Say "Nahash is a son of a bitch~"
Say "Nahash is a son of a bitch~"
What kind of species are Heretics, anyway?
Basically, they are gloomy, sinister, cunning, and cowardly bastards.
And above all, they are unpredictable bastards who constantly engage in behavior that defies common sense.
The methods of Heretics have evolved and developed bizarrely over countless years to evade the Goddess's surveillance and aim for her heart.
And among those countless methods, the most representative one is transformation, or mimicry.
They change their bodies into small animals like rats, birds, snakes, or lizards to secretly move through narrow, thin, dirty crevices or sewer holes.
Usually, the target of that mimicry follows the symbol of the entity they hideously worship.
So, the traces of the reptile, squamata, snake suborder group recorded in the security orb.
It's recorded in a complicated way, but this is just where snakes passed by.
And this trace... from the intuition of a Heretic Inquisitor, it's well worth suspecting.
Because 10 wild snakes moving in a pack through the sewer as if they were social animals is never a common natural phenomenon.
And if my guess is right and they really are Heretics...
I need to move immediately.
If they're capable of mimicking animals, that means they aren't just some run-of-the-mill, bottom-of-the-barrel Heretics.
Especially if it's snakes, the probability that they belong to a branch of the 'Snake's Fang', which worships the great Demon Nahash in the form of a snake, is very high.
Wiiiiii─
The Halo floating above my head began to spin at high speed, emitting an even more intense light.
"Shall we get going quickly?"
If I put my mind to it, I could run from here, or even fly.
But if I move that loudly, it will attract the students' attention and the entire academy will become chaotic.
Then those sensitive Heretic bastards might notice and tuck tail and run.
Of course, just because they run doesn't mean I can't catch them, but...
If that happens, the chase will get long and my clock-out time will be delayed. How annoying.
So, it's right to use the fastest, quietest, and most stealthy means to move to the strike point.
Seuuuu─
The dazzling light cluster emitted by the rotating Halo pours down like a waterfall and covers my body.
In an instant, my whole body was dyed in white light.
And in that split second.
I was no longer sitting on the bench in front of the Aura Knight Swordsmanship Training Hall.
+++*
Seuseuseuseu─
I, Gyazeda, apostle of the snake, and my nine brothers.
We are members of the great 'Snake's Fang'.
There are a total of nine groups of 'Snake's Fang' on the continent that worship our father, Nahash.
Among them, we, the second fang, succeeded in entering the academy faster than any other comrades, and faster than any other beings trying to assassinate the Goddess.
While other bastards were just testing the waters outside, wasting time acting like idiots while claiming to formulate plans.
We acted immediately and entered the heart of the academy like this.
Through the most lowly and dirty water pipes.
Water pipes are deep underground, a place that is out of sight, stinky, and rarely visited by people, but they are essentially connected to external waterways.
So, if we go through the water pipes, we can break through the academy's ironclad security network and infiltrate from the outside to the inside. We exploited that point, mimicked snakes, rode the external waterways, and entered the inside of the water pipes relatively easily.
Of course, 'relatively' easy, swimming through the narrow crevices of the water pipes wasn't exactly an easy task.
Even if it's a snake's body, it just means we can swim; it doesn't mean we can breathe underwater or have a body specialized for swimming.
But it was definitely worth enduring that hardship.
Didn't we accomplish something that would be absolutely impossible for those who borrowed the forms of monstrous birds or other beasts?
If it were those perverted bastards who worship monstrous birds, they would have turned into birds, flown, been spotted by guards, and died in vain after being shot by arrows.
The 'Dreamer of Plague' bastards who can turn into rats would have also gone to the grave, drowning from exhaustion while moving through the water pipes since rats themselves aren't suitable for long-distance swimming.
But because we worship the great Nahash-nim, we were able to enter by riding these narrow, damp pipes.
Ah! Nahash-nim! Thank you!
Here, I realize your great grace once again.
Look at this. Even though quite some time has passed since we entered the water pipes, aren't those high-and-mighty academy guards showing absolutely no reaction!
We just need to keep moving along the water pipes like this and find the exact location of The Saint.
