Going Out with a Bang
"In the name of the Primary God."
Immediately after the low, muttered words left his lips, Thomas's figure vanished from sight. No, he hadn't vanished. He was simply moving so fast that the naked eye could barely track him.
—He's coming!
Even as the Goddess's warning echoed in his mind, Yohan felt a wave of murderous intent locking onto him. *Whoosh!* A heavy mace—one that had undoubtedly crushed the skulls of countless heretics—swung through the air with a deafening roar.
"Whoops."
Yohan ducked instantly, dodging the strike. A violent gust of wind whipped over his head. At that level of force, even a glancing blow would tear flesh and shatter bone. Just as Annie had warned, the Heresy Inquisitors of the Holy Kingdom were nothing short of living weapons.
Well, yeah. You'd have to be this tough to wander the continent alone, personally beating the crap out of wicked heretics and pagans. Taking a few steps back, Yohan corrected his stance and let a smirk slip onto his face.
"You insolent...!"
But his smirk only seemed to provoke Thomas further. Yohan swallowed hard as thick, unsightly veins bulged on Thomas's face. The man looked like he would gladly cave someone's skull in with a heavy holy book if he had one on hand. Yohan loved it. Perhaps because it had been so long since he'd faced a worthy opponent, his blood pumped hotter than usual.
"Heh. Nice."
As Yohan chuckled, the Light Sword in his hand flared with an even more brilliant, ethereal glow.
"How can one who claims to serve the Primary God wield such wicked power!"
To Thomas's eyes, the divine Authority Yohan channeled apparently looked like demonic magic. Roaring in fury, Thomas lunged forward once more. Instead of retreating or focusing on evasion like before, Yohan stepped forward, meeting the attack head-on.
*Clang!*
The Light Sword and mace collided with a deafening screech that echoed in all directions. A shockwave erupted from the point of impact, blowing away the surrounding dust and debris in a violent gale.
"Ugh!"
Is this bastard even human? Yohan groaned softly at the numbing shock that traveled up his wrists. But Thomas had no intention of giving him room to breathe.
"O lost soul! I shall purge the evil possessing you and hold you accountable for your sins!"
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Closing the distance again, Thomas unleashed a barrage of strikes with terrifying speed and power. Every time their weapons clashed, the ground beneath them seemed to sink. Within moments, the piles of trash and building debris within a several-meter radius were completely obliterated.
—So this is a modern Inquisitor. His mastery over his weapon is indeed extraordinary.
The Goddess's voice echoed in his mind with genuine admiration. Despite the chaotic exchange, Yohan couldn't help but agree. Thomas's martial prowess was exceptional. His movements pushed his physical capabilities to their absolute limits, making his combat style look almost like a deadly, fluid dance.
The trajectory of his mace always carved angles that were incredibly difficult to block or dodge. His footwork was flawless, positioning him perfectly to swing with maximum leverage and force. Yohan immediately recognized this as the specialized martial arts trained by the Heresy Inquisitors.
Monstrous physical strength obtained through Miracle Arts, combined with martial techniques honed to mastery through grueling training, and a mind fortified by unwavering, blind faith in the Primary God. That was the essence of a Holy Kingdom Inquisitor.
Yohan suddenly recalled how Annie used to beat low-level demons to death with sheer, unrefined brute force, and he finally understood why. There was simply no need to use proper technique against mere low-level demons. Conversely, it meant that in Thomas's eyes, Yohan was an opponent against whom victory could not be guaranteed without going all out. Well, Thomas did think Yohan was a fellow Inquisitor, after all.
Dodging Thomas's fierce onslaught, Yohan inwardly acknowledged that these Inquisitor bastards were indeed human weapons.
Alright, let's wrap this up.
He began drawing more of the Goddess's power, preparing a decisive blow to end the fight. At that moment—
Baptism of Purification
"What the hell?!" Yohan blurted out.
Thomas had suddenly roared the skill name at the top of his lungs. At the same time, a force incomparable to anything before erupted from his mace, manifesting as a visible, radiant aura.
"I shall send you to the side of the Primary God!"
This crazy bastard. Just a second ago he said he'd beat me into submission, and now he's trying to straight-up murder me. Yohan felt his skin crawl at the sudden, cringey shout of the skill name.
*Screeech!*
The light enveloping the mace expanded exponentially in an instant. At a glance, the entire weapon now resembled a massive pillar of light extending from a hilt, like a giant sword. Emitting a strange, vibrating hum, it looked exactly like a lightsaber, forcing Yohan to tense up.
—Wait, Apostle. That looks like your flame...
But his tension evaporated in an instant. Hearing the Goddess's words, Yohan immediately realized the nature of the technique.
Wait... I don't even need to block this.
*Frizzle.*
Yohan unsummoned the Light Sword he had been holding. Then, he clenched his right hand into a tight fist.
*Whoosh!*
The light erupting from Thomas's mace transformed into a torrent of pure white flames, completely engulfing Yohan. But as soon as the fire dissipated...
"Whew."
"H-How..."
Yohan stood there without a single scratch, staring back at an utterly dumbfounded Thomas. The "Baptism of Purification" that Thomas had so passionately shouted out was fundamentally the exact same technique as the Divine Flame Yohan used as easily as breathing.
Even if Thomas was currently corrupted by Madness and emitting a foul aura, all the Miracle Arts he used ultimately drew from the power of the Main God Justia. The Unnamed Goddess was an existence on equal footing with Justia. There was absolutely no way an attack of that nature would work on Yohan, who had contracted with the Goddess and wielded her Authority.
"Geez. In all my life, I've never seen someone actually shout out their skill name like that."
