Chapter 57: The Battle of Ruble (1)

What to do……?

“Brother?”

“What’s wrong?”

My head was spinning amidst the prodding from those around me.

But in that urgent situation, the only thing that came to mind was an extremely simple method.

“Um, Sir Maier.

Would it be possible to drag the individuals I point out to a deserted place and take care of them?

Preferably in a dark alley, or a place where people’s eyes can’t reach.”

Now that I said it, it seemed like a pretty good idea.

“No. The work of God must be done with dignity.”

The captain of the fanatics rejected the proposal in one fell swoop.

But fortunately, there was one more person in the group who could be reasoned with.

“Why?”

“There are too many.

To the point where I wonder if this is the headquarters of that evil cult.”

“What?”

Maier, who had glanced at Chloe’s surprised reaction, calmly interjected.

“All the more reason that God's will must be carried out with dignity……”

“In doing so, the enemy's leaders might escape.”

“……But, in order to complete God’s will, one must also know when to bend a little.”

Fortunately, while Maier might be a fanatic, he didn’t seem to be stupid.

“Alright, alright. Heret— ahem, Holy Knights, please gather here.”

As soon as permission was granted, Muno, conscious of the surrounding gazes, gathered the Holy Knights together.

And.

“There are many of them, so we’ll go at once.

All 44 of us will each take one. In a place without prying eyes, swiftly.

You know?”

“Brother, so many……?”

“There are more. Enough that we’ll have to do this three or four more times on the way to the witch’s location.”

“Good heavens.”

“……So this is the true land of evil.”

“O, God……”

As Maier lamented, the Holy Knights squeezed their eyes shut and simultaneously made the sign of the cross on their chests.

That sight seemed somehow strange in Muno’s eyes.

“Do you all believe everything I say?”

“These are the words of the brother who subjugated the den of evil. Where is there room for doubt?”

I thought that and this were a bit different.

But there was not a hint of wavering in the shining eyes of the fanatics.

‘Well, is it a relief for now?’

In a dire situation, there was no reason to challenge the fact that the Holy Knights firmly believed his opinion.

On top of that, Chloe added a word.

“Everyone, you all know about the Temple’s mistake 10 years ago, right?

And how much damage our Trian suffered because of it?”

“Sister, that is……”

“Think of it as a chance to restore your honor.

The demon cult leader isn’t here now, and it’ll just be a badly injured witch, though.”

At that cynical remark, the faces of the Holy Knights, including Maier, hardened in an instant.

I didn’t know the full story of the incident, but it seemed the group’s fighting spirit had certainly been raised.

“Then……”

The moment he turned, Muno activated his senses to their maximum and simultaneously searched for the owners of demonic energy in the vicinity.

‘The moment I point them out, they’ll be killed.

There must be no mistakes.’

Focusing my mind as much as possible.

And.

“We’ll move all at once after all the designations are finished.

The bald owner of the second fruit stall on the left, the city guard on the right, the blond in the short sleeves, all three of them in that alley over there……”

Every time Muno pointed out those from whom he felt demonic energy.

Maier pointed out the Holy Knights one by one and assigned them.

And the moment the roll call of all 44 was finished.

“Now!”

The 44 knights, including Muno, began to move in perfect order.

* * *

“Kill. Kill. Kill……”

The market magistrate's office in Ruble.

In the middle of the most secluded guest room, a woman with a bandage on her left ankle was repeating a murderous muttering with a face full of resentment.

What she was looking down at were a few documents.

The woman was searching through the records of a forbidden experiment that listed simple personal information, thinking of someone.

At some point, as the madness in her eyes grew thicker.

“As I thought, I didn’t see it wrong!

Then if that’s not an artifact……?”

The moment the blue eyes, having realized something, widened.

“You wake up after three days and immediately start looking at old documents.

What on earth happened, Karin.”

A sharp voice that suddenly came from somewhere temporarily subdued the madness.

“Elder Emma, keuk……!”

Karin, who had tried to get up from the bed, felt a dizzying pain in her left ankle and sat back down.

And next to her, an old man with a hooked nose and haphazardly grown white hair approached.

“What in the world happened?

How did you end up in such a state……”

An old man with a hideous face, looking like a typical witch from a story.

It was surely no illusion that even his words of concern felt strangely mocking.

But now was not the time to worry about such things.

“Is it possible for an ability that ignores the level of the soul and absorbs magic to exist?”

“What?”

“A trait possessed by a mere 1-Star, no, a 2-Star-level Corporeal Arts user……. No, and a special chain.

No, that doesn’t make sense either, aaargh! Damn it!”

Karin, who had been shouting as if having a fit, soon wiped her face and calmly continued speaking.

“Anyway, whether it’s an ability or an artifact, is there a way for a mere 2-Star-level Corporeal Arts user to weaken or absorb 6-Circle magic?”

“Do you think that makes sense as you say it?”

“It was because of that thing that doesn’t make sense that I ended up like this! Me!”

Perhaps because of the pain, she had raised her voice without realizing it.

Karin soon caught a glimpse of the Elder, Emma’s, cold glare and hastily bowed her head.

“I-I’m sorry, Elder. I was distraught……”

“Yes. Not all elders are the same, Karin.

You may be able to order me around thanks to that person, but seeing your current state, I wonder if that person will continue to keep you as a successor.”

“I’m sorry. I misspoke. Forgive me……”

While gritting her teeth inwardly, Karin bowed her head for now.

She was the one in a tight spot right now.

