The Day Priestess (3)
The Day Priestess (3)
The twin tails shook. A fierce-looking girl, far shorter than me, ground her teeth.
"You're Zahard?!"
"That's right?"
Grimoire, the Day Priestess who had Irene wrapped in her arms, snarled.
"You scumbag who seduced my cute junior...! Trash among trash who's got five thousand women around him...!"
"Even meeting one a day would take decades."
"Men are all trash! Womanizers who don't have a single decent quality! Ugh! I hate them!"
That's some serious misandry.
I sat down right in front of Grimoire. I stared at her.
"So? Why did you want to see me?"
"I! I'm Grimoire of the Day Priestesses! Show some respect!"
"This humble one knows not why yer ladyship wished to see this lowly self."
"What are you saying?!"
Grimoire jabbed her finger at me.
"I called you because I wanted to see who my cute junior was risking her life to chase after!"
"So, your first impression?"
"W-well, your looks are passable! But your conduct is unacceptable! A brute! The worst! Trash! You're obviously a priestly reject who just lives off women!"
"Why's that?"
I casually placed my hand on Grimoire's shoulder.
"Want me to seduce you too?"
Grimoire exploded.
"W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-whattttttttt?!!!!!"
Same reaction as when I first teased Rosemary. I exchanged glances with Irene.
Irene let out a sigh and patted Grimoire.
"Grimoire. I appreciate you caring about me, but I'm truly fine."
"F-fine? What do you mean fine?! Just tell me straight! What's your relationship with that man!"
"......."
Irene subtly avoided my gaze. Grimoire breathed fire.
"Wh-what have you been doing to my cute junior all this timeeee!!!"
"I haven't done anything."
"Unforgivable! She's a Day Priestess Candidate! A talent among talents who's going to take on tremendous and important work! Do you know how hard I worked to bring her over from the Theological Academy!"
Grimoire pulled out her weapon. I smirked at the sharp scythe.
"What, you want to fight?"
"I'll fix your attitude! Starting with that condescending look!"
"I'm looking down because you're short."
"Wh-wh-wh-wh-who's short?! I'm fucking tall, you know?!"
I casually lay down.
"Wow, so tall."
"Dieeeeeeee!!!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
I rolled away, dodging the chains slamming down. Judging by the lack of killing intent in her weapon, she didn't seem to be trying to kill me.
I casually reached out toward the scythe coming straight for my face.
"Stop."
"Wh-why?!"
"Well, I mean... if you tell me to fight, I'll fight, but..."
I was curious too.
Where exactly I stood right now.
Whether I could beat a Day Priestess, a member of the Papal Guard with combat ability on par with an archbishop.
"I should get ready too, shouldn't I?"
"...What are you going to do?"
[Zahard Balton] [Level: 79]
[Race: ???] [Class: ???]
[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.
[Class Unique Skills]
-Serpent God's Love: Serpent-God-related skills you possess grow rapidly.
-Serpent God's Grace: Your Sacred Power recovers rapidly.
-Serpent God's Blessing: You can handle the Serpent God's Sacred Relics without risk.
-Serpent God's Prayer: You are immune to status ailments.
[Apostle]
-Another Possibility (S): A small feather born from coincidence upon coincidence. The beginning is weak, but the end shall be grand.
-Healing (A): Can perform healing and combat simultaneously. Can heal more wounds with less Sacred Power. As long as Sacred Power does not run out, combat can be sustained.
-Blessing (A): Status ailment resistance increases extremely, and composure can always be maintained. Physical abilities improve greatly, and Sacred Power temporarily increases greatly.
[Church of Ra]
-Sacred Flame (A): Produces sacred flames. Purifies evil and can burn some things that cannot be burned. The size and limits of the flame are proportional to Sacred Power. Efficiency has greatly increased, and detailed shapes can be set.
-Prayer of Fire (B): Praying maintains body temperature for a long time. Physical abilities greatly improve.
-Holy Water Production (C): Infuses water with Sacred Power. Activates the body's healing power and raises resistance to Demonic Force.
-Sacred Wall (B): Can block off certain areas. Can be applied thinly over the skin and wreathed in fire. Exhibits power comparable to armor and negates impacts below a threshold.
-Whisper of Fire (B): Enhances weapon performance. Flames settle upon it, and it can be granted to others' weapons as well. Grants resistance to Demonic Force.
-Purification (C): Expels curses and purifies the corrupted.
-Crushing Guillotine - Guillotine (S): Call, and it shall answer. Unite spoke: the guillotine that executes evil has never once rested.
