Since I was completely mute from my missing tongue, I couldn't verbally answer his greeting. Instead, keeping the heavy alchemical crate cradled tightly in my single right arm, I reached into the pocket of my blood-themed crimson trench coat with my right hand and pulled out my metallic S-rank status card. I extended it forward, allowing the pristine silver Luminous Knight crest that Chief Roman had just stamped onto it to catch the ambient candlelight.
Pope Corneas reached out, his soft, ring-adorned fingers taking the card. He held it up, his eyes scanning the glowing magical runes that translated my identity.
"Eirene… Ah, so you must be the heretic's little sister. Do not worry, child, I hold no insult or malice toward you for his sins. We unbranded and excommunicated him last month, purging his stain from our holy records. And yet, it is good to see you here. You were sent directly by Chief Roman, correct?" Pope Corneas murmured, his eyes widening slightly before his expression settled into a deeply calculating gaze. He handed the card back to me.
I offered a firm, silent nod of my shadowed hood.
"Well then, before we discuss the kingdom's business, here, spray some holy water over yourself to cleanse the road dust and remove any bad spirits or lingering miasma inside of you. Then, follow me." the Pope said, gesturing toward a beautifully carved crystalline basin resting near the altar, filled to the brim with glowing, blessed liquid.
A sudden, icy spike of tension flared deep within my chest. Beneath my trench coat, compressed against my back, were the massive, bat-like wings of a high-tier blood-sucking demon. I was technically still biologically human at my core, but my sixth evolution had drastically altered my physiology. I knew I couldn't refuse the Pope without raising immediate, fatal suspicions in the heart of the 8th District Cathedral.
I used Inspect on this holy water.
Holy water
Pure water that can kill unholy beings.
Reaching down, I picked up the small, silver mist-sprayer resting beside the basin. With a steady hand, I depressed the pump, letting a fine, shimmering mist of holy water settle over my gloved hand and wrist.
Sssss...
An immediate, sharp jolt of white-hot agony shot up my arm. The holy water stung and blistered against my skin, reacting violently to the demonic vitality flowing through my veins. It was a shocking, terrifying revelation. Because my fundamental soul and origin were still human, the blessed water wasn't powerful enough to kill me outright, but the sheer, burning intensity of the reaction made one thing abundantly clear: if a pure, roaming demon… like the Crimson Phantom persona I wore… were to be struck by this liquid, it would act as a devastating, debilitating weakness.
Suppressing a grunt of pain behind the absolute psychic barrier of my Leech's Hollow Mask, I subtly palmed the small silver vial of holy water, slipping it quietly into my purse alongside my remaining 1 gold and 49 silver pieces and Father Columbia's memorized Bible. It was a lethal tactical asset that I would absolutely keep for future use against roaming demons or the Immoral Knights.
"Very good,"
Pope Corneas said, completely oblivious to the demonic cells currently screaming beneath my sleeve. He turned on his heel, his pristine white and gold robes sweeping across the polished marble.
"Follow me to the upper sectors."
I scooped my heavy wooden crate of chemical precursors and titration flasks back up in my right arm. With the sweet, suffocating scent of lilacs trailing behind us, I followed the Pope's steady pace as we bypassed the grand altar and began climbing the tight, winding stone steps of the cathedral's massive, soaring top spire.
The tight, winding stone steps of the cathedral's spiraling tower finally opened up, giving way to the sprawling, high-ceilinged chamber that occupied the absolute apex of the spire. Up here, the suffocatingly sweet aroma of lilacs was entirely replaced by the sharp, static smell of pure, concentrated ozone. The ambient air vibrated with a low, rhythmic hum so intense it caused the glass flasks within my alchemical crate to rattle softly against the wooden dividers.
I stepped into the room, my boots clicking firmly against the polished stone flooring. Beneath the deep, protective cowl of my canvas hood, my single jade-green eye took in the staggering scene.
Arrayed across the vast, circular floor were twenty of the kingdom's highest-ranking mages. They were draped in heavy, rune-embroidered robes, their faces pale and slick with sweat from sheer physical and mental exhaustion. They stood perfectly spaced along the perimeter of a massive, intricately detailed geometric array carved directly into the bedrock of the tower. The lines of the circle glowed with a blinding, iridescent blue light, heavily imbued with thousands of units of raw mana that pulsed like a synchronized heartbeat.
Pope Corneas stepped toward the edge of the array, the golden threads of his pristine robes catching the violent magical glare. He turned back to look at the light-swallowing void of my Leech's Hollow Mask, his expression a mixture of fanatical devotion and absolute desperation.
"Eirene, what you see before you is a grand, ancient teleportation circle, but it is not meant for traversing distances across Andromeda. We are preparing to pierce the very veil of existence itself. We will pull a savior across the dimensional barrier from another world to protect our realm from the apocalyptic alliance of the roaming demons and the traitorous Immoral Knights. In these dark times, it is our only choice."
He gestured toward the exhausted casters, his eyes narrowing.
"These twenty master mages have been locked within this spire, continuously channeling their personal mana reserves for three grueling months without a single day of rest. They are completely desperate to stabilize the grid and initiate the summon. Every ounce of the Bureau's excess magic items and holy relics has been funneled straight into this floor."
I stood perfectly still, balancing the heavy wooden crate of tear gas precursors in my right arm while the dual Tommy guns and the Death Chant Shotgun rested like silent coat hangers against my hidden demon wings. Behind the absolute psychic barrier of my mask, my analytical mind began spinning at a furious pace. Pieces of a massive, grand puzzle were violently clicking into place.
Another world. Pulling souls across the dimensional barrier.
Suddenly, the origin of my own existence, the reality of the mysterious "reincarnated souls" Father Columbia was tracking with his soul-resonance magic, and the presence of individuals like the brunette, blue-eyed boy hiding in the 5th District tenements made terrifying, logical sense. This wasn't the first time the kingdom or the church had tampered with the fabric of reality.
"One thousand years ago, during the cataclysmic war that threatened to erase all mortal life, a legendary champion emerged, known in our scriptures simply as the Man Hero, he was the one who successfully fended off the primordial demon lords. In his final, apocalyptic battle, he unleashed a strike of such devastating, unimaginable magnitude that the shockwave literally shattered the unified landmass, splitting the world into the three distinct continents we navigate today."
The Pope took a step closer to the pulsing blueprint on the floor, the magical wind whipping at the edges of his white and gold vestments.
"Eirene, what we are executing here today is the forbidden Summoning Ritual. Those pulled across the dimensional rift from the outer worlds will arrive here, and the Goddess Elpis herself will directly respond to their transition. Their foreign souls will be instantly granted completely overpowered, god-tier abilities and unique cheat skills by the heavens. They are destined from birth to save our world from the encroaching darkness. And as a newly appointed Luminous Knight, your ultimate duty will be to stand by our side and protect the savior when the circle ignites."