A Sword of Light
A few days ago, on the road to Balifield, while the carriage was in full motion.
"You must be exhausted. Why don't you try to get some sleep?"
"I'm fine. If I sleep now, I won't be able to sleep tonight."
Having handed the reins over to Falco, Yohan didn't rest. Instead, he sat beside her and began practicing how to control the Goddess's power more skillfully.
Flicker. A white light bloomed in his palm for a brief moment, flickering like a dying fluorescent bulb before quickly sputtering out.
"Whew." It wasn't easy. Yohan scratched the back of his head with an awkward grin.
Falco glanced at him a few times out of the corner of her eye, but soon lost interest and returned her gaze to the road ahead.
Until now, Yohan had only used the Apostle's Authority in its simplest form—mostly just boosting his physical abilities to make his punches hit harder.
—Are you training without being told, recognizing your own inadequacy? You are far more diligent than I thought.
"Shut it."
The Goddess's mocking voice echoed in his mind. Yohan brushed it off and focused his mind once more.
The birdbrained Goddess had told him that the Apostle's Authority would manifest in whatever shape the Apostle desired. Yet, try as he might, nothing even remotely impressive would take form.
"Well, I mean..."
Maybe what I truly desire deep down is just a stupidly strong fist to smash everything to pieces. The sudden thought made Yohan sigh in self-deprecation. Even so, this was the power of a literal deity. Was it really right for it to just make his punches and kicks a bit stronger? Absolutely not. A divine ability was supposed to be flashy, awesome, and incredibly badass. He needed something cool, something absolutely mind-blowing. Yohan wished for it with all his heart.
—Your pitiful imagination fails to grasp the infinite potential of my Authority.
The Goddess's amused nagging continued in his head. But since Yohan himself had just admitted she was right, he couldn't even argue back.
—Still, your efforts are commendable, so I shall grant you a hint.
"A hint?!"
Yohan blurted out, leaping up from his seat. "Whoa—!" He nearly tumbled off the carriage again, but fortunately, he didn't make the same mistake twice.
"You don't just look tired. Yohan, go inside and get some sleep right now."
"No, really, I'm fine."
Falco, genuinely worried, urged him. Yohan waved his hand dismissively and sat back down.
—Think simply. If you cannot visualize what you truly desire, why not recall the weapon you have wielded until it practically became a part of you?
"A familiar weapon..."
If there was a weapon he was familiar with, it was a dagger. Its short length made it a versatile tool and weapon, perfect for tomb-raiding.
"But a dagger lacks style."
—Is a dagger the only kind of blade in this world?
"Ah."
Indeed. Realization struck Yohan, and he nodded a few times. When it came to a sword that could slay any mighty foe in a single strike, there was one that instantly came to mind.
"Exca... *cough*."
Yohan cut himself off with a sudden cough. Falco shot him another questioning look but chose not to pry.
There was no time. They had to hurry. Falco maintained a steady pace, keeping her breathing under control as she sprinted forward.
That Yohan would defeat Big Boss and return safely was an absolute certainty. Operating under this grand premise, Falco and Charles had formulated their escape plan.
"The Undercity is a massive underground space. The entrance itself is tucked away in a corner of Balifield, but once you go deep enough, it stretches all the way beneath the river in the city center."
"A vast underground space beneath a river... How on earth did the people of the past build such a structure?"
"Who knows? Either way, we have to keep moving deeper."
Falco ran through the streets of the Undercity, carrying Charles in her arms. A young woman sprinting while cradling a young boy would undoubtedly draw attention, but they didn't have the luxury to worry about such trivialities.
Besides, considering physical stamina, it was much faster and more efficient to carry Charles than to make him run on his own two feet.
"Whoa!"
"Watch where you're going!"
Falco darted through the crowded streets at breakneck speed. Even in her haste, she kept her eyes and ears sharp, listening closely for any sounds of Yohan's battle with Big Boss.
It didn't even have to be the sound of fighting. It could be the dark energy that would inevitably leak out when Big Boss channeled his demonic power.
The shockwave from the exploding statue hadn't just been physical force. Though she couldn't identify evil entities with the perfect precision Yohan possessed, as a devout believer of the Unnamed Goddess, Falco had enough spiritual sensitivity to detect foreign, unnatural energies.
That wasn't all. Falco had perfectly mapped out every path she had taken in her head. This was a precaution to ensure they could escape the Undercity Family once they lost their leader and went into a frenzy after Big Boss's defeat.
...Please let us make it in time. And please, let Yohan defeat that demon worshipper. Falco offered a silent, desperate prayer to the Goddess.
"Hey, you bastard. Let me show you something absolutely badass."
Yohan shouted at the demon. His sheer confidence caught even the demon slightly off guard.
Yohan reached out into the empty air. A brilliant cluster of light bloomed from his palm, quickly shaping itself into a sword.
What I want most right now is a sword to cleave this demonic bastard in two. That was the sole thought occupying Yohan's mind.
