The Serpent Church (14)
The Serpent Church (14)
Demon Sword Surtr.
A dangerous weapon with deadly power.
But I can't use it freely. The reason is this.
"Crazy...!"
A massive amount of Sacred Power drained out of me. Deep wounds remained on my body.
[Warning.]
[Warning.]
[A portion of your vessel has cracked.]
[Be careful not to overexert a body that has reached its limit.]
Using it left my body a wreck. It was always like this until I obtained a body of equal caliber. Of course I'd be laid up for days.
On top of that, there's the drawback of Surtr sucking up all the combat experience. I should have leveled up several times for taking down Grasshopper, but not a single one of those crisp sounds reached my ears.
All I heard was Surtr's pitiful low wail.
【Haaah... I've been defiiiiiled...】
I immediately shoved Surtr, who was sobbing in an innocent voice, into the Pocket. I looked up at Grasshopper from where I lay sprawled on the ground.
A monster whose head and torso had been completely obliterated. The limit of skill output a human can produce is normally S-rank. Anything beyond that is beyond human power from the start.
If I'd drawn out all the output, it would have been nearly nuclear-bomb-level power. What I'd just fired wasn't even a fraction of that, but it could have wiped out a small village.
[You have defeated Grasshopper.]
[Vagueness's heart slowly stops.]
[The abilities of the parasites that lost their guardian drop sharply.]
The absurdly long legs dropped a moment later with a thud. The parasites that had been swept away lay plastered across the floor in a sticky mess.
But the problem was that there was still work left. That was why I had brought these people.
So that even if I took down Grasshopper, the remaining remnants could be dealt with.
"Big Siiiiis!"
"Huh, huh?"
A dazed answer came back. I didn't even have the energy to turn around, so I just shouted while lying flat.
"I have no strength in my body! I think I'm going to die!"
"What?! N-no way?!"
I heard the remaining parasites crawling closer. But footsteps faster than them stopped in front of me.
"A-are you okay?!"
Isabella's face came close. I reached out my hand. I felt relieved to finally be getting out of this wretched, stinking place.
A laugh came naturally. I leaned my body against Isabella.
"If I die, bury me somewhere sunny."
"...You really."
Isabella supported me. She glared at the approaching parasites with her drawn sword.
"Stop making people worry."
"I'll try."
"...Easy for you to say."
. . .
Radatok quickly took stock of the battlefield. What remained was comparatively easy. With the towering monster gone, the remaining demons stumbled around, barely faster than a crawl.
Their shells had also weakened and lost their light. Swords that hadn't gone in well before now went in easily.
Radatok was drenched in blood. The writhing of the flesh walls disappeared, and everything went quiet.
He felt that the end had come. And at the center of that end was him.
Apprentice Priest Zahard.
...One who had received divine guidance.
He had seen it amid the swarming army of demons: the enormous sword of fire, and that small back that had somehow seemed larger than anyone else's.
But that had not been Ra's flame. It was a demon's flame that brought ruin even to its owner.
That was not power a single human could produce. It was power impossible even if one sold one's soul to a demon.
What in the world. How in the world.
O God.
Is this also Your will?
After entrusting the remaining parasites to the inquisitors, Radatok stood before the boy. He looked down at the young apprentice priest and asked briefly.
"Brother. What was that flame just now?"
"The Flame of Ruin. It's also the reason Ra chose me."
"What do you..."
"It's an evil existence discovered at a church branch. And I inherited the sacred rank that was sealing it."
Radatok's eyes widened. Did that mean an ancient evil was sleeping inside that body right now?
"Then did you make contact with Ra at that time?"
"That's right. She chose me, and I also decided to inherit the mission. My role is to protect all of you from the ancient evil."
"O God... to place such a heavy burden on this young body..."
"It's the path I chose."
Zahard raised his body with difficulty. He grinned.
"Even if it were you, Radatok, I believe without a doubt that you would have made the same choice."
Radatok crumbled at that devout smile. He cursed himself for having doubted him even briefly.
What in the world was I... trying to tear down this young and strong priest?
"...But Brother."
Radatok knelt. He met his eyes.
The timing was bad. Very bad. If he had been born just ten years earlier, the church's situation might not have deteriorated as it had now.
"The church is in turmoil right now. The remaining factions are too large to set everything right. An apostle appearing in the Sun God Church is not an unprecedented event. It has happened several times. Even now, three apostles are alive."
"And?"
"What was originally four has decreased to three. We currently regard Archbishop Dwayne, a cardinal candidate, as the prime suspect in the apostle murder case."
"Can apostles be killed so casually?"
"A Sacred Mark loses its light the moment its bearer kills a fellow believer. But if someone else does the killing for them, it is different."
He was a capable and young talent. But he had already blown the whistle internally and made enemies within the church.
Archbishop Dwayne.
As one of the current cardinal candidates, he would never look favorably upon the boy before him.
"What is it that you truly wish to do, Brother?"
"To spread Ra's teachings far and wide."
"Is that all?"
"No?"
He spoke confidently, as always.
"I'm going to clean out all the rot inside and rise to the top afterward."
Stand.
Stand, he says.
At a glance, it could be a statement overflowing with ambition and coveting power. But for Radatok, that was actually more comfortable.
He felt as though he had glimpsed his true inner thoughts. And he had been confirming for himself what kind of person he was all along.
A being who extended merciful hands even to other churches.
A being who personally cooked for the starving.
A being who sacrificed himself in a hell where death seemed certain and opened a path to survival.
He was a person marked by self-sacrifice. If someone like him stood at the top, wouldn't any church change?
"...Inquisitor Radatok will swear himself to you."
