Chapter 59
Chapter 59
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Battle for the Holy Grail (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Boom! Kwang! Kwa-kwang!
The barrage of spells shook the entire castle.
They weren't particularly destructive spells, though. Massive flames erupted with deafening roars, but the actual damage was minimal.
“Argh!”
“S-Save me!”
People screamed and fled, but there were no casualties.
Even the guards who charged in were subdued without a scratch.
*Hmm, looks like the vault His Lordship mentioned is this way.*
Dietrich pressed on into the depths, still in disguise.
After neutralizing the guards and opening the door, he spotted a glass case protected by intricate security spells.
*Pretty sturdy.*
Only those who knew the incantation code could retrieve the item.
But that meant nothing to Dietrich, a 9th-circle mage.
He shattered the security spells using nothing but raw mana.
*So this is the supreme holy relic worth Grade 1 or higher... the Holy Grail.*
It was Dietrich's first time seeing the Holy Grail in person.
As expected from its legendary reputation, it radiated powerful divine power.
*No doubt the Dialogue Church would be drooling over something like this.*
Holy relics were coveted not just by the Holy Spirit Church, but by the Dialogue Church as well.
Stealing one was a slap in the face to the Holy Spirit Church to begin with, and if you could invert the divine power it held, you could use it for all sorts of nefarious purposes.
*Well then...*
Even with the Holy Grail right in front of him, Dietrich just stood there.
Yawning from boredom, he sensed someone approaching from behind.
“Freeze!”
The voice of his young knight lord, Dietrich's master.
Hearing it, Dietrich broke into a bright smile.
*My lord, mission accomplished! Only I could pull this off!*
But instead of praise, what came from his lord was a sharp blade.
“Gasp...!”
Caught off guard, Dietrich nearly took a fatal blow.
It seemed... his lord wanted a more realistic performance.
* * *
I clashed with Dietrich for about ten minutes in an intense mock battle.
It wasn't a real fight, of course. It was all to stage a scene where I heroically repelled a mysterious villain after a hard-fought struggle to steal the Holy Grail.
In the end, Dietrich fled at the right moment, leaving only the Holy Grail with its security incantations disabled.
“This is a disaster, isn't it? The Margrave won't be back for a few days, right?”
“Yes, that's correct...”
“The security spells are broken too. We can't just leave it here.”
“K-Knight... In that case...”
“It was already slated for transport to the Papal Court. We'll move it right now.”
“B-But without the Margrave's permission...”
“This is an emergency. All responsibility will be...”
In front of the flustered officials, I pointed to the side with my thumb.
“...on Bishop Mateur over there.”
“Me?!”
Mateur looked utterly bewildered, but the others seemed to accept it.
Leaving the Holy Grail here would just invite another attack, and next time it might really get stolen.
Better to hand it off to the escort unit.
[Good thing that Margrave stepped away.]
*Kraus probably linked up with the ones after the Holy Grail.*
Dietrich was tracking Kraus right now.
If my guess was right, Kraus would be waiting near the canyon—the only way out of the territory.
*He's leaked info to multiple factions already. Once we've worn ourselves out fighting them off, he'll send in his real allies to snatch the Holy Grail.*
[They'll be ambushing us at that pass we came through.]
*Kraus will be waiting nearby too, just in case.*
Given Kraus's obsession with the Holy Grail, he wouldn't sit back and wait idly from afar.
He'd be close, directing the operation to swipe it.
[Once we wipe them out and exit the territory, we're golden.]
*If they take the Holy Grail, Kraus wins.*
But it wouldn't end in Kraus's victory.
I'd smash through everything in our path and escape his territory over the mountains.
“Bishop Mateur, get ready.”
“Damn it... Why me? If something goes wrong, do I really take all the blame?”
Mateur, looking deeply uneasy, loaded the Holy Grail onto the carriage.
It was a different one from the carriage Mateur had used on the way here, equipped with special facilities for transporting holy relics.
Even if the carriage was destroyed, the Holy Grail inside would stay safe.
“Move out! Escape the Margrave's territory in the shortest time possible!”
“Yes, Captain!”
It had taken four days to enter the territory and reach the castle.
I planned to cut that in half.
* * *
“What?!”
Kraus shot to his feet.
He'd just received the report from his subordinate, Retina.
“Is that true?!”
“Yes! The bishop and holy knights left the castle with the Holy Grail!”
“On what grounds?!”
“Intruders attacked the castle! The storage area was destroyed, security spells broken—they said it was better to transport it ASAP than leave it...”
“Damn it all!”
Crash!
Kraus hurled nearby objects in a rage.
He'd planned to stall for three days until ragtag opportunists swarmed the Holy Grail.
He never imagined things would turn out like this.
“What about the bandits? The Great Eagle Mercenaries?!”
“The mercenaries haven't reached the transport route yet. Same with the bandits...”
The plan was to wear down the holy knights with repeated attacks.
But if they'd escaped the castle this quickly, that was impossible.
“Don't panic so much, Margrave.”
“...!”
Another man seated there spoke up.
A burly man in his fifties.
“We just catch the holy knights in this canyon, right?”
“Lord Pertus, but...”
“The escort unit's leader from the Holy Knight Order is some punk named Sion Aleyas.”
The man called Pertus stroked his chin.
“Youngest grandson of Ianus Aleyas. Kid's racked up achievements despite his age. Word is he recently nabbed Archbishop Gerkus in the Western Great Forest.”
“Archbishop? From the Dialogue Church?”
That was intel Kraus hadn't uncovered.
