Side Story – Hatred [2]
[18]
Johanna led the Empire’s investigation team toward the Maisen region.
The closer they got to Maisen, the fewer friendly gazes were directed at the Empire’s investigation team.
Johanna didn’t care. Before meeting the Sacred Country’s representatives upon arriving in Maisen, Johanna quietly organized her thoughts.
‘They say there were omens from long ago.’
There had been signs of impending disaster.
Near Maisen, small-scale earthquakes had been particularly frequent over the past few decades.
Since the earthquakes were minor, many people had become complacent, but eventually, a massive earthquake struck.
Luckily, the epicenter was far from densely populated areas, so the loss of life was minimal.
However, after the earthquake, the area gradually began to be eroded by an ominous energy.
Since the erosion started near a region close to the Demonic Realm, if left unchecked, it could allow the expansion of the Demonic Realm.
Though sudden, this wasn’t entirely unprecedented.
The great war between El-Lam, the World Tree, and the followers of the Dark God had lasted for at least several thousand years.
Thus, throughout history, forgotten relics of the Dark God would occasionally be discovered, causing incidents.
This incident followed the same pattern.
After a brief investigation, it was confirmed that beneath the area affected by the earthquake lay a facility suspected to have been built by followers of the Dark God.
This facility was dedicated to worshipping a forgotten deity whose name had long been lost.
Having remained uninhabited for centuries, the facility had likely collapsed almost entirely due to the recent earthquake.
Being not particularly large, it should have crumbled and been forgotten forever.
However, unfortunately, it seemed that a powerful relic of the Dark God had been left inside the ruined facility.
After lying dormant for countless years, the relic awakened now and began to erode the surrounding area with its ominous energy, even while buried deep underground.
‘Wasn’t it called Dimension Alignment…?’
A time when different dimensions, which usually seem unrelated, align in sequence.
It was a period when beings beyond the stars could project their influence most strongly into the real world, and it was happening right now.
It appeared that the long-forgotten Dark God, who hadn’t been active on the continent for ages, was taking advantage of this opportunity to reassert its presence.
Such events had occurred sporadically throughout the continent’s history, and traditionally, the Pope’s Office within the Holy Church took the lead in recovering and sealing away these relics of the Dark God.
As long as the relics weren’t handed over to the followers of the Dark God, their recovery could proceed slowly without much concern.
Unfortunately, since this situation arose near the expanding boundary of the Demonic Realm, moving too slowly risked losing not only the relic but also chunks of land to the followers of the Dark God.
The relic needed to be recovered and sealed quickly, but the recent earthquake made the search operation extremely difficult.
‘This can’t be a coincidence.’
Earthquakes were originally disasters that tended to occur during this period, but the awakening of the relic coinciding with the earthquake and the expansion of the Demonic Realm couldn’t possibly be accidental.
Johanna’s mission was to find and secure the relic buried in the collapsed underground structure.
From what she saw, it might require digging endlessly through the ground.
*
Recovery and sealing of the relic.
Traditionally, this was the responsibility of the Holy Church.
All nations on the continent respected the role of the Church regarding matters involving relics of the Dark God and actively supported and cooperated with them.
After the fall of the Papal Office, the Sacred Country declared the rebuilding of the Holy Church as one of its founding principles.
Of course, the personnel of the Sacred Country strongly believed that they should inherit the roles and responsibilities of the Holy Church.
“For a thousand years, the Holy Church has been responsible for recovering, sealing, and managing these relics alongside the Empire.”
More precisely, it had been the Papal Office doing so, and many survivors of the Papal Office collapse ended up joining the Sacred Country.
A millennium’s worth of accumulated expertise was not something to be dismissed lightly.
Among those dealing with the recovery, sealing, and storage of relics, the experts from the Sacred Country were the most skilled.
Gilberto, a Templar from the Sacred Country sitting across from Johanna, emphasized these strengths before bringing up the main point:
“If ignorant individuals mishandle the demonic relics, the situation could worsen. Therefore, we hope you will follow the Sacred Country’s guidelines.”
In essence, Gilberto was saying that while both parties would cooperate, the Sacred Country intended to take the lead in resolving the current crisis.
Objectively speaking, Gilberto’s request was reasonable.
However, Johanna tilted her head sideways.
“You want us to trust the Church?”
“…?”
“The Church failed to manage the relics properly. That failure led to the collapse of the Papal Office and the southern regions being overrun by the Demonic Realm. How can we trust the Church again?”
“…”
Gilberto’s face immediately furrowed in irritation.
