'The holy relics the system bestowed upon us number twenty-three.'
Holy relics were not items that could ever be obtained easily.
Items that possessed powerful force, and therefore were not granted unless one accomplished great achievements.
That was why the Church stored those holy relics with such immense care.
Each and every one of them was no different from a hidden trump card that could save the Church when a crisis arrived.
“...Total, twenty-one.”
Those relics were.
No different from their future, responsible for the Church’s next several decades.
And now.
“Twenty-one holy relics... were just consumed to expel that existence.”
That future.
Had disappeared in a single instant.
“Ah, aaaaah.......”
After the people heard those words, silence flowed among them for a while.
Then, after some time passed.
The first sound that came could not be called language.
“Hngh.......”
“Khhk, aaaaaaagh......!”
The powerful people who had been entrusted with guarding the Church’s heart.
Awakened beings with strength and mental fortitude counted among the best in the Church wept.
“No, nooooo......!”
“Our future.......”
“The graces the system bestowed upon us, l-like this...... aaaaah......!”
Unlike ordinary believers.
The Church’s elites, entrusted with the duty of guarding the Inner Temple.
They were also responsible for protecting the holy relics enshrined in the Church’s heart.
Naturally, they knew the names of those holy relics and their powers better than anyone.
“So many relics, all at once......!”
Because they knew better than anyone the value of what they had lost.
They collapsed, unable to endure the resulting sense of loss.
And then, at that moment.
“What holy relics remain?”
“Yes?”
While everyone was drowned in grief.
The figure standing in the middle of them.
“I asked what the situation is with the remaining holy relics.”
Priest Lee Haein spoke with her head lowered.
“...Only two.”
“Two... list them.”
“One is the Crown of Ordromineum, which had been brought out to the outer temple to conduct the coronation. However.......”
“However?”
“...A great deal of its charged power was consumed in the process of using it on Brother Shin Youngjun. Unless it is given time to recover its power, one more use will be its limit... and once it loses all of its power like that, there is a high chance it will be destroyed along with the other relics.”
Many people looked at her.
But Lee Haein’s face, lowered as it was, could not be seen.
“And the other one?”
“Other than that, there is the Maxim of Rothar, which was moved elsewhere in preparation for war with the Legion.”
“That works out well.”
“Yes?”
When she heard the name of the second holy relic.
While everyone else had fallen into despair.
She opened her mouth in a voice tinged with laughter.
“Tell the brothers on the surface. They are to bring the Crown of Ordromineum and come to the Inner Temple. And they are to activate the Maxim of Rothar.”
“Yes? But......!”
Those who heard her words.
Looked at her in horror.
“If we use even those two, all of the Church’s holy relics will disappear! We have no idea what kind of crisis may come......!”
“Besides, was the Maxim of Rothar not an item prepared with combat against the Legion in mind? If we lose that, when the Legion invades, we will have no way to respond......!”
To those words.
“...And what exactly do you suggest we do, then?”
“Yes?”
“The Legion? Yes, they certainly are difficult enemies. But.......”
She, who had been lowering her head, raised it.
“Right now, I do not care what happens to bastards like that.”
“.......”
“Find him.”
Those who saw her face.
Could no longer continue speaking when they saw her expression.
“Even if we have to mobilize everything we possess... capture Brother Shin Youngjun and bring him back.”
Empty eyes.
A mouth with no emotion in it, like a corpse’s.
“Find him.......”
On that face, which looked as though everything had disappeared.
Only one emotion remained.
“We need to confirm whether he is worth a sacrifice this great.”
Intense rage.
The Church members, filled with rage over the loss of the holy relics, rose to their feet.
......In order to charge the price to the one who had caused them to lose those holy relics.
To Shin Youngjun.
***
Tap tap tap tap tap......!
I kicked off the ground as fast as I could and ran through the dark corridor.
As I did, I clicked my tongue inwardly and thought.
'What the hell kind of place is this, damn it.'
When I first entered the Church’s territory.