“To think the day would come when you would bow your head yourself.

Well, I’ll forgive your rudeness for that much. Hehehe.”

The old elder Emma smiled at the sight of Karin repeatedly bowing her head.

“But you ask a very strange question.

An artifact that can be used by a 1 or 2-Star level Corporeal Arts user and can shatter 6-Circle magic? Or an ability?”

“……Yes.”

“High-grade artifacts or magical tools require a certain level of skill to use.

To properly handle the magic power or mana contained within, one must have a soul of a certain level and the compatibility must also be right. Isn’t that common sense?”

At the repeated dismissal, Karin once again gritted her teeth inwardly but calmly nodded her head on the outside.

“Yes. I was hit by such an item. It might have just been the bastard’s ability.”

“Hmm, how could such an ability exist. The power of the great Outer Gods, by a mere human……”

At Emma’s words, Karin nodded her head without realizing it.

That was the common sense of magicians.

However.

‘But it was definitely in the experiment records.

A bastard who uses a chain as a weapon.

And that chain definitely weakened the demonic energy, didn’t it?’

The worst experience she had personally gone through was rejecting that common sense.

But also, a chain that was suddenly discharged from the armor was quite different from the appearance of the experiment that had been reported beforehand.

‘Is it a coincidence?

Should I assume that the experiment removed the chain and obtained a similar artifact?

That doesn’t make sense, does it?’

But a mere human cannot transcend the gap with her and absorb demonic energy.

The energy of the great Outer Gods, which disrupts the order of the world.

‘That’s absolutely impossible.’

Because of that firmly ingrained stereotype in her mind, Karin decided to believe in the slim chance of a coincidence, even while distorting the facts she had personally experienced.

A train of thought that Muno would have been greatly relieved to know.

And Emma hammered the nail in the coffin.

“That person might know, but it’s something I can’t understand with my common sense.

Why did you call me instead of asking that person directly? Hehehe.”

As if you didn’t know.

The smiling expression was so annoying, but Karin could only bow her head even lower.

“I could not trouble that person due to my own inadequacy.”

“……It’s because you don’t want to die.

On the other hand, I have no choice but to grant your ‘request’ because of that person’s order.”

“……That too is due to my inadequacy.”

“Hehehe.

To think the great Karin Imbols would show such polite courtesy to someone other than that person.

It’s truly a strange feeling.

So, since I couldn’t give you an answer, should I go back now?”

“Of course not. I would like you to help with that bastard’s hunt.”

“……Hunt? That bastard?”

“That person wants the experiment that uses an artifact that looks like a chain, as I mentioned.

It wouldn’t be difficult to deal with that bastard alone, but Trian’s knights are loitering around, and especially that chain-like artifact actually has the effect of weakening magic.”

“Hmm. An experiment, you say?

Don’t tell me?”

“Yes. 10 years ago, in Elder Kraymal’s laboratory……”

“Give me the documents.”

As soon as the name Kraymal came up, Emma’s eyes lit up.

It was an expected reaction, so Karin handed over the experiment’s documents without hesitation.

Emma began to look at it with particular care, as it was a record of an old connection.

“The last report was that it had been offered as a sacrifice, but now it was living as the adopted son of a low-ranking noble in the countryside named Drasen.

An informant happened to discover it……”

“A bastard with a chain embedded in him is using an artifact of that shape?

Hah, a strange fate indeed.

Or maybe it’s an artifact that requires that metal manipulation ability, so that bastard found it.”

Emma, an old elder of the organization, also made a similar judgment to her.

“So, will you help me?”

“No matter if it’s an artifact or whatever, if it’s only a 2-Star-level, I don’t think you’ll have trouble with that bastard alone.

My role will be to clean up the surrounding dregs.”

“The elites here are mostly away because of that incident in the capital.

If not for that, I wouldn’t have called for you, Elder.”

Honestly, she was confident she could do it alone if she prepared a little more thoroughly.

But she had already failed twice doing that, so she thought it would be best to get a solid insurance.

“Alright. I have that person’s order anyway, so I have to carry out your request once, no matter what.

But I will report on this mission myself. Understood?”

“……I understand.”

Since Elder Emma had been moved, a report was bound to go in.

- Achieve the objective by any means necessary.

- It is better to die than to fail.

Because of the organization’s motto, Karin had been unable to report directly to that person until now.

But now, it seemed better to be moderately reprimanded than to fail the mission and lose everything.

The moment she made that decision.

“Huh!?”

She felt the magic she had embedded in the lower-ranking members of the Ruble organization for punishment and surveillance scatter in an instant.

The lower-ranking members couldn’t forcibly shake off her magic.

And yet, for the magic to scatter meant.

“What’s going on?”

That they were dead.

“It’s an attack!”

“What?”

The moment Emma frowned.

- Kabooooooom!

An explosion was heard from outside the market magistrate’s office.

- Block them!

- Kill them!

- Aaaaargh.

A commotion that arose at the same time.

And the loudest voices in the midst of it were.

- In the name of God!

“Insignificant scraps from the Temple!”

“Where do you think this is!”

Emma and Karin, the two 6-Circle magicians who were the elders of the organization, began to pour out their demonic energy in unison with rage.

Outside, a fierce battle was already taking place.

A fierce battle in which the brat who wielded the black chain they had just been talking about was running rampant.

To develop the metal manipulation ability to its fullest, Devilmetal was treated with special chemicals and magic and implanted in the body like a nerve…….

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