Johanna’s accusations, though harsh, were not entirely baseless, which only fueled his anger further.
Johanna calmly continued to provoke Gilberto, whose face was turning increasingly red.
“Any new relics discovered from now on will be managed by the Empire. So, the Sacred Country needs to cooperate accordingly.”
“How dare you be so disrespectful and arrogant!”
Gilberto finally lost his temper and raised his voice.
At that moment, Count Knut from the Empire quickly intervened and spoke.
“In such difficult times, nothing is more foolish than squabbling with the same enemy ahead of us. I urge both of you to exercise restraint.”
Faced with such sound reasoning, Gilberto reluctantly suppressed his anger, and Johanna silently held her position.
Regardless, cooperation was essential to recover the relic buried underground on time.
Given the vast area to investigate, the combined manpower of both the Empire and the Sacred Country was necessary.
Count Knut worked hard to maintain the atmosphere amidst the tense situation.
Despite Knut’s efforts, it was evident that this joint investigation wouldn’t run smoothly.
*
After holding discussions with the Sacred Country’s command post upon arrival near Maisen,
Johanna moved to directly observe the fault line that had risen due to the earthquake.
Delun followed her, hesitating slightly, then asked in a casual tone:
“Sister, do we really need to escalate things with the Sacred Country over this matter?”
If the Sacred Country wanted to take the lead in recovering and sealing the relic, was it truly necessary to contest them?
To Delun, it seemed like a deal that wouldn’t harm the Empire practically.
Unless it was merely about pride, Johanna’s attitude during the negotiations had been excessively firm.
Confused, Delun prompted Johanna, who briefly paused in silence before giving a curt reply:
“Luna asked me to bring back the relic.”
“Hmm… Is that so?”
Then there was no helping it. Delun nodded, somewhat convinced.
In reality, Luna had indeed asked Johanna to secure the relic at all costs.
She warned Johanna:
[El-Lam is our enemy.]
That was the warning Luna left for Johanna.
While El-Lam might currently appear to be protecting the continent, Luna had stated that soon everyone would realize it was all deception.
If El-Lam was adversarial, then naturally, neither the Sacred Country nor its personnel could be trusted.
…
Lost in thought, Johanna noticed the change in the air and lifted her slightly bowed head.
The fault line caused by the earthquake came into view.
Though not quite a mountain range, the uneven terrain stretching out was impressive in its own right.
The problem was that they had to comb through this vast area to narrow down the location of the relic.
Jusephin sighed and muttered:
“Why don’t we just drop a meteorite on it?”
Of course, it was a joke. There was no guarantee that dropping a meteorite nearby would destroy the relic buried underground.
First, they needed to pinpoint the relic’s location more specifically, whether by using magic to dig through the earth or by crawling into the collapsed facility.
Currently, the investigation teams dispatched to the area were already conducting surveys.
Primarily, they were examining the parts of the collapsed underground facility exposed to the surface.
Since the coordination between the Empire’s command and the Sacred Country’s command wasn’t yet complete, both factions were proceeding separately without sharing information, dividing the territory between them.
Delun, looking slightly frustrated, opened his mouth:
“Sister, did they say the thing underground was some kind of altar?”
“Yeah. But it might not be.”
They would have to wait a few more days.
Hopefully, some clues would emerge from the investigation results, otherwise, they’d have no choice but to start digging where the dark god’s influence was relatively strong.
Johanna paused while trying to get a broader view of the surroundings.
A faint smell of blood reached her nose, along with a familiar unpleasant sensation that tingled her skin.
“Follow me.”
With her order, Johanna stepped forward first.
*
One of the entrances to the ‘facility’ buried underground had been exposed due to the earthquake.
Although the entrance was revealed, the passage leading inside had completely collapsed and was unusable.
A team of ten members from the Empire’s investigation squad was gathering information by examining the exposed entrance.
Until moments ago, they were diligently performing their duties. Now, however, all ten lay sprawled in pools of blood.
A demon sat atop the pool of blood, clearly satisfied.
“Not bad. Better than expected.”
Even outside the Demonic Realm, in this area where the erosion had begun, the blessings bestowed by the dark gods could still be effectively utilized.
Though their abilities were diminished compared to within the Demonic Realm, they were still lethal enough.
The demon grinned wider as it sensed approaching footsteps.
“Here come some eager ones looking for death.”
When the environment allows demons to fully harness the blessings of the dark gods, they become several times more formidable.
Moreover, this particular demon possessed strange techniques that allowed it to toy with opponents and vanish at will.
