One Step Forward
The powerful, bizarre objects unearthed from deep dungeons and forgotten frontiers were revered by the Church of the Goddess as holy relics. To my eyes, however, they were simply artifacts.
Artifacts with high-tier performance, guaranteed to be of at least Unique grade.
There was no way in hell I could pass that up. Even if I didn't end up wielding it myself, simply handing it over to the game's protagonist later down the line would make for monumental support.
—Hmm, a sacred relic...
The Pope stroked his beard, his face clouded in contemplation.
—As compensation for resolving our current predicament, I suppose the request is fair. However, it shall be granted only if Perdio Hadim is restored whole and sound, and the Demon King's fragment is extracted without incident. Is that acceptable to you?
"Y-Your Holiness?!" Cecilia shrieked, her voice pitching high in sheer disbelief.
And understandably so. The Church treated its sacred relics as literal remnants of the Goddess left behind in the mortal realm. Because of that, the protocol required to remove one from the premises—or to loan it to an outsider—was maddeningly strict and convoluted. In fact, a procedure to formally transfer 'ownership' didn't exist at all. By their doctrine, every sacred relic was already the rightful property of the Goddess, meaning no mortal creature possessed the right to lay claim to it.
No matter how vast the Pope's authority, offering up a relic was nothing short of unprecedented.
"Hmm. You're serious?"
—Naturally, transferring ownership is out of the question. However, through the Goddess's boundless benevolence, granting a temporary loan is entirely within my power. For, say, roughly one hundred years.
"Not bad." I smirked and bobbed my head. "We have a deal. The relic I want is the Void Footsteps."
—...That is impossible.
"What? That wasn't the agreement."
—There must be limits, young man. If you take that, the Church's administrative operations will grind to a catastrophic halt.
The Void Footsteps was a Legendary-grade artifact shaped like a pair of boots, capable of opening warp gates spanning the continent with zero cost or penalty. In short, slip those boots on, and you could travel wherever you wanted, whenever you wanted. The Holy See almost certainly relied on them to ferry troops and supplies across vast distances.
"Tsk... Fine. Then how about the Infinite Pouch?"
—Ho-ho-ho. That, too, is out of the question.
"So nothing works. At this rate, we might have to scrap this negotiation and start over from scratch."
—What cannot be done simply cannot be done.
I scowled at the Pope's unyielding tone. Was he seriously valuing that spatial sack above the life of Cardinal Perdio Hadim and a Demon King's fragment? Beneath that gentle, grandfatherly facade lurked the heart of a shameless miser. The Infinite Pouch was a Unique-grade relic featuring endless interior storage. Stashing and retrieving all manner of supplies would have been ridiculously convenient, making it a stellar support item for the protagonist. But apparently, that was off the table as well.
"Is that so...? Then what about the Path Touching the Stars?"
—The Path Touching the Stars? Hmm... My apologies. Our Church possesses no relic by that name.
"...You don't? For real?"
I narrowed my eyes and glared through the crystal sphere. Yet the Pope merely nodded with untroubled serenity.
—Indeed. No matter how thoroughly I search my memory, no such relic exists within our vaults. Could you perhaps have mistaken the name?
"Cut the crap, old man... Wait."
Come to think of it, hadn't that relic been introduced in a later DLC expansion? If so, it made complete sense that they didn't have it yet. Securing it in the game involved an agonizingly long, convoluted chain of quests—not to mention lethal danger.
"Right. You don't have it. Hehehe...!"
A chuckle slipped past my lips at the realization that I could potentially snag a phenomenal Legendary relic all for myself down the road.
—Ahem... Is there another relic you desire?
"Ah, my bad. Let's see... In that case, how about the Invitation of the Forgotten?"
—...If it is that, I could lend it to you this very moment. However, it is fraught with grave peril. Are you certain? More than thirty paladins have entered that trial never to return.
"No problem. I'll take that as my reward."
—Very well. In that case, may I hear the solution at once? I may project an air of calm, but our situation is rather dire.
"Hmm... You're not going to milk me for information and then skip out on the bill, are you?"
