EP.207 Reunion (2)
Deloheim Church, the First Church of the Order.
The main church of the Order, located in the fallen kingdom, was a scale beyond my imagination. I had never seen a religious building of such grandeur before.
“…Is it bigger than the temple of the Star?”
The temple located in the Sacred Kingdom, the headquarters of the Order, did not have such scale. I followed Cardi, absorbing the sight of the church.
Cracked walls.
Collapsed walls.
Centuries of neglect had left ashes piling up in the church. With every step I took, ashes were blown away by the wind. There were no worshippers praying or priests conveying the words of the God in this church.
But the sanctity remained.
Ancient letters, as if transcribing the words of the God, filled the walls. It was not simply a display of characters. I felt a mysteriousness in the arrangement of the letters, twisted and organized.
And from that mystery, sanctity is born.
Even I, who did not believe in the Star and thought of the Deloheim Church as nothing more than a pile of sewage, felt a certain sacredness within this church.
“…It’s impressive.”
Though the church was dirty and damaged, it seemed that even the passage of time could not erase the sanctity left within.
“What was the Deloheim Church like in your time?”
“They believed in the God but did not force belief upon anyone.”
Cardi spoke without stopping his steps.
“They had their quirks, but their core doctrine was always about the salvation of mankind. Though the interpretation of that salvation varied from person to person.”
Cardi chuckled softly.
“It seems we are almost there.”
He came to a halt.
A sudden gust of wind scattered the ashes. The sight of the ashes rising only to fall again looked like snowing.
“This is it.”
Amidst the swirling ashes, Cardi turned to me.
“Beyond this door is a path leading underground. The Holy Grail is not stored there.”
What came into view was a firmly closed door. On either side of the door stood massive stone figures, with their swords blocking the entrance.
Enormous swords crossing to block the door.
As I gazed at it, I pulled off my gloves. I had encountered those statues even in the North. They were much smaller compared to what was visible now.
“Do I just break it?”
I clenched my fist, and Cardi looked at me as if he were shocked.
“Break it? Just open it.”
“…You mean just open it?”
“Do you think I activated those statues in the wilderness for no reason? This is a device. It’s not something you can break.”
Cardi lightly tapped the statue.
“Only beings with the power of the Star—so, a Saint or a Hero—can step foot here. That’s just how the mechanism is made.”
“…Really?”
I squinted my eyes.
I could finally see the faint starlight surrounding the door. The circuit engraved on the door resonated with the starlight.
‘…This.’
I had seen something similar before.
Unless it was Kyle’s Holy Sword, it resembled the structure of Skebal’s altar, designed to be unbreakable.
“…It looks like what I saw at Skebal’s altar.”
“That bastard probably mimicked it. Though, he likely didn’t manage to replicate it perfectly. Creating this requires Gleria’s divine power.”
Cardi pointed to the center of the crossed swords. There was a small indentation resembling a keyhole.
“You must infuse starlight into this hole for the door to open. Other tricks won’t work.”
More than trying to imitate Kyle’s Holy Sword, it didn’t seem like enough to just use brute force. I looked at the hole in the center of the crossed swords and opened my mouth.
“So how do we open it? Both you and I don’t have starlight. I could create it by burning my lifespan but…”
“Normally, you couldn’t. Normally.”
But, Cardi added.
“I can.”
He inserted his hand into the hole.
Then slowly turned his wrist to the right.
Creak, something clicked in the statues. Cardi pulled his hand back a few steps. The two statues began to tremble.
Thud, thud thud.
The ground shook with the movement of the statues. Dust from the ashes piled on the statues fell to the ground. The statues guarding the door slowly began to move.
The crossed swords at the front of the door moved.
The sword tips, which were pointed down toward the ground, now aimed upward into the sky. The two statues lifted their swords such that they were vertical to the sky.
Creak.
Once again, something clicked, this time from the firmly closed door.
“It’s opened.”
Cardi remarked shortly, and the door swung open.
There was no noise whatsoever as the door opened. It simply opened smoothly and quietly, as if it was sidestepping the passage of hundreds of years.
“Go down.”
Beyond the opened door was a spiral staircase leading underground. There was no need for torches or spells to create light.
‘…Starlight.’
The starlight seeping out illuminated the path.
2.
The underground of the church was a massive open space, lined with columns.
The columns seemed to support the church or merely adorned the area. There were a total of thirty-seven of them, but I couldn’t fathom the meaning of thirty-seven columns.
