Chapter 122
Chapter 122: Secret Circumstances (2)
"Drink it and get rid of it!!! Wow, you're actually doing that?"
While Erik and Riferoze were conversing, a clear and cheerful voice suddenly rang out. It was unmistakably Ruelle's voice—bright, spirited, and distinct. Golden eyes and pure white pupils gazed toward the deepest part of the church, above the altar. Beneath her long platinum hair, jewel-like cyan eyes gleamed vividly.
"Huh...? Ruelle, what brings you here?"
Riferoze looked at Ruelle in astonishment. It was clear she was surprised that Ruelle had concealed her presence so skillfully.
"Hehe. Surprised, aren't you?"
Ruelle hung her arm over the altar's edge, tilting her head playfully. She had clearly caught them off guard. And behind her—
"Yes, a Possessor. So you really intend to challenge me, Ruelle."
Cha Ye-rin, the smartphone-cum-magical shuttle, stood there.
"Hahahaha!"
Riferoze burst out laughing.
"Ruelle, I didn't expect you to resort to using a Possessor. You're quite resourceful."
Riferoze was deeply curious about that method.
'There's been no change to this space, yet how—'
However, Erik's next words brought her attention back to the main matter.
"Master, what do you think?"
At his serious question, Riferoze tilted her head.
"You said something about returning the old man's name?"
"He is truly a harmless being. There is the minor issue that he is one of Lucifer's seven masterpieces, but..."
"Minor?"
A chilling aura settled in her pure white pupils.
'After experiencing that hell, and you call it minor?'
The atmosphere grew increasingly tense. Riferoze's middle finger twitched, as if ready to flick her forehead.
'This is the right moment!'
From Ruelle's perspective, this was the perfect timing to interject. She intended to lighten this heavy mood with her cheerfulness.
"Erik, are you talking about that fat old man?"
"Yes."
"I saw him eating that black demon that invaded the church before. Isn't that a good deed of sorts...? Um, Riferoze?"
"Ho—"
However, contrary to Ruelle's intention, the atmosphere became even more ominous. In an instant, an afterimage wavered, and a white-haired girl appeared right before Ruelle's face.
"Eek!"
Startled, Ruelle instinctively shrunk back. Then came the question.
"Have you seen the old man?"
"...Y-yes?"
"Then, do you also know of the masked twins?"
"Y-yes. I even give the children separate lessons sometimes!"
Riferoze's gaze became enigmatic. She turned her back directly and looked at Erik.
"So you're saying those beings are harmless enough to have come into contact with Ruelle?"
In truth, it would be more accurate to say that the concealed Ruelle had been discovered. But Erik smiled and spoke playfully.
"Indeed. Did I not tell you repeatedly?"
Riferoze nodded calmly. The fact that she would allow them to become acquainted with Ruelle seemed sufficient justification for her. However, this problem was not quite so simple.
"Erik, what you're saying means the Seven Deadly Sins Sect. Specifically, three survivors among them. And you're saying you'll release Gluttony into the world? You understand that, don't you?"
"Yes. The old man possesses a complete self and is capable of properly controlling his power."
"What if he walks down the wrong path? The human spirit is weak and prone to breaking easily."
"If he walks the wrong path, I will take the lead in judging him."
After this exchange, Riferoze expanded her perception.
Thud!
Something massive thoroughly scanned everything in the church.
"He's in the basement of this building?"
Riferoze made her decision. Her pure white eyes pierced down toward the church's floor.
"Seeing such fear-stricken appearance is amusing. I will personally conduct an ideological inspection and make my judgment."
Riferoze felt the vibrations rising from the basement.
Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble.
***
At the same moment, in the church's basement.
The space was filled with vibrations.
"Uuuiiiiii—"
The old man covered his two faces. His wrinkled hands trembled like aspen leaves.
"Keke hehe. This is trouble, real trouble!"
He was beyond mere fear, consumed by terror. However, the twins watching him tilted their heads in confusion.
"Grandfather, don't be scared!"
"The white sister is kind! Different from the boss!"
The children had also sensed Riferoze's presence. They simply didn't understand the fear it inspired, being children.
"O-oh no!!! Sh-she's coming!"
Whoosh!
A white afterimage flickered down the basement stairs.
"The white sister!"
"It's been forever!"
As Riferoze appeared in the middle of the basement, the children greeted her. She smiled gently toward them and extended her hand.
"Have you been well? Any troubles?"
"Yeah! The boss got weird, but nothing else happened!"
"Right! Marco said his name is Erik, but we still don't really get it!"
