Chapter 81

Volume 14 - Chapter 7

“Oh, His Grace Grid! What a rare sight to see you outside today!”

It was Pascal, accompanied by his subordinates.

To achieve great things, one must also know how to bend!

Pascal, determined to win over Grid, had completely discarded his pride.

He buried the humiliation he had received from Grid deep in his heart and acted with utmost propriety. He did not forget to wear a bright smile on his face.

“Huh…?”

Pascal, who was instructing his subordinates to put down the treasure chests, had a gleam in his eyes.

He had discovered Raphaël's spear, left there alone.

“This, this.”

The false smile, which concealed inner anger, transformed into a genuine one.

‘So, Isabelle is finally dead, it seems.’

She was a woman as stubborn as a cockroach.

If she had died sooner instead of needlessly resisting, it would have been better for everyone.

‘It feels like a ten-year-old sore has finally healed.’

Rebecca’s daughter was merely a being who should follow orders.

She should not have her own will.

In that sense, Isabelle, Rin, and Luna were truly troublesome.

They had served the previous Pope Louise, who had led the church to glory, and the former Pope Drevigo, who had led it to corruption.

They had grown to the point where they could judge right and wrong on their own.

They filtered orders from the upper echelons with a process of doubt.

It was infuriating.

‘A mere tool.’

To Pascal, who planned to make the Rebecca religion the state religion of the empire, the current Rebecca’s daughters were thorns in his side.

But now that Isabelle was dead, his worries were gone.

If he handed Raphaël's spear to a new owner and ordered the dispatched Rin and Luna to be eliminated one by one,

‘Finally, my world will come.’

He felt like he could fly from joy.

Pascal wanted to burst into laughter, but he restrained himself, mindful of Grid’s reaction.

Grid’s gaze was cold as he watched Pascal’s lips twitch.

“A girl who dedicated her life to the goddess Rebecca and the church has died. Is that something to be so happy about?”

‘Dedicated, sucked?’

Pascal’s face contorted.

He wanted to kill Grid for belittling the noble act of serving the goddess with such lowly words.

But if he did, what would become of his patience so far?

Pascal, barely suppressing his anger, spoke.

“As you say, Isabelle was a child who dedicated her life to the goddess and the church. The place where the child who has passed away will go is surely by the side of the goddess... in the world of the gods, she will serve the goddess eternally and live happily. Thinking of this, I feel happy and proud, and I can't help but smile.”

‘Bullshit.’

Grid clicked his tongue at the insincere words.

Pascal handed him a treasure chest.

“I hope you will accept it today.”

[Pascal offers 1.8 million gold. Do you wish to accept Pascal’s gift?]

[If you accept the gift, you must fulfill one of Pascal’s wishes without fail.]

“Damian can never become the pope anyway. What’s the point of winning the hearts of the believers? The only 100 high-ranking clerics who have the right to vote, at least 80% of them are already mine. His Grace Grid, please make a wise choice for the future…”

“No.”

Grid cut Pascal off and stood up.

“I have no intention of working with a scum like you, whose face alone makes me feel sick.”

Grid despised Pascal.

Because he resembled the people who had tormented him in the past.

The image of Pascal casually belittling Damian and Isabelle would not leave his mind.

Even if he were given a fortune, he would never work with him.

Moreover, there were political issues involved.

“You speak harshly.”

The smile disappeared from Pascal’s face.

His patience had reached its limit.

“Isn’t it said that if the words of departure are sweet, the words of return should be sweet as well? I have done my best to become your friend over the past few days, but you mock my efforts and only give me humiliation. Do you not know what propriety is?”

“What’s this sudden talk about propriety? Mocking and humiliating others is something you usually enjoy, isn’t it?”

“Grr…!”

Seeing Grid’s attitude, Pascal felt he would never be won over.

Feeling anxious, Pascal spoke bluntly.

“Tell me what you want! I am willing to give you anything for you! What must I give you to make you work with me?”

“Anything?”

“Yes!”

“Hmm, that’s quite tempting.”

Finally, the bite had come.

Pascal, filled with joy, prepared to listen to Grid’s demands.

Grid demanded:

“Ten trillion.”

“…?”

Ten trillion?

Is it the name of a treasure?

‘I’ve never heard of it.’

Pascal, unable to understand, tilted his head.

Grid repeated:

“Just give me 10 quadrillion gold, and I’ll become your true friend.”

“What a madman!”

The words came out reflexively.

10 quadrillion gold was an astronomical amount that could not be gathered even if all the treasuries of all the countries on the continent were emptied.

It was impossible for Grid, who demanded such an absurd amount, to be considered normal.

“What? A madman? You said you would give me anything, and now you call me a madman?”

