A Sacred Arts Genius Who Blasphemes Even the Gods
***
The night in Rosnitz was brutally dark.
Unlike the Holy Capital of Astrum, which had glittered everywhere with white sacred lanterns, only the faint glow seeping from buildings lit the city.
Well, the wealthier districts were somewhat better off.
But the ruined cathedral we were heading toward sat right next to the slums, and the atmosphere soured in a hurry—as if to prove that the influx of people chasing the holy sword had utterly wrecked a city infrastructure that had never been adequate to begin with.
The stench rising from the sewers was foul.
"There are a lot of people. If we go in through the front, we may have to brace for a fight."
Alicia spoke, once again thoroughly disguised.
A massive crowd had gathered around the half-collapsed cathedral.
Despite the hour, it was noisy with clusters of people milling about—idiotic fools rushing to claim ownership of the holy sword (or so they thought, given it was actually a demon sword).
Perhaps the royal family's control had reached its limits, or perhaps this was deliberate, but the crowd was essentially left unattended.
"Let's skip the front and go around back."
I steered the group in another direction.
"That's no Holy Radiance Church cathedral."
Alicia remarked, surveying the ruined building.
Not a trace of the Church's distinctive iconography could be seen, and the architecture was somehow eerie.
"Probably some forgotten ancient religion, at this point."
We minimized our presence and slipped into an alley beside the cathedral.
Most of the crowd never noticed the three of us slipping away.
"Hey, you ladies there?"
A few, however, caught on.
Drunk-scented mercenaries blocked our path.
No disguise could fully hide the curves of a woman's body, and a handful of them had spotted us and followed us into the alley.
"This area is off-limits~. What are you planning in a dark corner like this? Looking to sell your bodies?"
The mercenaries snickered among themselves, leering.
"What a nuisance. Luise?"
Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack—
Thud. In an instant, Luise knocked the mercenaries out cold.
"Handled, Master."
"Nicely done."
Truly the Mad Sword Saint, Luise. Ordinary riffraff mercenaries aren't even worth her effort anymore.
Behind the ruined cathedral lay an old graveyard.
Most of the headstones had toppled over, their inscriptions worn down past the point of reading.
"There's a strange energy here."
Alicia narrowed her brow slightly.
"This way, everyone."
I led the two of them toward the back of the graveyard. The graveyard path continued underground and soon dead-ended at a wall.
"A goddess statue?"
Luise tilted her head.
A statue of a winged goddess stood before the blocked wall, her wings broken.
"Here. There's a hidden door."
I tapped the floor twice with the toe of my boot.
Thud. Alicia stomped her foot once, and the outline of a stone door rose up out of the packed earth beneath us.
A pattern of two swords crossed.
This is a hidden piece too, you know.
Kugugung—
When Alicia stomped again, the stone door ground aside, revealing a staircase leading down.
On the damp wind drifted the smell of rotting fish and blood.
'Blood.'
Going by the original story, there shouldn't be any reason for the smell of blood down here.
My premonition wasn't great.
Whoosh—
I transformed into Black Lotus Gothic.
"Let's go in."
I put Luise at the front and descended the stairs, with Alicia guarding the rear.
The underground of the ruined cathedral was a dungeon of sorts.
A maze of moss-covered stone walls stretching on endlessly, with a small water channel running along one side.
"Light Guide."
Alicia summoned a sphere of light to illuminate the way.
I pulled a dessert out of the bag I'd brought and popped it into my mouth.
A long, loaf-shaped grisini smeared with chocolate—its shape reminded me of some snack or other from back home.
It was a special dessert the royal pastry chef had made, saying it traveled better than anything else.
Munch munch.
With sweetness hitting my tongue, my brain feels like it's kicking into gear.
"Right here."
Each time a fork in the path appeared, I chose without a moment's hesitation.
"...You truly are remarkable, Lady Angel."
Alicia marveled at how precisely I was navigating.
My memory of the game, plus the sense of smell sharpened by Susang Haengsik, were reading the bloodscent that thickened the deeper we went.
"Please wait a moment."
Suddenly, Alicia stopped us.
"Saintess, something's off, isn't it?"
At my question, she nodded gravely.
"I can sense the aura of the black grail that Bishop Casimir was carrying, up ahead."
The aura of the black grail meant an abyssal horror.
This was supposed to be a non-combat exploration zone—bloodscent plus abyssal horror? Something went wrong, and it went wrong thoroughly.
Not that I had any intention of turning back because of it.
"Well, with the Saintess here, might as well punch through."
"If that is what you wish, Lady Angel."
Alicia's light guide pressed onward, brightening the pitch-dark maze, and we followed.
Trickle trickle—
The sound of the water channel grew louder, and a reek of raw fish piled itself atop the sewage and blood.
Quite literally the worst odor imaginable.
Ugh, killer of appetites. As much as I love desserts, this is where I draw the line.
I tossed away the grisini I'd been chewing.
Splash—
Something damp slithered across the stone floor with a wet scrape.
"Beyond the corner of the passage. Presence detected approximately one hundred paces ahead. Not human—presumably monsters. Number: eight. Master, your orders."
Luise reported the monsters' emergence in a mechanical voice.
"Let's look first, then decide."
"Understood."
When we rounded the corner, bizarre silhouettes emerged through the beams of the light guide.
"Ugh."
What filled the passage was a horde of fish-man monsters.
