The Spear of Longinus

I couldn't believe it.

Never in a million years did I think I'd set ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠foot on Pangenia's soil as Park Hyunmyung himself.

Beyond anything I imagined.

It was something I'd never even dreamed of. No—I'd imagined it, sure, but I never thought it would actually become reality.

So I forced myself to get a grip, fast. They say even if a tiger drags you off, you can still survive if you keep your wits about you.

Beings from Pangenia can reach Earth through the Invasion Warp.

This was the reverse. An existence from Earth had come to Pangenia.

The problem was that the System designated any Pangenia being who crossed to Earth via the Invasion Warp as an "enemy." It had blasted a message to every player, ordering them to "eliminate" the invader, hadn't it?

I scanned my surroundings, on high alert.

Wuum!

That was when it happened. A vibration thrumming against my chest.

This is…?

I looked down. A necklace hung around my neck—and the spear tip at its center was trembling violently.

The reward I'd received on God's Island. Messages floated before my eyes, declaring that the Broken Spear of Longinus was the cause of this phenomenon.

Complete the Spear of Longinus… So this is what Gabriel wanted.

Archangel Gabriel. This must have been why she'd dismissed me. An artifact that enabled dimensional leaps—once completed, there was no telling what it might be capable of.

And then—

Kuuung! Thud! Thud!

A long procession thundered through the heart of the Holy City, shaking the ground with its roar.

"Where are the Knights of Lu coming back from?"

I asked a merchant standing beside me. The Knights of Lu—one of the Goddess Church's most powerful knight orders, a force that moved solely for holy war—were racing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠back in urgency.

At my question, the merchant gave me a peculiar look.

"You're not from the Holy City, are you?"

"No. I only recently came up from the countryside on a pilgrimage."

The safest answer I could give. This was Adrium, the holy capital of the Goddess Church. The number of faithful who flocked here every year on pilgrimage was beyond imagination.

The merchant nodded in understanding.

"Hmm. You know the Balrog Cult and the Goddess Church have gone to war recently, don't you?"

"I do."

Of course I did. One of the hottest topics shaking all of Pangenia was the war between the Balrog Cult and the Goddess Church. Everyone had expected the Balrog Cult to be crushed—until the tables turned.

A crushing defeat in the first engagement. The Goddess Church had lost countless soldiers and knights, along with a cardinal and a saintess. How a fledgling cult could field that much power was the subject of endless debate. In response, the Goddess Church had begun reclaiming every coin it had ever lent out, preparing for a full-scale holy war. That was how the Eight Heroes Society had collapsed as well.

In any case—

The Balrog Cult is being backed by the Death God Religion.

I knew that. Here, I alone knew the truth.

The souls of the dead cardinal and saintess were served at a Death God Religion banquet.

…The Golden Fox. The woman in the fox mask had pulled both their souls out at the feast. She was almost certainly the Balrog Cult's primary backer. Or other Death God Religion executives might be supporting them as well.

"I don't know the details, but it seems they've found out how those cursed bastards managed to kill the cardinal and the saintess."

"How they managed it?"

"Beats me. But how else could a newborn cult like the Balrog Cult stand against the Goddess Church? They must have made a deal with a demon."

A deal with a demon. He wasn't wrong. But if the Death God Religion was the real power behind them—why had they pushed the Balrog Cult into war with the Goddess Church in the first place? A check against the Goddess Church's influence?

So that's the reason, then.

What I was sure of was that something lay in the middle of that procession.

"Ohh, the Saintesses!"

"It's the Saintess of Ra!"

"Lady Aie!"

"Ahh! She's so beautiful!"

At once, everyone slammed their heads to the ground and raised both hands high—a gesture of reverence. At the heart of the procession, two saintesses had appeared alongside a cloth-draped something.

Saintess Ra and Saintess Aie. The two current faces of the Goddess Church were rarely seen together.

I assumed the proper posture and lifted my gaze just slightly.

Wuum! Wuuuum!

The Broken Spear of Longinus was trembling even more violently.

…A fragment of the spear was inside that cloth. More precisely, something that held a fragment of the spear.

What's under there?

I had no idea. It looked to be a full five meters tall, but the cloth hid everything. A special fabric that blocked both Observation and Clairvoyance, no less.

And yet…

How to put it?

Why does this feel so familiar?

Looking at the cloth, something stirred in my chest. For reasons I couldn't name, whatever lay beneath seemed connected to me.

In that instant, more text bloomed before my eyes.

The Archangel's Blessing had activated. Other currently active effects were displayed as well.

Paradox of Fate… So I can't operate out in the open.

At this rate, even contacting an alt character was dangerous—never mind Randolph himself. No, every existence connected to Randolph was a threat. A fading existence meant annihilation. That was the price of dimensional leaping, it seemed.

But something even more interesting stood out.

There's an Archangel in the Holy City.

Why else would Gabriel's Blessing have triggered out of nowhere? It meant another Archangel like Gabriel was here in Holy City Adrium. And each Archangel almost certainly possessed a different Blessing ability.

Which meant—

The way to free myself from the Fragments of Ruin is through the Archangels' Blessings.