“No, no. I was just startled and spoke nonsense…”

Pascal waved his hand at Grid, who wore an expression of disbelief. Grid sneered at him, who was making excuses.

“This ends the negotiation. Let’s go our separate ways.”

Grid reached for Raphaël's spear, preparing to move to the forge.

Kamian, who had been silent all along, pointed a knife at his neck.

“Leave Raphaël's spear behind. How long do you plan to keep the church’s property, an outsider like you?”

“…”

Grid’s gaze, looking at the flashing blade, quietly hardened.

“Twice.”

“What?”

“This is the second time you’ve pointed a knife at my neck, a duke of a nation.”

Kamian sneered.

“So what? Are you going to run to your king Bisbaden and tell on me?”

A knight from another country casually mentioning his king’s name.

How infuriating must it be?

Kamian was deliberately provoking Grid to make him lose his composure and fail to use his full strength.

But his plan failed.

Grid had no loyalty to the king at all.

“It’s fine that you call the name of our king as if it’s the name of a neighbor’s dog.”

Thud.

Grid grabbed Raphaël's spear.

[White Flower activates.]

[No divine power detected. White Flower activation failed. Side effects cause strain on the body.]

[Resistance applied.]

“I won’t tolerate you acting disrespectfully towards me.”

The reason Grid couldn’t attack Pascal and the elders was his fear of the goddess’s curse.

But what about Kamian?

He was not a cleric of the Rebecca Church.

There was no reason for him to just stand by and watch Kamian’s insolence.

“Let’s see how you handle this.”

Swish.

The strongest spear technique Grid knew was Fon’s.

He had watched Fon fight countless times and even sparred with him a few times.

Fon’s spear technique was imperfectly but partially displayed in Grid’s hands.

Swoosh!

As the spear shaft moved in a diagonal line, Kamian’s knife, which was aimed at Grid’s neck, fell to the ground.

“Damn!”

Kamian, surprised by the natural and fluid technique, stepped back and readied himself.

Taking advantage of the moment, Grid, who had extended his right leg backward, retrieved the spear and thrust it forward.

Swoosh!

[Due to Raphaël's spear’s option effect, the ‘Light Wheel Slash’ skill activates.]

[Due to Raphaël's spear’s option effect, the target suffers 5,000 additional damage.]

“Gah!”

Kamian couldn’t believe it.

Grid’s thrust had suddenly drawn a circle.

Even with his <Keen Senses>, he couldn’t react in time to this unconventional attack.

“Cough! Cough!”

Kamian, who had received a powerful blow to his waist, fell to his knees and spat out dark red blood.

‘Such power…!’

Kamian was dazed.

His bones were broken, and his internal organs felt like they had burst.

This was the power of a mythic weapon and skill.

“Such… power…”

Pascal was shocked, watching Kamian, who couldn’t even scream and was only gasping.

A paladin.

One of the strongest knights on the continent, falling so helplessly?

What was even more astonishing was:

“How can you use Raphaël's spear?”

The three great holy relics of the Rebecca Church could only be used by the chosen ones.

Their innate divine power must surpass the ordinary.

They must have prayed to the goddess Rebecca for at least nine years and received a divine message.

Finally,

‘They must be female!’

Pascal took a step back.

“You…”

Pascal’s face, which had turned pale, now turned blue as he stared at Grid as if he were a ghost.

“Grid, you… you can’t be a woman!”

“…”

It was the most incomprehensible nonsense Grid had ever heard.

Grid, the 181 cm tall, robust young man, had no intention of arguing.

He really intended to kill Kamian.

Pascal, unable to tolerate it, used a heal.

Thanks to the heal, Kamian was able to stand up.

Fear was evident on his face as he readied his sword.

‘It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a heal.’

In Satisfy, healers are much rarer than in typical games.

Becoming a priest of the Rebecca Church required giving up too much.

Very few players chose to become priests of the Rebecca Church.

‘There are too many eyes watching.’

Believers, who had heard the commotion, were gathering in the garden.

Grid, judging that killing Kamian in front of them could negatively impact Damian’s election campaign, stepped back.

“I’ll let you off today.”

Kamian, glaring at Grid as he calmly left, was filled with murderous intent.

‘I will kill you…! I will definitely kill you, Grid!’

The reason I lost to you today is because of a momentary lapse.

I never imagined you could use a divine weapon.

‘Damn brat!’

The wound on his side caused intense pain, making him feel nauseous.

Kamian set his sights on the week after the arrival of Count Chirita.

“Well then.”

Inside the forge of the Vatican.

Grid took his seat in the place where the holy knights’ weapons were produced, holding the legendary blacksmith’s hammer.

“Let’s see how this goes.”

Clang! Clang!

Raphaël's spear.

A weapon created by a god, now being dismantled and reinterpreted by human hands.