—Ho-ho-ho... The crystal sphere we are using happens to possess an automatic visual and audio recording function...
"Fair enough. That works. All right, there are two approaches: a quick and simple way, and a slow, complicated one. Which do you want to hear?"
The quick and simple method utilized relics and raw divine power, whereas the slow, complicated path was the procedure discovered by mages and alchemists.
—You possess two separate solutions? Would it be possible to hear them both?
"Then a single Invitation of the Forgotten isn't going to cover the bill. Toss in another sacred relic and I might consider it."
—...The quick and simple method, if you please.
"Right. First of all..."
I laid out the procedure step by step. Both the Pope and Cecilia, who stood eavesdropping at my side, gasped in sheer horror, but as my supplementary explanation filled in the theoretical gaps, their stunned expressions gradually shifted toward comprehension.
—...Thank you, Young Master Stanasila Aljen.
"Think nothing of it. I wish you the best of luck."
When I finally wrapped up with formal, polite honorifics, a faint, wry smile crossed the old pontiff's face. After severing the transmission, I gathered the crystal sphere and saw Cecilia and Wendy off as they prepared to depart in a hurry.
"If you ever get curious about anything else, come find me. I'll tell you pretty much whatever you want to know."
"Ha! In your dreams! I hope I never have to see your face again!"
It seemed I was thoroughly lodged in her bad books. Glaring daggers at me with a haughty pout, she nevertheless offered a crisp, impeccably polite bow before sweeping out of the room.
Deep within the Papal Headquarters of the Holy See, an oppressive hush smothered an isolated, secret chamber.
"Your Holiness, will this method truly work?"
"Stanasila Aljen is an infamous delinquent. No matter his exploits during the war or the wild rumors trailing his name... to dispatch the Saintess entirely on your own authority was..."
Faced with the cardinals' sharp reproaches, the Pope merely offered an apologetic, troubled smile and shook his head.
"We are hardly in a position to be picky. Every second counts. And besides, we now possess a method, do we not?"
"A method that requires severing Perdio Hadim's head! Can we truly place our faith in such madness?"
"It is far more than mere decapitation. If you men did not believe it held promise, would you have assembled in this chamber at all?"
"Be that as it may... it feels far too brutal."
"E-Excuse me..."
From amidst the gathered elders, a small, pale hand rose hesitantly.
"I believe we can trust him."
It was Cecilia. Meeting her unclouded, crystal-clear gaze, the cardinals exchanged puzzled glances.
"Do you possess any evidence to support such conviction, Saintess?"
"It is simply my intuition."
"Intuition, you say..."
"The Saintess's intuition cannot be lightly dismissed, but still..."
"Moreover... that is not all. Would everyone please look into my eyes?"
"Your eyes? Why would we suddenly... Gasp?!"
"Brother, what is the matter? Is there something wrong with the Saintess's—Hk?!"
Every soul who met the Saintess's gaze froze dead in their tracks. Within her brilliant golden irises, something entirely transcendent of physical space sat superimposed. It seemed at once like a beam of pure luminescence, a perfect circular aperture into the infinite, and a lingering afterimage of cosmic majesty. It was an unmistakable, alien miracle—yet without a second thought, every single person present dropped to their knees in absolute, trembling reverence.
Even the Pope bowed low. For resting within those golden eyes was a presence of supreme divinity—a great, familiar, and endlessly beloved sovereign.
"Now that you have seen, you must feel it... Yes. The Goddess Herself is watching over this chamber at this very moment."
"Good heavens...!"
"To think the matter was of such monumental gravity...!"
"Did the Goddess bestow any words upon us?!"
"Regrettably, She has spoken no words. Yet every fiber of my being screams at me to believe Stanasila Aljen. That, surely, is the sign our Goddess has chosen to send."
"If so... we have no choice but to place our faith in it."
"To have the Goddess walking beside us... What greater glory could there be...!"
Right at that moment, a guttural groan roiled from the center of the chamber. It sounded like grinding iron plates, like the sickening crunch of crushed insects, like foul pus bursting forth under unbearable pressure. It was an unnatural, grotesque noise that no human vocal cords should ever have been capable of producing.
