Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Faith
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-Thud.
The Black Knight's head rolled across the floor.
Everyone, myself included, fell silent.
Then, Ruin spoke up, his expression a complicated mix of emotions.
"...Is that really the end of it?"
"Yes. Thanks to the Mage Tower Lords' cooperation, we took him down fairly easily."
"...Easily? Can't you see the state you're in?"
Ruin ground his teeth and pointed accusingly at me.
As he said, my condition wasn't great.
My plan had been simple.
I'd receive as much Holy Power as possible from Ruin, and in the meantime, Ruin—the Hero—would seek out the Mage Tower Lords, show them his wounds, and ask for their help.
In the original story, one of them was destined to die the moment they encountered the Black Knight, making this impossible.
But since Ruin had survived by the skin of his teeth despite his injuries, this plan was feasible.
No matter how arrogant the Mage Tower Lords were, they couldn't ignore the crisis when humanity's strongest warrior, the Hero, had been defeated. While Ruin gathered them, I'd gone ahead to the Black Knight's lair and waited.
I'd dyed my cloak red to mimic the Hero's, and held a sword instead of my shotel.
I did my best to look the part of the Hero.
Seeing someone dressed like the Hero, wielding the Hero's Holy Power, the Black Knight naturally mistook me for him—and even assumed Ruin had grown stronger on his own.
Of course, the price for that...
-Spurt!
"Cough! Hack... Kugh...!"
...was that my body was on the verge of bursting.
"Is!"
The moment my strength gave out and I dropped to my knees, Ariana shoved past the Mage Tower Lords and Ruin and rushed to my side.
"Again, pushing yourself like this...!"
"Cough... I-it wasn't quite that bad this time."
"Be quiet!"
"Cough! Yes..."
'I really held back this time...'
Even though I'd taken in as much of Ruin's Holy Power as possible, it was still less than twenty percent of his total.
Even so, combined with my usual training and Ruin's Holy Power, it had shone brightly. My role this time was just to buy time, so I'd only used enough Holy Power to avoid dying.
Unlike Ruin, who wrapped his entire body in Holy Power while fighting, I'd concentrated it solely in my sword. I'd briefly cut it from areas like my back or thighs to conserve it—fighting efficiently, in other words.
"...If it was going to end like this, it feels like we weren't even needed."
The Blue Tower Lord muttered in dissatisfaction.
The Gold Tower Lord, Yellow Tower Lord, and White Tower Lord nodded in agreement.
"The Black Knight wasn't weak, but with your skills, you could've handled him alone, right?"
"Sigh... Time is money...!"
"Magic didn't work, but was that really all?"
The Mage Tower Lords began whispering among themselves as they glanced at me and Ruin. Meanwhile, the Purple Tower Lord and Red Tower Lord slipped away and came to stand by my side.
"Sir Is, no need to feel down. I'm a Mage Tower Lord myself, but... they're just not the type to sense danger."
"Blind's right. Those guys are all old fogeys. Especially that Blue Tower bitch..."
The two tried to comfort me from either side, but I didn't need it.
I wasn't the type to get hurt or discouraged over something like this...
-Slash.
"Huh...?"
...because the Black Knight wouldn't die that easily.
"G-Graaaah!"
The Yellow Tower Lord, whose left arm had been cleanly severed in an instant, collapsed to the floor, clutching his massive frame.
"U-Undead! It's undead!"
What he pointed at was the Black Knight's headless body, gripping its greatsword.
But it wasn't undead.
"How dare you interfere with this sinner's penance...!"
The furious voice came from the Black Knight's severed head on the floor.
"Let this be my sinner's penance!"
-Whoosh! Whoosh!
The Black Knight's body wildly swung its greatsword.
"Impenetrable Ice Wall!"
"R-Rising Rock!"
The Blue and Yellow Tower Lords, specialists in defense, quickly chanted their spells.
-Crack...
-Boom!
Rocks erupted from the floor, and ice seized the Black Knight's body, nullifying his attack.
In that moment, I grabbed Ariana and pulled back. Ruin and the Mage Tower Lords also swiftly distanced themselves from the Black Knight.
-Boom!
The body shattered the rock and ice, walking toward its head.
It reached out, picked up the head, and pressed it to the stump of its neck—then unleashed Holy Power.
-Splash!
"Ahh, judge me, judge me...!"
