111. The Stainer (5)
111. The Stainer (5)
My room was in a high place within the inner castle, tucked into a corner according to my wishes.
It had only been a few days, but that room where quiet music had always played was now silent.
"Don't be too tense."
The only thing to be heard was the ragged breathing of two people.
Both were steeped in fear alike, but while one was trying to hold her breath, the other seemed to be suppressing fury.
"What is your purpose? Who are you, and where do you come from?"
A sword hovered over Priestess Grace's throat, held by one of the baron's lady knights and Evangeline.
Amelia, the focus of Shue's gaze, was glaring at me.
She had to know that she herself could do nothing.
Even so, she had mustered her courage.
Courage was always rewarded, after all. With the truth, for example, or with a lesson.
"That is not what you ought to be asking me, Amelia."
When I spoke while scratching beneath her chin with my fingertip, Amelia retorted, her eyes filled with venom.
"Then, what should I be asking? Mysterious witch."
In this world as well, 'witch' was more of a slur than simply a term for a woman who used magic.
It denoted not a woman capable of magic, but a woman tainted by demons, or a female fanatic who believed in demons.
However, since I was, in reality, far worse than any such witch, I had no reason to take offense.
Wearing a faint smile, I whispered into her ear.
"Whether I truly intend to take your life and the lives of your family."
"...!"
Amelia's gaze momentarily clouded with fear and a premonition of dark futures.
A moment later, it sparkled again with wisdom and courage.
"If that were the case, there would be no need to sneak in so laboriously...!"
"There would be. The Demon Tribe greatly enjoys souls that die stained with betrayal and hatred, you see."
Whether devouring souls, enslaving them, or using them as generators for special chambers that wring out emotions.
The Demon Tribe liked souls twisted by being steeped in violent negative emotions. The nobler the soul had originally been, the more they liked it, of course.
I still could not fully understand it, but such souls seemed to readily stimulate the aesthetic sense or gluttonous appetite of the Demon Tribe.
So, what I was doing now, deceiving nobility like this, could also be regarded as preparing a sacrifice for the Demon Tribe.
"Do not move, Grace."
"...!"
The priestess, who had been listening as well, flinched and stopped as she was about to slip a hand into her bosom.
While still holding the chin of the one who should have originally inherited this citadel, I turned only my eyes to look at her.
I could almost hear the color drain from her face.
"I know who you are, priestess. Surely you did not think I was unaware of the thing you are hiding."
"Th-this is..."
I knew at least one thing they were conspiring to do: in the worst case, they intended to trigger an emergency signal held by the priestess.
"I have already made preparations. Not a single signal can escape from this citadel. Do not throw your life away in vain."
"Euk...!"
Grace tried to glare at me as Amelia did, but her expression was far from composed and remained deathly pale.
It seemed that while she did not lack a sense of duty as a priestess, she was either a considerable coward or greatly concerned with self-preservation.
That had been revealed by the sight of her powerlessly loosening her grip when Shue took that object from her.
"Here..."
"Thank you."
Shue, having retrieved the signal device from Grace's bosom, approached and handed it to me.
Ppajik!
The object, which had shown a strange resonance even in Shue's hand, emitted an even more intense repulsive force—something like an electric current—as soon as it entered my hand.
This was because it contained Holy Power.
'It resembles an egg.'
Its shape and texture were such that it seemed it would shatter immediately if dropped on the floor.
Trembling in my grasp as if it might break at any moment, I placed it onto a handkerchief on the table, and it quickly found stability.
Curiosity arose.
'Holy Magic, is it.'
Well. Even without this, magic always stimulated my curiosity.
Each and every instance was new and delightful, you see.
"It looks like an egg."
Grace's face had turned even whiter than before. Now it was as though she resembled a vampire's spawn or a zombie.
"..."
Yet even with such a face, there was a resolve about her that seemed at least prepared for death.
Though its depth was shallow, it seemed there was a need to stimulate something else.
"Answer the question. Before I torture you rather than kill you."
"That is a sacred beast's egg...!"
As soon as the baron's lady knight, having received my glance, pressed the sword against her thigh and urged her, Grace's mouth opened convulsively.
Did she know? That the lack of firmness in her resolve would save her.
In any case, my attention was drawn to the answer she vomited out.
"A connection (緣). A sacred beast, is it."
"Yes! It is an egg laid by a dove raised saturated with Holy Power. When broken, a chick is born that returns to its mother. While screaming loud enough to be heard throughout the vicinity."
"A connection (緣). A curious object, and a living creature."
Ppajik!
When I touched the egg again with my finger, the repulsive force I felt there gave a moderate tingle to my fingertips.
"... It wasn't a mistake..."
Grace, having seen that sight, pressed her lips into a straight line.
It was an expression of fear at learning the true meaning of this scene—the fact that I could touch it so nonchalantly.
Because this repulsive sensation, if directed at a weak member of the Demon Tribe or a follower, held enough force to collapse even a composed expression.
"What happens if I put power into this?"
"Ah, Holy Power greatly repels the power of your kind... so wouldn't it break? In the end, it would be no different from me activating it..."
"Is that so... Do you truly believe that?"
"No matter how strong the power of your kind is, our faith will not be defeated...!"
"Hmm."
'It seems doable.'
At that, I picked up the egg of the emergency-contact dove, said to grow by being fed Holy Power, and divided my power into two branches.
One branch seized the outer surface and interior of the egg, fixing it so it would not be destroyed, while the other was made to seep inside.
Suppressing the impact that threatened to shatter it from the repulsive force between Holy Power and the mana of the Demon Tribe, I burrowed deeper in, and deeper still.
