Chapter 28: Confrontation

The first thing to return was a blurry sense of light.

A steady, warm, orange-yellow glow, accompanied by the slight crackling of burning firewood, stimulated Laurence through his eyelids.

The air was filled with the scent of herbs, white porridge, and a faint, familiar floral fragrance, replacing the nauseating stench of decay and blood from the forest.

Next came the return of physical sensation.

A feeling of exhaustion, as if he were soaked in a thick liquid, pressed down on every inch of his bones and muscles. Dull bouts of pain radiated from his chest, a sharp reminder that everything that had happened not long ago was no nightmare.

Laurence’s eyelids flickered several times before finally opening slowly.

What met his eyes was a familiar ceiling. He was lying in his own room, and from beside him came Vera’s worried greeting.

“Captain, how are you feeling?”

Laurence turned his head slightly. Vera was sitting on a low stool by the bedside, wearing her usual dark, practical clothes. Her long purple hair was tied simply behind her head, and the exhaustion and anxiety in her eyes were impossible to hide.

In her hands, she held a steaming white porcelain bowl filled with rice porridge that had been boiled until soft. Although it was nowhere near as good as what Aurelia could make, it had clearly cost Vera a lot of effort.

Seeing him look over, she immediately placed the bowl on the nightstand and leaned forward slightly, supporting Laurence as he tried to sit up.

“Vera…” He started to speak, but seeing her red, swollen eyes and pale face, the words died in his throat.

Laurence’s body stiffened slightly as he leaned against the headboard with Vera’s help.

The dull pain in his chest made his breathing hitch, but what tightened his heart even more was the undisguised shock, questioning, and overflowing worry hidden deep within Vera’s eyes.

“Captain, your injury… who did this?”

He couldn’t tell the truth.

His identity as a Rebirth user, his paranoia regarding the bloodline validation… none of this could be known by anyone.

He needed her. He needed her assistance as the Vice-Captain, and he needed her as… a sort of anchor connecting him to his past and to normalcy. At least for now.

Laurence lowered his gaze, avoiding Vera’s sharp eyes, and looked at the clean bandages wrapped around his chest. Beneath them, a faint golden light was still dimly flowing, bringing a sense of power that was both foreign and familiar.

‘I cannot let anyone know how I awakened my bloodline. I must… concoct a lie.’

Laurence coughed twice. After taking a few sips of the warm water Vera handed him, he spoke slowly. “…It was a Corrupted God’s Artifact. It was incredibly fast. It snatched my weapon and launched a sneak attack…”

“Then, it used it… to pierce me.” He raised his hand, his fingertips gesturing lightly toward the bandages on his chest.

He omitted the specific type of Corrupted God’s Artifact and further details. By keeping it vague, he reduced the risk of being caught in a lie.

“I thought… I was done for. The wound was cold, and I could feel that filth burrowing inside…”

His narrative paused for a moment. A lingering fear flashed through his golden eyes.

It wasn’t just the aftermath of the “attack,” but the instinctive terror of being on the brink of death and the soul-tearing pain he felt when his bloodline awakened.

“But just when I thought I wasn’t going to make it…” he continued, his tone carrying a confusion he himself couldn’t fully comprehend. “At the wound… no, somewhere deeper inside, something was suddenly stimulated by the Power of Calamity… and then… a power more surging than even the Church’s Holy Magic began to repair my wound…”

He slowly looked up, meeting Vera’s worried eyes with a gaze that reflected both exhaustion and shock.

“I don’t know what it was, Vera,” he whispered, his voice sounding exceptionally real due to his weakness. “It was strange… but it saved my life in a very domineering yet effective way…”

Vera stared intently at Laurence’s pale face, then looked at the faint golden light shimmering through the bandages.

The aura of that power was indeed… different from any healing divine art or blessing she knew. A miracle that could bring someone back even after a weapon had been plunged directly into their heart… it was something even the Pope himself would find difficult to achieve.

“I’ll go get a Saint to take a look.” She stood up abruptly, her movements so hurried that she almost knocked over the stool behind her.

“We must confirm if this power is stable and if there are any… hidden dangers.” She needed a more authoritative judgment to help her understand this situation that defied common sense.

Laurence nodded, letting Vera leave the room.

His Braveblood was extremely pure; this was something that had been verified in his Predecessor Life. Even if the Pope arrived today, he would have to personally admit that Laurence was the Brave.

This was the fate he had been forced to carry from the moment he awakened his bloodline in his past life, except back then…

‘Tsk, why am I thinking about that unlucky thing!’

Laurence gritted his teeth, shaking the image of the black-haired girl out of his mind. “Damn it!”

However, the chaotic thoughts and the intense physical exhaustion eventually took over.

Before Vera could return with a Saint, he felt a surge of blood rush to his head. His head snapped back against the wall with a *thud*, and he lost consciousness.

***

An unknown amount of time passed before he was awakened by the faint sound of voices in the room and another gentle, investigative energy. He didn’t open his eyes immediately, keeping his breathing steady while sensing his surroundings.

Vera was back. She had brought two young Saints with her. They were currently speaking in low voices, their Holy Magic cautiously touching the wound on his chest. Then… followed a long silence, suppressed shock, and the sound of sharp intakes of breath.

“This… we simple Saints probably can’t make a determination… We must at least ask the Bishop to come personally. Miss Vera…”

Listening to their intermittent conversation, Laurence suddenly heard a few sentences that were unexpected but brought him immense joy.

“If Lord Laurence… truly possesses such bloodline power, then the credibility of everything he said before regarding the Disaster… would need to be raised by several levels…”

“How is that possible?! Liya, she…” Vera was the one who protested. She still wanted to make excuses for the Disaster Source, not yet realizing what kind of existence she was protecting.

