by Fuse
Even as he polished his spirit magic skills, he constantly recalled Hinata’s rapier in action, attempting to emulate her in his daily training. Once he had gained a mastery of magical arts, he returned to his academy in Englesia, learning about aspectual magic as he awaited a chance to move to the Holy Empire of Lubelius. This was a difficult task for outsiders, but his adherence to Luminism and proven skills as an outstanding talent earned him a nod from their government.
He pounced on the offer, even though it meant cutting ties with his family. Upon completing the move, he took up holy magic and earned a spot as a trainee paladin. The spirit he forged a pact with was affiliated with light—as pure and unblemished as the soul of the one they called the Paladin of Light.
After joining the paladin guard, it took comparatively little time for Renard to become Hinata’s personal aide. He took the initiative to volunteer for any mission, no matter how reckless, and the results he provided his newly adopted nation made his qualifications eminently clear.
Hinata could count many people as her rivals: Arnaud and Fritz, both of whom arrived at the same time she did; even Cardinal Nicolaus, who was just as coldhearted and crafty as Hinata herself. As for her admirers? There was no way to even begin counting them. Being an aide to such a paladin was a source of boundless pride to Renard.
And yet…
(Renard, there is something I want you, and only you, to know.)
Right after Archbishop Reyhiem’s sensational murder, Renard was beckoned by the Seven Days Clergy. There, he had an unspeakable truth revealed to him.
(Hinata, you know… She was involved, shall we say, with the demon lord Valentine.)
(We were about to kill Valentine, you see, but before we could, he revealed that to us as he begged for mercy.)
The revelation made Renard’s head go blank. Hinata, this woman he looked up to so much, in a liaison with Valentine. It meant she was pulling the wool over his eyes this whole time. If it was true, it was a betrayal the pure-minded Renard could never allow. It seemed impossible that the Clergy, these great heroes, would be lying—but it seemed just as impossible that Hinata would deceive her own paladins.
Perhaps, though… It is true that Valentine has been inactive as of late. Lady Hinata should be more than powerful enough to slay him, but she’s shown no interest in that at all…
Hinata had enough force to dispatch Valentine—Renard was sure of that much. The Battlesage Saare’s briefing made Hinata’s victory all but assured in his mind. She must have her own motivations, of course…but the thought still troubled Renard.
The Clergy continued:
(Of course, it may have been a desperate lie from Valentine. But that’s not the end of the story, you see.)
(As hard as it is to believe, we have seen signs that she has attempted to connect herself to the demon lord Rimuru.)
(Would it not be unthinkable, normally, to see someone like the good Archbishop Reyhiem killed in this holy land?)
“But…!” Renard’s mind was a whirl of confusion. “But Lady Hinata’s faith is more stalwart than anyone I know. How could she betray us, to say nothing of our god?”
(Yes, there’s the rub, Renard. We, too, have our suspicions about that.)
(But perhaps it is the other way around. Perhaps it is Hinata who is playing an intricate game against us—and Luminus. We cannot call it an impossibility.)
(There is one way we could settle these doubts for sure…)
“Wh-what is it?!” Renard half shouted, accepting the bait.
The Clergy was silent for a moment before continuing. (If we tell you, there will be no turning back.)
(This is not a question we can afford to make into a public matter…)
(Not until we prove Hinata’s innocence.)
But Renard’s mind was already made up, led expertly into the trap the Clergy laid for him with their words.
“I accept the risk. I promise I will prove to the world that Lady Hinata is innocent!”
(Mm, yes…)
(You will help us then, Renard?)
(It will likely be a dangerous task.)
Renard simply looked on, waiting for them to continue.
(Defeat the demon lord Rimuru!)
(Do that, and we will have our answer.)
(If Hinata is connected to him, she will no doubt stage a desperate rush to stop you.)
This was enough to throw even Renard’s confidence.
“But… But Veldora…!”
This response was what the Seven Days expected.
(Do not lose your resolve.)
(Calm yourself and think.)
(Has the evil dragon truly awoken? Don’t you think all of that is simply wishful thinking?)
This reminded Renard of a key fact. The only people who claimed to know firsthand that Veldora was back were Hinata and the Holy Emperor.
“So you are saying Veldora remains asleep?”
(That is highly probable.)
(Not even Reyhiem personally witnessed the dragon, as we understand.)
(It may even be the case that Hinata is deceiving the Holy Emperor himself.)
A whirlpool of doubt began to spiral around in Renard’s mind—just as the Clergy wanted.
(And Hinata has already encountered Rimuru once.)
(We believe that was the moment when she fell under the demon lord’s spell.)
(If she has been doing Rimuru’s bidding ever since…)
The scales in Renard’s heart began to tilt. Yes, he naturally began to think. Hinata needs to be saved. And I am the only one who can save her.
“Indeed. Yes, I am sure you are not mistaken! Lady Hinata would never willfully deceive us. If she is unwittingly doing someone else’s bidding, that would clear her of any doubt on your part, correct?”
The Seven Days Clergy nodded their heads solemnly.
