Assassination Thwarted (3)
Contrary to my expectations, the assassin must have squeezed out every last drop of his holy power to strengthen his body as well. Silph chased after him at full speed, but she couldn’t find a single trace. This was bad.
I tried to move, but a dizzying wave of vertigo hit me. My legs buckled and I collapsed onto the ground. Fuck. I’d been sure I’d distributed my life force properly this time. No nosebleed, no internal pain. My body was definitely in better shape than before. But I couldn’t afford to collapse here.
“Cain! Are you alright?!”
“Ah… looks like I overdid it a bit.”
Panzy came running over in alarm and helped me up. This damn body always chose the worst possible moments to act up. I cursed every swear word I knew inside my head, gritted my teeth, and forced myself back onto my feet.
If that fleeing bastard recovered his holy power, there was no telling what he might try next. I couldn’t fall apart here. I had to keep walking.
“Cain…?”
“I can still walk. Hoo… Let’s hurry and track him down. He ran off in a panic, so there should still be traces left.”
I told Silph to alert me if she sensed anything out of place in the forest, then headed toward the entrance. If things got really bad, I’d have to report this to the professors. From what I’d seen earlier, no one had died, but handling this alone felt like too much. I looked at Panzy.
“Panzy. Go tell the professors that intruders have entered the academy.”
“R-right now? If we do that, then…”
She was asking whether responsibility wouldn’t fall on us too. I already knew that. But having played Spirit Savior countless times, I knew Destin Academy’s rules like the back of my hand.
“Academy Regulation One. Any unauthorized intruder into the academy may be dealt with at the students’ discretion, regardless of reason.”
“Huh?”
“It’s one of the academy’s rules. Grab any professor and tell them there are unauthorized intruders and that students are currently handling it at their own discretion. They won’t say a word and will just listen to you.”
“Ha. How do you know all this so well?”
Panzy raised one eyebrow, looking utterly bewildered as she gave a bitter smile. Of course I knew. Because—
“If I’m gonna fuck those bastards up, I need to know these things inside and out.”
That way, no matter what I did, I wouldn’t have to worry about consequences. I pushed through the dizziness and kept moving my feet. When I gestured for Panzy to go, she hesitated several times before finally disappearing out of the forest.
“Hoo… Fuck. This pathetic body.”
Chosen One (Communion)
-Cain! Are you okay?!
“It’s not as bad as it used to be. Come on, let’s keep going.”
Kasa spun around me in obvious worry. She really was adorable when she acted like this. I forced a smile to reassure her, then continued walking toward the forest entrance.
It was darker than I expected—no light reached this far. My steps grew heavier with every stride. At this rate, it was safe to assume my life force was leaking from somewhere I couldn’t detect. I swore to myself that once this mess was over, I would find the cause no matter what. I staggered forward.
“Fuuu…ck…! Move, damn it!!!”
Even during forced marches in the military, my legs had never felt this heavy. Was this pathetic body really going to struggle this much with an early-game quest? The rage boiled over. Not only had I let the enemy slip away right in front of me, but my own body refused to cooperate. In the end, I’d even had to send Panzy back to the academy in case of further danger.
What could I even do right now? The helplessness was crushing.
“This is so fucking annoying.”
Silph seemed to be searching as hard as she could in her own way, but even if the assassin was clumsy, once he decided to hide himself properly it would be nearly impossible to find him. The strength suddenly left my legs and I collapsed.
Or rather, I tried to collapse. Something solid caught my backside and held me up.
“??????”
I looked down. A small, earthen hand had risen from the ground and was politely supporting my butt.
At that exact moment, I felt a familiar presence.
The presence of a spirit.
******** Chosen One (Communion) has been activated. *********
……
Menos, a follower of Arpa—the God of Balance and Fate—held his breath and crouched low. Just as the bishop had said. The Saintess, whom the cardinals had kept tightly wrapped up and hidden under the pretext of training, was indeed here at the academy.
Watching her cheerfully burn slimes to ash with a bright smile on her face, he thought it was no exaggeration to call her the Vessel of God. Still, a mission was a mission. Menos had no interest in why the bishop had ordered Eve Abraham’s assassination. He didn’t want to know, and he wasn’t allowed to know. The bishop’s command was effectively the command of one of the cardinals.
While infiltrating the academy, he had discarded every item connected to Arpa. His goal was to assassinate Eve Abraham, then shout the name of another god as he martyred himself. Hidden behind a large tree near the forest entrance, he watched her.
He didn’t know why she had come here in the middle of the night to hunt slimes, but anyone could see this was the perfect opportunity. Although Menos was a devout believer and briefly wondered whether harming the Saintess was truly God’s will, he quickly steeled his heart and drew his sword.
