Secret – 2

“Honored Guest-nim. This… where did you get it?”

Her pupils trembled uncontrollably. Her voice was the same. So too were the hands that received the Divine Catalyst. No, Stella was trembling all over, like an aspen leaf.

It meant that the true identity of the Divine Catalyst I had handed over was that shocking.

“I picked it up from the bottom of the Rune Dungeon.”

“…From the Rune Dungeon?”

“Yes.”

“But the other Knight Commanders-nim didn’t say anything. They didn’t say a single word about picking this up. And you, Inquisitor, if you had entered the dungeon with Honored Guest-nim-“

“It seems you’re making a big mistake, Inquisitor-nim.”

Stella, who had only been waiting outside, couldn’t possibly know how many people had entered the Rune Dungeon. So, it wasn’t unreasonable for her to mistakenly believe that we had all entered together.

However.

“I was the only one who entered the dungeon.”

“…What? What do you mean?”

“It means that the Inquisitor-nim and the Knight Commanders remained outside. I entered the Rune Dungeon alone, completed the subjugation, acquired the rune, and then came up to the surface, so it’s natural that others wouldn’t properly know about this Divine Catalyst.”

Upon hearing those words, Stella’s and the Battle Nuns’ pupils simultaneously widened. It must have been an unbelievable statement.

It was a place where the Holy Nation had failed to subjugate despite numerous sacrifices. Believing the claim that someone had single-handedly invaded such a dungeon, without any evidence, would have been far stranger.

That was an extremely normal reaction.

Green pupils, filled with all sorts of complex emotions, turned towards Selene. It was a question of whether what I said was true. Nod, Selene quietly nodded her head.

“…By any chance, you’re not ganging up to make fun of me, are you? You’re not planning to say it was all a joke later and make me a laughingstock, are you?”

“I swear by the moon, Inquisitor. Honored Guest-nim clearly entered the Rune Dungeon alone, achieved a great feat, and returned.”

“…….”

Since she had even sworn by the moon, there was no way to keep denying it. Stella stared blankly down at the Divine Catalyst resting on her palm.

“Inquisitor, what exactly is that Divine Catalyst that makes you react like that?”

Selene posed the question.

Excluding Stella, meaning including the Battle Nuns under the Inquisitor, Selene, and the Battle Nuns under Selene, no one seemed to know what that Divine Catalyst was.

Even if the Battle Nuns could be excused, it was a bit surprising that even Selene didn’t know. Was it because Lucia was from the Church of the Sun?

How long had silence settled in that state? Stella’s mouth slowly began to open, as if she had finally managed to compose herself.

“This is… the Divine Catalyst of Priestess Lucia-nim, who participated in the subjugation of the Rune Dungeon long ago.”

At Stella’s words, not only Selene but also the Battle Nuns under her command were visibly startled. I slightly revised the thought I had just had.

It wasn’t that they didn’t know who Lucia was; they simply didn’t know what that Divine Catalyst was. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been startled and focused their attention as soon as they heard Stella’s words.

Although it was treated as a special item, its appearance itself didn’t show much difference from the Divine Catalysts used by high-ranking priests of the Holy Nation. The game also used the same modeling.

Rather, it was Stella who was amazing for recognizing its true identity at once.

The atmosphere instantly grew heavy. Only the Knight Commanders, unable to follow the situation, had question marks floating above their heads, yet they seemed to have realized that something serious was happening and simply kept their mouths shut.

“But… how did you… get this…?”

“Because she was still alive until I arrived.”

“Really?!”

Stella’s voice grew incredibly loud. Her two widely opened pupils stared intently at me. A vitality named hope circulated on her face.

But that was only for a moment; her brightened face rapidly darkened, as if she had noticed something in my expression.

“…I’ve made a spectacle of myself. I’m sorry. There’s no way she could have been alive and well all this time.”

“If you wish to hear it, I can tell you. If not, I can bury it alone like this. What would you like to do?”

“…Please tell me, I ask of you.”

Stella bit her lip. I nodded and recounted everything that had happened in the depths of the Rune Dungeon.

From Lucia being consumed by the abyss, losing her reason, and committing numerous blasphemies, to regaining her senses midway and fighting me as a priest, and ultimately meeting her end by my hand.

Stella, who had been silently listening to my explanation, tightly clutched the Divine Catalyst with force once the explanation was over.

“So that’s what happened. She hadn’t died when she fell.”

In truth, the root of everything stemmed from Lucia surviving her fall to the bottom of the dungeon due to that terrible misfortune. If not for that, none of this would have happened.

Stella gazed blankly at the Divine Catalyst in her hand once more, then muttered in a deeply subdued voice.

“…Priestess Lucia-nim was the one who pulled me out of the pit of hell.”

It was her past story.

“Having lost my parents to demon worshippers, and just before I was to become a living sacrifice… Priestess Lucia-nim rescued me, allowing me to gain such true faith. She is the benefactor who allowed me to live a new life.”

Even in the game’s lore, Lucia was the one who rescued the Inquisitor and brought her to the Holy Nation, and Lucia was also the one who acted as a parent for a short time.

Although a considerable amount of time had passed and the bitter emotions from that time must have mostly faded, hearing about Lucia’s final moments, whom she had only believed to have died from the fall, and even receiving her memento, it was natural for sadness to well up again.

“…But I couldn’t even properly send her off.”

Stella’s head bowed deeply. Then, she suddenly raised her head and met my eyes. Strong yearning resided in those green pupils.

“Honored Guest-nim. If it’s not too rude, may I ask just one question?”

“By all means.”

“Did Priestess Lucia-nim… find peace? In the very end, did she return to God’s embrace?”

