NoGift

"P-please..." the girl begged.

"Don"t worry, my sweet, it will be over soon." Charles threw away the whip and loomed over the girl.

He was about to touch the girl"s thigh when someone suddenly knocked on the door. "Your Excellency! Your Excellency!" called the person outside.

Charles immediately became irritated. He picked up his robe and got dressed. He went to open the door because he knew if he didn"t then the knocking would just continue. "What?" he snarled at the priest who knocked.

"My apologies for disturbing you, Your Excellency. But something important just happened," the priest said.

"Just say it. Don"t beat around the bush."

"The girl who was kidnapped by the bandit, she was found by a guard at the entrance of the town."

His attention was immediately grabbed when he heard what the priest said. "Are you certain it was her?"

"She told us her name is Flora and that she was the one kidnapped by the bandit. She has long brown hair with greenish tips and dark brown eyes," the priest answered.

Charles eyes brightened when he heard that. Because the priest just described the girl perfectly. That kind of beauty was something he couldn"t just forget. That"s why he was so disappointed when he found out that the girl was taken by someone. But now, he was given another chance to have her. Just how could he let that chance go? "Where is she?"

"At the main hall."

Charles walked briskly towards the direction of the main hall, followed closely by the priest.

"Has she said anything?" he asked while walking.

"None, Your Excellency. Except for her name and who she is. She seemed to be really shaken."

They arrived at the main hall and Charles gaze went straight to the girl standing timidly at the center. She was as lovely as he remembered her, with all that white, white skin. He immediately walked towards her. The moment he held her shoulders, her whole body trembled. Charles remembered how much of a spitfire this girl was. Continuously making trouble at the village. But now, he could no longer see the fire in her. A pity, truly. He would have enjoyed breaking her.

"Flora, can you tell me what happened?" he asked gently.

Flora didn"t talk and just shook her head.

He was about to ask her again when the door of the main hall was rudely opened and in came Heath Magnus. His hair and clothes were in disarray, a sign that he probably just got out of bed. He was just delivered here early this morning. Because it was judged that it would only be safe for him to be moved today. He was seriously injured. The only healer available to heal him only has a C level Gift that"s why it took almost two days for all his wounds to heal.

Heath walked straight to Flora and grabbed her elbow, his eyes were bloodshot. "Where is he?"

Flora"s body shook, she lowered her gaze, obviously afraid.

Charles didn"t have to ask who the "he" the knight was talking about. "Knight Magnus, please control yourself!"

Heath ignored the Bishop and yanked the trembling girl with more force. "Answer me!"

"W-we were in the forest, th-this guy suddenly appeared and fought with the bandit. So I took that opportunity to run away. B-because I knew that if the bandit lost, then I would be next. There was a v-village near the forest. I ask the people there if they could bring me to the c-capital and t-they agreed. I don"t k-know what happened to him after that," Flora explained in a trembling voice.

Heath wrinkled his brows. Someone else fought with that guy? And this stupid girl thought that he would lose? No, that b.a.s.t.a.r.d couldn"t lose. Not until Heath defeated him himself. "Where"s that forest?"

"It- it was near the village of Seyn."

He rudely let go of the girl and ran out of the main hall.

The Bishop called out to him but he was just ignored. Charles almost let out a string of curses, but he immediately calmed himself. He turned to the priest. "Tell all the guards to follow Knight Magnus. Tell them to do everything to make sure that the knight won"t get injured again. Understand?"

"All of the guards, Your Excellency?"

"Yes. All." He couldn"t have Magnus be injured again. The last thing he wanted was to get on the bad side of the Pope. Especially since he"s just a newly anointed Bishop. He couldn"t have all these taken away when he hadn"t even enjoyed all the priveleges provided by his position.

"But Your Excellency, who would be left here to protect the Temple and you?"

"Are you expecting a ma.s.s attack from some organization I don"t know about?" The priest shook his head. "Then get to it!"

"Yes, Your Excellency!"

After the priest ran out, Charles could finally focus all his attention on Flora. He put his arm on her shoulders. "My sweet, come. I"ll pour you some tea to calm you down."

He guided her towards the direction of his room and the girl just docilely followed. Once they entered, he saw the shock on her face when she saw the girl on the bed.

He gently kneaded her back. "Don"t worry, she"s not in pain." Her whole body trembled, probably in fear, which only excited him more. He carefully lead her to the bed and made her sit on it. "Don"t be afraid."

To his surprise, her body stopped trembling. Then she looked up at her, no trace of fear or any kind of emotion on her face. "Oh I"m not afraid."

The bracelet she was wearing suddenly turned into a sword. Before he could react, she already slashed at him. He felt pain in both his ankles, making him fall straight on the floor. She put her foot on his chest and pointed her sword at his neck.

"Who are you?" he asked, outraged. Because he was pretty certain this was not Flora. Now that he looked at her more carefully, this girl was much taller than the real one. It was stupid of him to not even notice that. All because he was too excited to have a taste of her.

"You don"t have the qualification to know who I am."

Charles glared at the girl. He clenched his fist and started gathering Mana. A big fireball appeared above her head. He might not be an SS level Gift user, but this was certainly enough to burn this b.i.t.c.h. The fireball went down but the moment it touched the girl"s hair, it completely disappeared. His eyes widened in complete shock. "How--?"

