The Saint's Awakening (9)
The crowd stirred, visibly shaken.
"Isn't that the Light of Awakening?"
"How could the Light of Awakening appear when the god is dead...!"
No — as it happened, none of that was what actually mattered.
"Why is the Light of Awakening falling on those two as well?"
"Even if an awakening were to happen, it should only happen to the Saintess!"
They looked at the Eshua people as if demanding an explanation, but Benjamin and Joseph were every bit as bewildered as they were.
Eli, witnessing the phenomenon for the first time, had his eyes wide open in rare astonishment.
There was no way he could fail to recognize that light. Above all, its form closely resembled the records passed down in the apocryphal scriptures. No — the light was incomparably stronger than anything those records had described...!
Flash!
Just as everyone stood speechless, something astonishing occurred. Leah's holy power began surging upward with terrifying speed.
KA-CRACK!
"Gyaah!"
The overwhelming sacred energy forced the bystanders back, shielding their eyes. It was the kind of power that would torment anyone harboring even the slightest impure thought.
Whisper, too, was screaming like a madman.
Good. Go get yourself purified while you're at it.
Not dying, thanks for asking.
If anything, he'd sooner swallow this power whole.
Still, even Isaac had to admit it was impressive. Well, compared to his own strength it was downright adorable, but...
So the difference before and after awakening is really this dramatic?
Then again, it might simply have been because the method of awakening was different.
Originally, it was supposed to be the God of Awakening who granted the awakening — and a cheap thug demanding living sacrifices was hardly going to power anyone up in good faith.
Come to think of it, he probably only upgraded half the power.
After all, Saintesses had to keep being produced so that he could keep collecting his living sacrifices.
Lesser gods bound to succession and inheritance really do fall easily.
The Gold priests stared at Leah as if they couldn't believe their eyes. Leah's holy power had always been formidable, but this feeling of power...
Demigod?
It resembled the aura he'd felt from the Pope — and they immediately smacked their own foreheads.
As if that could possibly be true!
Besides, the real problem right now wasn't her.
Flash!
Dammit, why is the Light of Awakening bursting out of those two as well!
Benjamin was the particular problem.
Joseph was, as far as they knew, around 3rd Tier at least — but Benjamin was a worthless invalid who couldn't use holy power at all.
The priests hadn't been mocking him for nothing. They tolerated his presence in clerical society only because he was clever; by rights he'd have been expelled long ago and deserved it.
And yet...
What is this? Why can I sense holy power from a defective Rank 0?
Alarmed by the sight, the Gold Cardinal shouted.
"This is not a normal process!"
"What?"
"This is no legitimate awakening — they are stealing divine power! All three of you, stop them! Put an end to it!"
"!"
At the Cardinal's cry, the priests' expressions hardened.
An awakening interrupted by an attack would be severed. Worse — the moment of awakening was the most defenseless state imaginable, and a body struck down in it could be rendered forever unable to use holy power.
It was a cowardly move, to be sure, but if they were stealing divine power, there was nothing to forgive! The very instant the priests trained their sights on Benjamin and Leah—
KRRRRUMBLE!!
"?!"
Blue lightning came pouring down. The strike was so ferocious it gouged the ground, and the priests staggered back, nearly falling over in shock.
But what stunned them more was the identity of the one who had unleashed it.
"Lay a single fingertip on my children, and see what happens."
"...!!"
At that murderous voice, the priests turned to Benjamin in disbelief.
They had no choice — this holy art was...
The 6th Tier holy art, ?!
No — judging by the raw power alone, it was far stronger. For a moment there, he'd mistaken it for a holy art cast by the Lord of House Blue himself.
But how could a Rank 0 defective wield a holy art meant only for high-ranking clergy...!
In that instant, the Gold Cardinal's face stiffened rapidly.
Could the Skeleton King's curse have been broken?
The Eshua bloodline had always been capped at low tiers or outright powerless because of the Skeleton King's curse. Only once that curse was lifted could they properly exercise the bloodline power of one of the Five Great Families.
