The instant Tselli drains the Elixir——
“……No……way……!”
Sacred light overflows from her entire body, and the great sword wound carved across her back heals in a single breath.
“This is the legendary secret medicine, the Elixir! (What an effect, even for the Saint-sama’s medicine!)”
“That terrible wound, in an instant……! (And above all else——the depth of generosity to hand over something so precious without asking for anything in return……. As expected of the Saint-sama, the caliber of her character is on another level entirely.)”
Leticia and Ramza’s faith soars yet another notch higher.
In reality, in Luna’s hands any random water becomes an Elixir——but the only one who knows that in this room is her trusted retainer Zel.
“Saint-sama, truly……truly, thank you so much……!”
Tselli, who had been ready to accept death, presses her palms together and closes her eyes in a prayer of gratitude.
(……If they can pray like a normal person when they want to, I really wish they would do it like this all the time……)
As Luna forces a wry smile——
“By the way, Silver-sama, did the Saint-sama say anything else? Any divine revelation for me——any orders! Anything at all! Did she perhaps say anything, anything at all!?”
Tselli edges forward and forward, breathing heavily through her nose.
The light has gone out of her eyes, which are dark and murky and clouded, and she is clearly not in a normal state by any measure.
(Eek……Saint Faith believers really are frightening……!)
Luna feels a deep and bottomless dread, and decides to pass on her own request.
“Umm, well……the Saint-sama says ‘please listen carefully to what Silver says.'”
“Yes, understood! Please give whatever orders you wish!”
Tselli drops to her knees on the spot.
The miraculous Elixir of the Saint. Having experienced its effect firsthand, she appears to have become certain that Silver = the Saint’s representative.
“So——what exactly happened?”
“Actually……”
Tselli begins to speak, her expression serious.
The Saint Faith’s northwest branch had been attacked during the dialogue held at the Holy Kingdom the other day.
The principal icon——the Saint-sama statue——had been destroyed, and the cherished reproductions of the Red Book had been burned.
The perpetrators were that abhorrent cult——the Leonard Faith.
At this point, Luna and Zel tilt their heads.
“Hmm, the Leonard Faith……?”
“Shouldn’t Silver have destroyed them?”
Luna’s finishing move, the ‘Saint Punch.’
With that single blow, the source of which its devastatingly underwhelming name gives no indication of, the Leonard Theocracy was erased from the map.
“So that was indeed divine punishment dealt by the Saint’s party!”
Tselli’s eyes light up——
(Silver-dono really is extraordinarily strong……!)
(I thought that catastrophic devastation couldn’t have been caused by human hands——but for Silver, I suppose it’s not out of the question.)
——and Leticia and Ramza are left speechless with astonishment.
The truth behind the Leonard Theocracy’s destruction is known only to a very small number of people.
Only Luna, Zel, Owl, Raios, and Curse who were present at the scene, and the upper echelons of the Kingdom of Elgia who received the report.
No one could have imagined that a single punch had caused that kind of catastrophe——and the public understanding is that ‘the cult failed in a magical experiment and triggered a massive explosion.’
As the conversation threatens to drift off-track, Luna clears her throat.
“If I’m not misremembering, the Leonard Faith should have been destroyed, but……what exactly is going on?”
“The Leonard Faith is divided into two sects by differences in doctrine. The one the Saint-sama destroyed was the ‘Human-Demon Unity Sect’ led by Leonard XIII. The one now causing problems is the ‘Divine-Demonic Union Sect,’ which branched off from it.”
“I see. (The names are so similar, it’s hard to keep straight……)”
“The doctrine of the Divine-Demonic Union Sect is: ‘through the union of the divine and the demonic, roll the world back to its primordial state——and thereby attain the ultimate paradise.’ In plain terms, it’s the extremely dangerous ideology of ‘let’s destroy everything and build a heaven,’ soaked through with a desire for annihilation.”
“These people really are irredeemable, aren’t they……”
Luna sighs, looking exasperated.