Because I had been afraid a situation might arise where I had to escape, I had memorized every path I passed through.
But despite all that effort.
'I didn’t expect to get thrown into a completely different space!'
Once I actually ended up needing to escape.
Those memories had become completely useless.
That Gate of Aga... whatever it was they had used on me.
The unidentified space I had been dropped into through that gate’s effect.
The hall I first arrived in resembled the place on the surface where the coronation had been taking place.
Because of that, at first, I wondered if I might be able to get outside by heading in the direction one would escape from that hall.
'The air pressure around me is different to begin with.'
I was wrong.
'This place... was never aboveground in the first place.'
Even if I tried to escape, I did not know the way.
So I had no choice but to run around as many places as possible.
Like that.
As I continued running through different parts of the dark corridor.
Tingle....
At the tingling energy I felt in one corner of my body.
I had no choice but to stop.
And.
“...What?”
With my eyes wide.
I turned my head and looked back.
There was a rope extending from my body, leading somewhere far away.
The rope of the “oath” connected to my retainer.
Through that rope.
-Master.......
The thought Ariella was sending reached me.
I could not make out any clear contents.
But I understood well enough what she was trying to convey.
That was why I had no choice but to be shocked.
“They stopped Ariella?”
Because information I could not help being horrified by.
Was mixed into that thought.
The power that had tried to control my mind.
And the power that had hurled me into this space.
I already knew they handled something I could not understand.
'How?'
But none of it.
Had shocked me as much as the information I had just felt.
Ariella, as she was now, was strong.
Even if Ariella were dropped into the middle of the Legion in full battle readiness.
The Legion would have to accept heavy losses to subdue her.
And that was only talking about Ariella herself.
If her retainers were included, there was a high possibility that even the Legion would be unable to hunt her down.
And they had stopped that Ariella.
-Right now... toward you.......
Even though she had been stopped, perhaps because she had not suffered any serious injury.
I could feel a strong will through the oath, as if she intended to run toward me at once.
However.
Tatadak....
Listening to the small sound coming from far away.
I gave an order through the oath.
-I’m fine, so prioritize protecting the Legion members.
-But......!
-That’s an order.
A horrified reaction came from beyond the oath.
But it could not be helped.
'It must be daytime outside right now.'
Even if she moved through shadows to avoid the sunlight, moving would inevitably take time.
Considering how faint the energy I could feel beyond the oath was, there was a high chance she was somewhere quite far away.
On top of that, Ariella probably did not know the precise location of where I was either.
Since we had this oath, she would know the rough direction, but that was all.
It would take quite a long time for her to arrive here.
And, probably.
Tatadadak....
Before that.
The matter here was likely to be settled.
On the other hand.
-You know where the other Legion members are.
The Legion members who had crossed over to the Church with me as my escort.
Their last location was clear.
With Ariella’s ability, finding that place again would not be difficult.
And.
-Even if I succeed in escaping... if the Legion members are taken hostage, the problem will get bigger.
-......!
I thought back to what these people had tried to do to me.
Bastards with a power that interfered with the mind.
If the Legion members fell into the hands of people like that, the problem would grow beyond control.
I had to prevent that situation at all costs.
-For now, make collecting the Legion members your top priority. Rescueing me comes after that.
-......Yes.
Ariella’s intent came from beyond the oath.
Acceptance.
And worry.
-......Well, don’t worry too much.
And.
As I felt that emotion.
Shing.
I drew the knife at my waist.
And muttered in a low voice.
-I don’t plan to go down easily either.
The deep underground prison.
From beyond it, I could feel it.
Slice!
Toward that presence.
I swung the knife in my hand.
***
The presence I had sensed approaching from far away.
As that presence appeared before me, I swung my knife.
“Kraaaaagh!!!”
A pained scream burst out.
A man in priestly robes.
Cut by my knife, he collapsed to the floor with a face twisted in pain.
But.
Before that body could even touch the floor.
Pak!
From behind my back.
I felt an intense presence rushing toward me.
Kang!
