“Sopia told me you had good judgment. It’s a shame for you that even that has changed!” I said as I drew my sword and raised it toward the God Slayer Knights.
“Go, Ideo, Valeria! Show your strength to this conceited messenger of the higher beings! Let this be a warning to all who turn against humanity!” cried Cardinal Wardell, and the two in black armor turned their swords on me.
“I’m only here to beat the higher beings to the Staff of the Saint, though,” I said.
“Now you start with pathetic lies?! I have known for a long time that the Unseen Hand of the Gods are the dogs of the higher beings! And the Staff of the Saint is the soul of our church, outsiders like you have no right to protect it!”
No good, he’s not going to listen. Actually, even if he was going to listen, I really don’t think he’s going to hand over the Staff of the Saint.
“Let’s see if you can defend against this, you delicate-looking man!” said the man in black armor. Ideo was his name. He swung his absurdly large sword at me, and I blocked it with my own blade. “Oh? Ha ha ha! That’s expected! We’d be in some trouble if you couldn’t even stop that much! Now let’s have a contest of strength!” Ideo’s arms bulged and started turning black.
“What the…?”
“This is the demonic power the old man researched! We’ll see just how much you can handle!”
I glanced at Ideo’s face.
IDEO IRGAS
Race: Human
Lv: 335
HP: 1608/1608
MP: 1192/1306
That’s…a letdown.
He was about as strong as the Evil Priest Notts. He was a humanoid dragon, but Corpse Doll Alice was also a humanoid dragon and was still twice his level.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…” I muttered without thinking.
“Ha ha ha, are you scared, little Unseen Hand of the Gods?! You’re not too bad, but this must be your first time overwhelmed by sheer power, huh? Let’s kick it up a notch!” Ideo’s arms grew even larger. “Huh, still withstanding it? But this will—”
“I’m just standing here holding my sword. I’m not even pushing back,” I said.
“What?” Ideo scowled, and I put a little force behind my blade into a horizontal slash. “Gaaargh!”
Ideo lost that contest of strength and went flying backward. He flipped in the air and barely managed to land right side up, with a knee to the ground.
“H-he defeated me? In strength?” Rivulets of sweat ran down his face.
“Really?” I said. “Did you seriously think you could fight against the higher beings at that level? You might have managed to get to the realm of humanoid dragon at least, but you’re not even a high-enough level to be able to handle one of the more powerful Demon Kings. Both of you together would have a hard time against Sopia herself, and she’s not even specialized in combat.”
“You little twerp! Don’t get cocky! B-both of you, attack together! He seems stronger than Ideo, so don’t rely on strength! Fight with skill and speed!” ordered Cardinal Wardell, his face paling.
“If speed is what you need, then I’m your woman…” said the lady in black armor, Valeria, as she rushed forward. “You force me to acknowledge you’re more powerful than I expected, but we God Slayer Knights were created to take down fiends of a higher level than ourselves!”
Valeria thrust her rapier toward the ceiling, and a magic circle appeared. “Spirit Magic Level 9: Nymph’s Mirror!”
Valeria’s form seemed to separate into three images, but then each one of her started moving independently. It looked like a spell that borrowed the power of the spirits to create additional bodies. The first went right, the second went left, and the third leapt above.
“See if you can handle—!”
I kicked the left and right copies of her, sending them flying. They rocketed back and transformed into water. I watched that, then dodged the rapier coming down from above, wielded by the real Valeria. Then I hit her in the gut with the pommel of my sword.
“Urgh!” She let out a dull cry and dropped her rapier.
I tossed her directly into Ideo who was coming right back at me. He moved aside to dodge her flying body…but as he did, I moved in and clocked him in the face with my fist, sending him flying.
“Gah!” There was a sickening crunch that left an indent in his face.
He skidded across the ground as he careened back, then smashed into the wall and came to a stop lying on his back, his body quivering.
“You both seemed sturdier than normal for your level, so I hit a bit harder than I would usually. Please don’t be upset,” I said, then I turned to face Cardinal Wardell. “This is really unfortunate. I honestly believed our talks were going well.”
“D-don’t move, dog to the higher beings!” When I turned to face the cardinal, I saw his face was as white as a sheet and he was holding Philia. “M-make a single move, and this girl dies! H-ha ha, do you scorn a man of the cloth who would act this way? I would do anything for the Church!”
A magic circle appeared in his hand, along with a fist-sized ball of fire.
“Cardinal Wardell…” I said.
“H-ha ha ha…haaaaa ha ha! You may be a servant of the higher beings, but it seems you still care about your companions! Get up, Ideo, Valeria! Kill him slowly while he can’t move!”
“Fwooo!” Philia blew out the ball of fire in Cardinal Wardell’s hand, the puff of air erasing it in the blink of an eye.
“Huh…?” When Cardinal Wardell looked down at his hand, Philia raised her arms. The force took the cardinal up with the motion and into the ceiling.
“Bah! Aaagh!”
He crashed twice, once into the ceiling, then back down to the ground.
“S-sorry, Mister… That was too strong…” said Philia as she ran over to him.
“You monster…” he groaned.
“Kanata…what should we do?” asked Pomera, her eyes void of emotion as she looked down at Cardinal Wardell.
“We don’t have any other choice. It’s not classy, but let’s make them listen through force,” I said with a sigh.