Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Spar with the Heresy Judge
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“It's an honor to meet you again, esteemed guest.”
Selene bowed her head slightly toward me in greeting. Unlike our first encounter, when she'd pulled her robe low over her face, leaving only the barest hint of her features visible, she was now dressed in the garb of a heresy inquisitor.
Her silver hair, streaked with gray, swayed gently behind her back. It was tied into a single ponytail at the crown of her head, yet so long it could wrap around her body several times over.
Her bangs fell nearly to her lips, and through them gleamed eyes the same violet hue as the Moon Pope's. The sharp cast of her gaze gave her an overall fierce impression.
She was clad in semitransparent tights like those worn by the battle nuns under her command, hugging her body packed with solid muscle.
Below her elbows and knees, she wore armor in a mix of gray and silver, but everywhere else clung the skin-tight tights.
The fabric's transparency laid bare the contours of her form, making the firm—almost rock-hard—muscles stand out even more prominently.
There wasn't even a hint of underwear lines, as if she wore nothing beneath. In fact, she covered even less skin than her battle nuns.
At least her chest was as modest as Erika's, which kept it from being too much.
“Tch.”
Stella clicked her tongue outright. In stark contrast to Selene's usual impassive face, Stella's perpetual cheerful smile was nowhere to be seen—she looked utterly displeased.
“......How did you know to come here, Inquisitor?”
“I've come to offer my aid.”
It was a non-answer. I'd been asking how she'd pinpointed this exact moment, but she just said she was here to help. Had she been watching me from afar or something?
“Isn't someone like you forbidden from coming here, Inquisitor?”
Stella seemed thoroughly irritated. Her mouth smiled, but her eyes didn't.
“The sun doesn't interfere with the moon. Nor does the moon with the sun. That's the tradition, isn't it? Fine, I'll let it slide that you brought these people all the way to the Holy Kingdom on the Moon Pope's orders. But what's this about? Did His Holiness command you to assist our esteemed guest again?”
“I haven't broken tradition, Heresy Judge. I'm not interfering in the sun's domain—I'm here to aid the esteemed guest.”
To me, it sounded like splitting hairs, but whatever nuance was hidden in her words must have satisfied Stella, because her momentum deflated on the spot.
Having silenced Stella in an instant, Selene drew a holy catalyst from her belt and infused it with divine power. White light mixed with gray glimmered like moonlight.
“Please remain still.”
Even after saying that, it took a good five seconds before a clear chime rang out—*ding*.
The white light from the catalyst enveloped my body. It spread thinly over my skin, forming a membrane-like sheen.
My skin, wrapped in divine power, gave off a faint glow. I reached out to touch the thin aura cloaking me. My fingers passed right through, meeting my skin without resistance.
There was no sensation at all. Nothing caught or clung. It was like staring at an illusion.
But it was no illusion.
“It's done. You should be free of any issues now.”
With her task complete, Selene tucked the catalyst back into her belt. Stella eyed her with clear displeasure.
The holy spell Selene had just cast was called “Blessing of the Moon.”
Its effect nullified any enemy attack that would otherwise kill the player outright. In short, it was an extra life. Base duration: five minutes.
Practically equivalent to gaining an extra life, it was an essential spell in both vanilla Brutal 4 and Narak Mode—if you could cast it.
Probably because of its absurd “block instant-death damage, no questions asked” perk, the stat requirements were brutal: 30 Faith and 60 Divine Power.
In a first playthrough, it was basically unusable outside priest builds, and even priests had to sacrifice a ton of other stats to make it viable early on, which was a huge burden.
Priests were already slow to snowball with their concept, and dumping everything into Faith and Divine Power meant losing far more than you gained.
“So, esteemed guest, would you kindly challenge the Heresy Judge to a duel once more?”
With that, Selene strode to a corner of the arena, far from us, knelt on the ground, and hugged her legs.
