Chapter 13
✠Bianca could not believe the scene before her eyes.
An extraordinary change occurred to the friend who had stepped forward as if to protect her. Ailet's body was enveloped in white light, and her feet lifted off the ground.
Her cherry blossom-colored hair changed into a brilliant silver, and her peridot-like eyes shone with a golden hue.
Cloaked in a divine power so intense it made one tremble, Ailet's figure was as alien as an otherworldly being.
In that state, Ailet faced the fearsome undead necromancer.
"Aqueous Barrier."
"No way!"
"Divine Punishment."
"Uwaaah!"
"Healing."
"Kweeek!"
The dungeon master turned to ashes and vanished in an instant.
'D-Did she defeat it?'
The change in the dungeon's environment answered Bianca's question.
The red moon melted away like ice cream, the darkness lifted, and a clear sky was revealed.
Against the backdrop of a cloudless azure sky, Ailet turned to look at Bianca.
'Ailet...'
Bianca looked up at Ailet, feeling overwhelmed. The miraculous savior before her seemed like the very Second Coming of God.
At that moment, Ailet let out a *phew* sigh and released her Divine Descent.
Her floating body landed safely on the ground, returning to her original appearance.
"Let's see. The rewards are... one passive skill and one special item. Infamy Echoing Through the Undead World? Grave Robber's Treasure Bag? I'll have to check them properly later."
Ailet, who had hastily picked up the old book and satchel, turned back to Bianca.
"It's all over. Let's just go back..."
"Ai!"
"Via?"
Bianca grabbed Ailet's hand and brought her face close.
Her rabbit-like red eyes were filled with overwhelming emotion.
Ailet was already a precious friend she had barely managed to make. Having gone through hardship and adversity together on top of that, their friendship couldn't help but deepen.
Furthermore, the emotion Bianca felt was not just that.
"Ai, you were an apostle of God! Right? Isn't that so?"
"Huh?"
"You defeated a Baron-level demon all by yourself so easily. To have such immense divine power at your age, you must be an apostle of God. Aren't you?"
"Uh... Yeah."
Since she was the first believer of the 'Word that Constructs the World', it was a perfect deduction.
As she nodded her head, a slight dew formed at the corners of Bianca's eyes.
"Ah... God hasn't abandoned this world, and has sent you to us."
Then, a message only visible to Ailet popped up.
[
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'T-This is... a pyramid scheme!'
Unintentionally, Ailet had stepped into a pyramid business.
Bianca started asking Ailet this and that.
"Then will you join the subjugation corps later and subjugate dungeons and stuff?"
"Ah, right. I guess it'll probably turn out like that... *sniff*."
Bianca's question made Ailet seriously reflect on her career path.
Having possessed a novel with S-rank survival difficulty, it seemed she couldn't escape such a fate either.
Since it was a route where the protagonist wasn't fulfilling their role, the probability was high that she had to bring about salvation herself.
Meanwhile, Bianca's eyes sparkled as if she were too excited.
"I want to help too!"
"Hm?"
"I can't fight, but I can do other things. If you're going to travel all over the Serentra continent doing subjugation activities, you'll need a guild headquarters, right? As the next Count Gillet, I'll fully support you. Leave the personnel management, fund management, and various administrative tasks of the subjugation guild entirely to me."
"Uh... Really?"
"Yeah! Use me as your adjutant. I'm really confident I can do a good job."
"T-Thank you, Via."
"I'm more thankful."
Bianca smiled shyly with a flushed face.
"Ai is my savior. Thank you so much."
"Via..."
It was just about when Ailet was starting to feel a bit off.
"Uh, huh...?"
"Ai?"
Her head spun, and extreme vertigo struck Ailet.
[
'Ah, there really is no such thing as a free lunch in the world.'
Divine Descent was too much for a body without divine power. Ailet resolved not to recklessly abuse her skills.
"Via... I'll leave the rest to you."
"No, Ai! Don't die! We finally became friends, I can't let you go like this!"
"I'm not dying..."
Thud!
Ailet dramatically collapsed into Bianca's arms and lost consciousness.
✠That day, an uproar occurred in the Holy Kingdom of Elfenheim.
"He! He has come!"
"Oooooh!"
The Grand Cathedral located in the depths of the Holy Imperial Court.
Even though it was not a special feast day, the cardinals had gathered in one place. They shed tears of joy as they looked at the auspicious white light shining down on the Altar of Oracles.
At their center, the aged Pope also reddened his eyes and devoutly made the sign of the cross.
"Ah, the Altar of Oracles is reacting strongly! This is... this is clearly a Divine Descent!"
The cardinals rejoiced and shouted.
"I told you I felt an extraordinary divine power a few weeks ago! God has answered our earnest prayers!"
"As expected, the merciful One True God would not just stand by and watch His creations perish!"
