The most dangerous moment is not when the path ahead is pitch black, not when one agonizes among countless choices, and not when the heart is filled with doubt.
Rather, it is when everything feels clear, when one is certain that only one path remains, and when the heart overflows with belief. That is when humans become more dangerous than anything else—both to themselves and to this world.
At the end of her deliberation, the Thunder Society Master chose her belief.
Since lightning alone could not kill him, she drew a sword she rarely used. Exploiting the mist-filled gap, she ambushed him from behind. Overflowing with belief, she was an angel executing heaven's will, and the human king was neutralized without any proper response. Lightning flowing along the blade shook his body.
But only for a moment—the lightning dissipated in vain. It was his ability to discharge lightning. Now only the blade remained. To finish the job perfectly, the Thunder Society Master poured more strength into the hand gripping the sword.
At that moment, the blade snapped like a straw. The sharply standing steel along the sword's body crumbled away.
That was not all. A sinister energy encroached upon the space. Dangerous to others, but even more lethal to the Thunder Society Master who possessed a perfect body—it was the energy of Rust. The power that destroyed structures collapsed from the blade onward, reaching the Thunder Society Master.
The Thunder Society Master raised the power of thunder to protect her body. Since contact would discharge her thunder power, she had no choice but to separate from his body. As the blade that pierced his abdomen vanished, her body lost balance and fell forward with a thud.
The attack was fatal, but he was not yet dead. To confirm the kill, she had to move quickly. The Thunder Society Master spoke to Perlu.
[Withdraw your power, Rust Society Master.]
Perlu looked at the clearly abnormal Thunder Society Master with an expression of disbelief.
"...Why? Thunder Society Master, why him?"
[He is dangerous. For the sake of the city's future, he must be eliminated.]
"...That can't be right. How does killing... become a matter for the future?"
It was clearly a guarded attitude. Having witnessed someone being stabbed before her eyes, it was only natural. The Thunder Society Master exercised some patience and persuaded her.
[If you are also a ruler, you will understand. Some secrets can easily break this world. If you were to disclose every detail of the Bell of the Golden Mirror you possess, this country would not become safer. It would become even more dangerous.]
"...Is that a reason to kill?"
[He is the human king. The representative of all humans. Any secret he learns will eventually become the possession of all humans. Just as the king represents humans, humans also emulate their king.]
The Thunder Society Master reached out her hand. Lightning flashed from her hand, then groped through earth and rock to extract the iron scraps sleeping within.
Claudia was the largest city in the Ten Nations. Abandoned alchemical steel hid between the cracks of the earth. The Thunder Society Master swept her hand over the attached iron scraps. She too was a Society Master of the Ten Nations. Alchemy imbued with lightning polished away rust and grime, forging a sharp blade.
The Angel of Thunder aimed her lightning-filled sword once more. Toward the fallen human king, bleeding.
[Even if we overlook the Golden Mirror that has already been revealed to the world, I cannot let him learn the secret of the Lightning Thief. Because eventually, it will cast all humans into doubt. Because it will make them groan in anguish.]
Perlu was flustered.
The human king. She had heard of vampires, saints, and beast kings, but never a human king. Perhaps such a being existed, but that was a problem she might ponder once after solving all the life problems that had befallen her.
However, perhaps because he was such a being, he might have been traveling with the Progenitor.
Convinced, Perlu quietly nodded. Interpreting that as a sign of agreement, the Thunder Society Master said with a brightened expression.
[You understand. That's a relief. Then...]
The blade that had been radiating killing intent lost its light once more. The Thunder Society Master channeled lightning, but the lightning flowing through the crumbling blade was a burden, not power. The blade snapped cleanly from the middle.
Perlu, who had broken the sword in an instant, let out a deep sigh and spoke.
"...I am an alchemist. What I believe and follow is only the law of value. In killing him, there is no value whatsoever."
[Even if killing him protects the Ten Nations, and further, this future?]
"...Death is the loss of value. No matter the method, no matter the outcome."
[It's a step back to move everyone forward.]
"...It's different. It's not the same as retreating. A value once lost does not change into something else. It never... comes back."
Because she was the Rust Society Master who possessed the ability to eliminate value, those words carried exceptional weight. Certain that Perlu would not back down, the Thunder Society Master shook her head with regret.
[It cannot be helped. I intended to make you the Golden Society Master, entrust this country to you, and establish order.]
The Thunder Society Master threw the broken sword. The already crumbled and rusted sword didn't even make a sound. With empty hands, the Thunder Society Master spread her palm and reached toward the sky.
The Thunder Society Master was the strongest within Claudia. As long as she wasn't discharged by cowardly means, all power spread across Claudia was hers. Using the Thunder Society Master's hand as a lightning rod, the seeds of lightning permeating the clouds responded to her.
[I won't try to kill you. Survive on your own. Though I don't know how long you'll last with that broken body.]
Thunder catching. She who grasped the lightning swung her hand downward. Lightning flashed in the clouds, then connected heaven and earth. The torrent of power overturned the earth and shook heaven and earth.
After the deafening roar scattered far away and the mounds of kicked-up earth settled, pushed down by the clouds, the area the lightning had ravaged was revealed. Seeing the victims' state, the Thunder Society Master furrowed her brow.
Sharp iron spikes had risen up as if surrounding them. The Rust Society Master had responded with alchemy. The posture to counter lightning was good, but makeshift lightning rods of that scale couldn't block the aftermath of the lightning.
However, it wasn't the hastily made lightning rods that blocked the lightning.
"Ahaha! Father, you went around carelessly swinging your lower half, and in the end, you got stabbed in the belly by a woman? I knew this day would come!"
Hilde, who had appeared out of nowhere, stood holding white light in her hand.