Everything was according to Arpa’s will.
Muttering those words, he strode forward.
Eve Abraham, who had just finished off a slime and was picking up the leftover mucus, suddenly sensed a strange presence and lifted her head to look around.
“Um… that aura is…”
“Everything is according to God’s will.”
Why was a follower of Arpa here? Eve’s eyes widened in shock as she watched the Arpa devotee approach her with a sword in hand.
She had to stop him. She had to get away. But… why…?
“Found you, you son of a bitch!”
“Kuhk…!”
Just before the sword, infused with the last of his holy power, could reach Eve’s throat, a thick curse rang out from behind the assassin. The blade stopped dead as if slamming on the brakes. A thin line of blood trickled from where the sword tip had lightly grazed her neck.
Eve stared at the Arpa follower in astonishment, completely forgetting that a blade was touching her throat. His limbs were frozen in place as if bound, while only his upper body twitched. When she created a glow with her holy power, massive hands made of earth had burst from the ground and seized the devotee.
The solid earthen hands gripped Menos’s arms, legs, and torso with brutal force, showing no intention of letting go.
“Th-this… what kind of magic is this…?”
Menos looked at Eve in panic, then suddenly remembered the ones who had attacked him earlier. The woman had been an impossibly skilled swordswoman for a mere student, but the invisible mage was impossible to gauge. He hadn’t felt any mana, nor had he seen any incantation or magic circle.
Still, the forest was quite deep. He had strengthened his body with holy power and escaped in an instant. There was no way they could have caught up this quickly…!
When he looked back, a man stood there, panting heavily and glaring at him with murderous eyes.
“Huff… huff… Academy Regulation Two. Anyone who attempts to harm a student shall be punished without regard for reason or their survival.”
“Regulation…?”
Cain’s red eyes flashed as he stretched a hand toward the devotee. At that moment, a blast of scorching wind shot toward Menos like a projectile. Menos struggled desperately to break free, but the hands pinning him remained rigid and unmoving.
“K-Kugh… You’re saying magic can overpower a body strengthened by holy power…?”
Holy power had the ability to disrupt the flow of mana. That was why it was difficult to use sustained magic against those who wielded it. Mages usually preferred quick, decisive spells when facing holy power users. Yet the current situation completely shattered that common knowledge.
“What the hell are you gonna do about it… you fucking bastard… Get your hands off Eve…!”
The wind carrying flames struck Menos directly. Thanks to his body being reinforced by holy power, he could endure it for a short time—but it was only a matter of time.
“Everything is according to God’s will! Eve Abraham! Offer your neck to my blade and martyr yourself!”
“What the hell is this crazy bastard saying?”
Cain spread his palm, then clenched it into a fist with an expression of pure disbelief. Blood flowed from his mouth and nose, and the whites of his eyes were bursting with broken blood vessels. Yet he gripped his fist so tightly that his nails dug into his palm.
“K-Kyaaaack!”
“Drop the sword! Your plan has failed!”
Even as the heat threatened to drive him insane with pain, Menos clenched his teeth and held on. The earthen hands tightened their grip even more, and gruesome cracking sounds came from all over his body. Crack. Crunch.
His entire body screamed in agony, but Menos still glared with wide eyes, desperately trying to move even an inch closer to Eve.
“I see. So you’re…”
Eve looked at Menos with sorrowful eyes. The holy power she felt from him was the most familiar force to her—and the power of those who followed her most closely.
“Is this the work of one of the cardinals? Or a bishop? Or…”
The pope? God?
Eve couldn’t bring herself to say the final words. Instead, she grabbed the assassin’s sword with her bare hand. Her blood flowed along the blade and into Menos. At that instant—
Crackle. Hiss. The places where Eve’s blood touched his body began to burn.
“H-Haaagh?! S-Saintess? What is this…?”
“…I understand now. This is clear blasphemy. Brother.”
The sorrowful expression on Eve’s face hardened as she watched Menos burn. She spoke coldly.
“Everything about me—including my body—belongs to Lord Arpa. Do you understand what it means that my blood is burning your body?”
Amid the agony of his flesh burning away, Menos’s eyes widened in shock. It was the wrath of God. Harming her was not only defying God’s will—it was an act that invited divine fury.
“B-But… why…?”
“Save your confession for in front of Lord Arpa.”
Eve spoke with an icy expression and quickly stepped back. Only then did Menos seem to realize what he had done. He let out a scream. Whether it was from pain or from repentance for his sin, no one could tell.
Soon the flames swallowed both his scream and everything else.