Ch.9031. Into the Cathedral (2)

The two of them carefully opened the cathedral doors.

As Windcutter had told them, the interior of the cathedral was completely empty.

“Where is the Sacred Flame of Parma…”

Soso looked around. We had entered the central worship hall. Being a 200-year-old building, it had quite a different atmosphere from modern cathedrals.

I walked through the center of the worship hall filled with antique charm. Forget about the Sacred Flame of Parma—the place was extremely dark, with even external light barely filtering in.

But my stigmata was reacting. The Sacred Flame of Parma was definitely somewhere nearby.

“Didn’t the Archbishop tell you exactly where the Sacred Flame is?”

“Wait. I think I know where it is. Let me look for it.”

During my time as Eins, I had explored countless labyrinths and dungeons to obtain various relics.

Although the only relic I had left now was the Ruby, the experience of finding those relics hadn’t disappeared.

‘The Archbishop only said that the Sacred Flame was in the cathedral. He said he didn’t know anything beyond that.’

Two hundred years ago. After the Great Demon was summoned, this sacred fire was sealed to suppress the severe magical contamination.

So, for a truly perfect seal, it made sense that they would have taken special measures to ensure the fire could never be removed from this place.

‘They would have sealed it and hidden the method to break the seal.’

A perfect seal where even the method to break it wouldn’t be passed down to future generations. So it wasn’t strange that the Archbishop didn’t know the method.

But I wasn’t worried.

‘Sorry, but I’ve had plenty of practice taking things that weren’t supposed to be taken.’

The Ruby was also a sacred object from an ancient Muguk religion that worshipped fire.

But knowing the Ruby’s background information, I didn’t hesitate to make that Ancient Gear mine.

Of course, I did it to survive as a minor character. Although that action caused a butterfly effect, I didn’t hesitate now.

‘If necessary, I can transform from a minor character into the protagonist.’

With a half-hearted attitude, I couldn’t protect the people around me. After winning the Exchange Tournament, I became arrogant.

‘After that, I thought I didn’t need any more relics.’

Looking back now, I should have obtained even more relics.

If this world in the novel is destined for destruction, like the movements of the White Cross Society suggest, then there’s no future for Soso, Yuri, and Arini.

‘If this novel is a tragedy, it’s enough if I’m the only protagonist with a bad ending.’

From now on, I won’t allow any more sacrifices like Siwoo.

And I decided to believe that if I was doing this for Flame rather than for myself like during my time as Eins, the butterfly effect would be reduced.

‘And I’m sure the Archbishop didn’t try to break the seal of the Sacred Flame without thinking.’

My taking the Sacred Flame means that whatever the flame is suppressing will awaken. The Archbishop seemed to think I could eliminate that something.

I concentrated.

Except for the magical energy detected by my inner ear, the worship hall looked extremely ordinary from the outside.

Unlike typical labyrinths, there were no traps. It was a place where one wouldn’t think anything special existed.

‘But usually in these cases…’

The experience I gained through obtaining relics, plus the new knowledge from Elder Yeon Mun-woo’s secretary.

I organized all possibilities in my head.

‘Slavian Kingdom’s sealing style. 200 years ago. And the White Cross Society…’

I quickly recalled Elder Yeon Mun-woo’s secretary’s notes, which I had memorized completely. At that moment, a method came to mind.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

Soso asked. Instead of answering, I walked to the front of the worship hall. There was a sacred statue placed there.

A statue modeled after Ayel. However, it looked quite different from the modern statues you would see in White Cross Society cathedrals.

“Is there something here?”

Soso tilted her head in confusion. After 200 years, dust had accumulated, making the statue closer to gray than white.

I placed my palm with the stigmata against the statue.

Woooong—

Simultaneously, the statue began to resonate. Soso’s face brightened.

“So that was it! Since this is a Cross Society cathedral, if there was something, it would be in Ayel’s statue…”

But contrary to Soso’s words, the statue and my stigmata were merely resonating as sacred objects. The Sacred Flame of Parma didn’t pop out or cause any other change.

“Huh…? Was I wrong? Maybe it’s just resonating with your stigmata because it’s an object with holy power…”

I shook my head at Soso, who looked disappointed.

