The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 258

A rough sound of breathing could be heard.

-Huff… Huff…

The sound of the executives climbing the mountain and Chartia’s breathing echoed from the mid-slope of the mountain.

“It’s so dark.”

The rays of light that had once brightly illuminated the sky were now casting a crimson sunset. The warm air that had made sweat bead on their foreheads was now exuding a chill that made them shiver.

Hanna muttered to herself as she looked at the setting sun.

“…We should head back.”

If the carriage path hadn’t collapsed midway, they would have arrived long ago. Despite Hanna’s early departure, the current delay made her skeptical of the situation.

‘…This is strange.’

Hanna didn’t keep this thought to herself but shared it with Chartia. Even vague information had to be shared to avoid the worst-case scenario. Speaking a thought that suddenly crossed her mind, Hanna said,

“Hey, it’s getting too late. Don’t you think we should head down now? I think it’d be better to start again at dawn tomorrow.”

At Hanna’s words, Chartia nodded slightly and looked up at the sky.

“…That might be best.”

It was dark.

And eerie.

Being in the mountains, night seemed to descend even faster.

Muttering softly to herself, Chartia raised her head and tried to voice her opinion to the leader at the front. While searching for the missing person was important, ensuring safety had to come first.

“Everyone…!”

“This is actually better!”

Rohan, the leader of the disciplinary committee, interrupted Chartia with a sharp voice. He claimed that academy students wouldn’t falter over such a minor threat.

“Students from the Swordsmanship Department are trained in stealth, so they have good night vision. Since it’s dark for both them and us anyway, this works out well.”

As a member of the Swordsmanship Department, Rohan spoke with his shoulders squared confidently, emphasizing that swordsmen were superior to wizards, who were less attuned to ambushes. With renewed determination, he pressed forward up the mountain.

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

“Wait a moment, Rohan.”

Without turning back, Rohan responded to Chartia.

“We have to climb before it gets any darker, Student Council President.”

“I know, but let’s pause for a moment. Catch your breath, let everyone share their thoughts, and then decide.”

“I know the way.”

“I get it. Just wait.”

Rohan ignored Chartia’s hesitation and continued climbing with more vigor. He was determined to restore the disciplinary committee’s tarnished honor, believing this was the perfect opportunity.

“I saw it myself.”

As he climbed, Rohan spoke about what he had seen with his own eyes.

“If we go a little further, there’s a flat area, and there’s a small church… no, a cabin there. I saw it clearly.”

“A church?”

At the mention of a church, Chartia glared at Rohan and voiced her doubt. That wasn’t what he had told her before.

“What are you talking about? You told me it was a cabin. You said it yourself—a cabin that could barely fit about thirty people.”

“…”

“Hey, Rohan.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to aim for something certain and restore our honor properly?”

“Do you even hear yourself…?”

Rohan hardened his expression and pressed forward. The disciplinary members following him were joking around, saying they should just finish quickly and grab a drink.

-Tap.

Chartia bit her fingernails.

“Just wait. Punishment can come later, but for now, listen to me…”

Rohan cut off Chartia and spoke to the disciplinary members.

“Disciplinary Committee, follow me.”

“I said wait.”

“…”

Rohan was acting strange.

From the moment they started climbing the mountain, he had become uncharacteristically quiet and stubborn, as if possessed by something. He walked with the confidence of someone certain of success, as if he had already seen the future where he triumphed.

Hanna tilted her head, glaring at Rohan. Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword, ready to strike if things went awry.

“Student Council President.”

-Tap.

“Should we just leave him behind?”

-Tap…

“Student Council President?”

Hanna grabbed Chartia’s shoulder, noticing her hesitation. The higher they climbed, the stranger Chartia seemed.

She was biting her nails, something she never did, and the usually rational thinker appeared shaken by even small variables.

Startled by Hanna’s touch, Chartia turned around.

“Huh?”

“Why are you acting like this too, President?”

“…It’s nothing. Just…”

Hanna glared at Rohan, who was leading the way, and spoke.

“Doesn’t it seem strange, no matter how you look at it?”

“…”

“Doesn’t he seem like someone possessed by something?”

“…You’re right.”

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

“…That’s true.”

“It’s weird… Should we just leave him behind? Following someone who won’t listen is bound to lead to trouble.”

Hanna muttered as she glared at Rohan’s back.

“And he’s a heretic. A church in the mountains? That’s a dead giveaway.”

-Tap.

Chartia shook her head and spoke to Hanna. She couldn’t abandon a student, no matter what.

“Let’s follow for now. If something happens, we can run away then.”

“What if we can’t run away?”

“Then we’ll use this.”

Chartia showed Hanna a ring in her hand to reassure her. The ring, adorned with a red gem, was an artifact that could summon the Imperial Knights’ Order.

“If you say so, President. Sigh…”

“Just hold on a little longer.”

“Understood.”

Hanna tilted her head and scanned her surroundings, wondering if someone might be following them. She sharpened her sense perception and trailed behind Rohan.

Thus, the executives walked for a long time.

Even though they should have reached the summit by now, the executives were still stuck on the mid-slope, walking endlessly.

They weren’t circling the same spot, so why was there no progress? Hanna raised her head and looked at the exhausted faces of the executives.

“Sigh… Where are we?”

“Are we even going the right way?”

“Damn it… I said I didn’t want to follow, so why did you drag me along?”

Hanna loudly voiced her suspicion, ensuring Rohan could hear.

“…Everyone, stay still for a moment.”

“…”

“I said stay still!”

“…”

“Doesn’t this seem strange to everyone?”

