Secret Arts? What's So Hard About That? (1)

The Secret Art.

It was the special technique inherited by each of the Great Houses, and when it came to the Secret Arts of the Five Faiths, their power bordered on the unimaginable.

The Red Faith wielded the 'Secret Art of Heretic Slaying,' which annihilated enemies of the church. The Gold Faith possessed the 'Secret Art of Absolute Dominion,' which could summon a god itself. Each Secret Art worked differently, but all of them were, in essence, the beating heart of their respective faiths. Which was exactly why the Blue Faith, unable to use its own Secret Art, was dismissed as a house cut in half.

That was how the other faiths sneered at them.

Of course, the power of Eli, the head of House Eshua, was overwhelming. No one could seriously imagine that a man like him was helpless without the Secret Art. Even so, there was a limit. From the 7th-tier demons upward, retreat became practically mandatory — and the Blue Faith could never bring itself to abandon its Secret Art for good.

And sure enough, the moment talk of the Secret Art arose, the Eshua main house erupted into chaos. Good grief — the head of the house had only just declared his heir a little while ago, enough to make everyone faint, and now what was this?

"The Pope made that kind of offer?"

"So Lady Kina didn't come here just to visit!"

"The Secret Art of a lost bloodline!"

The council of elders shrieked at Eli, eyes practically rolling back into their heads.

"Head of the house, this is enormous."

"This is our chance to settle the Blue Faith's oldest wish at last!"

The Blue Faith had lost the ability to use its Secret Art precisely 150 years ago, when the Skeleton Demon King was struck down by the gods and vanished. In the immediate aftermath, House Eshua suffered a string of mysterious deaths, countless holy relics were stolen, and the Blue Secret Art disappeared along with everything else.

"We can no longer connect with our god. Lady Melissa, who still remembered fragments of the Secret Art, managed to restore part of it, but..."

"Even that restoration was never complete. That period was Eshua's darkest age, after all."

And now the Pope was offering to make the Secret Art usable again.

"Does he truly demand the reclamation of the holy site in exchange?"

"There's no other condition?"

At the elders' questions, Isaac flinched.

He had already heard everything from Kina, so there was no way he couldn't know. Among the Pope's proposed conditions, besides reclaiming the holy site, there was another option: the return of the Supreme God.

And what would happen if the family found that out? He didn't need eyes in the back of his head to see it.

Sure, the Supreme God had far greater latent value than some Secret Art. But Isaac was hardly the only person in the world who could see into the future.

'There will absolutely be people who argue it's better to hand the Supreme God to the Pope and call it a win-win for everyone.'

From their perspective, whether Isaac could actually wield the Supreme God was far from certain. What was more, Noel's people already regarded Isaac and his Supreme God as an obstacle. If it were them, they'd hand the Supreme God over without a second thought, retrieve the Secret Art, and gut Isaac's influence in one stroke.

And right on cue, the head of the house answered the curious crowd without a moment's hesitation.

"The reclamation of the holy site. Those were the only terms offered. Nothing else."

"!"

Hearing that, Isaac shot his grandfather a sidelong glance — are you sure about that? But Eli only answered with his eyes.

'You've heard it from Kina, I know. But pretend you heard nothing at all.'

Eli understood. The instant it became known that the Supreme God was part of the deal, young Isaac would find himself crushed under pressure from Noel's faction. Rillai was not the kind of man who would put his grandson in danger.

Soon the people of the Blue Faith were clicking their tongues in consideration.

"The land of the True Demons is certainly dangerous. But if all we have to do is retrieve an object, it's worth attempting."

"Agreed. We should summon every priest of the Blue Faith at once—"

"No need. There's no reason to call back the ones stationed abroad."

"Then a small elite force, we could—"

It was Rillai who rose to his feet. But the moment he stepped forward, commander of the Blue Faith's knight order, the Killer Whales, the head of the house shook his head.

"I know that land well. There's no need for any of you to go."

Everyone was stunned.

"Father, surely you don't mean to go alone?! That is the land of the True Demons!"

"Fetching a single object — how hard can that be? I'll be fine."

No, no, no, Grandpa. You will NOT be fine.

Isaac furrowed his brow. Nobody alive understood the power of the True Demons better than he did.

'Well, a man like Grandpa could hold his own against several True Demons at once, I suppose...'

Exactly. The True Demons had given even Isaac himself plenty of headaches back in the day.

'Bastards. I broke my back grinding those vermin into the dirt. Hah...'

To be clear, it wasn't that they were strong — the Skeleton Demon King's power was overwhelming, so raw strength was never the problem. The problem was that those dogs fought like the dirtiest of street thugs.

'There's a very high chance Grandpa dies.'

And ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even if he survived, he might carry wounds that would force him to step down as head of the house for good.

Of course, Eli knew all of that too. He knew exactly what a rotten deal this was.

The only reason he hadn't refused outright was the future of the Blue Faith — and the Pope knew that perfectly well. That was the whole point of the offer. To kill Isaac's grandfather.

And if that wasn't the goal, then it was about snatching away the Supreme God to stunt Isaac's growth.

