Kill Everyone

“Gentlemen, these are photographs of the scene. Please examine them.”

In the conference hall of the Church of the Blazing Sun, Lynch and Miss Valente sat side by side at one end of a long table, while District Bishop Harlan and a group of bishops sat at the other. The two sides sat directly opposite each other, the line between them starkly drawn, the very air thick with tension.

Miss Valente had come today to demand accountability for the attack on her private archives. They had to provide either an accounting or an explanation. While the physical damage might not have been immense, the nature of the act was heinous. The authority of a high noble was not something to be offended lightly; if they couldn't even offer an explanation, then they would simply see who wielded greater influence.

This world was not dominated by a monotheistic faith where the clergy could sit in judgment even over nobility. Here, numerous churches kept one another in check, and divine authority ultimately had to compromise with imperial power when it came to secular affairs.

Even so, Lynch remained uneasy.

Among the Four Major Churches of the Kingdom of Lande, the Church of the Black Night was the closest to the common folk and boasted the most believers. The Church of Suffering was brimming with true, saintly compassion—not the hollow, hypocritical sort, but genuine self-sacrifice; when trouble arose, they truly staked their lives on the line. The Church of Wealth was favored by the emerging industrial, commercial, and financial sectors, yet it consistently maintained neutrality among the secular factions. As for the Church of the Sun...

They were a bunch of fanatics upholding their own brand of justice, not unlike the stereotypical paladins from Lynch's past life crying, “By the Holy Light, this evil is worthy of a battle!” They had offended plenty of people, and had it not been for the backing of a major god, the other factions would have united to teach them a lesson long ago. Consequently, Miss Valente had no need to worry about decorum or repercussions in demanding accountability.

For people like that, Lynch could only say their courage and tenacity were admirable, but their behavior and mindset were utter garbage. He didn't want Miss Valente to suffer any loss, and he also had matters of his own to discuss with District Bishop Harlan, so he had taken the initiative to accompany her.

Because Miss Valente had sent a formal diplomatic note to the Church of the Blazing Sun the day before—not only in the name of a count's family, but also in her capacity as a Soul Severer of the Church of Suffering—District Bishop Harlan had no choice but to formally receive the two visitors.

Just as Lynch had anticipated, the atmosphere was fraught with hostility from the start.

District Bishop Harlan remained calm, but the other bishops flatly denied any involvement, adamantly refusing to admit to the matter.

Lynch and Miss Valente shared a smile. Denying it was entirely expected. Since they were all Soul Severers and religious figures, they would settle the matter using religious methods: speaking directly of the gods.

Miss Valente opened her briefcase, retrieved a thick stack of black-and-white photographs, and distributed them.

Every single one showed the scene of the incident.

“The state of the crime scene makes the issue quite clear,” Lynch spoke up at this moment, flipping through the photographs before everyone. “Please look, gentlemen. The walls and ceiling bear no smoke stains, indicating that the scene was not subjected to open flames. This proves that the incident was not caused by a flame-type authority. Would you all agree?

“Now look at this damaged furniture—pay close attention to these particular shots. Notice it? This furniture wasn't destroyed from the outside in, nor from the inside out. They were charred evenly both inside and out by extreme heat, occurring instantaneously—so fast that their own weight didn't even have time to crush them before they turned to ash. This not only rules out flame-type authorities, but also light-type and heat-type authorities. Those authorities act either from the outside inward or the inside outward; it is virtually impossible for the interior and exterior to be scorched to the exact same degree.”

As Lynch pointed out the discrepancies photo by photo, the expressions of the bishops present grew increasingly grim. Several of them exchanged swift, uneasy glances.

“Heh, in fact, you gentlemen already have your suspicions; you simply don't want us to know.” Lynch narrowed his eyes, displaying a quintessential villainous smile. “Unfortunately, Miss Valente has also consulted professionals—Soul Severers of the Lord of Fire and Crafts skilled in flame and scorching authorities, as well as those under Simon, the Lord of the Sky, versed in lightning and light authorities. They arrived at the exact same conclusion you did: when it comes to an authority capable of producing the results shown in these photographs, there is currently only one plausible candidate.”

Beside him, Miss Valente continued calmly, “The Blazing Sun—the primary Divine Authority of Sol, the Lord of the Sun.”

Lynch said leisurely, “So, do you gentlemen intend to stubbornly deny that this is the effect of the Blazing Sun?”

Miss Valente took over the thread: “Doing so would be tantamount to clergy publicly preaching heresy and forcibly blurring the primary Divine Authority wielded by the Lord of the Sun. I shouldn't need to remind you what blurring a divine authority means to a deity. If such ambiguity spreads, even the faith in the Lord of the Sun would become tainted. If that were to cause His primary Divine Authority to fracture...”

