Chapter 77

The Allied Army’s Saintess (1)

Adrian Whitewolf.

Isolde had first learned of him through the rumors about “monster meat.”

The Madness genes within monsters could not be removed even with Isolde’s divine power. Monsters were creatures of Chaos that defied God’s order, and they possessed an innate resistance to divine power, the power of God.

Even the mages who explored the truths of the world acknowledged this. There was a reason it ranked among the Twenty-Three Problems of Arcanis. More precisely, hadn’t that problem already been settled with a verdict of “impossible”?

As a result, suspicions about Adrian had cautiously been raised. Could a member of the Dark Merchant Company have taken possession of his body? The abrupt changes in his recent behavior only fueled those suspicions. Even so, they could not jump to conclusions—until now.

Adrian had appeared in the lawless city. And the moment they caught him not only contacting the black market’s Ashen Mask but secretly conversing with its leadership, Isolde’s suspicions became certainty.

Adrian was not Adrian. The real Adrian Whitewolf was dead. A member of the Dark Merchant Company had taken his body.

That meant distributing monster meat was also part of the Dark Merchant Company’s plan. Once word of monster meat spread across the continent, they intended to plunge people into Madness in an instant and throw the continent into turmoil.

He had to die.

But Adrian was a noble of the Kingdom of Battenberg. A count, no less—a high-ranking noble with close ties to the monarch. Though someone from the Dark Merchant Company had taken his body, proving it would not be easy.

If Adrian died, the Kingdom of Battenberg would never let it pass. They would conduct a thorough investigation, which might expose Isolde’s involvement. As she was a princess of the Holy Kingdom, this was a serious matter that could easily escalate into a diplomatic incident.

In Violess, however, things were different. Violess was a free city beyond the kingdoms’ jurisdiction. A no-go zone that even adventurers refused to enter.

People died here practically every day, yet no one cared. It was a lawless city where even the barest semblance of law and order had collapsed.

* * *

Four heroes followed Ian, the Hero. They were the allied army’s greatest fighting force, and Isolde was the woman among them known as the Saintess.

Within the thick cloud of dust, Isolde slowly came into view. Her legs emerged first, clad in light greaves that extended down over her ankles.

A supple leather belt encircled the slender waist that appeared next, and bracers were securely strapped to her slim forearms without restricting her movement. Lightweight gauntlets covered both hands. Overall, she wore practical light armor that blended white and silver.

A mask fashioned after a white deer covered her face. Behind it, her platinum-blond hair was pulled high and tied tightly back, yet its smooth, lustrous texture still drew the eye at once.

Though the mask concealed her face...

==<Character Information>==

Name : Isolde Cordelia

Classification : Kingdom Animalia, Class Mammalia, Family Hominidae, Human

Sex : Female

Age : 21

Traits : Perfect Muscle Control[A], Omni Vessel[M]

The Character Information floating before my eyes left no doubt that the person behind the mask was Isolde.

“Why are you here—”

That was as far as I got. Isolde lowered her body and lunged at me.

TAP-TAP!

The sound reached me a beat late. By then, her leg was already whipping toward me.

I instinctively crossed my arms to block, but she folded the leg she had swung and kicked off the ground. Her body shot up like a spring. Then she twisted at the waist again, changing her stance in midair.

WHOOSH!

Her raised leg came crashing down toward my head. The movements flowed seamlessly into one another, the entire sequence taking less than a second.

But my drastically increased Agility stat let me react far faster. I immediately pushed off the ground and darted aside.

BOOM!

The spot where I had just been standing shattered. Earth and sand erupted upward, and fragments scattered like throwing weapons, embedding themselves in the alley walls.

Had I reacted even a little later, my head might have burst. No, it definitely would have.

In other words, Isolde was trying to kill me. She was absolutely determined to.

... But why?

Before I could pursue that question, she charged again. Her speed was difficult to react to even with my drastically enhanced Agility, and she exploited that brief instant of bewilderment perfectly.