Hilde, who had effortlessly blocked the lightning, examined the fallen Hughes from various angles. His abdomen was pierced and bleeding, and he appeared unconscious. A fatal wound, but to the point of losing consciousness...?
At that moment, Hilde saw the direction his fallen hand reached. He was tightly holding a kite string attached to the Thunder God's back. Snorting softly, she sighed and covered his wound with her hand.
"Sigh~. No response, so it's not even fun. As expected, Father's contents were tastier than his shell. Seeing him fallen, he just looks shabby and pitiful."
Then white light gathered, and his wound returned to its original state as if rewound.
The Thunder Society Master knew what that was. Though she had never seen it in her life, it too was related to faith. Without anyone teaching her, the Thunder Society Master understood what kind of technique it was and what it required, as if she had known from the beginning.
[Divine power?]
Healing takes time. Hilde, buying time, kindly explained.
"Yees~. 'I', despite how I look, have devout faith, you know~? I can recite the entire scripture? When the First Saint anointed her hands with oil and touched the afflicted, wounds healed and illnesses were cured. Recalling that verse and praying with all one's heart, lo and behold! The entire universe comes forth to work miracles!"
[I know! Why are you healing him? You must clearly know that this is the Heavenly God's will...]
Muttering, the Thunder Society Master received another piece of information and cried out.
[White-Faced One! That apostate!]
"Apostate? That's nonsense. How could someone who abandoned faith use divine power~?"
It was obvious common sense. Only humans with devout faith could use divine power. Divine power was a transcendent force granted by the Heavenly God looking down upon humans. Therefore, humans with insufficient faith who could not follow the Heavenly God could not use divine power...
...That was why Hilde became a taboo of the Holy Court.
Before becoming a Holy Sword, Hilde was an actress, and with her intense immersion into her roles, she performed the real thing. Even as a Holy Sword who used divine power through faith.
That was why the once most promising Holy Sword was dispatched to a place no one could find. To leave no room to consider what that meant.
[An apostate using God's power...!]
"Hehe. Curious, isn't it? Apostate, heretic. How do you steal and use God's power? Can it even be stolen? Is a god who has power stolen from them really omnipotent?"
Lightning from the Thunder Society Master poured down once more toward Hilde, who smiled after finishing emergency treatment. Having realized her identity, the Thunder Society Master poured out her power without any hesitation. However.
"Neither rain and wind, nor lightning and storm could prevent the Saint's arrival."
When Grana Hilde placed her hand on her chest and recited the prayer, the lightning 'missed'. Simply saying it missed was insufficient. The lightning abruptly changed direction as if avoiding Hilde and struck the ground.
An event that occurred once in the very distant past. A miracle said to have been personally performed by the First Saint. The anecdote of crossing the continent through storm and lightning transcended time and was realized through faith.
[Protection of Heavenly Ordinance...!]
"See~? 'I' can certainly use divine power. Even more skillfully than you! If so, isn't 'my' action also permitted by God?"
[Heretic!]
Even without the Protection of Heavenly Ordinance, a qi practitioner who had reached a certain level would not be greatly threatened by lightning. If one had formed heaven and earth and grasped its sense, it was possible to perform the feat of channeling lightning to the ground using qigong.
The only way to fight back was close combat. Instead of pouring down lightning, the Thunder Society Master imbued it back into her body. To personally execute the heretic and eradicate the barbarism.
Before the approaching Angel of Thunder, Hilde smiled gently.
"For your information, 'I' can also do this?"
Hilde crossed her hands and stroked her own shoulders. As if acting as someone lonely, with a mournful and pitiful face.
"'My' faith is a single sword. It shall cut evil with light and illuminate the way. O First Saint, watch over 'me'."
And Hilde drew blades of light from both shoulders. Breathing out deeply, Hilde spun the blades and murmured.
"Holy Sword, drawn."
The reason the Holy Swords were called the Holy Swords. Those who forged faith into blades were bestowed blessed weapons. They carried holy swords with transcendent authority in their breasts.
Without even being able to doubt it, Hilde was a devout believer. The blade forged from the faith in her heart proved it...
"Looks cool, right? How is it? Even with 'my' faith, the Holy Sword comes out!"
[You wretch!]
The Thunder Society Master's lightning-like fist fell. The destructive power of the fist wreathed in the power of thunder exceeded lightning itself. Against it, Hilde smoothly drew her daggers and deflected that fist. The fist slid off the crossed twin swords at an angle.
Hilde seized the gap from the deflected force and struck the Thunder Society Master's flank with qigong. With her stance broken, the Thunder Society Master couldn't respond. Instead, the Thunder Society Master moved her body as if countering with her leg. With a fierce collision, their energies repelled each other and pushed back.
Hilde dusted off her feet and spoke.
"Going so far as to hit my flank with your leg. Is the message that if your body is hard, you don't need strategy or technique? How barbaric."
[This too must be heaven's arrangement. I will root out all future threats here. You and the barbarism both.]
"Can you really do that? 'I' have drawn the Holy Sword, you know? Even with a vampire right beside me!"
Throughout their journey, Hilde had barely shown her divine power. It was because the Progenitor, who would tear apart anything related to the Heavenly God on sight, was watching with bloodshot eyes. The Holy Court's dedicated killing machine—sleepless, relentless, and powerful—had an uncanny intuition that ghost-likely detected and tracked the signs of divine power.
In the first place, no matter how much of a Holy Sword she was, she shouldn't have made a scene right under her nose. What confidence could have made her act?
There was also someone to redirect her anger toward. Hilde used divine power without reservation with the intention of summoning the Progenitor. In a moment, the vampire would come running and erase everything related to the Holy Court.
However, the Thunder Society Master answered as if she had already expected everything.
[If you're talking about the Progenitor, she cannot come.]