Inheriting the Novel

Descendant of the Saintess (1)

The Atell Family, clan of Saintess Grancesia.

It was the family with the longest history in Setram, and one that carried a fitting level of prestige, revered by many.

However, in recent times, it was common knowledge that the Atell Family had gone silent.

[That arrogant pontiff, how dare he confine our Michelle?]

Currently, the Atell Family's estate was surrounded by countless Holy Knights and priests, keeping a watchful eye so strict that none of the major figures of the family could take a single step outside their mansion.

"So, how are we supposed to get to the Atell Family then? Don't tell me we're going to ride Mersaya?"

Kisea asked me with a slightly uneasy look on her face.

It seemed she was really uncomfortable with the idea of flying on Mersaya.

'Who would have thought she'd be afraid of heights.'

It was kind of funny that this fierce girl in battle would have acrophobia.

"I'd like to, honestly..."

"So it's too conspicuous, after all?"

"Actually, that could be dangerous. Besides, we need to be careful because of Mersaya's situation too."

I glanced over at Mersaya as I spoke.

Recently, Mersaya had been diligently training, repeating the moves I'd taught her from Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art.

Just as Grancesia had said, perhaps due to her talent, she mastered things at an incredible rate.

She was already able to use the first form, heavenly Lord.

'She also possesses the body of a dragon, so her power is extraordinary.'

Her physical strength was impressive too, and since her bones and skin were like a dragon's, she didn't need to wear additional equipment.

But unlike me, Mersaya didn't get a reaction from holy power even after mastering Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art.

Instead, she synchronized with the magic power flowing from her dragon's heart and completed a completely unique form of Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art.

[By the way, why is she training so hard these days?]

'Well, there was that incident in the Primeval Lands.'

[Hmm.]

The story Mersaya brought back after flying off somewhere was truly astonishing.

She said Largios, the one called the Dragon Lord, had begun to act together with Altair.

[But it's strange. Why did she end up following you instead of the Dragon Lord?]

'I'm not sure.'

If you were betting on a winner, logically, picking me was a strange choice.

The opposition had a hundred dragons.

Even if all of humanity united, it didn't seem likely they could win.

'Setram is another issue... this is worrying.'

If Setram started a war, the probability of the dragons moving with them was high.

Was it like this in the original work, too? How did Fabian stop all this?

'Maybe I'll find out once I get into Setram proper.'

But first, I had to rescue Michelle.

Our immediate destination was the Atell Family.

* * *

"You're making a terrible mistake right now!"

"Be quiet, Michelle. Are you trying to go against the will of God?"

"How can you call this God's will? This, this is not right!"

Trying to escape the Atell Family, Michelle was dragged back by the hand of a Holy Knight.

He had been confined so long by the family that he'd lost track of time.

"Michelle Atell. We're at the limits of what we can overlook because of your past merits. You should follow the example of the hall lord of the Atell Family."

"Grrr..."

Other members of the Atell Family, unlike Michelle, accepted their fate.

Only Michelle, the successor and next hall lord, resisted fiercely.

'Is this really God's will?'

Michelle slammed his fist on the floor as he watched the Holy Knight leave, locking him in his room.

'The pontiff is definitely trying to do something using Grancesia's body.'

Setram's capital, Ilishad.

Michelle had once visited a location beneath it.

'The ones there were not human.'

The underground of Ilishad used architecture far beyond human capabilities.

There, in a place that made no sense, lived beings with pure white hair and immense holy power.

'They must be the source of the Inquisitors.'

As a high priest of Setram, Michelle vaguely knew the truth about the Inquisitors—a secret kept from anyone below the rank of cardinal, but word had a way of getting around.

'Angels.'

Yes, they were angels.

There were a few angels living under Setram.

Beings with immense holy power and sacred blood.

"Grancesia's remains must have been taken to where the angels are."

Otherwise, there'd be no reason to send her remains into Ilishad's depths.

And they must be planning to do something with them.

'I want to think it's just my imagination...'

Michelle wanted to believe that even the current pontiff wouldn't dare lay a hand on the Saintess's remains.

But right now, the pontiff was unpredictable.

"O, god."

Michelle clasped his hands and prayed.

Once, he would have prayed to the Lord Altair—but not now.

At this moment, he didn't even know to whom he was praying.

Even Michelle himself didn't know the answer to that.

* * *

The Atell Family was located in territory near Ilishad, the capital of Setram.

Setram had no real nobility, but as a religious nation, a few cardinals and high-ranking priests did possess land.

Atell Family was one of the rare priestly families with its own territory.

"Aren't there way too many Holy Knights guarding the entrance?"