If we detect the powerful divine power erupting from below the floor toward the top, that place must be The Saint's residence, so finding it won't be a problem.
The Saint's divine power is so vast that just approaching it is suffocating.
Of course, I don't have a sense of exactly where it is yet, but if our brothers spread out in all directions and search, we will definitely be able to find it within today.
So, at least by tomorrow, that detestable Saint...
No, no.
There's no need to use such a noble title for that fake saint-bitch.
We will be able to sink our venomous fangs deep into that 'saint-bitch's' neck.
Haha!
Things are really going smoothly...
"Where are you all going in such a hurry?"
It was a strange thing. There was no way a human voice could be heard in this closed underground water pipe.
Why on earth is a man's voice heard behind us?
And it's as if he's trying to have a conversation with us.
Would a sane person talk to a pack of snakes?
My nine brothers, including me, turned around in unison with confused hearts.
"Hmm? Look at them turning around? They understand me? Haha! I knew it. I knew this would happen."
Then, a black-haired man wrapped in a cluster of light that brightly illuminated the dark interior of the water pipe was standing there.
He had both hands shoved deep into the pockets of his black dress pants, watching us as if we were some kind of spectacle.
"You fucking dirty snake bastards. Where do you think you are, crawling in here."
It felt almost despicable...
"In a sacred school where green sprouts grow, where are you rubbing your dirty bodies and acting like shit."
With a cold smile on his lips.
"You guys are going to get a scolding."
+*
The reason I took the entire detailed map and floor plan from the academy security team.
It's simple.
If I perfectly imprint the location in my head and grasp the structure, I can instantly move anywhere as long as light reaches it.
A kind of teleportation.
If there is even a tiny ray of light, I can ride that gap and manifest anywhere.
The mechanism of this teleportation is very simple. It's the power of the Halo.
The Halo is a holy artifact, and the Goddess's power dwells within holy artifacts.
And all light existing in this world is fundamentally the possession of the Three-Eyed Goddess.
So, this Halo can handle everything regarding light.
You can consider it capable of almost all supernatural phenomena that can be realized with light.
So, teleportation to a place where light reaches is also possible.
Actually, to be precise, it's closer to light-speed movement.
Because it's the concept of marking coordinates at a target point where there is light and moving the body at superluminal speed.
...
Well, actually, even in my opinion, it seems like a bit of a forced logic.
But well... since it actually works, isn't this the standard and principle of this world?
Even if it's a bit strange, compared to the memories of my past life, this world itself is all strange from the beginning.
In this world, you just have to adapt and live according to this world's crazy logic.
That's the correct answer.
"There is light even inside the dark water pipes..."
Tiny detection devices installed throughout the water pipes that are nothing but darkness. Using the very faint light emitted by those devices as a medium, I instantly moved to the coordinates where the snake traces were found.
On the damp floor, the traces of slime where snakes had passed remained clearly.
"10 of them."
What kind of wild snake lives in a pack, lining up in formation like an army like this?
There is no concrete evidence yet, but at this level, according to my intuition, it's over 90% confirmed.
Of course, to check the remaining 10% probability, I'll have to see their faces in person.
I followed the snake traces like that, moving as if sliding through the air while floating slightly off the floor.
Because of the nature of the water pipes, if I make footsteps, I could be caught due to the vibration.
And a while later. The backs of 10 snakes wagging their tails and crawling quickly came into view.
I landed my two feet lightly on the floor without making a sound and shouted in a low voice.
"Where are you all going in such a hurry?"
At that call, the crawling snakes flinched like humans and turned around.
"Hmm? Look at them turning around? They understand me? Haha! I knew it. I knew this would happen."
As expected, it wasn't 90%, it was 100%.
"You fucking dirty snake bastards. Where do you think you are, crawling in here."
Since their identities were exposed, there was no need to think complicatedly from now on.
"Where are you rubbing your dirty bodies and acting like shit in this place where green sprouts grow."
The Halo emits a dazzling white light.
"You guys are going to get a scolding."
...
"And let me relieve some of my accumulated stress too."
The cluster of light emitted from the Halo condenses and is gripped in my right hand.
"Say 'Nahash is a son of a bitch~'."
