V

V

 

"You had this all planned, didn't you? Lure the main force out of the town and then target His Holiness. You think we'd fall into your trap?" Friedrich said.

The tuned soldier twisted the tips of his whips between his fingers. He glared at the intruders as he steadied himself. He maneuvered so that he wasn't obstructing the line of fire of the soldiers standing behind him.

"Trap...?" Abel shook his head as he pressed down on the back of his hand. Friedrich was making it sound like they had planned to divert attention away from the castle, using the townsfolk as a strategic distraction. "If it was all a trap, then how did you know we were here?"

"Playing ignorant? Fine." Friedrich glanced over at the priest coldly. His gaze then moved slowly to focus on the young man trying to hide behind Abel. Friedrich s facial muscles tightened. "I can see you there, Borgia!"

"Ah, long time, no see, Father Friedrich." Antonio waved a hand as if he had just noticed Friedrich's presence. Friedrich ground his teeth, but Antonio kept talking as if he were chatting with a friend he hadn't met with in a while: "Last time we met was at Koln, right? So it's been half a year. You're looking well! My dear friend. How's Cardinal d'Este?"

"IMPUDENT!" Clearly, he was in no mood for reminiscing and catching up. He swung his whips and roared in rage. "Just because you sold that list to Rome, do you think that we're in the same camp now?! It's unforgivable! Bringing AX and targeting New Vatican!"

"You're mistaken!" Antonio pushed his hand to his chest and exclaimed. He cried out like an actor in some tragedy. "I swear to the heavens. It wasn't me who sold them the list. I was not thinking of attacking the Pope. I came to deliver this dangerous man."

"Ah, betrayed again!" Abel shook his head in astonishment and disappointment.

Antonio pushed him toward the line of soldiers and bowed his head.

Abel could almost see his invisible devils tail wagging furiously.

"You can cook him, fry him, do whatever you want, now... If this was all it took to prove my loyalty to Pope Alfonso, then it was very simple." Antonio grinned.

"There are even simpler ways to prove your loyalty, Borgia." Friedrich wasn't going to return the smile, though. He threw a handgun across the floor. It skidded to Antonio's feet. "Kill this lapdog yourself. Then you'll have proved it."

"Antonio, pretend to do as he says. Pick up the gun," Abel whispered. "When you pick it up, I'll move. We have one chance. I'm counting on you."

"I'm sorry. I don't think..." Antonio was also whispering. There wasn't an ounce of guilt in his face. He picked up the gun and pressed it against Abel's back.

"Don't try to get away this time. I'm sorry, Abel. You will be a sacrifice."

"What?! You're serious?!" Abel paled. He could feel the mouth of the gun against his back, and it sent a shiver down his spine. In front of him were almost ten soldiers, all with their guns pointed straight at him. This really looked like it might be the end of the line.

"Put your guns down! You blasphemous heretics!"

The husky, yet attractive, voice of a woman echoed down the cloister. Abel thought he could make out a slim figure at the top of the stairs. She was curvaceous. The woman was wearing a thick fur coat. Her white face was almost indistinguishable from the snow.

Both Antonio and Abel exclaimed when they saw who it was: "COUNTESS ANHALT?!"

It was Christa Anhalt. She should have been with the townsfolk who had escaped to the mountains, so why on earth was she here?! And furthermore, what was that she was holding...

"A machine gun?! Where the hell did you get that?!" Friedrich wailed.

Christa didn't answer his question. Instead, she let out a flurry of bullets from the machine gun pushed to her waist.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Abel screamed as he saw the barrage of bullets blow away the snow and head straight for them. He instinctively jumped. A good move—otherwise he would have been mincemeat in seconds.

"Ch-Christa, watch where you're aiming!" Abel called up. "Aaaah! How do I stop this thing?!" the woman holding the gun cried. The force of the weapon had pushed her against the wall, but the gun continued to spew bullets. The machine gun was fully automatic and relentless.

The soldiers who tried to aim at her didn't have a chance to target properly amid the rain of bullets coming down at them. It really wasn't a weapon for a beginner or a physically weak person. But it was doing the job. "ABEL, RUN!"

There were screams and cries of pain coming from the soldiers as the bullets came raining in. In the chaos, Antonio had quickly turned around. He had put the gun on his back and was now running toward Christa. Abel was fascinated by the sight of Antonio acting so bravely for a few seconds. He swept up the guns at his feet and then ran up the stairs.

"Ch-Christa what are you doing here?" The machine gun had finally run out of ammunition. Christa was standing there, looking a little dazed in the sudden return to quiet.

"You should have been with Tres and the others at the mountain!"

"I was worried about my husband." Christa tensed up as if the priests were threatening her. "So I decided to follow you, but I got lost and then—"

"Abel, let's leave the talking for later!" Antonio interrupted her. Some of the soldiers who had come out of the previous chaos unscathed were standing at the bottom of the stairs. "If you want to get out of here alive, we have to do something!"

