East Road Quest

Chapter 52: The Burning Monastery

“Why has it come to this?”

Yole was taken aback as he watched the flames, which had started in the dormitory, quickly spread to the monastery.

He had thought the fierce sandstorm would help fan the flames, not hinder them. But then, burning wooden planks were carried by the wind and dropped onto the main building, catching the wooden doors and windows on fire. The oil-soaked wood meant the flames spread in an instant.

The monks from the main building, startled by the fire, ran outside in a panic, scrambling to put out the fire.

Director Manoli was also causing a commotion, issuing orders that did nothing to help extinguish the fire.

“Put it out starting from this side! No, I mean fetch water! You go that way, and you go this way! Move quickly, hurry up!”

Yole had already given up on the monastery and ignored Manoli’s commands.

He looked up towards the annex’s roof.

“It’s not the wind! Nor is it bad luck. There’s something on the roof.”

Upon closer inspection, he saw a red-haired child cunningly twisting the flames, occasionally tearing off planks and throwing them. These were being carried by the wind and falling onto the main building.

The child was engulfed in flames taller than himself but didn’t flinch, even laughing joyously, his red hair fluttering in the fire like flames.

“It’s that brat’s doing. I should have known this would happen…”

Yole shouted at the child.

“Hey you! Ruby! Come down here.” The other monks were too busy putting out the fire and the wind was still strong, so they couldn’t hear Yole’s voice. However, the child, who was far away, heard him and jumped down from the roof.

Director Manoli, who was standing next to Yole, hastily stepped back when he saw Ruby jumping down.

“Ah, what kind of trickery is this?”

From the director’s perspective, Ruby must have seemed like a being who had just dropped out of the sky. Yole approached the boy.

“Who are you?”

Yole asked, glaring with bloodshot eyes.

Ruby placed his hands on his hips and giggled maliciously.

“I’m Ruby, you double-dicotyledonous brat. Can’t even remember my name…”

While Ruby was responding, Yole drew a dagger from his robe and stabbed Ruby in the chest.

Yole had killed more than thirty people with this simple motion. Even the most skilled swordsman would be helpless against such an attack without any preparatory movement. He was accustomed to using his knife without giving his opponent any timing to anticipate the attack.

He also used a technique to hide the knife inside his sleeve while stabbing, making it appear as if there was no knife. Even if the opponent somehow noticed the ambush, they would block the sleeve, not the knife.

Despite never having failed before, he always prepared meticulously, triple-checking his actions. But all his predictions and preparations crumbled effortlessly.

Ruby not only saw through the hidden knife but also precisely grabbed Yole’s wrist, twisting it and knocking him over.

Yole rolled on the ground and immediately got up on his side. At some point, the dagger had ended up in Ruby’s hand.

As if possessed, Yole alternated his gaze between his own hand and Ruby’s.

“I even thought about letting you stab me once,” Ruby said, tossing Yole’s dagger into the air. The dagger spun wildly before falling back into his hand perfectly.

“With this little knife, you couldn’t even scratch me. But I have such good reflexes that I counterattacked without even realizing it.”

Ruby laughed again.

Director Manoli pointed at Ruby with trembling fingers and asked,

“You, who are you… from which hell have you come, demon?”

“So, the one who locks people up and tries to burn them to death is calling me a demon now?” Ruby retorted.

The director mustered his courage and shouted,

“It was you who spread the fire, you monster!”

“I’m not one for excuses, but to tell the truth, the fire spread on its own, Director Manoli. I was trying to protect two people trapped inside the dormitory by tearing off the part of the ceiling that was about to collapse. Honestly, I was worried it might fly towards the main building, but those two people are more precious to me than twenty of you.”

“I curse you in the name of the Four Archangels, you demon.”

“You’re picking flowers! Well, I’ll report this fact to the Roman and Raphael Priesthoods, as well as Cardinal Pietro and Bishop David. When the investigation team comes and asks about the cause of this fire, you better have your excuses ready.”

The director was so shocked by these words that he froze on the spot.

‘That brat, he overheard our conversation. He knows exactly what Manoli’s weakness is.’ Yole hurriedly shouted at the director.

“Don’t listen to him, Director. He’s a demon who confuses everyone’s hearts.”

But Yole’s advice was of no help.

The director retreated with a look of resentment and regret in his eyes.

“My, my achievements…, everything I’ve built…”

Ignoring the old man, Yole picked up a large scythe that had been propped against the dormitory wall and swung it at Ruby’s neck. But Ruby stood still and caught the scythe with his neck.

