Why the Hell Are You Coming Out of There? (1)
The corrupted Inquisitors and the mob occupying the Patermachi Cathedral had played it smart. Realizing Yohan possessed some means of curing the madness, they had chosen to avoid him at all costs.
Even so, Yohan had cooperated with the Holy Knights to track down the corrupted Inquisitors and beat them back to their senses. As a result, the mobs that had once overrun the entire city were now cornered, with only those inside the cathedral remaining.
Once they reclaimed the cathedral, the crisis within Patermachi would be entirely resolved. Although the rest of the Holy Kingdom—including the Holy City itself—was still an absolute shitshow, securing a gateway city so close to the capital as a base of operations was a massive victory in its own right.
Meanwhile, the mob occupying the cathedral had fortified it like a fortress, preventing the Holy Knights from launching a reckless assault. The cathedral itself was built so sturdily that it rivaled a proper castle, meaning tearing it down was far easier said than done.
Of course, if Yohan unleashed the Apostle's authority, turning the cathedral's outer walls to dust would be child's play. Back when the Goddess's divine power was far weaker than it was now, he had managed to tear through dimensional barriers to escape a pocket dimension, even if it had drained a massive amount of his holy energy.
However, the Holy Knights were vehemently opposed to destroying a cathedral built to honor the legendary Teodoro IV. Neither Yohan nor the Goddess disagreed with them. After all, the sole reason the Holy Knights had held their ground in Patermachi in the first place was to reclaim this very cathedral.
Night passed, and dawn broke. Having completed their final inspection of personnel and equipment, the order was ready to march at a moment's notice.
"Our current forces consist of 281 Holy Knights, 29 Inquisitors who have joined our ranks, and 376 other combatants, including city guards."
"Twenty-nine Inquisitors who got beat back to their senses, huh..."
Listening to the commander's briefing just before departure, Yohan wore a complicated expression. If they factored in the corrupted Inquisitors currently barricaded inside the cathedral, it meant dozens of Inquisitors were gathered in this single city.
Just the day before, Yohan had roamed all over Patermachi, encountering numerous followers of the Primary God who had succumbed to the madness. Many of them were corrupted Inquisitors. The real issue was the sheer number of Inquisitors who had now joined their side—nearly thirty of them.
Inquisitors were not mere combatants; they served as scouts and internal inspectors. While their raw martial prowess might fall slightly short of a Holy Knight's, the scope of missions an individual Inquisitor could perform was vastly broader.
Naturally, their numbers were extremely small compared to the regular army or the Holy Knights. For nearly thirty of them to be gathered here was highly unusual. It felt almost as if... they had established a defensive line right outside the Holy City. That was the impression Yohan got.
"The other side views us as a wicked horde trying to force our way into the Holy City," the commander said, offering his own assessment as if reading Yohan's thoughts.
"Hmm."
"Patermachi is one of the gateway cities closest to the Holy City. They will try to hold the cathedral by any means necessary."
"True enough. Even though we're actually the good guys and they're the bad guys."
Yohan replied with a sarcastic smirk, drawing a wry smile from the commander.
"Indeed."
The commander turned his head, surveying the entire force lined up for departure. The Inquisitors freed from the madness had immediately integrated into their ranks, ready to fight alongside the Holy Knights to save their brothers.
Though they numbered just under seven hundred, it was more than enough to reclaim the cathedral. With Yohan—a man whose authority put even high-ranking clergymen to shame—by their side, defeat was out of the question.
Some Holy Knights were even whispering that Yohan was the spitting image of the legendary Teodoro IV from the history books. Even without such high praise, everyone gathered there held absolute faith in their victory.
"I cannot help but think we would never have made it this far without you, Brother Yohan. I am... truly grateful."
Even within the order, the commander was Yohan's most passionate admirer. He suddenly offered his gratitude in front of the assembled troops, prompting Yohan to wave his hand dismissively.
"Cut the thank-yous already. I've heard it so many times my ears are practically bleeding."
"Haha, my apologies."
"Standing around is getting boring. Let's get moving."
"Yes, sir."
Ever since deciding to intervene directly in this crisis, Yohan had intentionally put on a flashy show of his Apostle's authority to draw attention. When summoning his Light Sword, he made it unnecessarily massive and long. When unleashing his Divine Flame, he burned far more holy energy than usual.
Since the Divine Flame didn't cause physical destruction anyway, there was no harm in letting it flare up as if it were about to swallow the entire city. He even unfurled his wings of light when he had absolutely no intention of flying. Thanks to these antics, there wasn't a single soul in Patermachi who didn't know Yohan's name.
This was a calculated move to boost the rock-bottom morale of the Holy Knights, and Yohan's strategy had worked flawlessly.
"Attention!"
The commander cleared his throat and bellowed in a booming voice, "First, I would like to thank all of you for following my commands up to this point."
Looking at him, this guy just seems to have gratitude hardwired into his personality. Well, not a bad habit to have. Yohan shrugged as he watched the commander.
"Inside the cathedral, our fallen brothers who have yet to be freed from the madness still remain!"
As the commander's speech continued, Yohan listened with an uncharacteristically serious expression.