“No. This is the right object.”

“Really? But there’s no reaction?”

As Soso said, in a cathedral, there are many objects that could resonate with a stigmata besides the statue. But I wouldn’t have chosen this statue without reason.

“Just wait a moment.”

Then I bent the wings attached to Ayel’s back downward. There was a clicking sound.

“Huh? If you break the statue like that…!”

Damaging a sacred statue is something even non-believers of the White Cross Society would avoid. It could attract troublesome inquisitors.

But I ignored Soso’s concerns and continued to manipulate the statue as I pleased.

***

Soso was startled by my sudden action.

“I know you’re frustrated that the Sacred Flame isn’t visible, but please calm down! Breaking the statue won’t…”

Soso said anxiously. We had come all this way as the Archbishop said, but she might have thought I was angry because the Sacred Flame wasn’t there.

“Don’t worry. I’m not a minor demon like you. I don’t just smash everything that stands in my way.”

“T-that’s a misunderstanding about demons!”

We continued our work while exchanging such banter. The work was quickly completed.

Contrary to Soso’s concerns, I bent the wings, twisted the arms, and turned the statue’s head. Yet the statue didn’t break at all.

It simply changed shape according to my manipulations. Soso, finally noticing something strange, said:

“The statue is intact…?”

She was right. And it meant I had found the correct answer.

Soon, the statue, now looking quite different from before, began to vibrate.

“What’s going on? Why is the statue suddenly vibrating…”

“In the Far East Archdiocese office, there was a statue just like this one. The description there said it was an old statue style different from today’s statues. From about 200 years ago… like this one.”

“I’ve seen that statue at the entrance of the diocesan office. But what does it have to do with… Oh! Are they identical?”

“No. While the face and style are exactly the same as the diocesan office’s statue, the angles of the parts I touched were subtly different.”

As I said, I moved various parts of the statue to match the appearance of the one at the diocesan office.

As Soso’s reaction showed, the differences were so minute that someone who didn’t observe carefully wouldn’t notice them at all. But I changed the appearance of the statue in front of me like solving a puzzle.

That was the trick hiding the Sacred Flame of Parma.

“How did you find such subtle differences? Ah, wait. Come to think of it…”

Soso looked directly at my face.

“You’re Lee Min-soo, after all. Hehe.”

Soso smiled broadly as she said this. It was a smile that seemed to say she was embarrassed for almost doubting me, and that she completely trusted me.

Though innocent like Eins, that boundless trust directed at me made me unconsciously turn my head away.

‘Why am I thinking about yesterday again at a time like this…’

Looking at Soso’s smile, I couldn’t help but stare at her lips. I hid these thoughts while waiting for the statue’s vibration to end.

And when the vibration stopped, the statue moved backward on its own, finally revealing stairs leading underground.

“Stairs appeared!”

Soso, seemingly more excited than I was, spontaneously hugged me. In Eins too, Soso would often do this when she was very happy.

But the sensation and emotions were completely different from back then. Feeling the soft, yielding touch, I had to deliberately avoid Soso’s gaze.

“Calm down. Let’s go down first.”

“Huh?!! Y-yes!”

Soso also belatedly realized she had initiated physical contact and turned her head away from me. But there was something I had to tell the embarrassed Soso.

“Judging by the stigmata’s reaction, the Sacred Flame is definitely down there. That means the magical energy will be denser too, so be careful of MCI increase.”

Soso’s current MCI is 45. It’s stable considering the significant monsters we’ve faced on our way here.

But we don’t know what might happen down there. I preemptively warned her about the curses and confusion that might affect her due to the magical energy.

“Yes. With the Celestial Demon Divine Technique, I can withstand most curses or illusions…”

“Good. And…”

I carefully whispered in her ear.

“If it still becomes too hard to bear, think of me.”

Soso paused momentarily at those words. Then, with a blush on her face, she answered:

“…Yes. I will.”

Those words might sound cheesy, but Soso shyly lowered her head.

‘It’s a bit embarrassing.’

But since her feelings for me were clearly a factor in keeping Soso’s MCI low, it was necessary for her sake.

Soso gently grabbed the end of my sleeve. The two of us entered the underground like that.