Her face rested on her knees, staring straight at me. Those violet eyes were fixed on me like they'd been nailed in place.
“You heard her?”
I felt absurd, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this. Stella's face twisted through every complicated emotion in the book before she finally nodded in resignation.
I could ask Selene why and how she was helping after the duel. She didn't look like she planned to leave on her own anyway.
“No more excuses, huh? Fine. Can't be helped.”
Stella shook her head and gripped her right hand tightly. The mace in her grasp lifted lightly before slamming down with a *thud*.
As if on cue, the battle nuns around us moved in perfect unison, encircling Stella and me.
They picked up their shields from the ground, gripped their maces firmly, and formed a ring around us. The shields, emblazoned with the church's emblem, faced inward.
The space inside the circle of battle nuns was our arena.
“I'll let you decide the arena size. Not too big, of course. How much more room do you want?”
“This is fine as is.”
“Oh? You sure? I won't accept complaints later about losing because it was too cramped.”
Stella covered her mouth in mock surprise. Four or five steps back, and you'd hit the shields—it was that tight.
But arena size meant nothing to me. I'd fought the Stella boss fight plenty of times; cramped or spacious, I could handle it.
A bigger area would've been more comfortable for me, too, but to truly crush the Heresy Judge's pride, I couldn't let the size change.
In the game, beating her without altering the arena size changed her dialogue—she'd genuinely marvel at your skill.
Not that it was necessary, of course. This was just petty revenge for her meddling and derailing the story last time.
“Your loss condition is when the Blessing of the Moon fades from your body. The moment it disappears, you lose. Got it? And, um, my loss condition...”
“Just call it when you've taken enough hits.”
Mechanically, it was the same as the Silver Dawn Knights' entry exam: whittle the boss to 50% HP. But I couldn't mention exact numbers here.
“......What if I don't admit defeat?”
“Then we fight until you do. No choice.”
I drew my bloodied sword. The blade gleamed red in the sunlight. Stella gave me a “what's this?” look as she hefted her mace. The massive weapon rose effortlessly in one hand.
White light tinged with yellow swirled around the spiked head.
“Overconfidence isn't a good look, you know? What if one hit sends you flying?”
Ignoring her, I thrust the sword into my stomach. Blood drained along the blade, deepening its crimson hue. When I pulled it free, droplets pattered to the ground.
“Focused on the duel, huh? Fine. Will you attack first? Or should I?”
Without a word, I flicked the sword tip up and down. Stella grinned wide and advanced slowly. The divine power in her mace intensified.
The Heresy Judge had no fixed opener. She just unleashed random patterns based on distance and player movement.
Her mace rose high overhead. Recognizing the pattern, I readied to parry.
Stella swung. The head arced straight for my skull. Gripping my bloodied sword two-handed, I let my arms react naturally, tracing a path through the air.
*Clang!* The mace veered sharply aside. The rebound buzzing through my arms was manageable.
No respite—the next came from left to right. I parried again, then for the final strike, accounted for the off-beat and swung a beat late.
The third clash rang out fiercely, sending it flying sideways. Stella staggered briefly, surprise flickering across her face.
She tried to reset for another attack, but mine came faster. The blood-forged crimson blade grazed her arm.
“......”
Stella stared blankly from my bloodied sword to her mace and back.
One was an ordinary longsword, unremarkable save for the red blade. The other was a mace with a head twice the size of a human skull.
Common sense said the sword should've shattered on impact. Yet not only had it held, it'd repelled the mace. No wonder she was baffled.
“What in the world was that?”
“Beats me.”
“If you don't want to tell me, just say so.”
Stella beamed. True to a servant of the Sun Pope, her smile was as warm and benevolent as Floretta's.
“I'll figure it out myself from here on.”
“Looks like you failed in the end. My condolences.”
I sheathed my bloodied sword as the buff faded. Eyes bored into me from all sides—the battle nuns, including Selene.
Stella sat slumped on the ground, gazing up at me in a daze.