Chapter 86
Chapter 86
11. A War Without Faith -6
Outside the 『Grand Sanctuary』.
"It has already been ten minutes since the light went out⋯⋯"
"Shouldn't they be coming out soon?"
Those belonging to the Church of the Holy God gathered in small groups, milling about near the walls of the old building. The holy light that had been spreading from the top of the Grand Sanctuary had faded away.
This signaled the end of the Conclave rite. The vote had been completed.
Now the identity of the god they would serve and answer to for the next decades, the next centuries, would be revealed. It was truly a moment when history would change. Everyone swallowed dryly and clenched and unclenched hands slick with nervous sweat.
The clergy, depending on their affiliation, were already dejected, expectant, tormented, or triumphant. The murmur of voices rose gradually like a boiling pot.
"Who won⋯⋯ It probably won't happen, but please, let it be the Saintess⋯⋯"
"Wake up. No matter how much the Holy-God Faction's influence has grown, do you really think there's even a handful of forces inside the church to back her? How could she beat those greedy bishops in an internal vote? Poor woman."
"So when are they coming out? Of course the Moon-Shadow Faction and Bishop Bento must have won, but the silence is unusually long. I wonder if someone inside who couldn't accept the result is dragging their feet."
Their motives all differed, but the end form was the same. Prayer. They prayed according to what they wished for.
Soon.
Clank, clack.
From beyond the firmly shut doors of the 『Grand Sanctuary』 came the sound of locks being released. One by one, the locks that had sealed the doors so no one could leave until the vote was complete were withdrawn. The whole area instantly fell silent.
The clergy all went quiet and stared fixedly at the door. Who would emerge through it? Savidero of the Serpent-Subduing Young Lord Faction? Seldicto of the Binder Faction? Or Bento of the Moon-Shadow Faction?
Clunk, clunk, clunk!
And if it was none of them⋯⋯
BOOM—!!
The door opened. The clergy narrowed their eyes and studied the figure rushing out. He wore priestly vestments, so he was a bishop. From his build, he was a man. And from that goatee⋯⋯ everyone knew. He was Bishop Savidero.
Did that mean the Serpent-Subduing Young Lord Faction had won the Conclave?
Just as the priests of the Moon-Shadow and Binder Factions opened their mouths in shock and the priests of the Serpent-Subduing Young Lord Faction were about to cheer, they noticed something strange.
It was already surprising that Bishop Savidero's vestments were badly rumpled and caked with dust as if he had rolled on the ground. But that expression.
Savidero's expression was not that of a victor, but closer to that of a servant following his master. Which meant⋯⋯ he was not the winner!
"Move, move aside! Be silent and clear the way, I say!"
Indeed, he was shooing away the clergy crowded at the door and clearing a path for the one who would soon appear. It was a thoroughly devoted display, with all dignity as a bishop utterly discarded.
Trudge. Step. Trudge. Step.
From the shadowed interior came overlapping footsteps. Two people's. One heavy, one light. One dragged as if injured. For some reason, the scent of blood also seeped out.
And the ones who emerged were—
"S-Saintess⋯⋯!!"
"Those wounds—what in the world happened in there⋯⋯?!"
Saintess Andersen, and the white-haired holy knight escorting her.
It was a grim sight. Like people who had fought through a fierce battle, there was not an unharmed place on their bodies. They had certainly entered looking neat and composed, yet now they looked more like soldiers than clergy.
But those eyes.
"⋯⋯⋯⋯Hah."
That hard gaze, carrying such pressure and solidity that one Moon-Shadow priest inadvertently collapsed as the strength left his legs!
Savidero looked at them, bowed deeply in salute, then turned to face the clergy of the Church of the Holy God. Straining his voice to reach the ends of the sky, he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Hear me, all of you—! I, Bishop Savidero, on behalf of the Saintess who has fought through a fierce battle, dare to proclaim—!!"
"⋯⋯⋯⋯?"
"Bishop Seldicto and Bishop Bento refused to accept the result of this sacred Conclave rite, cast aside even a shred of faith in the Holy God, and drew their swords—!!"
"In, in the Grand Sanctuary⋯⋯?!"
The murmuring spread.
In that space where a new god was to be welcomed, in a place that ought to have been reverent, they had denied the rite itself and drawn swords? This was blatant blasphemy.
"However! Through the Holy God's protection, Saintess Andersen and holy knight Noah, who faithfully believe in and follow the Holy God's teachings—by His light, they have punished the heretics wearing the masks of bishops!"
