Ch.137Chapter 137 – The God…

Looking at my golden-infused sword, the priestess crossed her arms.

[H-hmph! As if that will be effective against me!]

Despite her words, I could see her trembling slightly.

[I-I can recover from this immediately, you know!]

The priestess confidently shouted while placing her hand on her waist.

Then light began to emanate from her hand…

Nothing happened.

[Uh… huh?]

The priestess let out a dumbfounded voice.

‘That’s fortunate.’

It seemed that once absorbed by the holy water jelly, that part couldn’t properly regenerate.

The priestess kept touching her body in disbelief.

Then she created another mace and shouted.

[I-If I win before getting hit, that’s all that matters!]

The priestess charged at me again, and I switched my weapon to parry her attack.

I know my weapon is effective against her, but as she said, it’s meaningless if I can’t land a hit.

But considering my weapon, there’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to at least graze her.

I dodged her attack, changed my weapon to a sword, pretended to swing it, then immediately switched to a morning star.

Expecting a sword swing but seeing a flail with a chain instead, the enemy ducked in panic.

[That’s unfair! Stop changing weapons!]

While shouting this, the priestess attacked quickly with her mace.

Her close combat skills were impressive, giving her considerable speed.

I quickly dodged to the side and changed my weapon to a dagger.

I swiftly slashed at the opening created by her attack.

[Kyeaaak?!!]

The priestess screamed and jumped backward, seemingly startled by the slight cut.

I aimed for her face and threw my weapon while charging.

[How stupid! Throwing your weapon?! And aiming for the face again!!]

The priestess laughed as she deflected the weapon aimed precisely at her face.

[Now without a weapon, you can’t do anything…]

The priestess raised her mace confidently.

Her face clearly showed an “I’ve won now!” expression.

“This automatically returns to me, you know.”

I had retrieved it during our fight earlier, but she apparently hadn’t noticed.

I could see her panic when she realized the deflected weapon was back in my hand.

Her mace was already raised high, leaving her body exposed.

I changed my weapon to a sword and thrust it into her body.

“Hnngh!!”

I immediately pulled and slashed.

The priestess’s body was cut in half.

As soon as that happened, the priestess turned to dust and regenerated, but part of her body remained missing where my sword had cut.

[Wha? Whaaaa? WHAAAA?!!]

The priestess grabbed her waist in panic.

It seemed that so much of her holy power had been absorbed by my sword that she could barely stand straight.

Still, seeing her somehow manage to take a stance, I clicked my tongue.

‘This is bad.’

The holy water jelly has a limited capacity for storing holy power.

Judging by the golden glow from the sword, it seemed to be approaching saturation.

‘At most, one or two more hits?’

Could I eliminate her with just those one or two hits?

I thought coldly, but my mind reached a conclusion.

‘It’ll be difficult.’

Even though I nearly cut her in half just now, she somehow maintained a combat-capable form.

Honestly, one or two more hits probably wouldn’t be enough.

I quickly racked my brain.

A way to overcome this situation.

‘No choice.’

Looking at her still visibly panicked, I shouted.

“…Sera, prepare the next one!”

“What?!”

“This isn’t the time for ‘what’! Watch for the timing and throw it right at her!”

Sera seemed surprised for a moment.

But she quickly caught my meaning and began pulling something out from her chest.

I turned my attention away from Sera and charged at the opponent.

[Wh-what?!]

The priestess attacked, trying to shake me off quickly.

Our weapons clashed again, and we engaged in close combat.

Throughout this, the priestess kept glancing at Sera, who was staring at the priestess as if ready to throw something at any moment.

“The tables have turned, haven’t they?”

[Nngh?!!]

While she was distracted, I slashed at her legs.

Both legs flew into the air, and she turned to dust again.

And the moment she began transforming back into the priestess…

[Eek!]

She quickly dodged something Sera had thrown.

There was a clinking sound as liquid spilled, and the priestess stared at it briefly.

“Is this the time to be distracted?!”

As I approached, the priestess parried my attack with her mace.

Until now we had been trading offense and defense, but now the priestess was purely defensive.

Then there was a moment when she hesitated slightly.

“Hya!”

Sera threw something else with a shout.

The priestess barely managed to dodge it, gasping in alarm.

[Because of these strange things you young people make…!]

“If winning is all that matters, why make such ugly excuses!”

Beatrice said this while swinging her chain.

