Chapter 11
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Exorcist (1)
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The most wretched events, the kind that drag you back from vacation early, always strike without warning.
'Goddamn black mage bastards.'
Their methods, lurking deep in the shadows, were as insidious as ever. He'd fallen for the same tricks countless times before, but somehow, they never stopped being a pain in the ass.
He pushed open the all-too-familiar door, and with the creak of the hinges, every eye in the room turned to him.
"You're back, Deputy Director."
"Yeah. Of all the timing, this crap hits right when I'm about to score with that busty lady. This is bullshit."
"If you're gonna lie, at least make it believable. That way, I could pretend to laugh."
"You little shit?"
"We haven't even gotten off work, let alone vacation."
With that light jab about the Execution Bureau's rock-bottom working conditions out of the way,
he turned his head. And there they were—the faces that should have been.
Starting with the blond punk he'd just been bantering with, then the tanned skinhead uncle with his arms crossed, and the stoic female swordswoman.
District Chief of the 1st District Alric, District Chief of the 3rd District Vargas, and District Chief of the 4th District Ceres.
"Where's the 2nd District Chief?"
"Up north, torturing a lich. The bastard woke up a horde of undead mid-fight, so earliest estimate is six hours."
Shit. A lich was about to get planted in hell today.
Actually, no. Falling into the 2nd District Chief's hands would be worse. Just watching her experiment with that smile sent chills down his spine.
"Give me a quick sitrep on the situation."
"We've observed a large-scale group of black mages kidnapping orphans across the continent for a demonization ritual sacrifice. Scout intel suggests it'll kick off in about half a day. Reports indicate they've built a fortress around 500 meters underground."
We're fucked. That size means at least 500 black mages.
"Prep status?"
"Transport wyverns—six of them—fully ready."
Thank god for competent people who moved like clockwork. If they'd stuck to protocol and dragged their feet, he'd have lost it.
"One oddity: we've got a rookie on their first real op."
"Rookie? Once they're in here, they're all comrades. If you're worried, keep an eye on her."
"Got it. Assembling everyone now."
With that, all the district chiefs filed out of the office. Immediately, shouts and frantic footsteps echoed from beyond the door.
"Hoo..."
He drew in a deep breath.
In the quiet space, he emptied his mind and contemplated his vow.
Destroying Evil, Saving the Distressed, Guiding the Lost, Ferrying Souls, Faith and Righteousness, Tolerance.
The stigmata of the six gods constricted his soul and flesh. A pressure like being trapped in tar enveloped his body. It tangled, intertwined, bound tighter still.
The tempering was complete.
There had once been a bizarre rumor circulating at Saint Ekaterina Academy.
That if you just kept breathing quietly like a dead mouse for two years, you'd make it big. It was a story about the Execution Bureau.
"They say you come out a changed person after just two years."
"...Doesn't that sound tough? Breathing quietly isn't easy, after all."
"But the seniors all say go for it?"
The starting salary matched that of high priests in other departments, but they hired very selectively.
On top of that, the department had by far the youngest average age.
Those three factors combined, and the Execution Bureau's competition rate skyrocketed.
Following that rumor, Ella Brooks, vice-top of the holy knight division, applied to the Execution Bureau.
To repay her parents who had scrimped and saved to send her to the academy, and for her siblings waiting back home.
She never told a soul about bawling her eyes out when she passed the 1500:1 odds.
Thus, stepping onto the battlefield for the first time as a holy knight with dreams swelling in her chest,
"Hey, rookie, breathe—breathe."
she was trembling like a child in the face of her first real situation.
3 kilometers up, on the saddle rigged to a wyvern's back.
The biting gale whipping her cheeks showed no sign of letting her breath steady.
"Can't be helped."
1st District Chief Alric snapped his fingers, and the wind finally died down.
As Ella caught her breath, jeers mixed with laughter rained down from around her.
"Chief, come on—even for you, groping the rookie like that is a bit much."
"Blocking the wind is groping?!"
"Think about your track record with the priestesses."
The seniors' teasing flew right past her ears. Ella was too busy wrestling with the terror of plummeting right then and there.
Then, a flat voice came from the lead wyvern.
"We're here."
Execution Bureau Deputy Director, Daniel. At his word, the wyverns banked their wings into a gentle descent.
Hovering stationary at 1 kilometer altitude. As if waiting for this moment, Daniel stood from his seat.
"...!"
In that instant, Ella felt her breath catch.
The air grew heavy. Not aura or mana, but a raw physical mass surging in like waves, compressing everything.
Like slamming a star's gravity onto a human body—what would that feel like?
"Going ahead."
Daniel casually tossed himself off the wyvern.
His form vanished in a blink. As stunned Ella stammered, 1st District Chief Alric spoke up beside her.
"Guess I'm on cleanup again. Tsk."
Alric clicked his tongue and patted Ella's shoulder. The joker from moments ago was gone.
Solemn. Heavy.
"As of now, command transfers to Execution Bureau 1st District Chief Alric Vance. And rookie!"
At the same time, he held up three fingers toward her and said,
"One: stick behind me. Two: ignore downed black mages. Three: don't worry about hostages."
"Pardon? Ignore the hostages? Aren't we here to rescue them...?"
"You'll see when we get in. Everyone, prep for descent!"
Alric's words ended as a bizarre rumble echoed from the ground.
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gung!
The earth screamed, rippling like waves. Something buried deep underground began to rise.
And with it, an orange light bathed the land.
『O Earth and Abundance, Demeterion's Touch of the Earth』
"Holy shit..."
