Chapter 164: 164

**

Pleasant notes belonging to a musical score gently drifted within the imperial palace .

Kelt Olfolse had his eyes quietly closed while listening to the music .

A band continued to play a gentle, soothing melody, and a singer sang a sacred hymn that matched the music .

“Pant… pant… Keok… cough, cough!”

However, noises disharmonious to the gentle music suddenly entered the Holy Emperor’s ears .

He slowly opened his eyes and stared at the imperial audience chamber he was currently in .

This sacred area was supposed to be pristine and pure at all times, yet a bloodied and battered old man was kneeling on the floor while breathlessly panting away .

He was one of the five archbishops of the Theocratic Empire named Gale . And on either side of him were Paladins standing tall and pointing their swords at the archbishop’s throat .

“Y-y-your majesty! I really, truly do not know anything . Please, have mercy…!”

With a face full of terror, Gale repeated himself over and over again .

Holy Emperor Kelt stared at him and asked in an indifferent tone of voice, “Is he telling the truth, Raphael?”

Archbishop Raphael, who was standing next to the emperor, sighed deeply and presented a document . Kelt took that, perused its contents, and furrowed his brows .

“The information garnered by the imperial court is rather different from your testimony, Gale . ” Kelt leaned back on the throne and interlocked his fingers . “I shall ask you about some matters pertaining to the Crown Imperial Princess Consort and the Third Imperial Prince, as well as those who have collaborated with them . ”

The Holy Emperor’s eyes narrowed to slits as he tossed the document in his hand at Archbishop Gale .

The latter’s eyes trembled grandly when the document fell before his face .

Kelt carried on, “Is Cardinal Mikael behind the ones conspiring against the throne?”

Archbishop Gale firmly shut his mouth . His body shuddered as his head faltered lower .

Kelt accepted this bout of silence as a tacit acknowledgement and nodded his head in understanding . “I see what emboldened the traitors Rose Darina and Ruppel into collaborating with Aslan . Vampires, Aslan, and now even the traitorous bastards hiding within the empire, too… Truly now, this is not much different from a bloody sewer, isn’t it?”

Holy Emperor Kelt stood up from the throne .

He lightly waved his hand, prompting the Paladins and the musicians to bow deeply before leaving the imperial audience chamber .

After they had all left, the grand door firmly closed shut . The only remaining people were Kelt, Raphael, and Archbishop Gale .

Once Gale saw how no one was around to listen to the proceedings anymore, he hurriedly planted his head on the floor before crying out urgently, “Your majesty! I… I merely did as his eminence Cardinal Mikael ordered me . It, it never was my intention to…!”

“What’s the matter? Could it be that he promised to aid you in the next cardinal election if you did as he said?”

Kelt leisurely walked forward . He then reached down and grabbed the kneeling Archbishop Gale’s head .

“I guess the archbishops are getting too old these days . To think that they would do something this moronic after being blinded by greed . Unfortunately, Gale, you jumped on the wrong ship . ”

“Y-your majesty! Just give me one chance! One chance, and I…”

The sound of something being crushed apart resounded out . The crimson carpet on the audience chamber’s floor got soaked in various bodily liquids .

While wiping his bloodied hand on the helm of his robe, Kelt called out, “Raphael . ”

Archbishop Raphael walked up next to Kelt and lowered his head .

Kelt wordlessly stared at the holy man, and then began fixing the latter’s attire for some reason .

However, his hand was still bloody and that only stained the clergyman’s robe, so naturally, Raphael started frowning deeply instead . “Your majesty, please stop it and withdraw your hands . You’re making my robe dirty . This is a precious robe that my granddaughter has gifted me with . ”

Even though his fellow archbishop was killed right in front of him, Raphael wasn’t bothered in the slightest . No, he seemed far, far more displeased by the fact that the Holy Emperor was soiling his robe .

But such a thing only served to relax Kelt instead . “You know, I like that fact that you’re so honest . ”

“Well, I’m too honest if I say so myself . So honest that back when we were still young, you used to beat me and Oscal up regularly . ”

Kelt grinned at that .