(It would. If you are able to do so, there would be no suspicion.)
(But it will be dangerous!)
They seemed to be testing Renard’s resolve. They didn’t need to.
“Then please, allow me to take on the task!”
His mind was made up. Hinata needed his salvation. And if she had been deliberately lying to all the paladins that served her…he wasn’t afraid to strike her down, should it come to that.
(Very well. It shall be yours to handle.)
(Your resolve is strong, we see.)
(Do us proud, Renard!)
Thus, he set off, in direct violation of Hinata’s orders.
By the time he was inside the Forest of Jura, Renard’s suspicion had grown to indisputable fact in his mind.
Veldora resurrected? Nonsense. There were far too few magicules in the air to make that an even remote possibility. Which meant that Hinata had most likely betrayed all of Luminism—a fact that Renard hardly wanted to consider, even as he continued his undaunted advance.
And then, just as he fanned out the troops under his command and attempted to launch a Holy Field, he was attacked by monsters, as if they had waited for that exact moment to strike.
“Could it be that Lady Hinata has sold us out…?” his companion, Garde, asked. “That she learned of our actions and tipped the demon lord off to them?”
(If Hinata is connected to him, she will no doubt stage a desperate rush to stop you.)
The words of the Clergy rang in Renard’s mind. But now was no time for measured thought. He instantly sent the order to fight back, and with that, the battle was on.
Their enemies were stronger than expected…but as it turned out, he had not seen them all yet. Just as Renard was beginning to sense his position was in danger, out came the oni—those detestable, nightmare-like presences—falling out from the sky. They hit the ground, crushing it like an explosion and sending plumes of dust into the air.
“We got some big fish here,” observed Garde as he readied his spear. Renard nodded back at him, then calmly gave his orders. Apart from the two of them, there were four paladins nearby, the rest of t
he force engaged with other monsters. In a moment, these four finished their preparations as ordered. The entire group was enveloped in light, forming a powerful defensive barrier—spiritual armor, the ultimate in protection for a paladin.
This armor came in the form of holy mail, light as a feather and imbued with the power to summon the spirits each paladin had forged a pact with. This granted them unfettered access to these spirits’ powers, and what’s more, the evil-quelling abilities added to their weapons neutralized all resistances in their foes, letting them strike for damage at every opportunity. All of this consumed a great deal of energy and thus could not be manifested for very long, but with it, the paladins were the true natural enemies of all monsters.
Readied for battle, the four paladins spread out in all directions, focused on their targets. They would be deploying a simplified Holy Field, and not a moment too soon, because the enemies they detected ahead were almost uncannily powerful. In particular, the magic-born standing before them had a gigantic amount of magical energy, like none he had seen before. It was an A rank—and on the higher end of that scale. Not Rimuru himself, no, but likely one of his closest associates.
It was, in Renard’s mind, an appetizer before the main dish of the demon lord. He wanted to end this fast so he could move on to the biggest fish in the pond—and so he opted to leave nothing on the table for his first strike.
“Launch the Holy Field toward the target!”
But his lack of foresight would cost him. The order was laid out before he had a full grip of his adversary.
The four paladins sprang into action, deploying the holy barrier. The execution was perfect—nothing could have broken out of it from the inside. But it was not complete, a quasi-barrier with a short range and less of a weakening effect on monsters. It could prevent a foe from taking action, but could it fully block attacks from beyond the barrier? That was an open question.
This barrier was deployed in the shape of a pyramid, about fifteen feet to a side, but it left open the possibility of the target launching a large-scale spell before all its magicules were banished. In such a case, perhaps the attack could reach outside the barrier after all. That was one reason why most barriers were built to be much larger than this. But to be fair, even this quasi-barrier could fully prevent magicules from crossing over. It was a paladin’s killer move, one that not even the higher-level magic-born could break through.
Thus, Renard ordered his team to deploy the barrier, keeping a careful eye on all of them. The purifying light surrounding them wouldn’t be enough to kill a target like this, so a stout defense was a necessity. They could attack the foe from the outside—but they’d need to be sure what he was first. If it was one of the rarer types that could deflect damage, care would be required to avoid a massacre. They couldn’t afford any mistakes.
As the paladins wrapped up all their preparations, the dust from the landing finally dissipated. There, in front of them, was a single monster, a slender, tall female with long, purplish hair tied back. On her forehead was a single horn, jet-black in color, and the strange suit she wore struck the curiosity of anyone who saw it.
Her violet eyes turned toward Renard.
“My name is Shion, first secretary for Sir Rimuru. My leader has the following message for you: Choose between submission or death. I am sure you are all intelligent enough to know what those words mean. Drop your weapons and surrender to my forces at once!” she declared haughtily.
The monster calling herself Shion gazed down like some sort of deity as she spoke. Her emphasizing the word first was noticeable across the whole of the wood.
Renard sized up his foe, judging her abilities. He had thought her magicule count put her in the high As, but now even this seemed like folly.
“A terrific sight. Special A…or perhaps she could even become a demon lord, if everything came together just right.”
