Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Proof of Possibility
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“That’s... what...?”
“It means exactly what it says. If you’re suggesting there’s a way to take down that monster without His Holiness the Pope sacrificing himself, then what would you do, Inquisitor?”
The rapier touching the bloodied sword visibly lost its strength. I carefully pushed the blade away while holding it. Selene yielded to my movements without resistance.
Her purple eyes trembled far more violently than before. She couldn’t focus properly, as if she’d heard something utterly unbelievable. Her pupils shook ceaselessly.
The tip of the rapier pointed toward the floor. I sheathed my sword as well. There was no point in keeping our weapons trained on each other.
Selene bowed her head deeply. Thud. The holy catalyst in her left hand dropped onto the silver carpet. The rapier in her right dangled precariously, as if it might fall at any moment.
Her reaction suggested I’d succeeded halfway, but I couldn’t let my guard down. I lowered my sword but stayed ready to counter any attack as I cautiously took a few steps back.
Selene, her head still bowed, stood there in a daze for a long while. I silently waited for her to recover.
Then, suddenly, her lips parted.
“...Lies.”
She raised her head. The confusion that had filled her eyes moments ago was completely gone.
“Don’t spout nonsense!”
Selene charged at me. Caught off guard by the sudden shift, I hurriedly deflected her rapier with my bloodied sword.
At least she hadn’t fully shaken off her confusion—she wasn’t using any holy power, just swordsmanship. That was a relief.
“You said it can be dealt with without a sacrifice? That His Holiness doesn’t need to sacrifice himself? Without even knowing why he made that decision! How dare you utter the word ‘sacrifice’!”
She kept trying to close the distance recklessly, so to properly parry her attacks, I had to back away too. In ultra-close quarters where I couldn’t even deflect properly, I’d be at a severe disadvantage.
Thud! The rapier stabbed into the spot where I’d rolled to the left. The blade sank into the wall up to the crossguard without any resistance.
The sword was pulled out immediately. The marble showed no cracks or scratches except for the small hole left by the rapier. It was chillingly sharp.
Her head turned slowly. Her anger had subsided somewhat, but the hatred remained. Selene, straightening her stance, spoke in a chilling voice.
“How did you learn of the monster’s existence?”
‘...Damn.’
The moment I heard that, I realized my mistake.
From what happened in the Sun Cathedral, one could conclude that someone had to sacrifice themselves, but there was no way to know the reason was a monster beneath the Holy Kingdom.
They had only used vague terms like “futile efforts” or “unnecessary hope,” never mentioning the monster at all.
“Was that a lie too? Did you notice from the cathedral incident, or was that also false? Were all those things you told me just deceptions to blind me from the truth?”
But I’d declared so confidently that there was a way to defeat that monster. For someone like Selene, spotting the contradiction in my words would be no surprise.
“I’m asking if that was the case.”
Just like now.
“Answer me! Right now!”
Selene’s face was twisted in near-rage. Her feint of lowering her weapon before attacking must have come from realizing the very premise of my words was flawed.
In truth, when scrutinizing the facts, I had lied first, so I had no real defense if pressed on it. I didn’t want to deny it outright.
But I couldn’t raise my voice in kind either, so I tried to stay calm and shift the conversation’s focus.
“That’s not what matters now. What matters is that a method exists.”
“A method? A way that doesn’t require the Pope of the Moon to sacrifice herself? Ridiculous. Why should I believe the words of someone who’s whispered lies from the start?”
The rapier’s tip aimed at me again. As I dodged, it pierced the long marble bench with a thud, going straight through.
Selene yanked the sword out roughly and gritted her teeth as she shouted.
“Did you think we haven’t tried anything? That we’d meekly accept our fate and burn ourselves alive to save one life? Is that truly what you thought?”
“Of course not. I know you’ve tried a great many things.”
“What do you know—!”
“First, the Pope of the Sun tried to subjugate the monster alone.”
Selene froze at my words. I pressed on without pause.
“Then the Popes together attempted it. Next, you all combined your powers. After that, you tried defeating it by transferring holy power without sacrificing lives.”
The rapier’s tip was still aimed at my throat, but it trembled wildly, obvious even at a glance.
“I know all of it.”
The “attempts” I mentioned were all directly referenced by the Pope in the game. They must have unfolded the same way here.
“You tried countless other ways to defy fate, but they all failed. That’s why even the Pope of the Moon believes fate can’t be changed and has chosen to sacrifice herself as per the revelation. Isn’t that right?”
“......”
Selene’s face drained of color this time, utterly defeated. She let the rapier fall limply from her hand.
