I Only Summon Villainesses

Chapter 328: The Mercifool and Gracefool Cardinal

Neither of them moved. They stood there, suspended between duty and instinct, and I could see the exact moment their instincts won. The first guard swallowed hard and stepped aside. The second one followed, his half-drawn sword sliding back into its scabbard with a soft click.

I walked past them.

The corridor was long and quiet. My footsteps echoed against the pale stone. The sweet scent grew stronger the deeper I went, mingling with the faint smell of candle wax and old paper. It reminded me of the Cathedral back in the academy town. That same suffocating sanctimony baked into the air itself.

Third corridor. I turned into it.

There was a single door at the end, larger than the others, with a golden sunburst carved into the wood. Two more guards stood on either side, but these ones were different. They weren’t young soldiers playing dress-up. They were older, harder, and the way they watched me approach told me they had been in real fights before.

And standing between them, just emerging from the door as if he had been about to leave, was a man in layered white and gold robes.

He was tall. Thin in the way that suggested discipline rather than frailty. His hair was silver-white, pulled back from a face that carried the severe patience of someone who believed the world owed him its attention. His eyes, when they found mine, were the color of pale amber, and they held the kind of quiet authority that came from decades of people never telling him no.

The Cardinal.

’There you are.’

He looked at me with mild interest, the way one might look at an unexpected insect on a dinner plate.

“And you are?”

I stopped several paces from him. Close enough to speak comfortably. Close enough that his guards had their hands on their weapons again.

I took a breath. And then I smiled.

“You wouldn’t know me. We’ve never met.” I tilted my head slightly. “Although your people have tried to kill me a few times, so I figured I’d come introduce myself.”

Something tightened behind his eyes. The mild interest sharpened into something more attentive, though his expression barely changed.

“And since I went through all the trouble of getting here, I thought it’d be rude not to take this chance to send a message. Straight to the top.”

The guards drew their weapons and stepped forward, but the Cardinal’s hand came up, palm outward, and they froze mid-stride.

“Stop right there.”

They pulled back one step but their blades stayed leveled at me.

The Cardinal took a step forward.

“Cardinal, this person is dangerous, please—”

“This young brother merely wishes to send a message.”

His tone carried the gentle patience of a man explaining something to a child.

“Think of the trouble he must have gone through to meet with me, the Cardinal of the Church.”

He turned that patience on his guards like a rebuke.

“When a soul seeks salvation, one should not push them away. It is the heart of the King of Gods that all souls find solace in his light.”

Then he looked at me and spread his arms, as if welcoming a lost lamb back to the fold.

“Young brother, you have come to send a message to the Radiant Judge, haven’t you? Fear not. I will listen to you with all my heart.”

I stared at him.

’Delusional. All the way to the top.’

I raised my hand outward. The guards tensed, shifting their weight, but the Cardinal stopped them again without even looking.

“Sheathe your swords.”

“Cardinal!”

The one with the scattered black hair stepped forward, jaw tight, but the Cardinal silenced him with a single raised finger.

“Peasants and kings are equal before the Judge.” He gestured toward me with an open hand. “Go on, young brother. Reveal your message.”

I let the silence sit for a second. Let the absurdity of it wash over me.

Then I smiled and nodded.

“I appreciate how easy you’re making this for me.”

The smile dropped.

“Six months ago, the Eternal Church in the Aetheris Kingdom decided a group of mercenaries deserved to die. Their crime was existing. Your people killed children. They didn’t spare a single one. And they butchered the woman I love like she was a sinner.”

The Cardinal laughed softly. He placed both hands over his chest as though my words had touched something tender.

“I have seen this many times. So many come to me seeking justice for the manner in which their loved ones were killed.”

He shook his head slowly, almost fondly.

“But I will say to you as I always say to them. The Radiant Judge lives, and the Church exists to act on his words and his words alone. If these people were killed, they deserved it.”

He paused, as though letting that settle.

“I see that you were not killed. That must mean that you, young brother, are of a believing heart.”

He nodded to himself.

“Live the rest of your life thanking the Gracious Judge for his mercy. Atone for the sins of your friends and family. Let them not carry the burden alone.”

My hands had gone still at my sides. Everything had gone still.

He studied me for a moment, then his brows rose with something that might have been concern on anyone else.

“What is it, young brother? Not satisfied?”

He stepped closer and tapped my shoulder, nodding as if comforting a grieving child.

“Alright, alright. I will be merciful enough to pray to the Radiant Judge on your behalf. I shall intercede for you.”

He patted me on the shoulder, smiled then turned and waved his guards forward, already moving on.

As if I was done.

As if I had been heard.

Something cracked behind my teeth. My jaw had locked so hard the ache radiated into my skull. My pulse was hammering against the inside of my wrists and I couldn’t feel my fingertips anymore.

I lashed out.

Emperor’s Presence hit the corridor like a shockwave, and my hand found the black-haired guard’s face before he could so much as flinch. I drove him into the wall. Stone cracked in a web behind his skull.

The second guard ripped his sword free, but radiant chains were already erupting from me, coiling around his arms and legs, binding him mid-swing. He hit the floor like a sack of dead weight and thrashed against the chains, going nowhere.

The Cardinal turned.

He did not flinch or step back. He looked at me with a creased brow, the way a priest might look at a parishioner who had raised their voice during a sermon.

“Young brother, beware of anger. It is the tool of the enemy, not a virtue of radiancy.”

“Fuck you.”

My voice came out low and scraped raw.

“I’m not done talking to you. Who the fuck said you could leave?”