If soone had asked Reeva what he expected to encounter first thing in the morning while being held by the church, he wouldn’t have known how to answer. But certainly, it wouldn’t have been a fight between two mystics.
Reeva glanced over at the priests who were setting up an arena as Leon waited calmly inside. This gave Reeva a mont to reflect. It seed like Leon had so kind of plan going into this. After all, a man who had survived this long as a mystic couldn’t be that reckless, right?
Or maybe he was reading too much into Leon’s provocation. Perhaps it was just desperation—Leon knew his fate wasn’t going to end well, and maybe he preferred to go out with the honor of a duel rather than an execution by fire.
If that was his ntality, he would’ve fit right in with the Antores family knights.
"Are you an idiot?! Why did you do that?" Onia was the first to voice the question Reeva had been thinking. She, too, couldn’t fathom the reason for such a provocation. Reeva and Hilda watched as Leon and the priest squared off.
"I’m going to die either way," Leon replied, his voice steady. "At least this way, I’ll be rembered through a duel."
"No, you won’t. No one will rember you," Onia retorted coldly. A duel with a priest of the Sun God was clearly a death sentence—or at least, no one would intervene even if it led to a fatal accident.
"The God above will surely rember ," Leon said, a conviction burning in his eyes.
Onia fell silent at that. The truth hit her harder than she expected. She was the one who had led them down this path, and in so ways, all the people in this carriage were like Theia—rogue mystics who hadn’t followed the church’s ways. But they were treated very differently.
Simply because they weren’t aligned with the church.
As Onia thought it over, a guilty realization washed over her: These people would likely be used as scapegoats for Theia’s escape. By her own choice... or rather, by Brent’s. The fate of all of them was already in her hands, or more accurately, in Brent’s.
If not for the prince’s protection, they likely would have already been burned by the Tumidus Church.
When the ti ca, the door was pulled open by a group of priests, using the sa thod as before. The door fell with a thunderous crash across the wooden floor they were settled on.
Looking outside, Reeva could see that a bit of snow had already covered the path, and the only indication that this was a carriage route was the absence of trees. If he tried to escape now, he would have no idea where they were.
A cold wind blew in from outside, causing Reeva’s body to freeze up for a mont. He, Hilda, and Onia were dressed in their normal clothes since the prison emitted a bit of heat. But the mont he felt the outside air, he realized how cold it truly was.
"You, step out. The others stay inside. If you cross the door, we have permission to burn you alive."
One of the priests ca to retrieve Leon, and without hesitation, Leon stepped outside.
"Hey, could I get a coat? I’m freezing out here," Leon said in a casual tone.
"You have no right to request anything."
"Ah, so the honorable priest enjoys bullying the weak and cold in the dead of winter, huh?"
"Fine! Get him a coat!"
The priest cracked under Leon’s taunt, shouting at another to fetch it. Monts later, a winter coat was brought. The priest threw it onto the snow, its weight sinking slightly into the white powder.
"Put it on and stop whining."
"Thanks."
Leon picked up the coat and put it on, instantly feeling warr. The coat was made of good leather, with fur around the neck, giving it a luxurious feel. Reeva recognized the kind of coat; it usually cost around 10 stac—a price far too high for a normal peasant but easily affordable for the church to outfit its people.
From inside the prison, Reeva watched and thought about what he could do.
Since becoming an apostle of the Sun God, it would be easy for him to stop all of this. He knew how apostlehood worked from the texts.
By using his coldness, Reeva could touch the mark of the Sun God on his forehead and reveal the symbol of the sun. The mark would glow and grant him the authority of the Sun God, enough to command the priests and put them under his control, since they were obligated to respect him now.
But he wanted to see what Leon had planned first. The more he watched, the more convinced he beca that Leon had sothing up his sleeve. A crowd had gathered around the spot where the duel would take place. In the center was a campfire that had lted away so of the snow, revealing the brown ground beneath.
Leon, now wearing his new coat, was shoved into the circle by a priest, the push anything but gentle. Across from him stood the man who had challenged him to a duel. He had a calm deanor and wore glasses.
The priest looked to be in his twenties and was clearly a second-circle mystic.
"Who do you think will win?" Reeva asked, not directing the question at anyone in particular, but soone answered anyway.
"The priest," Hilda said, watching the duel closely. "He moves like a knight."
Now that Reeva paid closer attention, he could see the priest’s firm stance and precise movents. In contrast, Leon’s steps seed to waver, lacking the sa intention.
"Aren’t you worried your friend might die?" Onia asked, hearing Reeva’s question.
"Well, sacred duels don’t permit intentional killing," Reeva replied, pointing toward the gathering crowd. "Unless, of course, there’s an ’accident’ the priest makes. But I doubt the royals would let that slide."
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