Hanna glared at the frozen figures at the front as she spoke. The undeniable reality was now staring them in the face.

“Why is everyone just following along?”

Hanna shook her head and exhaled deeply.

“It’s so strange.”

“…”

“Don’t you think so?”

“…Just move forward.”

“Shut up and be quiet.”

At Hanna’s words, everyone closed their mouths and fell silent. One might say there was nothing strange about the beautiful moonlight illuminating the night sky.

But the executives, who had been maintaining their silence, began to feel goosebumps rise on their skin.

-…

“Do you hear it?”

-…

“I don’t hear a single sound right now.”

Hanna, staring into the foggy forest, spoke in an irritated voice.

“The fog is so thick I can’t see ahead, and there’s not even a single sound from any animals…! At the very least, we should hear insects, but there’s absolutely nothing.”

Hanna’s shout echoed hollowly through the deep forest. Strange. It had been wrong from the start. Her cries to turn back even now reverberated through the dark woods.

“…”

The disciplinary committee executives at the front, as if finally realizing something was amiss, looked around nervously and placed their hands on their sword hilts.

Only Rohan continued to walk forward silently, keeping his gaze fixed ahead, responding to no one’s questions.

“Don’t be scared.”

“Leader?”

“Don’t be scared and keep moving forward.”

“Leader, what’s wrong with you?”

“Go.”

One of the disciplinary members, feeling the goosebumps crawling up their spine, grabbed Rohan by the shoulder.

And then.

“Aaaahhh!!!”

The member, feeling Rohan’s cold sweat soaking their hand, turned pale and collapsed to the ground.

“L-Leader…? What’s wrong with you!”

“Go…”

Rohan stood frozen.

He only stared straight ahead, his pale face fixed in that direction as he walked. Trembling like an aspen tree, Rohan kept speaking.

“Move forward!”

As if his mouth wasn’t moving by his own will.

“I said move forward!”

His body shook violently as he shouted.

“What is this…”

Hanna couldn’t make sense of the unfolding situation. In the dense fog, where nothing ahead could be seen, the only thing she could rely on was the people in front of her.

“…Damn.”

The moment she realized the guide was leading them astray, Hanna drew her sword at her waist and gathered her aura. She thought she at least needed to clear the fog in front of her.

She raised her sword high.

And at that moment.

“…Ha.”

The thick fog began to dissipate, revealing a small church in front of them.

Yes, the church Rohan had mentioned.

The eerie place came into view.

A wide yard.

A building with a bell tower.

A church with lights on every floor.

A chilling wind began to blow.

-Oh Lord!!!!!

From inside the church, the sound of countless prayers echoed. It was so loud that it made no sense they hadn’t heard it until now, the ominous sound filling the air as it came from within the church.

“…Isn’t that the voice of one of our juniors?”

A familiar voice rang out amidst the cries, and someone who recognized it questioned in confusion.

-Oh my Lord… Forgive this sinner… Forgive this sinner’s incompetence!

The thunderous prayer resounded grotesquely once more. Through the church windows, shadows of people clasping their hands in prayer could be seen. Those watching them felt cold sweat trickling down their hands.

No one knew why.

It was simply an inexplicable sense of dread that weighed on everyone’s shoulders.

“Damn it…”

Hanna, who realized before anyone else that the situation was spiraling out of control, quickly turned around and shouted.

“Everyone, snap out of it…!”

-…

When she turned around, the grimace on her face faded into emptiness. All the executives were frozen in place, unable to move.

“…”

Their bodies wouldn’t move.

Except for Mikhail, Hanna, and Yuria, no one could turn their heads away from the church.

Overwhelmed by intense fear, their trembling legs made their pupils quiver, and their increasingly ragged breaths seemed to prepare them for the terror ahead.

Chartia, paralyzed by the overwhelming fear, stared at the towering spire and swallowed hard.

‘Something’s wrong.’

She felt a chill run down her spine.

The faint light seeping from the top of the spire looked ominously foreboding.

The flickering shadow in the round window, as if lit by a small lantern, seemed to lean against the window frame, watching her.

‘…We have to run.’

Beneath her trembling voice, Chartia’s instincts began to scream.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Her fingers wouldn’t move.

She needed to activate the artifact on her finger, but fear had rendered her fingers immobile.

After what felt like ten loud beats of her heart.

-Click.

The light at the top of the spire began to go out.

One. Two. Three.

The figure that had been watching them from the spire began descending, extinguishing the lights as it came. It shouldn’t have been audible, but—

-Tap.

It made no sense to hear footsteps from this distance.

-Tap.

Yet Chartia could hear the sound of footsteps descending the stairs, vividly clear in her ears.

Chartia squeezed her eyes shut and screamed.

‘Please…’

Move, she begged.

As time passed, soaking her entire body in cold sweat, the moment the last light on the ground floor went out, the church doors began to creak open with an eerie sound.

-Creeeeak…!!!

She couldn’t see a thing.

No light came through the open door. Only the countless shadows of youths seated inside the church were faintly visible.

The interior was completely obscured.

-Tap.

“Gulp…”

-Tap…

“…Please.”

-Tap…

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

“Ah… New devotees have arrived.”

The woman spoke with a bright smile.

“Oh dear. I didn’t prepare dinner.”

The woman, who appeared to be in her forties, looked directly into Mikhail’s eyes and said.

“Why don’t you come inside for now? There’s much wisdom to share.”

Holding up the Black Scripture mercilessly.

“Isn’t that right, Mikhail?”

Speaking up while invoking someone’s nightmare.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Holy Apostle Yung.”