Ella couldn't believe her eyes.
The black mages' fortress, supposedly 500 meters underground, was rising to the surface.
Soil and rock cascaded down, revealing the hidden black citadel in stark nakedness.
"Everyone, descend!"
At Alric's shout, the exorcists leaped from the wyvern saddles.
As frozen Ella hesitated, Alric grabbed her collar and hurled her into the air.
"Gyaaah!"
The midair terror was brief.
A soft whisper reached her ear.
『Lamb who seeks to become the wind, I shall lead you—how then shall your feet falter?』
⟨ Path of Hope ⟩
Green light enveloped her body.
Libertus, God of Freedom and Wind—his miracle.
"Wha...?"
The fear of falling vanished; the wind guided her.
Gently, to where she needed to go.
The descent, blooming like a flower bud from a single point. They landed encircling the fortress.
From the exposed fortress entrance poured a nose-stinging stench and thick black miasma, mingled with foul sulfur.
As Ella instinctively reached for the axe at her waist,
Alric blocked her path, then barked a short order into the comm artifact on his wrist.
"All units, hold."
The silence stretched like a minute per second. Sounds of panicked black mages scrambling inside the fortress drifted out.
Wasn't now the moment? As that thought crossed her mind,
"Here it comes."
Alric murmured, gazing skyward. Following his line of sight, Ella witnessed it.
......!
The heavens parted.
A massive pillar of six-colored light descended lightly atop the fortress.
!——!!——!!!
A roar beyond audible range blasted in all directions.
The fortress's defensive barrier shredded like paper in the storm, and the six lights swept through the interior.
A miracle touching divine feats.
"Breach!"
At the signal, Ella chased her seniors into the entrance.
In that moment, she doubted her own eyes.
"What the...?"
Black mages lined the corridors, mostly collapsed and foaming at the mouth.
...Did that first strike knock them out?
"Snap out of it! Push inward!"
Libertus's miracle, Path of Hope, accelerated their steps. Mocking the fortress's traps meant only for the correct path.
That was when it happened.
"Dogs of the gods!"
A surviving high-rank black mage at the passage's end swung his staff, igniting ominous black light.
Crimson-black curse magic split like branching arrows, aiming straight for Ella's brow.
She had to block it. How? The ways she'd trained. As Ella raised her axe,
『Foolish lamb frozen in ignorance, I shall be your eyes—how then shall you fear deception?』
⟨ All-Seeing Eye ⟩
Yellow light bloomed in her retinas.
Sophianis, God of Wisdom—his miracle.
The world slowed.
Now she saw it. The curse magic's trajectory.
Mana flows, particle tremors—even the incantation the black mage was about to utter next.
With the certainty she could dodge by a paper's width, Ella jerked her head aside. The lethal curse grazed her ear.
'I see it.'
An attack she'd never have dodged before. A gamble she wouldn't have taken even if she could.
Ella kicked off the floor. With a thud, her form accelerated. The black mage panicked, shortcutting his incantation, but
Thwuck!
Her strike landed just a hair faster than the spell's completion.
"Well done. Keep pushing!"
"Yes!"
Alric was already far ahead, felling black mages like autumn leaves.
Felling, and felling more. Ella just followed in his wake, wiping blood and flesh from her axe.
How far had they run? Then, a black mage ahead held a dagger to a child's throat and screamed.
"D-don't come closer! You wanna see this kid die?!"
Ella's feet didn't stop.
"You crazy fuckers!"
Terror-maddened, the black mage gripped tighter—the blade pierced the child's neck, blood—
『Lamb who begs for mercy, I have taken you into my embrace—how then shall you fear death?』
⟨ Breath of Life ⟩
Navy-blue light dyed the world.
"!! What the fu—?!"
Confirming the child hadn't spilled a drop despite the blade in its neck, Ella hurled her axe without hesitation.
The spinning blade cleaved the black mage's forehead clean in two.
"..."
She understood.
Thrill. Omnipotence. Awakening.
Why the seniors said two years in the Execution Bureau changed you. Why it was called a den of monsters.
She had no choice but to get it. The density of experience defied imagination!
"We're here."
"Haa... haa..."
Before the grandest door. Alric kicked it down.
A vast ritual chamber for sacrifices filled with an enormous magic circle met Ella's eyes.
The moment they entered,
"Urk..."
A sulfur stench like souls burning welcomed them.
Dozens of black mages and hundreds of demon beasts lay collapsed in pools of black blood. Some beasts were smashed into walls, reduced to minced meat.
Black mages hung midair, limbs twisted grotesquely, barely clinging to life.
Demonic remains sliced like butcher's meat bore deliberate traces.
Amid that grotesque scene stood one bathed in the six gods' holy halos. Right in the center, where sanctity and horror coexisted in paradox.
"Whew. You got here faster than I thought."
"Grk—ack!"
In Daniel's left hand dangled a black mage with grotesquely broken limbs.
"Alric, any casualties?"
"None. Hostages all evacuated already. You good, Deputy Director?"
"Me? Yeah. What? Aside from having to keep these things alive 'cause they're human or whatever."
Same voice as always. No different from the guy screaming at the paperwork floating over his head.
...But why?
As Daniel slowly turned to look at Ella, she instinctively stepped back.
His lips moved.
"Looks like you kept up. Must've been rough."
She felt it.
A perfectly crafted machine, wearing human skin, singing its song.
One purpose.
Eradicating Evil.
The pure will of the vessel housing the six gods.
"...Urp—blegh!!"
Ella finally threw up.