The Church (Part 6)
"...However, if I return in this state, I will lose all standing within the Church. No matter how much I scream at them to steer clear of Montpellier for the time being, the high priests will not even pretend to listen."
"Do you take me for one who cowers before such trifles?"
"Of course not. But the condition of our contract was to keep the Church away until the demonic energy drains from the city's populace, was it not?"
I had merely palmed off every bothersome chore onto the bishop of the exorcist order under the guise of a 'contract,' yet he was treating that single word—which I'd tossed out as a casual bluff—with utmost gravity.
Well... to be fair, the bishop had a point. Even from my perspective, it seemed highly unlikely the Seraphia Church would lend an ear to a bishop who had come scurrying home from a catastrophic defeat. Or rather—would they even see it as a catastrophic defeat?
'These bastards had their memories wiped completely clean.'
Of all the exorcists who had marched on Montpellier, this bishop was the sole cleric remaining who recalled what had transpired with me. The rest would all be rewound to how they were before crossing paths with me. From the high priests' perspective, the bishop would appear to have deserted his post before the enemy without so much as lifting a finger against the demon, only to spin brazen lies on top of it. There was no earthly chance they would forgive him. Stripping his authority would be getting off easy; facing punishment bordering on execution would be the standard verdict.
In that case... it would suffice if the entire exorcist corps stood as witnesses, rather than the bishop alone.
"I understand."
"I am glad you understand. If I return alone, I possess no credibility, so at the very least, you must—"
"I shall preserve the priests' memories intact."
"...What?"
As proven by how vividly I remembered my days as a human despite occupying the body of the demon Faust, so long as the soul remained untouched, memories of what I had done to them would endure even if their physical vessels changed. In other words, if I applied Time Reversal solely to their flesh rather than their souls, the chances of the priests retaining what they had suffered at my hands were exceptionally high. No, far beyond high—it was practically a certainty. And priests bearing those memories in full would make for overwhelmingly persuasive witnesses.
Oh. It was an idea that had crossed my mind on a whim, but it was surprisingly brilliant.
Those struck by Dementia had their souls scrambled alongside their bodies, leaving me no choice but to reset them entirely, but as for the rest, I would simply restore their physical forms.
"No matter how righteous the truth, if barked by a solitary voice, it amounts to naught but empty blather. When there is but one witness, even the truth invites doubt; yet when three bear witness, even a falsehood may be forged into indisputable fact."
"What... on earth..."
Truth be told, I did feel a slight pang of unease. Operating under the assumption that I could simply rewind time afterward, I had handled those priests with ruthless abandon. Sticking strictly to the boundary of not killing them, I had used every conceivable method to test Faust's practical combat capabilities: how to calibrate mana in live combat; precisely how much force pushed a subject to the brink of death; how much a psyche could endure when shocked without inflicting the slightest external or internal wound; how to fine-tune spells and skills that meddled with the mind; the operational mechanics of skills I hadn't touched since possessing Faust's body—literally everything under the sun.
And the condition of the priests subjected to all that... naturally went without saying. One glance at them made your face contort in grim horror; you simply couldn't bear to look at them straight on.
"Take the priests who suffered at my hands as your witnesses. Do so, and you shall instead become a hero who delivered his flock from the clutches of a demon."
Still, what choice was there? Waking up with those horrifying memories intact was terribly unfortunate for them, but if I didn't do this, wouldn't the Church just invade this city again, raise holy hell, get driven out, and repeat the cycle endlessly? I had to prevent such a future at all costs. It was a matter of sacrificing the few for the sake of the many. And above all else, if any other demon had been standing here instead of me, it would have been an outright, merciless bloodbath. They ought to be kneeling in gratitude to me.
"That is far too cruel—"
"Dost thou truly preach that unto me?"
Sure, it was undeniably cruel. But hadn't these bastards marched here with the express intent of killing me in the first place? Where in the world would you find someone who sends perpetrators of attempted murder back home in one piece? Granted, saddling them with PTSD and mental scars was undeniably harsh, but I couldn't very well stand by and let the Church march back into this city and burn the residents alive. We were already planning to move away for Lucia's recuperation; having the entire populace slaughtered the moment I turned my back would leave me tossing and turning with a terrible conscience.
"...Right. For a moment, it felt as though I were conversing with a human, and I forgot myself."
The bishop stared intently into my eyes before murmuring those words. Well, I was glad to see he had grasped the reality of the situation.
Though the restoration was far from total, the immediate aftermath seemed more or less contained. The bodies of priests that had littered the city's cobblestones—whether broken from lost egos, shattered sanity, or suffocating nightmares—had now been cleared away entirely. Of course, the blood they had spilled and the rubble of ruined structures still choked the streets, but even this was a massive step forward.