Which was why the high-ranking priests could only gape at him, trembling. Wasn't this the same Benjamin they'd always mocked as a powerless invalid, a "Rank 0 defect clinging to clerical society"?
And then—
Don't tell me the curse really is broken?
Did the power of awakening suppress the Skeleton King's curse?
More precisely, it seemed the awakening had forcibly raised their tiers. A power strong enough to lift someone from 9th Tier to 10th Tier would raise a Rank 0 to 6th Tier without breaking a sweat.
But even so, a holy art of that caliber...?
No, wait — it's possible.
There was no way a member of one of the Five Great Families had never received training in holy arts. As long as one could channel holy power, it was... possible—like hell it was?! Damn it all!
To cast at this scale in one go required steady, daily practice. Relentless study, practice, image training, and punishing, miserable repetition — for over a decade, even if, being unable to use holy power, none of it should have meant a thing.
Which left the priests in a state of total collapse.
Doesn't a powerless person usually never even open a holy arts manual?
Are these bastards perverts or something??
Anyway — none of that was the important part.
The one reason they could still look down on Eshua was that, unlike the other families, the direct bloodline of Eshua couldn't exercise their power.
But if three of them had their shackles undone at once...!
Dammit, what are we supposed to...!
The moment the priests' faces drained white, laughter burst out.
"Kehahahaha."
"...!!"
"Yes — that's the Blue Faith for you. Faith of patience, indeed."
It was Eli, laughing heartily — a rare sight. He looked to be in an exceptionally good mood, so unlike himself that the smile refused to leave his lips.
"So what was that? Who lacks the qualification?"
"...!"
The Gold Cardinal flinched.
Eli glared at the Cardinal with the eyes of a wolf.
"The awakening appears to have proceeded without issue, so nothing changes for the Five Faiths, then."
"Nonsense. This was mere coincidence—"
At that moment, Isaac snorted with laughter.
"Nope. Not a coincidence, actually?"
"!"
Isaac's eyes curved into crescents.
"Strange, isn't it? Kill a god, and suddenly people awaken. And not just one — several of them awakened, and their tiers rose, no less?"
"...!"
"How on earth did that happen? It's nothing like the conditions for a Saintess's awakening that we've always known??"
"...!!"
"You know, done right, this might mean it isn't just those three — every last member of House Eshua could power up. Hmm?"
"?!"
The entire House of Eshua?!
At Isaac's words, the Gold priests grew dizzy. They had planned to deal with Eshua this time for daring to overstep and attack the Pope.
"...Your Excellency!"
The Gold priests looked anxiously at their Cardinal.
But Isaac only chuckled — puh-huh-huh — as he sauntered toward the Gold Cardinal.
"Your Excellency. Thank you so, so much. If I use this, my own tier will rise too. And in a flash I could make it all the way to Cardinal — maybe even Pope, hm?"
Isaac clapped a hand lightly onto the Gold Cardinal's shoulder, grinning wickedly.
"You're practically shoving the Pope's family name into the Blue Faith's lap."
"!"
"What? Isn't it true?! Your Excellency Hirei will go down in the records as the peerless sage-king who raised up his own enemy! Oh, thank you, thank you ever so much! To think you hold the Blue Faith in such high regard — we have no way to repay your kindness, whatever shall we do?"
In that instant, sparks all but flew from the Gold Cardinal's eyes. Like brushing filth off a garment, he flung away the hand resting on his shoulder.
SLAP!
Then he unleashed a lethal holy art.
The brat's provocation was provocation enough — but if, by some chance, this actually let him awaken the way he'd hinted, it would become a genuine headache.
He had to be dealt with here and now.
And with the brat wounded and unable to use holy arts, this was the moment!
<One Instant Kill>.
Eli moved the moment he sensed that unprecedented killing intent — but the Gold one was just a hair faster.
