VIII
VIII
As dawn broke, the sky turned blue. The pillars that encircled the plaza cast long shadows, which grew longer with every passing moment.
The hum of countless voices inside the cathedral could be heard. The time for morning mass fast approached. A group of nuns crossed the plaza, each woman wearing a displeased expression. News of last night's scandal had spread, so the plaza entrance guards were being terribly strict during this mornings security checks. It put everyone in a bad mood.
"Hey!" someone gasped to the policemen checking over the visitors who stood in line. "Has Cardinal Medici arrived yet?"
"Yes. I'm certain he's already in the cathedral. What do you want of him, Lieutenant?"
The police cast suspicious looks at the man pushing his way through the crowd. The large, long-haired Carabinieri was breathing hard, as if he'd run a great distance.
"I'm Lieutenant Montesecco of the special police. The criminal who attacked the archbishop confessed. I have to report to His Eminence immediately. Let me through there!"
"Excuse me, do you have proof of permission?"
"Idiot! Who can bother with a thing like that in such an urgent situation! If you get in the way, I'll protest to the upper echelons later!" the lieutenant roared. This had the opposite effect than he desired.
Traditionally, relations between the Carabinieri, who handled political crimes and terrorism, and the Guardia Romana, who were general city police, were bad.
The policeman's gaze hardened. "Regulations are regulations, so we can't let you pass. First, you must apply in writing for permission."
"That's what I'm telling you—there's no time! Eh, it can't be helped. It's top secret, but I'll tell you." The lieutenant gnashed his teeth, but he seemed to understand his folly in scolding the policeman, though, so he explained, "Don't tell the others, okay? Intelligence has come in that a bomb has been planted in this plaza."
"Bomb?" That word was whispered, yet it was still loud enough to make the surrounding police tense.
The lieutenant added, "The bomb was planted in that obelisk. I'll dismantle it. You all should evacuate the people in the plaza. However, please do it so as not to cause panic."
"Understood!"
Luckily, there weren't many people left in the plaza. Watching the police scatter, Leon—who was dressed in the Lieutenant's uniform—grinned.
"Yes, do your very best, gentlemen. Now then, I have to get to work."
He took a fist-sized lump of clay out of his pocket and embedded a clockwork-style fuse in it with practiced ease. Like a wild cat, he gracefully approached the obelisk and affixed the clay to its base.
"I don't know if it's a sound weapon or not, but it should be all right if I destroy it. We'll analyze it thoroughly later, hm?"
After he carefully set his device down, Leon knitted his brows. With the look of a predator that's spotted a trap, he peered down at the stone pavement below his feet.
"Am I imagining it?"
"Lieutenant!"
Leon instantly hid his makeshift bomb up his sleeve. When he turned around, he saw a policeman running toward him, panting.
"Lieutenant, would it be all right if I came with you to report to Cardinal Medici?"
"Ah, no." Of course it wasn't all right. Leon cleared his throat. What can I say to get out of this? A chill ran down his spine.
It was pure instinct that made him jump off the stone pavement. The policeman looked up, astonished to see a huge body flying through the air at inhuman speed. The next instant, the policeman's neck was broken. His corpse was dragged into the earth.
A black hole had opened in the stone pavement where Leon had been standing. Something had flown out of there, snapped the policeman's neck, and jumped back into the hole. It had snatched up the young man's dead body without making a sound. All that had transpired in one second.
"What trouble am I in now?" Leon landed on top of the obelisk. Something is underneath the stone pavement!
"What happened, Lieutenant?"
"Idiot, stay away!" By the time Leon shouted, it was too late.
The stone pavement split open. A creature flew out, bit the wide-eyed policeman's foot, and pulled the screaming man into the ground with unimaginable strength.
"What the hell is that?"
Cracks appeared in the pavement, spreading under the shocked policemen and the nuns who still hadn't evacuated. The creature moved with considerable speed whenever it was underground.
"Shit, this is bad."
From his position on the apex of the obelisk, Leon looked down at the unfolding scene and clucked his tongue. His exceptional vision had caught sight of what appeared to a normal person's eyes as a mere shadow.
Of all the days to be attacked by something like this . . .
Looking at the nuns, Leon said, "It can't be helped. I wouldn't sleep in peace if I were to abandon women in distress."
Stripping off the special police lieutenant's black-and-silver uniform, Leon muttered to himself. He jumped down on the pavement and grasped the bomb hidden up his sleeve.
"Hey! Here's your prey!"
The creature probably felt him touch the ground when he landed. The fissures in the stone paving stopped moving for a moment; then, the cracks splayed in another direction. Like a shark that detected the scent of blood, the creature rammed straight toward Leon.
"Come on, come on. Whoops!"
Leon sprang sideways. At his feet, the pavement suddenly split. A black shape flew out of the crack. A huge earthworm—its body as thick as a man's torso—opened its terrible jaws. It bared its bloodstained fangs and bit at the giant priest.
The sound of teeth snapping together echoed throughout the plaza. The earthworm—otherwise known as "the Gnome"— gnawed on Leon's balled-up uniform. It pulled itself into its hole with lightning speed.
Being attacked by something that swift was unpleasant. "Bye-bye, stupid earthworm." Leon courteously waved toward the hole.
Suddenly, the ground quaked and rumbled. Gnome's tunnel belched out white smoke.
"It's your fault for being so nasty. Remember that," Leon said, satisfied that his bomb had killed the beast. "Now then, I have to take care of this obelisk."
Leon walked up to the obelisk and started embedding fuses in the two bombs he'd kept stashed in his trouser pocket. He stopped short of kneeling.
"Hey, hey ... that can't be!" A cold sweat broke out on Leon's face.
One after another, more than ten fresh fissures appeared in the stone pavement.