Two down.
What about the other two? Having seen the Crusaders die so pointlessly, they weren’t rushing in. Instead, they waited cautiously at the kitchen entrance. Unfortunately, it looked like I wouldn’t be able to use the twenty-six traps I’d prepared in advance. Tsk. What a waste of materials.
The combination of Fang and Soaring isn’t bad.
The numerous assassin techniques contained within 「Fang」 , combined with the experience of 「Soaring」 —who had been a legendary adventurer as a Ranger—created excellent synergy. Of course, the limit of what I could kill using such parlor tricks was, at best, someone at the level of a 「Sword Walker」 .
I need to start keeping the Inquisitor in check.
I had to stop him before his Authority was complete.
The only problem was the two men waiting at the kitchen entrance. Their numbers had dropped from four to two, but the remaining pair wouldn’t be caught off guard. They had seen their comrades die in vain, and they had seen how I targeted vital points.
A Crusader who isn’t caught off guard is dangerous.
Reaching the ‘Realm of the Superhuman’ meant having physical abilities at a level where they could snatch a bolt out of the air even if I fired a crossbow right in front of them. With my current body, the moment I entered their line of sight, my neck could be snapped before I even realized what was happening. A head-on fight was impossible.
Petel’s Sword Wrestling is…
I couldn’t use that.
The difference in weight classes was too extreme. And the enemies I had to deal with didn’t end with the two Crusaders in front of the kitchen. There weren’t two enemies left; there were seven. To preserve as much stamina as possible, fighting was the worst option. Besides, my goal wasn’t to massacre those guys.
It’s to save Priestess Frey.
She was the only key holding the clue to my new Sword. My goal was to rescue Priestess Frey, not to struggle through a total massacre of the Cross Order while all my powers were restricted.
First, let’s move.
I looked up at the kitchen ceiling. Even in my weakened state, the old ceiling looked like I could punch a hole through it. Quite easily, in fact.
* * *
Among the techniques of 「Fang」 , the most useful was the Assassin’s Step . It involved suppressing one’s presence to the absolute limit and moving like a shadow. There was also the ‘Shadow Hiding Technique,’ which allowed one to move like a ghost by intentionally manipulating their presence, but my current physical ability wasn’t even at the minimum required to utilize it.
I bypassed the two Crusaders through the kitchen ceiling and cautiously returned to the previous location. Peering through a gap in the ceiling, I saw the Inquisitor and four Crusaders directly below. In front of them were the girl in priestess robes and Priestess Frey.
It seemed everyone else had fled, as they were nowhere to be seen.
If I jump down right now, I could aim for the Inquisitor’s neck. But…
If I did that, it would be a life-for-a-life trade between me and the Inquisitor. In the worst-case scenario, the Inquisitor might use etherealization to dodge my dagger. Then I’d just be an idiot who chose suicide after successfully sneaking all the way here.
I don’t need to think about killing them all. The primary objective is to rescue Priestess Frey and the girl. In my current state, wiping them out is impossible anyway.
Now, four Crusaders and one Inquisitor were on guard.
How should I rescue Priestess Frey and the girl in priestess robes from here? The most important one was Priestess Frey. She was the reason I came all the way from Vicente , the woman who held the key to granting me a new Sword. But Priestess Frey was a woman whose mind drifted in and out of lucidity.
And the girl in priestess robes is just a child.
A child and a madwoman.
It was a difficult combination to rescue. In a situation like this, I needed a variable.
“Brothers, do not overextend yourselves. He seems to be a formidable sinner.”
“Is that so?”
“At the very least, he doesn’t seem to be a human from the Southern Continent. He appears to be from one of the external factions.”
I listened to their conversation while lying flat against the ceiling.
“The Authority will soon be complete. The escaped sinners will return, those who hid their sins will rush out on their own, and the defiled will drag out other sinners to atone. The holy hour of repentance is beginning.”
“…”
“If that sinner came from the lands outside, it might not work on him. But there is no need for my precious brothers to injure themselves in pursuit. Once the Authority is unleashed, no one will be able to leave this place anyway, and reinforcements will soon arrive to raze this city…”
It won’t work if they’re from the lands outside, huh?
It seems there are specific conditions for the Authority to take effect.
Either you have to belong to a religion, or you have to be a human of the Southern Continent.
But there was something else that caught my attention. Reinforcements.
The Crusaders have reinforcements?
Was there any faction among the Southern Continent powers that would support the Cross Order ?
No, let’s think differently. The Crusaders were trampling over the peaceful Southern Continent, successfully continuing their war under the pretext of a holy war. From an outside perspective, it looked as if the Cross Order would soon swallow the Southern Continent. If so, there would be many who would want to join hands with a power that had unified a continent.
