Chapter 85

“What’s, um….”

“It’s exactly as it sounds. I meant to ask, if there’s a way to catch that monster without Your Holiness’s sacrifice, what would you do, Inquisitor?”

The power visibly drained from the rapier as it clashed against the blood-stained sword. I carefully pushed it away, and Selene obediently followed my lead.

Her purple eyes trembled much larger than before, as if she couldn’t believe what she heard, struggling to focus. Her pupils shook incessantly.

The tip of the rapier was aimed downwards. I also withdrew my sword. There was no point in keeping my weapon aimed unnecessarily.

Selene bowed her head deeply. Thud, the sacred catalyst in her left hand fell onto the silver carpet. The rapier in her right hand was grasped precariously, about to drop at any moment.

Seeing such a reaction, I felt I had succeeded halfway, but relaxation was out of the question. I lowered my sword while preparing to counter-attack at a moment’s notice, cautiously stepping back a few paces.

With her head bowed, Selene stood there dazed for quite a while. I quietly waited for my recovery.

Then suddenly, her mouth opened.

“…Lies.”

Her head lifted. The confusion that had filled her eyes moments ago was entirely gone.

“Don’t speak nonsense!”

Selene lunged at me. Caught off guard by her sudden change of mood, I hurriedly parried her rapier with the blood-stained sword.

Thank goodness she didn’t use any Divine Power and attacked only with swordsmanship; I could work with that.

“You said you could handle it without sacrifice? You said the Pope wouldn’t have to sacrifice?! How dare you speak of sacrifice without even knowing how she came to that decision!”

As Selene aggressively closed the distance, I had no choice but to step back to successfully parry her attack. Close-quarters combat where I couldn’t even properly parry would be heavily against my favor.

Thud! As I rolled to the left, her rapier stabbed into the ground. The tip embedded itself deep into the wall without any resistance whatsoever.

The sword was immediately pulled out. Aside from a small hole left by the rapier in the marble, there wasn’t a single crack or scratch to be found. It was an incredibly sharp sword.

My neck turned slowly. Anger seemed to have simmered down a bit, but hatred remained. After regaining her posture, Selene spoke in a deadly voice.

“How did you come to know of the monster’s existence?!”

‘…Oh no.’

The moment I heard those words, I sensed my mistake.

While I could conclude that one must be sacrificed due to the events that happened in the Sun Cathedral, there was absolutely no way to deduce that the reason for that sacrifice was the monster lurking underground in the Holy Kingdom.

Both of us used vague expressions like “useless tasks” or “unnecessary hopes,” but never mentioned the monster itself.

“Was that also a lie? Was your statement about noticing it due to the cathedral’s incident also false? Was everything you revealed to me a mere deception to blind me from the truth?”

But I had boldly stated that there was a way to capture that monster. For someone like Selene, it wouldn’t be surprising in the least to catch the contradictions in my words right away.

“I am asking if that was the case now.”

Exactly like this.

“Answer me! Now!”

Selene looked as if she was possessed by some evil spirit. Her feigned intention to drop her weapon and then attack was clearly because she realized the premise of my statement was incorrect.

Truthfully, if we were to examine the truth or falsehood, I indeed lied, so I had nothing to retort with if pressed on that point. I didn’t want to deny it.

However, I couldn’t raise my voice against her as a counterattack, so I tried to maintain my composure and shifted the conversation.

“What’s important now isn’t that, but the fact that there is a way.”

“You said there’s a way? You said a method exists where the Pope of the Moon wouldn’t have to sacrifice herself? You’ve got to be kidding. Why should I trust the words of a liar from the start?”

The tip of her rapier pointed toward me again. As I dodged, the rapier pierced through the long marble chair with a thunk.

Selene yanked her sword out fiercely and shouted through clenched teeth.

“Did you think we tried absolutely nothing? Did you think we would meekly accept our fate and willingly burn ourselves to sacrifice one life? Do you truly think that?”

“Of course not. I know very well that you have tried many things.”

“What do you know?!”

“At first, the Pope of the Sun attempted to subdue the monster alone.”

Hearing those words, Selene abruptly froze in her tracks. I continued without pausing.

“Next, Your Holiness’s together tried to subdue the monster, then the efforts combined included you as well, and furthermore, instead of sacrificing lives, you intended to transfer your Divine Power to defeat the monster.”

While the tip of her rapier was aimed at my throat, it was clearly trembled crazily enough to show that she was unsettled.

“I know it all.”

Those ‘attempts’ I mentioned were things the Pope had directly stated in the game. So, it was probably the same here as well.

“Despite countless other methods, you all likely failed in every single one. That’s why the Pope of the Moon has resolved to sacrifice herself, believing destiny cannot be changed, just as the revelation indicated. Am I wrong?”

“……”

Selene’s face turned pale, clearly taken aback, as she weakly dropped her rapier.

