"Low Bishop Rosen humbly welcomes the Holy Inquisition Tribunal!"
Bishop Rosen bowed respectfully, dressed in his black bishop's robes.
This organization held a status similar to imperial guards standing before the emperor—as a mere low bishop, Rosen dared not show the slightest disrespect.
Bishop Rosen's words elicited no reaction from the Holy Inquisition Tribunal. Their formation remained motionless in place until, after a brief pause, a hoarse voice—as if its owner hadn't spoken for years—emerged from the armor of the leading Holy Knight.
"By... His Holiness'... command... eradicate... all... impurities..."
Bishop Rosen wiped sweat from his forehead and cautiously asked, "Then, would you require my—"
"Effective immediately... the Holy Inquisition... takes over all affairs... of Holy Lord City's Church!"
"Yes!" Bishop Rosen wiped the sweat from his brow.
He then turned to the Church Knights and missionaries behind him and declared in a clear voice: "Effective immediately, the Holy Inquisition Tribunal takes charge of all matters in Holy Lord City. The Holy Lord Cathedral closes today, and all missionaries and Church Knights are forbidden from leaving."
Whenever the Holy Inquisition Tribunal appeared, it signaled impending bloodshed.Their targets included not only vampires like Norton, but all manner of so-called 'impurities'.
Holy Lord City began its bloody purge.
Cannibals, defilers, those with impure faith—all would face death sentences from the Holy Inquisition Tribunal under the charge of blasphemy.
If the previous Church had treated human life as worthless grass, then the Holy Inquisition Tribunal completely disregarded all life and rules.
After the Holy Inquisition Tribunal entered the city, devout prayer became Holy Lord City's main theme, and God became the city's sole focus.
But the true bloodshed wasn't initiated by the Holy Inquisition Tribunal themselves.
Unlike the cold, unfeeling Church Knights and missionaries who never conversed with the poor, the Holy Inquisition Tribunal actually listened to people.
Whether you were poor or wealthy, ugly or beautiful—if you simply said: "I've discovered a heretic!"
Then the Holy Inquisition Knights would mobilize without hesitation.
No one knew who started this terrible precedent.
When Holy Lord City's poor first witnessed the Holy Inquisition Tribunal slaughter an entire wealthy family for impure thoughts, then watched as they entered the home to plunder possessions, this feast of human nature officially commenced.
The Holy Inquisition Tribunal, originally tasked with hunting vampires and cleansing impurities, completely devolved into a tool for unleashing humanity's darkest desires.
A bloody massacre unfolded in Holy Lord City, and the hands that opened these hellgates belonged to the citizens' own greed.
"Slaughter... the impure!"
Amid hoarse voices and clanking armor, bloody slaughter played out across Holy Lord City.
The Holy Lord Cathedral completely shut its doors, leaving everything in the city to the Holy Inquisition Tribunal's discretion.
Countless poor people fabricated nonexistent impurities to satisfy their desires, falsely accusing the city's wealthy of impure thoughts to direct the Holy Inquisition Knights against them. Then crowds would swarm in, plundering the wealthy households' treasures, even seizing their homes and land to begin new lives.
To protect themselves, the wealthy had no choice but to similarly use the Holy Inquisition Tribunal against the poor. They accused the poor of dealing with demons, directing the Holy Knights to massacre poor communities.
Some wealthy individuals also followed the poor's example, falsely labeling other rich families as heretics to guide the Holy Knights toward slaughter, thereby seizing their wealth.
Furthermore, the poor communities weren't united either. Those who looted less envied those who looted more, and dissatisfied individuals used the Holy Inquisition Tribunal to redistribute wealth.
Those who looted more feared those who looted less, employing the Holy Inquisition Tribunal to protect their spoils.
......
The few remaining survivors huddled inside buildings, mentally broken but physically well-fed from their spoils.
The drastic population reduction significantly decreased conflicts within Holy Lord City. Only when wealth lay exposed in the streets with no one left to claim it did this human nature uprising finally conclude.
Though Holy Lord City's damage proved somewhat extensive.
With less than ten percent of its population remaining, the massive piles of corpses emitted such concentrated rot that even Norton, living atop the mountain, could smell it.
This qualified as an extermination-level man-made disaster—the likes of which hadn't been seen in the Papal States for years despite the absence of war.
As the reason for the Holy Inquisition Tribunal's deployment, the investigation into vampire Norton remained completely fruitless, while Holy Lord City stood on the brink of collapse.
Those who survived this carnival of human nature would likely succumb to the coming great plague regardless.
By September, the weather grew increasingly scorching.
The rotting stench in Holy Lord City became so overwhelming that staying even one second longer proved unbearable.
Finally, the long-closed Holy Lord Cathedral reopened its doors, dispatching missionaries and Church Knights to supervise the remaining population in cleaning up the corpses.
After this catastrophe, Holy Lord City would require at least five generations—over a hundred years—to recover even partially.
But this mattered little to the Church.
To the Pope, however many died mattered not—so long as he could uncover the secret of immortality.
To Bishop Rosen and Bishop Adam, however many died mattered not—so long as the Pope couldn't find Norton.
As for the dead population?
In this era, they were merely renewable consumables.
So long as they didn't die out completely, they would eventually reproduce themselves.