Too Many Abyss Shards (2)
All eyes turned to the Priest-King amid his praise. Morgina shrugged confidently, as if urging everyone to look up to her Champion. But inside, she was a different story. If the emotions churning in her gut had shown on her face, she'd already be drenched in sweat.
'That little brat who never gives a damn about anyone else's business just had to open his mouth!'
Every saint active in the Holy Kingdom was now focused on Kriel. They might sense the abyssal power lurking within him. Of course, she'd taken measures to prevent such a disaster. Dressing him in the Eve Kaha Church's uniform was one of them. The sacred power woven into the blessed fabric was more than enough to suppress any hint of the Abyss. It matched her tastes a bit, sure, but there was solid reason to force the uniform on him. The pendant marking him as Champion served the same purpose.
Since Kriel himself kept the Abyss at arm's length as much as possible, there was no way his power would be exposed—unless some ancient, inscrutable mystery like the Holy War Gate came into play.
'...Right?'
Well, even if it somehow got out, she had a prepared excuse. It'd be fine. Morgina readied herself to rattle off the deeds of "Kriel, the Penitent Who Cleanses Souls."
Fortunately, the saints seemed more interested in his abilities than the man himself. The title of Champion carried that much weight.
"A single relic, you say. Could you elaborate?"
The first to rise and question the Priest-King was the elderly Martial Monk. Kriel gauged his tone appropriately, mindful of his temporary role as the church's Champion.
"Of course. It's true that each fragment pulses with abyssal power, but they all stem from a single source. It feels like something immensely powerful was shattered into multiples."
"Shattering a mighty abyssal relic on purpose? The Abyss's minions have always been mad, but this is especially baffling."
"Not so difficult. The Abyss fattens itself by devouring souls."
Kriel recalled a cartoon he'd seen on TV back when he used another name. It was about a hero questing to recover the shards of a shattered orb. Those countless fragments granted power to whoever embedded them in their body. What the Abyss had done was similar. The difference? These Abyss Shards came with the bonus feature of devouring their owner's soul.
"To those who can't discern the Abyss, these shards would seem like artifacts that grant immense power just by implanting them somewhere in the body. But an Abyss Shard turns the tables—it possesses the soul of whoever tries to possess it."
"So the fragments grow by consuming souls?"
"Naturally, to reach performance rivaling the original, they'd need an unimaginable number of souls. But to mature into independent entities wielding abyssal power without the core? Ten souls should suffice."
"At that level, you could spawn a Demonkin with leftovers..."
Those tainted by the Abyss fell into three broad stages. Monsters, infused with mere demonic nature. Beasts, granted demonic nature plus savage strength and ferocity. And finally, Demonkin, who gained human cunning and intellect. Rarer still were Demons, whose souls were so thoroughly corrupted that the demonic essence consumed their entire spirit. Reviled by the world, they dwelled beyond the material plane, in the Abyss's chaotic depths.
Demons schemed to expand the Abyss's influence, using Demonkin as proxies to orchestrate plots in the mortal realm, since true Demons rarely manifested here.
The Martial Monk's expression hardened.
"Seeds of the Abyss."
The Priest-King shot Kriel a grateful look for articulating it so well, then clapped his hands. The crisp sound drew every saint's attention.
"But fortunately, the demons' scheme was uncovered in advance. 'Seeds' is an apt term. These Abyss Seeds remain bound to their parent relic for now."
"Is that why you gathered us? To hunt down and destroy the core?"
"Yes. The holy knights here have maps and statistics on where the seeds were found."
It was a map compiled at the cost of burning out most of Temris's high priests these past few days. If it marked holy component concentrations, the Priest-King himself would top the list.
"Take the seeds if you need them for tracking. May they wither before they sprout."
Morgina had returned to Eve Kaha Cathedral for the time being. The task the Priest-King had assigned weighed heavier than expected.
"Abyss Seeds..."
Her gaze, hidden beneath her witch's conical hat, turned to Kriel—not with the sternness of an executioner judging the Abyss, but laced with worry and concern.
Kriel, oblivious to her stare, dropped a few seeds onto the table and examined them.
"Tracking them won't be hard. If we set out with the other saints, we can wrap this up easily."
"Hey, hold up."
Morgina reflexively shot back.
"Tracking's the hardest part in gigs like this, right? While the rest are scratching their heads over maps and stats, we could swoop in, claim all the glory. Even if it's a powerful relic, it's already mangled to hell—you and me could handle it no sweat."
Stack up solid achievements like this, and it'd justify keeping Kriel as Champion. Even if his abyssal taint came out, they'd at least hear him out first.
Kriel calmly shook his head.
"Dealing with the Abyss isn't a competition. It's for the whole world, so we should do our utmost."
Not "good," but "right." And he claimed he wasn't a proper knight. Morgina mentally cursed him out a few times before sighing.
"Fine. Do what you want. The sooner it's over, the better for me."
Half resignation, half admiration. The moment her words trailed off, the curved red horn dagger at Kriel's waist hummed and vibrated.
He eased it slightly from its sheath, and Orishin came pouring out like the wind.
"I think Kriel's right! The Abyss, no matter how finely you chop it, just swells right back up!"
"Like your own fall from grace."
"Yeah, like my fall. Plus, that original relic the seeds came from? The more I chew on it, the fishier it gets."
Growing used to the jabs, Orishin brushed it off smoothly. Morgina's eyebrow twitched.
"Fishy how? Kriel already explained—big returns on investment, so they smashed a powerful relic for it."
Assuming Orishin was just repeating himself, she snapped curtly. Truth be told, her gruffness had another reason. How the hell had she dragged this wall-tapping knight to the cathedral, only for the unicorn ghost to kill their alone time?
"Not the risk-reward crap. What the hell gets smashed into that many pieces and still has power left? It's mangled to shit, like you said. A relic that tough should've made the saints' records."
Orishin's point was valid. An Abyss relic that retained function after shattering into hundreds of pieces would've left its mark on history. Prior intel would make the coming fight much easier. Bragging about his sharp instincts, Orishin hollered to hit Temris's grand library tomorrow. Oh, and while there, scout for purification methods that didn't involve the violent saintess's shady tricks—small print.
But the unicorn hadn't counted on Morgina's memory. Every printed word was etched in her mind. She pressed her index finger to her lips, lost in thought, recalling a forbidden tome from the library's depths.
"Yeah. For something that potent, maybe one of the Maou's Seven Great Demonic Weapons?"
"The Maou's masterpieces? And the great Demons smashed it?"
Orishin questioned, then nodded—well, as much as a head alone could.
"The Abyss Demons wouldn't make a big deal out of the Maou's work. No brotherhood among Demons. Probably one of the six great Demons as the culprit—er, culprit Demon."
As Orishin muttered, Kriel latched onto a word that had popped up mid-conversation.
Maou.
He mulled over the familiar yet alien term. In the original Tirnanog RPG, the Maou lay at the story's core. Whether opposing the Abyss or joining it to end the world, you'd always face the Maou at the endgame. Defeating it was key to claiming the throne as the new abyssal overlord.
So the name was familiar to Kriel. But in this world, he'd never heard it spoken. Not out of fear or taboo. The Maou was already dead.
The world Kriel had fallen into was the game—after the ending.