"Judging by your appearance, I took you for a common street beggar. Are you a Holy Knight sent by the Church?"
The demon asked, watching Yohan summon the Light Sword through the Goddess's Authority. In response, Yohan thrust his left fist forward. The demon tilted its head, wondering what the gesture meant.
"Yeah, no, you dumbass."
Denying the demon's guess, Yohan extended his middle finger in a thoroughly profane gesture. Seriously, every single bastard he met today had no filter. First Big Boss, and now this guy, both calling him a street-dwelling beggar.
"Well, it matters not."
It was meant to provoke, but this demon didn't seem as easily rattled as Big Boss had been.
Meanwhile, Yohan noticed a change within himself. Just moments ago, merely facing the demon had filled him with overwhelming disgust and an abyss of primal terror. But the moment he activated his Authority, that crushing pressure eased significantly. Though a lingering discomfort remained, it was far more manageable than before.
This, too, had to be a perk of being the Goddess's Apostle. Thanks to it, Yohan could maintain his sanity even while staring down a demon manifested on earth. Any ordinary outlaw of the Undercity, no matter how battle-hardened, would probably faint from shock or throw up on the spot looking at this hideous monstrosity, Yohan thought. Though maybe Wilhelm, with his muscle-bound brain, could shrug off this kind of terror.
—It seems he has not fully gathered his strength. Like myself, he is incomplete.
The Goddess's voice echoed in his mind. This time, Yohan listened closely. Even if the demon was incomplete, as the Goddess said, a demon was still a creature that naturally instilled primal dread and revulsion in mortals. Weighing the gravity of that fact, Yohan pointed his Light Sword forward.
"There is no need for further words. I shall devour you from head to toe, then ascend to the surface."
Such threatening declarations were common among outlaws. But coming from this particular speaker, the weight of the threat was on a completely different level. This was a creature that had possessed a dead man's corpse, gained a physical vessel, and twisted that very corpse into a grotesque monstrosity.
He absolutely had to kill this thing here. The moment this demon broke free, not just the Undercity, but the entirety of Balifield would undoubtedly be reduced to ashes.
"Die!"
*Squelch!* With a roar from the demon, tentacles made of bone and flesh erupted from its body, lunging toward Yohan.
"Yeah, not happening!"
Yohan calmly swung his sword, slicing through the incoming tentacles one by one. He had never learned proper swordsmanship since arriving in this world, so he was just moving his body instinctively. But that was more than enough to cleave the raining tentacles.
"Whew."
Having severed dozens, if not hundreds, of tentacles in an instant, Yohan suddenly realized that the pain from Big Boss's previous beating had completely vanished. He couldn't tell if the physical pain was masked by the adrenaline of battle, or if this was another miracle of the Goddess's Authority.
"Ha! You struggle in vain, destined only to become my sustenance."
The demon, speaking through Big Boss's body, continued to spout lines that made Yohan's skin crawl.
"Ugh, seriously, stop." Yohan groaned from the bottom of his heart.
—Good heavens... My own way of speaking is hardly ordinary, but that creature takes it to another level. If I possessed a physical body right now, I would be covered in goosebumps.
It seemed the Goddess was just as disgusted by the demon's dramatic dialogue. At least our dear Goddess is self-aware enough to know her own speech style is weird, Yohan thought, clicking his tongue.
"The amusement ends here," the demon declared, pointing an index finger at Yohan. Yohan promptly responded by flipping it off again.
Visually, this guy looked like a walking R-rated horror movie, yet his dialogue was strictly PG-12. Regardless of the cringe, however, Yohan sensed that something dangerous was coming.
*Crack. Rip.*
Sure enough, the flesh and bone of Big Boss's body began to split into chunks, sloughing off and raining down onto the stone floor. The sight of raw flesh sloughing off was utterly grotesque and horrific. But instead of freezing in shock, Yohan bolted toward the demon.
"You think I'm just gonna stand here and wait for you to transform, you dumbass?!"
Taste my divine blade! Using his momentum, Yohan leaped into the air and swung his sword in a massive arc.
*Whine—!*
Just as the Light Sword was about to cleave the demon's skull, an ominous resonance rippled outward from the creature.
*Boom!*
"Gah!"
That damn shockwave again. With a sharp cry, Yohan was sent flying over ten meters away.
*Thud.*
At least he didn't roll disgracefully across the stone floor this time. Yohan managed to land squarely on his feet.
"Pant... pant... You bastard, since when can you cast other skills while channeling?!"
—Of course he can, for he would not attempt to transform before his enemy without a means to protect himself. Stop acting foolish and focus on the battle.
*Frizzle.*
The Goddess's warning was not without reason. Perhaps because his concentration had wavered for a split second, the Light Sword in Yohan's hand flickered like a dying bulb and dissolved into nothingness.
"Oh, shit—"
This was bad. Suddenly unarmed, Yohan muttered in panic.
*Thwack!*
—Yohan!
But he couldn't finish his sentence. A spear of solid bone had shot forward, skewering him straight through the abdomen.