For some reason, there was a metallic clang as the scythe hit the neck and broke. Instead, Yole was the one thrown back.

“You swing a scythe at someone’s neck without a moment’s hesitation? Are you really a clergyman?”

Ruby touched the nape of his neck where the scythe had struck. Shackles that had not been visible until just before appeared.

“This one, he knows magic,” Yole said.

Ruby fiddled with the shackles and said,

“It’s not much to call magic.”

As he spoke, the shackles disappeared again.

“Speaking of which, this dagger of yours,” Ruby sniffed at the dagger she had snatched from Poe, her nose wrinkling at the scent. “It reeks of blood. Just how many people have you killed?”

“It’s none of your business,” Poe retorted.

“Well, considering the number of demons I’ve slain, this is nothing,” Ruby mused and with a firm grip, she crushed Poe’s dagger in her fist. The blade’s fragments clattered to the ground.

Manoli didn’t look back as he fled at the sight.

“Aaagh!”

Ruby laughed heartily, watching the old man hobble away in a clumsy run.

“Better hurry and write a good report for the investigation team, Brother Manoli!”

‘The time has finally come,’ Poe thought to himself, though the words slipped out.

“The time has indeed come.”

“What has come?” Ruby inquired.

Poe, having spoken, continued, “The one who granted me power said so. He told me he would bestow great strength upon me and when the time comes, not to hesitate to use it. Now is that time.”

“Oh? I’m curious about this person who gave you such power.”

Poe raised his hands towards the sky.

“You’ll meet him soon enough. In hell, after death.”

A white flame, visible only to Poe, descended upon his hands.

Ruby, looking up at the sky Poe was gazing into, remarked, “There’s nothing there. What are you looking at?”

In that instant, Poe punched Ruby’s face. With that single blow, Ruby flew more than ten paces, crashing through the wall of a nearby storage building.

Blue smoke rose from Poe’s fist, trailing up his forearm to his shoulder.

“Today, the gates of hell will open,” Poe bellowed.

Despite the noisy wind and fire, the monks stopped their work and turned at his voice, so startled they dropped their water buckets.

‘They’ve seen my true form. Yes, I knew it would change, but what about my appearance is so shocking?’ Ruby rose from the rubble of the broken storage, her red hair whipping to one side in the wind, the dust and debris vanishing with it. She barely seemed in pain, save for a slight rub at her neck.

‘Any lesser demon would have been decapitated… It seems fists alone won’t kill him.’

Poe raised his right hand, ablaze with blue flames. A spear of light descended from the sky, piercing through the sandstorm. To him, it was a beautiful sight.

Grasping the spear that had come from the heavens, Poe felt its length, twice his height, yet almost weightless. Holding it, he felt as if he possessed all the power in the world.

Poe hurled the spear at Ruby. The ground shook with the impact, and for a moment, the sandstorm parted in a circle.

Ruby dodged the spear with a slight twist of her body, and it soared into the night sky.

“That’s quite a weapon to throw around so carelessly,” Ruby taunted.

Poe took a deep breath and reached towards the sky again. Another spear of the angel appeared in his hand.

“What? Another one?” Ruby said, her expression one of disappointment.

“Try and block this spear with your bare hands,” Poe challenged.

“That might hurt a bit if it stabs me,” Ruby chuckled, spreading her hands to reveal chains and shackles that had been invisible until now.

‘So that’s the source of the noise, hiding such things.’

Poe charged at Ruby, swinging the spear. She dodged like a flea, and Poe pursued at the same speed, swinging the spear.

His swings shattered monastery walls, dug into the earth, and broke fences. He threw the spear again, and it exploded upon hitting a monastery wall. But once more, it missed Ruby.

Poe reached into the sky again, drawing another spear. It felt like he could pull out a hundred more, and even after a century of this, his strength would not be depleted.

Ruby had leaped onto the roof of the burning monastery. Normally, Poe wouldn’t have been able to see that far, but with his power unleashed, everything was visible.

Ruby, crouched on all fours like a beast, looked down at him and said, “You realize you’re hurting your own comrades too, right?”

Poe, about to throw another spear, paused and surveyed the surroundings. Some monks caught in the fray had lost legs and arms.

“They were doomed the moment I revealed this form,” Poe declared.

“Is that your true form?” Ruby asked.

“Not yet. I can’t use more power than this, or I might grow too large to control.”

