Secret – 4

“What is that, exactly…?”

“It is exactly as the words say. If I brought it up because there is a way to catch that monster without His Holiness the Pope-nim’s sacrifice, then it means I’m asking what Inquisitor-nim would do.”

The rapier, which was touching the blood-stained sword, visibly lost strength. I grabbed its blade and carefully pushed it away. Selene obediently followed my action.

Her purple eyes were trembling much more violently than before. She couldn’t properly focus, as if she had heard something utterly unbelievable. Her pupils shook incessantly.

The tip of the rapier pointed towards the floor. I also withdrew my sword. There was no benefit in keeping my weapon pointed at her.

Selene bowed her head deeply. Thud, the Divine Catalyst in her left hand fell onto the silver carpet. The rapier in her right hand was also held precariously, as if it would drop at any moment.

Seeing that reaction, it seemed I had half-succeeded, but complacency was still forbidden. I lowered my sword, but carefully retreated a few steps, ready to counterattack at any moment.

Selene, with her head deeply bowed, stood blankly in place for a long time. I silently waited for her to recover.

Then, suddenly, her mouth opened.

“……A lie.”

Her head lifted. In her two eyes, which were directed at me, the confusion that had filled them just moments ago had vanished without a trace.

“Don’t speak nonsense!”

Selene rushed towards me. With the atmosphere suddenly changing so drastically, I hastily deflected her rapier with my blood-stained sword.

Fortunately, it seemed her confusion hadn’t completely subsided, as she attacked only with swordsmanship, not using any divine power.

“Did you say it could be handled without sacrifice? Did you say His Holiness the Pope-nim doesn’t need to sacrifice himself? Without even knowing why His Holiness the Pope-nim made such a decision! How dare you utter the word ‘sacrifice’!”

Selene was trying to close the distance recklessly, so to properly deflect her attacks, I also had to retreat. If it became an ultra-close-quarters battle where even deflecting wouldn’t work properly, I would be at a significant disadvantage.

*Thwack!* The rapier plunged into the spot where I had rolled away to the left. The tip of the blade pierced deep into the wall, past the crossguard, without any resistance.

The sword was immediately pulled out. On the marble, there was no crack or scratch whatsoever, except for the small hole made by the rapier. It was a truly terrifyingly sharp sword.

Her neck slowly turned. Her rage seemed to have subsided a little, but her hatred remained. Selene, having regained her posture, spoke in a chilling voice.

“How did you find out about the monster’s existence?”

‘……Damn it.’

As soon as I heard those words, I instinctively knew I had made a mistake.

While one could deduce that someone had to be sacrificed due to the events at the Grand Cathedral of the Sun, the fact that the reason for that sacrifice was the monster beneath the Holy Nation could absolutely not have been known.

Both of them had only used vague expressions like “useless acts” or “unnecessary hope,” and had not mentioned the monster at all.

“Was that also a lie? Was your statement about noticing things because of the Grand Cathedral’s affairs also a lie? Was everything you confided in me merely a deception to blind my eyes from the truth?”

But I had too confidently stated that there was a way to catch that monster. For someone of Selene’s caliber, it wouldn’t be strange at all for her to instantly notice the contradiction in my words.

“I am asking you now, was that the case?”

Just like now.

“Answer me! Now!”

Selene’s expression was almost one of pure malice. Her attacking me after acting as if she would lower her weapon was clearly because she had realized that the premise of my words was fundamentally flawed.

In truth, if one were to ascertain the veracity, it was indeed true that I had lied, so I had no answer if she pressed me on that point. I didn’t want to deny it.

However, I couldn’t just raise my voice back at her in a brazen manner, so I tried to change the subject of the conversation while maintaining maximum composure.

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

“Did you say there’s a way? Did you say there’s a way for the Pope of the Moon-nim not to sacrifice herself? That’s ridiculous. Why should I put my trust in the words of a human who whispered lies from the very beginning?”

The tip of the rapier was aimed at me again. As I dodged, the rapier, with a *thwack*, pierced straight through a long marble chair.

Selene violently pulled out the sword and gnashed her teeth as she shouted.

“Did you think we hadn’t tried any methods? Did you think we would simply submit to the coming fate and meekly burn ourselves to sacrifice a life? Did you truly think that?”

“Of course not. Because I know you all have tried a great many things.”

“What do you know to blabber on about-“

“At first, His Holiness the Pope of the Sun-nim tried to subjugate the monster alone.”

Hearing those words, Selene abruptly froze. I continued speaking without stopping.

“Next, His Holiness the Popes-nim tried to subjugate the monster together, and then even you all joined forces, and then, instead of sacrificing your lives, you tried to defeat the monster by only transferring divine power.”

The tip of the rapier was still pointed at my Adam’s apple, but it was trembling wildly, visibly so.

“I know everything.”

All the ‘attempts’ I mentioned were things the Pope-nim had directly spoken about in the game. So it was clear that things had unfolded the same way here.

“Besides those, you must have tried countless other methods to twist fate, but all of them must have failed. That’s why His Holiness the Pope of the Moon-nim also believes that fate can never be changed and is trying to sacrifice herself according to the contents of the revelation. Isn’t that right?”

“…….”

