magic circle immediately, like cracking an egg.
Ghislain drew his Aura Blade and slashed through the magic circle.
BOOM!
The magic circle, emitting ominous energy, seemed to scream as it was destroyed. While no sound was actually made, everyone felt it.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Knowing the horrors of the rift, Ghislain ensured no trace of the magic circle remained, grinding the floor into dust.
Only after confirming multiple times that no energy was leaking did he stop.
"Call the soldiers, show them this scene, and gather the bodies and bones."
The kingdom soldiers, along with their commander, were stunned when they saw the underground scene. Some collapsed to the ground in shock.
The commander of the Third Corps, who had once fought alongside Ghislain in the war against Desmond, looked at him with trembling eyes.
"C-Count… What is this?"
"This is what the Salvation Church is doing. I don't know the exact reason, but they're using people as sacrifices for something."
Ghislain didn't mention the existence of the rift. There was no evidence, and people only needed to see what was in front of them to believe.
The Third Corps commander cursed under his breath.
"These lunatics… What the hell are they doing?"
The Salvation Church was widely known as a heretical group and a public enemy of the kingdom. While tales of their monsters had spread, most common folk dismissed them as rumors or excuses for noble disputes.
But seeing the Church ruthlessly killing and experimenting on people painted an entirely different picture.
"At this scale, they must have been abducting people for a long time."
"Yes, this isn't something that could be done in a short time."
Even if they had abducted vagrants or the poor, kidnapping thousands of people from such a small village wouldn't have been easy.
If even dozens of people had disappeared nearby, it would have caused an uproar. The fact that it had been quiet until now meant they must have been abducting people gradually over a long period.
"For now, clean everything up and file a report. I'll personally inform Marquis Branford. I've identified a few more locations."
"There are more places like this?"
"It seems they've set up quite a number of these facilities across the continent. We need to find them all and destroy them."
"How did you know about this?"
"A dead man spilled everything."
It was a lie, of course, but there was no way for them to verify if Ghislain was telling the truth. He continued in a calm voice.
"Anyway, the situation is severe, so make sure the rumors spread. People need to be vigilant, don't you think?"
"Yes, understood. Besides, it'll be harder to keep it hidden since so many soldiers witnessed it."
The rumors needed to spread like wildfire. That would increase the number of enemies against the Salvation Church and prompt nobles to cooperate with him.
While the soldiers worked to clean up the area, Ghislain stood alone, deep in thought.
'I know the approximate locations, so I can close quite a few rifts in advance.'
Although his memories weren't precise, he had a general sense of where they were. A thorough search of the surrounding areas would surely reveal them.
'If I had known, I would've investigated more thoroughly back then.'
Unfortunately, Ghislain couldn't precisely pinpoint rifts that had opened during his early days as a fledgling mercenary or those in far-off places. His role back then was to fight, not to investigate.
The one fortunate thing was that, by the time he had become a seasoned mercenary, he had traveled extensively across the continent.
He remembered almost all the rifts he had encountered during that time.
'It was intentional that there were no rifts in the North.'
Interestingly, certain regions had no rifts at all. One of those regions was the northern part of the Kingdom of Lutania.
Technically, there was one at the border leading to the North, but none within the North itself.
'Is it because of the Forest of Demonic Beasts?'
The fact that they coveted the Forest of Demonic Beasts suggested they had intentionally avoided conducting these operations there.
In his previous life, since no one knew that, it was natural to assume the rifts appeared randomly.
If a rift had opened in the North, they would have investigated it. But since there were none, they had merely prepared for the era of tribulation without questioning it.
'This works out well.'
He didn't know why, but at least he understood what the enemy was up to. And he already knew many of the places they operated.
Preparations had been made for the possibility of all rifts opening. Closing even a few beforehand would tilt the situation in his favor.
"We need to move quickly."
Marquis Rodrick would soon mobilize his troops. With the revelation of the rifts, the Duchy would undoubtedly escalate their efforts.
The information he had just uncovered needed to reach Marquis Branford and other kingdoms swiftly. Doing so would apply more pressure on the Salvation Church and the Duchy.
"To the capital."
Leaving behind a portion of the soldiers to keep watch, Ghislain immediately made his way to the capital.
Since his regression, he had rarely moved this busily.
When Marquis Branford saw Ghislain return so soon after his last visit, he asked with a hint of suspicion.
"What is it this time? You've barely been gone."
"I have something to report."
The marquis, his expression stern and firm, replied brusquely.
"There's nothing more."
"…What?"
"There's nothing left."
"I don't understand. What's not left?"
"Don't you think this is excessive? I already handed over a piece of the Dragon Heart. What else are you here to take?"
"…."
There seemed to be some misunderstanding. This time, Ghislain hadn't come to take anything.
"I'm not here to take anything."
Marquis Branford, still suspicious, looked at him intently.
'This scoundrel has tricked me and taken things more than once.'
While the outcomes had always been good, it was hard not to feel aggrieved as the one who had been on the losing end.
And no matter how he thought about it, this guy didn't seem to lack anything.
Sighing in exasperation, Ghislain explained.
"I've uncovered one of the schemes of the Salvation Church. I've also brought a witness."
"What? Explain."
Realizing he might have misjudged, the marquis showed interest. The kingdom soldier who had accompanied Ghislain stepped forward and vividly described what he had witnessed.
The explanation was so detailed that anyone listening could visualize the scene as if they were there.
Shocked, Marquis Branford turned to Ghislain.
"Is this true? They were kidnapping people and killing them?"
"Yes. As expected of a heretical group, they're doing vile things. Like dark mages, they're using people as sacrifices."
"Those bastards…"
"And we've confirmed that this wasn't the only location."
Ghislain, as he had with the soldier earlier, spun a vague tale about how he had learned this from Ravier.
The more he spoke, the more serious the marquis's expression became.
"Are you saying they're doing this not only in this kingdom but elsewhere as well?"
"Yes."
"They could have fed you false information. If we're wrong, we'll be humiliated, and our credibility will be destroyed."
Ghislain smirked and said confidently.
"That's why we should start by verifying the closest locations, shouldn't we? Once confirmed, we can strike simultaneously. We must also inform other kingdoms immediately."
The marquis nodded. While they couldn't investigate the southern region, where the Duchy held sway, there were plenty of places to investigate near the capital, in the east, and in the west.
And if the information Ghislain had brought was accurate, they needed to act before the Salvation Church or the Duchy could intervene.
Raising his hand, Marquis Branford gave an order.
"Butler, prepare to mobilize the kingdom's army immediately."
"Yes, my lord."
The marquis rose from his seat, determined to see this matter with his own eyes.
"This might turn out to be an even greater opportunity."
It was rare for the marquis to leave the capital, but this was a matter of such importance that it warranted his personal involvement.
And if it all turned out to be true…
The Salvation Church and the Duchy would find themselves making enemies of every kingdom on the continent.
[T/L: Please support me and read 385 extra chapters: https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]