Kuwaaaaah - Like the Sword of a Celestial God

Kuwaaaaah!—it was like the sword of a celestial god.

Heaven blazed white with divine power, turning the surroundings as bright as midday. Sssizzle—the mere touch of that light scorched the skin of those wielding the forces of darkness.

Was it because it was an Epic-grade item infused with Roona's divinity, even if not a formal weapon? The divine power of its wielder, Tiran, had been amplified even further.

"……!!"

"Dodge!!"

Shouts erupted belatedly from the gaps among the attackers, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it was already too late. The Death Knight facing that strike head-on had its feet bound by the divinity. It had no chance to evade; it had to take the full force crashing down upon it with its own body.

"Keurk!!!"

Krunch-crunch-crack!! The grinding of pulverized bones swallowed even the scream. The Death Knight had summoned all its power to resist, but before Tiran's radiant divinity, it was nothing more than a candle in the wind.

The light descended upon the earth amid horrific noises that made one wonder if it was disintegrating into dust. It was that devastating.

"Ugh!"

"H-Hi, my strength……!"

"Roona, have mercy!"

However, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that intense light wasn't entirely beneficial for their allies. All the buff effects that had been sustained in the form of frost statues vanished in an instant.

The strike had contained such overwhelming power, but many priests, failing to anticipate the sudden shift, screamed as they were pierced by attacks they'd thought they could endure, suffering heavy casualties.

"Not yet! Not yet! It's not over!!"

"?!"

At that moment, Vulcan bellowed once more. His eyes could see it—the Death Knight's breath hadn't been fully severed.

"I'll repay this humiliation."

Was it due to the massive drain on her power? As Tiran paused to catch her breath after unleashing the strike, someone appeared at the knight's side. The shaman who'd been pouring effort into sealing Tiran's weapon until moments ago grabbed hold of it and glared venomously at Tiran and Vulcan.

"Dark Binding Ritual."

"Not on my watch!!"

Boom!!!

Tiran's attack came crashing down again, but it was a fraction too late. The knight had already vanished, leaving only an innocent patch of ground to explode in a cloud of dirt.

"Retreat! Fall back!"

With that, the attackers ravaging the village began to withdraw. The moment they realized their leaders had fled first, they turned tail without a backward glance.

"Don't pursue! Prioritize damage control!"

But the Rezina lord didn't give chase. No, he couldn't. He had already recognized the clear gap in their forces.

Under Roona's Glory, they'd been evenly matched or slightly superior, but the instant Tiran wielded it, they'd been decisively outmatched.

Chasing now wouldn't guarantee victory. If it was a trap, they'd suffer massive losses. Especially since the priests needed to support against those foes were mostly down from heavy damage.

There was no reason to push it.

"Uh…… Is it cleared?"

Thus, knights and soldiers focused on cleanup instead of pursuit, hurriedly treating each other and staying vigilant for any follow-up raid.

And as Tiran, finally relaxing, returned Roona's Glory to its place, the vanished buffs returned, speeding up the recovery.

As expected of an Epic-grade item? Even after Tiran's immense power had swung it, there was no damage.

Even so, Vulcan couldn't fully let his guard down. But once the monster corpses from the raid were cleared, and the bodies of fallen villagers, soldiers, knights, priests, and even the dark knights were handled, the system confirmed the main scenario quest was truly complete.

'It's done.'

It meant Tiran had survived, and he could claim the quest reward: Roona's Signet Ring.

He was thrilled, but also chilled. What if he hadn't completed and installed Roona's Glory in time? What if he hadn't supplied the knight order with the Red Knight's Longsword and Blue Knight's Longsword? What if the main scenario quest had failed and Tiran died?

'I'd have lost all the rewards?'

The main scenario reward, Roona's Signet Ring, was one thing, but he'd nearly lost the rewards promised by the Rezina lord and Roona Temple too—all for exceeding the quest requirements with tiered bonuses.

'If that happened, I'd make them pay, no matter what.'

He wanted to grab his due before anything else cropped up, but he couldn't. The damage was minimized, but not zero. There were wounded and dead—NPCs or not, tied by relationships, many wept for them.

In normal situations, even if a player went berserk and slaughtered NPCs, they'd respawn quickly. But tied to a main scenario quest? No revival. They were erased from the scenario.

Similarly, regular quest NPCs exist in multiple places for other players, but in main scenarios, they truly vanish or move, deleting related quests.

"Those bastards—I won't let them get away with this!!"

"My lord! Avenge this child, please!"

Amid that sea of tears, even Vulcan couldn't demand rewards outright. He stealthily helped with cleanup, bustling about until dawn to claim them.

The next day, Vulcan headed to Roona Temple first. Order didn't matter, but the lord had villagers to tend, so he'd be busier. Plus, more awaited at the temple, and he was eager.

"I've come to see Lady Tiran."

"Ah! This way, please!"

Unlike his prior cold reception, temple knights welcomed him warmly. Sharon's escape had ended the heresy inquiry, he'd proven faith crafting Roona's Glory, and thanks to him, last night's damage was reduced.

Thus, he was escorted deep into the temple without issue—a place forbidden to all but managers.

"You've come."

Tiran and high priests were gathered, as if awaiting him. They rose and bowed upon seeing him.

"Thank you for last night. And we apologize. We failed to prevent the heretic you entrusted to us from escaping."

Gratitude for aid, apology for losing Sharon despite overriding the lord's authority somewhat.

They'd apologize to the lord too, but Vulcan had been pivotal in capturing her.

"Mm, it's fine. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠These things happen."

Vulcan didn't care. As long as rewards came, her escape was even welcome—more bounties later.

The failure condition was Tiran's death, not Sharon's escape, so maybe it was designed that way to continue the scenario. Not bad.

'Come to think of it, they called her saintess.'

And he'd gleaned a hint on the main scenario. Profit. Calling her saintess, hiding her identity yet storming the village meant the lost Holy Grail played a big role.

'They're using the Grail's power for something—tracking empowered items could work.'

Maybe hunting Grail-related leads would reveal them.

"Thank you for understanding. It's modest, but please accept this token from our order to its benefactor."

'Kuh! This is it!'

Such tangled thoughts vanished before Roona's Signet Ring. A few effects sealed, but it was famous.

'This is why I can't drop main scenario quests.'

All-stats boost was nice, but amplifying divine enhancements and selective 10-sec stat bursts? Top-tier options.

"Whoa, you didn't have to!"

Even with a 30-min cooldown after one enhancement, 10 seconds could flip battles for experts. Fights rarely dragged that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠long—use it to decide victory.

Vulcan snatched it eagerly, slipping it on. He didn't know why Tiran's face flushed just from him equipping a reward, but snagging a Unique accessory felt great.

"Ahem. And we've tallied the rewards for prior deeds……."

"Ah! Right!"

Seeing Vulcan's joy, Tiran hesitated before speaking. They'd finalized additional rewards.

'How much? At least a few hundred gold, right?'

He'd demanded gold outright, and main scenarios were generous. Maybe over a thousand?

'Heh heh heh!'

Tiran glanced down at the gleaming-eyed Vulcan and spoke.

"Here."

"Pardon? What's……."

She proffered not a heavy coin pouch, but a scroll. Did Gloria Saga have checks? Vulcan blinked at it, baffled.

The scroll's name was oddly ominous.