Chapter 4 – Showdown

Showdown

Saintess Mariel Credo.

She stood before a certain mana armor, the treasure of this place and the vessel where a part of her soul was infused.

Armor Lucifer.

The Soul Stone embedded in its center.

Her lost soul was in that place.

‘It was a really long time. Until I met my lost soul again.’

The first demon and the King of the Fallen Throne.

Lucifer.

She had handed over a part of her soul to him to gain power.

It was a contract, and the mistake of a lifetime.

‘It is coming soon. Soon I shall become whole.’

A life with half its soul lost was as desolate as a dry, tasteless existence.

Although she had gained power.

Despite any praise and worship directed at her for performing miracles.

She felt absolutely nothing.

She had clearly obtained the power to win the respect and reverence of those ignorant fools, yet.

She felt nothing, which was only absurd.

At first, she merely thought she was numb to such emotions.

But the moment she felt that nothing tasted good no matter what she ate, and she was not happy no matter what she possessed.

She realized.

That a life with its soul lost was no different from a life already dead.

‘Now I can feel it. If only I retrieve my soul from here.’

Greed, appetite, and endless pleasure.

Those emotions she knew in her head but could never actually feel.

She could feel them again now.

‘If only that cleric and barbarian disappear.’

Right on time.

The two she wanted arrived in the clearing.

“Did you find something? Why are you calling a busy person and causing a fuss?”

The grumbling giant glared with an unpleasant look.

“I brought him as you requested.”

The man stood next to her right after bringing the giant.

“You have come.”

The final stage was complete.

Thinking there was no rush, she turned her attention to the mana armor for a moment.

“This mana armor is very special. Since it is a relic harboring the power of a Great Demon.”

Her fingertips gently stroked the surface of the mana armor, which was as hard as metal.

“If one wishes to stand at the peak of martial arts, they must become the master of this mana armor.”

“Hmph.”

The giant snorted.

“Who would wear such a thing? That is not an ordinary mana armor. The only ones who would wear that and be happy are players. Because they do not fear demons.”

The man standing guard by her side silently drew his sword.

It was not something he originally had.

It was a well-honed cross sword taken from a dead knight.

‘Now.’

The man who drew his sword aimed it at the giant, then turned its direction in an instant.

The target was her heart.

The fiercely piercing blade ruthlessly ran her through.

Bewildered by the split-second surprise attack, she collapsed along with a stream of blood.

“You said you were going to launch a surprise attack from the side, and it was true!”

Next, the giant also drew his weapons.

A one-handed axe and a mace.

Griping both weapons, the giant felt his blood boiling.

“Did you dare try to play us! For a pathetic witch, you really have some nerve!”

The shouting that followed filled the clearing.

“Why…”

The fallen woman looked at the man with eyes drenched in bewilderment.

The man met her with a frozen gaze.

Poisonous malice filled her eyes.

“Player…!”

The giant wore a fairly surprised expression.

“What? A player? Then one side was a witch, and the other guy was a player?”

Neither was a very welcome opponent.

The man said indifferently.

“Witch and player. It is up to you which one to target first. Barbarian.”

Before the giant could answer anything.

There was a fierce cold emanating from the Saintess.

The man threw his body almost reflexively, and during that time, the Saintess stood up.

A frozen heart.

Despite her heart being pierced, the Saintess stood up and showed off her perfect health.

The one most surprised to see that was the giant.

“Crazy! A real witch indeed. To think she is so fine even after her heart was pierced.”

That was not all.

The Saintess summoned ice spears in the empty air.

It was magic.

Afterward, a barrage of ice spears targeted the man, and the man dodged them narrowly with acrobatic movements.

It was a swift movement that even a barbarian warrior who had roamed numerous battlefields would admire.

‘His movements are very sharp. That is something hard for even a trained cleric to show. Even if one or two times were a coincidence, to connect them continuously like that is close to a miracle.’

Nevertheless, the reason he could accept it was.

Because he knew his identity.

‘But if he is a player, it would be possible. Since they said those bastards are as agile as knights clad in mana armor.’

Perhaps he had decided on a course of action.

The giant spat roughly.

Ptu!

‘Alright. It is only natural to send off the most troublesome one first.’

Leaping vigorously with a shout, the giant stood before the Saintess in an instant.

Surprised by the giant’s sudden intrusion, the Saintess grimaced fiercely.

“You!”

Grinning, the giant swung both weapons and aimed for her neck.

He intended to chop it right off, but regrettably, both weapons were caught in the air.

To be precise, it would be correct to say they were frozen by the cold.

Khuk!

Bloodshot veins stood in the giant’s eyes, which were filled with bewilderment.

An ensuing explosion of mana.

The northern warrior, emitting brilliant light from his eyes, revealed his indomitable will.

The two weapons moved again, once more aiming for the Saintess’s neck.

At that savage and headlong offensive.

The Saintess deployed an ice shield crafted from mana.

The giant’s attack was blocked by the Saintess’s defensive magic.

Furthermore, a barrage of ice spears ruthlessly pierced the giant, but the unyielding giant battered her magic shield without mercy, as if the best defense was offense.

‘Truly like a barbarian.’