“Taking complete control of the City of Stars is a vital task. It is an opportunity to rectify the Order’s faith, which has been shaken since the death of Great Warrior Ismael . If we hang every last one of the Star Priestesses and erect crosses in Antoine , those belonging to the Star Order throughout the Southern Continent will cross over to us one by one. Even the orders with similar leanings to the Star Order will follow.”
“Ah.”
“Then, if we simply purify the heretics of the Sun Order , who harbor nothing but hollow doctrines, we can bring everyone in the Southern Continent under the Cross. The Son of Sin and Punishment will be most pleased. Truly, most pleased…”
Inquisitor Abel giggled with an ecstatic face, even with a bolt stuck in his thigh. His blushing, smiling face made him look like a true fanatic. At any rate, I couldn’t just keep watching, so I drew my dagger and slowly sought a way.
But then—
Don’t. Come.
Priestess Frey looked directly at me in the ceiling and mouthed those words. Her hazy eyes were remarkably clear at this moment, shining like stars. Had her clarity returned for a moment? Just as I was thinking that, the two Crusaders who had been guarding the kitchen appeared, trudging along.
“Our apologies. It seems we have lost him.”
“And the other two brothers?”
“They have… returned to the embrace of the Cross…”
Since I hadn’t come out for so long, it seemed the Crusaders had regrouped here. The Crusaders guarding the Inquisitor did not reproach them.
“It is fine. Hearing what the Inquisitor has said, it seems there is no need to pursue him further. We cannot afford to lose precious brothers chasing someone who doesn’t even live in the City of Stars . You two, just prepare for the judgment of the sinners who will arrive once the repentance begins.”
“Thank you. But you must be careful. He was a tenacious and terrifying man. He was like a ghost; our brothers were taken down in an instant. If he hasn’t fled and is still lingering nearby, it’s dangerous—”
“It may be dangerous, but it is fine.”
Inquisitor Abel smiled.
“For those more fearsome than ghosts will be coming as our reinforcements.”
It seemed they had decided to give up on me rather than sacrifice more Crusaders. They likely judged that pushing forward with their original plan was more important than dealing with me, who had appeared as an unexpected variable. Inquisitor Abel held his breath for a moment and pulled the bolt out of his thigh. Soon, a Crusader touched Abel’s thigh, a golden light erupted, and his wound was completely healed. Standing up, Abel looked at Priestess Frey and the girl in turn.
“A middle-aged woman who was a Star Priestess , and a girl wearing foul priestess robes… Come to think of it, there is a more fitting punishment for you.”
Abel looked at them with dry eyes.
“Tonight, under the starlight, you shall be hanged at the Ancient Observatory . I shall gift you the same end as the Star Priestesses who met their foolish and wretched demise. It will likely serve as an example to others.”
“…”
“You, who dared to try and lecture an Inquisitor of the Cross Order . You shall meet the most horrific and painful end among all the Star Priestesses . I shall personally carry out your execution. In the harsh manner of the Cross.”
It seemed Abel intended to execute those two just like the other Star Priestesses . During the night, when the stars—which the Star Priestesses held most sacred—were shining.
What a horrific thought.
But it was also an effective idea.
Their war was a Holy War. The most important thing was to defile the opponent’s holiness and nobility. If the Goddess did not respond even when her priestesses were executed during the starlit hours, the Cross Order would actively spread this fact throughout the Southern Continent. Then, the faith of the Star Order’s followers across the continent would be shaken. The Cross Order would describe the end the Star Priestesses met in vivid, graphic detail.
…No matter how I look at it, I have to stop them before they’re taken away.
If they were locked in a dungeon, I wouldn’t be able to save them.
However, Priestess Frey was still looking at me and shaking her head. At the same time, she mouthed her intentions to me silently.
You don’t have to help.
Was she saying that sincerely, or was it the nonsense of a woman whose mind was slipping? While I couldn’t tell the difference, Master spoke.
「Watch for a moment.」
Is it really okay to do that?
If so—
You should have told me sooner.
Then I would have run away ages ago.
Instead of fighting pointlessly.
「These are all trials that will be of help.」
Help, my ass.
* * *
In the end, Priestess Frey and the girl were transported by the Crusaders. The two were tied to crosses erected next to the Ancient Observatory . And not long after, the Authority unleashed by Inquisitor Abel swallowed the City of Stars , Antoine . Just as Abel had said, it had no effect on me. But for others, the effect was horrific.
“This heretic threw trash on the street yesterday!”
“This woman spent the night with a man she isn’t even married to! How could an unmarried person throw away her virginity? According to the doctrine of the Cross, both her legs must be torn off!”
“No, this sinner—!”
