Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Holy Grail Scramble (3)
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“Ugh!”
Edwin barely managed to block it.
He had reinforced his sword with Grade 2 Shario, but the impact still made his wrist go numb.
‘What the hell is this?’
There had been quite a distance between him and his opponent.
Yet it felt exactly like his sword had clashed with sword energy.
‘That crimson-black energy flew at me! This is……!’
No doubt about it.
It was a technique only those who had reached the 8-star realm—known as Martial Rank Knights in the Holy Knight Order—could use.
A remote attack that compressed sword aura, which was originally meant to coat the blade, to high density and fired it off……
It was definitely ‘Sword Bullet,’ a realm far beyond the Paewa Gangpa of the Dialogue Church bishop he had fought moments ago.
‘The fourth stage out of the five: sword energy, sword aura, sword beam, sword bullet, sword stream……!’
That meant his opponent was at least an 8-star powerhouse.
For Edwin, who was merely at 4-star, it was an enemy he could never hope to face.
“…….”
Retina stared at Edwin in silence.
Then, suddenly, her appearance began to change.
“Gasp……!”
Retina had originally been a woman of average build.
But her flesh twisted and her skeleton shifted, transforming her into a skinny middle-aged man.
‘I’ve heard of this! Dialogue Church’s Special Grade 1 Assassins can alter their appearance at will!’
Why was a Dialogue Church Special Grade 1 Assassin here?
And why had she been disguising herself as Klaus’s confidant?
“…….”
Retina—no, the assassin disguised as Retina—was taciturn.
She simply held a single dagger infused with crimson-black sword aura and stared at Edwin.
‘One moment of carelessness, and I’m dead!’
Edwin gritted his teeth.
His opponent was an overwhelming powerhouse. There was no overt killing intent, but the slightest gap would mean losing his life.
‘I have to keep my wits about me and hold out until Sion returns…….’
At that moment.
The assassin vanished from his sight.
“……!”
Edwin instinctively threw himself sideways.
He felt a sharp blade graze his back.
“Urk!”
It was a deep wound.
He had fought many battles following Sion, but he had never sustained an injury this severe.
“Hah, haah…….”
He could no longer hold his sword.
Panting heavily, he looked up to see the assassin raising her dagger toward him once more.
“Not bad.”
It was the first time the assassin had spoken.
Was she praising him for surviving an attack meant to end him in one strike?
‘Sion……!’
Bracing for death, Edwin squeezed his eyes shut.
The sound of wind being cut came right then.
“Ugh……!”
Boom!
When Edwin opened his eyes, he saw the assassin desperately blocking a greatsword that had flown in from somewhere.
“Sion……!”
Had he finished off the fleeing Dialogue Church priest and returned?
Sion emerged from the forest, walking toward them.
* * *
Originally, I had been absorbing mana from Bishop Pertus.
But after hearing Igzard’s warning, I immediately returned to our position.
[He possesses 8-star mana. Why didn’t I sense it earlier?]
‘Dialogue Church assassins’ techniques.’
[What?]
‘Assassins who reach high realms can completely disguise their presence. They even have a technique to forcibly halt their circles so they don’t react to the Holy Spirit Church’s mana scans.’
[There’s such a thing?]
‘Of course, only a handful of assassins have reached that level. So this one is…….’
Just now, I had thrown the greatsword I took from Pertus.
Even though it was a complete surprise attack, the assassin dodged without a scratch.
‘Dialogue Church Special Grade 1 Assassin, right?’
“…….”
The assassin just frowned, saying nothing.
Instead, Edwin gasped out.
“S-Sion. That assassin…… was disguised as Klaus’s close aide. And just now, she…… killed Klaus…….”
“Got it.”
“Be careful…….”
Having reached his limit, Edwin lost consciousness.
I first pulled out holy water and sprinkled it on Edwin’s wound for emergency treatment.
‘Your plan went awry, huh? You must have thought you could steal the Holy Grail while I was chasing Bishop Pertus.’
I kept sprinkling holy water as I addressed the assassin.
‘You’re from a different faction than Bishop Pertus, right?’
“……!”
The assassin flinched, struck at the core.
‘Bishop Pertus seemed to be from the Battle Faction. He was even using Paewa Gangpa, created by Archbishop Ducles.’
‘You…… how do you…….’