This—I couldn’t dodge it.

◆Activating combination skill ‘Dragon’s Skin[U]’!

Almost the very instant the message appeared before my eyes—

BOOM!

My entire body shook violently, as though caught in an earthquake.

I could say this without the slightest exaggeration: it felt like being punched by an ogre.

“Ghh—!”

Still, I could endure it because Dragon’s Skin[U] reduced the damage by [-90%]. If I had taken that hit unprotected, my whole body would have been pulverized. There would have been nothing left.

Really, though, did that even make sense?

But this was Isolde, a hero of the allied army. If she was the woman I knew, it made perfect sense.

◆Perfect Muscle Control[A]

: Acquiring this skill allows extremely precise muscle control down to individual muscle fibers.

This enables highly precise movements, granting a [+6,550%] adjustment to base flexibility and sense of balance.

Additionally, optimizing muscular force in every bodily movement grants a [+4,350%] adjustment to base Strength and a [+5,400%] adjustment to base Stamina.

<This is a passive skill and applies permanently upon acquisition.>

One glance was enough to tell how fucking broken that ability was. And how badly I wanted it. The rank alone said it all: one tier above Kai’s Adoptive Muscle Memory[A-].

For comparison, a dragon’s genetic abilities were rank [A]. In other words, Isolde’s talent for using her body rivaled a dragon’s. Of course, dragons possessed countless talents beyond that, so this alone wasn’t enough to put her on their level. Even so, when it came to making use of her body, she was comparable to a dragon.

‘No wonder.’

This was why she could perform such terrifying martial feats. Even Ian had recoiled from them.

In other words...

‘You’re as much of a monster as ever...!’

Then or now, Isolde was a monster.

Why was that monster... no, Isolde, trying to kill me? She seemed to have misunderstood something. And given the circumstances, the most likely misunderstanding was—

“If you think I’m a member of the Dark Merchant Company—!”

BOOOM!

... I couldn’t get through to her. More precisely, she didn’t believe me.

The Dark Merchant Company—the Devotees of the Fallen Souls—used forbidden magic to take complete control of their targets. Wasn’t Avarus himself proof of that? Just as Iratum had failed to recognize who I was, Isolde couldn’t identify my true self either.

She didn’t think I was Adrian Whitewolf. Naturally, nothing I said would convince her.

Then there was only one way.

I readied the sharp talons of Dragon’s Claw[A]. But just as I swung at Isolde when she charged again, Predatory Instincts[S] warned me.

‘Danger!’

I pulled back my swinging Dragon’s Claw[A] and slid my foot backward. Then—

WHOOOSH!

Isolde’s fist skimmed past my cheek, carrying tremendous wind pressure.

It had only grazed past me, yet my eardrums stung. The shock wave left my head ringing and my vision shaking.

... Counterattacking would be difficult.

I hurriedly put some distance between us and steadied my vision. A short distance away, Isolde was drawing both fists toward her chest.

‘Divine Martial Fist?’

Divine Martial Fist. The martial art that had made Isolde a hero of the allied army. Its power went beyond destructive to catastrophic.

Ian’s assessment of it had been telling.

[“Maybe I should be the one learning from her.”]

Isolde drew a heated breath. Golden energy swirled around her.

Divine power.

If Divine Martial Fist had made her a hero of the allied army, divine power was what defined her as the Saintess. Divine power was not magic. Some called it holy magic, but that was plainly incorrect. It was not derived from magical power; it was a transformed form of aura.

Aura was an absurd power that drew things existing only in an individual’s imagination into reality. As a form of aura, divine power was likewise the result of bringing something imaginary into the real world.

What divine power brought forth from imagination was—

God.

It manifested a supernatural, superhuman conception that existed beyond comprehension, bringing it into reality at last.

Whether God actually existed was irrelevant. The intensity of human belief had the power to transcend ontological arguments.

