Chapter 36 – The New Inquisitor

As if she had only been looking for an excuse to kill,

the moment that excuse was visible, she slaughtered the bishop without hesitation.

Numerous believers who witnessed the bishop’s death before their eyes were astonished.

“Sir Aria…”

Among them was Paladin Lampel.

Their confusion was brief.

Soon, thick demonic energy threw their minds into confusion.

Even though it was indeed the archdemon that the bishop had taken the lead in summoning, they denied it and perceived her, Rashid, and even the inquisitor all as their enemies.

“How could you do this to His Excellency the Bishop? No matter if you are Sir Aria, we cannot let this pass. You are a sinner who assassinated the head of this diocese and His Excellency the Bishop. And you are a minion of the archdemon who interfered with the manifestation of Archangel Lord Arkan. You will never be forgiven.”

Starting with Paladin Lampel, the clerics who could not resist the demonic energy drew their weapons all at once.

Their blades were pointed at her, and she, having confirmed their hostility, did not look particularly flustered either.

Rather, she asked back calmly.

“Was it not an archdemon? That is how it looked to my eyes.”

“An archdemon? It was Archangel Lord Arkan! Sir Aria, have you fallen prey to the demon’s tricks? It is truly disappointing. I highly esteemed you as a relative of His Excellency the Director of Palace Affairs. How could you…”

Raising the halberd that had struck down the bishop, she aimed it at them.

“Just attack all at once. It seems communication is impossible.”

Lampel’s body, drawing out the power of his mana armor, vanished, and soon he unleashed a blue sword strike toward her.

Although it came in quite sharply, his sword strike was blocked by the lightly swung halberd, and sparks flew from the colliding weapons.

The freely swung halberd pushed Lampel back fiercely, and Lampel, yielding to the power of the halberd, backed away and stood at a distance.

“Even if you are the recipient of two medals! You will not break my fighting spirit, which has taken refuge in God. Clerics!”

In tandem with his shout, the numerous clerics stationed around rushed toward her all at once.

Undaunted, she swung her halberd and began to sweep them all away as if slaughtering them.

She was not the only one for whom battle began in such a way.

Armed clerics were also surrounding Rashid.

“Honorary Cleric. I never imagined you would be a minion of the demon.”

“You too will absolutely never be free from His Excellency the Bishop’s death.”

“Archangel Lord Arkan says: Kill you.”

Thinking that dialogue was unnecessary, Rashid took a stance with his sword.

After a brief confrontation,

the clerics armed with various weapons rushed in all at once, and Rashid swung his sword against the charging clerics, cutting them down.

Soon, corpses of clerics began to pile up here and there, and the same was true for her, who was slaughtering clerics nearby.

‘She is sweeping them away completely.’

He was also cutting down clerics, but the number of corpses she piled up was overwhelming.

‘Although there is a difference in mana armor, over there, she is rather enjoying it.’

That woman.

Unlike before, why did he feel she was not threatening but somehow useful?

Was it because of what Kaiser had said?

‘The Dark Blood Ghost… If only I can control her, she will be a quite useful blade.’

In the path he would walk forward, this level of battle and fighting would be inevitable.

Even then, if she was helpful to the degree she was now,

it was an obvious fact that she would be quite useful.

‘For now, I must observe.’

As time passed,

a gap opened above the corpses of the clerics strewn on the floor, and Scarver, who had fled earlier, revealed his form.

And following Scarver, Inquisitor Ludrick also made an appearance.

‘As expected of a hunter of the Jaeger family. No one can match that inquisitor when it comes to making demons surrender.’

To the extent that ‘Jaeger’s Blood’ existed as a player trait,

it possessed absolute power in dealing with demons.

The same was true for the archdemon.

Since the aggro of all the clerics located outside the cathedral was monopolized by her, who put forward her halberd,

Rashid could now turn that attention entirely to Scarver.

‘Anyway, everything will end only when I catch him.’

However, the opponent was an archdemon.

The risk was too great to attack without mana armor.

And although Inquisitor Ludrick was fighting well, if he collapsed, no one would be able to stop Scarver.

‘Do I have no choice but to wear it?’

Armor Lucifer.

Since it possessed the power of the same archdemon, it would certainly help in catching Scarver.

The problem

lay in the armor itself.

‘Can I explain it?’

He thought of various things, but as expected, explaining it seemed difficult.

First of all, as a cleric, having an unclean mana armor imbued with the power of a demon was a problem in itself.

If Inquisitor Ludrick had a fairly flexible mind, he might quietly overlook it,

but that was a stroke of luck.

‘Since I have to retrieve the demonic sword anyway, I have no choice. I must help him in secret.’

Having finished his thoughts, Rashid hid inside the building under the guise of fighting.

A moment later,

Rashid, clad in pitch-black mana armor, lowered the visor of his helmet to conceal his identity.

As he drew out the power of the mana armor, unclean energy enveloped him, and subsequently, an exploding force tore through the surrounding air and threw him into the middle of the battlefield.

‘What is that?’

The pitch-black knight who suddenly appeared was a mystery to everyone.

The same was true for her, who was slaughtering the clerics.

‘Class 2? No, Class 1?’

The unidentified knight passed by as if ignoring her and headed straight for Scarver.

At this moment, Inquisitor Ludrick, who was fighting Scarver, felt an unclean energy approaching him.

‘Was there another archdemon?’

Inquisitor Ludrick looked at the pitch-black knight of unknown identity.

