Chapter 81: Attack of the Undead King(Part 8)

"Uh, are you sure this is the best idea, Lyra? Maybe we should've just stayed put," Remarked Krest nervously.

"Calm down, you're the First Prince, so at least try to act dignified, Krest. With the treasury's doors broken down, there's no safe place to hide in the castle," She replied with an exasperated sigh.

Shortly after the King was killed and the trio of Irregulars took their leave, Lyra mulled over the situation and surmised that they need to find a new place to hide, as she didn't have much confidence that they'd be safe in the castle.

There was a hidden passage in the throne room that led to the church in the Capital, and she was making her way through the passage, along with Krest and the three Queens, heading for the church.

"When we came out of the treasury, it seemed like most of the undead creatures in the castle had been killed. What if the church has been overrun with the things? We'll be walking right into a death trap if so, and in which case, we'd have been better off in the castle," Krest pointed out warily.

"The Capital's church was built to be near-impregnable, and its structure was further fortified recently following The Irregulars' attacks on the other churches, so it's unlikely that the undead have made their way in. Alright, here we are, this is it," Responded Lyra, as a door came into sight at the end of the corridor.

"It's about time, I'm not used to walking this much, my feet are sore," Frowned one of the Queens, Krest's mother.

"Yes, me too...but at least we're still alive," Replied one of the other Queens, Lyra's mother.

"What a day this has been, I don't think I can handle any more strife," Sighed the third Queen.

"Alright, here goes...," Muttered Jules as she took hold of a dangling rope next to the door, The ringing of a bell echoing out before she stepped back and added, "And now, we wait."

"If any undead managed to find their way into this tunnel, we're totally trapped," Frowned Krest as he paced around anxiously.

"I made sure to shut the hidden entrance after we entered the passage, emphasis on hidden," Lyra informed him dryly.

"I should've grabbed a bottle or two of liquor or something...if I'm going to die, I'd rather not be sober..."

"You're unbelievable," She sighed with a shake of her head.

After a couple of minutes of waiting, the five of them including Lyra gradually growing more and more restless, the sound of footsteps approaching from the other side of the door echoed out.

"Someone's coming!" Remarked Lyra with a sense of relief.

"I wouldn't celebrate yet, it could be an undead creature," Frowned Krest as he slowly backed away from the door.

"Would you please stop it with that pessimistic crap, it's seriously getting on my nerves."

"I'd rather expect the worse than hope for the best...if I'm going to be proven wrong, I'd prefer it to be with a positive outcome," He huffed, before tensing up and backing away further as a click echoed out from the other side of the door.

It then creaked open, rays of light streaming into the tunnel before a head poked out warily...

"Pope Micre! I'm so glad to see that you're alright!" Lyra greeted him with a smile.

"Oh, it's you, Princess Lyra. And I see that the Queens and Prince Krest are with you too...I take it this means that the castle has been compromised. Please, come in, you'll all be safe in here," Replied the Pope, as he opened the door fully and gestured to them to come in, the group more than happy to comply.

Pope Micre Edge, the man at the very top of the Church of Persona's command. He was in his early sixties, with medium-length white hair combed back with a receding hairline, golden eyes, a monacle over his right eye, a long beard that went down to around the middle of his chest, he had a fair complexion with wrinkly skin, and he was fairly tall with an average build.

As the Royals made their way into the church, he shut the door and locked it, before leading the group through the building, which was fairly crowded, with several other people taking refuge in it as well.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable. You might be here for a while, after all," He remarked with a smile.

"Thank you, Pope Micre, we're truly grateful. And if I may...I'd like to have a word with you in private," Replied Lyra, as she met his gaze pointedly.

"Of course, Princess. Follow me," He nodded, before turning around and heading away.

"I'll be back in a bit," Lyra said to the others, before hurrying after the Pope.

He led her into the back of the church, towards an empty room, the two of them entering it and shutting the door behind them.

"So, what did you want to discuss, Princess?" The Pope asked her, getting straight to the point.

"Right...my father was killed a short while earlier, by members of The Irregulars. More specifically, a pair of twins who had his blood running through their veins," She informed him.

"Ah, the Homunculus and the girl who was brainwashed by Bishop Malachite, yes? I see...so, he's finally dead. I know this is rather callous of me to say, but I can't help but feel a sense of relief."

"I agree...I did love my father at one point, but the more I learned about him and the things he did, the more my affection dried up, until there was nothing left of it, all I felt was disgust towards him. I felt no sorrow or grief when he was killed...my older brother didn't seem particularly torn up by it either. And at the end, before he died, he basically admitted that he'd been raping Commoner women. My mother and the other Queens didn't take too kindly to that, so he erased any potential grief they might have felt," She replied, as she took a seat and crossed her arms.

"With this, we can finally start changing the nation for the better, once you assume the throne. Well, assuming we survive this battle, that is," He sighed in response.

"Yeah...but The Irregulars are still a problem. If we do survive this battle, there's little doubt that they'll resume targeting corrupt Nobles and the church. It'll be difficult to make changes to our laws in favor of Commoners if a group of Commoners continues terrorizing the nation," Lyra pointed out with a grimace.

"I don't think that will be a problem...in all honestly, I'm grateful to The Irregulars. I've long been aware of the corrupt elements in the church, but my hands were tied by the King and those Nobles who supported his policies, so I was left with no choice but to ignore that corruption. But then, The Irregulars showed up and carved out much of that corruption, while also sparing those members of the church who were not engaging in corrupt behavior.

Furthermore, they've killed a number of Nobles who were supporting or involved in much of that corruption. Of course, there's still a lot of it left, especially here in the Capital, but it's been brought down to a more manageable level. Your sister, the Commander, has been a big factor in battling the corruption among the Nobility as well, she's been able to make a lot of young Nobles in the Knight Order more open-minded...all the pieces are in place to enact real change in our Kingdom, but a lot will depend on The Irregulars," He surmised thoughtfully.

"Yes, I agree. If they insist on continuing to fight and remain as our enemies, that'll be a serious obstacle to our goal. It'd be incredibly beneficial to have them as allies instead of continuing to fight them, let alone eliminate them. We need to abolish the law that states that those with Irregular Magic must be executed," Stated Lyra firmly.

"Absolutely, I tried to convince your father to do so many times, but he just refused to listen to reason," The Pope let out an exasperated sigh.

"Yeah, we're going to have a lot of changes to make. But I suppose we're getting ahead of ourselves...before any of that, we'll first need the Knights and Irregulars to win this battle..."

Meanwhile, a short distance away from the castle...

"Damn it, there's no end to them!" Snapped Raven, before unleashing a blast of flames, setting dozens of undead creatures ablaze in a matter of seconds as the flames spread out rapidly.

"Woah!" Exclaimed Ravella in alarm, springing back as the undead creature she was fighting, a Scythe Mantis, burst into flames, "Hey, careful! I almost got burned!"

"I'm sorry, but we need to deal with these things as fast as possible!" Responded Raven, before blasting out more flames at the scores of undead creatures surrounding them, a chain of explosions erupting behind him as Celia blew away more of the undead swarm.

"They're spreading out more, looks like they're trying to minimize the spread of your flames. And with so many of them flying above us, we can't just have you fly us out of this mess, it's-...," Began Celia, before trialing off as a bright red flash erupted in the sky in the distance, the crimson glow blanketing the area.

"Looks like one of the others found the Undead King," Remarked Ravella, as she sliced off the head of an undead creature with a light blade.

"Let's wrap this up ASAP and head over there. We can't afford to let ourselves get bogged down here for much longer," Replied Raven with a grimace, as he sliced several undead creatures in half with his beams...