I was fairly certain. The Blessing aura I'd sensed from Raiga had felt strangely similar to Gabriel's.

Raiga received an Archangel's Blessing.

And the Archangel who'd lost her Blessing—the one I'd seen among the Death God Religion—might be connected as well. Piece by piece, the puzzle was falling into place.

At last, my objective was clear.

Receive every Archangel's Blessing, and complete the Spear of Longinus.

That was what I, Park Hyunmyung, had to do.

The desert city of Faisalmer.

Isabella set foot there once more.

"Y-Your Majesty?"

The barbarians were thrown into confusion. The Desert Queen's successor had returned without any word—of course they were startled.

"Shh. I wish to enter quietly."

Isabella raised a finger, demanding silence.

"Y-Yes, understood."

A quiet escort began. Isabella drew a deep breath. It felt as though she were returning after an impossibly long time. Round and round she'd gone, only to end up back in this desert city. Perhaps the place she truly belonged had never been her family, the Dercian house—but Faisalmer, from the very beginning.

When I first met Lord Randolph, all I wanted was to find my roots…

She recalled the day she'd first met him. The scattered remnants of a failed grand expedition. Randolph had been among them. At first, she'd meant to kill him. The Desert Queen had ordered it, and the Desert Queen's commands were absolute.

But when Randolph spoke her full name and revealed himself as a Constellation Bearer, her mind changed. Through him, a desire to escape this wretched place had taken root.

If I hadn't escaped with Lord Randolph back then…

No. Even imagining it was horrifying. She would be dead by now. The Desert Queen's goal had been to summon the Demon Blood King—she'd contaminated the entire city for that single ritual. Isabella would have been used as a sacrificial vessel, a source of contamination to call the Demon Blood King forth.

And that wasn't all.

I never would have realized that my greed to find my roots was a mistake.

Roots. Her origin. The Dercian family of the Empire! There had never been a place for her there to begin with—and she had no desire to stand there anyway. This place was better. Faisalmer, too, was full of lies and pretenses, but it held memories.

Sonora.

Memories with Sonora. The days they'd spent together.

Isabella looked down at the sleeping Randolph and smiled.

…Someone I would trade for nothing in this world.

Randolph was her savior. But even the word "savior" fell short. Everything had begun with meeting him. Had she never met him—or never followed him—she would have remained trapped at the bottom of a well, drowning in eternal regret.

"We have arrived at the palace, Your Majesty."

A voice that broke her reverie. Isabella spoke.

"Announce my arrival, and have everyone clear the palace. The formal audience will be held separately tomorrow."

"As you command!"

The barbarians escorting the carriage entered the palace. Before long, people began filing out. Once the palace was empty, Isabella carefully lifted Randolph onto her back and climbed the stairs. She carried him slowly all the way to the bedchamber and laid him on the bed.

"Please wait just a moment. I'll be right back."

She pulled the blanket over him, gazed at him for a long while, then turned away—and her expression hardened.

Now… it was time to face reality. She had remembered where the previous Desert Queen's secret chamber was—the place connected to the Abyss.

It's beneath this palace.

A sealed door lay under the palace. Open it, and you reached a place linked to the Abyss—the horrific space where Sonora and the children had been imprisoned.

Isabella walked slowly. The study. The stone statues set along the outer wall. She turned every statue's face—each looking a different direction—until they all faced the same way.

Kuuung!

A hidden chamber revealed itself. A path leading underground. Isabella descended the stairs for what felt like forever. Down the endless passage she went, until at last a massive door appeared.

Beyond this door…

Sonora was there. She would still be waiting for her.

Isabella drew another deep breath, placed her hand on the stone door, and pushed slowly.

Kuuurrrng!

The stone door scraped across the floor. Then Isabella could see what lay beyond.

"Ah…"

Her face went deathly pale.

This is it. This is where… we were together.

It matched the space from her nightmare memories exactly. Here, the children had killed and eaten one another.

Isabella stepped inside slowly, retracing her memories as she moved.

"Sonora?"

But her expression only grew more rigid. Nowhere in that dark space was Sonora to be found. Sonora, who ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had become a hybrid and attacked her. Even a corpse should have remained—but there was nothing. Nowhere.

"Sonora!"

Isabella cried out at the top of her lungs. Still, no voice answered. Only her own cry echoed back.

Please.

Her footsteps quickened. Maybe she'd missed a corner.

Where are you, Sonora?

But after searching for a long time, it was the same.

Thud!

At last, Isabella sank to her knees. Ah. Her body trembled. She had come too late. Not even a corpse remained. How could she ever face Sonora, even in death?

What is this mark?

She hadn't come away completely empty-handed. There was a scrap of cloth painted with a strange symbol—a large ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠black spot. She had no time to wonder what it meant.

"…It's a special mark of the Balrog Cult. It means 'Black Spot.'"

"Lord Randolph…!"

At the voice behind her, Isabella sprang to her feet. Randolph, who had been sleeping all this time, had suddenly appeared.

Now I understand.

…And only by coming here could I be certain. That cloth-draped something. The thing that had felt so strangely familiar.

Sonora.

Sonora was in Holy City Adrium of the Goddess Church.

…Carrying the Spear of Longinus within her.