Traces of Heresy (1)
"W-What the—! Stop that bastard!"
Shouting in a furious voice, one of the gang members led the charge, and the others finally snapped out of their daze to chase after Falco.
"Damn it, how is she so fast?"
"She's even carrying a kid..."
But keeping up with her nimble movements was an exercise in futility. Falco easily shook off the pursuing thugs.
The Undercity was structured like a funnel, its elevation dropping lower the deeper one went. Taking advantage of this, Falco leaped across the rooftops of the buildings lining the slope, heading straight toward the Family's headquarters at the bottom of the descent.
"Whoa..." Charles gasped, thoroughly impressed by her sheer athleticism. Falco's lips curled into a faint, proud smile, her pointed ears twitching slightly in satisfaction.
"If you want to survive in this line of work, this is the bare minimum," she added, offering an explanation no one had asked for.
"But... will we be alright?" Charles asked.
"About what?"
"Well, regardless of the circumstances, we've officially made enemies of the syndicate. They're actively hunting us now."
Despite his words, Charles didn't actually seem all that worried. He was absolutely convinced that Yohan and Falco had a master plan, which was why they could pull off such reckless stunts without a second thought.
"W-Well, that's..." Falco stammered, her eyes darting away.
"..."
Ah. She doesn't have a plan. Charles realized the truth the moment he saw the sheer panic flashing across her face. She had just rushed in blindly.
Yet, he didn't mind. If anything, he envied her sheer audacity—a trait he sorely lacked. If I stay with them, will I be able to change too? Charles wondered silently.
"Something's wrong."
They had traveled a bit further, descending into the deepest depths of the Undercity, when Falco suddenly stopped. She felt a faint, persistent tremor vibrating through the soles of her feet. It felt like the rhythmic thrum of a massive crowd running in unison.
It didn't take long for her suspicions to be confirmed.
"Run for your lives!"
"Aaaagh! Water?! Why is there water?!"
Over the crest of the slope, a mob of rough-looking thugs was sprinting toward them, running as if their lives depended on it.
"Looks like a flood," Falco muttered.
"I suppose so. I heard there's a river flowing directly above this sector. Did a levee break or something?" Clinging to Falco, Charles peered cautiously over her shoulder. Falco, too, narrowed her eyes, looking past the stampeding crowd.
"Yohan!" Falco spotted a familiar face bringing up the rear of the fleeing crowd. At the sound of his name, the tension draining from Charles's face was palpable. But his relief lasted only a fraction of a second.
Whoosh!
Behind Yohan, something that had absolutely no business being in an underground cavern came into view. A massive torrent of water was surging up from the depths. The Undercity Family's headquarters was already half-submerged. A few stragglers were desperately scrambling out of the doors and windows. If the exterior looked this disastrous, the interior was undoubtedly a watery grave.
The streetlights that illuminated the cavern flickered and died one by one as the rising waters swallowed them. The submerged lower levels were plunged into a pitch-black abyss, making it impossible to see what lay beneath the dark surface.
"Holy crap..."
"Oh my god..."
Falco and Charles stared in utter disbelief. The sheer absurdity of the spectacle froze them in their tracks.
"Hey! You idiots! What are you just standing there for?! Run!" Yohan roared as he sprinted up to them. He was dripping wet from head to toe, looking like a drowned rat. Without a second thought, Falco spun around and bolted back the way she came, keeping pace with him.
"What in the world did you do down there?!" Falco yelled over the rushing water.
"It's a long story, but the short version is: Big Boss is dead!"
"Really?!" Charles piped up from Falco's arms. Yohan glanced at the boy and gave a firm nod.
"Yeah. But the ceiling got a bit of a hole in it, and—"
RUUUUUUUMBLE!
A deafening crash erupted from behind them, completely drowning out the rest of Yohan's explanation.
"Damn it! Let's just get to the surface first!" Yohan shouted.
"Right! I mapped out all the escape routes on the way down, so follow me!"
"Hell yeah, that's the best damn thing I've heard all day!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
News of the sudden, catastrophic flood in the Undercity spread to the surface of Balifield like wildfire.