‘You’re probably from the Infiltration Faction. You infiltrated from the start to stab Pertus in the back, didn’t you?’
“…….”
‘You waited for Pertus to fight the Holy Knights, then planned to swoop in and snatch the Holy Grail midway.’
This guy had been biding his time.
Whether Klaus or Pertus took the Holy Grail, or the Holy Knights defended it…… once everyone was exhausted, he could just take it.
‘As the rumors say, not an ordinary guy.’
The assassin muttered with a scowl.
‘But you’re mistaken about one thing.’
‘Mistaken?’
‘Yeah. You think the Infiltration Faction trying to snatch the Holy Grail is just me alone.’
With that, the assassin looked up.
‘His Excellency the Archbishop doesn’t handle things so sloppily.’
At that moment.
The surrounding forest shook.
It wasn’t the wind. Those who had been hiding their presence with large-scale concealment magic revealed themselves all at once.
And toward the ravine…… a large number of assassins and combat priests began swarming in.
* * *
Something strange was happening.
Bishop Mateur thought so as he scanned outside the carriage.
The Dialogue Church’s combat priests had already been completely subdued. Once they finished up and passed through this ravine, the mission would be over.
‘But…… what’s this ominous feeling?’
As Mateur looked around, he noticed Lieselotte standing there, biting her lip.
“L-Lieselotte Grade 1 Knight, what’s going on right now?”
“New enemies are swarming in.”
“W-What?”
“Klaus the Baron planned to ambush us here when we were exhausted from fighting the bandits and such.”
That plan had failed.
Because Sion had moved faster than Klaus anticipated.
“But…… there were others planning to ambush us when we were worn out from fighting Klaus’s gang.”
“……!”
Mateur urgently looked up.
There was Sion, leaping down from the ravine while cradling Edwin.
“Knight Captain! What the hell…….”
“Bishop, treat Edwin.”
“Uwah! Why is he hurt so badly?!”
“Hurry.”
“O-Okay! Don’t glare at me with such scary eyes!”
Mateur hurriedly tried to drag Edwin into the carriage.
But he froze upon seeing shadows popping up atop the ravine.
“T-Those are……!”
Countless ruffians were pouring onto the ravine’s edge, and among them was a woman riding a jet-black horse.
“A horse with two horns…… Bycon!”
A woman who tamed and rode the high-rank monster Bycon.
There was only one such person in the Dialogue Church.
“Archbishop Sapphirus……!”
Archbishop Sapphirus.
Elder of the Dialogue Church’s Infiltration Faction, the witch who trained countless assassins.
She was glaring down at them, leading a horde of subordinates.
* * *
“You’ve had a hard time, Holy Knights.”
A seductive voice echoed across the entire ravine.
A beauty mounted on a black horse with two horns addressed them from above.
‘Just as I remember, Sapphirus.’
I grew up in the assassin training organization Sapphirus created.
However, I never met Sapphirus directly during my assassin days.
I only got seriously entangled with her after becoming a Battle Faction bishop.
‘I thought Pertus would buy more time. My hair’s all messed up from rushing over.’
Sapphirus fiddled with her purple hair, speaking in a leisurely tone.
‘Still, looks like I’m not too late. It would’ve been a hassle if you’d escaped the ravine.’
“Archbishop Sapphirus.”
“Hm?”
As I called out, Sapphirus leaned forward to peer at my face.
“You must be…… Sion Aleyas?”
“You know me?”
“Of course I do.”
Sapphirus covered her mouth with two fingers and smiled.
“The boy knight who took down Bishop Olean, who tried to build his own faction after leaving mine, and even tracked down and erased Gerkius hiding in the Western Great Forest…… The other archbishops might not care, but this Archbishop Sapphirus has taken quite an interest in you.’
“Not exactly welcome attention.”
‘And you’re Kurt Aleyas’s son, to boot.’
As she mentioned my father, Sapphirus narrowed her eyes.
“Heh heh. You look just like your father in his youth. Kurt back then was so delicious-looking.’
This wasn’t a metaphor.
Sapphirus had seriously wanted to devour Kurt.
Among all the villains and freaks in the Dialogue Church, this Archbishop Sapphirus was one of the top five perverts.
‘So, shall I make a proposal to our cute boy knight?’
“What’s that?”
‘A way to save the lives of all these knights here.’
With that, Sapphirus glanced around.