The very existence of the monster, just like its realities, was a tightly kept secret that even the Inquisitor and Inquisitor had plus the Holy Kingdom’s Popes had engaged directly in attempts to subdue that monster.

Of course, the result was utter failure. Not only did they never even reach the boss room, but the Holy Barrier exerted by the Popes was no more than a stopgap against the corruption from the Abyss.

Although it was a failed subjugation, all four involved—the Popes and the combatants—would vow never to betray their oaths and faith. And the number of participants in that attempt was just the four of them.

In other words, nobody outside the four should have knowledge that the Popes attempted to subdue the monster lurking underground in the Holy Kingdom.

It had to be that way.

“How… How do you know about that…?”

“There is definitely a way to capture that monster, Inquisitor.”

I locked eyes with Selene, who was trembling.

“Look at this.”

I raised my left hand to show her the back of it.

Her purple eyes filled with a complicated mix of emotions focused on the rune tattooed on my hand. In addition to the rune symbolizing vitality enhancement, another tattoo intertwined with it was embedded.

“This is the key. If I have the rune I obtained from the depths of the Rune Dungeon, I can enter the Abyss without any resistance.”

“…Is that really true?”

“Is there any reason for me to lie, especially now?”

“B-but… that’s impossible….”

“Impossible, you say?”

“Both the Inquisitor and I, even the Popes themselves, failed to subdue that monster. It’s a creature that even our gods cannot touch. How can you do it alone…?”

“I didn’t expect you to say that, Inquisitor. You must have seen all my deeds until now.”

Selene flinched. I smiled faintly and continued.

“Was it plausible that the Emperor would show great interest in a newbie knight from the Empire’s border, causing you to personally visit the Empire to invite me to the Holy Kingdom?”

“……”

“Is it plausible that I could possess Divine Power without faith?”

“……”

“Is it plausible that I could return after easily conquering the Rune Dungeon, which had failed to subdue the monster several times?”

“……”

“Is it plausible that Lucia, who fell into the dungeon many years ago, returned to the Sun?”

“……”

Selene couldn’t respond to any of it. And I wasn’t exaggerating or inflating things with lies. I simply explained what I had done.

Yet those were all actions that seemed almost impossible, but I had proved their feasibility already. So here I was, alive and able to hold this conversation with her.

“The judgment of what is possible is mine, Inquisitor. And now, I am stating that it is entirely possible for me to subdue that monster alone.”

“……”

Selene’s eyes became a lot duller than they had been before. It seemed she couldn’t blindly trust what I said, nor could she utterly dismiss it either, caught in uncertainty.

“I completely understand how you feel. You must still feel uncertain. I won’t ask you to trust me right now.”

This was the process of pulling and overturning the trust built thus far from the roots. I never expected that a few words would make her trust me blindly.

“Instead, I will prove my words to you.”

“……How, exactly?”

Selene spoke with great difficulty. I chuckled lightly and replied.

“I will explain the way to defeat that monster. I’ll lay out all the methods step by step from now on.”

‘May you find rest in the embrace of the divine.’

Stella finally slowly stood up after hours of prayer. She had knelt throughout her prayers, but her legs were neither aching nor tingling.

Instead, her heart felt heavier. The guilt towards Lucia, who had suffered for so long in the Abyss, and the guilt towards herself for not being able to protect Lucia weighed her down.

On the other hand, a sense of gratitude firmly occupied a small corner of her heart.

‘Thank you, kind one.’

Undoubtedly, their first encounter was the worst. Stella herself branded someone without any wrongdoing a heretic.

Considering how heretics were treated in the Holy Kingdom, it was akin to hurling insults at one’s parents.

Because of that, she had been scrutinized for her heretical discernment, and Stella couldn’t even begin to imagine how great an insult the actual party felt. Even if she had ten mouths, she wouldn’t have words to express.

Yet that person had provided Lucia with the salvation as if nothing had happened. They even allowed Stella the chance to say goodbye. Something Stella hadn’t been able to do for many years.

The question of how she would repay such grace was beyond her comprehension.

‘…If there’s anything you desire, anything at all.’

Stella firmly resolved within herself and turned toward Lucia’s sacred catalyst for her last prayer.

Knock, knock.

At just the right time, a knock sounded from outside the door.

“What do you need?”

“A guest has come to see you.”

“A guest…?”

“Yes. A knight named Delta and the Inquisitor Selene.”

The moment she heard those names, Stella felt her heart start to beat faster. Trying to calm her racing heart, she asked in a level voice.

“What do they intend to visit for?”

“They said they couldn’t tell us.”

Something they couldn’t tell the battle nuns and priests; whatever it was, Stella instinctively understood it was something very important.

“Got it. I’ll be out soon, so prepare a place.”

“Yes.”

The voice faded away. Stella quickly adjusted her clothes and tidied her hair before walking lightly toward the place where the two of them awaited.