"This way. There's an elevator over here." Christa was pointing down the corridor. They could hear the sound of bullets narrowly missing their heads. They didn't have time to hesitate. With Abel and Antonio at either side of Christa, they ran.

It was a simple but sturdy elevator. The three of them skidded into it. From behind, they could hear the sound of footsteps running down the corridor. Abel yanked the lattice gate shut, and the elevator whirred into motion with a low sound. Finally they were lifted up and taken out of danger.

"What do we do now?" Christa seemed terrified. She was huddled up on the floor. "How are we going to get out of here? And what about my husband and this Cherubim you're looking for...?"

Abel looked up to the heavens. He didn't know how they were going to pull it off either. He wanted to ask the exact same questions. They only had a few hours left until the Department of Inquisition was supposed to arrive. Would they be able to get around the castle in that time?

While Abel was lost, puzzling over these problems, Antonio approached Christa and started rubbing her back. "It'll be okay, Senora Christa. I don't suppose you saw Alfonso d'Este in your travels? If we can take him as a hostage, we'll probably be able to escape."

"I might have seen him, but I don't know what he looks like so I wouldn't know." Christa shook her head. She was a rural aristocrat, so she wouldn't have had the chance to meet the central leaders. "I'm so sorry. I'm useless to you."

"No, you're not. Look, we're here."

The chime on the bell rang, and the gates opened. The door had opened up to reveal a wide, pleasant study. On the walls were lines of bookcases, filled with books. The room was being kept warm by a roaring fireplace. There was also a desk, which was almost entirely buried in a mountain of books.

"There was a lot of noise coming from downstairs. Did something happen, Friedrich?"

One of the two men standing in front of the desk turned round. There was a moment of shock and confusion on the man's winkled face and then there was realization. "Yo-you?!"

Alfonso knew Abel's face.

Beside Alfonso was another man, who now moved in front of Alfonso to shield him.

"What the hell are you two doing here?!" Alfonso yelled.

Antonio moved faster than Abel. He whipped out his gun. "Hey, don't move!" Antonio barked. "The Lord be praised. We've been lucky today. We've found the both of them!"

"The both of them..."

"Both of them? Then this is..." Abel looked at the man shielding Alfonso. It was an old man with diluted eyes. "This is Cherubim?!"

"Abel, cut the power off to the elevator. We don't want those guys downstairs getting up here. Senora Christa, tie Cherubim up."

Lost in his thoughts, Abel walked over to the elevator to cut off the main power.

Antonio handed Christa some cord, and she followed his instructions. Now that they had Cherubim and Alfonso, they didn't need to stay any longer. They would be able to use Alfonso as a negotiation tool to stop New Vatican from pursuing the townsfolk to the mountain. "Aaaah!"

Abel twirled round when he heard the scream. "Cardinal Borgia?! What are you doing?!" Abel couldn't believe his eyes. Cherubim's hands were tied. That was all good. Christa, on the other hand, was cowering against the wall. And Antonio was aiming the gun straight at her?! "Antonio. What are you...?"

"I'm really sorry that it had to come to this, Senora Christa." Antonio smiled. "This cheap play is over already. I think it's time for you to tell us who you really are. Come on, Countess Anhalt."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Father! What do you mean?" Christa cried back. Her face turned even whiter than usual. "I'm me! You know who I am!"

"You said that you didn't know Alfonso. So how did you know who to tie up?" Antonio wasn't cheerful anymore. He continued questioning Christa, all the while keeping his finger poised over the trigger. "I told you to tie up Cherubim. Without hesitation, you knew who I was talking about. How could that be? Unless you knew who Cherubim or Alfonso were in the first place. Am I wrong?"

"Ah." Abel's jaw dropped. His gaze slid over to Christa. Antonio was right. He wasn't finished yet, though.

"There are still things we don't know. I thought that you were a New Vatican spy or possibly one of Cardinal Medici's followers. But that wouldn't explain how you knew who Cherubim was... So, Countess, tell us who you really are."

Christa's head had dropped as the questions had continued. Her thin fingers fiddled with the fur on her coat, but she didn't tremble. "Hee hee... Idiot," she muttered so quietly that it could almost be mistaken for a sigh. Her sensuous lips curled into a cruel smile. "I worked hard on this miserable act, but you really are idiots."

Christa looked like a totally different person now. From under her skirt, she pulled a long, thin stick.

"Hey, don't move!" Antonio shouted. "I don't want to shoot a woman, but if you make me..."

Christa, or whatever her name was, lifted the wand she was holding and aimed straight at Antonio.

"Antonio! Get out of the way!" Abel tackled Antonio. A second later and Antonio might have been dead. The two of them rolled across the floor.

"Huh?"

There was a dull thud. Antonio and Abel looked up in horror. Something white loomed above them. Rising up the ceiling was a three-foot-tall pillar of ice.

Ice Witch waved her wand again.

"It will not be possible for you to succeed in your desire to rescue Sforza. I'll take Cherubim back to Rome for you. You can rest easy!"

A strange glowing ball of white light grew in the room.