Yes. That was exactly it. The Pope was precisely that kind of man.

'Well, if he absolutely insists on going, I could send Shavnak along...'

But Isaac hated the idea of dancing to the Pope's tune. So instead of forbidding it outright, he threw a bucket of cold water over the whole discussion.

"Even if we do reclaim the holy site, is that Pope bastard actually going to hand over the Secret Art?"

"Isaac!"

Rillai nearly had a heart attack at the contemptuous way Isaac referred to the Pontiff himself, but Isaac couldn't have cared less.

"Why does the Pope even have the Blue Faith's Secret Art in the first place?"

Finally Noel's eyes bulged, and he snapped.

"Isaac, it seems a little success has gone to your head. Every word out of your mouth drags House Eshua through the mud. If you don't want to be thrown out, learn to behave."

At that look of know your place, the head of the house raised one eyebrow.

"What. I call the Pope a bastard too. Should I leave this house as well?"

"Father!"

"...Head of the house!"

"If you're here to waste time on pointless arguments, leave."

"......"

"But since everyone's so curious, I'll tell you. Centuries ago, the God of Light hurled a power at the scepter — a single strike. That is what the Pope keeps in his possession."

Isaac let out an empty laugh.

Just how devastating a blow could a god throw, that that thing was being called a Secret Art...

"It is said that with that power, the God of Light shattered the skull of the Skeleton Demon King, who sat upon the scepter."

...Oh.

In that instant, cold sweat trickled down Isaac's spine as something surfaced in his memory.

Oh... don't tell me. Is that... that time?

Oh... so THAT'S why my head was ringing for weeks?

'I stole his precious holy relic, played with it, and then lost it. That's all.'

Anyway, that wasn't the point.

Why?

Because that strike — the one the God of Light threw in a rare moment of pure insanity — was the Blue Secret Art!

But hearing all this, Isaac only grew more exasperated.

'That happened hundreds of years ago. You think it's still intact?'

More importantly — are they kidding me?!

'I destroyed most of that power ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠myself!'

How exactly would it still be lying around in one piece?!

Which meant, put plainly: yes, the Secret Art was technically usable — but it was a one-shot battery. Use it a few times and it was done.

In a word: a consumable.

A flash-in-the-pan power that would sputter out after one or two demonstration uses!

"With that power returned to us, House Eshua could reclaim its former glory."

No. Children. NO.

That is NOT it!

But he couldn't exactly stand up and say, 'Excuse me! I happen to know, being the Skeleton Demon King and all — that thing dies after one or two uses.' So Isaac said this instead:

"Honestly, I'm not convinced. That Grandpa needs to personally march into the land of the True Demons."

Noel shot him a disdainful look.

"Speaking as if you had any say in the matter."

Then the second son cut in immediately.

"Forgive my presumption, but I share Isaac's doubts."

"Benyamin!"

"An offer at exactly this moment? Their motives are written all over it. Those people know perfectly well Father would insist on going alone. And if anything were to happen to Father, the succession would be accelerated, wouldn't it? They intend to install a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠heir who suits their own tastes."

And who might that heir be?

Noel, of course.

Benyamin swallowed those words, but said coldly enough:

"The True Demons are far too strong."

"I also believe we should refuse the Pope's offer."

At Isaac's words, Noel laughed in disbelief.

"So what you're saying is — the Secret Art is within reach, and we should throw the chance away?"

"I'm saying it's not worth gambling our lives ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on something this uncertain."

Noel gave Isaac a look of pure contempt.

"The one who can't even use the Secret Art certainly has a loud mouth—"

"And what will you do if I can use it?"

"What?"

Noel froze, staring at the boy. What nonsense was this brat spouting now — and yet Isaac's lips were curling upward at the corners.

"I asked what you'll do if I use the Secret Art."

"You. Use it. Yourself?"

"Yes. Me."

Noel couldn't help but be thrown off balance.

What was with that certainty? A Secret Art no one had managed to wield in centuries — and this kid claimed he could just... use it?

But Isaac simply smirked. Kuk.

'That's right. In the end, as long as I can use the Secret Art, I can flip the Pope's whole proposal the bird.'

Ah. Right. I did.

He had no idea why something like that had been hidden away in a hazardous place like the Saintess Treasury of all things.

'It's not as if anyone was guarding it from me.'

Anyway, he had already committed every word written there to memory.

'The only reason I never used it is that its mandatory condition was never met.'

And what was that mandatory condition?

The power of the God of Blue, of course.

'Well, that's easily fixed — I just have to break the seal on the God of Blue.'

For the past ten years, he hadn't even been able to get an audience with the God of Blue, so there'd been nothing he could do about it. But now the situation was different. Time to snap the Pope's pride in half.

That was why Isaac could meet Noel's glare with eyes sparkling and a bright grin.

"If I can use the Secret Art, Uncle — will you give up your claim to be head of the house?"

"......!"

This brat?!

"Revive the Secret Art, and even the God of Blue will have no choice but to acknowledge the new head."

Whisper chimed in.

It's fine.

He likes me anyway.