Ch.108108. Inquisitor (2)

Sorcerers, curse-wielders, astrologers, prophets, and all sorts of other fringe professions.

It was fitting to say that Dungeon & Adventure truly had every profession imaginable, including, of course, a class called Inquisitor, and even further, a series of priest-type classes in the Inquisitor branch.

The original Inquisitor, an intermediate priest class that could be called a close-combat priest, true to its name as a heresy “inquisitor,” primarily countered clerical classes like priests and paladins.

They could interfere with and disrupt holy magic, reduce the number of miracle uses, prevent healing, and passively possess holy resistance.

Though slightly inferior compared to other priests, they were tier 1 among close-combat priests and excelled at hunting clerics, paladins, and other religious classes. That was the original Inquisitor in Dungeon & Adventure, but…

This was far from the Inquisitor I wanted.

The targets my Inquisitor should oppose weren’t simply corrupt or fallen clergy, but all humans who prioritized their own will over doctrine.

In other words, my Inquisitor needed to be different from the existing one, as they would confront and execute not just clergy but all types of non-believers as their main enemies.

Therefore, I used the power of “exclusive class creation” that I gained upon becoming a higher deity to create my own unique class tailored to my preferences. Its name: “Heresy Judge.”

Like the Inquisitor class, it specializes in skills that disrupt enemy spellcasting, while also being able to use holy aura, making it possible to fight on par with intermediate warriors in close combat.

Of course, while the aura output is significant, there aren’t many close combat skills, so purely in terms of melee capability, it cannot defeat a warrior head-on.

That’s why I narrowed down weapon skills to focus solely on greatswords to somehow reduce the skill gap, while simultaneously using various enhancement spells to make physical abilities surpass those of warriors.

It can also use Inquisitor tactical skills like the signature debuff “Heresy Designation” and various combo skills triggered by it.

Crucially, it retains decent priestly abilities, allowing the use of practical holy magic, though not extensively varied.

…Looking at just this information, it might seem like an all-purpose class, and indeed, my intention in creating the Heresy Judge was precisely to make it versatile.

This is because not all Inquisitors have priests or clergy as their main targets.

Inquisitors must root out heretics among ordinary believers and those classified as warriors in the Avenger Legion, while also being ready to fight on the front lines in emergency situations.

Thus, according to my intentions, the “Heresy Judge” class was completed as an Inquisitor-type priest who primarily uses a greatsword in close combat.

And being able to create such a unique exclusive class was possible because I became a higher deity.

In truth, despite becoming a higher deity… I don’t particularly feel the difference right now.

Thanks to my broadened framework of thought and elevated perspective, I naturally accepted it as something that was meant to be.

Even in the game, you only need to exceed 100,000 total believers regardless of other conditions, so it’s not strange that this applies in this world where Dungeon & Adventure’s principles are quite broadly implemented.

※ ※ ※

Anyway, back to the main point.

The priests who became Heresy Judges began their training as Inquisitors.

First came education.

They memorized all existing doctrines through scriptures I personally provided, while developing insight and judgment to precisely identify violations.

During this process, they were repeatedly taught that compromise and tolerance were absolutely forbidden, while having methods of proper distinction thoroughly ingrained in their minds to prevent mistakes.

As a result, the completed Inquisitors could read a person’s thoughts without using any magic.

Meanwhile, since these individuals would spend their lives fighting all sorts of dangers, I blessed them as delicately as sugar sculptures, just like the members of the Avenger Legion.

Unlike ordinary legion members, these were intermediate priests, so I could bestow stronger and higher blessings upon them.

Thanks to this, these four Inquisitors not only gained superhuman bodies capable of matching ogres in strength contests without magical means, but also became perfect superhumans who could think rationally in all situations and possessed near-perfect memory.

…Let’s not think about the amount of faith consumed in their training.

Anyway, these completed Inquisitors were finally given equipment and identification credentials that I personally created.

Lastly, by notifying the church of their status and changing their positions, they officially became proper Inquisitors by rank.

The Inquisitors of the Vengeance Church would look almost like grim reapers at first glance.

They wore clothes made of ogre hide, sturdier than mediocre chain mail, with light armor including blackened breastplates on top.

These garments were firmly secured with belts also made of ogre hide, and over them, they wore black leather coats adorned with ominous decorations.

The coats, studded with rivets creating an eerie atmosphere, had chains and hooks attached, with various blades and tools for “interrogation” hanging inside.

These individuals, whose appearance alone conveyed intimidation and fear, always carried three tools to identify heretics and judge sinners.

First was a mask covering the eyes. These masks, each crafted according to the Inquisitor’s preferred appearance and thus all different, shared the common feature of concealing both eyes.

This symbolized their judgment being free from personal bias, while also functioning to see through deception and lies hidden by their targets.

It could also penetrate illusions and phantasms, detect invisibility, and objectively recognize information about targets.

The true purpose of this mask was to help Inquisitors, who must face heretics and pagans full of lies and deception, easily discern the truth.

The second was a censer. A sturdy spherical brass censer was placed inside a skull, with a hole drilled in the crown of the skull and a chain connecting it to the censer body.

It looked quite brutal, with smoke flowing out through the eye sockets, making it appear like a skull with glowing red eyes.

The chain allowed it to be attached to the belt at the waist, but normally it was held in one hand, swinging slowly.

This censer symbolized that the Inquisitor’s judgment criteria stemmed from religion, while simultaneously representing their religious authority and the legitimacy of their judgment.

And thanks to my direct involvement, it inspired confidence in its authenticity at a glance, making the censer also serve as a kind of credential proving the Inquisitor’s identity.

Meanwhile, this censer didn’t just serve as a religious and political symbol.

While it normally burned incense that emphasized the Inquisitor’s presence, its contents could change according to the situation.

When interrogating heretics, they used confession-inducing substances that clouded the mind, and in combat situations, they used incense that disrupted nerves or dulled senses.

Using various types of incense to which they were immune was another purpose for the Inquisitors.

And finally, the third was a greatsword—specifically, an Executioner’s sword.

With an extremely large rectangular blade, it gave the impression of a large, heavy piece of metal with a handle rather than a sword.

As evident from both its appearance and name, this weapon served as the Inquisitor’s main weapon and was used to “execute” heretics, symbolizing the Inquisitor’s authority to use violence.

The side of the blade was engraved with various oaths that Inquisitors must keep, written in red letters, and the pommel at the end of the handle had a chain that could be connected to or fixed to the coat.

This executioner’s sword, which also possessed magical power that increased cutting ability and balanced the center of gravity when swung, making it perform excellently as a level 1 magic weapon…

In my estimation, it probably wouldn’t see much use outside of combat situations.

The “punishment” inflicted on malicious heretics was to keep them alive and inflict pain, so how often would the executioner’s sword be used for its true purpose of “execution”?

Certainly, not very often.