I quickly swung my knife and deflected the attack that had flown toward my back.
And.
“...Well, now.”
Together with the heavy tremor I felt in my hand.
I spoke while looking at the face of the one who had unleashed that powerful attack.
“That’s a familiar face.”
Dark skin rare to see in this country.
And a large build that reminded me of Gwangil.
“Priest David.”
The man who had guided me through the inside of the Church.
It was Priest David.
“Thanks for the kind directions earlier. So... were you planning to guide me down the road to the afterlife this time?”
“I did not intend to kill you.”
When I first saw him.
I had thought that man was refined and intellectual, unlike what his build suggested.
“Since the system has bestowed an enormous amount of grace upon you.”
But.
Looking at the enormous greatsword in his hand now, I changed my mind.
“Even if I attacked with all my strength, you would not die.”
“...Didn’t you say you weren’t trying to kill me?”
“Hmm. Perhaps the correct way to put it would be that I swung with all my might, believing that even if I swung with intent to kill, you would not die. Please understand that, as a foreigner, my expressions may be clumsy.”
“.......”
Right now.
The force I felt from his face.
Was truly that of a strong warrior... one suited to that body.
“We will attack together! Sir David!”
And.
David and the warriors with him began unleashing a coordinated assault on me.
“...Were you planning to do this from the start, too?”
I opened my mouth as I blocked their attacks.
“You guided me around so kindly, and said things like you would take me out of the Legion if I wanted. And yet... deep down, were you thinking I would be controlled by that damn crown before long?”
When I toured the Church under his guidance.
I had thought this place was a far more rational group than I expected.
That was why I had no choice but to wonder.
“That is not so.”
My [Taste Bud Enhancement] was a power that allowed me to feel even another person’s emotions as taste and scent.
If they had shown me lies.
Unless they were an existence like that grand duke, who could hide emotions, there was no way I would have failed to notice.
“The matter of the coronation had been discussed, but... even by the time you arrived, opinions were divided on whether the crown should be used. His Eminence wanted to use it, while Priest Lee Haein and other priests, including myself, argued against using it.”
“.......”
“You would not know this, but the crown’s power has another purpose it must be used for. I believed we could not waste that power on someone else when even using it for that purpose would not be enough. As for receiving you as our leader... I thought it would be enough to speak with you and make you realize that Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok was using you.”
The reason I had failed to notice their scheme despite that was simple.
At least the people who spoke with me really had not held any particular malice toward me.
The same was true of the stories about those facilities.
At first, I had wondered if they might be using that crown to expand the Church’s influence.
'Waste... huh.'
But listening to him.
It seemed that crown’s power was not something they could abuse freely.
At least most of the Church members belonged to this Church of their own will, not through that strange power.
And the facilities meant to treat the mind really must have been built for the Church members.
“However... my thoughts have changed a little now.”
Of course.
At this point, those parts no longer mattered much.
“We have already lost too much in order to receive you as our leader.”
“......?”
“So now.”
That made sense.
“I, too, intend to use any means necessary.”
“.......”
“Even if that means resorting to barbaric methods through force.”
Because by now.
The option of having a moderate conversation was all but gone.
Kuuung!
He took his stance and swung the enormous sword with all his strength.
“Any means necessary, huh.......”
And.
As I looked at that sword, I muttered.
“You’d be better off trying to talk.”
Kang!
A man with a body one and a half times bigger than mine.
An enormous greatsword swung by someone like that with all his strength.
......Crack!
That sword.
Shattered into pieces and scattered because of the small sashimi knife I swung.
“.......”
David looked blankly at the sword with only the handle remaining.
And.
I scratched my head as I looked at him and the people around him.
“I thought you were a pretty smart man.”
David was probably someone who counted as an executive in that Church.
And the dozens of elite troops he had brought with him.
Every last one of them, each likely renowned as a considerably powerful fighter....
“Did you seriously think you could win if you used force?”
During that brief exchange just now.
All of them had vomited blood and collapsed to the floor.
