Chapter 50
The Saint
The Evil God Worshippers' branch was overrun in an instant.
In the pitch-dark underground, not a single trace of the cultists remained.
The research director and every last one of his subordinates beneath him had been wiped clean.
Considering how much blood had been shed, there was nothing resembling sympathy to feel.
'Not many of them even looked human···.'
Perhaps from prolonged exposure to Demonic Energy, the cultists were without exception grotesque in appearance.
Limbs abnormally large or small, bodies crawling with tentacles.
Some had even fused together and were scuttling around on all fours like animals.
Honestly, they were about as repulsive as any mutant I'd encountered.
'Would anyone really want to worship a demon god badly enough to end up like that.'
That thought crossed my mind, but I shook it away.
Devotion to a cult was something akin to mental corruption.
Once you stepped in, there was no coming back out.
'In the end, it was a choice they made.'
I pushed the stray thoughts aside and moved my hands again.
The director's office, blood and flesh splattered in every direction.
I was scouring the wide space as though combing through it tooth by tooth.
'Demise.'
A special item obtainable only from this place.
One of the very reasons I had raided here in the first place.
'The White Knight.'
The one among the Four Knights of the Apocalypse responsible for plague.
The most prominent of the Apostles, and the boss monster of the Evil God's faction.
And Demise was the medium through which that entity could be manifested.
If I didn't retrieve it here, the Evil God Worshippers would use it as they pleased.
'Precisely in the first semester of second year, right after the final exams.'
The White Knight would descend upon the academy.
And many people would die.
'The second disaster. White Night.'
An event that, handled poorly, would lead straight into a bad ending.
But if I secured Demise here, I could change a great deal of what lay ahead.
'The Apostles of the Evil God··· they need sacrifices, yes, but without their individual Demise, they cannot be manifested.'
Which meant I could potentially skip the second disaster entirely.
Not only that — there was also a way to use an Apostle from my own side.
Ordinarily, Demise was classified as an unusable item for anyone outside the Evil God's faction.
'But.'
I had a back door.
A bug.
In the system's language — a Clipping Bug.
An "unusable" designation was nothing I couldn't punch straight through.
'So just be there when I open it.'
I'd already mapped out exactly how I'd use it.
Wiping sweat from my brow, I rummaged through the densely packed rows of desks.
"Hah, hah···."
How far could I have moved for my breath to already be giving out like this.
At moments like this, this body really did get on my nerves.
A body with an overall E-grade stat total.
'A body that can't even beat a single goblin without bugs···.'
There was no one to blame.
The one who had set the difficulty this absurdly low was none other than my past self.
Ding—!
[Difficulty: Impossible]
— You are taking on the highest difficulty.
[Additional Option: Hell Road]
— All spawned monsters remain in a frenzied state.
— The difficulty of all hostile forces increases by 300%.
— All of the player's Basic Stats are fixed at E-grade.
All stats fixed at E-grade.
In other words, forget about raising stats entirely.
'It is a shame.'
Up to now, I had pushed through every hardship by scraping by with bugs.
But relying solely on bugs meant I ran into walls often enough.
Moments like now, when lacking stamina held me back, or when low agility made my reactions sluggish — in those moments, I felt acutely the absence of base stats.
'The Red Knight was one, and Professor Glinbert was another··· neither was an opponent that could be handled with bugs alone.'
And it wasn't just those two.
Going forward, there would be plenty of enemies bugs simply wouldn't work on.
And I couldn't very well set a trap or drag in another bug every single time.
"Phew···."
Bugs were undeniably a powerful ability.
If only a little stat investment could be layered on top, the synergy would be so much better···.
In practice, there were a whole truckload of bugs I couldn't even use because my body couldn't keep up.
"Haah··· what's the point of grumbling about things I can't change."
I heaved out a sigh like spitting out phlegm.
And then, in the middle of rummaging through the research office, I found a safe tucked away in a corner.
A safe sitting alone in an isolated spot.
"Is this it?"
Without hesitation, I swung the scythe.
Clang—!
"Activate. Awl."
Thunk—!
The scythe, which had been about to bounce away, instead planted itself into a sharp point and bored in.
I wrenched it and tore the lid of the safe right off.
"Hff···!"
Crack, crack, crack—!