Although he was filled with unclean energy just like Scarver, he did not possess the hostility that ought to be there.

“Who are you? I feel the power of another archdemon from you.”

The pitch-black knight, who did not even offer a reply, acted as if he did not care about him.

He began to swing the Holy Blood Spear toward Scarver.

Unlike the flustered Ludrick, Scarver recognized his identity instantly.

‘Lucifer…’

The same archdemon and the first demon.

Since they were not usually on good terms, Scarver began to fight the pitch-black knight with strong hostility.

Although he could not understand the reason,

Ludrick could not just stand still either.

‘There is no hostility. If there is, it is confined to that demon.’

Was this an opportunity?

Since it was certain that there was no hostility toward him,

Ludrick could also quickly determine his priority.

Deciding to target Scarver first.

A hunter possessing the blood of the Jaeger family and a pitch-black knight putting forward the Holy Blood Spear.

Once the two monsters attached themselves to him, Scarver also instinctively felt his defeat.

He urgently called together the clerics he had toyed with, but the majority of them were already dead.

At the moment of crisis, Scarver used his last remaining opportunity to regress time.

Subsequently, in the timeline he returned to, afterimages no longer remained, and this was detected by Rashid.

‘The power of the demonic sword has run out.’

The fact that afterimages did not remain meant he had lost all opportunities granted by the demonic sword.

Since the end of the fight was drawing near, Rashid also had no hesitation.

Double-edged time.

Tearing through time, Rashid dug in fiercely and targeted Scarver’s heart.

He was already busy dodging the magic bullets of Ludrick rushing at him.

The pitch-black knight charging at him with the Holy Blood Spear was next to a disaster for Scarver.

‘Lucifer!’

In the timeline recognized by Rashid and Scarver,

their joys and sorrows crossed, and Scarver, who could no longer escape by the power of the demonic sword,

had no choice but to meet his end, pierced by the Holy Blood Spear Rashid thrust out.

In order to mock everyone,

by the decisive weapon against the archdemon he had permitted himself,

he ended up meeting his end.

“Who are you?”

Scarver was dealt with, but the mysterious knight still remained.

Ludrick sought to confirm who he was as a priority.

The knight, who did not answer, first secured Scarver’s demonic sword.

“Did you come… to collect his soul?”

It was clearly visible to Ludrick’s eyes.

Inside the giant mana stone located in the center of the knight,

Scarver’s soul was flowing in.

‘My goodness. He just left.’

The pitch-black knight, having achieved his goal, vanished abruptly, leaving Inquisitor Ludrick in the spot.

And Aria approached his side.

“Who was that person just now? He looked like a knight.”

“I do not know either. He just caught Scarver and left abruptly.”

“Is he an enemy?”

Since he was enveloped in unclean energy, those words came out first.

“Whether he is an enemy or not, I do not know. At least, it seemed he had no interest in us.”

* * *

The Weiman Direct Domain now escaped the demon’s clutches and returned to daily life.

Inquisitor Ludrick, at the Heresy Inquisition Bureau he returned to,

stood in a position facing the two candidates.

He seemed to have firmed up his decision to some extent.

“Aria Sanctum.”

She, whom Ludrick called, possessed an intellectual appearance wearing glasses and was dressed in a neat sister uniform.

“Your contribution in this matter was not small. You annihilated the branch knighthood that was threatening the order, and you also took charge of almost all the clerics whose minds were drifting when dealing with Scarver. Perhaps if you had not been there, I could not have guaranteed the outcome of the matters there.”

She smiled faintly.

“I simply did what I naturally had to do.”

“However, I decided to give this inquisitor position to Rashid, not you. I believe you know the reason without me having to explain it?”

She wore a bitter smile reluctantly.

At the same time, she showed an expression of acceptance.

“I expected you would do so. Perhaps I would have done the same. Since the Honorary Cleric here was objectively better than me.”

To think she would admit it so readily.

Rashid glanced sideways at her, wearing a look of surprise.

“I tend to admit what needs to be admitted cleanly. If someone is more capable and competent than me, there is no need to feel treated unfairly. Since it is a fact that he was better than me there.”

“Do not be too disappointed. The time was merely delayed for a while. It is an almost certain fact that you will become an inquisitor. In terms of background and ability, you are also a person who is not lacking at all to become an inquisitor.”

“Do you mean if a position becomes vacant?”

“Indeed. A position will open up eventually, and the one who occupies that position will probably be you.”

“If I fail even then, I should just commit suicide. Since by that point, I would be an incompetent and useless person.”

Ludrick asked suggestively.

“Rather than that, would you remain as an assistant? Even if you do not remain as an assistant, there will be no problem in becoming the next inquisitor. Since you can just return when there is an opportunity.”

She glanced at Rashid and said.

“If I had not acknowledged the events there, I would have left without any lingering regrets, but since I admitted it in my own way, I will remain here. If there is something to learn, I must naturally stay and learn it. And Weiman’s affairs were personally interesting.”

Once the arrangements were concluded like that,

Ludrick stepped forward and extended his hand to Rashid.

“Congratulations, Inquisitor Rashid. I look forward to working with you.”

“Yes, I also look forward to working with you.”

After finishing a light handshake,

Rashid cast his gaze toward her, who stood beside him.

These were words he had definitely wanted to say from the start.

“I look forward to working with you. Sister Aria.”

Although it was unpleasant,

since she had already admitted it,

she bowed her head slightly as if accepting it.

“I look forward to working with you as well, Inquisitor Rashid.”