Rumble—
Following that, six bishops who had survived the fierce battle awkwardly emerged from the 『Grand Sanctuary』 and stood at attention. Savidero pointed at them, their posture showing utter submission, and shouted once more.
"We seven bishops fervently desire that the Holy God reign for the next thousand years. And we raise our voices here to testify that the Holy God's will is with Saintess Andersen—!!"
"⋯⋯⋯⋯!!"
It was, in effect, a declaration of surrender.
Everyone was dumbfounded. An upset had occurred. No matter how unusual the Holy-God Faction's recent influence had been, the number of people who seriously believed in the Saintess's victory could be counted on one hand.
Even if she gained something, they had expected at most some freedom of movement and a little power. But this was a shocking result that far exceeded expectations.
Within that varied silence.
The Saintess who had seized the crown quietly opened her mouth.
"I will not speak separately about the infighting up to now. You all know well what that conflict was like, so I hope you will handle your own reflection and atonement."
Plain speaking.
The Saintess, without mincing words, cleanly skewered the church's ills. At first listen, it seemed like a compromise or generosity—as if she would let all the past corruption and indulgence go unpunished⋯⋯
Click—
"If you ask why, it is because we are going to change. I intend to pronounce an end here. An end to the shabby war that has dragged on for so very long."
No.
The Saintess of steel showed her will by loading the pistol in her hand. From the nonverbal expression conveyed by her every gaze and gesture, the corrupt clergy could grasp her true intent.
Handle your own reflection and atonement. That meant: if you don't do it soon, you die.
The clergy saw a vision of a wave. As if some enormous wave was surging toward them. And that tsunami would sweep away the entire world and change it utterly into something different from before.
And it would be better. Because the Saintess's will was still clear and vivid.
Shhk—
Andersen extended the arm holding the pistol and aimed it at the sky.
All rites have meaning in that they "make things clear." For those who will not hear unless it is spoken, for those who still tremble in fear thinking it is night, for those who wish to celebrate that dawn has broken—someone must bring an explicit end.
The Saintess knew this too. She had to bid farewell to the old era that was passing. This was a performance for that purpose, but in a corner of her heart that no one here knew—
Doubling as a celebratory shot for the white-haired holy knight who had worked so hard to save this world, she pulled the trigger.
"—The war without faith is now over."
BANG——!!
"Waaaaaah—!!"
"Blessed be the Saintess—!!"
The gunshot put a period on it.
Rewinding time, to just after the Conclave battle in the 『Grand Sanctuary』 ended.
Naturally, leashes had been put on all the surviving bishops. Right there where the battle ended, they had to hand over their weaknesses to Andersen along with a kind of loyalty oath.
Otherwise, they would end up like Bento, split in half at the waist.
"H-here⋯⋯ I actually operated a secret gambling den⋯⋯"
"I sold holy offices for money, and I confess that sin⋯⋯"
"I will remember that sin. Crunch."
Andersen's sensibilities clearly wanted to separate all this waste for recycling, but her clear-headed reason knew better. Killing all of them could cause great upheaval in the short term.
In terms of factional power, countless priests, nuns, and holy knights still belonged under these bishops. If she beheaded them all at once, the human resources they held and controlled would fall into a kind of disorder.
Rather than going to the trouble of gathering up those scattered grains, it would be far more cost-effective to train the bishops who held the purse strings and steer them as she wished.
Even so, some of them tried to pull tricks using their outside forces.
"If we gather our forces and oppose you, do you think you can control that! Saintess, if you come at us like this, we will resist to the end! We'll gather every last knight order and resist⋯⋯!!"
"Is that so. I've heard you clearly."
"W-wait. Let's negotiate. Negotiate! If you kill me here, things will really spiral out of contro—!!"
BANG—!
"Anyone else?"
There was no need to even entertain such tricks.
[Noah Won : Sohye, Bishop Onves is an enemy too.]
[Kim Sohye : Ah, I'll take care of it.]
Thanks to the System's grace—which never lost communication except when elves were involved—we were smoothly communicating with the outside even inside the sealed Grand Sanctuary. Sohye and the soldiers of that world had already completed preemptive strike measures.
If they were going to bare their fangs at us anyway, it was better to pull those fangs out in advance. They wouldn't even get the chance to gather and scheme.
"⋯⋯Bishop Savidero, please soothe the other bishops and lead them."
After sending off all the bishops who needed to be sent to God's embrace, Andersen assigned Savidero the role of enforcer. It wasn't exactly voluntary on his part, but outwardly he was a loyal subject who hadn't betrayed her⋯⋯ a relatively loyal subject.
It was deeply unsettling, but compared to the other bishops he was at least better, and unexpectedly his record of corruption was the cleanest among them, so she had put the hat on him.
