Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Triumphal Return (1)
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Sion had defeated an archbishop of the Dialogue Church.
The Holy Knight Order headquarters was thrown into complete chaos by this monumental news.
“The Independent Knight Brigade took down an archbishop of the Dialogue Church?!”
“Archbishops require mobilizing an entire knight brigade to face them! How could this even be possible?!”
“I can’t believe it! It has to be false information!”
The knight order leader headquarters, which had been in an uproar, finally calmed down somewhat once more detailed information arrived.
“Archbishop Gerkius? The one who was purged from the Dialogue Church? He was still alive?”
“It seems he was secretly raising an undead legion in the Great Western Forest. The purge report must have been false information.”
“He destroyed the holy relic casket to annihilate the lich... Yeah, there’s no way they could have won a direct confrontation against an archbishop.”
People finally began to understand.
It wasn’t that Sion had won a frontal battle against the Dialogue Church archbishop. He had destroyed the holy relic casket to make him vanish. That at least had some plausibility.
“No matter the method, the fact remains that they took down an archbishop-level figure. That’s an enormous achievement.”
“Indeed, we haven’t managed to eliminate any archbishops in the last ten years or so.”
“A kid not even twenty yet capturing a 9th-circle necromancer... This will go down in history.”
The Holy Knight Order headquarters remained buzzing with excitement.
The news soon leaked outside the order, and even people from the Holy Spirit Church came to verify if the rumors were true.
Defeating a Dialogue Church archbishop was that big of a deal.
* * *
“Sion!”
“You rascal!”
After a journey spanning over ten days, as we arrived near headquarters, some unexpected people came out to greet us.
“Brother Kain, Brother Robel. I hope nothing major happened while I was away.”
“What big events would happen to us?!”
“Yeah! Brother’s right!”
Kain and Robel grabbed my shoulders and shook them wildly.
“You really took down a Dialogue Church archbishop?”
“It was really you who defeated Gerkius, that 9th-circle necromancer?!”
“The lich claimed himself to be Archbishop Gerkius of the Dialogue Church.”
To be precise, he wasn’t an archbishop anymore since he betrayed the Dialogue Church over twenty years ago... But explaining those complicated details myself felt awkward, so I decided to put it this way.
“It could’ve been a lie, but he did seem like a genuine 9th-circle necromancer. He was raising an enormous undead legion in the western Great Forest, after all.”
“No one else but Archbishop Gerkius fits that description!”
“Surviving an encounter with Archbishop Gerkius is impressive enough, but destroying the holy relic casket to annihilate him... What kind of guy are you?”
Kain and Robel shook their heads in disbelief.
“Ah, no. That’s not the important part.”
“Sion, you need to head to headquarters and see Grandfather right away.”
“Grandfather?”
“The Knight Order Leader commanded that you be brought to him immediately upon arrival!”
“That’s why we came all the way out here!”
“I see.”
Ianus had summoned me.
He probably wanted a direct report from me.
“Understood. I’ll head there right now.”
I handed the other squad members over to Lotus and made straight for Holy Knight Order headquarters.
“13th Unit Leader!”
As I arrived at headquarters, Brigade Leader Bernhard greeted me.
“You’ve done well! Taking down Archbishop Gerkius—what an incredible holy knight you are!”
He grabbed my hand and flashed a broad smile.
“The Leader is waiting! This way!”
“We’re going to the Leader’s office?”
“No, somewhere else.”
“Then where?”
“The conference hall.”
“...?”
I followed Bernhard, clueless.
* * *
“Entering: Independent Knight Brigade 13th Unit Leader, Sion Aleyas!”
The place Bernhard guided me to was a large conference hall.
Hundreds of chairs were arranged in a semicircle. As I walked through them, I felt eyes on me from all sides.
[You’re getting a ton of attention.]
‘Yeah, tell me about it.’
The hall seemed filled with the Holy Knight Order’s executives.
I spotted Serxes, head of the Integrated Supervision Headquarters, and Helena, Chief Inquisitor of the Heresy Tribunal.
Estrna and Kurt were absent, likely on external duties.
“Sion Aleyas.”
“Yes, Knight Order Leader Excellency.”
The Knight Order Leader seated at the front... Ianus Aleyas called to me.
“Report in detail on this mission.”
“Understood.”