Drawn by that dreadful sound, the eyes of the cardinals, the Holy Knight Commander, and the Pope snapped toward the elderly man lying on the stone bier. He was a veteran warrior with broad, tiger-like features, his frame packed with dense muscles that resembled slabs of stone. Yet what held everyone's horrified gaze was the demonic horn jutting violently from his skull and the pitch-black discoloration crawling across his flesh. From those unnatural corruptions billowed thick, rancid fumes of demonic energy.
"Ugh..."
"Nngh..."
Even though they had witnessed it multiple times already, the holy men could not suppress quiet groans compounded of rage, shock, and primal dread. The sight of a human turning into a demon was terrifying enough on its own, but for the victim to be a cardinal of immense divine power was an abomination they could scarcely stomach. It was an impossible nightmare that should never have come to pass.
"Just what kind of entity is a Demon King...?"
"Merciful Goddess..."
For those who had dedicated their entire lives to the faith, it struck at the absolute core of their spiritual foundation. Could even the most devout faith succumb to corruption? Could foul evil and dark malice invade and tear through a vessel overflowing with the Goddess's divine grace? Could their lifelong devotion and the sacred teachings be denied so effortlessly?
"...Let us begin. If his body undergoes any further degeneration, we will be forced to carve it into even more pieces."
"Whew. Very well. We cannot afford to display disgraceful hesitation before the Goddess's gaze."
"Goddess above... Look down upon us, your humble servants, and grant us your glorious strength and radiant light..."
Gritting their teeth, they took their stances. Severing temptation, doubt, and fear was second nature to ascetic practitioners such as them, but more importantly, what they were about to attempt represented the sole ray of hope capable of purging the root of their terror. With the Goddess Herself watching through the Saintess's eyes to witness that hope unfold, failure was simply not an option.
"Though hardship and trials block our path, though despair and ruin clutch at our hearts, stepping forward toward a single ray of hope is what we call courage..."
As they chanted the sacred verses in hushed, solemn tones, pure divine power began to pour from their bodies, bathing the confined chamber in blinding brilliance.
"I shall activate the relic."
"Proceed."
When one of the cardinals invoked the holy treasure, the room—already brimming with sacred energy—ascended to an even higher tier of sanctification. Temporary though it was, a divine sanctuary had expanded across the chamber.
"Invoking the next relic."
"Understood. The task is yours, Holy Knight Commander."
The commander hoisted a massive wooden stake, centering its sharp tip directly over Perdio Hadim's chest.
"...Commencing."
Without waiting for a reply, the commander threw his entire body weight into the strike, driving the stake home.
Crunch!
The sickening crack of splintering bone echoed off the stone walls alongside the wet tear of tough, fibrous muscle. It was an unmistakable mortal wound, piercing straight through the sternum and impaling the heart. Yet miraculously, not a single drop of blood spilled forth.
"Cardinals! Sustain Cardinal Hadim's life force with everything you have!"
"Yes, Your Holiness!"
"Haaah!"
Every cardinal channeled their divine energy to its absolute limit, weaving it into high-efficiency sacred rites and pouring the cascade into Perdio Hadim's frame. In a body whose heart was shattered—one that should have perished instantly—blood continued its rhythmic circuit, and breath still filled the lungs. But the miracle did not end there. A hazy, translucent luminescence began to ripple across his entire form, gradually gathering and anchoring itself around the wooden stake.
"It is done! His soul has bound to the stake! Commander!"
"Understood! Drawing sword! Everyone, prepare yourselves!"
Without an instant's hesitation, the Holy Knight Commander drew his blade and executed a swift, minimalist slash.
Swish.
The cardinals and the Pope barely registered the arc of the steel. They only knew the blow had landed when a hairline crimson thread traced itself across Perdio Hadim's throat.
"Hmph!"
Moving like lightning, the Pope lunged forward, seized Perdio Hadim's severed head, and hoisted it into the air. In a single breath, the head and torso were completely parted.
