chapter 75

"It is a pleasure to meet you again, Your Excellency."

Selene bowed her head slightly toward me as a gesture of respect. Unlike our first meeting, when she had her robes pulled down over her head and barely revealed her face, she was now dressed in the attire of an Inquisitor.

Her silver-colored hair, mixed with gray, swayed slightly behind her back. It was tied into a ponytail near her crown, but it was long enough to wrap around her body several times.

Some of his bangs fell down to near his lips, and between them, he could see his eyes, which were a shade of purple, just like the Pope of the Moon. Perhaps because of his eyes, he had a rather sharp impression overall.

Covering her body, which was packed with solid muscles, were translucent tights, just like the combat nuns under her command.

He wore armor that was a mixture of gray and silver below his elbows and knees, but otherwise he was covered entirely in tight-fitting tights.

The body's curves were very clearly revealed, and the material was semi-transparent, so the bare skin underneath was completely visible. The muscles, which seemed firm and firm to the touch, stood out even more.

It was obvious that there was no underwear line, as if she was not wearing anything underneath. In fact, the area of clothing covering her body was significantly smaller than that of the combat nuns under her command.

Fortunately, it was only up to that point, perhaps because her chest was small enough to rival Erica's.

"Tsk."

Stella clicked her tongue openly. In contrast to Selene, who had an indifferent expression as usual, Stella had a very dissatisfied expression on her face, her usual cheerful smile nowhere to be seen.

"...How did the Inquisitor find out about this place?"

"I am here to help."

It was a question and answer. I asked how you knew exactly what moment you were at, and you came to help me. Could it be that you were watching me from afar?

"Shouldn't you be out of the question here, Inquisitor?"

Stella looked very uncomfortable. Her mouth was smiling, but her eyes were not smiling at all.

"The sun does not interfere with the moon. And the moon does not interfere with the sun. That is the tradition. Even if we assume that the Pope of the Moon ordered these people to be brought to the Holy Land, what is it this time? Did the Pope again order us to help the distinguished guest?"

"I have not broken the tradition, Inquisitor. I do not wish to interfere with the realm of the Sun, but rather to assist you."

To me, it seemed like that was it, but Stella, hearing that, seemed to have accepted it on her own, perhaps because there was another meaning hidden in the words, and her spirits were somewhat dampened.

Selene, who silenced Stella in an instant, took out the divine catalyst on her waist and breathed divine power into it. The white light mixed with gray shone like moonlight.

"Please stay where you are."

Even after Selene said those words, it felt like almost five seconds before the clear, tinkling sound of bells could be heard.

The white light that had risen from the sacred catalyst began to surround my body. The light spread thinly across my skin, and a thin film-like thing appeared.

The skin wrapped in divine power gave off a soft glow. I touched the faint halo that enveloped my body with my hand. My fingers passed through the halo and touched the skin.

I felt nothing. I couldn't grab anything or catch anything. It was like seeing a hallucination.

But it was never an illusion.

"That's it. You won't have any problems now."

Selene, who had finished her work, tied the Divine Catalyst to her waist. Stella was looking at Selene with a displeased look.

The divine spell that Selene just used.

It was a sacred spell called 'Protection of the Moon'.

The effect is to nullify the damage from an enemy attack that would kill the player. Simply put, it was +1 life. The default duration is 5 minutes.

It was essentially the same as extending one life, so it was an essential spell not only in vanilla Blizzard 4 but also in Blizzard mode.

If only I could write.

Perhaps because of the ridiculous option of defense against damage that leads to death without asking or investigating, the required stats were ridiculously high. Faith needed 30 and divine power needed 60.

In the first round, it was virtually impossible to use any build other than the priest, and even if you wanted to use the priest in the first round, you had to give up a lot of other stats, which was a big burden.

This cleric is already a chronically waiting character, so it's extremely difficult to raise him in the early stages. If you focus all your stats on faith and divine power like that, you'll lose more than you gain.

"So, would you please challenge the Inquisitor once more, your Excellency?"

With those words, Selene seemed to have finished her mission and walked to a corner of the training ground far away from us. She sat down on the floor with her knees up and hugged her legs.

The face with the chin resting on the knee stared at me intently. The purple eyes were fixed on me as if they were nails and had no intention of leaving.

"Did you hear that?"

Although I felt absurd, I couldn't miss this opportunity. Stella made a complicated expression at my request, then nodded as if she had no choice.

