The Demon Sword Surtr (2)
The Demon Sword Surtr (2)
In a roguelike RPG, what are the ways to get stronger?
First, level.
Second, equipment.
And third, skills.
And oh, damn.
Surprisingly, this place had a means that could satisfy all three at once.
"...Hm."
Once night fell, I wandered the quiet prayer room alone. I moved about idly, relying on a single candle.
[Zahard Balton] [Level: 1]
[Race: Human] [Class: Apostle of the Sun God]
[Class Unique Skills]
-Sun God's Love: Sun-God-related skills you possess grow rapidly.
-Sun God's Grace: Your Sacred Power recovers rapidly.
-Sun God's Blessing: You can handle the Sun God's Sacred Relics without risk.
-Sun God's Prayer: You are immune to mental corruption.
[Possessed Skills]
-Sacred Mark (F): Grants very slight resistance to all Demonic Force.
-Divinity (F): Can faintly draw upon the Sun God's divinity.
-Healing (F): Slowly heals minor scratches.
-Blessing (F): Mood improves slightly.
-Crown of Ash (EX): Offering tribute greatly increases the effectiveness of Sun-God-related skills.
Even looking at it again, my Status Window was pathetic. Good grief. What was this supposed to be?
Wasn't it no different from being told to roll around bare-bodied on the ground?
But it's fine. Who am I? I'm someone who cleared Glory Fantasia, which only a very few supposedly cleared, multiple times. Every time I restarted, the fine details or story tended to change, but even so, there was a large framework that never changed.
For example, well.
There's this.
I rummaged through the prayer room, scouring every corner like a cockroach. Come out. Come out.
You're here somewhere. Come out while I'm asking nicely.
I lightly tapped the wall. I glanced around several times, worried the sound might leak out.
There was no response. Since it didn't seem to be the wall, maybe it was somewhere else.
I glanced at the statue of the Sun God Ra, a veiled woman. Whoever made it must have cared about accuracy, because her figure was impressive too...
Her chest was especially large.
Mm. You'd need at least this much to be called the Sun God.
I glanced around. No one had woken. Which meant no one could see my actions.
Excuse me.
After obtaining the subject's consent entirely in my own head, I reached out. I groped the statue's chest this way and that, checking for anything hidden inside.
Mm.
Nothing.
Nothing here either.
If the second option wasn't there either...
Then only one remained.
I checked under the desk. I even lifted it slightly and shook it.
It had to be somewhere. With the first two possibilities ruled out, there was almost only one pattern left...
Click.
"...Found it."
I carefully disassembled the desk leg. Inside was a key. I approached the Sun God statue again and examined it for a hole where the key could fit.
...Found it.
A keyhole.
I didn't do something stupid like insert it right away. A loud noise would ring out, and everyone who was sleeping would wake up. I slipped the key into my pocket.
After living here for a week, I just needed to open the entrance to the secret place during the time when people were completely absent.
Once that happened, at least I wouldn't have to worry about getting killed by some random punch.
That bastard Hector or whatever his name was would be dead meat too.
You're done for. You bastard.
I'm the kind of person who pays back what I get twofold.
. . .
The priest named Mierkant, whom I observed over several days, was literally a stereotypical clergyman through and through.
The church was full of orphans it had taken in, and some of them had gone astray due to poverty. Some had joined the order, but that number was only a very small minority.
"That damn old bastard."
The children called Mierkant that. Even though he clothed them and bought them food, they cursed him in unison.
Saying they were immature wasn't enough. Their attitude toward the priest was so terrible that I wondered why he even bothered caring for brats like that.
The reason was the Church of Ra's reputation.
"...My dad died because of the Sun God Church."
The Church of Ra branch in Venelda was originally not this small, they said. Rather, it had boasted a slightly larger presence than the other churches.
But oh, damn.
When the church headquarters became blinded by money and power and fell into corruption, the branch was tainted along with it. The Church of Ra's Venelda branch followed the same downward spiral and joined forces with a now-defunct criminal organization to take over part of Venelda's commercial district.
When they were caught, they were dragged before the local lord and slaughtered. Those branded heretics were persecuted for some time afterward.