"O Goddess! Grant us an iron cage to receive the repentance of the irreverent and pass judgment upon the fallen!"
The Pope unleashed his titanic reserve of divine power, conjuring a formidable holy barrier that collapsed inward like a vice, sealing Perdio Hadim's severed head inside an airtight prison of sacred light.
SKREEEECH! SKRAAAAUGH!
A fraction of a second too late, the Demon King's fragment realized the trap and erupted in frantic rage. The severed head's eyes bulged wide, its jaw unhinged in a silent scream, and from the cross-section of its neck, a roiling mass of tentacles and putrid flesh bubbled violently into existence. A wave of suffocating demonic energy expanded like a detonating bomb.
"Nnngh... Ugh...!"
Cold sweat instantly drenched the Pope's brow. Yet the others could offer him no assistance. An equally critical task remained on the stone bier.
"Commander!"
"Haaap!"
At the Saintess's cry, the Holy Knight Commander wrenched the wooden stake from the headless corpse. With its anchor removed, the crumpled, concentrated mass of the soul began to unfurl, reaching out to reshape itself across its bodily vessel.
"Huuu... O Goddess, hear my prayer."
Before the soul could fully expand, the Saintess clasped her hands, and her whispered plea sparked an outright miracle. Flesh, bone, and sinew surged in a blur of blinding regeneration; in the blink of an eye, both a brand-new heart and an unblemished head reconstituted atop the torso. Perdio Hadim's soul settled smoothly into the pristine vessels, sensing no irregularity whatsoever.
"Ugh... Cough! *Hack! Cough...?!*"
"It worked! He's alive!"
"I knew the theory was sound, but to think it would actually succeed!"
"The body is the vessel of the soul, and the soul is the true identity of the body! A death of which the soul remains unaware is no death at all! To witness that profound hypothesis proven before our very eyes!"
"Now is not the time for academic marvels! We must seal the Demon King's fragment! Aid His Holiness at once!"
Seeing Perdio Hadim cough violently back to life, the cardinals rallied to the Pope's side, focusing the full might of their divine arts into the barrier.
SKREEEEEECH...! KRAAAUGH...!
No matter how terrifying the entity from which it originated, a mere splinter of a Demon King could not withstand the tidal deluge of sacred power flooding a consecrated sanctuary. The corrupted flesh and warped bone dissolved into a purifying vapor, melting away until only a fist-sized, pulsing orb remained.
"Nngh...! Goddess above, look upon your humble servants with mercy and shower us in your glorious light...!"
"Here stand your faithful servants! Grant us light to banish the dark, light to steady our trembling limbs...!"
"We beseech the Mother of all creation! Grant us the light to conquer the fallen, and grant us unshakable spirits...!"
With their unified prayers, another blinding cascade of divine light crashed downward. The Demon King's fragment hurled itself repeatedly against the barrier in a frenzy of defiance, but under the relentless pressure, it compressed smaller and smaller until it shrank to the size of a fingernail, freezing into total immobility.
"*Pant, pant...!* W-We did it!"
"At long last...!"
"We have secured the Demon King's fragment!"
"*Cough!* Ugh... What in heaven's name is going on here...?"
"Ooh! Hadim! You're finally awake! If you knew what we had to put you through, you'd faint right back into a coma!"
"Bwahahaha! That is definitely a tale that requires a stiff drink!"
And so, for the first time in recorded history, humanity had secured an intact piece of a Demon King. It was, without question, a monumental step forward.
The Goddess Herself bestowed Her personal praise upon their triumph.
"Ah..."
As the divine presence dwelling within her receded, Cecilia collapsed weakly to the floor, struck by a staggering sense of emptiness.
"Ah...! O Goddess...!"
"It was all thanks to the Goddess's divine guidance that we prevailed!"
"What glorious grace...! To hear the Goddess's true voice with my own ears!"
Swept up in a frenzy of tears and joy, the holy men lost all track of time, embracing one another in tearful laughter and heartfelt praise.
"...What the hell is all this ruckus about?"
Only Perdio Hadim, freshly restored to life, scratched his head with a thoroughly bewildered grimace.