The interior of the safe laid bare.
For such a large container, there was surprisingly little inside.
Only a single dust-covered ancient tome resting within.
"Bingo."
I picked up the book sitting there alone.
Ding—!
[You have obtained the unusable item 'White Knight's End'.]
Secured without a hitch.
Out of curiosity I opened the book, and found nothing but strings of bizarre text filling page after page.
Not a format any ordinary person could read.
'I'll look it over properly another time.'
I slipped the tome into my robe.
With that, my business in the research office was done.
I rolled my stiff shoulders and stepped out.
Ding—!
Just then, a mechanical chime rang out of nowhere.
I pulled up my screen to find a notification that a quest had been completed.
[You have cleared a Sub Quest!]
— Title: Make Sure It's Finished!
— Details: Apprehend the spy concealed within Grandia Academy.
[You have apprehended the spy with remarkable resourcefulness!]
— Rewards are available. Click to confirm.
"Oh."
The quest that had been sitting in a pending state was marked complete.
The faculty must have finished the detention procedures.
Grateful for the swift handling, I followed the Status Window's prompt and clicked the screen.
'This reward was supposed to be··· a clue regarding ■■■, wasn't it.'
I tilted my head.
The censored characters.
They had appeared in my own information panel before too.
――――
[Status Window]
Name: Viktor
Title: Clipping Bug Collector
Equipped Items: Mask of the Evil God, Robe of the Evil God, Very Secret Tie
Active Set Effect: The World As ■■■ Sees It.
.
.
Owned Titles: Clipping Bug Collector, Saint, Executioner
――――
I had never seen characters censored that way before.
Something I hadn't encountered even while playing through the original story.
Perhaps it was a sign that I still didn't know everything about this world.
Ding—!
My extended finger pressed firmly on the screen.
The next instant, the message twisted grotesquely.
[ERROR] [ERROR] [ERROR] [ERROR] [ERROR] [ERROR] [ERROR] [ERR̴̢̧O̸͝R̶̡] [̴E̷R̷R̷O̶R̶] [̶E̵R̷R̴O̷R̴] [̵E̷R̶R̸O̸R̷] [̷E̶R̷R̸O̷R̵] [̸E̴R̸R̸O̴R̷] [̶E̴R̸R̷O̷R̸] [̷E̷R̵R̸O̷R̷] [̸E̵R̸R̴O̵R̶] [̷E̶R̷R̵O̴R̷]
1 2
"······?!"
The screen going pitch black.
I flinched at the seizure I hadn't anticipated.
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
"······."
The screen flashed for a long while, then went dark.
When I brought up the Status Window again, it had returned to its normal state.
As if the convulsing display a moment ago had been nothing but a fleeting hallucination.
'······What was that.'
The so-called clue regarding ■■■.
What the system had produced was nothing but a handful of incomprehensible questions.
I stood motionless in the corridor, glaring at the Status Window.
'What was it trying to say.'
Remember, it said.
Remember what?
Those meaningless questions?
Or something I've forgotten?
I sank into thought, but no answer came back.
'Strange.'
A low murmur escaped between my lips.
A peculiar, unsettled feeling lingered.
But I couldn't just stand here mulling it over indefinitely.
Carmilla had gone ahead to check on the survivors and would be waiting for me.
'This··· I'll think about it slowly.'
I calmed myself and lifted the foot I had stopped mid-step.
Then, once again, the Status Window chimed.
Ding—!
[Tip. Activate the title 'Saint'.]
A prompt to activate the title — Saint.
It was a title I had obtained after dismantling the Human Farm the New Kingdom Vampires had established.
Unlike the other titles, however, it had no listed benefit when activated.
I had actually tried living with it activated for a few days, and hadn't noticed any difference whatsoever.
So I had figured it was just a vanity title, and had been going around with only the Clipping Bug Collector title active.
Titles could only be equipped one at a time, after all.
'Saint···?'
Puzzled as I was, I followed the system's advice for the time being.
Surely it wouldn't say something entirely meaningless.
"Hmm···."
But even this time, nothing changed.
Only the display within the Status Window updated to show [Title: Saint].
Just in case, I toggled the Status Window off and back on — still the same.
'Surely it isn't completely without meaning.'
My fingers idly tapped the mask.
