Chapter 29: Chapter 218

"What did you say?"

Instead of responding verbally, I took a deep breath to show her what I meant. As I exhaled a slow, powerful breath, the gust of air wrapped around my body, enshrouding it as if I had swung a cloak of wind across my shoulders.

"No way", Lucretia muttered.

Revealing the concentrated divine energy in my body, I confessed, "I'm Tier 9."

The saintess gasped. Noticing the look of shock on her face, I murmured the activation spell, which was also the name of the transcendent skill I had purchased for the first time for seven thousand cash.

"Divine Inviolability!"

The ultimate skill that canceled all attacks wrapped around me like a suit of armor.

✠

Lucretia felt helpless for the first time.

But how?! Her fists, which glowed with the bright light of destruction, the concentrated divine power, and her perfectly crafted martial arts merged together to form a monstrous force. Each blow was powerful enough to pulverize flesh and shatter bones as they landed one after the other, but none of them had the slightest bit of impact on Ailette.

"That sort of stings," the young woman muttered. This was the most she could draw out from her opponent.

What kind of insane skill is this?! Lucretia felt as if she was slamming her fist into a thick stone wall. She clenched her teeth and punched with all her might.

Wham!

It worked! Her fist landed square on Ailette's left shoulder, and she felt an uncontrollable thrill of excitement at the prospect of regaining the upper hand. However, that wasn't what happened. She barely had time to process a swooshing sound as Serpens flew toward her, for Ailette had used the momentary paralysis Lucretia experienced upon landing a successful blow to make a move.

She let me hit her! Lucretia instantly shifted to the side the moment she realized this, just in time to avoid a direct strike. Pieces of her pale blond hair that Serpens had managed to sever fluttered through the air to the ground. There was no time to catch her breath as both fighters immediately pivoted into their next moves.

Brilliant sparks of light decorated the sky as their divine powers clashed, filling the area with the sound of fists and a whip sword swinging through the air. But Lucretia was the only one suffering any damage. As Ailette flung her sword about herself, the younger woman void of any expression on her face, Lucretia glared.

I need to do more. That is when she decided that she'd attack with the ultimate move to finish the battle before she could be defeated.

Rip.

She widened her stance, enough to tear the side seams of her dress on both sides, then took five large steps back as if she was gliding on water. Witnessing this, Ailette narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

She's backing up? Ailette instantly unleashed her whip sword, which wound like a serpent through the air toward her enemy.

Ignoring this dangerous attack, Lucretia kicked off from the ground. She grunted as she transferred all of her weight into a sprint, linking her fingers together and concentrating divine power between the palms of her hands. Her target was Ailette's stomach.

If the enemy is a castle wall—

As she swung her arms down, screaming the rest of her threat aloud.

"Then let this punch be a battering ram!"

Unfortunately for Lucretia, Ailette was quick to react. Serpens rapidly snapped into place just in time to protect the young saintess from the deadly blow. She was able to push the force to the side by twisting her sword, which resulted in her right shoulder getting hit instead of her stomach.

Wham!

Ailette's body was thrown upon impact, her back smashing into the cross that was behind her.

"Ugh!"

Her faint moan made it clear that Lucretia had successfully broken through her Divine Inviolability and landed an effective blow. Lucretia also felt the delicious impact on her fists, but she clenched them again as she knew she wasn't done yet.

"I shall nail you to the cross!"

Immense divine power pooled in her fists to the point that they began to vibrate, just before she landed a second blow into Ailette's chest.

Boom!

The explosive force that reverberated out from their collision created a crater in the ground, causing the land to split and throwing debris into the air. Lucretia was pushed back by the shockwave, her feet skidding against the dirt as she was flung away from the epicenter of the collision.

What resulted was utter devastation, as the backlash of their attacks had ignited the area in flames. The fire was so large that it looked as if a mass sacrifice was being carried out. Lucretia wiped away the sweat on her chin roughly.

Good! That should've—

That was when a flash of light slashed through the towering flames.

"What?!"

Out of the flames, the winding body of the whip sword infused with aura violently flew toward Lucretia. She managed to dodge the intended blow, but still suffered damage to her side.

"Ugh!"

She didn't even get a chance to heal before she had to use both hands to block the whip sword once again.

She's still able to fight back?! She couldn't believe it. As the whip sword suddenly retracted, Lucretia managed to look up and scan for her opponent, wanting to check Ailette's condition. The young saintess should have been smashed into the cross, rendered completely immobile, yet Agnes couldn't find her.