And so, as the ultimate technique of the Gold Faith — the art of severing the breath of all who had been Excluded — moved to strangle Isaac's throat—
"...!"
The Gold Cardinal flinched at the sight of Isaac's face. For a fleeting instant, a certain woman's face had flashed across it.
Hirei Berit. Listen carefully. I will marry Adam Eshua.
The face of Isaac's mother had appeared over Isaac's. That face — identical to hers — made the Gold Cardinal grind his teeth. Then he released his holy art and whipped around.
"Recover the god's sacred remains!"
"Your Excellency?!"
"Analysis comes first. We must confirm what tricks those people have played..."
That was the moment.
KABOOM!!!
"!!!"
An explosion roared from the direction of the lake. They turned their heads to see the last remaining divine corpse blow apart, scattering into nothing but ash on the wind.
And the architect of that explosive blaze smiled with pure malice.
"Oh dear. It's all in pieces — nothing left for you to examine, I'm afraid."
That little bastard—?!
The Gold Cardinal glared at Isaac with bulging eyes. The Gold priests squeezed their eyes shut in mortification.
"Your Excellency...!"
"Head for Balag! Request elite forces from Balag!"
At those words, Isaac snorted.
Ah, Balag — he means House Black.
Not that it would change anything even if the Dukes of Black came in person.
And so the Gold Cardinal and his priests thundered off toward House Black. The only ones left at the ritual grounds were the people of Eshua.
Once they were gone, Isaac spoke to Leah.
"You're the Saintess now, so you can finally relax, huh."
"!"
"See? It worked without anyone having to die. That's why I told you to trust me."
At Isaac's words, tears like glass beads spilled down Leah's cheeks.
"Then... can I go see the Skeleton King now?"
...I'm sorry, what?
"Can I go see the Skeleton King as much as I want now? Without anyone dying?"
Just as a face full of question marks bloomed across Isaac's features, Joseph pressed a hand to his forehead.
"Cut her some slack. Leah's dream since she was little was to meet the Skeleton King. She grew up on Grandmother Melissa's stories."
...Son of a bitch! Melissa, what the hell did that woman tell a child?! That's why she's crying out of nowhere, bawling her eyes out!
"I can really see the Skeleton King?"
...You already are.
"I can really, truly go subjugate him? For real?"
Faced with those sparkling, wide-eyed eyes, Isaac answered grudgingly.
"Ugh... yeah. You can go now."
Overjoyed, Leah pulled Isaac into a crushing hug.
"I'm not handing the Skeleton King over to anyone. He's mine. I'm going to smash him to pieces."
Her grip tightened. Caught in her embrace, Isaac clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut.
Dammit, why are Saintesses all like this...!!
Joseph, seemingly in full agreement with Isaac's thoughts, shot her a withering look.
"Hey, are you insane? You finally got that kind of power and you want to smash the Skeleton King with it? What, does money fall out when you do?"
Isaac thrust a fist into the air.
A merchant through and through! Magnificent! Yes, someone needs to educate this Saintess properly!
"Forget smashing — you don't even leave the shape intact, you grind him up! Grind him to powder and you can sell him as powdered medicine in bigger batches, at a higher price — don't you know anything?!"
"......"
Speechless, Isaac turned to Benjamin, teeth still clenched.
"Thniffle. They're thaying thilly thingth."
At that murderous look of educate your children properly, Benjamin heaved a sigh.
"Right. Isaac's correct. Leah, Joseph — you no longer need to worry yourselves with any such mission. What meaning would it hold, coming this far? The awakening alone is a tremendous feat. If you're going to waste that power, you'd be better off spending it on the family — and on Isaac."
Isaac nodded his head vigorously.
That's the Benjamin I know...! You're the one I truly cher—
"Now that we have this power, I'll deal with that Skeleton King bastard myself!"
"........."
I... mother of god. This goddamn family.
I swear, one of these days I'm going to wipe every last one of these brats' line off the map.