"Damn, I believed in you, Serpent-Subduing Young Lord! So that's why you told me not to betray and to stay!! I will follow the Saintess's orders with every bone in my body! I will become her stepping stone!"
"⋯⋯Yes."
"Listen here, Bishop Mante—thinking about it now, it's absurd. Do you have nothing besides revealing the existence of the secret gambling den? If you committed wicked sins, you must atone with offerings! To wash away the sin of betrayal, you ought to show more sincerity!!"
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
Seeing him already buzzing around excitedly, it seemed he was a fairly suitable pick.
Because of all this work, our exit from the 『Grand Sanctuary』 building was somewhat delayed.
Just as everything was wrapping up, she heard Savidero's voice outside playing the shill, and casually spoke to me.
"More than anything, Noah Won."
A bullet moved back and forth between Saintess Andersen's fingers.
"Rotten as they are, bishops are still bishops. The story that they fought each other so disgracefully, trying to devour one another⋯⋯ will erode faith in the church. So I do not wish to reveal the inside story of this war without faith to the citizens."
"The inside and outside of the Church of the Holy God felt fairly disconnected, so hiding the inside story shouldn't be difficult. But then⋯⋯ you won't be able to announce the victory you've seized, will you?"
"What matters is not how I appear, but what I can do, is it not? I intend to put the bishops forward to lead the church, while I train them from behind the scenes."
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
A mafia Saintess pulling the strings of the entire Church of the Holy God from behind the curtain.
It suited her. It wasn't hard to imagine Andersen sitting with her legs crossed, smoking a cigar, using the crown of a bishop who had erred as an ashtray.
"⋯⋯Did you just think something quite impertinent?"
"It was closer to a compliment than impertinence. I was thinking that Andersen will do well going forward."
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
"Really."
It was a barrage of compliments to change the subject, but it was also plain truth. This structure of Andersen ruling from behind the scenes was harder to break and more solid than one might think.
Because she was someone capable enough to build a large organization in the underworld even with no resources, and the situation itself was pushing her forward. Andersen had the System, after all.
Even if the upper-rank hunters reached out their hands again, they couldn't match the cost-effectiveness of what we provided, just as they couldn't now. What were they going to do, give us guns? Give us food? They should just quietly block gates on their own planets.
The only source of unease was if Andersen were promoted to C-rank hunter. Then the dimensional barrier the System had set up would thin, and the upper-rank hunters' interference would become stronger and more blatant, but⋯⋯
"Since Andersen has trouble ranking up, you probably won't have to worry about promotion for the next ten years or so. Haha!"
"⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯"
Ah.
Maybe because we'd just come from fighting, I couldn't tell the difference between what to say and what not to say. I quickly fired off an apology.
"⋯⋯That was rude of me."
"⋯⋯No. It's the truth, after all."
It was rather awkward.
I avoided Andersen's gaze and prepared to go outside. She had to be the lead here, so I needed to play the mascot beside her so that Andersen could shine.
What expression and pose would be best? While I was thinking about that, Andersen spoke flatly from beside me.
"Noah Won. You'll do well too. Whatever it is, without fail."
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
It didn't sound like consolation or encouragement, but rather⋯⋯ like stating an obvious fact, like saying that if you drop an apple, it falls to the ground. Maybe it was because she was a Saintess, but even her encouragement really landed.
I silently held out my fist. Andersen also raised her eyebrows and lifted her fist.
Tap—.
Our fists bumped. That was enough for comrades-in-arms to exchange greetings. I could see Savidero signaling with his eyes that he had laid the whole stage. It seemed the timing was right.
And so we moved our steps toward the outside—
After finishing all our business.
"⋯⋯So this is the [Record Analyzer]."
To collect my payment, I stopped by the secret residence that only the Saintess could enter. What had all this hardship been for? Precisely to use this.
The blue lock I had witnessed when strengthening Hyejin's 『Azure Flame』. The "something" presumed to be blocking the growth of Earth's hunters.
[-> Download Slot 1: 『■』 (Downloading⋯⋯ 1%)]
[-> Download Slot 1: 『■■■』 (Downloading⋯⋯ 2%)]
[-> Download Slot 1: 『■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■』 (Downloading⋯⋯ 3%)]
Previously, I had tried to read it using 『Download -2』, but⋯⋯ the amount of information swelled as if it would blow my head apart, and I had ultimately been forced to stop.
The single fragment of a name I had barely managed to obtain was 『Cheongdongbaek』.
I intended to analyze that name using the Record Analyzer's functions.