Initiation Ceremony (1)
The pillar of light, seven kinds of holy power fused into one, writhed as if it meant to erase everything it touched.
Any worshipper of an evil god would already have been coughing blood and revealing their true nature by now…
“Isn’t this dangerous? No matter how I look at it, she doesn’t seem like a worshipper of an evil god.”
“Heh heh… Has a new god truly appeared—one that hasn’t shown itself in over two hundred years?”
“Even a Trial of Light with only three people was enough to weed out evil-god cultists. Enduring the holy power of seven is impossible.”
Trapped inside the pillar, Yoanna kept her eyes closed and endured the holy power with perfect composure.
Watching her receive a trial that even bishops could not confidently claim they would survive, the especially devout among them murmured prayers and offered her their respect.
And yet… why wouldn’t the Trial of Light end?
“I say, shouldn’t we stop this soon?”
“If the Trial of Light continues any longer, it could harm Lady Yoanna!”
“Stop it at once!”
Sensing something amiss, the bishops rose from their seats and demanded the trial be halted.
Even if the god she served was not their own, they could not stand by while further discourtesy was shown to a deity the Empire itself might one day revere.
Yet the pillar of light only grew fiercer, swelling larger as if it had no intention of stopping.
The rainbow-hued column seemed determined to scrub the color called Yoanna from the world itself…
Lord Dantalion, may I take it that the trial is over now?
Yoanna asked the question with the same casual calm as if nothing were wrong.
How could ordinary holy power possibly stand against Yoanna, who had forged faith, conviction, and the power Dantalion himself had bestowed into a single whole?
Yoanna, there are quite a few pieces of trash around you. They may try something the moment you release your power, so do not lower your guard.
Yes. I’ve already confirmed their presence, so please don’t worry too much.
Bishop Azbek, the two bishops who had just joined him… and even Archbishop Valentino.
Were Bishop Azbek and Archbishop Valentino working together? Or were they simply different kinds of trash with different goals?
The idle thought flickered for a moment, then Yoanna banished it as she drew her power forth.
Focusing on smashing the obstacle right in front of her was far wiser than fretting over questions she could not yet answer.
Whoosh.
Having ordered her thoughts, Yoanna opened her eyes and released the power of a Saint.
Within the pillar that poured out five-colored radiance, a vivid crimson flame slowly unfurled.
A halo shaped like a crown rose above her head as Yoanna calmly rose to her feet.
The bishops, stunned by that unshaken composure, poured out even more holy power in an attempt to force her to submit.
Despite their efforts, Yoanna moved with perfect ease and stretched a hand toward the outside of the pillar…
Crack!
The instant her fingertips met the surface, sparks flew and the pillar rejected her.
“This isn’t a trial—it’s closer to an execution. Seal the victim so they can’t escape, then slowly dry them out until they die?”
It was a method often used as punishment in Hell, and Dantalion found himself admiring the imagination behind it.
Perhaps the reason new punishments appeared every day was that people capable of inventing something like this kept falling into Hell.
After that useless bit of musing, Dantalion spoke to her.
“Best to cut your way out.”
“Lord Dantalion, I don’t have a sword right now…”
“What a curious question. You’ve been pulling out chains just fine until now. Why wouldn’t a sword work?”
The chains, after all, had been created from Yoanna’s own imagination. Surely she could manage a single sword.
Understanding his meaning, Yoanna summoned her imagination and forged a blade.
Flame beginning at the hilt shoved the pillar of light aside and painted the space with her own color.
In place of still-inexperienced Yoanna, Dantalion pointed out the weakest spot in the pillar.
“Tear straight through there and you’ll walk out easily.”
If she was going to break free herself, she might as well leave a strong impression.
Steadying her breath, Yoanna swung the sword at the pillar without a shred of hesitation.
Leaving a heat haze in its wake, her blade split the light in a single stroke.
Whoooosh!
The karmic fire contained within the sword burned the pillar of light and opened a path.
The prayer seven bishops had offered with all their might could not withstand Yoanna’s flames; it shattered like a church window and scattered multicolored light as it vanished.
When the concerted prayer of fully seven bishops was broken, the backlash struck the bishops themselves.
Those who merely coughed blood were the lucky ones. One unlucky bishop spewed blood from every orifice in his face and collapsed unconscious.
Having sensed the danger and stopped praying first, Bishop Azbek staggered to his feet.
“Y-you forcibly stopped the trial—what do you think you’re doing?!”
“Oh my… Ignoring the other bishops’ mediation was perfectly fine, then?”
Yoanna answered with a smile laced with scorn.
There was no need to show courtesy to someone who had ignored everyone else and poured holy power at her with murderous intent.
At that moment Valentino, wiping the blood from his lips, carefully opened his mouth.
“Lady Yoanna, Bishop Azbek did not speak with ill intent.”
He broke off and glanced at the bishop whose face was painted with blood.
The other bishops who had only coughed blood could heal their internal injuries quickly enough with holy power and rest.
But when the backlash was that severe, even treatment could not prevent lasting aftereffects.
Healing scars carved into the mind rather than the body was difficult even for a bishop-level priest.
“I hate to say this, but… your actions may become rather hard to interpret in a favorable light.”
“I see. So what is it you wish to say?”
Frowning, Valentino looked around. Unable to hide his discomfort—this was clearly not the plan—he slowly spoke.
“We may have to restrain you and continue the investigation.”
“Archbishop Valentino, Lady Yoanna clearly endured the Trial of Light more than sufficiently!”
“Our purpose was to confirm her faith, not to conduct a witch hunt!”
Some of the bishops cried out in shocked opposition.
They themselves had forced the issue until she had no choice but to break free under her own power; treating that as a secret was nothing short of unreasonable.