Just as the monster’s existence itself was top secret, the fact that the Heresy Adjudicator, Heresy Interrogator, and even the Popes of the Holy Kingdom had personally tried to subjugate it was an absolute secret among secrets.
Of course, they all failed. They couldn’t even enter the boss room, and the best they managed was holding back the Abyss’s corruption with their full-powered holy barriers.
Though it was a failed subjugation, all four participants were the types who would never betray their oaths or faith. And there were only four involved.
In other words, no one except those four should have known that the Popes had combined forces to subjugate the monster beneath the Holy Kingdom.
It should have been that way.
“How... how could you even know that...?”
“There is definitely a way to subjugate that monster, Inquisitor.”
I met the gaze of her jade-green eyes, which were shaking violently.
“Look at this.”
I held up the back of my left hand in front of her eyes.
Her purple eyes, filled with a storm of emotions, turned to the rune tattoo etched on my hand. Beyond the tattoo symbolizing the Vitality Enhancement Rune, another intertwined with it.
“This is the key. With this rune I obtained from the Rune Dungeon’s depths, we can enter the Abyss without any resistance.”
“...Is that truly possible?”
“Why would I lie in this situation?”
“B-but... that’s impossible...”
“Impossible?”
“It’s a monster that the Heresy Adjudicator, I, and even Their Holinesses failed to subjugate. A monster even our gods couldn’t touch. How could you alone...?”
“I never expected to hear that from you, Inquisitor. You’ve seen everything I’ve done so far.”
Selene flinched. I smiled lightly and continued.
“When an emperor showed such great interest in a mere new knight from the empire’s frontier that you had to come all the way to the empire yourself to invite me to the Holy Kingdom—did you think that possible?”
“......”
“Having holy power without faith—was that possible?”
“......”
“Collapsing the Rune Dungeon that the Holy Kingdom failed to conquer multiple times, all by myself and returning—was that possible?”
“......”
“Priestess Lucia, who fell into the dungeon depths over a decade ago, returning to the Sun—was that possible?”
“......”
Selene couldn’t respond to any of it. I hadn’t exaggerated or fabricated; I’d simply stated plainly what I’d done.
Yet they were all but impossible feats. Still, I’d already proven they were possible—here I was, alive and talking.
“I’ll be the judge of what’s possible, Inquisitor. And right now, I’m saying subjugating that monster alone is entirely possible.”
“......”
Selene’s eyes grew even more vacant than before. She couldn’t blindly believe me, nor completely disbelieve—caught in limbo.
“I understand your feelings. You’re still anxious. I’m not asking you to trust me right away.”
It was a process of uprooting all prior trust and rebuilding from scratch. I hadn’t expected a few words to convince her.
“Instead, I’ll prove my words.”
“...How, exactly?”
Selene finally spoke. I smiled lightly and replied.
“The method to smash that monster. I’ll explain it all in detail from now on.”
‘May you find peace in the arms of the gods.’
After offering a prayer that lasted several hours, Stella slowly rose. Her knees had been bent the entire time, but her legs didn’t ache or go numb.
Her heart hurt more instead. Guilt over Lucia, who had suffered in the Abyss for so long, and over her own failure to protect her.
Yet gratitude was firmly rooted in one corner of her heart.
‘That gracious soul.’
Their first meeting had been disastrous. Stella had arbitrarily branded an innocent person a heretic.
Considering how heretics were treated in the Holy Kingdom, it was akin to hurling profanities at someone’s parents.
Having to undergo a heresy judgment because of it—Stella couldn’t even imagine the humiliation the man must have felt. She had no words, even ten mouths wouldn’t suffice.
But he had acted as if nothing happened, granting Lucia peace. He’d even given Stella a chance to say goodbye—something she hadn’t done in over a decade.
Repaying that grace seemed impossible to fathom.
‘...If there’s anything you desire, anything at all.’
Stella vowed inwardly, offered a final prayer to Lucia’s holy catalyst, and turned.
—Knock knock.
A knock came from outside, perfectly timed.
“What is it?”
“A guest has arrived.”
“A guest...?”
“Yes. Knight Delta and Inquisitor Selene.”
Hearing those names, Stella felt her heart beat a little faster. Calming her pounding heart, she asked in an even tone.
“Did they say what their purpose is?”
“They said they couldn’t tell us.”
Something they couldn’t tell the battle nuns and priests. Whatever it was, Stella instinctively knew it was extremely important.
“Understood. Prepare a seat; I’ll be right out.”
“Yes.”
The footsteps receded. Stella quickly straightened her clothes and hair, then walked lightly toward where the two were waiting.