Chapter 693: Holy Magic (2)
Oliver responded quietly, “...No.”
He was speaking to the demon intent on reclaiming the Holy Magic of this world. In fact, "reclaiming" seemed a more fitting term than "taking away." It wasn’t an unjust seizure but rather retrieving something that had been given before.
Regardless, Oliver conveyed to the woman on the camel that he had no intention of stopping her. He understood well the role and influence of Holy Magic—whether on a small scale within the Pater Church or a larger one across the entire world.
The Holy Magic, known as a power granted by the Divine, was synonymous with the Pater Church’s authority. The Church wielded this authority to uphold order across the world: the legitimacy of kings, the right to claim territories, and the justification for rule. Every piece of order in this world rested on that legitimacy established by the Pater Church.
Holy Magic was not merely a power to train Holy Knights; it was the cornerstone of all legitimacy sustaining the world’s order. If that Holy Magic were to disappear, the consequences would undoubtedly be beyond words.
Oliver knew this too, perhaps too well. Yet, he answered as if it did not concern him anymore. He simply wanted no part in this entire issue.
Suddenly…
At that moment, he felt a familiar grip on his trouser leg. It was Merlin.
Dragging his broken body forward, Merlin clutched Oliver’s trouser leg weakly with his only remaining left hand, raising his head to look up. His blood-covered face held a silent plea, as it had when he had first begged Oliver back in the underground prison.
"Even so, shameless as it may be, I humbly ask you... Please... do not abandon us."
Perhaps because of his injuries or perhaps due to his guilt, Merlin could not bring himself to speak. Yet, he begged once more, pleading with Oliver not to forsake them.
However, the vacant gaze in Oliver’s eyes, fixed upon Merlin, did not return, and neither did his answer change.
“...I cannot.”
Oliver stated, reiterating that while he didn’t intend to kill anyone personally, he also didn’t plan to help. He drove this cold, harsh truth into Merlin’s face once more. This was the best he could do—he could not bear to kill, but he also could not bring himself to aid someone in such evident sin.
As Oliver turned away, the expression on Merlin’s face finally broke. Merlin’s worst fear, the outcome he had desperately wished to avoid, had materialized. Yet, even in the midst of despair and fear, there was no trace of resentment in his gaze.
Because Merlin understood Oliver, too...
[You seem very tired, noble being.]
The woman on the camel, instead of moving toward the pond containing Holy Magic to complete her mission, remained before Oliver, speaking to him. Despite having come to reclaim the Holy Magic, she appeared rather relaxed.
Oliver pointed this out.
“Didn’t you say you came to reclaim the Holy Magic?”
[Yes, indeed.]
“Then why are you still standing here before me?”
[There’s no need to hurry when I could take it anytime I want. Once my task is done, I’ll have to return. One should take a little pleasure when possible—it’s a vital attitude to have. Otherwise, the long years become so monotonous that one would rather die. Besides…]
The woman trailed off momentarily.
[...Though I came here officially for my mission, on a personal level, I came to see you.]
She looked at Oliver with a smile, one that held a hint of affection—a fondness akin to admiring a precious child. But the person in question, Oliver, reacted only with mild indifference.
“Everyone seems to have an interest in me.”
[We all have a great interest in you. To the extent of observing your birth, growth, and life.]
“Well, I suppose you’ve been watching for a long time, then.”
[Not quite. Time is relative, after all. But I cannot deny it’s been a meaningful span. Myself included, everyone has watched you closely, though opinions vary.]
The woman on the camel admitted that the seventy-two lords of Hell had been observing Oliver all this time, their assessments differing greatly.
[Some of us find you pitiable, others admire you, and there are those who even like you. However, there are also those who still do not accept you. For your information, I am one of those who likes you.]
While it sounded like an important admission, Oliver showed no reaction. He only hoped that the woman on the camel would leave after saying her piece.
But that hope was shattered with her next words.
[So, I wanted to ask you… Do you want peace?]
“...”
“…?!”
Those words alone brought light back into Oliver’s lifeless eyes, and Merlin, lying prone before him like a corpse, twitched as though struck by a seizure.
Oliver responded first, driven by an instinctual understanding of the implications behind her words.
“Are you serious?”
[While it may be beyond my jurisdiction, I believe that one above would understand. After all, they know just how unjust and cruel the burden placed upon you is. And if I didn’t have permission, I wouldn’t even be able to bring this up.]
“It sounds paradoxical.”
[Didn’t I say I like paradoxes? Paradoxes form the foundation of this world’s laws. So… What do you say? I can grant you the peace you desire. You have earned that right.]
The woman on the camel extended her massive arm in an oath. All Oliver had to do was nod, and she promised to give him the rest he sought. It was a sweet, almost irresistible offer.
“Urgh...! Aaaargh…!!”
The only one to object was Merlin, who, despite nearing death, let out a terrible scream, trying to prevent Oliver from accepting the offer. Yet Oliver, lost in thought over the enticing proposal, failed to hear him.
The woman’s hand grew closer, and Oliver prepared to make his choice—the easier choice. Just as he was about to nod...
The high, dark night sky lit up with a burst of radiance.
The sight was so beautiful that even Oliver and the woman on the camel looked up. From within that light, a single beam fell, placing itself between Oliver and the woman.
Snap!
It was Joanna, now bearing wings.
“Oliver…”
...
The blackened night sky, as though formed of concentrated darkness, was flooded with light, and a single flash fell between Oliver and the woman on the camel.