Stella’s words were a question about the choice the player had made.

Whether they had answered yes to Lucia’s question, or no. If they had chosen ‘no,’ whether they had left Lucia behind, or killed her directly.

Here, two choices were possible. To tell the Inquisitor the truth, or to lie.

For reference, whether the player told the truth or lied would all be revealed later. The Inquisitor could look into the user’s memories through the wavelength of divine power residing in the catalyst, it was said.

The worst route was choosing ‘no’ to Lucia’s question, leaving her to suffer in the abyss, and then lying that she had been given peace.

Later, upon learning the truth, the player would be declared an enemy of the Holy Nation by the Inquisitor, who would be furious to the core, and in that playthrough, it would become impossible to proceed with any Holy Nation-related story permanently.

Honestly, it was such an utterly malicious act that anyone could see, that for a while, the protagonist character even had a ‘villainous personality’ meme attached to them.

“Yes. She returned to God’s embrace and peacefully fell asleep.”

Conversely, choosing ‘yes’ to Lucia’s question, as I did now, and then telling the Inquisitor that she had found peace, was the best route.

If this route was chosen, the Inquisitor would also become an unconditional ally of the player, just like the Knight Commanders of the Silver Dawn Knights. For me right now, this was an essential task.

“…I see. That’s a relief. Truly, truly a relief.”

Stella’s eyes reddened. It seemed difficult for her to control her surging emotions. Stella rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, then took a deep breath and approached me.

And then, she bowed her head deeply towards me.

“I sincerely thank you for that favor. I, Stella, the Inquisitor of the Holy Nation of Raphaela, swear by my name. I will never forget this grace I received from you, for all eternity.”

To a line I remembered hearing in the game, I responded with a light laugh instead of words. There was no need to answer verbally here.

Stella, who had carefully tied the Divine Catalyst to her waist, took the Battle Nuns and left. I glanced back at Selene beside me. She seemed slightly surprised, but showed no dramatic change in expression.

“Iris, are you okay for a moment?”

“…….”

“Iris?”

“…Ah. My apologies, Delta. I was too spaced out. What is it?”

Iris only hastily came to her senses after I called her twice. The situation that had just occurred seemed to have been quite shocking.

It seemed that the Knight Commanders kept encountering shocking things since coming to the Holy Nation. How many times was this already?

“Would you mind returning to the dormitory first? I have something to discuss with the Inquisitor-nim. I’ll explain it to you all in detail later. It probably won’t take too long.”

“Is it about the rune? Since it originally belonged to the Holy Nation, you’ll have to differentiate between what you can explain to us and what you cannot. Understood. We’ll go back and wait.”

The Knight Commanders obediently moved their steps. Rije waved her hand vigorously towards me. I responded appropriately. My conscience pricked me, as they seemed to be under a firm misconception.

Still, it was a relief. What I was about to do would be a bit awkward if the Knight Commanders were watching from the side. If they had said no, I would have forced them to leave somehow.

“Inquisitor-nim. Could you guide me to a place where there are no people? A place where only the two of us can be.”

“I understand, Honored Guest-isiyeo. You all may return. Rest until I give further orders.”

The Battle Nuns bowed their heads and then dispersed in all directions. With a single gesture, Selene, who had dismissed the Battle Nuns, swiftly turned her body.

“Please follow.”

The place Selene guided me to was, as before, the chapel of those who served the Moon Pope. The inside was still empty.

“Are you sure it’s just the two of us?”

“That’s right. It is currently the time for worshipping the Sun, so no one will come here, but… since you still seem uneasy, would you like me to cast a barrier to prevent anyone from entering?”

The Divine Catalyst emitted a dim light. Then, outside the window, a dense silver aura appeared, enveloping the entire building.

“It has been done as you wished. To break through the barrier surrounding the chapel, either the Inquisitor or His Holiness the Pope himself would have to descend.”

“Yes. Thank you, Inquisitor-nim.”

I took a deep breath for a moment. How Selene would react to my plan was an unknown territory. Still, for now, the chances of success were high.

The source was my intuition.

“However… Honored Guest-isiyeo, if you are merely speaking of the rune’s effects, is there a reason to block all eyes to this extent?”

Selene expressed her doubt. Indeed, asking to cast a barrier over the building just to reveal the rune’s effects would certainly feel like an excessive action.

“That’s because what I’m about to say isn’t about the rune.”

“Yes…? What do you mean…?”

“What I’m about to say is this.”

I made my move before Selene’s bewilderment could fade.

“For instance, that the one who volunteered for the sacrifice was the Moon Pope-“

-KWAANG!

Before I could even finish my sentence, my vision spun. My body floated into the air and then was forcefully slammed into the cathedral wall. A sharp impact surged through my back.

Rather than the pain of being slammed into the wall, the thought that it was fortunate this wasn’t treated as damage came to mind first. A ‘keok’ sound escaped my mouth next.

If this had been treated as damage, I would have died here.

“Where did you hear that?”

Selene, who had just slammed me into the cathedral wall, was emitting an unprecedentedly strong killing intent.

Her utterly chilling pupils glared at me. An immense pressure emanated from her wide-open violet eyes. The hand gripping my neck looked as if it would snap my neck bone at any moment.

“I asked where, and from whom, you heard that!”

Selene finally roared. She, who was much more stoic than even Iris, was raising her voice in anger like this for the first time.

Normally, the DLC story wouldn’t proceed like this. However, I decided to intentionally disregard the story. I’m going to skip all the intermediate processes and go straight to taking down the final boss.

Since things are already twisted from the start, what reason is there not to twist them further with my own hands?