Chapter 191: Nirvana (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 191: Nirvana (1)
"I've been defiled..."
After a long wait, Boradori finally emerged, looking half out of her mind.
Her eyes were unfocused, and her clothes were a complete mess.
"..."
Suddenly, information about Princess Nea’s eldest brother flickered through my mind.
I was certain they were half-siblings.
Was that particular... inclination something that ran in the father's bloodline?
"..."
While I was pondering that question, Princess Nea came down, her face twisted in a scowl.
Her pout was so pronounced that anyone could see she was brimming with discontent.
What was her problem now?
The answer didn't take long to surface.
"Give her back."
"Give what back?"
"Senior Violet. She’s originally a citizen of the Empire. No, her nationality is still the Empire!"
She pointed a spiteful finger at the tattered Violet.
"A Sorcerer! To think she’s a Sorcerer—the very kind the Imperial Family tried and failed to cultivate!"
Seeing her stomp her feet in frustration, it seemed 'Sorcerer' really was a broken, overpowered class.
"A Sorcerer? You got proof?"
I played dumb for a moment, testing the waters.
To think she suddenly found out Violet was a Sorcerer.
There was no way Boradori would have blurted it out herself, so there must have been a way for her to identify one.
As if confirming my suspicion, Princess Nea, looking unusually excited, pulled something from her robe.
"No matter how much I thought about it, the passage to the underground dungeon wasn't something that could be found through normal means. So I thought, Senior Violet visited the library often. Perhaps she happened upon a book related to the underground."
But she hadn't.
She had sent her subordinates to check not only the books Violet had looked at but every single book in the vicinity.
"So I wondered if she had learned some special magic, but there was no way she could find something that even the Imperial experts couldn't unless it was at the level of a Unique Magic. That’s when I wondered if she might be a Sorcerer!"
In her hand, a red gem was pulsing like a heartbeat.
"Do you know what this is?"
"What is it?"
"It’s an Artifact called the 'Sorcerer’s Heart.'"
As an Artifact, it apparently didn't have any special effects.
Except for one.
"Usually, it looks like an ordinary gem, but when you bring it close to a Sorcerer’s heart, it starts to move like a real one."
It was an ancient Artifact used for identifying Sorcerers, one that could no longer be manufactured.
"Since it’s an old relic, the downside is that it has to be checked against bare skin... but the performance is guaranteed."
"Hmm..."
So that’s why she had been stripped.
"And here I was thinking..."
"Thinking what?"
At her spiteful expression, I pointed at Boradori and said, "She came back looking like that, so I thought she’d been ravished or something."
"...What on earth are you thinking?!"
"...Blood will tell?"
"You know about that too?!"
Judging by her horrified reaction, it seemed the 1st Prince’s eccentricities were an open secret to those in the know.
"I—I won't ask how you know! But don't get the wrong idea! Thanks to Brother Erild, I know exactly how dangerous same-sex love can be!"
Despite his solid achievements, he was the 1st Prince who failed to become the Crown Prince.
As Princess Nea, whose foundation was weaker than his, she likely wanted to avoid creating any unnecessary weaknesses.
"The victim seems to think otherwise, though?"
Princess Nea shouted toward Boradori, who had somehow hidden behind my back, her guard raised to the maximum.
"Senior! The Empire is waiting for you!"
"Hieeeek!"
She fled in terror. It seemed the shock of being suddenly stripped was quite significant.
Well, if it meant we could protect our agent from the clutches of the Empire, I suppose it was a win.
"I will never give up!"
However, it seemed the 'bounty' on our Boradori’s head had just gone up.
"What in the world is this..."
There was Princess Nea, watching like a predator eyeing its prey.
And there was Boradori, fully aware she had become the prey, cowering as much as possible.
But as we descended deeper underground, the wariness on Boradori’s face was replaced by deepening shock.
And when that shock reached its peak...
"It's a skeleton."
It was when she came face-to-face with Altear, the Lich.
"Oh."
"What is it?"
"It’s the first time I haven't been hit with a first strike."
Altear chuckled with a rattling sound. As the person who had delivered that first strike, I felt a slight pang of guilt.
"I mean, he’s nothing but bones. Who would hit him?"
"They bullied me because I'm nothing but bones."
"What a mean person."
"That’s just how sword-fighters are."
"True that."
Watching them whisper and badmouth others, they seemed to get along famously.
"As expected of Unnie. Seeing her get along so well with a hero of the Empire, blood really does tell..."
"What’s wrong with her now?"
"She’s after my body..."
"Luke Almighty. Even if it's the distant future... your descendant is..."
She wasn't exactly wrong, so I didn't feel the need to correct her.
After a few more exchanges, we brought Boradori before the main event: the Great Demon.
"What is this..."
As expected, our Boradori was useless.
"You don't know?"
"How would I know what this is?!"
"I thought you'd know, Senior..."
"What exactly am I to you guys?"
A Boradoriemon without any tools?
She usually knows everything, but whenever we ask something important, she turns out to be useless.
"But..."
Boradori’s expression, which had been overwhelmed by the majesty of the massive Demon, twisted strangely.
"Is this Demon sick? Why is this..."
Boradori looked skeptically at the massive vat connected to the Demon’s arm like an IV drip. I informed her that it was filled with Holy Water.
"And you're saying its size shrinks because of this?"
"Yeah."