As the light touched down on the earth, it harmlessly exploded, dispelling the surrounding darkness in an instant. Oliver squinted against the brilliance before opening his eyes again.
And there she was.
Joanna, with wings of light upon her back, stood between Oliver and the woman on the camel. She looked back at him.
“Oliver…”
Checking to see if he was unharmed.
Oliver, in turn, looked back at Joanna, now transformed, her appearance reminiscent of a crow adorned with colorful feathers. She was now the “Son of an Angel,” the very being the hardliners within the Pater Church had yearned to create. Though perhaps, in this case, the “Daughter.”
Regardless, Oliver gazed upon Joanna, now bearing wings.
[Interesting.]
The woman on the camel withdrew her outstretched hand and extended it again, this time toward Joanna.
As the tangled arms of the nuns forming her camel reached out to grab Joanna...
Joanna turned her gaze forward, spreading her radiant wings wide and unleashing a powerful burst of light.
Unlike Bonifa’s radiance, it was a far more magnificent light.
[Oh…?]
The woman on the camel’s startled voice echoed as the light set her arm of intertwined nuns ablaze.
Not just any arm—the very arm of a demon. And that wasn’t the end of it.
Joanna continued emitting light, burning the woman’s arm, and grasping the light in her hand, she crafted a mace of pure radiance and swung it at the woman.
Boom!
A sound like the ringing of a great bell echoed across the hill as the woman on the camel was sent flying back.
Grooooooowl...
Her camel, still formed of the nuns' bodies, let out a grotesque cry, and everyone around looked on in a daze at the scene. Every priest and Holy Knight, weighed down by their own sins, had their attention captured by Joanna as she faced off against the demon—a scene nothing short of miraculous.
Amid the discomforting silence that pricked at one’s throat, the woman on the camel waved her hand in the air, extinguishing the flames before inspecting her injured arm. Burned and blackened by the holy light, her arm was broken from blocking Joanna’s radiant mace.
Looking at her arm with a surprised expression, the woman then cast a strange smile in Joanna’s direction.
[Remarkable. It seems you’ve absorbed His blood. I didn’t expect anyone could handle it.]
She spoke, implying that Joanna had taken in holy blood and had made it her own. The Holy Knight, once stripped of her Holy Magic, had now absorbed an even greater holy power, descending as a shield to stand against the demon.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
[Or perhaps, it’s not so strange? After all, even I don’t fully know Him. But still… truly remarkable. Truly amazing. Accepting His blood is no small feat… It’s not a question of strength, but rather… Is it that you wish to protect Him that deeply?]
With a knowing gaze, the woman on the camel looked past Joanna to where Oliver stood.
[Oh, how lovely… truly lovely. To care so deeply for another. To feel so strongly—it’s no easy thing. What feelings must drive—]
“...Leave.”
Spreading her massive, light-formed wings, Joanna spoke firmly, the light forming a curtain between Oliver and the woman.
“Return to where you came from. If you do so now, I won’t attack again.”
[Are you threatening me?]
“It’s a warning.”
[Whether it’s a warning or a threat, it only holds meaning if it comes from the stronger side.]
“A Holy Knight doesn’t act by might alone. We follow what is right and wrong.”
[How noble. But tell me—have you always acted so? Have you always followed what was right and wrong, disregarding your own circumstances and strength? Have you never once turned a blind eye to injustice?]
The woman’s probing words struck at the heart of the Holy See State’s authority, using a power that forced those around her to confront their darkest truths. Joanna’s body trembled faintly as she stood there.
Swoosh!
The light-wings on her back beat swiftly, and in a flash, Joanna disappeared from where she’d stood, reappearing before the woman on the camel. Moving at a speed faster than the eye could follow, she wielded the mace of light and swung it at her opponent.
In response, the woman manipulated the very space around them, distorting it to deflect Joanna’s attack.
Crack...
But contrary to her expectations, even as space itself twisted, Joanna’s mace didn’t waver; instead, it struck as if a barrier had stopped it, holding its ground right before the woman.
In that fractured space, where cracks splintered like a broken mirror, Joanna stood, confessing her sins to the woman on the camel.
“I have turned a blind eye…”
She admitted to having once forsaken her duties as a Holy Knight, using her siblings as an excuse to avoid confronting wrongdoing. Unlike others forced to confess their sins, Joanna spoke of her own volition, driven by her own determination.
The woman on the camel wasn’t oblivious to this.
[Oh… Did you really need to say it aloud?]
“Keeping silent won’t make it go away… And just because I’ve sinned before doesn’t mean I should stand idly by today!”
With that declaration, Joanna tightened her grip on the mace of light.
The woman on the camel, now smiling with a different expression, conjured a staff formed from interlocked spines and replied:
[This is why I can never hate humans.]
Swinging the spine-staff, the woman sent Joanna flying back, creating fractures in the air. These cracks spread, threatening to engulf Joanna. In response, she unleashed a burst of light from her wings, repairing the broken space and brandishing her mace once more.
Everyone’s gaze remained fixed on the battle, and Oliver’s was no exception.
Just then, a familiar voice sounded from behind him.
“Hey.”
Turning, Oliver found Kevin, a red-skinned warlock with dark hair, standing there. Covered in dust, Kevin looked down at Merlin, who lay sprawled at Oliver’s feet, and spoke.
“If you’re done, could you step aside?”