Everyone froze in an instant.
The atmosphere turned so cold that in the vast plaza, the only sound that could be heard was the agonized groans of the fake Saintess.
“But this person is the Saintess!”
“She’s not the Saintess.”
I had definitely unleashed power toward the caster of the curse.
And as a result, that fake was now writhing in pain and bleeding, as you can all see.
The others tried to object, but after witnessing me drawing my aura and the fake Saintess screaming in pain at the same time, they couldn’t bring themselves to speak up and just mumbled awkwardly.
“!! You!!”
Just then, the fake Saintess who had collapsed to the ground in pain suddenly screamed at me.
Wondering what was going on, I turned my head toward her and our eyes met.
“Admit your guilt this instant and kneel before me!!”
Her pupils turned pink, and a mysterious wave suddenly swept over my mind.
Then, sparkling lights began to form around the crying fake Saintess. A sweet scent tickled my nose, and a strange sensation began to gnaw at my consciousness.
“If you kill that impostor right now, I’ll overlook your rudeness….just this once!”
“A mental attack, huh?”
“—Wh-What?! You?! Are you in your right mind?! How?! That was a full-power spell that used up all the yin energy I had stored!”
Charm.
A type of mental attack magic that forcibly instills affection in the target, disrupting rational thought and sound judgment.
However, since it directly interferes with another’s mind, it was impossible to cast unless the caster had exceptionally high magical aptitude or the target’s mental state was already on the verge of collapse.
“A swordsman must always be prepared for any kind of attack, anytime, anywhere. I protect my brain with aura, so ordinary mental attacks won’t get through.”
“Th-That’s absurd…”
That was something my master had always emphasized, over and over again.
Those who are physically strong tend to neglect their mental strength, which is why swordsmen are often particularly vulnerable to mental attacks.
My master had invited a mental-type mage and had them cast all sorts of spells on me, forcing me to train by building a mental barrier around my brain using aura. It was a painful and grueling process in many ways.
“The reason people don’t favor mental attack magic isn’t just because it’s difficult, though it is. But because it’s inefficient compared to the effort required. If it were truly powerful, every dog and their owner would be walking around casting charm spells.”
This kind of magic didn’t replace memories or emotions but merely overlayed a superficial illusion atop their original state.
Even if the effect could be amplified depending on the caster’s capabilities, the smallest distortion could break the spell, which was why most people avoided using it.
“Like this, for example.”
I gathered aura into my palm immediately, and sensing something, the fake Saintess rushed at me.
“Noctus Style, Ninth Form.”
Mirror Flower, Water Moon.
Smack—!!!
A wave of aura burst forth, washing over the entire crowd.
The spectators stirred from the sensation that swept past them, but when nothing seemed to happen, they began whispering to each other in confusion.
Of course nothing happened. This technique didn’t directly attack people.
And the true nature of this skill began to reveal itself….not among the spectators, but among some of the Church’s high-ranking officials who had followed the fake Saintess.
“I… I helped kill the Saintess…?”
“Why did I say that back then… Ugh, my head!”
“H-Huh…?”
Several priests and cardinals clutched their heads and started groaning in pain as they collapsed to the ground.
Even the knights guarding them looked flustered and confused at their sudden distress.
“Those who collapsed just now were probably the ones who fell under that fake’s charm. I don’t know exactly how, but it clearly wasn’t an ordinary kind of charm. Even someone at the level of a cardinal seems to have been affected.”
“Wait, then… those who didn’t collapse…?”
“What do you think? They were the ones she slept with, obviously. No reason to waste her charm on people already in bed with her.”
Not long ago, the fake had clearly mentioned something about “using all yin energy she had stored”.
If this ability had been limitless, she wouldn’t have said something like that. There must’ve been some kind of restriction when using her powers.
Roughly a third of the high-ranking officials had been swayed to her side through physical relationships, while the rest had their reason clouded and were manipulated through some kind of charm she’d acquired for unknown reasons.
“So remember this, knights. Every one of those men standing tall and proud right now….burn their faces into your memory. Not only did they lust after the bodies of believers, they also agreed to the execution of the real Saintess.”
I passed the flustered knights and went to the fake Saintess who was trembling on the ground.
“Name.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Your name.”
“E-Eris…”
“Right. The fake.”
She looked up at me with an expression that asked, “Then why bother asking?” But when she was met with my cold, expressionless stare, she averted her eyes without protest.
“That power. Where did you get it?”
“Ugh… uuh…”
“Think carefully. Would you rather be tortured until you’re broken and then cough up the truth, or just spit it out right now?”
“I-I got it! Someone suddenly appeared in front of me and said they’d help me become the Saintess!”
“Who?”
“Zelos!”
“!!!”
A name I once heard before.
A high-ranking member of the Heavenly God Church who had driven the imperial family to ruin for the sake of his own desire.
“I-I don’t know why he came to me! I-I just envied Tia… She was a Saintess even though we were both orphans! She got to live this amazing life while I was stuck in this nothing existence!”
The outburst of someone consumed by jealousy.
In stark contrast to her beautiful appearance, her rotten and festering inner self reeked so badly that it was almost unbearable to face.
“How exactly did you get that power?”
“I-I just received it. He said it looked like fun… that it was a gift for me… and that if I fulfilled just one command, I’d be granted eternal life and beauty…”
From what I gathered, Eris had received her power from a man named Zelos. She said it was a type of energy called yin energy, which she had heard could be gained through sexual relations with men.
