Chapter: 603
I observe Leydan Tanton approaching slowly.
I don’t feel any trace of the Evil God. It’s natural since an Evil God can’t interfere in a sacred place filled with the Lord’s holiness.
But alternatively, this implies that someone in the Church deliberately messed with Ruel.
I can’t help but think of the Pope as the prime suspect, but that crazy old man, despite his twisted mental state, wouldn’t dare touch a Holy Knight.
“Lucy Alrn! Give your commands!”
Arthur, using the wind barrier to deflect Ruel’s mace, raises his voice urgently. Isn’t there any time to think?
“Old man! You’ve turned into a beast, huh!?”
I taunted while showing Ruel’s mace, and his bloodthirsty gaze fixated on me.
A moment later, I watch as the beast is charging at us.
His movements aren’t much different from the Divine Techniques I know.
Since his body is different, he can fight more brutally, but that’s about it.
I can predict his movements. And I spot a weakness in his left arm.
It’s probably a wound left by one of the Inquisitors. So, if I can exploit that weakness…
[Don’t trust the weakness he shows! It’s intentional!]
You should have told me that sooner, you old hag! Has age dulled your reflexes too?
“Useless Saint! Barrier! Now!”
The moment my voice reaches her, Phoebe conjures a wall of holiness in front of me.
When Ruel’s attack comes crashing down, the wall cracks with a loud bang, but it gives us enough time to escape.
[Ruel, the Holy Knight, is feared for his cunning. Every one of his actions has hidden traps.]
‘That’s quite different from what I know!’
Even if I try to intentionally make Ruel hate me, his pattern wouldn’t just change that drastically!
[That’s how it is when I consider you human!]
[That guy’s right. Lucy. I won’t hold back against anything that’s not human.]
So this doll sees us as beasts, huh?
Haha! No wonder it seems so eager to kill!
“Opening!”
While my lips pursed in thought about strategy, Frey suddenly sprang forth and aimed her sword at Ruel’s left arm.
Then, the arm that had seemed immobile suddenly resumed movement, intent on catching Frey by the neck.
“Don’t act solo!”
“Waaah! That’s dangerous!”
Thanks to Arthur quickly deflecting Ruel’s arm, Frey managed to retreat just in time.
Is that what they mean by cunning?
Great! Then let’s fight cunningly too.
“Dullard. Blindfold!”
“Can I leave the other senses as they are?”
“Better to take one than leave them all. Otherwise, we can’t play around with them.”
“Understood!”
The darkness created by Joy wraps around Ruel’s head. He tried to counter with holiness, but Joy easily nullified that interference.
“This is quite tricky! Taking all senses is impossible!”
With that, we’ve broken through the first condition, so now it’s my turn.
“Bugs. Time to work.”
– Heh. This is scary.
– I feel like I’m gonna get eaten!
– Shivering over here!
“Do as you please if you want to be tossed aside. If the bugs disappear, that’s fine by me.”
– I’d rather avoid that!
– Let’s go!
– Whatever you need me to do, just say!
I release three fairies around Ruel to gnaw at his nerves. With his sight taken and his hearing heightened, even Ruel can’t completely ignore those chattering voices.
My prediction wasn’t wrong. When he lost his sight, the movements that had once tracked Arthur and Frey slowed down.
“Useless Saint!”
“I’ll give you a blessing!”
If Phoebe’s blessing is granted right now, it makes it even harder for Ruel to guess our movements.
A Saint’s blessing elevates physical capabilities beyond a typical buff.
From Ruel’s perspective, having only seen pre-buff movements must make it hard to predict.
Now, it’s up to those two for their combo attack.
I don’t need to direct them. In the battlefield where instinct decides victory, my voice is meaningless.
Knowing my words will just create unnecessary chaos, I silently signaled the two to charge.
“Freestyling here!?”
“Just like Lucy! The best!”
Frey’s sword, puncturing the air, bounces off a shield made of holiness.
A wind arrow grazes past the shield, but Ruel doesn’t flinch.
As magic seeps beneath his helmet, delivering a small sting, Arthur readies his sword.
The sight of Arthur overlaps with another man—Benedict, the massive knight.
That movement is merely mimicry; he can’t reproduce Benedict’s strength.
Yet he can certainly convey intimidation.
Ruel, in a panic, raises his shield to block Arthur’s attack. Even the legendary Holy Knight makes the judgment that Arthur is a threat.
However, the real assault doesn’t come from him but another side.
Frey swings her sword.
Directly ahead of her. A tiny marveled spot that one could call a dot.