“Miss Vera, for the details… it is better to wait for the Bishop to arrive and make a decision. This is a grave matter; neither you nor I have the right to decide…”

They bowed hurriedly and practically fled the room, leaving Vera standing frozen in place, her expression shifting uncontrollably.

She slowly turned back to look at Laurence, who seemed to still be unconscious on the bed, her gaze incredibly complex.

She was not only shocked by the possibility of the Braveblood and worried about the responsibilities and dangers this power represented, but also pained by Aurelia’s situation. Now, because of this sudden miracle, Aurelia’s circumstances had taken a turn for the worse.

If Laurence continued to insist on hunting down Aurelia, then with the Braveblood he had suddenly awakened… it wouldn’t be impossible for him to issue a Pope’s Pursuit Order against her.

While Vera’s thoughts were in turmoil, Laurence let out a low groan. His eyelashes fluttered as he seemed to struggle to wake from his deep sleep.

He slowly opened his eyes. His golden pupils were out of focus at first, but then they painfully converged on Vera’s face, filled with exhaustion, confusion, and a seemingly settled determination.

“Vera…”

Hearing Laurence’s voice, Vera immediately gathered her thoughts and rushed back to the bedside. Leaning over, she asked, “Captain, how are you feeling? The Saints just…”

“I… heard a little,” Laurence interrupted her. “What did they… say? About the power… inside me?” He asked knowingly, trying to guide the conversation in the direction he wanted.

“…They couldn’t be certain, but they speculated it might be some kind of… extremely rare, special power.” Vera’s voice was somewhat dry. Her gaze fell on the faint golden light flowing across Laurence’s chest, but she quickly looked away. “Perhaps… it’s related to the bloodline that combats the Disaster mentioned in the legends. They didn’t dare make a decision on their own and have gone to fetch the Bishop.”

Laurence listened quietly to Vera’s explanation, sneering inwardly.

As expected, it was exactly as he had planned. The bloodline flowing through this body—activated by his own extreme paranoia—was so pure and powerful that it would shock any clergy member who sensed it.

Even a warrior like Vera, who knew nothing of divine arts, could perceive his current abnormality.

“The bloodline that combats the Disaster… from the legends?” he repeated her words. The blend of bewilderment and the tremor from being hit by such a massive possibility made his voice sound raspy.

He pushed himself up slightly. The movement pulled at his wound, causing him to groan, but his gaze remained stubbornly locked on Vera. “Vera, you felt it too, didn’t you? That power… its instinctive rejection and purification when it faced the filth of the Disaster inside me.”

Vera pursed her lips and didn’t answer immediately, but she had indeed felt it.

When she first found him, the blood seeping from his chest was mixed with a faint golden light, carrying a supreme purity and majesty. It had even strengthened the healing arts performed by the two Saints beside her.

“Captain, don’t think about that for now. Rest is what matters.” She tried to dodge the subject, attempting to help him lie back down.

Laurence, however, firmly pushed her hand away. Though weak, his eyes were startlingly bright—a gaze that even made Vera feel a strange sense of pressure.

“No, Vera, I must think about it. If… if this power really is what they suspect, the Brave’s power that was lost long ago…”

He took a deep breath, as if digesting this unbelievable thought and injecting more conviction into his words.

“Then everything makes sense!” His voice suddenly rose, his tone filled with a realization that was both enlightening and agonized.

“Why I am so sensitive to the Power of Calamity! Why I became more and more repulsed by her! Why… why after I had contact with her that night… she would suddenly erupt with the Power of Calamity!”

Laurence suddenly looked at Vera. Ignoring the pain from his chest injury, he grabbed her shoulder, making her flinch.

“I wasn’t persecuting her! I was fighting the Disaster Source! After the outburst that night, she must have wanted to use the hand of a Corrupted God’s Artifact to kill me early, knowing I was a threat! It’s just… it failed, and instead, it completely awakened the very existence it fears most!”

Vera was startled by his slightly manic state. The pain in her shoulder made her acutely aware that the current Laurence was on the edge of instability in both power and emotion.

“Captain! Calm down, your wound…” She tried to pull away, but his fingers felt like iron pincers. The golden eyes swirling before her no longer held the calm and restraint of the past, but a paranoia she had never seen before.

“This isn’t a miracle, Vera, this is war! It’s a war between me and her, between me and the Disaster that began long ago! This wound, and this awakening, are the proof! Can’t you see it yet?!”

“I…” Vera opened her mouth. That wound was shocking, and the aura of power flowing over it was so pure and strong that it made her very soul feel oppressed.

Reason told her that power of this level—this legendary bloodline—carried premonitions and directions that were almost equivalent to a divine oracle.

Yet emotionally, Aurelia’s warm smiling face, her care for everyone, and that final moment when her red eyes were filled with tears—dull like dust-covered jewels—tugged violently at her heart.

“But…”

“There are no ‘buts,’ Vice-Captain Vera! No, Vera!” Laurence shook her body, his eyes locked on her uncertain face. “Do not be deceived by her anymore!”

He leaned closer to her again, his breathing ragged, but his words were like a sharp blade, attempting to slice through Vera’s final hesitation.

“Vera, look at me! Answer me! If this power hadn’t awakened, what would I be right now?”

“I…” Vera’s voice was low, her thoughts interrupted by Laurence’s words once again.

“If I hadn’t ruthlessly driven her out, I’m afraid even you, my best adjutant, would have been fooled by her tears and her disguise!”

Before Laurence could continue his relentless pressure, a flurry of hurried footsteps rapidly approached from outside the room.