Chapter 115
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: All-Out War
Robert of the Dark Sword.
The bastard who attacked the Transen Mountain Church and brought about the death of Benjamin, a devout priest.
Of course, Benjamin's direct cause of death was the attack by that money-grubbing High Priest Leven Dale and the priests who believed his lies, but that didn't change the fact that this guy was the root cause.
He hadn't just killed Benjamin—he'd slaughtered every single former criminal there who had been seeking penance and redemption.
On the surface, he'd been acting as the vice-captain of the Goddess's Blades, secretly twisting the group to his whims like the Underground Vermin he was.
The fact that Robert, the apostate who raided the Transen Mountain Church, had already spread across the world through the newspapers.
Not one of Leven Dale's hundred-plus priests had ever laid eyes on Robert, but they had all heard Benjamin's blood-curdling cries proclaiming the truth before them.
Thanks to the consistent testimonies of over a hundred priests, Benjamin was posthumously promoted to High Priest, while the massacre perpetrator he named, Robert, was excommunicated from the Church and vanished.
In truth, his disappearance probably wasn't solely because of the excommunication...
"So you finally mustered the courage to crawl out from hiding in that cathedral?"
"Thanks to you, we've had a rough time of it. Looking all smug now—guess you've got a whole gang backing you up this time, huh?"
"It's no different from our positions back at the Grand Cathedral—just reversed."
At the same time, Celine drew her sword and faced off against Robert, raising her voice.
"Vice-Captain Robert! You vanished from the unit without a word, and now you're here doing this? That sinister aura I'm sensing around us... Don't tell me the rumors circulating in the Church—the ones in the papers—are actually true!"
"Oh? Isn't this Captain Celine? Weren't you given orders from the Empire and Kingdom to collaborate and eliminate this terrorist group entirely? So what are you doing with the culprit right there beside you?"
Celine's grip tightened on her sword at Robert's tone, which showed no intent to hide anything.
"That's not what you should be saying right now, is it? I'm asking if those rumors about you are true, and what you're doing here alone, reeking of that unholy energy."
"Hah..."
Robert let out a light sigh before suddenly slashing his sword viciously from above down in a brutal arc.
The black sword aura shot toward Celine, who raised her greatsword to block it.
But since it was a slightly lower-quality standard-issue greatsword compared to her previous one, fine cracks spiderwebbed across the blade the moment she parried the aura.
Robert didn't miss it, flashing a confident smirk.
"What's wrong, Captain Celine? That weapon seems a far cry from the quality of your old one. Think you can stop me with that?"
"Urk... So it really is true—you're the Underground Vermin Alvis warned us about, just like the rumors said!"
Robert dropped even the pretense of polite speech.
"That's right. Thanks to you and that idiot 'Holy Warrior,' I've been able to make good use of you blind fools until now. If that big-eared subhuman hadn't been so stubborn that day, we wouldn't have had to circle all the way out here like this. Things just haven't been going our way lately."
Robert jerked his chin toward Ravi, who had just leaped down beside us.
Ravi, recognizing his face, replied in a quiet voice thick with fury.
"...You're one of the people who came to our country back then to pressure us into negotiations."
"Honored you remember. We were planning to convince you to seek the Empire's protection, then sacrifice the lot of you as offerings once you were in the safe zone. But your sudden outburst ruined everything."
Celine's eyes widened further as memories of that day flooded back.
And for good reason—that time, when they tried pushing the Carrot Duchy to accept Imperial protection, it had badly provoked Ravi. She'd unleashed her rage on Brayden and Celine, blowing the talks to smithereens.
"No way... Back then, you were planning to gather the Bunnyfolk and do to them what you'd done in those other 'safe facilities'?"
"Took you long enough. That big-eared subhuman got lucky. Her stubbornness that day ended up letting her slip from our grasp."
Ravi clenched her fists, unleashing her pent-up rage in a calm, steady stream as she spoke.
"So that visit from the start—it was all your scheme."
"Yep. That dimwit Holy Warrior and his lackey Captain Celine fell for my words hook, line, and sinker, charging off to the Carrot Duchy without a second thought. Everything was going perfectly to plan up until then."
Robert shrugged like it was no big deal.
"Eh, water under the bridge now. In the end, thanks to Bastol reeling in the Holy Warrior so nicely, we've secured multiple sites to gather sacrifices like this one nice and easy."