This time, Selene seemed utterly overwhelmed, her face turning pale as she weakly dropped her rapier.

Just like the very existence of the monster, the fact that the Inquisitors and the Popes of the Holy Nation had personally stepped forward to subjugate that monster was also a top-secret matter.

Of course, all their attempts had failed. Not only had they been unable to even enter the boss room, but the divine barrier that the Popes-nim exerted with all their might was barely enough to prevent corruption by the Abyss.

Although it was a failed subjugation, all four individuals involved in the subjugation were of a character that would never betray their vows and faith. And the total number of participants in the subjugation was four.

In other words, the fact that the Popes-nim had joined forces to subjugate the monster beneath the Holy Nation should have been unknown to anyone other than those four.

It had to be that way.

“How…… how could you know even that…?”

“A method to subjugate that monster definitely exists, Inquisitor-nim.”

I met the gaze of her trembling purple eyes.

“Look at this.”

I held up the back of my left hand in front of her eyes.

Her purple eyes, filled with all sorts of complex emotions, turned towards the rune tattoo engraved on the back of my hand. In addition to the tattoo symbolizing the Vitality Enhancement Rune, there was another tattoo intertwined with it.

“This is the key. If I have this rune, which I obtained from the depths of the Rune Dungeon, it’s possible to enter that Abyss without any resistance.”

“……Is that truly so?”

“Do I have any reason to lie even in this situation?”

“B-but…… that’s impossible…….”

“Impossible, you say?”

“It’s a monster that even the Inquisitor, I, and even His Holiness the Popes-nim failed to subjugate. It’s a monster that even our gods cannot touch. How could you alone…?”

“I didn’t expect Inquisitor-nim to say such a thing. You must have seen everything I’ve done so far.”

Selene flinched. I smiled lightly and continued speaking.

“For His Imperial Majesty the Emperor-nim to show such profound interest in a mere rookie knight from the empire’s frontier, so much so that Inquisitor-nim had to personally travel all the way to the empire to invite me to the Holy Nation-was that something you thought possible?”

“…….”

“To possess divine power without faith-was that something you thought possible?”

“…….”

“For me to single-handedly and easily clear a Rune Dungeon that the Holy Nation had failed to subjugate multiple times-was that something you thought possible?”

“…….”

“For Priest Lucia-nim, who had fallen into the depths of the dungeon more than a decade ago, to return to the Sun-was that something you thought possible?”

“…….”

Selene couldn’t answer anything. I hadn’t exaggerated my words, nor had I inflated non-existent events. I had merely calmly explained what I had done.

Despite those actions being virtually impossible, I had already proven that they were possible. Otherwise, why would I be here, alive and conversing with her?

“I determine the possibility, Inquisitor-nim. And I am now saying that subjugating that monster alone is also entirely possible.”

“…….”

Selene’s eyes became much more unfocused than before. She couldn’t blindly believe my words, nor could she completely disbelieve them, so she must have been at a loss.

“I fully understand that feeling. You must still be uneasy. I won’t ask you to trust me immediately right now.”

This was a process of uprooting the trust that had been built up until now and overturning it from the ground up. I hadn’t expected to make her trust me with just a few words in the first place.

“Instead, I will prove my words.”

“……How, are you saying?”

Selene finally opened her mouth. I smiled lightly and replied.

“The method to beat that monster. From now on, I will explain that method to you in detail, step by step.”

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

Stella slowly rose only after offering prayers that lasted for several hours. She had been kneeling throughout the prayers, but her legs didn’t ache or feel numb.

Rather, her heart ached more. It was from guilt over Lucia, who must have suffered in the Abyss for so long, and over herself for failing to protect Lucia.

On the other hand, gratitude also firmly resided in a corner of her heart.

‘A benevolent person.’

Their first meeting had certainly been the worst. Stella herself had arbitrarily branded an innocent person as a heretic.

Considering how heretics were treated in the Holy Nation, it was practically equivalent to cursing at one’s parents with the foulest language.

Because of that, he even had to undergo a heresy judgment, so Stella couldn’t even dare to imagine how deeply humiliated the person must have felt. She had nothing to say, even if she had ten mouths.

However, that person, as if nothing had happened, granted rest to Lucia. He also gave Stella a chance to say goodbye. It was something Stella hadn’t been able to do for over a decade.

It was impossible to even fathom how she could ever repay this grace.

‘……If there is anything you wish for, anything at all.’

Stella firmly resolved inwardly, offered a final prayer towards Lucia’s Divine Catalyst, and turned around.

-Knock-knock.

Just in time, a knocking sound was heard from outside the door.

“Why have you called me?”

“A guest has arrived.”

“A guest…… you say?”

“Yes. It is Knight Delta and Inquisitor Selene-nim.”

As soon as she heard those names, Stella felt her heart beat a little faster. Forcing her pounding heart to calm down, she asked in a steady voice.

“What purpose did they say they were visiting for?”

“They said they could not tell us.”

Something that could not be told to the battle nuns and priests. Stella instinctively realized that whatever it was, it was very important.

“I understand. I’ll be out shortly, so please prepare a place.”

“Yes.”

The voice faded away. Stella quickly tidied her clothes and hair, then walked with light steps towards the place where the two people would be waiting.