"By order of the Lord! Return to your homes immediately and await further instructions!" Guards patrolled the bustling streets, attempting to enforce a curfew and restrict the citizens' movements.
"Go home?! The damn water is practically at my doorstep!"
"Bullshit! You lazy bastards do nothing but drink and gamble all day, and now you want to boss us around?!"
The real issue was the sheer volume of Undercity residents pouring onto the surface. The streets were so choked with panicked crowds that the guards had virtually lost control. Those who lived on the surface and only ventured underground for business were the lucky ones; for those whose entire lives and livelihoods were rooted in the Undercity, this was an absolute catastrophe.
"..."
Meanwhile, Yohan and Falco kept their heads down, moving through the shadows as quietly as ghosts. The last thing they needed was to draw attention to themselves. Fortunately, with the furious refugees launching physical protests against the overwhelmed guards, slipping through the chaotic streets unnoticed proved to be remarkably easy.
"Ugh, my aching bones..."
Once they finally reached their lodgings, Yohan collapsed onto the bed, not even bothering to change out of his soaking-wet clothes. Falco, looking equally exhausted, gently set Charles down on the floor before slumping heavily into a chair.
Defeating Big Boss and the demon possessing him was a massive win. The downside, however, was the giant gaping hole they had blasted into the Undercity's ceiling, triggering a subterranean deluge. The only saving grace was the Undercity's funnel-like layout. Because the elevation dropped so sharply toward the center, the floodwaters would pool around the Undercity Family's headquarters first. It would take quite some time for the water levels to rise high enough to threaten the upper sectors, giving the city authorities a window to figure out a solution.
"Um... excuse me, but could you tell me what happened down there now?" Charles asked, stepping closer to the bed. Yohan stared at him with half-lidded, exhausted eyes for a moment before groaning and pushing himself up into a sitting position.
"Well, to put it simply..."
Yohan finally began to recount the battle. He explained how the human Big Boss had been surprisingly easy to deal with, but things had gone sideways when the demon lurking within him manifested. He detailed how he and the Goddess had nearly lost their lives in the ensuing chaos.
"A... Goddess?" Charles blinked.
"Ah, crap."
In his sleep-deprived, bone-weary state, Yohan's filter had failed him. He had just casually blabbed about the Goddess's existence right in front of the kid.
Flash!
Right on cue, a soft light enveloped the room, and the Unnamed Goddess materialized in her child-like physical form.
"Ah...!" Charles gasped, his jaw dropping. Even Yohan and Falco stared in surprise; they hadn't expected her to manifest so suddenly.
"Allow me to explain the rest," the Goddess declared, puffing out her small chest with solemn dignity. "I am the Goddess who hath bestowed my divine Authority upon my Apostle, Yohan."
"Whoa, whoa. Hey. Is it really okay for you to just blurt all that out?" Yohan hissed under his breath. The Goddess merely gave a dismissive nod.
"It matters not. Is this city not far removed from the watchful gaze of the Holy Kingdom?"
"I mean, yeah, but..."
Well, if the deity herself didn't care, why should he? Yohan shrugged and collapsed back onto the mattress, letting her take center stage.
"The entity that bestowed power upon Big Boss is what mortals commonly refer to as a demon," the Goddess explained. "They are beings similar to gods like myself, yet fundamentally different."
Yohan closed his eyes, listening intently. What she was about to explain was something even he, her Apostle, had never heard before.
"A deity is a being that achieves immortality through the faith of mortals. In that regard, demons are no different; they, too, must tether their existence to mortal souls."
"Tether their existence?" Charles echoed, tilting his head.
"Indeed," the Goddess replied solemnly. "The demon Yohan vanquished sustained its life force by feeding on Big Boss's greed. On the surface, it masqueraded as a benefactor, granting him the power to rule the city's underworld. Yet, its true objective was to completely hollow out Big Boss's soul and usurp his physical vessel."
"Usurp his vessel?"
"Precisely. Big Boss believed he was growing stronger by draining the life force of his subordinates. But he was gravely mistaken."
Charles's expression grew somber at her words.
"Ah, makes sense," Yohan muttered, nodding with his eyes still closed.
"I... don't quite get it," Falco admitted, looking slightly bewildered.
