Chapter 155: The Holy Relic Doesn’t Lie [Part 3]

I slowly turned toward him. "Darius." My expression hardened. "What exactly are you trying to prove?"

He didn’t answer immediately.

I continued, deliberately raising my voice enough for the nearby spectators to hear. "You asked me to remove my gloves. I did. You asked me to touch the Holy Relic. I did. Then you demanded another examination, and I complied again." I gestured toward the crystal. "Twice."

The murmuring grew louder.

"And now you’re demanding a third examination?"

"It’s merely a precaution."

I laughed bitterly. "Again with that word."

Elia stepped forward. "Rey, please. There’s no need to become upset."

I turned toward her. "No need?"

Her smile faltered.

"Elia, you’ve invited me here because you supposedly care about my condition. Yet the moment I arrived, I was treated like a criminal."

"That’s not true."

"Then what is this?" I spread my arms. "The armed Holy Knights? The public examination? Darius demanding that I remove my clothes and accessories as though I’m hiding some terrible secret?" I paused. "Should I remove my coat next? My shirt? Perhaps you’d prefer to examine every inch of my body in front of the entire city."

A few spectators gasped.

Someone whispered indignantly.

I wasn’t finished. "Tell me, Darius. How many examinations will satisfy you? Three? Five? Ten?"

His eyes narrowed. "Rey—"

"Or will you simply continue until the result matches whatever accusation you’ve already decided to believe?"

Darius’s expression hardened. "You’re being unreasonable."

"Am I?" I smiled without warmth. "Interesting. Because from where I’m standing, I’m the only one who’s cooperated with every demand you’ve made."

He stepped closer. "Then cooperate one more time."

I stared at him. "No."

His jaw tightened. "Rey."

"I said no. I had enough."

The atmosphere changed. Several Holy Knights shifted their positions. Vera, standing near the staircase, watched with a troubled expression. Even Elia appeared uncertain.

Darius took another step forward. "You’re making this unnecessarily difficult."

"And you’re making it increasingly obvious that you won’t accept any result that proves me innocent."

His hand moved toward my arm. "Just put both hands on the Relic."

I pulled back. "Don’t touch me."

Unfortunately, the bastard had apparently decided that forcing me would be easier than continuing the argument.

He reached forward again. "Enough, Rey!" He tried to push me toward the pedestal.

And then... something rather unfortunate happened. His foot slipped. Not dramatically. Just a tiny, perfectly timed loss of balance.

I glanced toward the crowd, scanning the faces until I spotted her.

Nia.

My lovely fox was standing among the spectators. She looked perfectly innocent, although the mischievous smirk tugging at her lips told me everything I needed to know. So she’d decided to contribute her own little touch to the performance.

I suppressed a grin.

Darius stumbled forward. Instinctively, he reached out with his right hand to steady himself. The same palm that had made contact with my Umbral Bloom Balm.

And directly in front of him... The Holy Relic.

His bare hand struck the crystal.

Darius straightened, his face twisting with anger. "What the—"

The relic reacted. A violent crimson flash erupted from its crystalline core. The gentle golden radiance vanished beneath an ugly surge of dark purple light. A piercing hum filled the courtyard. And then a deep, resonating alarm rang out.

Darius froze. His eyes widened as black-purple energy crawled across the surface of the crystal beneath his palm.

The surrounding priests recoiled.

Elia’s face went pale. The crowd fell completely silent.

I stared at the relic. Then slowly turned toward Darius. My expression shifted from anger to disbelief. A perfectly reasonable reaction. After all, the Holy Knight who’d spent the past several minutes accusing me of corruption had just triggered the artifact intended to expose me.

"Darius..." I let my voice tremble slightly.

His gaze snapped toward me. "Rey, this isn’t—"

I stepped backward. "You’re corrupted?"

His expression twisted. "What? No!"

I looked toward the crystal. "But the Holy Relic..."

"There’s been a mistake!"

When the relic failed to condemn me, the examination needed repeating. But when it condemned him? Suddenly, the sacred artifact was mistaken.

I slowly raised my voice. "Darius Arclight..." I stared at his hand, which had already pulled away from the crystal. Then I asked the question I’d been waiting to ask since entering Solareth. "What exactly have you been hiding from us?"

Darius looked at me sharply. "I’m not hiding anything!" His voice echoed across the courtyard. He turned toward the crowd, apparently expecting someone to support him.

Instead, people stepped backward.

Even the Holy Knights stationed near the staircase exchanged uneasy glances. One instinctively tightened his grip on his sword, while another looked toward the relic as though hoping its warning would disappear.

"Sir Darius... corrupted?"

"But he’s the Holy Knight!"

"The relic reacted to him, didn’t it?"

"Then why was he accusing Lord Rey?"

The whispers spread like wildfire. I could practically taste the panic beneath Darius’s increasingly rigid expression. Darius had one particularly exploitable weakness. His reputation. Elia was no different. Their precious public images were practically sacred to them.

I slowly shook my head, allowing disappointment to settle across my face. "Darius..."

"Rey, listen—"

"Is this why you’ve been trying so desperately to prove I’m corrupted?" I continued before he could answer. My voice grew heavier. "Were you trying to frame me?"

"What?! Of course not!"

"Then explain this!" I gestured toward the glowing crystal. "You accused me of hiding corruption, yet the moment you touched the Holy Relic, it reacted." I stared at him, letting my disappointment become painfully obvious. "It’s you, Darius. You’re the one who’s corrupted."

The courtyard erupted into another wave of murmurs.

I lowered my gaze, looking like a man struggling to accept that someone he’d once trusted might have betrayed everything they stood for.

Darius’s breathing grew uneven. His eyes darted between the spectators, the Holy Knights, and the still-glowing relic. Then, finally, he turned toward the one person whose authority might save him. "Elia." His voice carried an unmistakable urgency.