[...They truly have returned to life.]
[Did word never reach your Church?]
[Naturally, we dismissed it as absurd ravings and cast it aside. Where in the world could such magic possibly exist?]
[Hmph. Understandable enough.]
And as for Time Reversal... though I hadn't let on until now, the strain was staggering. Time Reversal was achieved through the synthesis of holy and dark magic. As one might expect, being a demon meant the backlash from channeling holy magic was no laughing matter. Even though Faust had originally been a human who fell into demonhood—meaning his core was not absolute evil, allowing him to wield holy magic to some degree—the recoil was still severe. Reversing time for one or two people was one thing, but winding it back for nearly a hundred priests had left me utterly exhausted. I hadn't felt so much as a twinge of fatigue since becoming Faust... Ugh, I really needed to exercise some restraint in the future.
"I have woven a mental command into the priests so that their wits shall return only once they are far removed from this city. In their present state, they shall obey your words without question, no matter what you bid them do. Take them with you as they are, and deliver my warning to your Church."
"...I am no longer even surprised."
Since the priests might go hysterical with terror upon laying eyes on me, I had meticulously brainwashed them as well. All that remained was for the bishop to escort them back and persuade the Seraphia Church not to dispatch anyone toward Montpellier for the time being.
'Good. Now it's truly over.'
I could finally lounge about in peaceful leisure, seeing to Lucia's convalescence until the demonic energy, the magi, fully drained from her body. Ah, that reminded me—I also needed to research how to return to my original form. My memories from when I was human cut off abruptly past a certain point, leaving much unknown, but the recollections preceding that moment were crystal clear, which meant—
"Demon. It seems all matters regarding our withdrawal have been concluded... but I would ask one final question of my own accord."
Just as I was sketching out future plans in my mind, the bishop—who should have had no business left with me—spoke up once more. What was it now? Up until this point, whenever he had something to ask, he'd blurted it out without hesitation. Why was he dragging his feet now, making me nervous?
"Speak."
"If we return as we are, a massive crusade of exorcism will undoubtedly be unleashed against you. Are you not afraid?"
The expression on the bishop's face as he asked this was deadly serious. The picture-perfect portrait of a corrupt clergyman he had presented just moments before was nowhere to be seen. He looked like an entirely different person. Yet watching him, I felt far more deflated than solemn. Whew... and here I thought he was about to drop something earth-shattering. Got worked up over nothing.
"Let them come."
"..."
I had been a player of Noah as well as a member of the design team that developed it. This region was the absolute beginner territory of Noah, while Faust was a future raid boss situated past the extreme endgame—one whose development hadn't even been fully finalized. Now that I was Faust, there was no chance in hell I would fall, no matter how vast a pack of dogs the Seraphia Church sent swarming my way.
"Is your inquiry finished?"
"...Yes."
Tsk, what an anticlimactic bastard.
"Just how did you botch the calibration?! Did I not explicitly order you to summon a moderate demon, something suited to show off our achievements?!"
"I-I followed the manual to the letter, I swear!!"
"Then what in the godsdamned world is that demon—keuuu-ghk...!"
...Loud, filthy wretches.
Summoning a demon when you don't even intend to sell your souls...?
By all rights, a low-ranking demon should have answered the call, but seeing as this was the first wish in two years, I had slaughtered the lesser demon and crossed over in its stead... and you repay that effort with this kind of betrayal?
Well, whatever. If they won't surrender their souls willingly, I can simply take them by force.
"H-Heeek... Lady Seraphia, please have mercy upon me—gurrrk..."
...Ugh. A foul name to hear. Then again, the only ones brazen enough to summon a demon with zero intention of bargaining their souls would be that bastard's lackeys. Wait a moment—could the fact that every single wish has been intercepted over the past two years be their doing as well?
'...No, that can't be it.'
Judging by the sacrificial altar where I had been summoned and the magic formulas carved into the surrounding walls, everything was far too crude and archaic. The caliber of fools relying on such antiquated sorcery was painfully obvious. There was no way they could intercept wishes. And come to think of it, they served that hypocritical bastard who despised demons to the marrow yet couldn't survive without them; they had no reason to go out of their way to stop demons from being summoned in the first place.
Hmm... well, that left only one answer.
'Which bastard is it?'
What breathtaking greed. Demon or not, to dare monopolize souls without a shred of professional etiquette...? And for two whole years? Nothing like this had ever occurred in all of history, which meant it was likely a demon spawned only recently... Whoever it was, once I tracked them down, I would teach them a lesson in manners and decorum before tearing them to shreds.