He glanced at the dead archbishop and then shifted his attention back to Raphael . “Alright . So which ship are you riding on now? Is it mine, or Mikael’s?”

“What ship are you even talking about, your majesty? Even the position of cardinal is meant to serve the Imperial Family . Besides all that, I’m scheduled to become the next cardinal without lifting a finger anyways, your majesty . Is there a need for me to get on anyone’s ship?”

After listening to Raphael’s grumbles, Kelt cocked his head to the side and asked, “Hmm . Raphael?”

“Yes, your majesty?”

“How old are you this year?”

“I’m one hundred years old . ”

“And what’s Cardinal Mikael’s age?”

“…It’s one hundred and five . ”

“It seems that he’s quite unwilling to retire from his post, wouldn’t you agree? In that case, when will you get promoted to the rank of cardinal, I wonder? If I remember correctly, the two remaining archbishops are much younger than you, aren’t they?”

“…”

Raphael grinned bitterly at that astute observation .

Indeed, the Holy Emperor was correct . No matter how famed the Theocratic Empire was for its subjects enjoying lengthy lifespans, realistically speaking, Raphael wasn’t too long for this world .

Even if he did become the cardinal tomorrow, he wouldn’t be able to stay in the position for long .

Kelt continued on, “I’ve never really liked them in the first place . Back during the Necromancer King Amon incident, weren’t they all busy shivering away and wetting their pants in some dark corner of a room somewhere?”

“But your majesty, we achieved victory because of their support . ”

“Their support amounted to nothing more than war funds, did it not? A bunch of talentless hacks somehow managed to seize power, and even now, they spend their days idling away in a safe haven . They have become too corrupted and disorderly . ”

The politically-powerful entity independent of the Imperial Court, the Church of Caiolium, was an organisation full of problems .

A group of archbishops had come together to create the Church a long time ago, and its original job was to stand tall as an organisation meant to prevent the Holy Emperors from becoming corrupt, and at the same time, to train future Priests so that they may walk the virtuous path .

Throughout its history, it see-sawed between being the clean, righteous organisation filled with devout believers, and the most corrupt, disorganised gathering of power-hungry individuals .

The reason for that was the voting system to elect the next cardinal .

From a certain moment on, people desiring political influence began ingratiating themselves on the archbishops that managed to seize power .

“I’ve anticipated such a thing to a degree,” Kelt said .

Despite all its failings, the Church managed to maintain itself all because it possessed a portion of political power of the Theocratic Empire, not to mention the truly enormous wealth to back it up .

The Church desired to be fully independent from the empire . They probably schemed to use the war with Aslan to their advantage – manipulate the Third Imperial Prince and extract all the benefits they can get in the process .

No doubt, they must’ve planned to end the war when the time was right, and then share the spoils with Aslan afterwards .

“Too bad for them, they’ve crossed the line . ”

Kelt growled out, and Raphael next to him silently agreed .

The latter placed much importance on being incorruptible, so he desired to reform the Church once he became the next cardinal, but in all honesty, he knew that it’d be difficult to go along with the voting system the higher-ups in the Church favoured .

“We’re living in a world where powerful monsters roam unchecked . It’s hard to predict what will happen in the future . With my grandchildren about to rise up to this occasion, I will not stand by and let this empire turn into a damn sewer pit . I wish to cleanse everything during this opportunity . So I ask you…” Kelt quietly stared at Raphael before continuing on, “…Raphael . Don’t you want to help me by becoming the next cardinal and cleaning up the mess in the Church of Caiolium?”

“…”

Raphael’s brows shot up high .

“The ones sworn to serve the Imperial Family have instead conspired against us and even sullied our honour . So I ask you, what can they possibly be in such a case?” A meaningful smile crept up on Kelt’s face . “I’ll tell you what they are . They are nothing more than heretics out to enrich themselves . As such, you shall now…”

The corners of Kelt’s lips curled up even higher .

“…Cleanse them for us . ”

“Your majesty, are you thinking of declaring war against the Church of Caiolium?”

2

“Why shouldn’t I? I’ve already killed an archbishop of the Church, haven’t I?” Kelt turned around and began walking away . “Come with me . ”

Raphael followed the Holy Emperor and exited from the imperial audience chamber .