“Just think of it as a sacred number. It’s not particularly useful to delve deeper into it.”
That was all Cardi said.
As we walked along the columns, starlight began to flow beneath our feet. The starlight flowed along a circuit engraved on the floor.
‘Just like the sacred site in the North.’
And looking up the circuit, there was the source of the flowing starlight.
‘…A cup.’
A single chalice.
Sitting atop a statue resembling a human hand, was a platinum cup. The starlight was beginning from that cup. I found myself mesmerized by it.
“That’s the Holy Grail.”
Cardi said.
“Since it’s a vessel for holding starlight, it’s called the Holy Grail (星杯) and since it’s crafted by a Saint, it’s also the Holy Grail (聖杯).”
A sacred cup that holds the stars.
“How much do you know about the Holy Grail, Raniel?”
Cardi, standing in front of the chalice, asked me.
I shook my head. I knew nothing about the Holy Grail.
“And about the Trial of the Star?”
“I know about that.”
I nodded.
‘The Trial of the Star.’
I was aware of the trials one had to pass to obtain the treasures of the Star. Kyle had once explained it to me.
“I was in a gorge. The moment I entered the otherworld opened by the Star, a Holy Sword was laid before me, a Holy Sword that did not shine. The moment I gripped it, specters bearing swords began to pour in.”
Killing all kinds of specters and escaping the gorge. That was the trial given to Kyle.
“When the trial ended, the Holy Sword finally began to shine.”
He said that once he overcame that trial, he could wield the Holy Sword. Most of the other Heroes had similar experiences.
Galahal, the Spear of Justice, was also like that.
Destel, the Despicable, was the same.
The moment they entered the otherworld, a non-shining weapon was stuck in the ground, and when they overcame the trial, starlight began to seep from it.
“Then it should be easy to explain.”
Cardi touched the Holy Grail as he said.
“In the past, Ganikalt, after experiencing the Trial of the Star, mentioned to me and Gleria that the Trial of the Star is not much different from the process of becoming superhuman. He must have felt something that only those who were superhumans before becoming Heroes could.”
A knight who was a superhuman before becoming a Hero.
Ganikalt van Galatrick.
“…That’s definitely strange.”
One must lose something to become a superhuman.
That was the basic concept of superhumans as I knew.
‘But… Ganikalt was not like that.’
The Ganikalt I saw in the records at the Tower in the North was a perfect human. A complete human who did not lose or miss anything.
“One must lose to become a superhuman, right?”
“That was the easiest way, Ganikalt said.”
“…Easy?”
“Yeah.”
Cardi said.
“That guy became a superhuman without losing anything. He said he recognized the walls existing within himself and manifested them to cut them away. He claimed he reached the state of the Heart Sword.”
“…What’s that Heart Sword?”
“I don’t know. I also gave up understanding what a Heart Sword is; it’s too vague a concept.”
He shook his head.
“Instead, I focused on another thing.”
Cardi narrowed his eyes.
“To manifest the inner walls.”
He grasped the Holy Grail.
The beam of light that flowed through the circuit came to a halt.
“To manifest, solidify, and implement it into reality.”
That was.
“The essence of the Trial of the Star itself.”
Cardi spoke of its essence.
“I tried to mimic it. Utilizing Gleria’s blessing, I managed to recreate the Trial of the Star through specific mediums.”
Cardi lifted the Holy Grail.
The light trembled. The light flowing through the circuit began to be drawn into the Holy Grail. Starlight blossomed and overflowed.
“This Holy Grail is the magical tool created like that.”
Starlight filled the chalice.
I stared at the brilliantly shining starlight within the chalice.
“The Holy Grail will react to anyone who has witnessed the walls existing within themselves, even just once. It will provide them with a trial.”
“…If they overcome that.”
“It allows them to break down their inner walls and become superhuman. Without losing anything.”
I swallowed hard.
‘This is… beyond imagination.’
Becoming a superhuman without losing anything.
This Holy Grail, which makes that possible, bore tremendous value. It was an item that could significantly advance the plans I had in mind.
“Take it.”
Cardi handed me the Holy Grail.
The cup filled with light was shining with a platinum color.
“It’s better for you to take it than leaving it abandoned in such ruins.”
I stared at Cardi blankly.
This cup he created was close to bending the natural order. I couldn’t even imagine how its structure came to be.
“Hey, Cardi.”
“What?”
“You… what in the world were you doing?”
Today, this elf before me felt unusually unfamiliar. Cardi merely shrugged at my gaze.