Judging by the horn, she was an advanced member of the ogre family. An ogre mage or maybe higher— An oni, Renard thought, a mere hop, skip, and jump away from demon lord. And a named oni—definitely a Calamity of a threat, or worse. Disaster, even, should she ever take that plunge into lord-dom. At least one oni of the past, he knew, held a force that was divine in nature, giving them control over nature itself. They were less monsters and more lower-level gods.
He was plainly right to have his team treat her with extreme caution.
“Hmph! Sorry to disappoint you,” Shion calmly replied, “but I am no god, as much as I may resemble one. I am an oni, and something tells me that you think I’m a lot nicer than I truly am.”
Niceness is something nobody facing Shion would accuse her of right now. They had no idea what made her entertain that notion, but really, it was just Shion’s way of warning them.
“An oni? Perhaps there is not much difference, no, but it matters not to us. Divine or not, you are nothing but an evil monster in our eyes. The only god in our dictionary is the one god Luminus!”
This was the core tenet of the Holy Empire of Lubelius, and it was not to be defied. They would never recognize another god, even one with some degree of regional support among the people. If they do not declare themselves to be gods, then fine, but if so, they must be destroyed. Plus, this was just a monster. No matter how much power it wields, there was no need to go easy on a minion of a demon lord.
It was this belief that made Renard respond the way he did. Shion’s retort to this was entirely unexpected.
“I don’t care about your god! You have your choice, now give me your response!”
Submission or death. The non-offer rankled Renard deeply.
“Silence, evil beast. The world shall be purified of unclean creatures like yourself!”
Enraged, he ordered his paladins to launch a Holy Cannon barrage. One of the few offensive spells in the holy-magic family, it worked on the magicule level, dissembling the particles to rob monsters of the very essence that formed their bodies. On a human target, it would merely knock them unconscious with its force; on a monster, it would wipe out their very existence. While it didn’t work on targets imbued with holy elements, monsters were particularly weak against it, for unlike the natural elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, the “darkness” element was incapable of canceling out the “holy” element. Without angelic holy magic, it was impossible to block the Holy Cannon.
Accepting Renard’s order, the paladins went on the attack, firing bolts of holy energy from all sides toward Shion. But she just stood there serenely, the massive blade in her hands deflecting all the energy away. Then, with a dejected why-don’t-they-listen-to-me expression, she turned to Renard once more.
“Is that your answer? If you refuse to submit, then that means it’s time to die!”
Even Renard was shocked. But he wasn’t about to submit to this. Whether this was some local god or not, she was already inside the Holy Field. All they had to do was keep that barrier going, wait for the target to falter under it, and strike the final blow.
But even as he thought that, Renard had to offer Shion praise for her masterful sword skills. She had to be at least a bit weakened by now, but the speed of her moves was every bit a match for his own. Not even he could hide his surprise.
That blade, whatever it was, had the ability to deflect holy energy, which was extremely unusual. Given Holy Cannon’s magicule-corroding effects, any demonic blade offered up against it should have disintegrated into dust. But that large sword looked as fine as ever.
Then one of the paladins handling the barrier and offense let out a pained groan. A Holy Cannon bolt had struck him.
No! Can anyone even do that?!
Renard was shocked. Here she was, apparently taking this holy energy within herself, focusing it on her sword, and literally firing it back at her foes. From a common-sense perspective, it was absolutely impossible, requiring precision on the level of single instances in time—and Shion was pulling it off without breaking a sweat.
Hurriedly, he stopped the
attack. The paladin, fortunately, was still conscious, albeit rattled. They would just need to stay calm and figure out another approach—but this move had rattled them all. Attacks going through a Holy Field and striking them were beyond their imagination, an unthinkable circumstance for any paladin. Renard had to bottle it all up as he pondered his next move.
Shion, for her part, was alarmed (or really, annoyed) that she wasn’t seeing the full effect she intended. She had made a clean hit on that paladin, but the damage was negligible. It made her realize that whatever this attack was, it was much less effective on humans than monsters. She had underestimated her foes, and now she was inside this barrier—a clear mistake.
But she was expecting this from the start. She had her own ideas about this, and if anything, this was exactly what Shion wanted.
This binding force was something akin to the Holy Field Rimuru warned her about. It was similar in nature, and the magicule count inside it was beginning to fall. Soon, before very long, Shion’s own force would be affected—and the Spatial Motion she surreptitiously tried out a moment ago was blocked.
Still, this had all been factored into her plan.
“Hey… Hey.” She suppressed her anger as she forced a smile. “Surrender now while I’m still being nice to you.”
It was incredibly haughty of her, not to mention nothing that’d ever shake the will of a paladin, but she was dead serious about it. That, of course, didn’t come across.
“Fool!” Garde shouted back. “Enough of that bluster! You can’t do a thing, locked inside that barrier!”
This howling did nothing to ease Shion’s frustration. She was almost ready to explode—and given how short her fuse usually was, she thought she was doing an exemplary job at keeping it together. It may only be a matter of time now, but still, Shion continued trying to reason with them.
