Chapter 74: Recognizing Hell (Part 11)
“So, what did you see?” I asked her.
However, the Sword Demon Miss was still clearly confused. She couldn’t quite tell if the current me was the real deal or just a figment of her imagination. After I shoved the blade aside, she didn’t lunge at me again—although she didn’t put her sword down either. Instead, she stepped back a couple of paces, looking at me with a cautious expression.
“…Hey.”
I was getting a bit impatient, tightening and then relaxing my left hand at my side. The Power of Order kicked in, and a faint Ice Mist wafted from my palm: “Do I have to smack you around to convince you of who I am? Wake up! That thing is taken care of.”
Maybe so…
But the illusion had finally shattered—there was no doubt about that.
As I spoke, I noticed the Female Swordsman’s expression shift slightly, her eyes fixing on my left hand with an alarmed look. Before she could do anything rash, I quickly dispelled the Ice Mist and studied her face with a calm gaze for a moment.
The Sword Demon Miss was being careful, maintaining eye contact with me.
Gradually, she seemed to grasp that I had no intention of attacking her, and her defensive expression began to fade away—perhaps because she didn’t see any hostility in my eyes.
She was quite the sensitive little thing, relying on her own judgment through “intuition.” Whether she had finally recognized me as the real deal rather than a hallucination, I didn’t feel like explaining further.
“Tell me what happened.”
I walked back to the parapet of the castle wall, enjoying the refreshing breeze brushing against my face as I gazed down at the quiet, ancient empty city basking in the sunlight, taking a deep breath.
The awful fishy smell was finally gone.
Inhaled through my nose was the fresh scent of grass and trees—truly pleasant…
…What a pity.
Returning after two years, everything had changed beyond recognition. Though the castle still stood, the people were…
Feeling a bit deflated.
“…When we were heading to the castle, you suddenly disappeared.”
While I pondered this, I heard the Sword Demon Miss hesitatingly begin to speak from behind me after a moment’s thought.
“It got very dark, and suddenly people appeared in the castle—those clerics… the ones in black robes, including the Archbishop Anseier who tried to k*ll me. They were on the battlements, launching an attack on me…”
When she explained the situation, her words became much slower. It seemed she was trying hard to organize her thoughts as she spoke.
“I thought I had walked into an ambush and didn’t have time to think… I immediately retaliated. All I could think was, since they dared to fight me head-on, I would make sure every last one of them died right here.”
Heh…
Not running away but diving headfirst into battle, huh.
What a stubborn little brat…
With that thought, I glanced at her.
I saw the Sword Demon Miss talking while slightly turning around to look back at the collapsed castle walls: “… But to my surprise, when the fight started, I found it rather tough… That old dog Anseier is formidable. I don’t know what kind of divine miracle he used, but it blew up the battlements, and the wall collapsed. I stabbed him once, but it didn’t work. Then that white bird he summoned pecked at the wall and sent me tumbling into the ruins…”
At this point, she instinctively rubbed her rear end and frowned slightly.
Looks like she might still be in a bit of pain…
“And then it got light?”
I couldn’t help interrupting, thinking for a moment before I asked, “Is the Anseier you mentioned a skinny old guy with long white hair, sunken eyes, and kind of blind? An ancient Archbishop?”
“…Yup.”
She was caught off-guard by my interruption, pausing for a second as she turned to look at me with a dazed expression, unsure if she should continue her story or answer my question first. After a moment’s thought, she glanced down at her sword. Suddenly realizing she was still holding it up, she immediately lowered it and nodded at me without any expression: “You know him?”
She chose to answer my question first.
Hmm…
She’s quick on the uptake.
“I know… but not really.” I casually replied.
As I said this, a frail, sickly old man popped into my head. He stood in the golden light, softly chanting, only for a massive, intimidating Golden Bell to come crashing down on my head.
Ugh…
I quickly shook my head to clear away that bizarre mental image.
Could she be talking about the old robed man who left a serious psychological scar on me from the beginning?
Is that Anseier?
I vaguely remembered hearing that name from Angel’s mouth when Isaac and the others headed south with the Judgement Fist the year before last…
And not just once.
Also…
In Woodward Forest, at the edge of the Dragon Town entrance, there was that impression of an old Archbishop who wasn’t in great health but was quite capable—
Could it be him?
It must be…
I forgot if the old guy ever introduced himself to me…
But how many capable oldies could there be in the church, right?
As these thoughts raced through my mind, I casually asked her, “Was he involved in that operation targeting me in Woodward Forest?”
