Became an Apostle of an Ancient God

Chapter 13

It was on a completely different level from the ordinary Followers of Serre priests he had seen so far. The golden lightning that had just struck the Shadows—he even wondered if any being could survive being hit by it.

However, Shub, who had been watching all this from the side, didn't seem particularly surprised for some reason. She only wore a faint smile, the exact meaning of which was hard to grasp.

[With this much power, it's certainly worthy of calling oneself a Hero. Well, even so, he's just a servant of Serre.]

Shub's hand gently stroked Haru's hair. With that soft touch, Haru realized his Noona was trying to reassure him.

But that was only for a moment.

Shub's face contorted.

Haru looked back.

[Haru. Dodge!]

Before Haru's eyes, a sharp black projectile flew in. It was made of the exact same material as the [Shadow of Form] that constituted the bodies of the Shadows Luther had just swept away.

For an instant, time seemed to stop.

Seeing the black shadow arrow flying straight towards the middle of his forehead without the slightest deviation, Haru quickly made a judgment.

'I can't call Shub Noona out here.'

If he had Shub's power, he could have simply deflected such an arrow with her tentacles, but he didn't know what Bishop Luther would say if he summoned his Noona in front of him.

Therefore, Haru decided to use his own rite directly here, even though it would mean showing some of his cards. He already possessed a rite that could make incoming projectiles miss.

[Deflect.]

Just before the shadow arrow reached Haru's head, the space around where he stood distorted. As if pushed away by an invisible magnetic force, the arrow drew an abnormal trajectory, grazed past Haru, and embedded itself in the ground.

"Haru!"

Luther, noticing the anomaly belatedly, quickly pulled Haru into his right arm and leaped sideways significantly. The embedded shadow arrow began to fiercely draw in the surrounding light, and soon, it caused a massive explosion.

Kuuuuuuuung!!!

"[Holy Barrier.]"

Holding Haru with his right hand, he cast a protective shield of light with his left hand, minimizing the damage from the explosion.

"S... Sorry."

"What was that just now?"

Haru turned his head towards the direction the arrow had flown from.

Standing there was not a Shadow.

It was a human.

A human was standing there.

Unlike the Followers of Serre who believed in the light, the man, clad in a dark habit symbolizing darkness, looked more like a black magician than a priest.

He wore a Hood with red decorations pulled down low, and due to the thick black mist surrounding him, his identity couldn't be clearly seen.

Even the face slightly visible beneath the Hood was heavily covered in noise, making it impossible to even make out his features properly.

"Is that also a rite?"

[Blessing of Shadow Mist.]

To Haru's question, Shub offered that answer.

[It's a dark-attribute rite. It blocks visual information about the caster. I don't know what kind of mortal crawled out from where, but he doesn't seem like a very respectable person.]

The dark acolyte held a shadow bow made of shadow in his left hand and stared intently at Haru and Luther.

However, that was only for a moment; he immediately prepared for a second shot, forming a new dark arrow with Divine Power and nocking it on the bowstring.

"Hmph."

Luther snorted briefly and flicked his finger lightly.

The moment a white spark erupted from his fingertip, a stake of lightning fell directly from the clear sky towards the dark acolyte.

It was a rite activation speed like a flash of light and devastating power. Where the lightning struck, only white ash remained, scattering in the wind.

However, the enemy was also formidable. Somehow deflecting the lightning strike just now, the dark acolyte burst out from the scattered gray ash and smoke, holding a dark sword in his right hand, and charged at Luther.

"Mace of Punishment. [Summon Mace]."

The moment Luther's chant continued, a silver mace engraved with light runes was summoned into his white-gloved left hand.

Kiiing!

Light and darkness.

Two weapons of opposing origin clashed.

"Who are you! This is not a place for a Heretic like you to tread with dirty feet! You'd better get lost before my mercy for you runs out."

"..."

The dark acolyte remained silent in response to Luther's threat.

It seemed Luther, fighting while protecting a child, was inevitably at a disadvantage. He briefly put down Haru, whom he was holding with his right arm, parried the enemy's attack with the mace in his left hand, and prepared a new rite.

The dark acolyte also prepared a new rite. Just before light and darkness clashed once more, Haru, who had stepped back a little, glared at the dark acolyte with a displeased face.

Haru quietly curled his right hand into a circle, holding it to his eye like a telescope. And while Amelia was away, he unleashed his newly practiced rite towards the dark acolyte.

"... Ugh?!"

"This is...?!"

And the acolytes of light and darkness, who were in the midst of fighting, noticed it at that moment.

The terrifying torrent of Divine Power.

And the unknown origin writhing within it.

"Damn it..."

Just as a curse was about to escape the lips of the dark acolyte, who had consistently met Luther's words with silence.

[Rupture!]

The space near the dark acolyte's head repeated unstable contractions and expansions, finally unable to withstand it and exploding.

If he hadn't noticed the precursor of the rite and retreated, his head would have been caught in the spatial rupture and exploded just like that.

Simultaneously keeping Luther in check and perfectly evading the [Spatial Rupture] was nearly impossible. While trying to forcefully evade the rupture of space, he ended up being struck by the radiant strikes Luther scattered with his right hand and collapsed.