***

The underground continued like a bottomless abyss with no visible end.

At first, we could descend by stairs to a certain depth, but as we went deeper, various terrains like slopes and cliffs suddenly appeared.

And bizarre structures that distorted spatial perception repeated throughout the vast underground space, making it difficult for the two of us to move.

Swoosh—

Monsters also attacked us. This place had very strong magical energy, which condensed to create shadow-like monsters.

‘W-well, I really hate ghosts and spirits.’

But Soso’s black sword shone. Beyond a mana sword, it was an aura sword. That concentrated life force could easily cut through even vengeful spirits.

And although Soso was terribly afraid of vengeful spirits, she was fine now.

‘When I think of Min-soo, I really feel much better.’

Because Min-soo had told her so. Just thinking about Min-soo prevented the vengeful spirits or the magical energy of this place from affecting her.

She had already cut down dozens of spirits. But Soso’s mind remained clear.

Normally, facing this many monsters would make her nauseated like last night, but not now.

‘Like when my clothes got dirty before entering the hot spring…’

And she unconsciously thought about what happened afterward. The open-air hot spring Min-soo had created especially for her.

In that secluded forest, under a sky full of stars. The intense kiss filled with their true feelings.

Indeed, although both of them had playfully acted as if it was no big deal, Soso wasn’t a child. She was now a proper adult.

It was impossible for nothing to happen when a young man and woman of their age, wearing only underwear, embraced and kissed each other.

Soso’s feelings for Min-soo had grown uncontrollably large.

‘Of course, some people on the community said it’s fine for friends of the opposite sex to do even more… um… embarrassing things beyond kissing.’

But Soso was definitely not that cool. When she kissed Min-soo, she thought her heart would burst.

Moreover, what made her heart race even more was Min-soo’s reaction.

‘Min-soo… seemed to want… something beyond kissing with me.’

Although Soso initiated the deep kiss first.

As the kiss deepened, Min-soo became the bolder one. And Soso felt everything—including how Min-soo’s hands, which were on her shoulders, eventually tried to move elsewhere.

‘But because of that damn bear that deserved to be torn apart, nothing more happened.’

Truly, if Min-soo had done something more daring to her, Soso would have allowed everything. But because of that cursed bear, it ended with just a kiss.

Enraged, Soso had torn off all the limbs of that bear monster. Thinking of Min-soo like this, Soso resisted the magical energy.

The underground space continued endlessly downward. She kept swinging her sword.

Though vengeful spirits and magical energy weren’t scary anymore, there were too many spirits.

“Haa… haa…”

As her breathing became increasingly labored, Min-soo said to her:

“Not just monsters, but the dense magical energy is creating poisonous mist. But I’ll block it all with wind spells, so please hold on a little longer!”

“Yes! I’ll trust you…”

When poison spreads in such an underground place, it’s very dangerous even for awakened ones. But with Min-soo’s skills, he would surely protect her from that poison.

‘I need to focus more.’

The aura sword consumes a lot of mana due to its powerful cutting force. The Celestial Demon Divine Technique is also a very powerful mana acceleration method, but in return, it moves a large amount of mana.

The accumulated fatigue naturally increases an awakened one’s MCI. But before coming here, Soso had found a way to lower her MCI herself.

‘The smell… no, Min-soo’s scent… that fragrance…’

The sweatshirt she borrowed from Min-soo. It was a bit large for her as a woman.

So if she slightly gathered the chest area with her hand and brought it close to her face, she could fully smell, no, sense the scent mixed in the clothes.

‘It’s full of Min-soo’s scent…’

With that intense scent of Min-soo, even her Celestial Demon Divine Technique seemed to become more active. But she absolutely couldn’t let Min-soo discover her actions.

‘It might seem a bit… perverted.’

Soso carefully brought the clothes to her nose. And while swinging her sword with one hand, she secretly inhaled Min-soo’s scent as much as possible.

Min-soo, no, Min-soo’s scent busily traveled through her.

“Sniff sniff—”

But unconsciously, she inhaled too loudly. The sound seemed to have escaped.

‘Oh no!’

At that moment, Soso made eye contact with Min-soo.