Riferoze gently patted the children's heads. Inwardly, she was puzzled.
'He hid his true form from the children?'
The children's conversation was simple. Yet it contained deeply significant implications. Riferoze pondered the true meaning.
'District 5's boss, Marco.'
She recalled the facts she had learned by thoroughly searching the intelligence bureau. She combined what she had heard of Erik's movements with the twins' words.
'Erik'
As a result, she felt slight displeasure toward her disciple's actions.
'The reason for impersonating Marco...'
It surely wasn't simply to clean up the slum.
'He was treating them as something that needed to be disposed of.'
Wasn't he erasing his true form to avoid becoming emotionally attached? Such a thought briefly crossed her mind. However, Riferoze didn't jump to conclusions. There was someone present who could verify this.
"Well, I'm glad you've been doing well. Seeing you've grown so nicely brings me great comfort."
"We grew up kind just like you said, sister!"
"We got so much taller too! You're still the same though? Still so pretty!"
Riferoze removed her hand from the children's heads and stood up.
"Haha! Let me personally verify and tell you about Marco and Erik."
The white-haired girl turned her back. In one corner of the musty basement, something old and portly was trembling.
"Old man."
The old man's cloudy pupils and white eyes met hers. At that moment—
"Aah—. By the grace of the great, supreme, and almighty God Astia, this old and wretched being has been permitted to live."
The old man collapsed on the ground. He then began offering complete reverence with his entire body.
"All of this is thanks to the grace of the Pilgrim Riferoze Astia and her disciple, the Saint Erik, who guided this fallen creature to the righteous path. This old body offers complete reverence."
Pure white pupils gazed upon the old, dark being.
'Erik has truly educated him properly.'
There was not a moment's hesitation in the praise, and there was not a shred of falsehood in it. Riferoze nodded in satisfaction.
"I shall personally give you a chance, old man."
Now all that remained was the ideological inspection.
***
"Erik, isn't all the sanctity in this temple yours?"
Ruelle asked from within the temple. Standing on pink clouds, she was extraordinarily beautiful. However, Erik showed some reluctance in answering her question.
"It's my power, but..."
The Pope had said this place could rightly be called God's space.
"There are still limitations."
The problem was merely that the owner was insufficient.
Whoosh!
"This much is my current limit."
Erik raised his power. Golden sacred power rippled like waves. It was a fragment of the heavens. Truly, it was the form of a god moving nature itself.
"Th-this is insufficient?"
"It's a small amount compared to this space."
The total capacity of [4th Tier]. That was the amount of sacred power Erik could move at once. Yet even that was immense. Hadn't he already caught up to the Holy War Knight Commander Julius in terms of total sacred power?
'Infusing will into power.'
Erik recognized what was lacking in himself. Infusing sacred power with will. Erik had done similar things thus far.
'In truth, I'm borrowing faith directed toward God Astia.'
Erik's power moves only according to the Astia Religious Order's methods. Perhaps it would be possible to learn other religions' doctrines and establish beliefs in the Lu-Solace way, or to use the Almanism Church's sacred law system.
'Sacred power is energy, after all.'
Through this incident, Erik established one concept. Sacred power is merely power imbued with sanctity. Each religious organization's strength comes from using this to create unique characteristics.
'Lu-Solace with fire and sun, the Almanism Church systematizing and using sacred law.'
And the 'Astia Religious Order' which manifests power by using the body as a medium and tempering the flesh.
"In other words, infusing sacred power with my own distinctive nature would be the true path toward divinity."
Erik's words continued to that point.
"Then... could it be?"
Ruelle's cyan eyes wavered. This was worry. Because she knew well how Erik solved his insufficiencies.
"Power becomes familiar through use, doesn't it?"
In other words, he meant to conduct actual combat.
"Right now?"
"That can't be. Anyway, when the Labyrinth's grace period ends, there will be plenty of opportunities to use power. There's no need to bring trouble upon myself now."
Erik recalled old memories.
"Sacred power must become sharper. Even without a possessed blade, one must sharpen sacred power and wield it!"
He filled his insufficient power on the battlefield. His weapons confiscated by his master, he was abandoned bare-handed in the midst of war. Fighting desperately to survive, he ended up drawing a blade from sacred power. Those were harsh days. However, this was also Erik's choice.
"Wasn't I younger then?"
"So, now?"
Whoosh!
Erik moved the clouds. The pink cloud Ruelle was standing on instantly shifted to the temple. Erik climbed onto it.
"How does it look?"