Thanks to that, the man, who managed to catch his breath for a moment, watched for any potential opening from a distance.

‘She is a woman who freely uses not only Aura but also magic.’

If they had fought in a place with many eyes, they would have definitely been at an advantage.

For if she was a Saintess who could not use magic freely in public, she would not have been able to display her power to the fullest.

But this was not the case.

A completely closed space.

Moreover, if he and the giant died, the fact that she had used magic would be buried forever.

‘I must find a way. At this rate, we will be defeated by that woman.’

Is there no way?

As he pondered, something flashed through his mind.

‘Right, that woman was not the only one trapped in the fetters of the Holy Order.’

He hurriedly moved somewhere.

The Saintess noticed this, but.

The problem was the giant, who was charging blindly.

“A person like you! Is truly annoying!”

Instead of answering, she fought off the giant, who was charging while screaming.

She barely managed to subdue him.

The warrior, covered in blood and kneeling on both knees, was on the verge of losing his life.

“You should know your place. Did you think that I, who once even handed over my soul to a demon to crave power, would lose to a mere barbarian like you?”

Deliberately.

Without cutting off his breath, she searched for the man who was not present.

‘But where did that man go? Did he run away?’

It was a fully plausible story.

Her, who possessed the power of Aura and magic.

A mere cleric would not be able to handle.

“Running away like a rat.”

It was right after she said those words.

Her expression froze when she saw the man who had returned with a fierce momentum.

The mana armor engraved with the Rose Cross.

The man wearing it had returned almost like a gale.

“…”

A deep anger settled on her face as she stared intently at him.

“For a mere cleric to dare wear mana armor. Have you already forgotten the rules just because you are in a place like this? Mana armor is the exclusive property of knights. Not only in the Holy Order but also in the Imperial Law, wearing mana armor is strictly prohibited for anyone who is not a knight. It means someone like you has no right to wear it.”

To this, the man lightly countered.

“And is it fine for a mere Saintess to dare use magic?”

It had only been temporarily abandoned because of its poisoned master.

The power of the mana armor was still intact.

Unable to refute anything, the Saintess smiled bitterly.

“Indeed. Who is telling what to whom.”

The man glanced at the nearly dying giant.

“You and I. One of us will lie here. And be buried forever in this dungeon’s oblivion.”

A light-pink Aura emanating from the Saintess’s feet began to heal the wounds she had suffered.

“I suppose so. But I do not think it will be me. It will be you.”

“You look down on mana armor. Generally, mana armor is a weapon at the peak of martial power. If you had worn mana armor, it might be different. But that is not the case, is it?”

It was a mana armor that normal people could barely endure wearing for even a few dozen seconds.

Even after putting on that mana armor, the man showed no sign of struggle.

‘My feelings are telling me. This body has been trained solely to wear this mana armor.’

The man’s gaze touched the pitch-black mana armor located in the center of the clearing.

Seeing this, the Saintess let out a sneer.

“What a wild dream. Since I am standing here alive like this, it seems like too big a dream to hope for.”

“We will have to see about that.”

“Do you happen to know this?”

“What?”

“That the first demon was an angel.”

The pierced heart was gradually healing.

Touching the area, she continued calmly.

“Divine power is God’s power. Mana is the demon’s power. God made angels, and demons originated from those angels, so in truth, the foundations of the two powers are the same. It means they are not completely separate powers.”

“So?”

“I am saying that I am not such an unclean existence.”

It was a defense of herself, who possessed both of those powers simultaneously.

“Even if I possess the power of magic, which the Holy Order calls unclean. I am still strictly the Saintess.”

“Before that, did you not call yourself a witch?”

“Witch and Saintess. Do you know they are separated by just a hair’s breadth?”

“A hair’s breadth?”

“Which side you stand on. Which power you favor more. That is only about the difference. It is not that a witch cannot handle Aura, nor is it that a Saintess cannot handle magic.”

“You are just listing useless sophistry.”

His expression was not shaken at all.

“Listen carefully. The Saintess I know never commits poisoning.”

“Hahahahaha!”

Letting out a loud, wild laugh, she also wore a resolute expression.

“A mere cleric. How dare you!”

Drawing out the power of the mana armor, the man closed the distance in an instant.

It was a movement twice as fast as the one the giant had shown earlier.

Startled, the Saintess deployed her defensive magic.

The shape of a shield that froze even breath blocked the man’s path like an impregnable fortress.

Not yielding to this, the man swung his cross sword.

A slash.

The sword strike, amplified twofold by the mana armor, split the shape of the shield in two.

Behind the parting shield shape, the Saintess appeared, drenched in bewilderment.

She was clearly flustered by the man’s power, which had grown several times stronger after putting on the mana armor.

“Cleric!”

Her anger was genuine.

Ordinarily, a lowly existence who would not even dare to look at her.

By such a mere cleric.

To be swayed to this extent.

She was extremely vexed.

For she was a Saintess like the sky, whom no one could look down upon!

However.

‘It seems you forgot the fact that I am a player.’

He was not a conventional cleric.

But one wearing the mask of a cleric.

And a player whom everyone feared and viewed as an out-of-spec existence.