Above him was Dimona. He cherished her. He thought of her like a child and always wanted to stay by her side.
But the boy before him was different. He was not someone to protect.
He was someone to follow.
"I will keep silent about today's events. I will not turn my back on any hardship. I swear to follow you wholly."
"What about the Divine Judge?"
"That and this are different matters."
"...Ahaha."
Zahard laughed.
"The difference between a subordinate and a bodyguard, right?"
"...If I must put it that way, yes."
"I like it. The Iron-Blooded Bear of the Church of Ra."
"That title is a bit..."
"What's wrong with it?"
Zahard thrust out his fist. Radatok stared at it blankly.
"It's cool. Iron-Blooded Bear."
Radatok disliked that epithet. He didn't want to be called by it because it felt like it was stained with innocent blood.
But why?
Why did hearing it from his lips stir an affection he'd never felt before?
"...Is that so."
Radatok hesitated. In the end, he slowly bumped his fist against it.
"Thank you. Priest."
"Are you done with 'Brother'?"
"Shouldn't I address you with respect?"
Radatok smiled back at him.
"I will swear my loyalty. Priest."
. . .
A portal opened. To be precise, as the trembling of the heart ceased, space itself was torn apart.
Beyond the gap, snow was pouring down. We slowly gazed at it. Radatok muttered.
"...The Sun God Church is probably waiting outside."
He and Isabella exchanged glances. Isabella clicked her tongue.
"If we go out, we'll be enemies."
"...The moment we both get out, we'll be enemies."
Radatok stepped back one pace.
"Go. Heretic. I'll let you go just this once."
"What?"
"You'd better disappear before I change my mind."
Radatok signaled me with his eyes. I smiled.
An excellent attitude. Radatok. Heh heh. He became my subordinate and even knows how to read the room!
He's on a whole different level from those Hector bastards!
"Let's go, Big Sis. It was fun while it lasted."
"......"
The surviving Serpent believers and paladins looked at us. Isabella knelt in front of me. She met my eyes.
"Is your body okay?"
"It hurts. But it'll heal while we go. Probably."
"...Are you going to do dangerous things again?"
"If it is Ra's will."
She stroked my Sacred Mark.
"Don't forget that another possibility exists for you. If you ever get confused, come find me anytime. The Serpent Church is open to you."
"Hey! Just go while we're letting you go!"
"How dare you whisper wicked things to our priest!"
"Oh, come on! Our commander can do that much!"
"Why are you being so petty?!"
"What?! Petty?!"
The paladins and inquisitors got in each other's faces and ground their teeth. Then, without anyone being first, they burst into laughter.
"Go. Heretics."
"Eat well and live well."
"If we meet again, you die."
"You're the one who'll die."
"You were pretty good at poker."
"Next time, I'll play for real stakes."
"Yeah. You scrubs. Get lost."
"Wanna die?! Let's go one more round before you leave!"
Isabella looked at the two churches laughing and making noise. She seemed so pleased by the sight of the two churches that had become friends during their time fighting together that she couldn't bring herself to step away.
But the moment of parting had come. She pressed her forehead to mine.
"...If. If truly, the day comes when these two churches become one... I'll follow you. My little friend."
"I'll miss you, Big Sis."
She set a flag right up to the end. How dare she. She's laying groundwork as if we'll never meet again.
Until I've repaid all the favors, you're mine! You're practically a spy I've planted in the Serpent Church!
"D-don't say it so directly... it's embarrassing..."
"You're not going to forget me, right?"
"How could I?"
She rummaged inside her clothes and took something out: a worn, crumbling brooch.
"This is really important to me. Give it back someday."
"I'm not giving it back."
"What?"
Because I needed to keep you around so I could milk you for all you were worth!
But since I couldn't say that, I instead whispered in her ear.
"If I keep it, I can keep seeing you. Right?"
Isabella's face flushed bright red. She glared at me briefly, then burst out laughing.
"Seriously, you... unbelievable."
Peck.
Her lips briefly brushed my forehead. The surrounding paladins whistled. Isabella blushed and snarled.
"Everyone shut up and move out! Prepare to flee immediately! We scatter the moment we're out! Avoid combat at all costs!"
Isabella's cape, stained with blood, fluttered. Before stepping through the gap in space, she looked back at me one last time.
"...See you."
"Goodbye, Big Sis."
She disappeared through the gap in space. The Serpent Church members swarmed after her, leaping into the gap in space.
"Farewell! You idiots!"
"Let's never see each other again!"
"Get lost!"
Amid the cheers of the whistling inquisitors, even the last paladin disappeared. The interior of Vagueness, where only the Sun God Church remained, was very quiet.
It had been clearable because it was an event boss built mostly around a war of attrition. I stretched. Every fractured joint ached. It was as if I'd become an old man.
I wanted to rest. My Sacred Power wasn't returning properly, so my wounds weren't healing properly either.
But there was still work to do. And it was the most important work of all!
"Priest. If you're unwell, perhaps you should rest a little before going..."
"Just call me Brother. I'm afraid others might misunderstand."
"Understood."
"The rest of you inquisitors agree too, right? That you'll keep what I used at the end a secret."
The inquisitors looked at one another. Then they shouted in unison.
"Of course! Brother!"
"Hey. Don't worry!"
"Our lips are sealed!"
"I'm thinking of switching to the priest's faction while I'm at it!"
"Who just said that?"
"Me?"
"Well said! You bastard!"
I felt like a celebrity. More importantly, it felt like I'd finally gained people of my own at Church headquarters.
Then maybe it was time to loot the place. That was one of the reasons I'd wanted to subjugate Vagueness in the first place.
"We can afford to leave a little later, so how about we search inside the Snow Demon?"
It's reward time!