‘The guys here…… they’re not many, having crossed the mountains evading the Holy Knight Order’s surveillance net, but they’re elite.’
“…….”
‘Three Special Grade 1 Assassins, ten Special Grade 2 Assassins, two 8-star combat priests, seven 7-star combat priests…… hm, I forget.’
They were elites incomparable to the forces Bishop Pertus had brought.
As befitting an archbishop, the quality of her mobilized forces was on another level.
‘In any case, a force you couldn’t win against even if you died and came back to life.’
‘Seems that way.’
Sapphirus spoke the truth.
Right now, the only one here who could fight those guys was me.
Edwin was already down, and Lieselotte or Lotus were insufficient against them.
Even if Dietrich joined, we had no chance of victory.
‘Stronger than Dietrich…… Sapphirus is.’
That’s right.
Sapphirus, who had held the archbishop position for over a century, was one of the top powerhouses in the Dialogue Church.
And she’d brought her elite forces, so Dietrich alone couldn’t handle her.
‘So I’m making a proposal, Sion Aleyas.’
“What proposal exactly?”
‘Just hand over two things to me.’
“One’s the Holy Grail? What’s the other?’
When I asked, Sapphirus smiled and answered.
‘Hand over Sion Aleyas, yourself.’
“…….”
‘The Holy Grail and Sion Aleyas. Just those two, and we’ll withdraw quietly. No more blood needs to be shed.’
‘The Holy Grail makes sense, but what do you want me for?’
‘Uses are endless, aren’t they? Oh, don’t worry, I won’t use you to negotiate with the Aleyas family or anything. No plans to extort ransom.’
Archbishop Sapphirus covered her mouth with her hand and laughed.
“Sion.”
Then Lieselotte approached and whispered in my ear.
‘It might be best to negotiate by handing over the Holy Grail.’
“Lieselotte.”
‘Handing you over is absurd, but the Holy Grail? That’d be fine.’
Lieselotte’s voice was serious.
‘If we resist here, we all die. Even if it’s us, we can’t let you die here.’
“Is that because my father entrusted you with my protection?”
‘That means nothing. You’re my lord now.’
“…….”
‘Handing over the Holy Grail without a fight will cause issues later, but we can recover from that anytime. So for now…….’
“Enough, Lieselotte.”
I cut her off midway.
‘I won’t hand over the Holy Grail. Or myself, for that matter.’
“Sion……!”
Lieselotte looked at me desperately.
But I ignored her and stepped forward.
‘Archbishop Sapphirus, you’ve probably heard, but I have no intention of giving you anything.’
“Hmm? You mean that seriously? Your life’s your own to throw away, but your subordinates’ lives too?’
‘That won’t happen.’
‘Really…… such an insolent child.’
Sapphirus narrowed her eyes and glared at me.
‘Your father wasn’t that insolent.’
“Father’s father, and I’m me.”
‘Still, not valuing your life is similar.’
With that, Sapphirus crooked her finger.
Her subordinates around her raised their weapons in unison.
‘Then, Sion Aleyas…… shall we begin?’
‘I don’t think it’s your call when to start.’
“What?”
‘Can’t you hear it?’
“Hear what?”
‘The sound of hooves.’
“……?”
Only then did Sapphirus look up.
She stared westward and flinched in surprise.
“This is……!”
‘You didn’t think the Holy Knight Order would send just one Independent Knight Brigade for something like this, did you? Transporting a top-grade holy relic like the Holy Grail?’
Our 13th Unit had entered alone because Baron Klaus disliked large forces entering his territory.
But transporting the Holy Grail didn’t end once we left Klaus’s territory. After crossing these mountains, we still had a long way to the Papal Court.
So…… it didn’t matter if we rendezvoused with other units after crossing the mountains.
‘We planned to wait on the other side of the mountains originally, but we couldn’t stay put during this emergency. And conveniently, you took care of Baron Klaus for us…… no one left to complain about unauthorized armies entering his territory.’
“……!”
I had already instructed Dietrich to signal across the mountains.
The unit waiting on the other side had noticed the anomaly in the ravine and come rushing.
“Wait, those guys……!”
Sapphirus raised her voice as she looked up.
“The Judgment Knight Brigade……!”
One of the Holy Knight Order’s top elite units.
The Judgment Knight Brigade, commanded by my father Kurt Aleyas, had appeared at the ravine.