Converging in one place, the pressure from her blade overwhelmed the space, massive enough to sever Ruel’s neck.
As a result, the wall behind splits in two, but thankfully, the building doesn’t seem to tremble.
“Frey Kent. What on earth was that?”
“That’s what the Sword Saint taught me.”
“Wow. You managed to internalize that already?”
“Umm. Not quite. Still lacking.”
“…Lacking?”
“Yeah.”
If she thinks that’s lacking, then what would a completed version look like? Would she actually slice through reality?
…If that day comes, I’ll have to avoid sparring at all costs. A sword capable of slicing reality makes defense meaningless!
As Frey seems to ponder her potential, I step past her to stand before Ruel’s doll and take a deep breath, placing my hand on it.
The holiness he bore flows into me, following the powers of embrace.
“…Ah.”
Suddenly, I became aware of my mistake.
It’s not just the holiness I’m embracing with that power.
Holiness stemming from faith is influenced by its bearer’s spirit, so it’s natural for the owner’s emotions to seep into that holiness.
Feeling the anger of the once-noble Holy Knight overwhelms me, and my vision blurs.
Ah, I’ll get scolded for this later…
*
In the inner world of Lucy, Garad keeps fiddling with the hilt of a sword while watching the future battles.
“Is this really what strong kids without even being adults are like? Fascinating talent.”
“If you call it talent. Yeah, they should definitely be labeled geniuses.”
“If you have something to say, say it outright. That’s why you never confessed properly, right?”
“Should I restart?”
“You can fight to your heart’s content. Just keep rambling.”
As Garad squints his eyes, Ruel grits his teeth and sighs heavily.
“It’s true those kids had talent from the start, but they’ve rapidly grown since meeting Lucy.”
“What’s the problem with that?”
“Don’t you think it resembles how we grew rapidly after encountering a hero?”
Only then did Garad understand what Ruel was trying to convey. We had each been called geniuses in our respective fields before.
But the real blossoming happened after meeting the hero and enduring hardships alongside them.
“Are you still hesitating about letting that kid meet the hero?”
“The last time I saw that guy was too ugly. So ugly I want to delete it from my memory for the hero’s sake. If Lucy is influenced by that…”
“Oh come on. You’re lucky you’re not married. If you’d had a child, you’d probably carry it on your back ’til the day you die.”
Garad chuckles, casually punching Ruel in the side, taking pride even as Ruel glares at him.
“Just trust and wait. You hopeless old man.”
“What do you mean…?”
“Whooa!?”
Turning at the sound of a girl’s scream behind them, the two see Lucy and blink in surprise.
“Lucy? What are you doing here?”
“Probably because that old man went crazy and did something ridiculous.”
“…You’re talking about the doll made by Erginius, right?”
“Yeah. It’s another old man. Completely pathetic. Was he like this in his prime?”
“What do you mean? There’s no way someone that weak could face an Evil God.”
“Reluctantly, I agree, but it’s true. Compared to the real Ruel, that doll is almost insultingly weak.”
The strength possessed by the one leading the charge against the forces of the Evil God could never be a lie.
If the doll had immense power matching Ruel’s, Lucy and her friends would have to be cradled in the Lord’s embrace.
“So while we’re at it, how about some details about the former hopeless deity?”
“I’ll explain instead. I think I have a rough idea of the situation now.”
Ruel clicks his tongue and gestures as a portal that resembles the dungeon entrance appears before them.
“You embraced the holiness contained in the doll, taking on its rage as well, didn’t you?”
“Right. That old man is tough in both real and fake forms. No wonder he’s never very popular.”
“…Ahem! Anyway, that anger held by the Holy Knight seems to have shifted into a form that you can handle. It must have grown through your embracing Garad.”
Normally, this would take the form of a book or a play, but a dungeon is pretty typical of Lucy’s style.
“Ugh, so if we enter this, we’ll know all of the old man’s secrets?”
“Not mine, but rather the inner workings of Erginius’s doll.”
“Potato-potato. Haha. This sounds fun. Can’t wait to see just how pathetic he really is.”
“Me too. I can’t wait to see how Ruel tries to make excuses.”
“…Are we going in together?!”
“Did you really think I’d send you in alone?”
“Is it okay for the old man to suffer while this old man just stands back and watches? Hahaha, that’s completely irresponsible.”
“That’s not it! Damn it! Let’s just see what’s waiting for us!”
Having surrendered to the duo’s assault, Ruel grips his mace and gazes anxiously at the door.
Please let there be something intact on the other side.
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