The duo walked across the palace’s grand corridor . The Holy Emperor glanced outside the window and took in the spectacle happening on the streets of Laurensis .

Loud cheerings could be heard . Flower petals were scattered in the air while citizens were out and about in the streets to revel in happiness .

As if to match the grand occasion, a parade of the empire’s army entering the capital city from one of its giant gates was in progress .

That parade served dual purposes, one being the usual victory celebration while the other being a military parade .

For the past several days in a row after the war with Aslan came to an end, celebrations continued on unabated throughout the capital .

Soon enough, the army led by Oscal the sword king would reach the city as well . Once that happened, the unity binding the citizens should become even stronger than before .

The location Kelt and Raphael eventually reached was a balcony with a perfect view of the imperial palace’s plaza . The entirety of the plaza could be seen from up here .

They looked at the ground below, and saw the ranks of Paladins and Priests that had gathered for the military parade .

“To his majesty, the great and noble Holy Emperor!”

The energetic roar came from below .

The plaza was now filled with people kitted out in gleaming silver armours or pristine white robes .

There were orders of Paladins and Priests wielding lengthy spears, swords, shields, maces, and staves .

“We pledge our eternal loyalty, and…!”

Various flags were raised .

“…We offer our humble greetings to his majesty!”

The Paladin captains stepped out in front of their respective ranks and began shouting out in sequence .

“Loyalty! One hundred and fifty seven members of Herbert Fiefdom’s Leyharden Paladin corps, reporting in! We’ve gathered to answer his majesty’s call!”

“Loyalty! Seventy eight members of Deharte Fiefdom’s Shaina Paladin Corps, reporting in! We’ve gathered to answer his majesty’s call!”

“Loyalty! One hundred twenty monks of the Sererina Order, reporting in! We’ve gathered to answer his majesty’s call!”

The series of reports so loud that they reverberated within the plaza came in one after another .

Indeed, no other pretext was as good as a military parade when wanting to quickly gather a combat force . The size of this force wasn’t all that large and its ability also wasn’t as good as the weakest of the five forces of the empire, the Heavenly Army, but even then, they should still prove to be more than adequate enough .

“Alright, fine . Let’s do this . ” Holy Emperor Kelt smiled naturally with his eyes, but the corners of his lips were curling up in a more sinister manner . “Looks like Third Imperial Prince Ruppel has fulfilled his filial duty as a grandchild . He created a wonderful pretext for me to work on, after all . In that case, I should reward his hard work properly . ”

The stars seemed to have aligned themselves so wonderfully . The betrayal of Rose Darina’s family, the victory against Aslan, the celebration, the banquet, and the re-emergence of the Crown Imperial Prince…

As for the task Kelt needed to take care of from now on? It was far too simple in nature .

“Isn’t this the perfect time to get rid of all the trash?”

Indeed, the timing couldn’t have been better to fix everything .

Kelt was certain that he needed to bring about a sea change to the upper management of the Church of Caiolium . They had remained as a thorn on his side for far too long .

At the very least, wasn’t he duty-bound to create a peaceful environment for one of his grandchildren about to ascend to this position?

The reason why he deliberately hid Ruppel’s crime of treason until now was all for this moment . Kelt wanted to deal with them all in one fell swoop before they had a chance to get organised .

The Holy Emperor looked over to Raphael and spoke to him, “Invite the members of the Darina household, and all those aboard the same ship as them to the imperial palace . The pretext will be to celebrate our victory against Aslan, and for me to personally express my gratitude to them for providing financial assistance during the war . ”

Raphael smiled bitterly at the emperor’s new order and bowed his head .

“And not too long from now, you shall be installed as the new leader of Caiolium . ”

Yet another bloodbath was about to visit the imperial palace .

Kelt’s benevolent expression suddenly distorted into that of a tyrant .

“I shall make all of you regret bitterly for looking down on the Imperial Family . With your lives . ”

He finished issuing his order as a thick murderous intent permeated in his voice .

“And so, Raphael . Go and bring me the heads of all the heretics . ”

7

Fin .