Episode 345 ‘Monster…’
Viktor glared at Harman, holding his still trembling hand.
Although I had already recovered from the physical shock, I could not immediately shake off the mental shock.
The mere act of slashing a knife across a 100m area in all directions was terrifying, but I thought the aftermath would disrupt the barrier, so I just stepped in to stop it. In other words, the incoming shock wave was merely blocked, but the entire space was compressed and the backlash came back as if the person had been hit.
‘I’m not even a swordsman right now and I couldn’t handle the aftermath?’
How can humans exert this kind of power?
I had never even imagined it.
So I could be sure.
‘If he wants to harm the saint, I cannot stop him.’
– If the divine sword wants to capture the saint, let it go without resisting.
I was also able to understand the meaning behind the master’s instructions.
New sword. That name struck my heart with a completely new and enormous presence.
And due to the shock, Viktor was unable to stop Ilya, who was already approaching Harmon.
“Hey Ilya!”
I recognized it too late and tried to shout out.
“It’s okay. Just back off.”
The person he was supposed to protect instead smiled faintly and comforted him.
Viktor, feeling helpless at that sight, gritted his teeth and immediately followed behind her.
“…Harman, commander of the Templar Knights, meets the saint.”
It was fortunate that the new sword’s attitude towards her was polite.
Viktor could not help but look at the human-shaped monster with complicated eyes.
“I know it has been declared religious, but you are showing too much courtesy.”
“If you have ever seen the saint, you will fully suspect that something is wrong.”
Ilya was internally relieved by the words of Shingeom, who was famous for his strictness. It seemed like the worst case scenario I had assumed would not happen.
“But are you looking for me?”
“yes.”
“How am I here…?”
“There were people helping me.”
Ilya said that and turned around, but Harman had little confidence in the masked person.
“…Your skills are quite high, but can I tell where you are?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you yet.”
Harmon’s eyebrows twitched at her refusal.
“I’m sorry, but if it’s not just a political fight within the church and the saint has brought in foreign forces, then I have no choice but to follow the orders of the church.”
Bringing the hand back to the hilt of the sword.
With just that movement, the surroundings were once again engulfed in a solemn atmosphere.
It wasn’t just a feeling. In an instant, the dust in the space of about ten meters was suddenly pushed away, and the space where the masked Viktor was was immediately placed within his domain.
Viktor was about to jump forward as well, but a slender arm blocked his path.
“Never! Absolutely not, I swear to God.”
Harmon quietly looked into the saintess’s eyes.
His eyes were infinitely upright, and a sparkle that only a priest could see was reflected in his eyes. The sacred light that had stripped away the false luster on the day of the impeachment judgment of the previous pope was flowing as before.
That alone was enough to convince Harman that the church’s declaration was false.
“…I believe it.”
“thank you.”
Harman immediately lets his guard down with a single word, and Ilya greets him with a smile.
Victor was confused because he couldn’t keep up with the gap, but the two of them started talking right away, paying no heed to his reaction.
“What on earth happened?”
“You may not believe it easily, but…”
Ilya went straight to the point and explained the situation.
She detailed everything she had been through and experienced, citing as evidence the unreasonable measures currently being taken in the church.
By the time the appeals added to the long story were over, the long night had already passed and dawn was coming.
“It’s really…an unbelievable story.”
Was it because it was such a huge story?
Harmon’s expression as he said those words was as hard as stone.
“The Pope’s Magistrate Sententia is one of the nine holy relics. It is hard to believe that His Holiness, who possessed it, was unable to protect his own spirit.”
“…I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself. But there’s no doubt that Tracy has a way to bypass divine power and manipulate minds!”
“You can manipulate the power of God… Do you know that the very word is blasphemy?”
Ilya’s face suddenly stiffened at the sound of Harman’s cold voice.
Harmon, who was looking at this with a heavy expression, soon spoke with a sigh.
“If the person who spoke was not a saint, I would have carried out the punishment myself.”
The meaning behind the sighing tone was clear favor.
But that didn’t mean Harmon was completely convinced.
“I will go back to the church and see it with my own eyes before making a decision. Please understand that I cannot respond right away.”
“…it could be dangerous.”
“There is no danger. If what the saint said is true, there would be no ability to brainwash me or the saint.”
“No matter what, if we arrest the leader by force…”
“Who are you talking about?”
“No matter how much you do, there is nothing you can do within Novien right now…”
“Quite a lot is possible. If I declare an emergency under my authority, the Knights Templar, the most powerful military organization in the Holy Kingdom, will listen to my words rather than the words of the Holy Father. “I will follow it. Even if I don’t…”
Who would dare to restrain me?
The unspoken words were clearly embedded in Ilya and Viktor’s minds.
And unfortunately, Harmon’s confidence also applied to these two people.
“So, I need you to come with me. My heart and mind tell me to believe in the saint, but please understand that my position and position do not allow that.”