The people of Antoine , their eyes turned red, swarmed beneath the crosses. They then ran to Inquisitor Abel and confessed all sorts of sins. It was like a scene from hell had been transplanted there. Parents accused their children, children accused their parents, and everyone spoke of each other’s faults, trying to add even one more charge to someone else’s name. I watched that horrific scene from my hiding spot.
Amidst the unending shouts of the gathered residents of Antoine , I saw someone at the back of the crowd with a dark expression, head bowed. It was a familiar face. It was the old woman who had kindly guided me when I first arrived in Antoine .
“This city… is cursed after all…”
As the old woman lamented under her breath, the sky was gradually darkening. The people’s shouting didn’t stop, and before I knew it, the sun was setting and night was falling. As the heat of the desert subsided and the cold set in, the moon and stars rose in the pitch-black sky. Inquisitor Abel, wearing a bright smile, lifted a cross and slammed it down in front of him. With a heavy thud , the Crusaders offered a prayer. After the short prayer ended, Abel shouted.
“Everyone, you who have gathered beneath the Cross!”
Abel said this and clapped his hands once.
“Today, we shall rid the world of the last two heretics remaining in this city. Now, the City of Stars , Antoine , shall become the City of the Cross .”
With those words, the eyes of the gathered people slowly changed. Their eyes, which had been red like fanatics, were returning to normal. Was the Authority over? No. Abel had intentionally deactivated it. Why? I soon found out.
“The Star Priestesses shall now vanish. See it clearly with your own eyes. If a Star Priestess is hanged and dies during the hour the stars watch over, will the Goddess save her? Or will she tell you to forgive those who hanged her? She will likely speak of forgiveness. For the Goddess of Stars is far too noble and great. But you are not great.”
“…”
“You lived while forgiving, even as the Southern Continent burned and you lost your precious things. But you could not accept it. Because you are not great. The great Goddess of Stars forced greatness upon you, but we were born as lowly beings. Residents of Antoine , what you need is not a hollow shell of forgiveness and harmony. You need punishment for the weak, and a strict order to govern sin. Only sin and punishment are the paths that can save us.”
Abel’s eyes sparkled.
“The Cross Order loves its followers. The Star Order says: if you are struck on the cheek, offer the other cheek as well. But the Cross Order , if a follower returns after being struck, finds the one who dared to strike someone who should be loved and strikes them back in their stead. Because those who sin require appropriate punishment. What is needed in this worthless land is punishment. Instead of incomprehensible forgiveness, let us live under comprehensible sin and punishment. Everyone!”
Abel looked at Priestess Frey and the girl tied to the crosses.
“Today, the Cross Order came to bestow grace. However, this Star Priestess and this young girl brought in a wicked outsider and killed my brothers. Two brothers have returned to the embrace of the Cross. How could this be? A being called a Star Priestess forced forgiveness upon you, while in truth, she was consumed by her own emotions and committed such a horrific act.”
“L-Lies—!”
“Lies? This Inquisitor Abel never speaks a falsehood.”
The girl shouted, but Abel simply laughed it off.
“Everyone, we knew that the Star doctrine did not suit humans who are not great. That is why we urged you to enter the Cross Order for your own sake. Because they cannot protect you. But the Star Order threatened our brothers today, just as they have before, and told you lies that we are wicked beings.”
As he spoke, Abel showed the people the corpses of the Crusaders I had killed. A corpse with its eyes pierced, a corpse with its face burned. They were horrific just to look at.
“We have simply judged the heretics. We do not judge the innocent. We will protect the innocent in Antoine and punish the sinners. We are different from the Star Order , which does nothing. Our order will protect you.”
“…”
“Some of you here are sinners, and some are those who have hidden their sins. But at this moment, let us all be born again together. Now, the Star Priestess who caused you suffering is tied to the cross. Those who wish to wash away their sins, throw stones at them immediately. Those who throw stones shall have their sins washed away and become brothers of the Cross Order . We will not even ask about your past sins.”
At Inquisitor Abel’s words, the people began to stir.
The eyes of the girl tied to the cross were trembling.
「He is a born instigator.」
“…”
「Well, the essence of religious people has always been that of an instigator.」
Was it really okay to just keep watching this?
The situation was bad enough that I was starting to worry.
One by one, people began to pick up stones from the ground. While the girl squeezed her eyes shut, Priestess Frey still didn’t even blink. And then—
“Stop!”
Someone emerged through the crowd.
“Just how! Just how filthy have your minds become! Everyone, put down those stones this instant!”
“Old hag…”
“The Star Order brought in an outsider to drive those people out? Throwing stones will wash away our sins? Are you all really falling for such talk? No, right? There’s no way! You’re just… you’re just ignoring the truth you already know because you want to be at peace and stop suffering from those holding crosses!”
It was the old woman.
The one who had kindly guided me when I first arrived in Antoine .
