Orishin’s arbitrarily given name, “Tuon” became the official title by which the sword spirit was called.
The first reason:
“Kriel. It’s not a good idea to casually mention the name of one of the Seven Demon Weapons. Let’s call her something else for now.”
This was to conceal Gratuon’s true identity. After all, Tuon already bore some resemblance to the Seven Demon Weapons. A knight carrying a sword with the same ashen blade as Gratuon, and calling it by that very name?
The Holy Kingdom would put a bounty on my head that same day…
The second reason:
[Gratuon is, after all, the name of a defeated loser. Now that I have a new form and a new master, it’s only fitting that I receive a new name.]
The sword spirit itself seemed to prefer the name Tuon over Gratuon.
And so, Kriel’s appearance became rather strange. At his left hip hung Orishin’s horn blade. At his right hip was Tuon’s ashen cross-shaped sword.
And his main weapon, the greatsword was slung across his back. Orishin’s earlier quip about whether Kriel would need to fight with one sword clenched in his teeth now made a bit more sense.
Morgina who saw this had mixed feelings. From her perspective, it was unacceptable for an abomination like Tuon, who was a relic of the abyss, to attach itself to Kriel.
That said, just by appearance alone…
Her personal taste or, as whispered in secret rumors around the Holy City, she found the sight of him armed with weapons oddly fitting.
It wasn’t uncommon for followers of Eve Kaha, the goddess of fallen warriors, to find satisfaction in a vivid look at the battlefield.
Kriel, however, felt a strange unease under Morgina’s heated gaze.
“Your eyes are impure. Were you thinking of something strange?”
“Impure? Don’t be ridiculous. I was considering ways to solve your cursed predicament.”
“Is that so? My apologies.”
Though Kriel nodded his head in response, he was inwardly convinced that the eccentric saintess must have been imagining something strange.
[Hehe, everyone, let’s get moving. Don’t we need to reach the main temple of Eve Kaha quickly?]
With the urging of the spirit horse, Kriel and Morgina began to walk.
***
In the holy city of Temlis, the grand temples of each religious order were symbolic representations of their faith. Even churches that practiced frugality maintained a certain level of grandeur and refined sophistication in their temples.
The main temple of Eve Kaha was no exception. It exuded a restrained beauty with understated decorations like statues of ravens and wing-shaped reliefs.
But Kriel hadn’t expected the main temple of Eve Kaha to appear quite so “beautiful”.
The inner workings of temples were always like that. For example, the holy city of Temlis, being the most visited place in the Holy Kingdom, saw many travelers.
To catch their eyes, the great temples were lavishly decorated. However, they didn’t decorate the main temple, which was the true birthplace of each religion.
After all, those who would visit the main temple were either pilgrims or priests of the order anyway, and decorating it wouldn’t generate any significant financial return. It was a practical decision based on capitalism.
And as for the main temple of Eve Kaha, the birthplace of the faith of the Raven Goddess…
[Hey, is this even a temple?]
“…Well.”
To put it kindly, it was unique. To put it bluntly, it resembled a demon king’s castle.
Kriel didn’t mind the choice of location. Even if it was placed at the summit of a nameless mountain. After all, divine revelations often came in very high or very low places, or at least locations deemed extraordinary.
The sight of hundreds of ravens flying around, or the rows of ancient, leafless trees that complemented them, was easy enough to dismiss as, “Well, it’s the Raven Goddess, after all.”
But the culmination of this eerily vibrant mountain trail, where ravens perched in lines atop the lifeless trees, was a red lake.
The “red” wasn’t a poetic description of a sunset or autumn leaves reflecting on the water. Outside the black castle on the top of the mountain, there was a river that was connected in a circle like a moat, and the water was completely blood red.
Between the circular river and the castle, there was a real moat that drew a complex pattern. When you looked at it, including the moat connected to the castle, it looked like a huge magic circle was drawn around the black castle.
Ravens circled the black castle at the center of the magic circle. For some reason, the red mist rising from the castle was a finishing touch that made the temple look like a cousin of hell.
[Wow. This looks even more evil than a demon king’s castle. Eve Kaha’s sense of beauty is something else….]
Normally, when the horse spirit said something that irritated Morgina, Kriel would side with Morgina. After all, the spirit usually picked fights out of boredom.
But this time, Kriel had no choice but to agree with the horse spirit. Could it be that Morgina’s personality turned out the way it did because she grew up in a place like this? It felt like a perfect example to how much the environment impacts a child’s emotional development.
Of course, Morgina didn’t take the insult lying down.
“How dare you insult my order?”
[What pilgrim would visit a temple that looks like this? They’d run away in terror!]
Morgina enveloped her hand in red divine power and swung it at the horse spirit. It was becoming a sight so common that its absence would have felt strange.
The cross-shaped sword hanging at Kriel’s right waist buzzed faintly.
