Escalion, who had been briefly touching his swollen arms, turned around and approached the Pope who had collapsed in front of the mirror.

The Pope looked up at him with a grin.

“If I’m lucky… I’ll be reborn as the first saint. It’s a new drug I recently developed… I haven’t been able to verify its effects yet.”

“That won’t happen.”

Escalion bent over, raised his arm high, and then slammed his fist into the Pope’s face.

With a cracking sound, the Pope’s face whipped to the side.

Again and again, Escalion continued to punch him.

The dull thuds did not stop.

The Pope was already limp like a doll, but Escalion did not stop.

“…!”

At that moment, Escalion, who had been standing with his upper body straight, staggered greatly and collapsed forward.

And as if waiting for that moment, the Pope, his face covered in blood, burst out laughing.

“Ugh… It seems the drug is… finally taking effect? I wonder… which part of you will you offer to God? Which part will you give up… to receive divine power?”

“You madman…”

Escalion, who had been on one knee catching his breath as if dizzy, grabbed the Pope’s collar.

He gathered his last bit of strength to lift the Pope and throw him at the cracked mirror.

Crash…!

As the Pope’s body collided, the mirror shattered with a loud crack.

Shards flew in all directions, grazing Belladonna’s arms, shoulders, cheeks, and forehead, leaving small cuts.

The Pope, collapsed on the floor, let out a painful groan and twitched.

And in front of him, Escalion fell to his knees with a thud.

“Escalion!”

Belladonna quickly ran over and caught him as he collapsed.

Escalion was frowning and gasping for breath as if dizzy.

“Ugh…”

“Oh, no…”

Belladonna pulled Escalion, whose face was gradually losing color, into her arms and whispered softly.

Could it be, like this… The terrible assumption that came to mind immediately brought tears to her eyes.

No, this can’t be… Belladonna began to mutter, shaking her head.

“Where’s the antidote? Surely there must be an antidote for a drug like this…!”

“…”

“Escalion, try to stay conscious! Escalion! Is anyone there? Please help!”

Belladonna shouted, looking towards the entrance of the chapel.

But whether there was no one passing by the old chapel located in a deep area, there was no response.

Hurriedly turning her head to look around, the situation was even worse.

Cardinal Nicholas and the Tower Master had disappeared without a trace, and a little further away lay Scarlet, unconscious and facing the ceiling.

Belladonna lowered her tear-filled gaze once again.

Escalion, whose breath had become very faint, had his eyes closed as if dead.

Seeing him like that, her heart sank.

Belladonna carefully laid him down from her arms. She needed to go outside immediately and ask the knights for help.

“…!”

At that moment, someone grabbed her ankle as she was about to get up.

Startled, she turned her head to see the Pope crawling on his arms and grabbing her.

Seeing his tenacious, worm-like appearance, an uncontrollable rage burst forth.

“Let go!”

Belladonna shouted as she tried to remove his hand.

But perhaps because the Pope’s hands and wrists grabbing her were covered in blood, her attempts to remove them kept slipping and missing.

“Kekeke…”

With his face planted on the floor while holding onto her, he lifted his head and spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Belladonna…”

Belladonna groped behind her.

Her trembling fingertips grasped a heavy candlestick rolling on the floor.

“I said let go!”

As she raised it high, her arms shook uncontrollably.

The Pope looked up at her with a distorted smile.

“Are you going to strike me? Do you think… you can do that?”

“…”

“Belladonna… You know, don’t you? A saint, a person of God… can never do anything harmful… to people…”

He didn’t know that she was no longer a saint.

Belladonna clenched her mouth shut and turned her head.

The chapel entrance was in sight. Time was of the essence to save the unconscious Escalion.

“Save me, Belladonna…”

The Pope groaned and tightened his grip on her ankle.

Belladonna took a deep breath and then struck his hand hard with the candlestick she was holding.

“Get your hand off!”

“Ugh…!”

He let go of Belladonna with a groan as his hand was hit directly. She took the opportunity to get up.

Hurry… Hurry…!

But when she reached the chapel entrance, she felt something strange.

Startled, she turned her head to see the Pope on top of Escalion on the platform, strangling him.

That madman…!

Belladonna hurriedly returned, grabbed his shoulder, and struck him with her fist.

“Stop this!”

“Kekeke…”

The Pope tightened his grip on Escalion’s neck with crazed eyes.

Escalion’s face, with his eyes closed, was gradually turning red.

