The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen-Chapter 258: The Apostle’s stronghold (3)

Heavy breathing can be heard.

Huff... Huff...

The sounds of the student council members climbing the mountain, along with Shartia's breaths, echoed from halfway up the slope.

"It's too dark," Shartia murmured.

The sunlight that had once brightly lit the sky had now turned into a crimson sunset. The warm air that had made them sweat was now chilling enough to give them goosebumps.

Looking at the setting sun, Hanaa muttered to herself.

"...I think we should turn back."

If the carriage path hadn’t collapsed, they would have arrived long ago. Despite setting out early, Hanaa was now doubtful, seeing that they were delayed.

'...Something's off.'

Hanaa couldn’t keep this feeling to herself and decided to share it with Shartia. Even vague information should be shared to avoid the worst-case scenario. A thought suddenly crossed Hanaa's mind, and she voiced it.

"Hey, it’s getting really late. Maybe we should turn back here. It might be better to start again early tomorrow morning."

At Hanaa's suggestion, Shartia nodded and looked up at the sky.

"...I suppose we should."

It was dark. It felt eerie. The night seemed to fall faster in the mountains.

Muttering to herself, Shartia raised her head to speak to the leader of the vanguard. While finding the missing students was important, their safety had to come first.

"Everyone..."

"This is actually better!"

Rohan, the leader of the enforcement group, cut Shartia off with a sharp voice. He insisted that academy students wouldn’t be deterred by such threats.

"Students from the swordsmanship department are trained in covert operations, so they have good night vision. The darkness affects them and us equally, so this might actually be to our advantage."

Rohan, a member of the swordsmanship department, straightened his shoulders confidently, emphasizing that swordsmen were better suited than mages for ambush situations, and «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» pushed his steps harder toward the mountain.

Shartia stopped and called out to Rohan, who was pushing ahead.

"Wait a moment, Rohan."

Without turning around, Rohan replied to Shartia.

"We need to get up there before it gets any darker, President."

"I know, but let’s take a moment to catch our breath and gather everyone’s opinions before we decide."

"I know the way."

"I understand, but just wait."

Ignoring Shartia’s hesitation, Rohan continued climbing, determined to restore the honor of the enforcement group, which had fallen too far to be salvaged.

"I’ve seen it."

Rohan spoke about what he had seen as he climbed the mountain.

"If we go just a little further, we’ll come to a flat area where there’s a small church... or rather, a cabin."

"A church?"

At the mention of a church, Shartia shot Rohan a skeptical look. That wasn’t what he had told her before.

"What are you talking about? You told me it was a cabin, a place that could barely fit 30 people."

"..."

"Rohan."

"Isn’t it better to seize this opportunity to fully restore our reputation?"

"Are you serious...?"

Rohan’s expression hardened as he pushed forward. The other members of the enforcement group were laughing and joking about finishing quickly and heading out for drinks.

Tap.

Shartia bit her nails.

"Just wait. We’ll deal with the consequences later, but for now, just listen to me..."

Rohan interrupted Shartia again and spoke to the enforcement group members.

"Enforcement group, follow me."

"Wait."

"..."

Rohan was acting strange.

From the moment they began climbing, his speech had become unusually sparse, and his stubbornness had intensified. It was as if he was possessed, certain of his success, and walking as if he had already seen his victorious future.

Hanaa tilted her head, glaring at Rohan. Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword, ready to strike if necessary.

"President."

Tap.

"Should we just leave him?"

Tap...

"President?"

Hanaa grabbed Shartia’s shoulder, noticing something off about her behavior as they climbed.

Shartia, who usually didn’t bite her nails and always thought rationally over emotionally, seemed deeply shaken by the situation.

Startled by Hanaa’s touch, Shartia turned around quickly.

"Huh?"

"Why are you acting like this too, President?"

"...No, it’s just..."

Hanaa glanced at Rohan, who was leading the way.

"This is really strange, isn’t it?"

"..."

"Doesn’t he seem possessed?"

"...It does seem that way."

"He wasn’t like this before. He was stubborn, but he always listened to you, President. He believed in maintaining order."

"...You’re right."

"This is weird... should we just leave him? Following someone who won’t listen will only lead to trouble."

Hanaa muttered while watching Rohan’s back.

"And it’s a cult. There’s no doubt about it, a church hidden in the mountains is bad news."

Tap.

Shartia shook her head and responded to Hanaa, saying they couldn’t just abandon a student.

"Let’s follow him for now. If something happens, we can escape then."

"And if we can’t escape?"

"Then we’ll use this."

Shartia showed Hanaa the ring on her finger, reassuring her. The ring, adorned with a red gemstone, was an artifact that could summon the Royal Knights.

"If you say so, President. Haa..."

"Just hang in there a little longer."

"Alright."

Hanaa tilted her head, scanning their surroundings. She was wary of anyone who might be following them. Sharpening her senses, she continued to follow Rohan.

And so the group of executives walked on for quite some time.

Even though the time to reach the summit had long passed, they were still midway up the mountain, continuing to walk endlessly.

They weren’t walking in circles, so why was there no progress? Hanaa looked up, exhausted, at the faces of the other executives.

"Haa... where are we?"

"Are we even going the right way?"

"Damn it... I didn’t want to follow, so why am I here?"

Hanaa raised her voice, speaking loudly enough for Rohan to hear.

"...Everyone, stay still."

"..."

"Stay still, I said!"

"..."

"Doesn’t anyone else find this strange?"