You can ask Selene why and how she helped me after the sparring session. It doesn't look like she has any intention of going back alone anyway.

"There are no more excuses. Okay. I get it. There's nothing I can do."

Stella shook her head and put strength into her right hand. The hammer in her hand lifted lightly and then slammed down with a thud!

As if it was some kind of signal, the combat nuns around us moved in unison around Stella and me.

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He picked up the shield he had placed on the ground, gripped his hammer tightly, and formed a sort of circle around us. The shield with the sect's emblem facing inward.

The interior of the circle surrounded by combat nuns was the training ground.

"I'll let you decide on the size of the training ground. Of course, it won't be too big. How much bigger would you like me to make it?"

"It's fine like this."

"Oh, are you okay? Even if you make an excuse later that you lost because the space was too small, I'll just ignore you?"

Stella covered her mouth in surprise. It was only four or five steps backwards that would have hit the shield, so it was understandable.

But the size of the arena was of no concern to me. I've fought the Stella boss once or twice, and I can handle it whether it's narrow or wide.

In fact, it is more comfortable for me to have a wider space, but in order to break the pride of the Heretic Inquisitor, the size of the training ground should not be changed.

In the game, if you defeat the Inquisitor without touching the size of the arena, the dialogue changes. I was truly impressed by his skills.

Of course, this wasn't a necessary process. It was just a small revenge for you coming without permission last time and messing up the story.

"Your defeat condition is that the protection of the moon in your body disappears. The moment that protection disappears, you lose. Got it? And, um, my defeat condition is...."

"If you feel like you've been hit enough, then consider it a loss."

System-wise, the victory condition is the same as the Silver Dawn Knights' entrance exam, which requires reducing the boss's health by 50%, but I can't mention the specific numbers right now.

"...What are you going to do if I don't admit defeat?"

"Then we have to fight until you admit it. What else can we do?"

He pulled out his bloody sword. The blade glowed red in the sunlight. Stella picked up the mallet with an expression that said, "Look at this?" The huge mallet was lifted easily with one hand.

A white light mixed with yellow glowed around the jagged protrusions on the weight.

"Isn't it bad to be too proud? What if you end up getting knocked out in one go?"

I ignored him and stabbed the sword deep into his stomach. Along with the sensation of blood draining out of the blade, the red color of the blade became even darker. When I pulled out the sword, blood dripped from the blade.

"You want to focus on sparring? Okay, fine. Do you want to jump in first? Or should I jump in first?"

I silently moved the tip of my sword up and down. Stella, who saw that, smiled brightly and began to walk slowly. The color of the divine power in the iron hammer became even darker.

The Inquisitor doesn't really have a set opening pattern. He just uses random patterns based on the distance and the player's movements.

The hammer was raised high above my head. After figuring out what the pattern was, I prepared to deflect it.

Stella swung her hammer. The weight of the blow was aimed squarely at my head. I held the bloody sword with both hands, drawing a trajectory in the air following the natural movement of my arms.

With a bang! The direction of the hammer suddenly changed. The recoil that came back to my arm was not something I could bear.

The next attack followed without a break. He deflected the hammer swinging from left to right, and swung his sword a beat later in the final attack to account for the misstep.

Stella's body staggered for a moment as she was thrown to the side with a loud thud until the last three hits. A "Huh?" expression appeared on her face.

Stella tried to straighten her posture as if to continue her attack, but my attack was faster. The blade formed by the gathering of crimson blood passed through Stella's arm.

"...."

Stella looked between the bloody sword and her own mace, dumbfounded.

One was just a plain longsword with nothing special about it except its red blade, while the other was a mace with a weight twice the size of a human head.

Common sense would suggest that the blade should shatter as soon as the two weapons collide. But the blade didn't break and was intact, and the hammer even bounced back, so you might be wondering what's going on.

"Oh my god, what did you just do?"

"Well, I don't know."

"If you don't want to tell me, you can just say no."

Stella smiled broadly. It was a warm and affectionate smile, just like Floretta's, as if she were someone who served the Pope of the Sun.

"I'm going to find out for myself from now on."

"You failed in the end. It's a shame."

I sheathed my bloody sword, its buffs turned off. Eyes were directed at me from all sides, stabbing my skin. They included the battle nuns and Selene.

Stella was sitting on the floor, staring blankly at me.