Their seemingly ordinary faces and ordinary brown eyes weighed them down with a terrifying pressure. It wasn’t rough, as if it wasn’t going to hurt me, but it felt like it was binding my whole body so I couldn’t move.
What it meant was clear.
“Don’t be ridiculous! I know what you’re going to do!”
The masked Victor blocked the saint’s path and drew his sword.
Harmon’s eyes slightly wavered as he saw Viktor, who instantly broke his momentum and jumped forward.
A slightly surprised face.
Soon, Harmon, who was looking at Viktor and Ilya with heavy eyes, took a step back instead of putting more pressure on them.
But the only thing that changed was that one step.
“If you refuse, I will no longer be able to trust your words. Please have faith in me.”
“Saint! There must be another way. You don’t have to follow it!”
At that time, Harman’s words and Victor’s shouts intersected dizzyingly.
“…The excuse that you caught me would be enough for the leader to return to the Saints. That’s good.”
“Saint!”
Victor, surprised by the unexpected words that came out of Ilya’s mouth, turned his head and looked at her.
But she just calmly shook her head.
Don’t rebel. This is best.
Victor gritted his teeth after reading the message.
And at that time, Harmon set his heart on fire.
“Do you hate the feeling of being dragged along helplessly? You seem like a young guy, but you have a great fighting spirit. I could give you one chance, but would you attack me?”
“Don’t be funny. What a big mistake you made…”
Victor, who fell for Harman’s provocation, increased his fighting spirit even more, but a voice from behind stopped him.
“Don’t get excited. Captain Harmon is just trying to find out your identity.”
“It takes a long time to return to the Holy Kingdom, Holy Lady. You will find out anyway…”
Harman did not deny Illya’s words.
Viktor’s face under the mask became even more distorted, but Ilya simply responded with a calm expression.
“No. He’ll be back where he belongs.”
“…unacceptable.”
“You will have to accept it. Otherwise, you will see the saint commit suicide.”
Contrary to her calm tone, she had already pulled out a small dagger and was aiming it at her own neck.
A trickle of blood flowed from the delicate skin touched by the flashing blade.
“Saint!”
Behind Victor’s shout of shock, Harmon asked with a stern face.
“You’re serious. Why are you doing this?”
“I can’t cause any more trouble than this when I received help.”
“…It could be that they are trying to take advantage of the saint. I have never heard of a group with such a young superhuman…” “
If that is really the case, then I will personally tell you the details.”
Ilya cut off Harmon’s words with a stern expression.
As Harmon pursed his lips with a more stern expression, a repulsion erupted from an unexpected place.
“Saint! I have a mission too! I can’t just leave you while putting you in danger…” “It
was probably your duty to get me to meet Director Harman. So, just go back to ‘him’. . That is the proper duty.”
“But…”
“Please tell me that even if something goes wrong, I won’t forget your kindness. I’m really grateful to you, sir. … I won’t forget it.”
Ilya bows her head politely.
It seemed as if he was leaving a will before the end of his life, so Victor couldn’t just turn away.
Crack.
The sword swung with gritted teeth shortened the space for an instant without making a sound.
Wow!
A loud noise suddenly erupted between Victor and Harmon.
Although he couldn’t follow the movement, Ilya knew that it was something that should never happen.
The eyes were wide open in shock and the open mouth naturally let out a scream.
“no!!”
But fortunately, that was the end of the collision.
Two swords crossed in the shape of a cross. As the gray aura and the shiny silver aura clashed fiercely, drops of blood dripped from under the pitch black mask.
Although it was only one collision, it was clearly visible where the advantage was.
However, in terms of momentum at that moment, the masked Victor was no less powerful than the new sword.
Harman looked at Victor with a surprised look in his brown eyes, and a red and blue odd-eye appeared through the cracked mask and stared fiercely into his eyes.
“If anything goes wrong with the saint…”
Nonsense words flowed from her blood-soaked mouth.
“…I will definitely kill you.”
It was definitely excellent, but it was still far from lacking. You might think it was funny, but Harmon nodded with heavy eyes.
“…I’ll keep that in mind.”
The unique color of the auror, the unique odd eye, and even the blue hair slightly visible through the cracks.
It was a feature that could be revealed immediately after a little research.
However, Harman did not find it funny at all that this young superman had completely exposed the identity that the saintess had tried so hard to hide. Rather, the sincerity felt in this exchange of swords only weighed down his heart.
‘Does that mean that the blasphemous story is true?’
This will once again bring great upheaval to a denomination that has experienced great ups and downs. However, the wish that it wasn’t so was already fading away rapidly.
It wasn’t just concerns about the denomination.
‘Can there be magic that violates divine power? How can that be?’
It was an issue that shook the very foundation of his thoughts.
For Harmon, the road to the church already felt very long and distant.