"Not granting us an oracle for a hundred years was merely a test of our faith!"
"We believe! We believe, O Order and Goodness of all things!"
Fitting for a dying world, signs of being abandoned by God were appearing on the Serentra continent.
The most representative were the increasingly weakening divine power and the oracles that had long since been cut off.
But now, a Divine Descent, which had only occurred a few times in history, had taken place. This was a tremendous grace that couldn't even be compared to an oracle.
In a dying world, salvation is all the more desperate. It was only natural to feel overwhelmed with emotion.
At that moment, there were cardinals who poured cold water on the joyful atmosphere and voiced their own opinions.
"We cannot simply rejoice. The place where the Divine Descent occurred is estimated to be the Kingdom of Winchester, not within our Elfenheim Holy Kingdom."
"That is right. The fact that the vessel to contain this grace was born outside the Holy Kingdom is a painful reality."
It was a somewhat nationalist statement, but everyone generally agreed.
"There shouldn't be a vessel of that caliber in the Kingdom of Winchester, so it is truly strange."
"Couldn't they be an unaffiliated powerhouse who was hiding their power in a rural church or something?"
"Regardless, it is unacceptable for such a precious person to be in a land full of infidels!"
"That's right. We must bring them to the sanctuary quickly and enthrone them as a Great Saint or Great Saintess."
"Let's organize a search party immediately!"
The cardinals actively exchanged opinions with one another.
Before they knew it, the Grand Cathedral had become a conference hall for the powerful responsible for the Holy Kingdom.
Meanwhile, there were others peeking at the divine light from the 4th-floor balcony of the Grand Cathedral.
Young boys in white robe uniforms indicating their affiliation with the Holy Imperial Court. They were some of the special children the religious order was painstakingly raising under the pretext of saving the world.
Looking at their bodies, they shared a common feature: somewhere on each of their bodies was engraved a holy stigma that forcibly unlocked divine power.
Right now, those children were deeply displeased.
"What about all that talk about us being the hope to save the world?"
"It worked out fine. World salvation didn't suit my aptitude anyway. I might as well return to secular life at this opportunity."
"You're talking about returning to secular life? You think the order will just let us go?"
"Yeah. They won't?"
"Uh, no. Even if world peace comes, they'll work us to our deaths for the rest of our lives as a force to keep the Kingdom of Winchester and the Lagneif Magical Republic in check. Why else would they purposely pick up only orphans and implant stigmas in us?"
"Wow, now that you mention it, you're right. You're pretty smart, aren't you?"
"It's just that you're lacking."
"Hmph, you wanna fight?"
"No, don't bully the frail supporter."
When the black-haired boy quickly changed his stance, the blonde boy smiled pleasantly and backed down.
The two boys, having finished their bickering, suddenly looked to the side as if they just remembered something.
"But why is he so quiet... Hey, hey, your eyes are going to pop out."
Near the railing where the two's gazes gathered, there was another boy.
"......"
He was a boy with beautiful silver hair and eyes that seemed to hold the sea, his appearance like that of an angel in a sacred painting.
As if not only his gaze but also his soul had been stolen, the boy was staring blankly at the light pouring down on the Altar of Oracles.
The other two boys muttered loudly enough for him to hear.
"Look at his eyes sparkling so brightly."
"Just like the guy who hogs all of God's love. The railing is old, so be careful, okay?"
The silver-haired boy didn't react, acting as if he couldn't even hear them. Feeling irked by this, the two boys took the same side this time.
"Hey, isn't that actually a look of jealousy?"
"Right? Since it's proof that someone more beloved by God than him has appeared."
Only then did the silver-haired boy turn to look at them.
"Jealousy is one of the seven deadly sins. Even as a joke, that's problematic."
"...Ah, shit. He's so obnoxious whenever he acts like this. He always talks just like those old cardinal grandpas and grandmas."
"Huu, you have to be at least that level to receive the favor of 'Strict Order and Goodness'."
"If even one decent tank or healer came in, I wouldn't hang out with him."
"Oho, but you'll keep hanging out with me?"
"...Ha, never mind, I'll just drop out."
Amidst the two's bickering, the silver-haired boy stroked the stigma on his left wrist and swallowed a sigh secretly.
'It's truly because I find it troubling.'
...However, the problem was that he couldn't explain the circumstances.
Anyway, that wasn't what was important right now.
The pale sea-colored eyes turned back toward the altar narrowed.
'Is it just my imagination? It feels a little different from the presence of 'Strict Order and Goodness'.'
Even thinking about it, it seemed absurd.
A saintess, or a saint, being a heretic.
The boy quickly discarded the blasphemous suspicion and looked at the light again with devout eyes.
'Who could it be.'
Curiosity arose as strongly as thirst.
Desire dwelled in the eyes of the young protagonist chasing the light, Tesilid Argent.
Privilege for the Possessor