"Don"t bother attacking using your Gift, it won"t work." She stabbed his shoulder making him grunt in pain. "Now, I want you to make a confession. Confess everything you did since you were a.s.signed in this place. And when I say everything, I mean everything. If you don"t want to die, that is."

Although Charles was still confused by what just happened, the anger he felt was much more. "You dare do this to a Bishop of the Temple of Gaia?" Instead of answering she just stabbed his other shoulder. "The Temple will make you pay!" Another stab on his gut. "You--!" He wasn"t able to finish what he was about to say because she already stabbed him on his thigh.

"Confess or the next one will be on your chest."

For the first time, Charles experienced the word pain. It"s like being tortured to death slowly. And he couldn"t do anything about it. Now he"s regretting that he sent all the guards to follow that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Magnus. If he hadn"t, then someone could have already heard his scream by now. But because his place of residence was far from the other priests, no one would come here unless there"s an emergency.

Then a sudden realization hit him. Magnus wouldn"t have gone out if this girl didn"t arrive and tell him the location of the bandit. And since she"s not the real Flora, she probably just lied in order to get him out along with the other guards. So she could do this to him. Charles looked at the girl, completely frightened. Now he has no doubt that she would really kill him unless he did what she wanted. And he has no way to fight back.

"I- I will c-confess," he finally said.

"Good. Now, start."

He started confessing everything. Taking gold coins from the Temple"s treasury for his own use, torturing and raping the girls who served at the Temple, everything. By the end of it, he was a crying mess. Because he knew if this got out, it would be the end of his career. But if he didn"t say anything, then he would be dead. He"d rather be kicked out of the Temple than for that to happen.

"There, I"m done. Just let me go. Please!"

"There still another thing. Tell me the reason why the Temple was so against Silver Corporation."

Charles" brain was muddled because of the pain his whole body was feeling. Although he was confused why the girl suddenly asked that question, he still answered it.

"It"s because of the Silver Witch who was the center of the war 500 years ago. According to the annals of the Pope who was alive at that time, she built all these contraptions, these devices that could subvert human beliefs. She and the things she made was the cause of it all. We were taught that things like those created by the Silver Witch was blasphemous. And the sPhones being produced by the Silver Corporation was no different from those things. Moreover, it doesn"t help that the one who founded that company also has silver hair. The Temple just couldn"t help but a.s.sociate him with the Silver Witch."

The girl furrowed her brows. "That"s all?"

"Yes! Can- can you let me go now?"

The girl glanced at the servant girl on the bed before turning back her attention to him. "I won"t kill you. But I can"t let you off that easily either."

"W-what are you going to do?"

She didn"t answer and just waved her sword. His clothes were sliced into pieces, making him completely naked. She raised her sword. When she brought it down, he just felt an extreme pain down there. He looked down and saw blood flowing between his thighs. He screamed and screamed. He was not even sure if it"s because of the pain or the horror. And then he"s vision slowly blackened until he lose conciousness.

Argent stared at the Bishop who just fainted. She wrinkled her brows in disgust. She looked again at the girl who"s now shrinking herself like a ball on the bed. Her naked body was full of wounds, old and new. Argent clenched her fists. She already guessed that the Bishop was doing something like this. But seeing the evidence herself just made her remember a certain memory. A memory she thought she already burried at the deepest part of her mind.

She looked back at the disgusting Bishop. Cutting his d*ck was defnitely not enough. Then she went and carved the word "pig" on his chest. Satisfied, Argent walked towards the girl. She cut the rope tying the girl to the bed. Then she took a coat from her s.p.a.ce ring and covered the girl with it. "Go, leave this place."

That advice was the only thing Argent could give the girl. If she"s already brainwashed beyond compare, then no matter what Argent does, it would be of no use. Her fate was in her own hands. If she wanted to change it, then she was the only one who could decide what to do with it.

Argent walked towards the window and opened it. She jumped down and walked straight to the hidden pa.s.sage.

If their plan went well, then they could fly out of this country by the end of tomorrow.

----------

Luc opened the door and slowly walked inside the room of Bishop Dupont. He removed the gla.s.ses he was wearing, revealing a pair of sky blue eyes. He combed back his golden blond hair and looked down at the Bishop who was naked in writhing in pain. He saw the word "pig" carved on his chest and a small smile appeared on his lips.

[You still have such a dry sense of humor.]

Charles looked up at the person who came in. His vision was still blurry because of the pain. He just woke up. The girl was nowhere to be found. He wanted to think that all that happened was just a dream. But the pain he was feeling was enough proof that what he experienced was real. He tried to clear his vision and looked carefully at the person who came. Once he got a clear look at the person, he felt hope. Though he wasn"t sure how this person could have come here at this moment.

"Y-Your Holliness... please... help..."

Lucern Faust, the Pope of the Temple of Gaia, looked down at the Bishop. The warm atmosphere he usually gave off was not there. Even the silly smile he showed to Argent was nowhere to be seen. All there was in his sky blue eyes was frigid coldness.

"I warned you, Charles. I told you not to follow the footsteps of your predecessor. But you just have to drown yourself in senseless debauchery. I must say you deserved this end."

"P-please... please..."

Lucern sighed. "Goodbye, Charles."

He slightly raised his hand and four light spears appeared and skewered the Bishop. Charles screamed and up until his death, he still didn"t understand how could this be his end.

Lucern no longer looked at the dead Bishop. He walked to the window and opened it. He looked towards the direction of the hidden pa.s.sage and he couldn"t help the smile that crossed his lips.