With no more need to hide his identity, Jinguuji Tomoya took off his mask. Watching him, Gerd let out a huge sigh. It was a truly sorrowful gesture, one sad enough to make anyone feel guilty over their sins even if they’d done no evil.
“Please stop this, Mister Jinguuji. I believe we’ve built a good relationship with you. Why are you resorting to such violence?”
The Holy Church and the Dragon were secret collaborators. In exchange for his helping the church, they’d promised to give him a way to return to his world. The attack on Draconia had been part of this deal, as was helping in the battle against Majima Takahiro. And yet, here he was cutting down every knight he came across. It didn’t look like anything more than a wild rampage.
“I don’t know what happened, but please calm down,” Gerd pleaded. His tone was calm and devoted, befitting a clergyman. “There’s no reason for you to oppose us.”
“Cut the shameless bullshit.” However, his pleas fell on deaf ears. Gerd’s white eyebrows furrowed as Jinguuji Tomoya spat back at him. The usually affable boy’s voice was far rougher now. “A good relationship? Don’t you mean a convenient one? I was supposed to be paid with a way back to my world for helping you out, but you have no intention of giving me anything of the like, do you now? I’m just a fucked-up kid who believed in a convenient dream after being driven to the end of his rope—a pawn. That’s what you think of me.”
“You’re...”
Gerd held his tongue. Jinguuji Tomoya was right. Visitors had no way of returning to their world. That was common sense here. Even the Holy Church, who knew everything that happened behind the curtains, didn’t know of a way.
Jinguuji Tomoya was obsessed with the idea of getting all surviving visitors back home. At this point, his obsession could only harm the world. If manipulated well, he could be of use in Majima Takahiro’s assassination. That was the cruel plan that had been put into action.
“How unfortunate for you. I’ve got a plan of my own,” Jinguuji Tomoya said, his lips curving into a sneer at this thought. “You’re gonna let me through. The Dimensional Cornerstones are this way, yeah?”
“Wha?!” Gerd’s eyes shot open. In all sorts of ways, this was an impossible question. “How do you know that...?”
Jinguuji Tomoya was right. The Dimensional Cornerstone Harrison was using was but one of the many the Holy Church had gathered. There were others under strict watch. This corridor led to their storage vault. That was why Gerd had believed that Jinguuji Tomoya had become emotionally unstable and had reached this place by coincidence while going on a rampage. But that wasn’t the case.
“Judging by your reaction, they’re really here,” he said, his smile like that of a snarling fanged dragon as he watched the old bishop’s face twist in shock. “I doubted that guy big-time, but looks like the asshole was right. I get it. The reason you had me attack Draconia was that you wanted to recover the Dimensional Cornerstone that was taken out of the capital a long time ago, yeah? You said something like, ‘I’d like you to retrieve the magic tool responsible for the Mist Barrier.’ Well, that plan ended up failing...”
With that, Jinguuji Tomoya pulled something out of his bag and held it out ostentatiously. It was a jewel—the Dimensional Cornerstone responsible for the Mist Barrier.
“Aah, my bad. I mean I pretended it failed.”
“So you really retrieved it?” Gerd said, trying to keep his shock hidden, but his mind was shaken.
Jinguuji Tomoya had been informed by someone about the Dimensional Cornerstones. Judging by his doubts about the information, he didn’t have a good relationship with whoever that was, though. In any case, Gerd’s reaction had now given him conviction.
It was careless of the archbishop to have let it slip, but he immediately reevaluated the situation. Regardless of his suspicions, Jinguuji Tomoya would’ve come here to confirm it for himself. What Gerd had to focus on now was Jinguuji Tomoya’s goal; the one that had driven him to such lengths.
“Did you come here because you’re after the Dimensional Cornerstones...?”
Gerd had several questions. Did Jinguuji Tomoya know that the Dimensional Cornerstones were tools to maintain and manage the world? If he did, why was he trying to access them? Also, who could possibly have told him about the vault, which nearly nobody knew about?
If someone who knew had let it slip, then that was fine in its own way. But if an outsider had told him...it was extremely bad. This suggested a certain possibility that only Gerd was capable of recognizing. If that really was the case, he had to deal with it immediately. To that end, he had to remove the threat right before his eyes.
