[Vol. 8] Chapter 95: The Heretics’ Hideout
Even though he had expected it, the disappointing news still made Bowen Bernard, the captain of the Holy Knight squad, frown slightly. He stayed calm and gave his next order.
“Keep searching. Open your eyes wide and check every inch using your detection tools. The Lombard family has been based in the Holy Capital for many years. As one of the largest noble families, second only to the three bloodlines of the gods, there must be hidden rooms or secret doors in their mansion. These things can’t be removed completely in a short time. Search carefully!”
“Yes, sir!”
Sure enough, not long after, another team of Holy Knights came out from inside the mansion with new information.
“Captain Bowen! We found a hidden underground area in the backyard! It’s big, and there seems to be a secret room inside. But the door is locked, and the magic lock on it has been destroyed. We tried several times, but we couldn’t open it. There might be something inside!”
Bowen’s eyes lit up immediately.
“Let’s go take a look. Everyone else, guard the gates and the yard. In the name of the Goddess, no outsiders are allowed in or out during this time. If anyone resists with violence, you are allowed to kill them on the spot!”
“Yes, sir!”
With his men leading the way, Bowen walked deep into the mansion and arrived at the backyard garden. There, in a hidden corner, the knights had already found and uncovered more than ten movable floor tiles. Sure enough, they revealed a sloped path leading underground.
Following the path, Bowen and the knights entered a man-made underground passage. Even though it was a hidden tunnel, the space was actually quite wide, wide enough for carts to pass through easily. The fresh wheel marks on the ground showed that a lot of carriages had passed through here recently.
Because other knights had already scouted the area earlier, both sides of the tunnel were now lit with golden holy flames used by clergy. The bright, holy light chased away the darkness, allowing Bowen to quickly notice something: rows of dark metal bars, and the damp, gloomy air inside told him exactly what this place was.
It was a dungeon!
The Lombard family had secretly built a prison to illegally hold people? What a bunch of animals!
As expected from people who would even betray the kindness of the goddess, they were rotten to the core!
However, since the entire Lombard family had already fled, the dungeons had been completely emptied. All that was left was the awful smell of mold and rot, and a faint iron scent in the air, left behind by dried bloodstains, silently proving the cruel and inhuman things that had once happened here.
Bowen quietly clenched his fist. But he didn’t let his anger cloud his mind. He quickly turned to his subordinate and asked,
“You mentioned a secret room. Where is it? Show me.”
“Yes, sir.”
Actually, there wasn’t much need to lead the way, the tunnel layout was very simple, just one straight path. Following the holy flames along the way, Bowen soon found the secret room his men had reported.
It was built into the wall, looking like a stone room carved directly into the ground. A huge stone door, several meters tall and wide, sealed the only entrance tightly shut. Even with several Holy Knights banging on it, using weapons, pushing and prying together, the door didn’t move at all.
It’s important to know, Bowen’s team was a special elite unit trained specifically to hunt down heretics. Even among the famous Holy Knights of the Holy Empire, they were the best of the best, chosen carefully and trained in advanced tactics. A regular door would never be able to stop them.
“Captain is here! Make way!”
When the people saw Bowen arrive, they immediately straightened up and quickly stepped aside. Many of them showed looks of hope and respect.
The reason was simple, Bowen Bernard was stronger than any of them and had the most loyal faith. That’s why he was made the captain of this Holy Knight squad.
Holy Knights were known for their swift and decisive actions. Without wasting time on unnecessary words, Bowen simply gave a small nod to acknowledge his team and walked straight to the large stone door. He took a deep breath, focused his strength, and tried to push the stone door in all directions. But just like before, it didn’t move at all.
After the many major changes over the past year, Bowen was no longer the young and inexperienced Holy Knight of Sacred Star City. Now much stronger and wiser, he quickly realized why the door was so heavy.
“This… is made of extremely dense Herc Stone… The Lombard family really wanted to seal this room completely. That means this is the right place.”
Looking at the ruined and faded magical markings on the door, Bowen, though not an expert in magic, could tell that the door was originally made of two stone slabs joined together, opened and closed with a magical mechanism. But now, the magic had been destroyed in a special way, turning the two slabs into one solid block that could no longer be opened normally.
Herc Stone was incredibly dense, four to five times heavier than granite. It was not only very heavy but also extremely tough. While not completely unbreakable, using strong magic to blow it open might cause the entire tunnel and the room behind it to collapse. On the other hand, digging through the stone walls from another direction would take a huge amount of time and manpower.
Either way, it would slow down the pursuit, buying time for the heretic Lombard family to escape.
In fact, the chaos happening in the Holy Capital now was likely created for the same reason.
The Lombard family knew the Church had seen through their fake faith after the Goddess Descent. Escaping the city in the normal way was almost impossible. And these greedy people weren’t willing to give up the wealth and power they had built over hundreds of years. They didn’t just want to run, they wanted to escape with as little loss as possible.
That’s why they joined with other exposed fake believers to start this rebellion. Their goal was to distract the main Holy Knight forces, keeping them busy suppressing the chaos so that the heretics could escape during the confusion.
The Pope had already announced the names of thirteen families involved and exposed their evil plan. He had personally ordered that all heretics who escaped the Holy Capital, especially the Lombard family, who had strong influence in the capital and even held a position within the Holy Church, must be captured and brought back for judgment.
All four gates of the Holy Capital were locked down and guarded by the Holy Knights the moment the unrest began. There was no way such a large family could move all their people and supplies using teleportation magic. And since all the wheel tracks led to this stone door and disappeared behind it, there was a very good chance they used this hidden tunnel to quietly escape the city.
That’s why, no matter what, Bowen’s advance squad had to find a way to open this door quickly.
“Captain… maybe we should ask for help from above, and bring in some professionals…”