"Keuheuk?!"

"This is the end. You Heretic."

Just as he was about to swing the mace horizontally to blow off the head of the acolyte who had knelt after being hit by the radiant strikes.

The dark acolyte then revealed the bracelet on his left wrist, hidden by the habit's sleeve and cloak, and struck the ground with all his might.

Then, suddenly, shadows with form instantly emerged from the pulsating ground and blocked Luther's strike.

"Hoh."

There was no mistake.

It was... Shadow.

The horde of Shadow that had been tearing at the 5th Church's protective shield until just moments ago began to surge up from the ground.

"A Heretic using a holy relic."

Taking advantage of the moment Luther's attack was blocked, the dark acolyte consumed almost all of his Divine Power to expand the range of the black mist. Momentarily but completely blocking Luther and Haru's vision, he shouted.

"You seem happy to have gotten a new toy, Martin Luther. I'll retreat for now, but next time, I will surely deliver dark judgment upon you."

"..."

When their vision cleared, the dark acolyte had already fled. Leaving behind dozens of unstable Shadows.

"Tch."

Luther momentarily seemed to consider chasing the dark acolyte, but he looked back at Haru and shook his head. He was responsible for the child. Chasing too deep could be even more dangerous.

"You're in the way. Disappear! [Turn Shadow]!"

As Luther shouted briefly, the ragtag lower-level Shadow summoned through the holy relic turned to ash and disappeared with a single shout mixed with his Divine Power.

[Turn Shadow].

One of the light-attribute rites, it was an incantation-type rite that instantly annihilated lower-level Shadow far below one's own level.

Was it the origin rite for exterminating lower undead, [Turn Undead]? Haru thought, searching the depths of his memory.

"Are you okay?"

Luther immediately approached Haru and examined his body. Checking carefully if he had gotten hurt anywhere, he sighed in relief and patted his head with a rough hand.

"Haa. Thank goodness. You don't seem to be seriously injured."

Luther said that and approached the 5th Church, shouting.

"The enemy has retreated. However, remnants of the Shadow might still remain. Please maintain the protection of the civilians until I give the command."

"Th- Thanks to you, we survived. Thank you. Master Bishop."

"No. Please thank Haru rather than me. Without his rite, the fight could have dragged on longer."

The priest who had been maintaining the protective shield gave Haru an awkward smile. Though outwardly an innocent child, Haru, who was a mature adult inside, could easily understand the meaning of that smile.

'He probably doesn't like being helped by the Child of the Devil.'

[What's with that unpleasant face after being helped?]

"Right. Ah, and thank you. Shub Noona."

[Hmm? For what?]

"For telling me the arrow was coming. And also for not suddenly materializing and rushing in like at the orphanage. Honestly, if Noona had stepped in this time, it could have been a bit dangerous."

[Ah. That?]

Shub tilted her chin slightly and replied.

[Haru, basically, you and I are strongly connected. Unless something special happens, I only appear in reality when you want me to. When you don't want me to, I don't come out.]

"Really?"

[The reason I appeared at the orphanage? It's because you unconsciously wanted it. This time was the opposite. I didn't come out because you didn't want me to. That's all.]

"I see."

While Haru was murmuring in a small voice, conversing with Shub, Luther, who was giving orders to the people of the 5th Church, glanced at him and thought.

Beliefs, values, lived memories.

When these things are influenced by Divine Power, they take on a single directionality, and when that directionality solidifies, it becomes an origin.

That's why each human's origin is different.

Because each individual human's beliefs, values, and memories are all different.

But though it's called an origin, most human origins are rather trivial.

[Wish for Peace.]

[Light that Illuminates Tomorrow.]

[Stroller in the Crowd.]

Most are things that grant small luck or foster hope.

In that sense, Luther, whose origin was [Lightning]—one of the various elements composing the world and one of the attributes of powerful rites—was worthy of being called a Hero.

But Haru was different. The rite that someone with Divine Power first manifests and uses in childhood is mostly closely related to their 'origin'.

And the strike of that rite just now. The origin stirring within it.

If Luther hadn't seen wrong.

It was undoubtedly the rupture of space itself.

If that's the case.

What on earth is the origin of a child who used 'Spatial Rupture' as his first rite? That was a question even Luther, who had achieved the ascension of 'Lightning' several times, couldn't easily answer.

"Interesting."

Luther muttered briefly and clenched his fist. Between his tightly clenched fist, besides the still-hot fervor of the fight, another kind of heat was flowing.

From Luther's appearance, Shub saw something entirely different.

The brilliantly shining golden halo of a god.

The shadow cast behind it, darker than the void.

It was very similar to the essence of Serre that Shub had seen through when she first encountered the weeping statue of Serre in Lisboa.

Hidden behind the impartial love for the pitiful lambs -

[The murky madness hidden by shadows, and desire. You can never fool my eyes.]

Shub mocked Luther, and furthermore, the faith of Serre. On that particular day, Shub's beautiful purple eyes shone even more vividly.