Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Why Priests Are Late Bloomers
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Why are priests called late bloomers?
It was because "faith," the concept equivalent to magic's "mana" that is consumed when casting divine spells, employed an incredibly unique system.
The only way to recover faith was through natural regeneration. While stamina and mana could both be replenished with potions, there were no potions in Brutal 4 that restored faith.
The recovery speed was proportional to the faith stat and the divine power stat. The higher one's faith and divine power, the faster the natural recovery rate.
When both stats reached their maximum limit of 99, the recovery speed became so immense that it was practically impossible to deplete faith through normal means.
There was never any worry of running out of resources mid-battle. Divine spells could also heal stamina, and the faith spent on those recoveries filled back up right away.
Because of this unique system, high-level faith characters became complete monsters: able to cast spells virtually infinitely, with a massive variety of divine spells at their disposal, and damage output that was ridiculously high.
Low-level faith characters were the exact opposite. A couple of divine spells would trigger wise man time, they had only a handful of spells available, and even their damage was nothing special.
This was precisely why priests were called late bloomers.
—You annoying bastard!
It was also the reason I had to wait so long to reuse Eclipse.
Its tail swept across the floor. I rolled to dodge it and closed in right up to its front, swinging my bloodied sword at its calf. Thunk, thunk—sounds like striking wooden blocks rang out.
The Blessing enchant from Eclipse had long since worn off. Now was the time to trade blows moderately while waiting for my faith to build up.
I'd invested 10 points in divine power to extend buff durations, so natural recovery was at least possible. It just wasn't fast enough to perfectly time the next enchant.
I glanced up. I spotted its second hand from the right moving. An attack starting with the flail. The countermeasures flashed through my mind in sequence.
I rolled to evade the vertically smashing flail, then shifted my gaze not to the weight embedded in the floor, but to its left hand. The arm holding the blunt weapon was stretched out to the side. A horizontal sweep.
The moment the flail lifted up, the blunt weapon came flying. I swung my bloodied sword to deflect it. Boom! My body was pushed back a good distance. Naturally, its follow-up attack sliced through empty air.
Combat fatigue filled up to the max, making my limbs feel heavy. I shook out my numb hands lightly to settle the fatigue. My limp limbs regained their condition.
'Rolling has to come first no matter what. It's impossible to deflect and then roll away.'
With my current specs, the moment I deflected even one attack, the combat fatigue gauge maxed out, so I couldn't roll to dodge the next one after deflecting.
Mess up the order even once, and it was over.
—You little pest, so irritating. Just die already.
"You weren't originally this chatty, were you? Why are you yapping so much?"
It snorted in annoyance. I shot back without backing down.
Most bosses, excluding a few, only had a handful of lines: once in the cutscene, once more when phases changed to signal it, and once as a death cry.
The Creature Abandoned by God was no different—or so it should have been. But the one in front of me right now was ridiculously talkative. It had been incessantly griping about me dodging and to just croak already.
Unclear if it was trying to break my focus by constantly talking, or if its personality had changed.
—Originally? Do you even know what I originally was?
Boom! An axe slammed into the ground right beside me. I casually shifted my foot to dodge it by a hair and swung my sword as I replied.
"Of course I do. An ugly monster exiled by a god? In human society, they call that an orphan. Wonder if you knew that."
In fact, one of the nicknames players used for the Creature Abandoned by God was "orphan" or "orphan spawn." Community posts lamenting "How the hell do you beat this orphan spawn?" were everywhere.
The original name was awkward to shorten, too long to say outright, and the nickname was so fitting that it got called that way far more than by its proper name.
—You bastard!
As I widened the distance again, it hurled the flail from its right hand straight at me. I rolled to dodge. The flail crashed into the abyss, sending up a massive shockwave.
The flail embedded in the abyss melted into the ground and vanished. Instead, shadows drifting in the air gathered in its right hand, reforming the weapon.
"Not exactly wrong, is it?"
If my bloodied sword had Blessing enchant right then, it would've been prime free damage time, but sadly it didn't, so I leisurely kept my distance and waited for the next attack.
The reason I could afford to banter and toy with it like this was that right now, forcing close range for hits offered returns far outweighed by the risks.
I couldn't risk danger just to shave off 2 or 30 HP. Better to keep distance like this and bait out easy-to-dodge patterns.
After using Eclipse, sure, I'd throw caution to the wind and whale on it.
It lifted one foot in place. The instant I saw it, I prepared to roll to my right. Boom—its foot slammed the floor, and a massive tentacle erupted from my left.
The rising tentacle crushed the spot I'd been standing with a crunch. Of course, I'd already rolled a full turn and escaped far away.
In vanilla, you could walk-dodge it with good timing, but in Brutal mode, that'd turn you into a pancake on the spot.
—Crunch! Crunch!
And it could come twice more.
'It's been a decent amount of time, so why no reaction yet?'