“This will be fun.”
The demon had come here to reconnoiter, gather information, and hinder the Empire and Sacred Country’s relic excavation efforts.
Though it had planned to retreat if things went awry, the conditions here exceeded expectations, promising ample enjoyment while achieving its objectives.
The demon waited patiently until the approaching footsteps were right in front.
KWANG!!
Johanna had spotted the demon.
Without hesitation, she kicked off the ground and accelerated towards the demon.
The demon realized from Johanna’s momentum that she had reached the Graduated level.
While such a foe would be overwhelming on the continent, the demon smirked wider, intending to deceive Johanna.
“Where…”
TSUUUUUUCK!
As the demon moved to step forward,
its form began to distort, and numerous duplicates of its body surged upward from the ground.
In an instant, over thirty duplicates surrounded and confined Johanna.
Johanna halted her acceleration and scanned the multitude of duplicates underfoot.
Each duplicate had a perfect shadow beneath its feet, and the aura emanating from them was indistinguishable from the original.
“Are you confused?”
“…!”
“Your reaction is quite adorable.”
The demon delighted in Johanna’s bewilderment and lunged at her.
Surrounded by demons charging from all sides, Johanna swung her sword, releasing a cluster of sword auras straight ahead.
CHIIIIIING!!!
The five demons rushing from the front were shredded by the cluster of sword auras and flung back.
The torn demons bled briefly from their wounds before dissipating into smoke and vanishing into thin air.
Though she had expended some Sword Energy to release the cluster of sword auras, over twenty-five duplicates remained.
The duplicates behind Johanna extended sharp claws toward her.
But before they could pierce her,
the sword auras Johanna had released earlier changed direction mid-air and began descending upon the demon duplicates.
KWA-GA-GA-GA-GA-CHAK!!!
The redirected sword auras tore through the demon duplicates in rapid succession.
Dozens of sword auras danced through the air, systematically shredding the duplicates, leaving none of the over thirty duplicates standing within moments.
“…!!!”
The demon, having lost all its duplicates and retreating backward, revealed its frustration.
It hadn’t anticipated that Johanna’s swordsmanship included “Guided Sword Auras,” which targeted the duplicates with extreme precision.
Realizing the unfavorable matchup, the demon glared at Johanna when suddenly, an unseen sword aura slashed through it.
CHAAK!!
The demon’s arm split apart.
Yet, the arm struck by the sword aura crumbled into powder before regaining its original form.
“What to do with you?”
The demon taunted Johanna by shaking its intact arm and prepared to withdraw.
TSUUUUUUCK!
The demon created more duplicates to distract Johanna and attempted to retreat.
However, Johanna ignored the duplicates behind her and charged directly at the demon’s original form.
Seeing Johanna approach, the demon laughed aloud, finding her misjudgment amusing.
While “Guided Sword Auras” were effective against the demon’s duplicates, focusing the technique’s power on pursuit meant its raw destructive force was weaker.
Thus, Johanna, skilled in such sword techniques, struggled to inflict fatal damage on the demon wielding strange powers.
“You stupid…”
The demon sneered insultingly as it looked at the Sword Energy attached to Johanna’s blade.
Johanna’s Sword Energy glowed a deep blue.
“…?”
The demon was momentarily confused.
Just seconds ago, the color of Johanna’s Sword Energy had been slightly greenish and brighter.
Johanna’s swordsmanship, similar to the “Alang Sword,” incorporated Guided Sword Auras. Until moments ago, that had been the case.
But not now. The Sword Energy Johanna generated now carried a force that corroded and decomposed matter.
KRRRRRRACK!!!!
Johanna’s Sword Energy pierced the demon’s chest.
The demon’s chest, impaled by the sword, turned to powder before attempting to reassemble itself.
However, the Sword Energy, possessing corrosive and decomposing properties, began interfering with the demon’s regeneration and started collapsing its physical form.
“?!”
Before the demon could grasp the situation,
Johanna grabbed its face and whispered:
“Don’t be cheeky.”
“…!”
“Do you think I haven’t killed your kind a couple of times?”
Only then did the demon, facing Johanna, feel a chilling sense of fear.
KWA-A-ANG!!!!
Johanna slammed the demon back to the ground after it had attempted to leap into the air and adjusted her grip on her sword.
Simultaneously, a fiercely burning crimson Sword Energy began swirling around the blade.
The demon finally understood what existed in Johanna’s core.
A Variable Core.
A divine creation Johanna devised to tear apart any bizarre creature like the demon.