“Following the Divine-Demonic Union Sect’s attack, the Saint Faith organized a punitive force headed by Pope Wembley and made for the sect’s headquarters, ‘Tenrou Mountain,’ to settle the score that same day. However, the enemy’s strength far exceeded what was imagined……”
“You suffered a severe counterattack.”
Tselli nods, her expression pained.
“The Divine-Demonic Union Sect has resorted to wicked forbidden arts and created a horrifying ‘biological weapon.’ Swords, magic, every form of attack is useless against it——it is a monster that transcends human understanding……!”
“What kind of enemy was it?”
“That is——I do apologize. We were caught by just a small part extending from the main body, a tentacle with blades growing from it, so I’m not able to speak to the details.”
“Hmm. (Tentacles……if it’s the slimy variety, that sounds unpleasant.)”
As Luna’s brow creases, Tselli continues.
“The Saint-sama, in her life, never retreated even once. And so we, too, refused to withdraw, and fought bravely with everything we had——and suffered devastating losses. At the moment when everything seemed lost, the Pope gathered his last remaining strength, deployed the <Otherworld Gate>, entrusted me with a ‘message,’ and sent me flying to the Holy Kingdom.”
At this moment, Zel’s eyes sharpen.
(Oh……so Wembley-dono can activate the <Otherworld Gate> independently and instantly. As expected of Lord Wither’s descendant——as a mage, he is first-rate.)
As his exceptional mind races through a hundred plans, Tselli, her expression serious, opens her mouth.
“Silver-sama, this is the message from the Pope. ‘Saint-sama, there is a monster of incomprehensible power on Tenrou Mountain. Even the old you might have had to think carefully——and in your current state, having lost your power, one must consider the worst. Please do not worry about us, and focus on your recovery!’ ——Could I ask you to convey this to the Saint-sama?”
Even in the face of death, Wembley’s thoughts had been for nothing but the Saint.
“……You really are identical.”
“Pardon?”
“No, never mind. I was talking to myself.”
Luna gives a small shake of her head.
“In any case——is Wembley-dono still safe?”
“The Divine-Demonic Union Sect people were shouting ‘take the Pope alive,’ so I believe he should still be safe for now.”
“Hmm, it doesn’t seem like there’s much time to spare.”
Luna rests her right hand on her chin and thinks for a moment.
(Lord Wither was a strange person……a really very strange person, but he looked out for me in various ways. There’s the debt from three hundred years ago, and I don’t have anything else to do today, and it would sit badly with me to leave him to die——might as well go help, as something to do.)
Luna, good-natured at her core, tacks on one reason after another and arrives at the decision to rescue Wembley.
At this point, Zel poses a question.
“Why did this Divine-Demonic Union Sect attack the Saint Faith? Is it revenge, after all?”
The Leonard Theocracy, once at the height of its power, had been driven underground after losing a fierce religious war against the Saint Faith.
A crime motivated by grudge is the most natural scenario.
“That may be part of it. But……their true target is most likely the ‘sacred relic’ in the Pope’s possession.”
“……Sacred relic……?”
Luna’s ears twitch.
She is currently in the process of collecting her own self-published novels, poetry collections, doujinshi, and various other dark history materials scattered all over the world.
The Red Book secured in the Kingdom of Elgia, the Yellow Book seized from the Grand Theocracy of Grandieze, four books remaining.
(Wembley-san is Lord Wither’s descendant. It would not be the slightest bit strange if he had been secretly holding on to some of my dark history……!)
A burning urgency wells up inside Luna.
“Tselli-san! What kind of thing is the sacred relic that Wembley-dono holds!?”
“Wh-well, I’m sorry. It is one of the Saint Faith’s treasures, so I myself have never seen it……!”
“This is extremely important! Even the most trivial thing is fine! Is there anything you know about it!?”
Overwhelmed by Silver’s intensity, Tselli works her mind desperately.
“……Oh, come to think of it……”
“Come to think of it!?”
“According to the most senior of the priests……the sacred relic was ‘a thin book,’ apparently.”
“A——thin——book——!? (That’s……one of my dark history notebooks……!)”