I stood at the podium and explained in detail what had happened in the western Great Forest.
Of course, I concealed Dietrich’s help as much as possible.
I described it as having coincidentally noticed Gerkius’s presence and sneaking off to find the holy relic while he was distracted elsewhere.
Gasps erupted here and there when I mentioned getting caught by Gerkius right before destroying the holy relic.
“But just before Gerkius could take my life, I destroyed the holy relic and annihilated him. After confirming the undead legion had gone completely silent, we withdrew.”
“...”
“That concludes my report.”
The room was silent.
Wondering if something was wrong, I waited quietly. Then Ianus slowly raised both hands.
“Excellent.”
Clap, clap, clap.
Ianus’s applause echoed through the conference hall.
The surrounding executives immediately joined in.
“Ooooh!”
“Waaaaah!”
Thunderous cheers.
Everyone was cheering for me.
In my previous life, I had been a Dialogue Church archbishop, and now I was receiving applause from Holy Knight Order executives. It felt profoundly strange.
“Excellent, Sion Aleyas.”
Ianus’s voice carried clearly even over the loud applause.
“We’ll have to verify later if Gerkius still held archbishop status, but regardless, he was a 9th-circle necromancer who once sat in that position. Thwarting his plan to raise an undead legion and disrupt the world—this is a tremendous merit.”
“I merely did my utmost.”
“That’s what matters most. Leading a mere independent knight squad of barely twenty men. Defeating a lich commanding a mighty undead legion. I offer my respects to your wisdom and courage.”
The Knight Order Leader himself said he “offered his respects.”
This was exceptionally high praise.
“A great merit calls for great reward. Is there anything you desire?”
“Excellency, I...”
That was when it happened.
A sharp voice cut through from the crowd.
“Please wait, Excellency.”
The speaker was none other than Serxes.
As the Integrated Supervision Headquarters head stood, the room quieted.
“Before discussing rewards, there’s one thing we must confirm.”
“Integrated Supervision Head, what is it?”
“Everyone seems to have forgotten the original mission of the 13th Unit of the Independent Knight Brigade.”
The 13th Unit’s original mission.
Hearing that, Ianus nodded.
“You’re right. I overlooked that.”
“The 13th Unit’s original mission was to locate Demon Spirit Sword Ashurai.”
Serxes looked at me as he said this.
“13th Unit Leader, did you secure Demon Spirit Sword Ashurai?”
“Yes, I secured it.”
“You didn’t use the Demon Spirit Sword, I hope?”
Murmurs rippled through the room at Serxes’s words.
“Headquarters Head, Sion Aleyas is a holy knight. Do we really need to ask?”
“There’s no way he’d use a wicked sword like a Demon Spirit Sword.”
“Why is Lord Serxes asking something like that?”
Ignoring the chatter, Serxes turned his gaze to Helena seated nearby.
“Chief Inquisitor Helena, Demon Spirit Sword Ashurai is a sealing target. Correct?”
“Yes, that’s right, but...”
“What happens if someone uses a sealing target item without Heresy Tribunal approval?”
“Well...”
“It’s a Grade 1 heresy. Isn’t it?”
“Y-yes, it is.”
Helena nodded hurriedly at her brother Serxes’s words.
“Integrated Supervision Head, what are you getting at?”
“Knight Order Leader Excellency, the 13th Unit Leader just said he personally destroyed the lich’s holy relic casket.”
“And?”
“A lich’s holy relic casket is protected by magic and extremely sturdy. It can’t even be scratched without an attack of 6th circle or higher mana.”
“6th circle or higher mana...”
“No ironclad knight wielding sword aura could possibly destroy a holy relic casket.”
The room grew noisy again.
“Only an ironclad knight using sword aura can destroy it?”
“There’s no way Sion Aleyas is at that level.”
“Then how did he destroy the holy relic?”
Gauging the mood, Serxes smirked triumphantly.
“13th Unit Leader, I’ll confirm.”
“Yes, Headquarters Head.”
“You used Ashurai to destroy the holy relic casket. Am I wrong?”
Used Ashurai.
Serxes’s bombshell statement left the executives’ faces in shock.
“Used Ashurai to destroy the holy relic casket?”
“Using a sealing target Demon Spirit Sword—how could he...!”
“No matter the emergency, that’s a Grade 1 heresy!”