The two spoke in seamless harmony, alternating lines until the entire hall fell dead silent. Several bishops pressed their lips tightly together, staring somberly at the photographs, yet not a single one opened their mouth to refute them.

Because every word they spoke was the undeniable truth, striking straight at the heart of the matter.

Blurring divine authority was a taboo for any church.

Major gods were major gods precisely because they held a primary Divine Authority. A primary Divine Authority was exclusive to a major god and would never be shared with any other deity. If a divine authority became blurred, the primary Divine Authority risked being partitioned and usurped in part by other deities. When that happened, a deity who lost their divine authority would fall on the spot, stripped of any chance of revival.

Therefore, divine authority brooked no ambiguity whatsoever; to do otherwise was blasphemy. They could play dumb or talk nonsense about anything else, but when it came to divine authority—especially a primary Divine Authority—there was no dodging the issue.

Finally, Lynch swept his gaze across the silent bishops. “So, gentlemen, in denying this, do you intend to blur the Divine Authority, or are you saying that someone outside the Church of the Blazing Sun has grasped the authority of the Blazing Sun?”

The silence lingered, but not for long. District Bishop Harlan, whose head was completely bald, finally spoke: “Indeed there is.”

“Hm?” That answer went beyond the expectations of both Lynch and Miss Valente.

Harlan waved his hand, and the other bishops quietly withdrew, leaving only the three of them sitting facing one another in the conference room. “Servant of Suffering, Favored of the Red Moon, you should understand that the Church could never commit such folly as secretly attacking a noble estate. Even we cannot do such a thing; otherwise, it would shatter the tacit understanding between the sacred and the secular.”

Lynch lit his pipe, focusing his mind on the situation.

“In truth, this is a dilemma that exists in every church, and it puts us in a difficult position as well.”

“An apostate?” Miss Valente asked.

“Yes. When someone apostatizes from the church, the deity merely ceases to protect and support them going forward; it is impossible to strip away the power they have already acquired.” Harlan sighed and explained, “The Church of the Blazing Sun has apostates as well, and having a believer who grasped the primary authority defect is the Church's greatest disgrace. That is why we have kept it strictly secret. If you two hadn't raised this... I would not have disclosed it either.”

Lynch immediately pressed, “So you already know who did it?”

“Yes. There is only one person who has grasped the authority of the Blazing Sun and is capable of doing such a thing: Raymond Kane, rank five authority.” Harlan explained, “Strictly speaking, he didn't apostatize; his actions were simply far too radical, and he was expelled from the Church.”

Lynch and Miss Valente exchanged another look, feeling somewhat helpless. If this wasn't an excuse, then the Church's liability was significantly reduced—at least, the Church of the Blazing Sun couldn't be held entirely responsible. It seemed the score for blowing up the room would have to be settled with this Raymond Kane.

“Do you know where he is now?” Lynch asked. “And do you know what his objective is in doing this?”

“Before leaving the Church, he mentioned to a few friends that he needed to stop an immense plan. To that end, no matter how many people die because of it, he will not give up.”

An immense plan? Lynch felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, immediately connecting it to the Shadow Alliance. Keeping his expression calm, he asked, “What plan? And how does he intend to stop it?”

“I don't know the plan, but his method of stopping it has never changed,” Harlan said with a bitter smile. “As long as he kills everyone connected to the plan, the plan cannot be realized.”

Hiss. Lynch's face instantly darkened.

He realized that the method used to destroy those photographs that day had been so violent; if he had stepped inside a moment earlier, he probably would have been blown to pieces. Perhaps that had been the perpetrator's true goal all along—not to blow up the room, but to blow up Lynch himself.

Then why hadn't he continued? Was it because the first stage was already completed, making killing Lynch pointless? But there was still the second stage of the plan. The first key figure of the second stage was Mayor Howard, who was supposed to be dead. Who, then, was the second key figure? Who was slated to die?

Lynch immediately realized that there was someone who was supposed to have died just like Mayor Howard over the past two days, but before she could die, she had been saved by him.

Princess Sophia.

“Come on, let's head to the Governor's Mansion early,” Lynch said, rising abruptly with a solemn expression. “If Her Highness Sophia is the second target, then the killer controlled by the Shadow Alliance likely hasn't given up and will try to strike at her again. What's more, that Raymond Kane is probably eyeing the second target as well. We must inform Baron Boivar of this as soon as possible. To the Duke's mansion.”