“Hah. No need to make a fuss. It was twenty years ago, and the guy was hiding in the forest because he feared getting hunted. The Holy Knight Order's hyping it up for PR, but to us, it's laughable.”
“I-Is that so?”
“Either way, I don't like what they're doing, so we'll give them a thrashing here.”
“Then...”
“I, Bishop Pertus, will dispose of Sion Aleyas in the name of the Dialogue Church.”
Pertus was a bishop of the Dialogue Church.
He'd been secretly dealing with Kraus for a while and had plotted this Holy Grail heist together.
“Let's look at the map, Margrave.”
“Yes...”
“They'll come over these mountain paths into this canyon. Even without a fight midway, climbing the mountains will tire them out.”
Escaping Kraus's territory meant crossing treacherous peaks.
Even knights would feel the fatigue.
“We hit the weary knights by surprise. Our Dialogue Church priests are already positioned in the canyon. We can wipe them out in an instant.”
“Our forces are... sufficient?”
“Plenty. We've got fifty men.”
“Feels a bit light...”
“Too many makes ambushing tough. Better with elite troops only.”
“Understood.”
Kraus nodded.
“I'll trust you, Lord Pertus.”
“Then, Margrave, let's reconfirm our deal.”
Pertus smiled.
“We annihilate the Holy Knight Order and seize the Holy Grail, then hide it where you've prepared. You report to the Holy Spirit Church that the Dialogue Church attacked and stole it. Stolen en route, so no blame on you.”
“...”
“After that, you monopolize the Holy Grail. We just take usage data.”
“That's really enough for you?”
“The Grail itself isn't what we want. Taking a relic the Holy Spirit Church prizes—that achievement matters. And the data we get from it.”
“...”
“Settled, then. Now, reposition troops accounting for their faster arrival...”
Kwa-boom! Kwa-boom!
Sudden explosions made Kraus and Pertus flinch.
They rushed out to check. An blast had hit where their forces were ambushing.
“Lord Pertus! What the hell happened?!”
“Why the explosion? Did a 9th-circle attack spell hit us?”
As they scrambled to assess, an urgent voice called from nearby.
“Report!”
“What is it!”
“The holy knights are closing in! They'll hit the canyon any moment!”
“What?!”
Impossible.
How had they gotten here this fast?
“Looks like they took a shortcut!”
“How would outsiders know a shortcut?! Even then, this is too quick! Did they sprint full-tilt through the mountains?!”
Kraus urgently looked to Pertus.
“Lord Pertus!”
“No choice...”
Pertus gritted his teeth.
“We commit all remaining forces! Join us, Lord Kraus!”
“Damn it...!”
No other way—they had to crush the knights with everything.
To seize the Holy Grail, Kraus moved out hastily with Pertus.
* * *
“What was that explosion over there?”
“Who knows? Maybe the Dialogue Church's oil or explosives for fires went off?”
Dietrich's preemptive attack spells had likely caused massive casualties on both canyon sides.
*Igzard, how many left?*
[About twenty. All 3rd-circle or higher. Lower ones wiped out, it seems.]
*Numbers even with ours now.*
After chatting with Igzard, I turned around.
I called out to my subordinates following behind.
“Everyone holding up?”
“Fine!”
“The horses look good too?”
“Yes, full of energy!”
Confirming their responses, I asked one last thing.
“How about you, Bishop?”
“Not... fine... at all...”
Mateur groaned from inside the carriage like he was dying.
“Squeezing... my mana... to the limit...”
“Thanks to you, we can march this fast.”
“Fine for people, but casting on horses too...”
“Magic on non-humans isn't easy. You're elite, Bishop.”
“Praise... doesn't... help...”
The reason we moved so quickly?
Mateur had cast fatigue-recovery and vitality-boosting spells on the knights and horses.
For a 6th-circle mage like him, sustaining that on this many was normally impossible.
But now we had a mana recovery method.
“If you're tired, drink more water.”
“Can't... hold... any more...!”
The Holy Grail was with Mateur now.
Fill it with water, and it instantly became holy water.
Purer and more effective than standard holy water—drinking it rapidly restored mana.
“Damn, if they find out I used the Grail like this, I'll be severely punished...”
“Just keep quiet. We'll all keep the secret.”
“Ugh... why me...”
Ignoring Mateur's grumbling, we galloped on—and entered the problem canyon.
“Prepare for ambush!”
“Yes, Captain!”
As expected, enemies lunged from both sides.
Some injured, some unscathed.
Dietrich had dialed back the firepower to avoid collapsing the mountain and blocking the path.
“Numbers even! No panic—repel them!”
“Got it!”
Half formed a defensive formation around Mateur's carriage with the Holy Grail; the other half aggressively attacked the foes.
[Dialogue Church battle priests!]
As Igzard noted, they were Dialogue Church battle priests.
Unlike purification priests specialized in terror, these were properly trained combat operatives.
*But...*
I sliced the throat of a charging battle priest, thinking to myself.
*My men can handle this!*
I'd put the 13th Unit through grueling training.
Mana control drills to boost base combat power, tactical sessions for fighting battle priests.
Even numbers—we could hold our own.
*Igzard, any strong mana signatures?*
[Up top—6th and 7th-circle. The 6th is Margrave Kraus.]
*Hiding there, huh.*
I leaped up the canyon wall.
Cutting down plummeting battle priests one by one, I ascended swiftly.
There stood a man who looked like a Dialogue Church bishop-level cleric. And beside him, Kraus in disguise.
“Margrave, so you're here.”
“You bastard, how did you...!”
Glaring at the gnashing Kraus, I raised Ashurai.
“I'm taking the Holy Grail. Any complaints, speak now.”