Yet few people were harder to stop than those who knew full well they were being unreasonable and did it anyway.
Clunk!
The doors of the council chamber burst open and armed holy knights stormed in.
Unlike the knights who had escorted Yoanna, these wore gleaming armor and expensive weapons enchanted with magic.
Among them, an especially handsome holy knight approached Valentino’s side.
“Knights of the Blade of Order, responding to Archbishop Valentino’s summons. We have just arrived.”
“Sir Geoffrey of House Haister, this old man thanks you for answering the call. I had no wish to summon a knight commander for such a matter.”
“Protecting the clergy is also a holy knight’s duty.”
So saying, Geoffrey turned a smile like a snake’s upon Yoanna.
Confirming the man’s sins, Dantalion could only marvel.
Adultery, murder, affairs… The young fellow has been packing quite a lot of wickedness into his days.
To commit that many evil deeds and still walk around free—he was a capable man, if nothing else.
Hiding the serpent’s smile, Geoffrey let his gaze travel up and down Yoanna without blinking.
Perhaps he was deciding she was a beauty without a single flaw.
Striding forward with the confidence of a prince on a white horse, Geoffrey dropped to one knee before her and spoke.
“I have no desire to draw my sword against so beautiful a lady. Would you kindly follow our guidance? I swear upon my name that no harm will come to you.”
Geoffrey’s acting was first-rate and beyond.
Those dew-moist eyes could make anyone believe he truly worried for her.
The number of women he had deceived with that performance alone must easily have exceeded several dozen.
However.
“I doubt your name carries quite that much weight.”
“…Pardon?”
Yoanna was not the sort to fall for something so cheap.
Geoffrey, stained with the traces of his sins, looked as shabby as a sewer rat.
Never having received a woman’s look of pure contempt before, Geoffrey failed to grasp the situation and wore a blank expression.
Then, realizing her words were neither joke nor sarcasm, he scowled.
“…Do you understand that I was trying to help you, my lady?”
“I see. How many times have you extended a helping hand with that face? I find myself curious how those women are faring now.”
Crunch.
At the insult that sounded as if she knew everything, Geoffrey’s jaw clenched.
Composing his expression, he sprang to his feet and gestured to his subordinates.
“If the lady has no intention of cooperating, then we have no choice. We will take her into custody by slightly rougher means.”
What madness was this, with other bishops present?
Yet when the holy knights drew their swords, the bishops only groaned and made no move to intervene.
Just then, a commotion rose beyond the doors.
Panicked shouts, the scrape of drawn blades, and the crash of something shattering.
That ominous racket echoed outside for a brief moment.
Bang—!
A holy knight came flying through the door, smashing it to pieces as he hurtled into the chamber.
His oiled armor was crumpled like an old pot, and his helmet had flown who-knew-where, leaving a face with missing teeth hideously exposed for all to see.
While everyone stared goggle-eyed at the knight who had just been launched into the room—
“Archbishop Valentino, I received word that a student of our department was being treated unjustly and came at once.”
“Sir Iskandar! What is the meaning of this insolence?!”
Sir Iskandar entered the council chamber accompanied by holy knights in comparatively worn armor.
Overawed by his presence, the knights of the Blade of Order unconsciously stepped back and opened a path.
After all, no matter how brightly a flock of sheep dyed their wool, they could never defeat a lion.
Like an old lion cutting through a flock of sheep, Iskandar walked slowly forward and looked down at Valentino.
“Reviving the Trial of Light—something the State Church has tacitly forbidden—was already a disgrace. Do you truly believe it normal to force the issue against a child and attempt to abduct her?”
“This is an archbishop’s authority, perfectly legitimate under custom!”
“Then I shall exercise my rights as head instructor of the Academy as well.”
Letting Valentino’s claim go in one ear and out the other, Sir Iskandar produced a sheet of paper and held it out to him.
I, Iskandar of Okmund, hereby guarantee the status of Yoanna of House Darke, student of the Holy Knight Department.
The paper and its contents looked ordinary enough, but that was not what mattered.
Confirming the imperial seal stamped at the bottom, Valentino trembled with barely contained rage.
No matter how strong the Church’s power, what meaning did it hold before the name of the Imperial House?
Retrieving the crumpled paper, Iskandar shoved Geoffrey aside and went to Yoanna’s side.
“Everyone has already dug up old black history to check, so you must at least have confirmed that the god Lady Yoanna serves is no evil god.”
At those words the bishops nodded.
Leaving authority aside, the archbishop’s actions had been more than enough to provoke backlash.
If even members of the same order were discontented, how much more so the bishops of other orders?
Realizing the initiative had slipped from him, Valentino glared at Sir Iskandar as if he meant to kill him.
“Sir Iskandar… you will come to regret this.”
“Regret, is it…”
As if finding the filthy old man’s threat laughable, Sir Iskandar let out a hollow chuckle.
With a gauntleted hand heavy with armor he clapped Valentino on the shoulder.
“There’s nothing left for you to take from me. I’ll be waiting to see how you plan to make me regret it.”
“Sir Iskandar!”
Ignoring Valentino’s snarl as if he meant to chew him up and spit him out, Sir Iskandar beckoned to Yoanna.
She withdrew her power and went to his side. There were plenty of people she wanted to thrash right then and there, but she could not cause trouble for someone who had gone out of his way to come for her.
As they passed, Geoffrey muttered toward Iskandar’s back.
“An old hunting dog abandoned by the gods…”
“……”
Iskandar paused for a moment, then turned his head and looked at Geoffrey.
After staring at him for a long while, Sir Iskandar wordlessly turned away and left the council chamber.