There were just so many people that night…
And due to the darkness, aside from a few familiar faces that stood out, I couldn’t clearly recognize everyone’s faces by the end.
“Yeah, he was involved.”
Without hesitation, the Sword Demon Miss confirmed with a quick nod: “Earlier, I met him in the Underground Prison. He and Angel were the masterminds behind the entire operation, from the heresy invasion to that thing called the ‘Tears of the Goddess’ and everything that happened in Stag Town—all orchestrated by them. Angel worked behind the scenes, while Anseier was the executioner in the spotlight.”
“…Oh.”
I stared at her for a moment, letting out a mild “Oh.”
So he’s one of the henchmen of our “Holy Pope, Dude” then?
Good…
I’ll remember you, old man.
“Let’s go.”
That topic ended there.
As for what the Sword Demon Miss hadn’t finished saying about her experience in the illusion, there was no need for me to listen any longer. I’d already gleaned the basic understanding of the mysterious entity in the castle and its abilities.
Just a “passive” illusion…
Complicated, but nothing to fear.
“Let’s check out the castle.”
After saying that, before the Sword Demon Miss could respond, I activated Moon Step and, with a sound of “boom,” jumped down from the wall.
Whoosh—
The wind roared past my ears.
The rush of air whipped across my face and body as the world around me blurred, only to become clear in an instant as I landed on the roof of a taller tower inside the castle wall. Once I steadied myself, I heard a rumbling sound and glanced back to see the Sword Demon Miss, disheveled, appear next to me.
“What kind of step is that? Your speed rivals lightning…”
“Secret.”
Of course, I didn’t want to answer the curious little one, but a sense of competitive spirit arose. I looked towards the ancient and grand outline of the inner fortress and pointed at it: “See the square in front of the inner fortress? Let’s race and see who gets there first!”
Moon Step—
Boom!
As I unleashed my Moon Step with full force, my terrifying leg strength obliterated the shingles of the tower, sending a massive chunk of the roof crashing down while debris scattered everywhere. The Sword Demon Miss stood there, blankly stunned for a full second before reacting: “Y-You cheat!”
Crash, crash, crash—
The thunderous sound followed my moves, and blazing bolts of lightning shot across the sky above the castle, chasing the small figure darting between the heights!
But just a few seconds into the chase, Anacelis realized that no matter how much speed she poured into her body, wrapped in lightning, she couldn’t catch up to that mysterious, powerful little girl full of mysteries.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—
In her view, that tiny figure flitted over rooftops like it had an ability capable of instantaneous movement only accessible to the few devout believers in the church. Each disappearance, however, brought forth a deafening sound, like a miniature explosion.
Every place she touched, whether hard stone or soft grass, would instantly collapse under that unparalleled strength.
Anacelis had never heard of a way of movement that achieved such violent speed.
While she guessed this method of movement resembled ‘Moon Step,’ the technique favored by the Duke Pope Knight from Winter Moon, even he couldn’t possibly be faster than lightning— that was simply beyond the limits of human capability.
Just one technique…
And already the gap was glaringly apparent.
As expected…
This little girl’s strength was something beyond what a normal human like her could comprehend.
Watching the rapidly diminishing figure almost beyond visibility, Anacelis suppressed the shock rising in her chest.
Though she wasn’t great with words and didn’t like talking much, she was stubborn and didn’t want to lose. Now, seeing that she was falling behind in speed, an area where she excelled, she felt the need to grit her teeth and chase fervently, her face wrapped in lightning turning red as she urged the Power of Order to its limit.
Crash, crash, crash—
Incredible lightning tore across the sky from the southern side of the castle, rushing toward the heart of the inner fortress. The lightning felt like it was flying overhead without ever touching the ground, darting over rooftops just like that girl, speeding through the air toward the castle square in mere seconds…
Yet even so, she was still lagging behind the girl by several steps.
Suddenly coming back to her senses, Anacelis saw that girl had abruptly stopped just around a couple hundred meters outside the inner fortress’s defensive tower—while she herself was still a rough estimate of five to six hundred meters away.
In other words, even while fully powering up with lightning, in just a few seconds, that girl had managed to distance herself from her by five to six hundred meters…
For that, Anacelis felt a bit frustrated.
You didn’t even say “go”…
While vaguely complaining to herself, she saw that girl had indeed halted, but not at the agreed spot—it was just a hair’s breadth away. However, the girl looked down as if she spotted something and suddenly shouted at her: “Wait!”
?
Anacelis didn’t want to wait.
No matter what the reason, she was determined to turn the tide!