"That idiot Big Boss thought he was getting stronger every time he sacrificed someone," Yohan explained on the Goddess's behalf. "But in reality, he was just fattening up the demon. All that stolen life force went straight into the bastard's stomach."
The Goddess nodded in agreement.
The dark power the demon had lent to Big Boss was never truly his. The demon, as the original owner, could give or revoke it at a whim, sacrifices or no sacrifices. In short, Big Boss had been a gullible puppet from day one.
"Had the demon succeeded in claiming his vessel at full strength and ascending to the surface, this entire city would have been reduced to a living hell," the Goddess continued. "Doubtless, that was its design from the moment it coiled itself within the shadows of this city."
A heavy silence fell over the room.
Big Boss had seized control of Balifield's Undercity several years ago, meaning the demon's plot to devour the city had been brewing for just as long. To Yohan, the Holy Kingdom's Orthodox Church was nothing but a massive, bureaucratic pain in the ass. But in moments like this, he could understand why they ruthlessly stamped out heresy. In a world where a single demon worshipper playing with fire could trigger a literal apocalypse, extreme caution was somewhat justified.
Fortunately, Yohan's intervention had brought the demon's grand scheme crashing down. He hadn't set out to be a savior, but in the end, he had perfectly embodied the "triumph of justice" the Goddess was always preaching about—and he had done so at the risk of his own life.
Suddenly, a chilling thought occurred to Yohan.
"Hey, wait a second. You said the demon's goal was to hijack Big Boss's body to manifest in the physical world, right?"
"Indeed, it was," the Goddess replied.
"Then doesn't that mean you could hijack my body too if you felt like it? You just said gods and demons operate on the same basic principles, just with different alignments."
It wasn't an unfounded concern. In this world, deities possessing mortal vessels to descend to the physical plane wasn't unheard of. Legends of gods manifesting to save their followers during great wars or unprecedented disasters were common across the continent, recorded in both ancient texts and folklore.
"Absolutely not!" the Goddess huffed, looking deeply offended. "Thou and I are bound by a sacred, legitimate covenant. Furthermore, to betray my own Apostle in such a treacherous manner would be a complete denial of my very essence as a deity of justice!"
Though she understood his skepticism, she was clearly miffed that he would even lump her in with a demon.
"Hmm." Yohan grunted.
So it was the difference between a legitimate, mutually agreed-upon contract and a predatory scam. What if the entity I met in that pit wasn't a benevolent goddess, but a demon like the one Big Boss dealt with? The thought sent a cold shiver running down his spine.
"Now, since we are on the subject, let us finish the explanation I began earlier," the Goddess said, breaking Yohan's grim train of thought.
"Ah, right. That."
Yohan recalled the moment he had been impaled by the demon's spear. When he had lost consciousness, the Goddess had pushed her remaining divine power to its absolute limits to manifest her Authority. Yet, for some reason, she hadn't finished the demon off herself; she had merely held the line until Yohan woke up.
"Deities such as myself exist on a plane of reality separate from this material world," she explained.
"Ah, got it." Yohan nodded. It was the classic physical-versus-spiritual realm concept. A pretty standard fantasy trope, really.
"Wait a second. You two are the only ones who understand what's going on here," Falco interrupted, her pointed ears twitching in frustration. Charles nodded in rapid agreement beside her.
"Simply manifesting a physical form on this plane, as I am doing now, drains a significant portion of my divine power," the Goddess explained, turning her gaze back to Yohan. "My Apostle, dost thou recall our very first meeting?"
"Yeah. I could only hear your voice at first."
"Precisely. Today, I am sustained by the genuine faith of thou and Falco. But when we first met, merely manifesting for a brief moment to heal thy mortal wounds nearly depleted the entirety of my remaining divine power."
The Goddess turned her gaze back to Falco and Charles. "When Yohan lost consciousness, it was not that I chose not to smite the demon. I simply lacked the power to do so."
Restraining a demon was one thing; manifesting an Authority powerful enough to obliterate it was another entirely. It went without saying which of the two required a greater expenditure of divine power.
"Okay, but if you were running on empty, how was I able to completely vaporize the bastard?" Yohan asked, furrowing his brows.