And not the ordinary kind of fish-man, either.
The feeling of something that had been dunked whole in hydrochloric acid and fished out half-dissolved?
Slime dripped in viscous globs from their scales and skin.
Even in the original story their appearance hadn't been exactly cheerful, but seeing them in the flesh was far more gruesome.
'Why on earth are they here?'
Those things.
They were a race that worshipped the abyssal horrors.
It's nowhere near their scheduled debut time.
Disposition:EVIL
Their disposition read EVIL.
Well, that's good news for us.
I'd half expected it after seeing the Corrupted Grail, but I did need to confirm whether monsters showed dispositions too.
"Grrrraaaak—!"
The things let out phlegm-choked shrieks at the sight of us.
Still, whatever.
"Saintess, you're backup only in an emergency. Luise and I will handle these."
"Yes, Lady Angel."
They were absolutely not a match for Alicia; for me and Luise right now, they were just about the perfect level.
"Kyahaaaaah!"
The things raised their webbed claws and charged at us.
"Triple Convergence."
I gathered starlight into my palm.
Refracting starseed.
Scattering starseed.
Fuse.
"Pour forth—Refracting Scattering Starseed."
The silver-white light unleashed from my hand split into dozens of beams, filling the narrow passage and pouring down in a single torrent.
Alicia never taught me this one, mind you.
But I am a genius of the sacred arts who blasphemes even the gods.
I could layer refraction on top of scattering and fuse them together.
Fwabubufung—!
Four of the fish-men vaporized on the spot, and as the rest staggered—
Swish—
Luise swung her sword.
The head of one fish-man came off, clean as a whistle.
Her blade flowed into the next stroke like water, and the remaining fish-men toppled one after another.
"Ooh."
Sacred swordsmanship built on her mind's eye.
The disciplined chain of movements was just plain gorgeous—all I could do was gape in admiration.
"Star-Crown Canopy."
Alicia's lips moved in a soft murmur.
Fwaaaarsh—
The high-tier sacred art, Star-Crown Canopy, burned the fish-man fragments to cinders and purified them.
Since the flame was conjured through sacred art, it seemed to need no oxygen to burn.
We stepped over the ashes of the dissolving fish-men and pressed deeper.
The sewage stench faded, and the reek of blood thickened.
Before long, we reached an enormous underground cavern.
"…!"
Luise, leading the way, readjusted her grip on her sword.
At the center of the cavern stood a stone altar engraved with a bizarre pattern.
Splashed all around the altar in every direction was clotted, dried blood.
"Traces of a forbidden magical rite. Human sacrifice, most likely."
Alicia examined the blood-forged ritual array.
I shifted my gaze up to the altar—and let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew, thank goodness."
"Lady Angel?"
Every eye turned to me, and I spoke again.
"Do you see the sword up there?"
"…Huh?"
Alicia reacted first.
An antique sword stood planted in the middle of a sea of blood.
"I can feel a warm light from it."
Luise murmured low.
Well, of course she would.
"That's the real holy sword. The genuine article—not like that counterfeit holy sword up front. Someone apparently tried to corrupt it and failed. And judging by this, they summoned fish-men as a last-ditch effort to guard it."
Everyone's attention had been swallowed by the demon sword at the entrance, so it went unnoticed—
but a genuine holy sword existed here too.
"It doesn't belong to our faith, though. Some ancient native deity, perhaps. I couldn't wield it either way."
Alicia pursed her lips as she analyzed the holy sword.
It was the kind of sword Alicia could use, but somehow a Saintess of the Holy Radiance Church wielding that thing would be...
A matter of appearances, I suppose.
"Probably? This place was originally a seal that used that holy sword's power to bind the demon sword—and now that the seal has weakened, the demon sword is running wild. It stimulates people's desires, after all. Now then, Luise?"
"Yes?"
"Go pull it out. That sword is yours to carry."
"You mean... me?"
"There's no one here but you who could use that sword."
"…Understood."
Fwaah—
As Luise drew the sword, holy radiance lit up her pupils.
Hidden piece secured: Luise's holy-sword power-up event.
Success.
Granted, it had fallen so far into ruin that it was more holy-sword-in-name-only—
but for Luise, there was no weapon quite like it.
"Kieeeek!"
The moment the holy sword left the altar, fish-men came swarming across the water channel.
"Now, it's power-testing time. This time, Luise, you'll take all of them on alone."
"As Master commands."
The instant she answered, her heel slammed into the ground.
Swish-swish-swish—!
Blade strokes chained together, and the charging fish-men were instantly carved into sashimi.
Click.
Abruptly, Luise drew the sword close to her hip, as if sliding it back into its sheath.
SHWAAAAAK—!
Then she whipped the blade out in a surprise strike.
A sword slash flowing from the draw tore a long line through the air.
Sacred Sword Art: Star-Trace Flash.
The gleaming light cut through the fish-men again and again.
Flashy.
Honestly, nothing in swordsmanship beats the sacred arts for sheer spectacle.
Watching Luise rampage across the battlefield in every direction, I opened my status window.
My wishpower copy machine was performing reliably too.
Kugugung—
Once Luise swept away the last of the fish-men, a violent tremor rolled through the cavern.
With the sealing wedge—the (true) holy sword—now pulled free, the demon sword was going berserk.
Minor changes notwithstanding—
Phase 2, engage!