The priestess deflected the chain with her mace.

“Feeling overwhelmed? I don’t see many feathers or light beams flying around anymore.”

As Beatrice said, the priestess had been focusing solely on dodging attacks and now couldn’t even properly counter.

It was clear she no longer had the luxury to counter-attack while dealing with my and Sera’s assaults.

[Nnngh…!]

The priestess looked like she might cry at any moment.

It slightly reminded me of Christina, but I had no reason to show mercy.

[I-It’s do or die…!]

Wings sprouted from the priestess’s back.

She jumped backward slightly, then I saw her fly toward Sera.

Even as my sword grazed her wing, she forced her way past me and flew toward Sera.

“Sera!”

Sera immediately raised a stone wall for defense.

But the priestess smashed through the wall with her mace and charged forward.

[I’m sorry, but sleep…]

Just as the priestess was about to bring her mace down on Sera…

“Excuse me.”

With those words, Eve perfectly intervened.

She slashed at the opponent’s wrist with her sword, altering the trajectory, then jumped to the side carrying Sera.

[Aah…!]

The mace cut through empty air, and the priestess got caught in its path and fell.

Thus, the priestess’s final desperate move ended in failure.

I rushed forward with my sword pointed.

“This is the end!”

The risen priestess looked at me.

[Uh…!]

As I thrust my sword, the priestess quickly jumped to the side.

She spread her arms awkwardly as she slid across the ground, causing my sword to narrowly miss.

I raised my sword to pursue her immediately.

[STOOOOOP!!!]

The priestess let out a sudden scream.

Then she threw her mace to the side.

[I surrender! SURRENDEEER!! I’ll surrender peacefully!!!]

After shouting this, the priestess knelt down and began bowing.

[I’ll surrender quietly, so please spare me!! I don’t want to disappear!!!]

The priestess was practically crying as she shouted.

+

Shortly after, the enemy priestess was bound by Beatrice’s chains.

The chains were faintly glowing, apparently due to something Beatrice and Christina had done.

“Since she’s a mass of holy power, this should work.”

“She won’t be able to break free unless we release her. It has direct physical force too.”

I don’t know what they did, but they seemed to have handled it well.

Honestly, I was relieved.

If we had no means to restrain her, we would have had to eliminate her, but the holy water jelly had absorbed too much holy power to safely destroy her, and there was no way another holy water jelly would suddenly appear when only one remained.

In other words, my bluff could have been exposed.

[Hic… I lost…]

The priestess was crying, seemingly frustrated.

Somehow, her body looked completely restored.

“Did you recover already?”

[No. I… redirected holy power from other parts to make the exterior look intact…]

So the total amount had indeed decreased.

[…I should be able to recover in a few days. Thank goodness…]

“Should we eliminate her before then?”

I deliberately threatened her by raising my sword slightly.

The priestess immediately shouted loudly.

[N-no, no!! I don’t want to disappear! I surrender, I said!]

“You know what happens if you try anything, right?”

[Y-yes!!]

Fortunately, it seemed she had no intention of resisting.

She had been speaking politely since earlier, apparently not wanting to upset us.

Honestly, I was relieved.

“Since we’ve subdued her, let’s ask what we need to know.”

“Let’s do that.”

I nodded at Eve’s suggestion.

Since she had called herself a guardian, she must know about this place.

“First. Where exactly is this place?”

[It’s the sacred ground of Goddess Evgenia, isn’t it?]

That’s certainly what we heard before coming here.

“I’m sorry, but that doesn’t seem right.”

The priestess tilted her head at my words.

I pointed to Christina.

“Our priestess here is a follower of Goddess Evgenia. When we entered, she firmly stated that this isn’t Evgenia’s holy power.”

“The pattern was similar, but fundamentally different. I’m certain.”

At Christina’s words, the priestess tilted her head again.

Then she looked at Christina and spoke as if remembering something.

[Ah. So that’s what happened.]

The priestess spoke with a somewhat sad expression.

“What do you mean by ‘that’s what happened’?”

[First, let me tell you clearly.]

The priestess spoke with a serious expression.

Unfortunately, being tied up diminished her dignity.

[I swear by the name of the gods. This is indeed the sacred ground of Goddess Evgenia.]

“But Christina said…”

[Don’t you think one premise might be wrong?]

The priestess said with a smile.

[Is that cute young lady truly a follower of Evgenia?]

“Y-yes I am! What kind of slander is this?”