"From this moment on, we shall rescue our brothers from the devil's trickery and completely reclaim the historic city of Patermachi!"
"Yeahhh!"
The moment he finished speaking, the commander drew the sword at his waist. Instantly, the Holy Knights and the rest of the troops raised their weapons, letting out a thunderous roar.
"..."
Watching this, Yohan felt a strange swell of emotion in his chest. A nation in peril. And warriors willing to sacrifice their lives to save their homeland from the clutches of demons.
My...
The Goddess seemed equally swept up in the atmosphere, her silent gasps of admiration echoing in his mind.
As the cheers filled the air, the commander suddenly caught Yohan's eye and gave him a look. Realizing the man was offering him the honor of giving the marching order, Yohan nodded solemnly.
"Alright, let's move!"
Summoning his Light Sword, Yohan roared at the top of his lungs. Soon, the force of nearly seven hundred marched toward the Patermachi Cathedral. The heavily armored Holy Knights led the vanguard, followed closely by the regular soldiers and Inquisitors.
"Reclaim the cathedral!"
"In the name of the Primary God!"
Just as they arrived before the fortified Patermachi Cathedral...
"Hold on."
Yohan noticed that the atmosphere in the plaza before the cathedral was distinctly different from usual. Soon after, the commander, the Holy Knights, and the Inquisitors also sensed the anomaly.
This energy...
"Sigh."
From beyond the tightly shut cathedral doors, he felt a presence that was incredibly familiar—and one he had hoped never to encounter again. The foul, unmistakable stench of a demon. Yohan scowled deeply.
Thud— Thud—
Heavy, earth-shaking footsteps echoed from behind the doors.
Crash!
A moment later, the main doors and a portion of the surrounding walls shattered. Through the massive gaping hole in the cathedral's facade, a towering figure roughly the height of a two-story building emerged.
A goat-headed demon, clutching a massive scythe in both hands, with a pair of large wings unfurled from its back.
"A-A demon!"
"It's a high-level devil!"
Overwhelmed by the suffocating aura radiating from the creature, the regular soldiers instantly descended into panic.
"Hold fast to your faith!"
"There is no reason to retreat!"
On the other hand, the Holy Knights and Inquisitors burned with even greater fighting spirit. Yohan recognized this as the fundamental difference between ordinary humans and those who wielded miracle arts.
Truly, this demonic energy is foul indeed. It seems far more potent than during our last encounter.
"Tell me about it."
Hearing the Goddess's voice in his head, Yohan nodded slightly in agreement.
As the dust cloud kicked up by the goat-headed demon's entrance settled, the interior of the cathedral finally came into view.
"This goat-headed bastard..."
Yohan cursed, his face contorting in disgust. On the cathedral floor was a magic circle drawn in what looked like blood, identical to the one he had seen in the bandits' hideout. Scattered around it were several human corpses—clearly victims whose life force had been drained by the goat-headed demon.
"I have been waiting for you to arrive!" the goat-headed demon cackled, its voice grating like metal scraping against iron.
"Gah!"
"Ugh!"
At the sound of the demon's screech, several Holy Knights and Inquisitors collapsed, clutching their heads. Even among the soldiers, signs of the madness began to flare up once more.
"Cast your miracle arts!"
"Gather your holy power!"
The few Holy Knights who managed to keep their wits about them quickly activated their miracle arts to suppress the encroaching terror, but it was merely a temporary fix.
O Apostle.
The Goddess's voice echoed in his mind again, and Yohan instantly understood her intent.
Whoosh!
He immediately summoned his Divine Flame, letting it sweep across the entire plaza. The sacred fire that incinerated all evil easily drove back the demonic pressure gnawing at the mortals' minds.
"This time, I will rip your head clean off!" the goat-headed demon bellowed at Yohan once more, but because his allies had been shielded by the flame, there was no repeat of the mass fainting spell from earlier.
"Ha. Listen to this guy talking like he's the main character of some epic."
Yohan sneered, looking up at the goat-headed demon.
"Hey, goat-face. I was wondering when you'd crawl back out of your hole. This is perfect."
He raised his right hand, clutching the Light Sword, toward the sky.
During their previous encounter, Yohan had let this demon slip away because the bastard used its wings to fly off. He didn't know the specifics of what the runaway had been up to since then, but it was clear it had sacrificed the corrupted Inquisitors and other humans inside the cathedral to power itself up.
The Apostle's authority was an almighty force. It was quite literally a divine power that manifested whatever the Apostle truly desired.
Flash!
In an instant, everything in their surroundings except Yohan and the goat-headed demon seemed to compress into a single point. Then, a hemispherical barrier unfurled, enclosing only the two of them.
After letting the high-level devil escape right before his eyes, Yohan had racked his brain to ensure he wouldn't make the same mistake twice. This was the solution he had come up with.
A technique that summoned a pseudo-pocket dimension within the physical world, creating a stage free from any outside interference.
Since it was still technically anchored to the physical world, he couldn't completely manipulate the laws of space, but it was more than enough to keep the bastard's feet firmly planted on the ground.
"You..." the goat-headed demon growled low, finally realizing the nature of the barrier.
Yohan raised his middle finger high at the demon.
"Come on, then, you son of a bitch."