Chapter 010: Hero Arlod

Walking through the front gates of a truly colossal stone monastery, one that had more glass stained with holy figures than some cities had in their entirety, was a knight Elizabeth knew well. He had replaced the fancy spear he once possessed with a simplistic one. Having seemingly just grabbed it on his return trip.

"The hero Arlod has returned!"

"I thought he went with the Luna Inquisitors to wipe out heathens a week ago?"

"They have finished wiping the filthy stains from the kingdom, as expected."

"Where are the other members?"

"He's so dreamy~."

Various people quickly took note of his presence; some greeted him with respect they reserved for the strong & powerful while others looked at him with desire in their eyes.

Those gazes filled with desire were not wholly monotonous as lust mixed with greed that he usually would find himself revelling in. He was a heroic figure so it only made sense people would want to get in his bed or in his camp. Power attracted people hence there was no reason to shun the benefits it could bring him.

Yet those people didn't realise that he was not in his regular state - three days had gone by with his body still trembling at the memory of those violet eyes. Only now (within the headquarters of the church) did he feel a modicum of safety. Assuring himself that that monster couldn't act in the house of god.

Still he hadn't slept nor stopped on his entire journey since he essentially began running away from that fortunately slothful demon. Knowing that, at any second, he could have been ambushed. There was no forgetting the way his team died due to insulting that demoness or inviting her to be a liar.

Cold sweat began to roll down his neck just thinking about the scene of her murdering those he (even if he didn't respect) knew were some of the strongest in the country. The thought that he could have died without doing anything was… Terrifying.

He thought he could handle danger, there was no way he could have gotten where he was by hiding in the background, having led the fight against various heathens. Massacring the filthy beast men like the rabid animals that they were. This meant he had been facing their powerful claws many times.

That was different, though.

Every other time he could rely on his gift - allowing him to reach maximum momentum thus skewer anything with his spear - to take down his foe. Even if he had to struggle to get the opening he required he found it to still be possible to win. His training allows him to take a good gift to a great one.

He wasn't the only hero but he most definitely wasn't the weakest; the respect he earned is what allowed him to lead the best of the best that the church (even kingdom) had.

Those who he couldn't beat, especially with his squad, could be counted on one hand..

But all of the churches "best of the best" were now dead.

Unable to even hurt the one who did it.

They weren't even able to resist.

How could he not be scared?

There was someone who tried to speak to him (a nun he had gotten frisky with) yet he couldn't feel any desire to mess around for now. Simply walking by anyone he ran into. In no time at all he found himself standing in front of a door without remembering how he got there in the first place.

Although it wasn't as if his personality had changed so he didn't even bother knocking on the door as he barged into the office. Instantly finding the person he was looking for. A currently shocked bishop who hurriedly backed away causing a gagging noise from under the table.

A young woman standing up from behind the desk, nervously wiping her mouth, clearly wearing an outfit that had been "adjusted" from the sanctioned uniform.

She wasn't hiding much of anything.

"W-why are you back so soon!"

He didn't waste any time.

"They're all dead."

"What?"

That member of the holy system just blinked in confusion at the sudden announcement from the most powerful templar that he knew; possibly because he was the most powerful.

"They're all dead."

Yet all he responded with was the same line.

"I know they're dead, that's why we sent you to kill them, why are you telling me you killed a bunch of cursed weaklings who gro-"

"No… My team was all killed before they could even put up a resistance."

Both of them heard a gasp as that "nun" overheard what he said - slightly turning his head allowed him to see her hands over her mouth as he gasped. Her eyes wide open with her shock evident. Of course he didn't hesitate for a second as he used his ability on his own body.

It must have appeared as if he vanished to her; using this as a chance to chop the back of her neck causing her to fall forward.

"God dammit don't kill my women!"

"She ain't dead, just unconscious, you'd know that if you trained more."

He said with a smirk while catching the woman before she had the chance to fall face first into the ground.

If what he learned was true… They'd need all the help they could.

"Well what the hell do you mean by your team being dead!"

"I mean that they were all killed on our latest mission."

Slightly growing at how slow on the uptake this well connected bishop was when it came to learning about bad news. If he was informing him about a new hot noble lady debuting in their kingdom's noble social circles he would have likely been the one talking. Still he needed his connections.

"H-how could that be possible!"

"They summoned an actual demon that was far beyond anything we could have expected…"

Shaking his head with a long sigh - unable to resist trembling at the memory.

That made his "friend" fall back into his chair which caused a loud squeaking as its chair legs scraped across the wooden floor boards.

He wasn't taking it in his stride however Arlod couldn't exactly blame him for this; he had a full three days to come to terms with it but still had barely believed it. That bishop rested both his hands across his face as he took deep breaths. Clearly sorting out his thoughts in the best way he could.

Eventually letting out his held breath escape as he slowly brought his hands down to rest on the desk in front of him. Using it to help push himself up as he knew that he couldn't talk about this while sitting down else he may lose all the strength in his legs. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Arlod.

"I can see why you knocked her out; we can't let this information get out incase more demon worshipping bastards begin to-"

"It gets worse… The demoness they summoned claimed to be the Divine Demon."

"You mean… The absolute demon monarch?"

"A lot of texts give them different nicknames but I knew she meant the biggest wig."

"Shit…"

He felt ulcers already forming in his stomach from the stress.

"The pope said that our glorious god had defeated the leader of all demons and, with no one to refute that fact, everyone would have had no choice but to believe it. Now though? Even if she isn't the demon monarch it wouldn't matter one bit since now there is a differing opinion."

Arlod nodded along as he came to rest his back against the wall near the door; listening as that holy man slowly explained his train of logic to help understand his own fears.

"We need to keep this information on the downlow yet I don't know what we can do after that if even you were unable to overcome that demoness…"

The bishop soon pacing around the room as he tried to figure out a solution.

Even if he was sinful… Well he couldn't be sinful if the world ended up being destroyed by some crazy powerful demon hence it made sense to stop that.

"Only people stronger than you that can be contacted would be the royal family, that immortal duke and the pope. Yet we can hardly approach the royal family while the pope hasn't been seen since announcing the death of the demon. Meanwhile the Duke won't move unless it benefits him…"

It was then that a lightbulb suddenly lit above the hero's head as a crazy idea formed.

"The girl!"

His sudden shout obviously caught the bishop's attention and he didn't need to be prompted to continue.

"There was a girl with features of a Graverstien who could have only been the daughter who allegedly offered herself 7 years ago; we can totally use that!"

"Even if she isn't actually the weakling brat he can't take that chance since there is nothing that bastard values more than his reputation!"

With that they nod; it was a crazy plan but it may just work.