Aura, however, concerned things existing only within an [Individual]’s imagination. Thus, the abilities it manifested differed from person to person. Everyone’s thoughts and imagination were different, so the power of their aura varied according to their beliefs.

Divine power was different. God, a supreme and immortal being, was a conception they all shared.

Collective belief. Divine power could therefore exert the force not of an individual imagination, but of a [Collective] imagination.

Its astonishing power went beyond the absurd, making even the “impossible” possible. From healing at the simplest level to purification, blessings, prophecy, and even resurrection—all through the collective belief that these were the works of God!

That was why mages did not define divine power as magical power. It was belief that worked miracles. Belief that this was God’s power.

The allied army’s Archmage had defined it this way:

[“Divine power could be called the ultimate form of aura.”]

But Isolde went even further.

◆Omni Vessel[M]

: The user’s [Physical Vessel] and [Mental Vessel] can accept all [Energy] and [Concepts] in the world.

Accepted powers are not merely accumulated, but [Integrated] into the user’s essence. This allows even opposing concepts to coexist within the user [Without Contradiction].

However, there is a risk of the will collapsing, and the self may collapse during the process of acquiring essences and concepts.

She could fully contain that power of belief. A being with the potential to become a god in a human body.

That was the woman trying to kill me right now. Isolde Cordelia. Commander of Divine Command, a hero of the allied army, and the Saintess with the greatest divine power in the entire history of the continent.

ROOOAR!

Golden divine power whirled around Isolde. A raging torrent of power. Every wall in the alley exploded.

That power was like a natural disaster. There was no calling it human. Divine power was the ultimate form of aura, and Isolde was its concentrated embodiment.

I couldn’t afford to underestimate her just because she looked like a woman. Her perfectly proportioned figure was unmistakably a woman’s. But the power within it was anything but.

Just as I had used Regeneration[B+] to develop my muscles beyond human limits, she could do the same. Strictly speaking, she far surpassed me.

The absurd talent of Perfect Muscle Manipulation[A]. The ridiculous force of divine power. Tempered by both, Isolde’s body was itself a “living weapon.” That was why she fought unarmed instead of using weapons.

One hit. A single strike of Divine Martial Fist would tear my entire body apart and send it flying.

But—

‘She’s still inexperienced.’

Divine Martial Fist wasn’t as powerful as it used to be. Compared with Isolde during her allied army days, it was pitiful.

The martial art itself hadn’t changed, but the woman wielding it wasn’t at the same level. Just as I was not the allied army’s Predator, she was not yet the allied army’s Saintess.

Experience gained on countless battlefields was not something to discount. That inexperience meant I had a chance.

Forgetting to breathe, I ran forward. Isolde did not dodge. She clenched her fists and met my Dragon’s Claw[A] head-on.

Her gauntlets were wreathed in divine power. The destructive force within them was terrifying—but so was Dragon’s Claw[A].

CRRACK!

I tore through the resistance of her divine power.

Her body was shoved backward for an instant, and I caught sight of her topaz eyes behind the white deer mask. This was unmistakably Isolde, just as she had been in my previous life. Her eyes were as unreadable as ever.

But Find Weakness[U] told me she was shaken.

I quickly lowered my stance and slipped inside her guard. Find Weakness[U] had identified an opening close to her body. Dragon’s Claw[A] tore into her right armpit.

Yet her left fist was already against my side. I hadn’t even seen her swing. My claws tore through her armpit at almost the exact moment she shattered my ribs.

BOOM!

The tremendous impact sent me flying through the air.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

Only after smashing through several alley walls did I finally come to a stop.

I hurriedly repaired my broken ribs with Regeneration[B+]. By the time I steadied my vision, Isolde was charging toward me at a tremendous speed. Her torn armpit had completely healed, as though it had never been wounded.

The overwhelming healing power of divine power. I had known about it, but was this what people meant by getting a taste of your own medicine? Why the lycanthrope and Avarus had been so horrified by my Regeneration[B+]...

‘Damn it.’

... Now, I thought I understood a little.