“Just how did the world become like this? It was a world where those who believed in the Sun believed in the Sun, those who believed in the Stars believed in the Stars, and those who believed in the Cross simply believed in the Cross. What is the reason the world has become a place that distinguishes which is superior, and which is right or wrong? Where on earth is there superiority or inferiority among the things that exist in this world?”
“…”
“You people holding crosses, how long do you intend to cast your curses? This is merely a city built by those who follow the stars. It is merely a small resting place created using the grace bestowed by travelers as its foundation. Must you destroy and take even this small thing to be satisfied?”
The old woman shed hot tears.
“Are you so afraid of their maces? Enough to accept everything those bastards say? You fools, don’t you know? Those Star Priestesses they hanged at the observatory—those children weren’t anyone special; they were just children.”
“…”
“They believed in the stars and danced beautifully, but in the end, they were nothing more than children. The youngest was fifteen, and the oldest, the one they called the eldest sister, was twenty-one. Children who shared trivial jokes every day, talking about which man was handsome, or which house had delicious omelets and lamb skewers. Small children who would burst into laughter just seeing dust roll by…”
The old woman beat her chest with her hand.
“Do you want to survive so uglily? If so, then live. I shall die. I have no confidence to live any longer in this cursed city…”
“H-Halmum.”
The eyes of the Antoine residents wavered.
They were clearly shaken.
As the atmosphere turned strange,
“Tsk.”
Inquisitor Abel clicked his tongue.
“An old person is ruining the mood.”
“What shall we do?”
“There is no repentance. Hang those two at the observatory.”
“Yes.”
The Crusaders moved.
At that moment, the Antoine residents, who had been quiet until just now, took on determined expressions. Their wavering eyes no longer wavered. Soon, a young man rushed toward Priestess Frey.
“You… goddamn… bastards—!”
Starting with him, countless people rushed toward Priestess Frey and the girl. Simultaneously, the Crusaders frowned and blocked the crowd. However, even with superhuman strength, a crowd of this size cannot be easily held back. A Crusader’s body tilted, and he soon fell to the ground. Countless people trampled over the fallen Crusader’s body as they passed.
“Haa.”
Instead of panicking, Inquisitor Abel shook his head as if he were fed up.
And then.
“Please assist us, guests from the East.”
The next moment, a massive man appeared in front of the charging crowd. The man appeared truly like a ghost, and in his hand was a long Sword. Beyond the Sword, one could see an outfit not commonly seen. Clothing from the Eastern Continent.
“I told you that you should have left it to us from the start. You flowers raised in a southern greenhouse.”
“…It was my duty to create even one more follower, so I had no choice.”
“Foolish. Faith follows from strength. Just as the great Khan, the Sun That Never Sets, led the Great Steppe—!”
The identity of the ‘reinforcements’ Abel mentioned was revealed.
The ones he had described as beings more fearsome than ghosts.
I knew their name as well.
The Conquest Army of the Great Land…
But how did they get all the way to the distant Southern Continent?
As far as I knew, they hadn’t been able to conquer the sea throughout their long history.
No, now isn’t the time for such thoughts.
The situation had become far more complicated than expected.
The reinforcements were the Conquest Army of the Great Land ? Furthermore, judging by how he just appeared like smoke, that man’s realm was at least a 「Sword Runner」 . An enemy at a level I could never defeat in my current state, no matter what.
“You powerless things, where do you think you’re crawling—!”
As the man shouted with power, the charging crowd froze in their tracks and sank to the ground, as if paralyzed by a predator’s roar. However, in the chilling atmosphere, there was one person who moved instead of stopping. A rustling sound echoed. The man turned his head, and everyone, including me and the residents of Antoine , looked in that direction.
“What’s with that woman?”
Priestess Frey was there.
Having been freed by someone, she had descended from the cross and was now ascending the Primeval Observatory . Her hair was matted and her clothes were tattered and worn; her cheeks were gaunt and her skin was weathered, yet her eyes shone like stars. Perhaps… even more brilliantly than the stars themselves.
“Who dared release the sinner… No, that isn’t what matters right now.”
As she climbed the observatory, Priestess Frey smiled with the innocent purity of a child. With a radiant beam, she parted her lips and began to sing. Her movements as she ascended the stairs of the observatory transformed into a dance that moved in harmony with her song. I could swear to it: the song echoing beneath the night sky was more beautiful than any melody I had ever heard from a bard in my entire life.
“Seize her at once. Brothers, hurry…”
Even Abel, who had been about to say more, fell silent.
Soon, everyone stood frozen in a heavy silence. A solemn divinity and beauty radiated from her, as if even breathing aloud would be a sacrilege. Like a brilliant star that illuminates the world by its own light, casting everything else into the shadows.
Yes, just like a star.