Where is she?! Ailette had vanished from sight. Shocked and confused, a cold drop of sweat rolled down the back of her neck, when she suddenly heard the clanking sound of the whip sword again. This time it was coming from overhead.

A shadow in the shape of a cross loomed above Lucretia. Disbelief seeped into her eyes, for Ailette was in the air now, stubbornly having taken the weight of the cross with her. Her pink hair flung around in all directions under the shadow created by the cross she carried, but her green eyes glistened brighter than ever—they were the eyes of a predator that was about to catch its prey.

Crack!

Running away wasn't an option, for white thorny branches that had burst out of the ground were already wrapped around Lucretia's feet. She instinctively threw her right fist toward Serpens as it came down upon her with a force that seemed great enough to split the world.

Thud!

Light consumed her vision at the impact of their collision.

✠

"I lost..."

Thump.

Saintess Lucretia's legs gave out as she calmly admitted her defeat. Her body lost balance the moment her knees hit the dirt, so I quickly dashed over and helped her lay more comfortably on the ground.

"You fought well," I said, my words sincere.

"It's annoying how perfectly fine you are right now, Your Eminence."

"Ha, well..."

"What an unbelievable skill. Tell me honestly. You purposely received my attack when you were slammed into the cross, right?"

I admitted, "You caught me." After all, wasn't this the perfect time to test the full capability of this skill? I wanted to know how much damage Divine Inviolability could withstand. "It did hurt, though. I had to swallow a lot of blood after that blow."

"Hmph..." she said skeptically.

Saintess Lucretia had obviously used all her strength in that attack, so it wasn't surprising to me that my attempt to console her was unsuccessful. With that, she closed her eyes as her body began to slowly turn to smoke.

Hoping I could chat with her a little bit more, I asked her without much expectation, "Your Holiness, why don't you convert? Your descendant is a believer of Voiceism too."

"I must kindly decline, as I spent my entire life serving the Strict Order and Goodness."

She gave the ideal answer of a saintess, but I was sharp enough to notice a slight hesitation before she spoke.

"Then you can serve Order and Goodness in body and serve Voiceism in heart."

"That is but a play on words..."

"If you convert right now, I will name the second church of Voiceism after you. What do you say?"

Saintess Lucretia shot her eyes wide open, the glint in them betraying her undeniable interest. I waited a moment in silence as to not pressure her.

"I-I'll think about it."

With that vague statement, her body finally scattered away into nothing.

Well, I guess I have to leave her conversion up to someone else.

⟬«System» Congratulations. You have acquired the right to pass the fifth gate of [The Pilgrim's Path]. Would you like to collect your reward?⟭

"Yes."

A new map appeared in my hand. Excited to find out what the map would lead to this time, I took a closer look.

⟬«MISC» [Map to the Secret Safe of the Master of the Black Market].

Marchioness Gibrelte, well known in the Demon Realm as the embodiment of materialism.

A map that shows where her hidden secret safe is. Take every last coin when you happen to drop by [The Black Market of Joy].⟭

Wow, this is the real deal! I happily put the map in the inventory, then looked forward and noticed that the snowstorm had put out the flames. Another twisted path was now visible beyond the gigantic triumphal arch, beckoning for me to approach.

Wearing my gloves again, I tugged on the cross as I muttered, "Ugh, everything hurts."

The sixth gate was waiting for me somewhere over the hill, urging me to take my next heavy steps.

Preparing for Reunion

Ailette had designated a week for her holiday, yet it had been over two weeks in the real world since Ailette and Tesilid left for the Wevrille Island. Therefore, it was given that those closest to them were beginning to worry. The most concerned of them all was Grand Duke Heathfenrir.

"Edgar! Have you heard from my granddaughter and grandson-in-law yet? Goodness! What are we going to do?"

"Relax, Father," Elthea muttered to the muscular, older man pacing around the living room. She was focusing on something else even as she responded. "Wow. You look so pretty, Hilde."

"T-thank you."

She wore a satisfied smile as she looked at the colorful ribbons she'd placed in Hilde's platinum blonde hair. This was a hairstyle she often did for Ailette as a child, but it also suited Hilde quite well.

"Ugh..."

Having been scolded by his daughter once already, Grand Duke Heathfenrir couldn't do anything else but groan in misery until his son-in-law came to the rescue.

"Here is a special potion that calms the nerves. Why don't you drink this, Your Grace?"

"Thank you, my son!"