Inheriting the Novel

Determination (2)

"Hurry up!"

Sensing the surge of holy power, Pilla shouted softly.

Now that most of the angels had withdrawn to the ground, this was their chance to go down below, into the underground.

"This way. If we go right here, there should be a corridor leading down."

Most of the way, Michelle guided them, with Pilla sometimes offering his own suggestions as they moved.

Of course, angels weren't the only beings in this Gray Paradise. Regular priests and Holy Knights also roamed about.

"Who... keh!"

A Holy Knight spotted Mersaya, but collapsed backward before he could finish speaking. He couldn't even put up a proper resistance against that truly lightning-fast punch.

"Mersaya, your punches are completely different from before!"

Kisea's eyes sparkled with that peculiar gleam.

She already knew that Mersaya was learning martial arts from Clay.

But Mersaya, being a dragon, hadn't seemed all that earnest about mastering martial arts.

After all, the basis of a dragon's strength had always been magic and the Dragon Tongue.

Yet now, Mersaya's skills had progressed at breakneck speed, showing a clear difference from before.

"Muhuhuhu, that's right. Now my punch is incomparably stronger than ever before!"

Mersaya confidently raised her fist, and for once, this was something that couldn't be denied.

Unlike ordinary holy power, a fist infused with dragon's fighting spirit was truly ferocious.

"This way."

Thanks to Kisea and Mersaya's efforts, there was nothing blocking their descent underground.

Especially Kisea—she wielded every kind of sword with masterful versatility, and among them were flying daggers capable of secretly intercepting enemies.

Swish! Shwik!

With every soft whistle of wind, another Holy Knight or priest would fall, and Michelle watched these scenes with slightly bitter eyes.

"I don't feel very good about this. We used to be comrades, after all."

"There's no need to think that way. These people are little more than calamities thrown upon the world."

Calamities.

Michelle suddenly remembered something Clay had once said.

Pilla had probably used the word just for description, but it didn't seem all that different from the 'calamities' Clay had talked about.

"... The problem is from here on."

"Angels."

"I sense about three of them at the moment."

As he said this, Pilla gave the group a rough idea of where the angels were positioned.

Mersaya couldn't help but be quietly impressed by his near-perfect detection ability.

As a dragon, she could recognize just how difficult it was for Pilla to do what he was currently doing.

"How can you even sense their exact locations before the other angels notice?"

"It's simple. I'm stronger than the average angel, that's all."

"I—I see."

Faced with such unashamedly confident words, Mersaya could only accept it.

A legendary Inquisitor, was it?

Indeed, his power far outstripped any ordinary angel's.

"So, there are three. Should we each take one and handle them?"

Kisea spoke with a strangely excited expression. She must be thrilled at the prospect of fighting angels.

"There's no need to take unnecessary risks. It's faster and easier if we just handle them one by one."

"... Tch."

Naturally, Pilla had no intention of entertaining Kisea's suggestion.

And unless it was Pilla, if Mersaya or Kisea tried to face an angel alone—even if they won, they'd hardly be able to do it quietly.

"Michelle, do you sense where the Saintess's remains are?"

"The Saintess's remains..."

Michelle focused, seeking to detect the location of the Saintess's remains.

As a member of the Atell Family who had spent long years on the Saint's Pilgrimage with the Saintess's relics, this was something only he could do.

"I can't quite feel it yet, but I think we're almost there."

"Alright. Let's hurry, then."

If more angels showed up now, things would get complicated.

They had to reach the place where Grancesia's remains lay as quickly as possible.

* * *

While the angels searched for me, I used the power of the Sword of Boundary to reach the Holy Imperial Palace where the pontiff resided.

I wished I could just keep going until I reached the room with the pontiff, but of course, as expected, there was a familiar barrier spread throughout the Holy Imperial Palace.

'At times like this, I'm reminded that the Sword of Boundary isn't truly all-powerful.'

Though a spatial-interference barrier didn't mean I couldn't use the Sword of Boundary, it had its downsides—using it risked giving away my location and plunging into unknown danger through the gaps between boundaries.

'Anyway...'

I quietly marveled as I looked around inside the Holy Imperial Palace.

The pure white walls were lined with beautiful murals.

'... Are these depicting the myths?'

They portrayed God Altair descending to the ground with the other gods.

Countless angels surrounded those gods, while humans worshiped them.

'No mention of the gods connected to the Seven Swords Under Heaven, though.'

At a glance, they were all images highlighting Altair's gifts to humanity, and his deeds.

[Such blatant lies.]

Grancesia scoffed at the paintings, her words sharp.

Knowing the truth about the nature of holy power, I could only sympathize with her feelings.

'Now, let's see...'

In any case, the murals weren't what was important right now. I needed to locate the pontiff quickly.

I looked around the palace, checking my profile of the place one by one.

'That way.'

Most of the angels were probably outside, busily searching for the suddenly vanished "Ray."

But that wouldn't last long.

That meant I had to close the distance as much as possible, while I could.

"Hoo..."

I took a deep breath and slowly closed my eyes.

I wasn't using Eye of Insight—rather, I was activating all my senses to their limits and feeling out the space around me.

This was something that had to be mastered before even using Eye of Insight.

It was a power that only became possible when Only Mind was honed to its limit.

Even with my eyes closed, I could sense the minute details of this unfamiliar place.