-Holy Destruction - Luin (S): Call, and it shall answer. Eronimus spoke: the wrath of light left traces that could not be erased deep within the cliff.
-Darkness-Slamming Weight - Stomp (S): Call, and it shall answer. Ainswalter spoke, saying the number of demons burst apart by Ra's trampling reached sixty-two.
-Crown of Ash (EX): Offering tribute raises the grade of Sun-God-related skills.
[Church of Naga]
-Yeongryeon (A): Seeps into shadows. Can move from shadow to shadow, and presence cannot be noticed except by those exceptional at detecting signs.
-Prayer of Scales (A): When praying, seeps into the surrounding environment for a certain period. Sound disappears from the sword, and physical abilities increase greatly. No sound is made even when moving the body.
-Venom Production (A): Can produce venom within the body that causes terrible pain. The deadly poison melts flesh entirely and causes intense pain.
-Serpent's Whisper (A): The appearance of an object seeps completely into darkness. Distance becomes impossible to gauge, and the object maintains its state even if external substances touch it.
-Erosion (A): Seeps into the mind and brainwashes another's mind. They do not wake except from certain stimuli, and it is maintained for a long time.
-Seeping Darkness - Sanajeh (S): The scales wished for it. I walked without sound. Blood flowed on the path carved into the darkness. Blood with no end in sight.
-Black Swamp - Favela (S): The scales wished for it. The two ends I pulled out were sharp. I was breathless. I slowly opened my mouth and devoured. O Naga. Watch over me.
[Shared Skills]
-Meat Cooking (B): Can make even meat that cannot be cooked delicious.
-Seafood Cooking (B): Can make even seafood that cannot be cooked delicious.
-Beverage Making (C): Can make delicious beverages.
Stats just before reaching level 80. A tremendous status window with one foot already in the realm of the Transcendent.
"There. Ready."
I raised the Pocket on my wrist, which had now become a portable treasure vault.
[Executioner's Greatsword (A)]
[Using Darkness-Slamming Weight - Stomp (S).]
A greatsword caked in rusted blood fell to the floor.
"Come at me."
. . .
Tiela, the head of the Day Priestesses, sipped her coffee.
An early morning cup of coffee was special. And it wasn't the usual bitter brew.
Even though she was devoted to dieting, she had put in a whopping three sugar cubes!
"...Today's me is frightening."
It couldn't be helped. The Day Priestess Candidate she had her eye on had returned safely, and had even returned Tarnhelm without incident.
On top of that, word had come that the purification of Paramer had been completed.
Since Irene had been unofficially involved in the incident, her name hadn't been put forward separately. But even so, Tiela's lips kept curling upward at the definite result.
Riffraff. She'd thought only vaguely mediocre ones were coming in, but didn't this mean a useful one had finally arrived?
As the saying went, one well-raised daughter was worth more than ten sons. Where could one compare the joy of raising a person?
What should she teach today? As Tiela racked her brain, she opened the door to the training ground managed by the Day Priestesses.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The clashing Sacred Power was vigorous even for morning. Had the news about Irene lit a fire under them?
A good phen...omen...?
Hm?
"...What's this?"
Tiela blinked. Grimoire's scythe was on fire.
"Hrrrgh!!!"
A Day Priestess was rampaging. The training ground, built with multiple layers of sacred barriers, was shaking as if an earthquake were occurring.
The Papal Guard. The minimum combat level of a Day Priestess was archbishop-class. Tiela herself could be considered to have reached cardinal-class.
And that woman was moving. Slamming down her scythe, burning flames, and with the settled form change, Ra's flames were bursting out like mad.
But...
But...
"...Hmmm?"
There was an opponent facing her.
No.
Rather, he was overwhelming her...?
Tiela narrowed her eyes. A strength that made space itself seem to stagger. The amount of Sacred Power bursting out was too much. It was so toweringly high that most paladins would be crushed flat by the pressure of the air.
An absurd amount unless one was apostle-class. And what of the greatsword he was swinging?
Brutish. Tyrannical. Each swing was so devastatingly destructive that he seemed to move without thinking about what came after.
But she couldn't find any particular problem.
Because everything around him was being destroyed to the point where he genuinely didn't need to think about what came after!
BOOM!!!!
"Th-this is cheating...!"
"There's no cheating in a fight?!"
"Sp-speak... formally...!"
"If you want formal speech, don't start fights!"
Black hair fluttered. Tiela followed the man's back.
