"Don’t you all see? This is a conspiracy against me! Grand Master Kael is trying to sow the seeds of suspicion, and you all are falling for it. Don’t let your emotions consume your judgment-"
"But the evidence-"
"That evidence can be fabricated! None of it is true! I am someone chosen by the Goddess with divine powers. Can I truly be a bad person?"
Cardinal Flux tried to make his point and convince the people that he was not a liar. And for a minute, they all paused and seemed to believe him.
But Seraphina broke any path he had left to get out of the situation.
"But I can feel the corruption inside your soul. Are you sure you can still use your holy powers properly?"
She asked, and the Cardinal was speechless. He looked like he wanted to hit the Saintess, but he still had enough presence of mind to realize it would be a bad idea.
Instead, he took a deep breath and calmed his raging anger.
"Saintess, are you sure what you are feeling is corruption? Please don’t speak without evidence, as it can be detrimental to someone’s life. How can a humble servant of yours be corrupted-"
"Kael, I found the evidence. You told me to bring it to you, right? Here! I found these letters in Cardinal Flux’s desk, inside a hidden compartment. These detail his dealings with an outsider to influence the Saintess."
Iris had been waiting outside the door for some time, and she made her entrance, making everyone turn toward the letters in her hands.
The Cardinal went white, realizing that the evidence he had demanded was finally here.
"Oh! So you found these letters in such a place? Isn’t it the exact place those letters from before mentioned? It seems like your lies are slipping one by one."
Kael pointed out, and the Cardinal started to feel dizzy.
But he was not going down! At least, not now and not alone.
"This is all a conspiracy by you! That first letter, and now finding these letters, and even convincing the Saintess! This was all done by you to drag me down, right? You want to take the Saintess away from the temple and empower yourself and the Mage Tower. But I have seen through your bullshit."
The Cardinal pinned the blame for everything on Kael. But it was something he had seen coming, and he even welcomed it.
Now the stage for the final confession was set.
"Are you saying that this is my fault?"
Kael asked, trying to hide his laughter. But the Cardinal was serious about accusing him.
"Of course it is your fault! Whose fault would it be if not yours?"
He asked, and Kael nodded.
"Alright. Then I will take an oath - I, Grand Master Kael Mikailias, swear that I had nothing to do with the situation in the temple, nor did I ever try to influence the Saintess’s actions to benefit myself."
The oath took effect, and it exerted a small pressure on Kael, assessing his words before settling down.
The only reason the second part of the oath had worked was because Kael was influencing the Saintess’s actions for the sake of this world and not solely for himself. His magic had recognized the World’s Magic oath and backed down.
People scrutinized him from top to bottom, trying to see if he would suffer from the oath or not. But after nothing happened for a minute, they turned toward the Cardinal instead.
It was his turn to take the oath.
"Now Cardinal, please take an oath that you never tried to manipulate the Saintess, nor did you ever join hands with a corruption user. This should be easy, right?"
Kael asked, and the Cardinal cursed before he decided to make a run for it. It seemed like he had no intention of even defending himself at this point.
People were too stunned to see him trying to run away, but Kael had a feeling this was going to happen.
He immediately used his magic to make chains grab the Cardinal and pull him back.
"Y-You vermin! Let me go or else-!"
The Cardinal tried to break free, but Kael had no intention of letting him go.
"Sorry, but I don’t think I want to let you go. After all, you still need to pay for the crimes you have committed."
Kael told the Cardinal, causing him to see red.
The air vibrated with a strong energy that made Kael’s instincts flare. It made him want to step back from the Cardinal.
"W-What is this? This feels...not good..."
Neil whispered as he started to feel sick. And he was not the only one. The others were looking worse by the second.
"This is corruption. Has the Cardinal lost his mind?"
Leon yelled, instantly recognizing the state the Cardinal was in. Kael felt a little foolish for not recognizing this black mass for what it was until now.
"Darn it! The Cardinal is going to unleash an attack that will take out everyone here. We need to get them out before that happens."
Kael yelled before using his magic to form a barrier around the Cardinal. He started to actively pour his magic into it and convert it into divine energy to hold the corruption back while looking at everyone behind him.
"Leon, get the others out of here, especially Seraphina. She looks like she’s having a hard time even keeping herself up."
Kael yelled, and Leon nodded. He immediately grabbed Seraphina and then turned to the others.
"Start running if you want to save your lives. Iris, here, take her from me and get her out. I will go back to help Kael."
Leon commanded, and people paused to give him a weird look. Then, they turned toward Neil with hope-filled eyes.
"T-The Hero is here! With him here, do we even have to worry about the situation?"
"The Hero is born to fight corruption, right? Hero Neil, please protect us all!"
"We want to see you fight and win!"
"Show us your aura! Show us that you can protect us all."
"Hero Neil! Hero Neil! Hero Neil!"
People began to chant, and Neil looked more and more uncomfortable every second.
"Stop! Please stop! I cannot take it anymore! I am not the Hero."
Neil tried to yell, but his voice was buried under the expectations of the others.
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