The cluster of light held in my hand was taking the form of a sharp sword.
+++*
"Guek? Teueueueok! Kuaaaaaaaak!!!!"
One of my brothers, who had undone his snake mimicry and hurriedly returned to human form, had all his limbs severed in the time it took for the man to blink once.
The person who had sliced off my brother's limbs in one go was wearing a chilling smile.
Is he an angel?
"Now, how should I do the next one? Should I peel off that snake skin entirely?"
No, that is a demon.
He is holding a sword of brilliant light, and the Halo, the symbol of an angel, is floating above his head, but he is clearly a demon.
Yes, I have heard of him.
The greatest natural enemy and nemesis of Heretics like us, a Heretic Inquisitor who is like a sworn enemy.
Among them, the 10 Chief Inquisitors who stand at the pinnacle.
And among them, the worst Chief Inquisitor who is the youngest, but possesses the most cruel, vicious, and ferocious nature.
A demon wearing an angel's mask.
A greater evil that even kills demons.
Lu Niginna.
He was swinging his sword of light clusters and playing with us like toys.
"Aaaaaak! Aheuheueuk... Keuheueuk..."
Both eyes were instantly pierced and burst by rays of light, and hundreds of holes were drilled into his whole body, spraying blood like a blood cart.
"You, you fucking bastard... Brothers! Get a grip! He's just one guy in the end! Sink our venomous fangs into that bastard's neck! For that, we have until now... Huh?"
In a split second that he himself didn't even notice. His upper and lower body were cleanly split in two.
He bowed his head to see what happened, but only the horrific sight of his entrails leaking out from the severed cross-section came into view.
"Uaaaaak!"
Another brother rushing in like crazy, howling.
"Keueop."
The result was too futile and obvious.
His neck was skillfully slashed just enough not to die, and he fell to the floor, dangling.
Another brother really had his skin peeled off while alive.
One brother was accurately split into three vertically and died instantly.
One brother had to watch his own heart being pulled out to see what it looked like.
The remaining two brothers, as if that demon bastard was getting bored of the slaughter, had their lives ended after having their necks cut, mercifully(?) at least.
At least for them, it must have been a somewhat comfortable death.
As for me, who survived in hellish pain, I even felt envious of that death.
And I regretted it bitterly.
Why did I crawl into this place on my own feet.
Why is that murderer here.
I should have thought that if The Saint was here, such a murderer would be by her side.
Ah, I was stupid. I was truly stupid.
With this pathetic dagger I'm holding...
With this weapon that we were so proud of, claiming it was Nahash's venomous fang, I can't even touch the hem of that demon's clothes.
It was the moment my faith and belief were shattered to pieces.
"Now, only you are left? You're the apostle of this snake den, right? Which fang are you? No, but if you're a snake, what's with 'fang'? Shouldn't it be 'venomous fang'?"
He approached me and started pouring out mockery with a grin.
"Anyway, you idiots are so stupid. Well, would you guys know that? Whatever, let's ask one thing."
He squatted in front of me, holding the sword made of light rays in his hand.
"Depending on how you answer this question, it will be decided how painfully you will die. You don't have to answer at all, but if you keep your mouth shut, I'll throw you into the Holy Realm Correction Orb where you can't even die and only suffer for the rest of your life, so choose carefully."
And then he spun that sharp, cold sword threateningly in front of my eyes.
"You, you came because of The Saint, right?"
"..."
I was so terrified that I couldn't even answer. I just trembled and nodded mechanically.
"Yeah, I thought so. Then I'll ask one more thing."
Didn't he clearly say he would ask only one thing earlier?
Fuck.
As expected, he was a demon wearing an angel's mask who was cunning to the core.
"Where did you hear about The Saint entering the academy for the first time?"
"Th, that is something everyone in the world... Kuaaaaaak!"
Before I could even finish my sentence, a piece of flesh from my thigh was instantly gouged out.
At the same time, the fishy smell of flesh burning terribly pierced my nose.
"Don't give me that obvious answer that everyone already knows because the rumors have spread to the world. Tell me the truth."
He smiled benevolently.
He was truly like a demon.
No.
That was a demon itself.