He was tall. Mid-180s, perhaps. The amount of muscle visible through his clothes was perfectly suited. A body forged through grueling training. A solid physique without a single ounce of excess.
And his face? Handsome. Even the church's better-looking men couldn't hold a candle to him.
A face she'd never seen before. If he possessed that level of martial power, she would certainly know of him, but she'd never seen him anywhere.
That meant only one thing.
Tiela approached Irene, who was staring blankly at the two. She sipped her coffee.
"Is that bastard Zahard?"
"T-Tiela."
Irene nodded. Tiela scratched her head.
"...Why did you go to save him?"
"Pardon?"
"No, I mean... someone like that..."
He doesn't look like he'd die anywhere, does he?
. . .
Sacred Power overflowed. A member of the Day Priestesses, said to rival an archbishop.
I clashed with Grimoire. I took scratches, but immediately recovered through healing and swung my greatsword.
It burst. It exploded. Her scythe aimed for openings, but I trampled over them, leaped up, and slammed down on her head.
BOOM!!!
"Kyaaaaak!!"
Grimoire was sent flying. I charged in without missing the opening.
She immediately twisted her body, but she was full of gaps. I deflected her thrusting scythe diagonally with my greatsword. I deliberately released my weapon to eliminate the shock seeping into my shoulder.
"Hrk?!"
Then a body slam with my shoulder!
BOOM!!
"Urgh?!"
Grimoire rolled across the floor. Her dropped weapon fell to the ground.
Excitement rose. Ah! This is fun!
"Let's test hand-to-hand combat toobububub?!"
BANG!
My head was slammed into the ground.
What? What just happened...
"Stop."
I got up, rubbing my head. When I casually turned around, there was a face I'd never seen before.
A somewhat sharp appearance that looked as valiant as a lion. But even so, a lion-like person who had not lost her beauty stood there.
With that appearance and this strength... she was the one and only person even among the few Day Priestesses.
"...Tiela?"
"Oh? You know me?"
Right.
The head of the Day Priestesses.
One of the few remaining apostles in the Church of Ra!
My head hurt. I put my greatsword back into the Pocket. Not her. I can't get a read on her yet.
There was no way to beat her with force, as she was in the late 80s. Furthermore, Tarnhelm had originally been hers. It was probably in her pocket by now.
"If you don't know Tiela, you're not a follower of the Church of Ra."
"Your skill seems wasted for a mere follower."
"That's why I'm working as an inquisitor."
"Even a Divine Judge seems insufficient for you. That's some enviable power."
Tiela cupped my chin. She glanced at my lower body.
"If I had my way, I'd cut off your manhood and bring you into the Day Priestesses, but..."
"N-no, you can't!"
Irene grabbed me urgently. Tiela smirked.
"It's a joke. Anyway, why have you come here?"
"I was summoned here too."
"Summoned? By whom?"
Grimoire, who had been lying on the floor gasping for breath, crept toward the door. Tiela stomped down hard on her back.
"S-s-s-sis?! My spine's breaking! I said my spine's breakingggg!!!"
"I told you not to act on your own. Grimoire."
"Aaaack! Sorry! Sorry! Help! Help! Irene! Zahard! Help me!!!"
"If you don't stay still, it really will break. Grimoire."
"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!!"
Tiela shrugged. Her face as she glanced back at me was full of interest.
"So this is why Irene took an interest in you... you seem to be hiding a lot. Inquisitor Zahard."
"Nah. I've got nothing. I'm completely broke."
"You don't look it. But perhaps, if it's you..."
Tiela, who had been muttering, cupped my cheek. She was tall enough to be about my height, and she stared at my face.
"What position do you hold? Is one inquisitor post all?"
"Y-yes?"
"Do you have any other duties keeping you? If the Paramer matter is finished, you should be given a break for a while."
"Well... I suppose?"
"Divine Judge Dimona must be your superior. I've heard the Fifth Inquisition Office has many excellent paladins."
"That... is also true? Radatok and Rosemary are pretty strong, so..."
"Then it wouldn't matter if one like you were pulled away."
"Pardon?"
"Follow me."
Tiela grabbed the back of my neck.
"There's someone who wants to see you."
"D-don't tell me it's His Holiness the Pope?!"
"As if. Even if you're fairly strong, in my eyes you're a hatchling. There's no way His Holiness the Pope would want to see you."
"...Then who?"
"Who do you think?"
The Apostle of Ra dragged me along.
"My one and only close friend. I'll take you to Cardinal Arpina. If she sees you, she'll certainly have something she wants to say."