“Do you really think I’ll let you through?”
His voice echoed down the corridor, filled with so much rage it could freeze one’s spine. All emotion vanished from Gerd’s face. He wasn’t the clergyman who guided the people to salvation anymore. He was the world’s guardian who would commit any atrocity necessary to protect it.
In the next instant, mana that rivaled that of any knight swelled within his withered body. Facing him, Jinguuji Tomoya’s eyes widened slightly.
“This is...a wall?”
A practically invisible wall appeared in the corridor to block his way. This was what had brought Jinguuji Tomoya’s full-speed charge to a halt.
“It’s called the Barrier of Devotion,” Gerd said from the other side. “Even a great savior’s attack cannot pierce it.”
“So you’re of blessed blood too, huh? I thought you were a total civvy.”
Jinguuji Tomoya drew his sword and struck immediately. He put all of his supernatural strength behind it. A terrifying crash resounded down the corridor.
“Tch.”
However, the transparent wall didn’t budge. It didn’t even have a scratch on it. It was actually the sword that had bent from the unreasonable force.
“I told you, you can’t break through,” Gerd said calmly. “It’s just as you say, I’m no combatant. All I’m capable of is creating a wall. That in itself is more than enough, though.”
Gerd Kruger sat at the summit of the Holy Church as an archbishop. However, he saw his true nature as something else entirely. He was a living defense mechanism to protect the root of the world, which had to remain untouched. His inherent ability, the Barrier of Devotion, and all those who wielded it, existed for this purpose. Gerd’s family line had started not too long after the first savior’s arrival and had protected the world like this ever since.
To protect the world, he would resort to inhuman acts. If necessary, he would pull a knight who was filled with hopes and ideals into the darkness. He knew with all certainty that he wasn’t going to go to the same place as saviors in death. As an archbishop, as one of the most devout people in the world, Gerd believed this with all his heart.
In other words, his life was like that of a slave. Nevertheless, he’d decided to protect the world by his own will.
“You won’t pass,” he said with determination.
He had no idea why Jinguuji Tomoya was trying to reach the Dimensional Cornerstones, but that didn’t change what needed to be done. He had to protect this place. He absolutely couldn’t let an intruder through.
Gerd had a grasp of Harrison’s current situation through a magic tool. He’d confirmed that the knight had met unexpected resistance in the plan to use a Dimensional Cornerstone to attack Majima Takahiro. Gerd couldn’t expect reinforcements anytime soon. With this in mind, he was ready to endure until Jinguuji Tomoya gave up and backed down.
The old man stood there unmoving. He was like a manifestation of the will to protect the world. What did the boy in front of him see in this?
“I get it...” A deep sigh shook the air in the corridor. “It looks like I won’t be able to get through here.”
Staring at the old man and the barrier blocking his way, he admitted his predicament. Did that mean he’d given up? No. That was impossible.
“Oh well. Time to get serious.”
Jinguuji Tomoya casually threw aside his bent sword. There was no time to parse his ominous tone. A dreadful amount of mana surged from the boy’s body.
“I’ll destroy the Dimensional Cornerstones. Then, I’ll return to my world.”
“Wha...?!”
Gerd’s eyes widened at the unbelievable statement. If the Dimensional Cornerstones were destroyed, the world would collapse. That was one thing that could never be allowed. Gerd also couldn’t understand how that led to returning to Jinguuji Tomoya’s world. Destroying the Cornerstones wouldn’t allow him to go home, after all. Nevertheless, Jinguuji Tomoya was serious.
“I don’t got time to keep up appearances. I can’t afford to stop here.”
He spread his mana-made dragon wings behind him. The ferocious blow with his sword had been nothing but child’s play. The inherent ability within him was his true power.
“Don’t regret it.”
“Wai—”
Gerd screamed upon realizing what the boy was about to do, but it was too late. Jinguuji Tomoya’s mouth opened wide and let loose the destructive breath of a dragon—a torrent of pure mana. The torrent collided with the Barrier of Devotion, and as the boy turned his head, the tremendous power slammed against the underground corridor’s wall and finally broke through.