Erik approached Ruelle with a subtle smile. A strange pink current seemed to form. As they faced each other.
Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble!
The World Tree vibrated. Erik and Ruelle looked at the tree.
"...This, infuriating tree!"
Ruelle glared at the World Tree. The small sapling trembled even more.
"Just ignore it. That's nothing but praise."
As Erik said so,
Whoosh!
[Nooo!!! You're... forsaking me...]
"Huh"
A deep sigh descended. In some ways, the World Tree was even more troublesome to deal with than Riferoze.
"Crazy tree"
Erik sighed and moved his steps from the clouds to the temple. He then extended his hand toward the cloud.
"Come over first."
Ruelle took that hand and crossed to the temple. Whether her head was dizzy from the World Tree's fault, her steps were slightly unsteady. And then—
"Why is that person still here?"
She noticed something odd. Someone wrapped in white cloth huddled in one corner of the temple.
"He said he'd rather die than leave."
The one who had failed to recognize his former partner—the Possessor.
[Lv.1]
[Class: Black Mage]
He was staring into empty space as if half-conscious.
'The Pope said he's as good as dead?'
His soul was damaged, and it truly appeared so.
"Even after dying twice and coming back, shouldn't we just send him off?"
"I was thinking the same, but—"
Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble!
The World Tree objected.
"Whatever it's trying to do, it wants us to leave it alone."
Erik pushed the Possessor to one corner, then sat upon the sacred throne. Erik, seated on the golden throne, was brilliantly radiant.
'He really does look good.'
As Ruelle watched, she hummed "Hehe—" but then suddenly looked up in surprise.
"So, why did you call me here? The dedication ceremony preparations still have a long way to go?"
The fact that the dedication prayer service preparations were still ongoing came to mind. In response to her question, Erik answered—
"Ruelle, time in this temple is more than abundant—it overflows."
"You said it was similar to the Labyrinth, right? That part aside, but... what are you trying to do?"
"This sacred edifice will likely transform into something like its own world."
Erik waved his hand through empty space.
Whoosh!
[Boss - Lv.2]
[Assignable Believers - 301/301]
[Possessed GP: 130,882,250]
1 hundred million from Ruelle's prayer service. 15 million from Erica's resurrection. Combined with various smaller praises, he had acquired approximately 130 million GP.
"The temple transforms?"
"It means facilities are added."
Ruelle tilted her head in confusion. Then Erik's words continued.
"Because we're watching our temple transform together."
"Aaaah!!!"
Ruelle covered her mouth, deeply moved.
'The first church was something we watched together.'
While she had missed prayer services before, hadn't she always been present for the church's opening ceremonies? Erik seemed to be applying the same principle to the temple. As Ruelle became absorbed in emotion—
"Moreover, since we're using money earned from your prayer service, I wanted you to see it directly."
Erik's words continued.
"Y-you're considering that much?"
This was consideration.
'Because it's money I earned, he consults with me before spending it...'
Her cyan eyes grew moist enough to glisten. Wasn't this exactly how couples managed household finances together?
"The facilities we'll build this time—"
Erik intended to install the new facilities that emerged from reaching Lv.2.
[Training Ground - 10,000,000 GP]
[Resurrection Chamber - 50,000,000 GP]
He calmly continued with detailed explanations.
"How much are we spending?"
"I plan to expend about half of what we earn from the dedication prayer service."
"Hmm, 60 million out of 100 million..."
Ruelle thoughtfully considered Erik's spending.
'I earn well, sure, but wouldn't spending that much be reckless?'
As someone from a conflict zone, she had many worries. In truth, this was the first time Ruelle was earning GP with 100% involvement, wasn't it? So her concerns were greater. Ruelle thought for a moment.
'Until now, Erik managed all the church funds.'
How had it turned out? Didn't he buy whatever he wanted and live a comfortable life? So—
"You handle money management well anyway, Erik!"
Ruelle decided to trust and leave it to him.
"Even so, if there's anything to spend, I'll definitely inform you first. The GP is essentially all earned by you."
Erik also smiled contentedly. Then he added that they would soon go shopping together and sweep up luxury goods throughout the empire.
After finishing the conversation, Erik acted without hesitation. He immediately pressed the facility purchase button. Then—
Whoosh!
[The Training Ground is being installed.]
[The Resurrection Chamber is being created.]
Kuuuuuuung!
A tremendous force descended around the temple. And the World Tree's elastic sound was heard.
"Aaaaaaaaa!!!"
At that dizzying cry, Ruelle clutched the back of her neck and collapsed.