"W-What on earth did you—*urk!*"
Yohan brought his fist straight down onto the crown of Thomas's head. Knocked out cold in a single blow, Thomas collapsed limply to the ground.
Having subdued Thomas, Yohan carried him back to the cathedral.
"Y-You're back... *Eek!*"
"Quiet down, and hurry up and fix this guy too."
The priests inside the cathedral gasped in horror at the sight of Thomas being dragged in, but once they confirmed he was merely unconscious, they immediately set to work curing his Madness.
"So, how did it feel to go toe-to-toe with an Inquisitor?"
As they watched the priests perform the Exorcism Rite, Annie approached Yohan and struck up a conversation.
"He was tough, alright. If nothing else, his skill with that iron club would probably make even old man Wilhelm raise an eyebrow."
"Just as priests study theology and refine their Miracle Arts, Inquisitors spend at least several years training at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This man, Thomas, must be a seasoned veteran who has served for quite some time."
Yohan pouted, looking slightly disgruntled. "But that guy... he literally shouted his skill name in the middle of our fight."
"Ah. That. When Inquisitors fight heretics, they often shout to demoralize the enemy. Announcing the names of their Miracle Arts or martial techniques is part of that tactic."
Shockingly, shouting skill names was apparently an official combat doctrine for Inquisitors. Yohan grimaced as if he had just heard something highly offensive. It was an incredibly cringey method. Yet, at the same time, it made sense.
If a monster capable of tearing low-level demons apart with his bare hands charged at you with a furious expression, screaming his attack names... most heretics would probably piss themselves in terror or lose the will to fight entirely. In fact, the sheer pressure the enraged Thomas had exuded was enough to make even Yohan, empowered by his Apostle's Authority, feel a prickle of tension.
"Wait a minute. Then don't tell me you also..." Yohan asked Annie, a sudden suspicion crossing his mind.
"..."
For some reason, Annie didn't answer immediately. She even went so far as to blatantly avoid his gaze.
"Did you do it too?"
"...Yes. I know it's a tactical maneuver, but honestly, it was just too embarrassing."
Annie, it turned out, was a person of sound mind.
"Groan..."
As they exchanged their silly banter, Thomas, who had finally regained consciousness, let out a pained groan and opened his eyes.
"You awake?"
"W-Where... No, who are you people...?"
It seemed he had absolutely no memory of what happened after he fell victim to the Madness.
Yohan turned his head and locked eyes with Annie, signaling her to play along. Annie understood his intent and gave a quiet nod.
"This is the Easthold cathedral, Inquisitor Thomas."
"W-Wait. What did you just say? Easthold?"
Upon hearing Yohan's explanation, Thomas gasped and tried to bolt upright.
*Thud!*
"Ugh..."
But the aftereffects of Yohan's devastating punch to the head had yet to fade. He slumped back onto the floor, panting heavily.
"As you can see, Easthold has gone to hell. Actually, it's not just Easthold—the entire Holy Kingdom is in this state."
"O-Oh, Primary God..."
Seeing so many priests of the Central Church gathered around him, Thomas quickly accepted Yohan's words as truth despite his confusion.
"I get that you're overwhelmed, but honestly, we're pretty frustrated ourselves. So for now, try to remember the very last thing you recall before you lost your mind."
"I... understand."
Thomas immediately began explaining everything he could remember.
Pope Angelo III had issued an official decree declaring that a false pretender—the other half of the Main God Justia—was slumbering within the Papal Palace. At the same time, he had recalled all Inquisitors scattered across the continent back to the Holy City. Except for those who couldn't receive the order in the first place, like Yohan and Annie, most Inquisitors had returned.
Thomas, who had been busy searching for lost scriptures, was no exception. Upon receiving the summons, he had immediately returned to the Holy City with his fellow Inquisitors, and...
"And after that... No, why...? I can't remember anything at all."
Thomas's memories cut off right there. It was undoubtedly the curse cast by the Pope, who was being manipulated by a demon—the curse of Madness that inverted one's perception of right and wrong.
"Figures."
"It's just as we suspected... though I had hoped we were wrong. What a tragedy," Annie muttered.
"What on earth is going on? I've told you everything I know, so please, tell me why the Easthold cathedral is in this state."
Thomas interjected, and Yohan let out a soft sigh before briefly explaining their situation.
Though the exact details remained unclear, Pope Angelo III had fallen to demonic temptation and become corrupted. The Madness had swept across the entire Holy Kingdom, and in Easthold, only a tiny handful of sane priests had managed to survive by fortifying the cathedral.
"I can't... I can't believe this. To think His Holiness the Pope and the entire leadership of the Church have fallen to corruption..."
"Demonic corruption aside, the leadership of the Central Church was always a rotten bunch to begin with," Annie remarked, her tone unusually cynical in response to Thomas's lament.
"I won't deny that. Regardless, it is a reality we must accept."
Sane Thomas turned out to be a much more reasonable guy than Yohan had anticipated. In truth, the current situation was as bad as it could possibly get for the believers of the Central Church and the citizens of the Holy Kingdom. The surviving priests of Easthold were barely clinging to life, surviving day by day.
"We must set this right. We must rebuild the justice that has fallen to the dirt."
"I agree," Annie said, nodding in solemn consensus.
Thomas's voice trembled, yet it carried a fierce, unyielding resolve.
"But... it is also true that I have absolutely no idea how we should proceed."
In this world, courage and conviction alone could not solve every problem. Thomas possessed a powerful faith, but he was also pragmatic enough to recognize his realistic limitations.
"So, about that..."
Yohan began, looking at Thomas. The Inquisitor's face lit up with hope.
"Do you have a plan?"
"Inquisitor Thomas. Have you ever thought about... switching denominations?"