[Not sure about the rest, but this is quite a nostalgic scene. I like it.]
[See that? Even the Abyss relic likes it! I’m telling you, Eve Kaha has the weirdest taste!]
“Shut up! The problem is that you can’t appreciate this beauty!”
Watching the petty squabble between the angry saintess and the talkative spirit, Kriel gave a small nod to himself.
I’ll just go ahead without them.
Step by step, Kriel began walking toward the black castle. It was only much later that the two adversaries realized he was gone.
***
The blood-red liquid wasn’t water.
“Oh, that’s actual blood.”
[Damn it. Great Six Providences, aren’t you going to do something about your youngest goddess?]
“…It doesn’t smell like blood, though.”
“That’s because it’s special blood.”
Morgina raised her right hand and showed her palm. Every time she fought, her hand, which was pure white thanks to divine power, always swayed gently no matter how often it was cut.
“The miracles used by the priests of our church are basically about creating weapons using blood as a medium, right? This is an extension of that. Only the purest blood of the priests is collected to make weapons. Not the disposable kind made and discarded with divine power, but the finest ones bestowed upon true warriors.”
[So, it’s like a kind of furnace? Hey, Tuon, want to take a swim in there?]
“What are you doing?”
Kriel stopped Orishin, who had been staring at the cross-shaped sword and spouting strange words. It looked as though he was about to carry the sword in his mouth and dip it into the blood.
[Your sword said it ‘liked’ that, didn’t it? According to what the violent saintess said, the blood flowing there isn’t biological blood but rather divine power in the form of blood. I’m curious if there’s any kind of rejection reaction to divine power.]
At first, Kriel was about to object to the phrase “your sword” but after hearing the rest of the explanation, he found it intriguing. Inwardly, he hoped Tuon would respond positively.
[I don’t listen to those weaker than myself.]
It was a firm rejection.
***
There was no gatekeeper at the entrance to the Eve Kaha main temple. Morgina raised the hammer forged from blood and divine power high in the air and struck the castle gate as if striking a gong.
Boom—
A deep, heavy reverberation echoed, and the gate began to open without so much as a creak.
[Great Six Providences, what are you going to do about your youngest goddess…?]
Orishin muttered in shock at the barbaric sight. He was appalled that this was the proper method of entry.
Morgina ignored his lament entirely and grabbed Kriel, pulling him along.
“Let’s go. Since we’re here, we should pay our respects to the High Priestess.”
“Shouldn’t we, as outsiders, wait in the reception room?”
“Outsiders? What nonsense.”
Morgina smiled faintly.
“You’re our church’s champion now, aren’t you?”
Upon reflection, the original reason for visiting the Eve Kaha main temple had been to step down from the position of Champion. Yet, Kriel found himself reluctantly following Morgina to meet the High Priestess.
The interior of the black fortress was more ordinary than he had expected. In other words, it was much like any other temple, with priests quietly going about their daily lives.
The priests of Eve Kaha prayed in silence, fed the ravens, and occasionally sparred or meticulously polished their weapons.
Instead of exchanging greetings aloud, Morgina and the priests simply bowed to one another in quiet acknowledgment. To Kriel, who was accustomed to seeing Morgina rampage with her mace, the sight was strikingly different.
It reminds me of when I first came to the Western Army.
At the time, he’d thought she was merely a quiet priestess of a minor faith. Shy, soft-spoken, and oppressed because of the weak standing of her church.
Admittedly, she hadn’t spoken much back then, but not because she was timid. The truth was she had been fuming, silently debating whether or not to crack the skulls of the thuggish knights who mocked her with the words that “she had nothing but her badge of priesthood as proof of her role.”
Knock, knock.
The sound of a knock pulled Kriel from his thoughts. The door, which seemed far too plain to belong to the High Priestess’s chamber, stood before them.
“Grandma, it’s me—”
“Come in.”
Kriel was stunned. He’d heard Morgina call the High Priestess “Grandma” a few times before, but to address her so directly, even in person?
The High Priestess’s calm acceptance of the term meant it was an entirely ordinary way to address her. Since the Eve Kaha church didn’t forbid its clergy from marrying, it was even possible they were truly related.
But the glimpse of the elderly figure visible through the now-open door prompted Kriel to reconsider.
The High Priestess’s warm and gentle demeanor seemed far too kind to suggest any familial connection to Morgina.
“I’m here. And this is—”
“I know. The central temple already sent word. They said you arbitrarily appointed a new Champion.”
“Arbitrarily? Do you have any idea how talented he is?”.
“What I mean is not that you appointed someone unqualified, but that you forced the position on someone who didn’t want it.”
Morgina averted her gaze in silence.
As Morgina fell quiet, the High Priestess turned her attention to Kriel.
“So, you’re Morgina’s Champion.”
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