Secret – 3

“Are you refusing to answer? If so, I can make you spit it out by force.”

Selene pushed her head in closer. Naturally, their bodies pressed together. Her tights-clad thighs dug between my legs, and I felt the smooth texture of the tights.

In her right hand, a rapier had appeared at some point. The blade, brought up to my chin, seemed ready to stab me to death immediately, conversation or not, at any moment.

Her left hand was tightly strangling my neck, but while it inflicted pain, it didn’t squeeze hard enough to make me suffocate, faint, or lose my ability to speak.

It was an exquisitely precise control of strength, befitting the name ‘Inquisitor’.

I had anticipated all of this. I had provoked the Pope, a being most intimately connected to her faith itself, and the fact that she hadn’t killed me on the spot was already a great deal of restraint.

“Of course I’ll answer. But first, how about you release this hand?”

“Why should I do that?”

“……I understand. I’ll speak in this state. Where should I begin explaining?”

“Everything.”

From between her lips, a voice of an utterly chilling tone leaked out.

“Confess everything you know, all of it, without a single lie. If not.”

The rapier’s blade gleamed with a faint silver light. *Prod*, the tip of the blade lightly touched beneath my chin. I felt the cool, cold moonlight.

Just as the divine power of the Sun held warm warmth, the divine power of the Moon contained cold chill. A cold sensation crept up from under my chin.

“I will show you the lowest level of the Inquisition. It is a place where you will be forced to spit out everything, both what you know and what you don’t. You will never face the sky again, so you should choose your answer carefully.”

“I will.”

I answered obediently.

My goal was to persuade Selene, skip all the intermediate steps, and go straight to confronting the final boss of the DLC. There was no reason at all to engage in a power struggle here.

“You know that when I and the other Knight Commanders were granted an audience with His Holiness the Pope of the Sun, His Holiness the Pope of the Moon personally descended upon that place, don’t you?”

“If it concerns matters within the Holy Nation, there is nothing we do not know. From the very moment His Holiness the Pope of the Moon visited the Grand Cathedral of the Sun, we observed everything that transpired inside.”

“Then you must have also seen His Holiness the Pope of the Moon inflict violence upon His Holiness the Pope of the Sun.”

“We saw everything. However, that was an act performed by His Holiness the Pope. It is not our place to interfere or judge rashly. Are you trying to pick a fight about that now?”

“What I’m trying to say isn’t the fact itself. It’s the reason why it had to happen.”

“…….”

Selene frowned. From the Inquisitor’s perspective, it was natural for her to react that way, as unearthing the events of that day would be displeasing.

The unprecedented incident of the Pope of the Moon inflicting violence upon the Pope of the Sun had been witnessed not by people of the Holy Nation, but by people of the Empire, and even by those holding positions as high as the Knights of the Silver Dawn.

She would surely want to make them forget it somehow, but since I kept bringing up the situation from that time, she couldn’t help but frown.

“The words ‘fate cannot be changed.’ And the words ‘I cannot give up on His Holiness the Pope of the Moon.’ Inquisitor-nim, don’t you have some inkling of what this means?”

“Do not try to gloss over it with vague expressions, nor try to question me back. Just speak plainly and confess everything you know. Did you really think I would fall for such a shallow trick and babble on by myself?”

The hand gripping my neck tightened even further. However, it still wasn’t strong enough to prevent me from answering or make me faint from lack of breath. It simply increased the pain I was experiencing.

“The conclusion is this: The Pope of the Moon considers the actions the Pope of the Sun intends to take as meaningless. Even though these actions are for no one else but herself.”

“…….”

Up to this point, it was information that could be inferred with a little thought if one had witnessed the events inside the Grand Cathedral, so Selene merely frowned and couldn’t offer any particular rebuttal.

I also had no way of knowing why the Pope of the Moon would do such a thing while we were openly watching. She could have done it after we left.

If the situation had been that urgent, it would be understandable, but it was also puzzling that the Pope of the Moon didn’t seem urgent at all, neither by her expression nor her actions.

It seemed like I’d have to ask her directly after defeating the boss.

“Then there is one core point: What action does the Pope of the Sun intend to take for His Holiness the Pope of the Moon?”

“…….”

“But the answer to this is as good as already given. Since she said she ‘cannot give up on His Holiness the Pope of the Moon,’ it means their relationship would become twisted to the point of needing such an expression. Or that they would no longer be able to meet.”

“…….”

Selene remained silent. Either my words had hit the mark, or she was deep in thought. It had to be one or the other.

In truth, the incident that occurred when we had an audience with the Pope of the Sun was purely coincidental. Could I have imagined, from the start, that the Popes would do such a thing to each other? It wasn’t even an event that appeared in the game.

However, as I organized my thoughts that night, I concluded that if I used this well, I might be able to skip the entire intermediate story of the DLC.

Because the Pope of the Sun was displeased with her sister’s sacrifice. And she trusted me with an unusual strength.