It was as though a map had been drawn in my mind.

Within that mental map, I found the best route to the location I'd just checked out in the profile.

Bang!

I launched myself off the floor, sprinting down the route I'd mapped out in my head.

Of course, the route wasn't empty.

There were Holy Knights and priests, even Inquisitors.

'Even faster...'

But none of that mattered.

There was no way to move through this palace without anyone noticing.

And in truth, every person present here might as well be the eyes of Pontiff Violette. If I knocked out anyone, it was inevitable he'd notice immediately.

So my only option was to reach the location where the pontiff was before Violette could react.

* * *

'It's him.'

Just as Clay had expected, everyone in the Holy Imperial Palace was essentially the eyes of Pontiff Violette.

As the Holy Knights were rapidly cut down, violette couldn't help but panic.

'How—?'

How had someone infiltrated the palace, evading the gazes of so many angels?

There was never any mention of the Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art having such elusive powers.

"He's running down the main corridor on the second floor! Stop him!"

"Y-your Holiness?"

"What are you standing there for? Capture him at once!"

With his Holy Knights answering him vacantly, violette urgently issued commands.

Believing the angels would be enough, there were only a handful of Inquisitors in the palace—even fewer, since he'd ordered most to guard Gray Paradise in case there were any problems with the Rite.

'It's fine. Everything is fine.'

The plan was still intact.

The Rite was in progress, and there were no issues with Setram's control.

"What kind of mess is this?"

Suddenly, violette was overcome by a surge of anxiety and frustration.

For things to go wrong so wildly, so suddenly...

It was all that Ray's fault. Violette calmed himself, gathering the Holy Knights and Inquisitors to block the route Clay would take.

But it was no use.

No one but an angel could withstand his power.

It was, in a word, the very image of the legendary return of Grancesia.

'The angels...'

Unlike with others, violette couldn't directly transmit orders to the angels. All he could do was wait for them to notice the commotion and come.

"Kh."

There was only one option left now.

He'd wanted to hold back until open war broke out, but now wasn't the time for such worries.

If something went wrong with the plan now...

BOOM!

A deafening explosion echoed from not far away.

Violette realized that the enemy was near.

Already, all the Holy Knights and priests in the vicinity had been defeated, so no one was left to even confirm his appearance.

CRASH! BOOM BOOM!

At last, the huge doors to the pontiff's audience hall were smashed apart.

"Your Holiness!"

As the doors shattered and debris flew in, cardinal Kaedillen at Violette's side hastily cast holy magic, erecting a shield that deflected the flying fragments.

"You wretch! Do you realize where you are, barging in like this?!"

There were currently five cardinals in the audience hall, besides Violette.

Each was a high priest of exceptional talent, but their combat abilities were essentially meaningless here.

None of them could possibly stop Clay.

"So we finally meet in person, violette."

Clay strode in through the destroyed doors and spoke boldly.

The loudly blustering cardinals meant nothing to him.

"... I never imagined we'd meet like this."

"Really? I foresaw this all along."

Even if Setram hadn't become a calamity, he would have come to face this man in the end.

After all, it was Violette who'd planned to plunge the continent into war.

'As expected.'

Clay first checked Pontiff Violette's profile.

It was exactly as he expected.

Calamity of Obedience; the brain behind Setram's actions.

In the original story, he'd attempted to start the Great War, only to be stopped and killed by Fabian.

At least, in the original story, he had succeeded in bringing Altair's descent into Grancesia's body... but—

'This time, he'll fail even at that.'

Clay glanced out the window.

The signal still hadn't arrived.

"As expected of an heir to Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art. To break in here alone—impressive."

"You're the one who foolishly relied on the angels' power and failed to prepare your real defenses."

"... You're a bold one. You think you can kill me?"

"If I didn't, I wouldn't have come here in the first place."

No need for more conversation.

Clay kicked off, closing the distance with Violette in an instant.

The cardinals shouted something, but Clay's fist was faster.

CRASH!

But just as that punch nearly landed square on Violette's face, a jet-black enhanced energy flew in and struck Clay's fist aside.

Then, as Clay momentarily lost balance, someone leapt in and slammed into him.

BOOM!

Clay was sent flying, and only then did Violette's face relax into a broad smile.

"Hahaha! Fool. Did you think I'd be sitting here unprotected?"

Standing before Violette was a man with ashen hair and red engravings all across his body.

Setram of the Holy Kingdom, the pinnacle of the Inquisitors.

"Seigon Ganest."

At that point, Clay, who'd been flung away, calmly got to his feet and spoke.

Violette wasn't sure he'd heard Clay correctly.

"... How do you know about Seigon?"

"Well, I've mastered something similar myself."

"What are you talking about?"

Violette stared at Clay in disbelief. Clay just shrugged and slowly took a fighting stance.

As he did, holy power surged across his body, and vivid red engravings appeared along his skin.

"T-that! Impossible! That's a technique we've only just barely managed to complete..."

"No, mine's a bit different from yours."

Seigon's body was also shining with red engravings, but they were clearly different from those on Clay.

Clay's were far more complex and vivid, white heat even radiating from them.

"Mine's way more impressive."

Facing Seigon's expressionless stare, Clay gave a broad grin.

In the original story, Fabian had mastered Heaven-Slaying Arms for the sole purpose of defeating this man.