“That’s not what I asked. Simply put, you’re a demon, right? A demon hiding in a monastery, pretending to be a monk? It’s obvious, but I need to hear it from you to convince some stubborn fool.”

“Yes. I am the dark lord destined to rule this red desert, and I will be the vanguard of the hell legion.”

“Haha, I see, I see,” Ruby said, her eyes glowing red.

“So, it’s alright if I kill you then?”

“You wretch!”

With a roar, Poe threw the spear.

The spear flew like a flash of lightning, stirring the air with a thunderous noise.

At first glance, it seemed that Poe had failed to dodge the spear, but that was not the case. He had caught the spear with his bare hands. The impact was so great that it shattered part of the roof, yet he appeared unfazed.

“I’ve always wanted to say this in such a situation,” Poe continued, adjusting his grip on the spear lightly.

“Feel the wrath of an Angel Chief!”

With a speed surpassing that of his attacker, Poe hurled the spear back. It pierced through Yol’s shoulder and exploded upon hitting the ground.

Yol was thrown back by the force of the spear’s penetration and its subsequent explosion. He lay on the ground, looking up at the night sky obscured by sand and dust. Breathing only filled his lungs with sand, and as he coughed up blood, it covered his face.

‘Wait, did that guy just call himself an angel? Impossible!’

Suddenly, all of Yol’s doubts seemed to be resolved at once.

Father Daniel’s secret, Cardinal Lorenzo’s concerns, the numerous plans that had gone awry and not according to his calculations…

When Yol first received this power, he thought it was excessively overwhelming. It felt like a general who had been given a million soldiers to govern a small village.

It was also exhausting to have to suppress the explosive power that sometimes burst forth from his chest unnecessarily. If he were to release his power in the middle of Rome, it would be as if a great demon named Yol had descended out of nowhere.

‘Daniel, was this the gift you intended to give to Jade? Lorenzo, did you know about this? Did ‘He’ give me this power knowing that I would have to face such a being?’

As Yol staggered to his feet, a whispering voice could be heard. Turning his head to the left, the sound came from the right, and when he turned to the right, it came from the left.

After looking back and forth, he finally realized that the voice was coming from inside his head.

‘Open the gates of hell. It’s the only way,’ the other Yol inside him said.

‘No, I haven’t received permission yet.’

‘You’re going to die here just because you haven’t received permission? You’ll die at the hands of that kid. If he’s an angel, your current power is no match for him.’

‘That’s true, but I’m not ready yet…’

‘You said the time would come. Now is that time. Open the gates of hell.’

‘I might not be able to handle it.’

‘So what if you can’t? Afraid of dying? If you die, so be it. You’re going to die anyway if you stay here.’

By this time, Ruby had descended from the monastery’s roof and stood before him. With the monastery fire as a backdrop and his red hair fluttering, he looked like the embodiment of a Fire Angel.

“Where should I smash to kill a demon like you? The neck? The stomach?” Ruby asked as he spun his chain. With each spin, the chain grew longer.

‘I need time. Time to gain my true power.’

Yol raised both hands to the sky. At the same time, Ruby swung his chain.

Yol managed to block the swiftly approaching chain, but the force was so strong that it tore off his forearm as if it had been sliced by a blade. Had he not blocked it, his neck would have been severed.

Ignoring the blood spurting from his arm, Yol raised his remaining hand.

Nine spears, blazing with blue flames, appeared in the sky.

“Do you think increasing the number will help you hit me?” Ruby said.

“Do these look like weapons meant to hit you?” Yol lowered his raised hand, and the nine spears fell towards the annex.

“That’s it!”

Ruby twisted his body towards the annex, swinging his chain. The falling spears shattered against his chain, but a few that he couldn’t block embedded themselves in the annex and exploded. If lucky, the blast was enough to kill Jade and Sapphire.

Of course, it wasn’t enough to kill Ruby, so Yol took the opportunity to flee.

‘Run.’

Horns like those of a ram curled thickly from Yol’s head.

‘…to where the gates of hell are.’

His toes disappeared, replaced by hooves.

‘…and open the gates of hell.’

Long claws like those of a beast grew from his hands.

Yol burst through the monastery’s wall with his shoulder. With each step, his feet dug deep into the ground, leaving hoof-like imprints.

‘Once the gates of hell are open, the power He gave me will grow even stronger.’

Yol ran towards the black mountain of rocks.

‘…and today, the red desert will become the entrance to hell.’