[Ah, I’m sorry. I misspoke a bit.]

The priestess smiled again and continued.

[Do you really think the holy power that young lady wields is truly Goddess Evgenia’s holy power?]

The priestess asked with a smile.

I quickly responded.

“Are you saying Christina lied?”

Christina wasn’t the type to deceive others without reason.

Though she might play pranks due to resentment from our teasing, she wouldn’t lie about matters concerning the deity she believes in.

And I’m sorry to say this, but Christina has a bit of a fanatic streak.

She’s absolutely not the type to falsely represent the god she believes in.

[Honestly, just looking at her face, she doesn’t seem like someone who would lie.]

“Then explain properly what you mean.”

[Before that, do you know exactly how holy power is exercised?]

The priestess asked with a smile.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know, so I looked at Christina.

With everyone’s eyes on her, Christina spoke with a serious face.

“Each denomination performs special ceremonies for baptism, and if one is deemed qualified, the deity grants permission to use holy power.”

[You know well.]

“Of course, I underwent that ceremony at Evgenia’s church. So I am indeed a follower of Evgenia.”

The priestess nodded at Christina’s words.

Then she spoke somewhat sadly.

[That would normally be the case. That seems to have been the blind spot.]

“What are you saying? Please speak clearly!”

We were all startled by Christina’s sudden outburst.

She normally never shows such agitated reactions.

‘I suppose it’s because her faith is being denied.’

Her deity.

The deity who granted her permission to use holy power.

Being told that it’s not actually the deity she believes in.

From a devout believer’s perspective, this must be unacceptable.

The priestess nodded and spoke.

[You certainly underwent a long-established ceremony at Evgenia’s church to be able to exercise holy power.]

“So where’s the blind spot…!”

[Did Evgenia herself accept that ceremony?]

The priestess calmly opened her mouth with very sad eyes.

[If my thinking is correct, Evgenia would have been in a state where she couldn’t preside over that ceremony.]

Christina seemed confused by the priestess’s explanation, which sounded like she was reasoning with a child.

The priestess continued, addressing Christina.

[Let’s think of human examples. If the principal party can’t attend a transaction, a proxy might go instead, right?]

“That’s true, but…”

[If the deity herself couldn’t receive that contract, couldn’t a proxy or another deity substitute?]

“That’s impossible…”

[The gods would know the affairs of gods more accurately. Unfortunately, it seems difficult to conclude that it’s impossible.]

The priestess finished speaking.

Christina and the priestess looked at each other.

Then the priestess spoke again.

[I died long ago and have been guarding this place, so I haven’t properly heard information from outside, but I can make one guess.]

“What is it?”

I answered on behalf of the confused Christina, and the priestess looked at me.

[The Evgenia denomination has nearly collapsed now, hasn’t it?]

“…Yes.”

It’s not a denomination that could be called thriving even as a white lie.

From the beginning, it had a weak following and was poor, with churches located in slums rather than church districts.

The priestess stood up, confirming her thoughts were correct.

[I thought so. Gods grow stronger by consuming faith, and followers exercise that power on behalf of the gods to build faith.]

After failing to stand up several times, the priestess finally rose and continued.

[If Evgenia is no longer present, faith in her wouldn’t add to her holy power. While the potency of holy arts varies with individual capacity, on average, it would weaken. Such a church couldn’t gather faith, so it would inevitably collapse.]

A weak deity continues to weaken, and fewer people believe as a result.

Then the church inevitably collapses.

[So she really did leave the aftermath to us.]

“Aftermath?”

Christina stared at the priestess with blank eyes.

“That’s strange. ‘Leaving the aftermath’? That’s something people say when entrusting tasks to others before dying.”

Christina stepped forward and spoke.

Looking directly at the priestess, she opened her mouth.

“Are you saying a deity acted like someone about to die?”

[Yes.]

Her demeanor suggested she had witnessed it herself.

[…If my thinking is correct.]

For some reason, I began to feel that the words coming from this priestess’s mouth were true.

That they were the truth.

[She is no longer in this world.]

“But deities reside in the divine realm…”

Christina spoke with a trembling voice, as if clutching at straws.

Her hands were shaking as she denied the priestess’s words.

[No.]

The priestess looked directly at Christina and spoke.

[Our noble deity, Goddess Evgenia, has certainly passed away.]

The deity is dead.

That’s what the priestess declared.