Returned to its original form, the Black Knight's eyes gleamed red from within his helm.
I immediately formed a Shield of Faith in my off-hand while gripping my shotel, readying my stance.
'This is why we needed the Mage Tower Lords.'
As obvious as it was, I'd known the Black Knight would revive.
Even borrowing Ruin's Holy Power, it wouldn't be that simple.
The Black Knight's body wasn't that of an ordinary human—it moved by 'faith.'
Normal attacks couldn't kill it.
"You know nothing!"
Of course, I knew how to destroy even that, but I'd deliberately let him rise again.
The reason was simple: to give information to Ruin and Ariana.
And right on cue, the Black Knight spat out his lines just like in the game.
"How dare you interfere with this sinner's penance! I must commit more sins, and through them, etch the Goddess's will and omnipotence into everyone's minds!"
He tossed off his helm, revealing his face.
Beneath it was a middle-aged man with long gray hair and red eyes, shedding bloody tears.
"Have you ever felt your faith waver? Have you ever experienced a sinner's faith stronger than your own?!"
The Black Knight's gaze locked onto me.
"You! What are you, to block my sacred sins?!"
He stomped toward me, greatsword in hand.
"If you go through the same, you'll change like me! Compared to 'that Black Mage,' neither you nor I are anything!"
"That Black Mage...?"
The moment Ariana unconsciously murmured those words...
"You! You must be the Saintess! Since you're curious too, I'll tell you! Even I, once one of the Seven Virtues Holy Knights, and you, the Hero, and you, the Saintess! He possesses Holy Power beyond compare!"
The shocking twist.
"Compared to him, you're all nothing!"
'There it is.'
The most crucial information from the Black Knight's mouth had finally come out.
The Black Knight was originally the Holy Knight of Temperance among the Seven Virtues.
But due to 'some event,' he began doubting his faith.
That event: a Black Mage displaying far more Holy Power than him.
Confused by the Black Mage having more Holy Power than himself, the shocking twist left after staring at him silently.
Left alone, the Black Knight agonized.
Why could a Black Mage use Holy Power?
Why did the Black Mage have more Holy Power than him?
Why didn't the Goddess punish the Black Mage?
To find answers, he decided to test the Goddess.
When a devout Holy Knight committed a sin, would divine punishment come?
So, late at night, he murdered a drunkard, believing the Goddess would punish him.
And that belief prevented the punishment.
Thus, to receive divine retribution, he continued piling up sins.
That was why the Holy Knight of Temperance became the Black Knight.
"The Goddess grants Holy Power to all who believe in her! Be they pickpockets, murderers, or Black Mages! So, I must amass sins until the shocking twist brings my punishment!"
He screamed like a madman.
"Only when I receive punishment will that one who made me this way face punishment too!"
Ariana covered her mouth in shock, Ruin stood frozen in stunned silence.
The Mage Tower Lords hesitated at his madness, but I alone gripped my shotel tightly and stepped forward.
And declared firmly.
"You are wrong."
You're wrong.
"A Black Mage using Holy Power, the Goddess not sending punishment—yes, it feels like your faith crumbling."
If I weren't a possessor but a native of this world, I might have become like this Black Knight.
But as a possessor, I knew the truth.
"But Black Knight, does that mean your faith in the Goddess was wrong?"
"It was wrong! Wrong, that's why I'm wrong, why the Black Mage has more—"
"No. There is nothing wrong with your faith in the Goddess."
The Black Knight faltered, unable to continue.
I pressed on.
"You shouldn't have waited for punishment—you should have trusted the Goddess and grown stronger. She gives the power to rise, but doesn't lift you herself."
"Even if I kill that Black Mage, my faith..."
"The Goddess gives strength to any who believe in her. So, instead of killing people, you should have hoped for their faith."
I dispelled the Shield of Faith and faced the Black Knight.
"Mother above, I possess a will sharper than any sword, and faith thicker than any shield." "Only existence above the heavens! Though my sword may break, in my heart burns a conviction firmer and sharper!" I sheathed my shotel in my right hand and placed my left over my chest.
Opposite me, the Black Knight gripped the middle of his greatsword and aimed it at his own solar plexus.
"My will shall not bend."
"Answer my will!!"
-Shing.
A brilliantly shining golden shotel and a dull golden greatsword gleamed into view.