“I’ll do whatever you ask, so please let go…!”

But the Pope no longer seemed to be listening to Belladonna.

The madness in his eyes grew stronger. Thick veins bulged red on the back of his hand as he strangled.

At this rate, Escalion could really lose his life.

“I said let go!”

Unable to bear it any longer, Belladonna closed her eyes tightly and raised the candlestick to strike the Pope hard on the back of his head.

With a dull thud, the Pope, who had been sitting upright on top of Escalion, slowly collapsed to the side.

With a thump, silence suddenly fell. Now there was no sound in the chapel.

No one’s cowardly laughter, no groans, no sounds of exertion could be heard.

Belladonna breathed heavily.

Looking down with fearful eyes, she saw the floor beneath the fallen Pope gradually staining red with blood.

“…!”

Belladonna sat down with a start. Her whole body trembled.

“…Sob.”

Tears burst forth involuntarily.

Whether due to the horror of the situation, guilt over having ended up killing someone, or fear of losing Escalion who was gradually losing consciousness, sobs kept escaping.

Perhaps it was due to all of those reasons.

‘I… I have to get up…’

Belladonna forced herself to focus and tried to stand up using the floor for support. But her legs kept giving out.

Belladonna managed to stand up by putting strength into her wobbling legs.

She needed to open that tightly closed chapel door and get outside as soon as possible.

If she could just get out a little, the Imperial Knights would be… Maybe the Gribblata Knights might be even closer…

Belladonna came down from the platform on shaky legs.

Perhaps because her vision kept blurring, the chapel entrance seemed to be spinning.

Hurry… Hurry! Belladonna clenched her jaw and staggered forward one step at a time.

At that moment, the chapel door that had been motionless suddenly flung open.

“This way!”

The voices of knights were heard. Along with the loud noise, the cool night air rushed in all at once.

Belladonna watched with blank eyes as the Imperial Knights poured in.

All of this somehow felt very surreal.

“We found him! The Pope is here!”

The knights who confirmed the scene inside the chapel hesitated slightly in surprise, then moved again.

Some of them rushed to the Pope to check for signs of life, while others ran towards Belladonna.

One of the knights who approached Belladonna supported her and asked.

“Saint, are you alright?”

“Please save Escalion. He lost consciousness after being injected with an unknown drug. There might be an antidote somewhere…”

Belladonna said, pointing to Escalion behind her with a trembling hand.

“Understood.”

“Sca-Scarlet too… She’s been unconscious for a while. She was imprisoned for a long time…”

“Saint, don’t worry. We’ll take care of everything from here.”

Knight Commander Felix, who had now approached, said to the stammering Belladonna.

“The Pope’s breath has stopped!”

At that moment, one of the knights checking the Pope shouted.

Felix’s gaze moved to Belladonna’s hand, which was tightly gripping the blood-stained candlestick, upon hearing his voice.

“…”

Belladonna was still holding onto the candlestick, not even realizing what she was holding.

Perhaps because she hadn’t relaxed her grip, the sharp and intricate carvings of the candlestick kept digging into her hand.

Felix, who had been quietly looking down at the bloody object, slowly opened his mouth.

“…Take the Saint to a safe place.”

Silence fell in the papal reception room.

Belladonna, sitting in an old chair on one side of the reception room, lowered her head with the blanket Hazel had brought pulled up to her shoulders.

Though it wasn’t cold weather, she kept feeling chilled to the bone.

In her anxious state, she couldn’t relax at all.

At that moment, the door burst open and hurried footsteps were heard.

Belladonna raised her lowered head and asked the person entering.

“How is Escalion?”

Graham approached Belladonna with a complicated expression and said.

“It seems his life has been saved for now. Emergency treatment has been given, but they’re having difficulty with detoxification because the composition of the drug is unknown.”

“…”

“Don’t worry, my lady. He’s such a strong fellow…”

Belladonna lowered her head again, exhaling a shaky breath.

It wasn’t very comforting.

The drug the Pope had injected him with was an unverified one.

How could he possibly be fine after being injected with a drug that damages the body…

Hazel, who had been looking down at Belladonna with a pitying expression, spoke on her behalf.

“What about Miss Scarlet?”

“Fortunately, Miss Scarlet doesn’t have any major injuries. She shows some signs of malnutrition and accumulated fatigue, but they say she’ll be able to recover quickly.”

Hazel let out a sigh of relief and asked again.

“The Pope…”