I hadn't noticed it when I wasn't paying attention, but comparing it now, the size had definitely decreased.
Well, it was only by about the width of a finger joint, but a decrease was a decrease.
"Hmm..."
Violet’s eyes sparkled as she lightly bit her fingertip.
She smeared the resulting drop of blood around the Holy Water vat and muttered.
"Shine. And shine again."
It wasn't a complex incantation like magic; in fact, it was absurdly direct.
"Oh..."
But the effect was so intense that even Altear marveled at it.
"Is this what they call a Curse?"
"You've never seen one?"
"Curses were ancient techniques even in my time. They aren't something you see easily."
"As expected of Unnie..."
At the title which had shifted from 'Senior' to 'Unnie,' Boradori hid behind my back again.
"Is it an amplification of Divine Power? That’s something magic cannot do."
"I’ve done a bit of research in that area."
Indeed, it was a skill tree that showed her sheer determination to mooch off Daisy for the rest of her life.
"How long does the effect last?"
"Unless someone messes with it, it’s semi-permanent? It’s a bit complicated. It’s not exactly amplifying the Divine Power, but rather... drawing aggro."
"Aggro?"
"Um... it’s like saying to the Goddess, the owner of the Divine Power: 'This place is important, so please look here!' It’s not that I amplified the Divine Power, but rather the Goddess thinks this matter is important and pours in more... Huh?"
"Hmm?"
"Eh?"
Boradori tilted her head.
Altear checked the Curse again and tilted his head.
Princess Nea blinked.
And I, speaking for everyone’s feelings, shouted one thing.
"Holy shit, what is that?"
May the blessing of the Gods be with you.
A God is a being who can do anything.
But at the same time, a God is a being who can do nothing.
It was unavoidable.
That Evil God, that wicked bitch whose name is now forgotten, could not be defeated by ordinary means.
And so, the one called the Goddess of Light gave up her name to erase the Evil God’s name.
She gave up her rights over the mortal realm to seal the Evil God’s influence upon it.
After imposing various other restrictions and sealing her opponent’s power, she finally managed to emerge victorious.
Because of this, the Goddess of Light was hailed as the supreme deity on earth, yet she had to stand by and watch the corruption of the Holy Kingdom—the place where her will was most clearly transmitted.
It was a painful time.
The children called Cardinals, who certainly weren't like that at first, gradually tasted power and became corrupt.
How infuriating it was to watch them not only interpret her will as they pleased but eventually resort to outright fabrication.
Later, when they bullied the young Pope and spewed all sorts of nonsense, she had reflexively sent down an oracle: "No, you sons of bitches!"
...Thanks to that, she ended up being called the 'voice of the wicked Evil God' by the clergy.
But that one sentence was a cry that contained her absolute sincerity.
That was why, when Daisy the Saintess cleaned up the Holy Kingdom, the Goddess was moved.
The dream she had only imagined in her head had finally come true.
The process had been so fast and refreshing that it was even more thrilling.
Like a reader of an ancient, overpowered webnovel, she cheered for the incredible protagonist Daisy, regardless of things like 'probability.'
She had swallowed too many 'sweet potatoes'—frustrating plot points—to care about probability anymore.
Thus, the Goddess entered 'Daisy is the best' and 'Our Daisy, do whatever you want!' mode, helping Daisy through every means and method she could.
Even so, all she could do was grant Daisy’s prayers—or rather, her requests.
To repeat, it was unavoidable.
It was a shackle she had placed upon herself to defeat the wicked Evil God.
The more she loosened those restrictions, the more opportunities it gave that bitch, who had been acting up recently to facilitate her resurrection.
And so, the nameless Goddess of Light, XXX, could only watch.
But it was okay.
Unlike before, there were no false people using her name as they pleased.
It was okay.
There were events that could have been major crises, but they were resolved surprisingly easily.
It was... okay?
She was starting to have doubts.
Of course, this wasn't because of the Dark Mages, the cultists trying to resurrect the Evil God, or the Demons who were that bitch’s servants.
The problem was... this shouldn't be happening, but she was starting to feel pity for the Dark Mages, cultists, and Demons who were trying to resurrect that bitch.
However, she quickly snapped out of it.
No matter how miserably those Dark Mages were killed despite their efforts, the growth process of a Dark Mage was a series of events that made even her lose the will to save them.
It was their own karma that those who were of no use to the world—who were, in fact, only harmful—died such futile deaths.
The fact that a Demon was turned into dust and its magical concept was turned into a tool? That, too, was surely their karma, a trait they gained from following the Evil God.
The Goddess was in the middle of brainwashing herself to eliminate any pity for the wicked.
In a way, she was walking a path similar to that of the Heresy Inquisitors.
—...Huh?
The world began to sparkle.
To be precise, one specific spot was shining exceptionally brilliantly.
At that, the Goddess broke her very long silence and spoke.
—That is...
It was a path. To be more precise, it was a conduit.
For her, who had barely been connected to the world through the name of Divine Power for a very long time.
It was a conduit through which she could use her power fully.
So, she momentarily withdrew her gaze from the rest of the world and looked at that spot.
And there, she saw the friend whom her beloved Daisy cherished most.
—You filthy piece of Demon trash.
At the sight of the giant pile of garbage before her...
She used her power without even realizing it.
"Huh?"
The problem was that, unlike usual...
"Wait, what?"
The power was delivered to the mortal realm at full throttle.