But I wasn’t fazed at all.
Facing Serxes, who looked at me smugly, I replied calmly.
“Yes, I used it.”
“As expected!”
Serxes grinned openly.
He was certain he had cornered me.
“And I’m carrying Ashurai right now.”
“What?”
“I’ll show you.”
I drew the sword from my waist.
And held it high for everyone to see.
“This is Demon Spirit Sword Ashurai, which I secured in the western Great Forest.”
“H-hey! What do you think you’re doing?!”
Everyone paled at the sight of me drawing Ashurai.
From a holy knight’s perspective, this was utterly unacceptable.
“That’s Ashurai, the one Archbishop Hausel used! That wicked Demon Spirit Sword!”
“I remember it too! The sight of it spewing blood-red mana and slaughtering our allies is still vivid!”
“Coming into Holy Knight Order headquarters with that on your waist...!”
“S-Sion! Don’t tell me you forgot? Demon Spirit Swords must be sealed immediately upon securing!”
Amid the panic bordering on hysteria, Helena shot to her feet.
“It needs to be inscribed with the Holy Spirit Church’s designated ritual to suppress its demonic nature before sealing! I know I explained it...!”
“I’m aware, Chief Inquisitor.”
“Then why...!”
“I didn’t think it was necessary.”
As I replied, I channeled mana into the blade.
In a different way than usual.
“Please take a look, everyone.”
“...!”
At that moment.
A brilliant light began to gleam on the raised blade.
“Is this a wicked Demon Spirit Sword?”
“...!”
Everyone gaped at the sword aura enveloping my blade.
I had deliberately controlled it to shine radiantly, making Ashurai look like a holy sword.
“I don’t sense any of the wickedness or demonic nature you all mention.”
“T-that’s...”
This was only natural, in truth.
Ashurai was a sword forged from spirit power. It wasn’t inherently evil.
But because it had long been used by the Dialogue Church, the Holy Knight Order perceived it as a sword imbued with wicked demonic nature.
“It feels completely different from when Archbishop Hausel used it...”
“Yeah, no demonic nature at all. It feels holy, even...”
Many executives looked perplexed.
Serxes and Helena were no exceptions.
“13th Unit Leader.”
“Yes, Knight Order Leader Excellency.”
“Can you explain what this is about?”
“I don’t know the exact principle, but...”
Answering Ianus’s question, I improvised.
“Ashurai was stored in an underground lake in the western Great Forest. It seemed like a place where the mysterious energies of great nature converged, and I believe that purified any wicked demonic nature it had.”
“The wicked demonic nature was purified...?”
“Yes, that’s what I think.”
Gazing at the glowing blade, I continued.
“The moment I found this sword in the underground lake, I sensed it wasn’t evil at all. It felt like a holy sword infused with the energies of great nature.”
“A holy sword...”
“I judged it essential for fighting the wicked lich. Without this sword, I wouldn’t have withstood the deathly aura Gerkius emanated and would have failed the mission.”
“So that’s why you didn’t seal it?”
“Yes. With no wicked aura present, I saw no need to rush the sealing. As a Grade 1 knight and independent knight squad leader, this was my judgment on-site.”
“...”
Looking around, many executives wore convinced expressions.
If the Demon Spirit Sword had been purified into a mere holy sword, there was no need to seal it, right?
“W-wait a minute.”
Serxes hurriedly interjected.
“That’s not something a mere on-site knight squad leader can decide...”
“And one more thing.”
I cut him off before he could spout nonsense.
“Headquarters Head, earlier you said it’s impossible for me—not an ironclad knight using sword aura—to destroy the holy relic casket. That’s why I must have used Ashurai.”
“S-so?”
“But here’s the thing.”
I focused my mind.
Rather than just compressing the sword aura on the blade into sword form, I condensed it more solidly and precisely...
“I can already use sword aura.”
“...!”
This time, I had extracted mana from Gerkius, who was a 9th-circle mage.
I couldn’t store it all within me, but thanks to the western Great Forest brimming with natural energies, I managed to settle a considerable amount into my circles.
As a result, I reached the 2nd stage of the Dialogue Circulation Method, gaining mana equivalent to a standard 6th-circle knight.
Enough to wield sword aura.
“The birth of the youngest ironclad knight in history...!”
The conference hall shook as if struck by an earthquake.