I fiddled with the catalyst tied to my waist. Still no response. Faith was building up way slower than expected.
'At this rate, it might actually take over four hours to—huh?'
As I mentally readjusted my clear time estimate, a sudden sense of incongruity ran through my body. I looked down at the divine catalyst again. A faint golden light was emanating from it.
It meant my divine power had maxed out again.
……What?
"Look at that, Heresy Interrogator."
Stella, who had been pacing near the building, pointed somewhere. Her purple eyes, which had been blankly staring into space while slumped against the wall with her knees drawn up, slowly turned.
Her slender fingertip was pointing at the building that led to the underground of the Holy Kingdom—and the barrier.
"……The holy power is growing stronger?"
Selene instinctively grasped what Stella meant. The barrier surrounding the building was gradually reinforcing itself.
This was a barrier that had been maintained since the Holy Kingdom first detected that monster's existence. For it to suddenly change was a sign that something was happening inside.
But in all the years past, the barrier had never once grown stronger. The Holy Kingdom's archives had records of it weakening, but none of it strengthening.
For the first time ever, both Stella and even Selene stared back and forth between each other's faces and the building in bewildered confusion.
"How long has it been since the VIP entered?"
"30 minutes and 17 seconds."
"……Counting down to the second? How thorough. Anyway, it's clear the VIP is accomplishing something against that monster in there. Nothing else could cause this."
"I agree, Heresy Adjudicator."
Stella had personally experienced how immense the monster slumbering inside was.
The moment she laid eyes on the abyss contained within, her limbs stiffened rigidly. Not from fear or terror, but from some power that transcended human capability itself.
If the popes hadn't enveloped her body with divine power, she surely would've been dragged into the depths without even mounting proper resistance.
As a Heresy Adjudicator who had slain countless heretics and faced more demons than her fingers could count, she'd never felt so powerless as in that moment.
And yet, someone was fiercely holding their own against such a being. Thinking back now, it was only natural that Stella herself couldn't win in a spar.
"As expected, you were here, Heresy Adjudicator."
"……Your Holiness the Pope."
A surge of intense divine power from behind was accompanied by a voice full of compassion and mercy. In the Holy Kingdom, only two beings could wield divine power stronger than Stella's.
Stella turned her head. Selene had already dropped to one knee on the ground, bowing her head deeply in reverence.
"Lift your head, Heresy Interrogator. That is greeting enough."
"How could I dare before Your Holiness the Pope? I beseech you, pay no mind to the likes of me."
Selene kept her head bowed for nearly ten seconds before rising. In contrast to Stella's slight bow, it was worlds apart.
The Pope of the Sun approached the barrier. An arm draped in flowing sheer fabric extended forward. Tap—her delicate finger touched the barrier's surface. Floretta gently stroked along it.
"Your Holiness sensed the anomaly as well?"
"Yes. The barrier's maintenance is entirely our responsibility—how could we not notice? Not just me; the Pope of the Moon would have sensed it too. Nay, she likely feels it far more acutely than I."
"Then, the Pope of the Moon is…?"
At Selene's question, Floretta let out a soft chuckle and glanced slightly to the side. Something that had been there startled and vanished. The distorted space returned to normal.
Stealth that fooled even the senses of a Heresy Adjudicator and Interrogator, skill masterful enough to warp space at will. It was obvious whose gaze that was.
She had probably been observing here the moment the barrier strengthened—likely even before Floretta. Held back by her usual demeanor toward others, she hadn't descended in person.
But Floretta knew those outbursts and insults had been forced out. Actions taken to earn hatred deliberately, so that her sacrifice wouldn't sadden those left behind.
So they'd grieve a little less. Though she'd tried to act villainous in her own way, Floretta couldn't miss her true intentions.
Thus, Floretta decided to pretend not to notice this time as well.
"I wouldn't know."
With that reply, she felt the space that had just normalized subtly distort again. The smile on Floretta's face brightened further.
"……Well, no helping it. The Pope of the Moon doesn't open her heart easily."
*It seems half-open already, though.*
Floretta chuckled inwardly at Stella's response. The Pope of the Moon—her older sister—was surely watching over this place restlessly even now.
To the popes, revelation was that absolute a power and truth.
Just as Floretta had burst into tears upon hearing the revelation's interpretation, realizing salvation was near, the Pope of the Moon was undoubtedly pinning her last hope on that new knight, no matter her outward appearance.
If she truly didn't believe the revelation, she wouldn't be watching like this. Thinking of her sister peeking out from the cathedral warmed Floretta's lips into a smile.
"I shall wait here as well, Heresy Adjudicator."
"Eh…… Truly? Are you sure?"
"What reason would there be not to?"
Floretta gave Stella a benevolent smile, then clasped her hands in prayer before the door. Hoping her prayers might aid that savior, even a little.
The silver-gray figure secretly watching the scene also quietly clasped her hands.