Kisea, Mersaya, and I all clicked our tongues at the sight of so many Holy Knights standing guard at the entrance to the domain.

It wouldn't be hard to defeat them, but that would surely create a huge commotion.

Not that I particularly cared, though.

"Wow, this sword's ability is honestly broken, isn't it?"

"Frankly, I think so, too."

We used the Sword of Boundary's power to slip into the Atell Family's domain through a rift in space.

Kisea had experienced this sword's power several times now, but she just clicked her tongue in awe.

Same went for Mersaya.

"Clay, who on earth crafted these Seven Swords Under Heaven? Not even one of the lords could have made such a sword..."

"I'm not sure. I tried to find out in the Dreistler family records, but there wasn't anything."

I just brushed it off, but of course, I had an idea who the god behind it was.

'It's probably Father.'

If he was truly the Creator, then he could make anything.

'Or maybe he created a god capable of making the swords.'

Did Father make the Seven Swords Under Heaven himself?

Or did he create a god who could?

It had to be one or the other.

'Huh?'

As we walked further in, I suddenly sensed something off.

Once I realized the reason, I couldn't help but click my tongue.

"tsk. This is as far as we can go with the sword."

"Why?"

Kisea asked, puzzled by my muttering.

"There's a barrier interfering with space."

"Wow, there's magic like that?"

"No, this isn't really magic..."

It was a barrier that tampered not just with raw power, but with the rules of space itself.

Not even Soila Fran, the Magic Tower Master, could have created this easily.

"... It's almost like Dragon Tongue."

"Yeah. At this point, we'll just have to cut through the barrier ourselves."

The problem was, if we touched the barrier directly, the enemy would immediately know.

But who would have created such a barrier?

Could Pontiff Violette have summoned some of Altair's power to do this...?

[It's not Altair.]

At last, Grancesia spoke up.

'Then who did it?'

Using the Eye of Insight, I saw that the barrier was shaped like a massive dome.

The Atell Family's mansion, where Michelle was confined, must be at its center.

[Given the holy power I sense... an angel.]

'There's an angel here?'

[No doubt about it, given the holy power involved.]

Granseia's certainty made me narrow my eyes.

'I never thought I'd meet an angel like in the legends.'

Since Inquisitors were created using angelic blood, I'd already suspected there might be angels in Setram.

But being about to encounter one directly was a strange feeling.

"So what do we do?"

"There's no way around it. Unless we slice through the barrier, we can't get in."

"Then we'll get caught."

"Can't be helped."

If I couldn't avoid it, then there was no point in worrying.

[Only a single angel is maintaining the barrier.]

'And there aren't any other strong opponents?'

[Plenty of Inquisitors and Holy Knights.]

'That's enough for me.'

If there's just one, we can handle this.

Especially since the opponent is an angel.

* * *

Inside a building styled like a grand temple, a huge number of Holy Knights formed defensive lines.

For just guarding one family's members, the number was excessive.

'No matter how important the Atell Family is, isn't this a bit much?'

Delson, commander of the Fifth Holy Knight Order of Setram, found the situation a little strange.

The Atell Family held great prestige in Setram, but was still just a family.

They only led a handful of knights, and since they were a priestly house, could barely keep local peace.

And were any of them a threat?

Not particularly.

They were excellent clerics and priests, but that was the extent of it.

「There's always a variable.」

A voice from behind made Delson freeze.

It vibrated through space itself, unlike an ordinary human's.

When he turned, he saw a being radiating a pale light.

「So you find this situation incomprehensible, human.」

"Ah, N-no!"

「No need to deny it. The crusade is about to begin, but here you are running errands. Any human would resent that when they long for glory.」

With every word, delson found it harder to keep his head up.

'Truly, an angel.'

Delson was a true top-rank Sword Expert.

But facing the angel, even looking directly at them was difficult.

And the more he listened to the angel, the more naturally his head bowed, and his heart swayed.

"N-no, it's just, I felt we were being lazy. The others are out there throwing themselves into the crusade right now."

「Lazy, huh...」

After saying that, the angel stared off into the distance.

「It seems we have an eventful moment.」

"Excuse me?"

「We have intruders.」

The angel felt and saw those approaching from afar.

Through the Heaven's Eye, the angels could see anyone anywhere, as long as they wished to.

「One man, two women. The man may warrant some caution.」

"Excuse me? If you say that, are they even dangerous to you, angel?"

「Do you know of the inheritor of Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art?」

The inheritor of Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art.

Delson had heard that name.

A man spotted in Linken's cave.

「Descendant of the Saintess, this is getting interesting.」

The angel smiled, but Delson felt a chill that seemed to freeze his entire body.