Your Excellency. Where did you get this?"
Her eyes trembled without mercy. Her voice did the same. The hand that received the divine catalyst did the same. No, Stella's entire body was shaking like an aspen tree.
That meant that the identity of the sacred catalyst I was given was that shocking.
"I picked it up at the bottom of the Rune Dungeon."
"...In the Rune Dungeon?"
"yes."
"But the other knight commanders didn't say anything. They didn't even say that they picked this up. And you, Inquisitor, if you had gone into the dungeon with the noble guest—"
"I think you are making a big mistake, Your Excellency the Inquisitor."
Stella, who was just waiting outside, had no way of knowing how many people had entered the Rune Dungeon. So it wasn't unreasonable for her to think that we had all entered together.
but.
"I was the only one who entered the dungeon."
"...Huh? What does that mean?"
"That means the Inquisitor and the Knight Commanders were left outside. I alone entered the Rune Dungeon, completed the subjugation, and returned to the surface after obtaining the Rune, so it's only natural that others don't know about this sacred catalyst."
Stella and the combat nuns' eyes widened at the same time when they heard those words. It must have been hard to believe.
It was a place where the Holy Nation failed to subdue despite making numerous sacrifices. It was much stranger to believe the claim that he entered the dungeon alone without any evidence.
That was a perfectly normal reaction.
Green eyes filled with all sorts of complex emotions turned to Selene. It meant that what I said was true. Selene nodded obediently.
"...You're not planning on making fun of me among yourselves, are you? You're not planning on telling me it was all a joke and making fun of me later, are you?"
"I swear on the moon, Inquisitor. Your Majesty, you have certainly entered the Rune Dungeon alone and returned after accomplishing great feats."
"...."
Since he had even mentioned swearing on the moon, it was something he couldn't continue to deny. Stella blankly looked down at the sacred catalyst on her palm.
"Inquisitor, what on earth is that sacred catalyst that makes you react like that?"
Selene asked a question.
Except for Stella, that is, the battle nuns under the Inquisitor's command, Selene, and the battle nuns under Selene, no one seemed to know what the Divine Catalyst was.
Even if it was possible for the combat nuns to do so, it was a bit surprising that even Selene didn't know. Was it because Lucia was from the Order of the Sun?
After a while of silence, Stella finally seemed to have managed to pull herself together before she slowly began to open her mouth.
"This is... the sacred catalyst of Priest Lucia, who participated in the conquest of the Rune Dungeon a long time ago."
At Stella's words, I could see Selene and the battle nuns under her command being startled. I slightly modified the thoughts that had just occurred to me.
It's not that I don't know who Lucia is, I just don't know what that Divine Catalyst is. Otherwise, I wouldn't have flinched and focused my gaze as soon as I heard Stella's words.
Although it was treated as a special item, its appearance itself did not differ much from the Divine Catalyst used by the high-ranking priests of the Holy Nation. The same modeling was used in the game.
Rather, it would be amazing if Stella could recognize the identity right away.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense. Only the knight commanders could not keep up with the situation, and while they had question marks floating above their heads, they seemed to have realized that something was seriously wrong and remained silent.
"But... this, how...."
"Because he was still alive when I arrived."
"Really?!"
Stella's voice grew incredibly loud. Her two eyes, wide open, stared at me intently. There was a liveliness called hope on her face.
But that was only for a moment, as if he had noticed something in my expression, his face, which had brightened, quickly darkened.
"...I made a fool of myself. I'm sorry. There's no way that person would still be alive and well."
"If you want to hear it, I can tell you. If you don't want to hear it, I can just leave it to myself. What do you want to do?"
"...Please tell me, I beg you."
Stella bit her lip. I nodded and told her everything that had happened in the basement of the Rune Dungeon.
How Lucia was consumed by the abyss, lost her mind, committed numerous blasphemies, came to her senses in the middle of it, fought me as a priest, and ultimately met her end at my hand.
Stella, who had been silently listening to my explanation, tightly grabbed the Divine Catalyst as soon as the explanation was over.
"That's right. You didn't die when you crashed."
In fact, the root of all this was Lucia's terrible misfortune of falling to the bottom of the dungeon and surviving. Otherwise, none of this would have happened.
Stella stared blankly at the Divine Catalyst in her hand again, then muttered in a deep voice.
"...Father Lucia is the one who saved me from the pit of hell."
It was a story about my past.
"I lost my parents to devil worshippers, and I was on the verge of becoming a sacrifice… Father Lucia saved me, and I was able to have such true faith. She is the one who gave me a new life."
In the game, it was Lucia who rescued the heretic judge and brought him to the Holy Land, and it was also Lucia who acted as his parent for a short time.
A considerable amount of time has passed, and the sorrowful feelings of that time have mostly subsided, but now that he has heard of Lucia's death, which he thought was a simple fall to death, and has even received her belongings, his sadness must be welling up again.
"...But, I couldn't even send that person off properly."
Stella's head bowed deeply. Then, suddenly, she raised her head and met my eyes. Her green eyes were filled with strong desire.
"Your Excellency. If you don't mind, may I ask you one question?"
"As much as you want."
"Father Lucia… have you found peace? Have you finally, finally, returned to the embrace of God?"
Stella's words were a question about the choices the player had made.