Celine's eyes widened even more.
"Bastol? You don't mean that Imperial Mage Bastol...? The one who went to investigate the Fresia Mountains with us...!"
"That's right—he was one of us from the beginning. With all those nasty rumors about that idiot Holy Warrior making our operations tricky, we had to drag him to the Fresia Mountains, release the gargoyles, and play the hero fixing our own mess to boost his reputation..."
Robert shifted his gaze to me.
"Didn't know back then who trashed that gargoyle cave like that, but it had to be you, huh."
"Took you long enough to figure that out."
Celine's face twisted further in rage.
"Releasing gargoyles in the Fresia Mountains...? So that was you bastards...?"
"We only did it to raise the 'Holy Warrior's' prestige. You should be grateful, not pissed."
"You... What the hell do you take people for—what do you take this world for?!"
Celine finally snapped, bellowing as she swung her greatsword.
The sword aura lancing from her blade targeted Robert directly, but his own black aura met it head-on, swallowing hers in an instant.
"Urk...!"
Celine flung herself aside to dodge the incoming attack.
But her standard-issue greatsword, already cracked from the previous block, was deteriorating even faster now.
Robert sneered vilely as he revealed his true form.
At the same time, a message floated before me, unveiling the bastard's status.
Long ago, as a member of the combat unit enforcing the Goddess's will, he coveted her power and allied with others to lure her out. Renowned for his exceptional swordsmanship, he clashed fiercely against the Goddess, bound by chains of curse, and through the combined assault of many, finally succeeded in bringing her down. Sacrificing countless lives and nourishing himself with their blood and souls via Dantalion's dark sorcery, he can now wield nearly his full power not only in his shadowed lair but even in the sunlit world outside.
Last time at the Transen Mountain Church, his level was 86. In the deeply shadowed Grand Cathedral, it was 96.
95 out here meant he was a bit weaker than in his home base but far stronger than when I'd seen him at the church.
Apparently, sacrificing people at other sites before arriving at the Agusta Shelter hadn't been a total waste—he'd powered up considerably.
As Robert unleashed his power, just like at Transen Mountain, a pitch-black humanoid mass sprouted multiple eyes atop it, and even more vividly formed arms emerged around his body than before.
Celine froze in shock at the sight of Robert billowing black smoke, and the other Goddess's Blades members were just as stunned.
"Vice-Captain Robert's appearance... What the hell...?"
"Snap out of it! That's no vice-captain—it's the Underground Vermin the Holy Warrior warned us about!"
"To think he used us like this all this time...!"
Robert slammed one of his many arms into the ground, and an ominous crimson-black glow began tracing a circle around the Agusta Shelter.
"Did you think we'd just been sitting idle all this time, 'Holy Warrior'? Our plan is already in its final stages! Nothing can stop us now—not you, not that powerless, feeble Goddess! When the Great One achieves its goal, we will become the new gods of this world!"
"New gods of a new world? A pipe dream fit for third-rate villains like you."
"Keh heh heh, I'm not falling for cheap taunts like that. Dantalion's ritual is already perfectly set here."
"We won't let it go your way! Linian! Block their ritual!"
"Damn it... We finally tracked down that filthy Underground Vermin, and now I have to waste time on this crap...!"
"Please!"
"Fine, fine! But the rest are mine—no backing down on that!"
Linian soared off to counter the dark sorcery enveloping the Agusta Shelter, while Celine, grasping the situation, barked orders to the Goddess's Blades.
"All members, enter the shelter immediately and evacuate every civilian inside—don't leave a soul behind! Head to the opposite side—we'll hold this thing here!"
"B-But Captain! We should stay and—"
"Even disguised, this was never something you could handle! Follow orders now!"
"Ravi, Elfin, Lenis! Fight with us!"
"Yes!" "Got it!" "Ready!"
As the Goddess's Blades sheathed their swords under Celine's command and rushed into the Agusta Shelter grounds, I stood ready with Ravi, Elfin, Lenis, and Celine, facing off against Robert.
"Holy Warrior, the Great One desires your heart."
"Can't just hand over something that important on a whim."
"Then I'll rip it out by force."
"Bring it."
I charged forward alongside Robert. Our blades—Light and Dark—clashed, igniting the battle on the open field before the Agusta Shelter.