Being a devout follower of the Church herself, she initially felt disgusted. But as her jealousy toward Hestia grew, she began sleeping with several corrupted high-ranking officials. With the yin energy she gained that way, she slowly brainwashed others and brought them over to her side.
However, the amount of yin energy she could collect and the intensity of its charm weren’t strong enough. It took a long time, and only now had she reached the point where she could finally carry out her plan to remove Hestia.
As I listened to her story, the pig of a cardinal, fearing that his own crimes would be exposed, tried to use the chaos as a chance to escape.
“Where are you going?”
Crash!
“Gah!”
“A pig who’s never worked out a day in his life thinks he can outrun someone who uses aura?”
Pathetically, he was tripped by me and fell, rolling across the floor in a ridiculous heap. I was already aware of his intentions.
“D-Do you think the Church will let you get away with such tyranny?!”
“Yeah.”
Crunch!!
“Aaaaargh!!!”
“What are you doing? Hurry up and pray to your god. If you’re truly innocent, wouldn’t divine punishment strike me and save you?”
To keep the cardinal from running again, I crushed his ankle underfoot.
A man who probably spent his entire life indulging in bribes and women…no way he had the strength to endure this.
His ankle crumbled easily, and he squealed like a pig, wailing in pain.
“D-Does it make sense for a Lord to persecute an innocent man like this?!”
“Innocent? Ha, give me a break.”
The sheer absurdity of his nonsense made me laugh out loud.
“What? You thought having a god behind you meant you could get away with anything? I don’t even know if that so-called god exists, but if I were a god, trash like you would’ve been struck down by lightning ages ago.”
“Ugh…!”
“And you know what? I’ve got someone backing me too. Not some invisible god, but a person way more reliable.”
Just then, with the sound of galloping hooves, a group clad in dazzling golden armor stormed in through the entrance of the execution ground.
The heavy atmosphere, as if shaking the earth itself, stirred the crowd. But they paid them no mind and charged straight toward me.
Step, step.
With disciplined footsteps, they surrounded us, and from among them, a woman soon stepped forward.
“…Good work.”
“It was nothing, Your Highness.”
Before coming here, I had roughly explained the situation to the princess and asked her to send the imperial elite knights.
Suspecting that the Heavenly God Church might be involved, the emperor had apparently agreed to deploy elite troops without hesitation.
Leading the troops herself, the princess boldly stormed the Church grounds. Her radiant golden hair shone as she sternly rebuked the stunned members of the Church.
“Imperial knights, seize them at once and bring them to the palace. They have ties to the Heavenly God Church. No excuses, take them all in immediately.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The church leaders tried to resist as the knights moved to arrest them, but those who had spent their lives in prayer stood no chance against the burly soldiers. Even the paladins, disheartened by the exposure of their leaders’ crimes, couldn’t bring themselves to stop it and could only watch as they were taken away.
“His Majesty deemed this a serious matter and sent his best troops. There is an existing treaty between the Imperial Family and the Church… but in a case like this, I think we can safely ignore it.”
“Yes, it seems we can proceed with their arrest—”
“Aww, and it was just about to get interesting~ What a shame~”
At that moment, a young child’s voice rang out from above.
What…? I didn’t even sense his presence.
Realizing that this wasn’t just any ordinary opponent, I lifted my head….and there, I saw a boy floating in midair.
“That guy…”
The princess stared at the floating child. Her eyes were filled with disbelief.
“A child? What is a child like that doing here…?”
“It’s him.”
“Hmm?”
“The one who controlled Her Majesty the Empress. The one behind this entire incident. It’s all him.”
“……What?”
At my words, the princess’s gaze turned to the boy with a murderous intensity, as if looking at her sworn enemy. Her eyes were filled with a deep, deadly intent.
“Oh my, Princess~ If you glare at me like that, it’s scary~ It was all just a little prank; no need to take it so seriously, right?”
“A prank? You call this a prank?!”
I quickly grabbed the princess’s shoulder, trying to calm her down before she could leap at him in rage.
Though she was still fuming, the princess, perhaps sensing that provoking someone whose identity and power were still unknown was unwise, held her tongue and watched my reaction closely.
“You’re Zelos?”
“Hmm? That’s right! I’m Zelos! Ah, and I know you too! Mars Noctus! The second Aura Lord of this era, right?!”
“…That’s right.”
“Hmmm… Originally, I was going to kill you for ruining the finale of this fun little play… but now you’ve shown me something even more interesting.”
“So I’ll forgive you! Oh, but still! You should be punished!”
Snap!
As the sound of his fingers snapping rang out—
“Uh…? M-My body! N-Noooo—!”
Eris, the fake saintess who had been dragged away in the knights’ custody, suddenly began to wither as if all the moisture was being drained from her body. She rapidly aged before finally collapsing into a shriveled, mummy-like corpse. She was dead.
“If you fail your mission, you should be punished~ What a shame. She had such a good amount of jealousy in her, but her abilities were just awful. I’ll have to be more careful next time, hmm~!”
Clang.
“Wha—?!”
Realizing the gravity of the situation, I quickly unleashed my aura and hurled it at the floating figure. But the attack only struck a mirage. His image shimmered and disappeared, cleanly cut in half by my aura.
– No need to get so worked up. I’m leaving now. Believe it or not, I’ve got a busy schedule.
His voice echoed throughout the plaza.
It seemed the figure we had been speaking to was merely a projection he had created.
– It’s a shame she couldn’t dispose of the saintess, but… oh well. We no longer need to fear her anyway.
– Look forward to it. Soon, our true king shall descend…
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