I burrowed deeper.
"It's usele..."
"Quiet."
Beeep...
A brief, deep concentration that brought a ringing to my ears.
I marked coordinates upon the spiritual world and the outer planes, then transferred those coordinates into the negative world.
Holiness and wickedness became each other's inversion points, the coordinates of the real and imaginary flipped, and the source of the magic was reversed.
And as a result, what was born after finally releasing the force that held the egg's shell was—
- Caw...!
"It became a crow."
Not a sacred dove, but a single crow. A crow with only one purple feather atop its head.
If the clergy who believed Holy Power to be absolute and hostile to the power of the Demon Tribe had witnessed this phenomenon, they would have spoken thus:
'Good and evil have been inverted.'
What a laughable statement. That good and evil could be judged merely by difference of race.
- Caw caw caw.
"You're cute, little one."
The creature looked up at my face, then filled its tiny face and pitch-black eyes with deep goodwill and affection.
Though crows were said to be clever by nature, it was probably not an existence born with such high intelligence immediately after hatching.
Yet this child already recognized its master and was perched on my shoulder, acting affectionate.
It seemed to have directly inherited the Holy Art the Holy See applied to raise doves as a means of contact.
'I succeeded on the first try. I'm lucky.'
Interfering with a Holy Art was something I had attempted for the first time.
It was an intuitive feeling that this was possible, and when I executed it, it worked.
It would probably take a bit more time to construct this into a theory.
"It's female. Let's name her 'Mary.' As she is a demonic existence born from something sacred, the individual designation 'Trickster' would be fitting."
- Caw!
Mary was a name taken from Morrigan, the Celtic goddess that comes to mind when one thinks of crows.
The 'Mor' of Morrigan meant terror and greatness, sharing an etymology with 'Mare' of nightmare.
Also, crows were animals regarded as both sacred and ominous depending on the culture, and with a birth mingling holiness and demons, the individual designation 'Trickster' was suitable.
『Name - Mary』
『Title/Individual Designation - Trickster』
『Race - Trickster: A general term for those who cause mischief without distinguishing between good and evil. A demon beast in the form of a crow, created by Dungeon Lord 'Libertas.'』
As I gave the crow its name and individual designation, the summoned creature's information automatically appeared.
『Congratulations on achieving a Great Achievement! You have inverted holiness and demonic nature, transforming an existence fated to be born a sacred being into a demon beast from birth!!』
I had not been waiting for it, but this time a welcome message also followed.
『As a reward for the Great Achievement, Mana and Technique increase! The newly born demonic existence is influenced by your trait, 'Necropolis'! The growth-type trait 「Requiem for Divinity」 has been added!』
And thus what I obtained was the second... no, the third Great Achievement.
It was the message of the 「Alpha Tester」 system, congratulating me on having cast down a beast born of Holy Power into a demon beast, and its reward.
'The rewards were different for each Great Achievement, were they.'
『Epithet - The One Who Dyes』
I raised my finger and placed it atop the 'Epithet.'
The message window that only I could perceive and touch quietly accepted my gesture.
'The One Who Dyes, huh...'
In that state, my gaze traveled downward.
『Attributes - Stamina 43, Technique 57(◀ 55), Durability 46, Magic Power 66(◀ 64), Resistance 55』
『Requiem for Divinity - You have transmuted a sacred existence into a demonic existence.
Hostile Holy Power users will feel terror toward you, and their Magic Power and Technique will decrease slightly. Demonic Power users will feel reverence toward you.
The more existences you cast down into demonic nature, the deeper you shall become...』
This trait could be considered quite a good one for a member of the Demon Tribe who was inevitably weak against Holy Power.
Though its potency was low since it was only high-grade for now, since it was called 'growth-type,' there was likely room for further growth if I repeated similar actions.
This was also revealed by the next message.
『You have presented to the world one of the deeds the surface clergy will regard as most wicked!
They will never tolerate your existence, which can stimulate their existential fears and defile salvation, and they will wish to eliminate you before you grow further...』
As I looked at that, one thing made me curious.
Curiosity about—if I were to convert human territory into that of the Demon Tribe, would this inform me that I had achieved a fourth Great Achievement?
To resolve that curiosity, I would need to move a bit faster.
Now there was nothing to hold me back, either.
"... Such a...?"
"This is insane...!"
Grace and Amelia, having witnessed my series of actions, could not hide their shock.
"How, how on earth..."
It was only natural that Amelia, who possessed the talent to be sensitive to the events occurring in this place, was astonished, and the priestess Grace was doing well simply by not collapsing on the spot.
It must have been a sight in which the continent's common sense—which believed in absolute superiority over the power of the Demon Tribe—crumbled and was overturned.
Perhaps the psychological foundation that 'they would ultimately win' was shaken from its very roots.
"The distinction between holiness and the Demon Tribe that you invoke is by no means an absolute standard for good and evil."
- By no means!
"Quiet."
The crow's first voice was quite a pleasant sound. Its tone was cuter than expected, I'd say.
I watched the crow, which had mimicked my words and then shut its beak at a single caution, for a moment before stroking its head once with the tip of my finger.
Since it was still a baby, I felt the need to show that even though I had cautioned it, I didn't hate it.
The way it tilted its head sideways and rubbed its head against my finger was quite friendly.
"Good."
- Caw caw.
Even after heeding just one caution, the endearing sight of it lowering even its voice afterward.
Leaving Mary perched on my shoulder as she was, I walked to one side.
Mary's birth was luck, nothing more.
Yet here, there was someone who might be able to turn that luck into a theory.
"... Hee-yik...!"
The priestess let out a shrill cry due to fear.
It was Grace.