Messages I couldn't make sense of, all day today.
This didn't seem like a question that could be resolved right this moment.
Keeping the title equipped, I crossed the long corridor.
'For now, I need to finish this quest first···.'
The meaning of the Status Window's advice.
I came to understand it a mere thirty minutes later.
While I had been tearing through the director's office, I had left the isolation ward to Carmilla.
The isolation ward was the space where test subjects had been locked up one by one.
People who had been kidnapped by the Evil God Worshippers and subjected to unspeakable things.
There was nothing to be done for those already dead, but I intended to see to the survivors who remained.
"Viktor. These are all the survivors that remain. By good fortune, there are those who hadn't yet been experimented on, or those who received only basic torture. Twenty in total."
"And beyond that, no one else is left?"
"There are about ten more··· but their condition is not normal. Some have begun mutating, and others can't regain consciousness — whether their minds have broken, I'm not certain."
"I'll check on those as well. I might be able to handle it, like last time."
"True··· if you could reverse ghoulification, Demonic Energy should be no different. For now, I've left all the survivors in the isolation ward. I've told them, as you asked, that the Slayers have come to rescue them."
Twenty survivors.
Ten more test subjects contaminated by Demonic Energy.
Through Carmilla, I had gotten word to those who had survived.
I settled them down in a manner similar to what I'd done at the Human Farm last time.
In that process, the Slayers made their appearance once again — Garurik and Maneur.
Carmilla stood with the red mask draped over her face.
"You worked hard."
"It was nothing."
I lightly patted the girl's head.
Had this sort of physical familiarity become normal by now.
Carmilla didn't shrug it off, accepting the touch quietly.
Silver strands of hair broke apart at my fingertips, her head tilting slightly as my hand moved.
"I'll handle things from here."
I passed Carmilla and approached the isolation ward.
Calling it a ward was generous — it was little more than a slightly wider iron cage.
Inside stood a haggard-looking woman.
Her eyes were red and swollen from what looked like a long time spent crying.
"I'll have you out in a moment."
I spread my palm wide.
"Activate. Saw."
Squirm, squirm—.
The pitch-black glove shifted into the shape of a saw.
I ran it through the thick iron bars several times and tore them away.
"Please step out. Garurik, vice-captain of the Slayers, has come to rescue you."
"S-sob, hh··· th, thank you. Thank you···."
The woman finally broke into tears as she stepped forward.
She took the hand I extended, and carefully stepped out beyond the bars.
As I was about to hand the rescued woman over to Carmilla —
Ding—!
The Status Window chimed busily, as it had been doing all day.
But this time, what it showed was genuinely stunning.
[You have saved another's life!]
[Your selflessness and dedication shine bright.]
[The special ability of the active title 'Saint' activates.]
Simultaneously, radiance coiled around me.
Even through my flashing vision, the Status Window's messages kept updating.
Especially in the row where the title was listed — lines of text were appearing one after another.
――――
[Status Window]
Name: Viktor
Title: Saint
Equipped Items: Mask of the Evil God, Robe of the Evil God
Active Set Effect: The World As ■■■ Sees It.
.
.
[Saint]
→ As you save the lives of others, Virtue Points accumulate.
→ Virtue Points can be used to enhance the user's Basic Stats.
(The special ability of this title takes precedence over all other restrictions within the system.)
――――
'What···?'
The screen scrolling frantically.
And then, appearing before my eyes — that message.
[Virtue Points are used automatically.]
— The grade of Basic Stat 'Stamina' is enhanced.
— 50 of the 50 obtained Virtue Points are consumed.
Ding—!
[Basic Stats]
Stamina: E → E+
Strength: E
Agility: E
Mana Sensitivity: E
Ding—!
[Basic Stat 'Stamina' has been enhanced from E-grade to E+ grade.]
[Remaining Virtue Points: 0p]
"······What is this."
I could only stare blankly at the screen.
A grade that had upgraded itself in an instant, click click click, all on its own.
'My Basic Stats···.'
A body with an overall E-grade stat total.
A setting that locked the Basic Stats at the absolute minimum.
A grade that refused to budge no matter how much you trained.
'That··· has been broken through···?'
I stared, dumbfounded.
At the title carved beneath my profile.
Saint.