Did you answer yes or no to Lucia's question? If you answered no, did you leave Lucia alone or kill her yourself?
Here you had two choices: tell the truth to the Inquisitor, or lie.
By the way, it will be revealed later whether the player was telling the truth or lying. The Inquisitor can look into the user's memories through the waves of the divine power contained in the catalyst.
The worst route is the one where you choose the no option to Lucia's question, leave her to suffer in the abyss, and lie that you gave her peace.
Later, the player is declared an enemy of the Holy Nation by the Inquisitor, who is furious when he learns the truth, and is permanently unable to progress in the story related to the Holy Nation for that turn.
To be honest, it was such an evil act that anyone could see it, that for a while, a hate meme was attached to the main character.
"Yes. He returned to the embrace of God and fell into a peaceful sleep."
On the contrary, the best route would have been to choose the yes option to Lucia's question as it was now, and then answer the Inquisitor that you have found peace.
If you take this route, the Inquisitor will also become an unconditional ally of the player, just like the Knight Commanders of the Silver Dawn. This was an essential task for me at the moment.
"...I see. That's fortunate. I'm really, really fortunate."
Stella's eyes turned red. It seemed like she was having a hard time controlling her surging emotions. Stella wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, took a deep breath, and stepped in front of me.
And then he bowed his head deeply toward me.
"I sincerely thank you for your kindness. I, Stella, the Inquisitor of the Holy Kingdom of Raphael, swear on my name that I will never forget this favor I have received from you for eternity."
I answered with a light laugh to the line I remembered hearing in the game. There was no need to answer with words here.
Stella, who had carefully tied the Divine Catalyst to her waist, returned with the battle nuns. I glanced at Selene next to me. She seemed a little surprised, but there was no dramatic change in her expression.
"Iris, are you okay for a moment?"
"...."
"Iris?"
"...Ah. Sorry, Delta. I was just absentminded. What happened?"
Iris came to her senses after I called her twice. It seemed that what had just happened had been quite a shock.
It seemed as if the Knight Commanders were constantly shocked by things that happened when they came to the Holy Land. How many times has this happened already?
"Would you like to go back to your quarters first? I have a few things to discuss with the Inquisitor. I'll explain it to you later, step by step. It probably won't take that long."
"Are you talking about the runes? Since they originally belonged to the Holy Nation, you should distinguish between what you can and cannot explain to us. Got it. I'll go back first and wait."
The knight commanders walked along obediently. Lize waved her hand at me. I responded appropriately. My conscience prickled because I felt like I was making a serious mistake.
Still, it was fortunate. What we were going to do from now on would be a little bit difficult if the Knight Commanders were watching from the side. If they had said no, I was going to force them to go back, even if it meant being a little stubborn.
"Your Majesty, Inquisitor. Could you please guide me to a place where there are no people? A place where the two of us can be alone?"
"Understood, Your Excellencies. You too may return. Rest until I give you my order."
The battle nuns bowed their heads and scattered in all directions. Selene, who had bitten the battle nuns with a single wave of her hand, turned around.
"Follow me."
The place Selene led me to was, like last time, the chapel of those who serve the Pope of the Moon. The inside was still empty.
"Are you sure it's just the two of us?"
"Yes. It is the time to serve the sun now, so no one will come here… But since you look uneasy, should I put up a barrier to prevent anyone from coming in?"
The Divine Catalyst emitted a faint glow. Then, a deep silver glow appeared outside the window, enveloping the entire building.
"It has been done as you wished. To break through the barrier surrounding the chapel, either the Inquisitor or His Holiness the Pope himself will have to descend."
"Yes. Thank you, Inquisitor."
I took a deep breath for a moment. It was unknown how Selene would react to my plan. Still, the odds of success were high.
The source is my intuition.
"However… Your Excellency, when you speak of the effects of the runes, is there a reason why you must block your eyes to see them like this?"
Selene expressed her doubts. Well, asking to put up a barrier around a building just to reveal the effects of a rune would certainly seem like an excessive act.
"Well, that's not what I'm talking about, runes."
"Huh…? What is that…?"
"What I'm trying to say is this."
I struck the player before Selene's confusion could fade.
"For example, the one who volunteered to be a sacrifice was the Pope of the Moon."
-Kwaaang!
Before I could finish my words, my vision spun around. My body was lifted into the air and then slammed hard into the cathedral wall. A sharp shock hit my back.
Rather than feeling the pain of my back being hit, the first thought that came to my mind was that I was glad that this wasn't considered damage. The next thing that came out of my mouth was a "whoosh."
If this was considered damage, I would have died here.
"Where did you hear that?"
Selene, who had thrown me straight against the cathedral wall, was emitting an unprecedented killing intent.
Those fierce eyes glared at me. I felt an enormous pressure from the wide-open eyes. The hand that was holding my neck seemed ready to break my cervical vertebrae at any moment.
"I asked where and from whom you heard it!"
Selene finally shouted. Selene was even more blunt than Iris, but this was the first time I saw her get so angry and raise her voice.
The DLC story doesn't usually progress like this. However, I've decided to intentionally ignore the story. I'm going to skip all the middle stages and go straight to beating the final boss.
Since it was twisted from the start, why shouldn't I be able to untie it with my own hands?