Hanaa glared at the frozen leaders. The undeniable reality was becoming clear.

"Why is everyone just following along?"

Hanaa shook her head and took a deep breath.

"This is seriously strange."

"..."

"Isn’t it?"

"...Let’s move forward."

"Shut up and be quiet."

At Hanaa’s command, everyone fell silent. The moonlight shining in the night sky was beautiful, but something felt off.

As the executives maintained their silence, goosebumps began to appear on their skin.

-...

"Do you hear that?"

-...

"I don’t hear anything."

Hanaa, frustrated, looked around at the misty forest.

"The fog is so thick I can’t see anything, and I don’t hear any animal sounds...! Even the sound of insects would be something, but there’s nothing."

Hanaa’s shouts echoed eerily through the deep forest. It was strange. It had felt wrong from the start, and her echoes calling to turn back spread through the dark woods.

"..."

The leaders at the front finally realized something was wrong, and they began to look around, placing their hands on their swords.

Only Rohan continued walking silently, his face pale, not responding to anyone’s questions as he pushed forward resolutely.

"Don’t be scared."

"Chief?"

"Don’t be scared, just keep moving forward."

"Chief, what’s wrong?"

"Go."

Feeling the goosebumps rise, one of the leaders grabbed Rohan’s shoulder.

And then.

"Ahhhh!!!"

The leader, feeling Rohan’s cold sweat on his hands, turned pale and collapsed to the ground.

"Ch-Chief...? What’s going on?"

"Go..."

Rohan was stiff.

He continued walking with a pale face, staring straight ahead. Trembling like a leaf, Rohan kept shouting.

"Go forward!"

As if his mouth wasn’t moving the way he wanted.

"Go forward, I said!"

His body was trembling as he shouted loudly.

"What the..."

Hanaa was unable to comprehend what was happening. In the fog where she couldn’t see an inch in front of her, all she could rely on were the people visible right before her.

"...Damn it."

The moment she realized their guide was lost, Hanaa drew her sword and gathered her aura, thinking she needed to clear the fog in front of her.

She raised her sword high.

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And at that moment.

"...Ha."

The thick fog began to clear, revealing a small church ahead.

Yes, the church Rohan had mentioned. That eerie place had now come into view.

A wide courtyard. A building with a bell tower. A church with lights on in every window. An ominous wind began to blow.

"Oh God!!!!"

The sound of countless prayers echoed from within the church. The volume of the prayer was so great that it seemed unbelievable they hadn’t heard it until now, emanating an eerie atmosphere from inside the church.

"...Isn’t that our junior’s voice?"

A familiar voice amidst the cries returned a question to those who recognized it.

"Oh my God... Forgive this sinner... Forgive this sinner’s incompetence!"

A thunderous prayer echoed grotesquely again. Shadows of people praying with their hands clasped were visible through the windows of the church, and cold sweat dripped down the faces of those watching.

The reason was unknown.

But a mysterious sense of dread began to weigh on everyone’s shoulders.

"Damn it..."

Realizing that something was terribly wrong, Hanaa quickly turned around and shouted.

"Everyone, snap out of it...!"

-...

Hanaa turned around, her scowl softening into disbelief. Every executive was frozen in place, unable to move.

"..."

Their bodies were paralyzed.

Mikhail, Hanaa, and Yuria were the only ones able to move. Everyone else was staring at the church, unable to turn away.

The intense fear made their legs tremble, their pupils dilate, and their breathing grow shallow as if preparing for the horror that was to come.

Shartia, paralyzed with fear, stared at the towering steeple and swallowed hard.

'Something's wrong.'

She felt a chill down her spine.

The faint light seeping from the top of the steeple seemed ominous beyond belief.

The shadow flickering in the rounded window, as if leaning against the window frame, appeared to be watching them.

'...We have to escape.'

A faint, trembling voice echoed in Shartia’s mind, and her instincts began to kick in.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Her fingers wouldn’t move.

She needed to activate the artifact on her finger, but her fingers, paralyzed by fear, wouldn’t budge.

How many times had her heart pounded loudly?

Click.

The lights in the steeple began to go out.

One by one.

The figure that had been watching from above turned off the lights and gradually descended to the ground. They shouldn’t have been able to hear anything, yet...

Tap.

It was impossible to hear footsteps from that distance, yet...

Tap.

Shartia’s ears were filled with the unmistakable sound of footsteps descending the stairs.

Shartia squeezed her eyes shut and screamed inside her head.

'Please...'

Move, please.

As time passed, soaking her body in cold sweat, the last light on the first floor went out. With a creaking sound, the church door began to open.

Creak...!!!

Not a single thing was visible.

No light seeped through the open door. All that was visible were the countless shadows of young people sitting inside the church.

The interior was shrouded in darkness.

Tap.

"Gulp..."

Tap...

"...Please."

Tap...

A silhouette of an old woman began to emerge from beyond the church door. A middle-aged woman dressed in a white robe slowly, ever so slowly, stepped outside the church.

"Ah... New believers have arrived."

The woman spoke with a bright smile.

"Oh dear. I didn’t prepare dinner."

The elderly woman, appearing to be in her forties, looked directly into Mikhail’s eyes.

"Why don’t you come inside? There are many good words to share."

She held a black Bible, her voice filled with cruelty.

"Isn’t that right? Mikhail?"

As she spoke, she invoked someone’s nightmare.

"I’ve heard much about you from 'Brother Yung.'"