That had happened only a few years ago. Most of the orphans had parents who had died after being caught up in the battle between the Church of Ra branch and the lord's army.
It'd be strange if they didn't turn out crooked.
I began my lessons. Even a failing church branch had a mountain of things to teach me. The two other apprentice priests were away on pilgrimage, and I heard they were earning money for the branch because contact with the church headquarters had been cut off.
"Do you understand the teaching?"
"It's easy."
I got into a university in Seoul, you know. This much was nothing.
I flipped through the pages and memorized them immediately. None of the material was difficult in the first place, so it wasn't much of a challenge.
Mierkant was astonished. He often patted my head as if proud of my brains. It was the attitude of an adult toward a child, but I didn't mind.
What I wanted most were the supernatural abilities priests could wield—the so-called 'Holy Arts.'
For that, I can accept being patted like this any number of times!
"These aren't things you can learn overnight. Even if you see no immediate results, remember that you must keep at it steadily before understanding comes."
"Of course."
I gave the books Mierkant handed me a sly look. For anyone else, using Holy Arts probably meant learning to control Sacred Power, praying diligently, and maintaining unwavering faith...
So what.
None of that applied to me.
[You have acquired 'Ember'.]
[You have acquired 'Prayer of Fire'.]
[Zahard Balton] [Level: 1]
[Race: Human] [Class: Apostle of the Sun God]
[Class Unique Skills]
-Sun God's Love: Sun-God-related skills you possess grow rapidly.
-Sun God's Grace: Your Sacred Power recovers rapidly.
-Sun God's Blessing: You can handle the Sun God's Sacred Relics without risk.
-Sun God's Prayer: You are immune to mental corruption.
[Possessed Skills]
-Sacred Mark (F): Grants very slight resistance to all Demonic Force.
-Divinity (F): Can faintly draw upon the Sun God's divinity.
-Healing (F): Slowly heals minor scratches.
-Blessing (F): Mood improves slightly.
-Ember (F): Produces a warm flame on contact.
-Prayer of Fire (F): Body becomes slightly warm when praying.
-Crown of Ash (EX): Offering tribute greatly increases the effectiveness of Sun-God-related skills.
"...Heh heh heh."
The descriptions were still pathetic, but it didn't matter. I knew how to get stronger quickly, so once I began training in earnest, my skill grades would rise in no time.
F rank was practically useless. But from E rank onward, skills became usable in real combat. For something like Ember, E rank was only at the level of 'Ow, that's hot,' but once it climbed higher, it could roast a beast whole.
Possessed skills are the very strength of a character!
I'll loot everything I reasonably can and bolt to the church headquarters! Since things have come to this, I'll live large even here!
Who cares if it's a corrupt church or whatever! As long as I alone live well, that's all that matters!
As I laughed in the corner, the children passed by, grimacing as if they'd seen a bug. Since that kid Hector or whatever was still in the punishment room, there was practically no one targeting me.
Even if they were brimming with malice, kids are kids. Since I was always with the priest, they probably couldn't even approach me.
Even if he belonged to the group they resented, Mierkant was practically a savior to the children here. He had taken in those with nowhere else to go and given them food and shelter. It would have been stranger if they didn't follow him.
"Let's see."
Hector always showed up right when I left the prayer room. There were about two days left until it was time to teach him a proper lesson. With only a few days remaining, I organized everything I'd learned so far.
Mm. If I do this like this, and that like that...
The time when 'everyone' in the church was away from the church was between 3:00 and 3:30 in the afternoon.
"...Good."
I headed to the prayer room alone in the church after everyone had left. I didn't forget to carry the bread I had saved up while going hungry.
When I inserted the key into the empty keyhole beneath the statue, the building rumbled and shifted briefly. The statue itself began to rotate in place, as if spinning.
Just like in the game. I nodded in satisfaction and stepped onto the underground staircase revealed by the shifted statue.
The white marble walls painted with murals glittered in the candlelight I held. Each and every one of these was probably a historical record.
But I wasn't interested. Reading them wouldn't give me skills. Even if someone went on about historical value, I didn't particularly want to know, so I just kept going down the stairs.
Tap.