‘For now, the background setting hasn’t changed much.’

The reason the Pope of the Moon mentioned sacrifice was related to the final boss of the DLC, a creature abandoned by God. A revelation had come down that to defeat it, one of the Popes had to sacrifice themselves.

Here, the one who volunteered to be the sacrificial lamb was precisely the Pope of the Moon.

Of course, as could be seen from the outcome where the Holy Nation would be destroyed without the protagonist’s intervention, that strategy ultimately failed, and the remaining Pope also died during the battle.

‘In the game, I just thought they both had to do it, and moved on.’

Here, the Pope of the Sun, who was supposed to inherit the power, was rejecting that future and trying to find a way. It was completely different from the game’s story, where both Popes calmly accepted the sacrifice.

This was why I decided to skip the story. If one side was rejecting fate, the persuasion process would be much easier than in the game.

“So the word ‘sacrifice’-?!”

At that moment, Selene forcefully threw me. I flew a considerable distance to the opposite side of the chapel, tumbling several times on the silver carpet covering the floor.

“Ugh?!”

“It seems there’s more to explain, but I will only listen up to this point. What I’ve heard so far is enough for me to make a decision.”

A chilling voice came from behind me. I quickly righted myself. Selene, with an ominous aura, was walking towards me with an expressionless face.

In her left hand, she held a Divine Catalyst. The rapier in her right hand emitted a faint moonlight. Soon after, a deep silver divine power began to burst forth from the Divine Catalyst as well.

“At first, I thought you were not the kind of people to speak carelessly, and I intended to ask you to keep the Grand Cathedral incident a secret, as rumors spreading would be troublesome.”

The click-clack of high heels echoed, reflecting off the marble walls and floor.

“However, I just had a premonition that I shouldn’t do that.”

I quickly drew my blood-stained sword. As soon as I raised my weapon, a silver flash sparkled. Reflexively, I brought my arm into the trajectory of that flash.

-*Cha-aeng!*

Along with a sharp sound as if a glass window was shattering, a powerful impact ran through my arm. The silver flash that had just come in. That was one of the patterns that appeared in the Inquisitor’s boss battle.

It was nothing short of a signal to fight right then, but I, on the contrary, let out a sigh of relief inwardly.

‘Just the fact that she didn’t stab me to death right away means I’ve succeeded more than halfway.’

I had worried most about whether Selene might stab me to death while listening to my story, but since I had avoided that, all I had to do now was persuade her step by step.

“Why did you say such things to me?”

However, it didn’t seem like I could get through this situation without a physical confrontation either.

Behind Selene, who was walking towards me, a small moon rose. In front of it, a shadow born from the moonlight was cast. Full moons melted into the spaces between the darkness.

“You could have chosen not to speak, to remain silent forever. But why did you create a situation where it was just the two of us and reveal what you knew to me?”

Another moon rose. On the left. On the right. And above my head.

“For what purpose did you take such actions?”

Inside the chapel, no less than four full moons had risen.

“The information you possess is a secret that must never leak outside. However, you seem far from someone who can keep a secret. Therefore, any vow of silence you make cannot be trusted.”

The tip of the rapier was aimed at me.

I had anticipated even this situation. An Inquisitor would try to prevent the Pope’s sacrifice from leaking out, even if it meant killing me.

If the fact that one of the Popes had to sacrifice themselves spread, the question “Why?” would inevitably follow, and rumors would snowball, growing uncontrollably large.

Revealing the existence of the monster sleeping underground was a problem, and not revealing it was also a problem. Either way, it was tantamount to their faith being completely denied.

“I know that His Majesty the Emperor has taken a profound interest in you. Even considering that, even if it means offering my life to the enraged Emperor, I will do what I must do now.”

Selene took up the rapier’s characteristic charge stance. Then, from the moons floating all around, silver rapiers of the same shape sprang forth.

“You will have to come with me to the Inquisition.”

I slightly lowered the tip of my sword and took a stance. My persuasion hadn’t immediately worked, but I had a separate plan prepared for this situation. I had no intention whatsoever of fighting a boss battle with Selene here.

It was time to skip all explanations and get straight to the main point.

Selene charged, tracing a silver trajectory. Just once. I only needed to deflect her once. At that moment, I brought my sword into her attack trajectory and shouted loudly.

“If there’s a way to avoid sacrifice!”

-*Jja-aeng!*

The blood-stained sword clashed with the rapier, creating a brutal tearing sound. The tip of the blade stopped right in front of me, and the illusory attacks that had been flying towards me flickered and vanished.

The risen full moons set. Inside the chapel, only a faint, deep silver light lingered once again. The divine power surrounding the rapier, and the divine power flowing from the Divine Catalyst, both disappeared without a trace.

I lowered my raised voice and spoke again in a calm tone.

“If I brought this up because there’s a way to defeat that monster without His Holiness the Pope’s sacrifice, what would you do?”

Selene’s pupils trembled.

“……What?”