“I was a former Grand Magus. Just like the title ‘Grand’ makes it different from just a Magus, I must be different, right?”
The difference between being a Grand Magus and a normal Magus? I laughed hollowly as I reached for the Holy Grail that Cardi offered.
“If you had something like this, you should have given it to me sooner.”
“If I wanted to give it, I couldn’t, because it’s a thing that those who have not approached the truth cannot possess. If someone who has never heard of Arcadia took it, it would scatter away.”
I held the Holy Grail in my hands.
It did not scatter.
“It’s because it’s you that you can hold it.”
Cardi smiled faintly.
“It’s saying that even though you’re just a kid barely over twenty, you can hold it because you’re getting closer to the truth.”
We laughed facing each other.
I smiled, relieved that my journey had not been meaningless, and Cardi seemed happy at the thought of being able to give this to someone.
And then, it happened.
Swish.
An arrow flew in from somewhere.
3.
“Footsteps remain.”
“…Could it be the Heroes you heard about earlier?”
“No. These aren’t tracks from a week or two ago, but they look fresh. Only a day or two old.”
Someone has already passed this way.
And quite recently.
It was because of Remia, the Elf with the best tracking ability among them, that she noticed the traces of someone passing through.
“And there are the corpses of Beasts.”
Remia focused on the beast corpses strewn on the ground. They looked crushed by something.
“I’ll investigate first.”
“…Are you sure?”
“No problem. The beast corpses aren’t exactly clean. It looks like they’ve been crushed by blunt force… You think I’d fall for that?”
Remia shrugged her shoulders.
“I’m not going to be taken down by a bunch of slow bastards. Sara? Can you lend a blessing?”
“Yes, just a moment.”
Sara recited a spell. The completed spell transformed into starlight and seeped into Remia’s body. The blessing rejected the magic overflowing on the ash-laden ground and heightened her body.
“Done, Remia.”
“Thanks.”
Feeling much lighter, Remia lightly tapped the ground with her toes twice.
Remia gazed ahead.
What she saw was the massive church. The trail continued into that church. Pointing to the church with her finger, Remia turned to look back.
“Take your time. Don’t forget to gather treasures for me too.”
“Got it.”
Kyle nodded, and Remia dashed into the ground. The elf dashed like the wind, proving that folklore had its basis, moving without making the slightest noise as she sped inside the church.
Her golden hair fluttered through the air. The elf’s eyes did not lose direction even in the darkness.
Then, Remia discovered a gigantic door. The traces continued inside the door. She smoothly slipped into the opened door and hung onto the handrail of the spiral staircase, looking down.
“……”
Below the staircase.
A vast open space.
‘There they are.’
Someone was there.
With narrowed eyes, Remia reached for the quiver strapped to her back. She nocked a single arrow to her bow.
‘Two people.’
Though their faces weren’t visible beneath the robes, Remia clearly saw what they were holding. It was a chalice emanating platinum light.
‘Is that the Holy Grail?’
A fitting object for the term Holy Grail.
The purpose of her coming here was right before her eyes. If she could snatch it from those grave robbers and present it to Kyle, it could lead to an entertaining night.
Lick she licked her lips.
‘One shot is enough.’
There was no need for multiple arrows to pierce an unguarded enemy. Remia was an Elf known as the Archery Master, and she was confident in her skills.
Pull.
The bowstring made of the World Tree’s branches bent. As it tightened, the arrowhead resting on it remained still. Remia tilted the bow.
Targeting the woman holding the Holy Grail.
Hitting a stationary target is an easy task. Remia released the taut bowstring. The arrow sliced the air as it was shot.
Swish!
The arrow raced toward its target. The future of the arrow piercing the woman’s chest was clear in her mind. There was no margin for error. It was a shot from the blind spot that couldn’t be reacted to.
In that split second.
The woman moved, breaking Remia’s expectations.
With a fleeting motion that scattered afterimages, the woman’s hand reached out to grab the very arrow coming toward her. The motion was smooth and without waste.
Snap!
The woman broke the arrow she had grasped.
She slowly turned her head. Her gaze landed precisely on Remia. In the darkness, her blue eyes gleamed. Though the distance between them was far, their eyes locked onto each other.
“Wow.”
The first to speak was the woman.
“You’re insane, aren’t you?”
Her casual voice echoed in the cavern.
Remia’s expression tightened. She felt an unwarranted familiarity from the mysterious woman.