The spiral staircase that had seemed endless finally came to an end. The moment my feet touched the underground floor, lights came on around me.
The place was completely empty except for a single altar.
【Has Ra's dog come?】
Something floated above the altar. A red sphere. It scattered light like a small sun. A hymn from some unknown source tickled my ears. Like a recorded song playing, it repeated the same passage over and over.
A gloomy voice whispered.
【Take hold of me. Strip away the god's glory, and I will breathe power into its place. If you help me, I will place what you desire in your hands. Even the lofty Emperor will bark like a dog at your feet and weep.】
It crept out, slithering. Even with a wall of divinity around me, that malevolent thought reached me.
Still the same.
One of the nine weapons that had received an unranked designation even in the game.
A Divine Artifact that could neither be used nor approached at my current level.
Surtr, the Demon Sword of Destruction.
I lowered the hand I had impulsively extended. It was pie in the sky anyway. That wasn't what I wanted in the first place.
The delicious Demonic Force this thing was leaking everywhere was enough!
"Heh heh heh."
【......?】
I placed my hand on the barrier surrounding the red sphere.
[Warning]
[Warning]
[Warning]
[Sacred Mark rejects the intrusion of 'Demonic Force'.]
[Erosion begins.]
[Your body is being corrupted.]
It was a newly born Sacred Mark. Its power was extremely weak. Its skill grade was also F.
Being eroded by EX-grade equipment was only natural.
Demonic Force originating from the Demon Sword flowed along my fingertips. My skin stained dark red, and flesh began to slough off.
Pain eroded my mind. It felt like the skin of my entire body was being torn to shreds. But endure.
Along with raising my Sacred Mark level, this method is the best for getting stronger quickly!
The growth value of levels and skill proficiency increases greatly the stronger the opponent you face!
"Ugh!"
But this hurts more than I thought?!
I immediately pulled my hand away. The erosion stopped, but my right hand was completely ruined.
The Demon Sword sneered at me.
【So you were a weakling who couldn't even serve as a vessel. Just die.】
Shut up! Demon Sword!
But I still had a trump card!
I hurriedly set down the bundle I had brought. I had saved the rationed bread without eating it, tearing off pieces bit by bit and storing them separately. It was a dried-out, pathetic offering, but it would be better than nothing.
No.
I'd already tested it beforehand. This alone was enough!
"O God! I offer tribute!"
[Crown of Ash activates.]
[You may choose which skill to enhance.]
No need to think twice.
All of it into Sacred Mark!
[Sacred Mark is temporarily enhanced.]
['Sacred Mark' skill grade (F) -> (E)]
['Ra' lets out a sigh.]
[She strokes the offering as if dissatisfied.]
['Sacred Mark' skill grade (E) -> (D)]
[Holy Arts related to Sacred Mark are gradually enhanced.]
[Divinity is enhanced, allowing you to sing of small miracles.]
[Sacred Mark pushes out the 'Demonic Force' penetrating your body.]
They clashed. I could feel Demonic Force and Sacred Power battling inside my veins.
"Grraaah!!"
Blood spurted from my nose. I bit my cheek and endured. I clawed at my thigh and somehow kept breathing.
Endure. I just need to endure now.
No... no... but still...
No, fuck! It hurts too much?!
"O-offering... I need more... offerings..."
-Pull yourself together.
And who are you...
-Steady your mind. Resist with everything you have. I went to the trouble of bringing you here, and now you're gambling with your life... I badly misjudged you. You're wasting even the perseverance that impressed me on cheap tricks...
Flash!
Light burst out. I heard the rumbling sound of the statue turning.
A situation that could only be described as a miracle. The sunlight that had been coming down the spiral staircase completely vanished. The entrance to the secret underground was sealed off, and I was completely trapped in the underground prison.
Thump.
Someone placed a hand on my shoulder. I tried to turn around, but a voice stopped me.
-Do not look. You will go blind. If you wish to live with one eye, I will not stop you. Helping you ends with this one time. From here on, you must overcome things on your own until your power reaches the heavens.
"Wh, who..."
-The one who sent you here. The administrator of this doomed timeline.
The voice let out a sigh.
-Your master, you damned brat. Focus if you don't want to die.