Before Jor delivered his flamboyant call, the barrier that sealed Scarlett and the others inside the nave was already broken. The chains of light were part of the barrier and with its destruction, the cultist was free once more. However, it was the church people’s turn to be bound by the chains of light.
It all happened so fast and before they regained their bearings, Jor appeared; resulting in the silence that followed. Seemingly confused by the silent treatment, he felt awkward.
“What? What did I miss?”
“You… you… ” Soris was stuttering, he couldn’t decide what his next words are.
“You!” Angelo was furious but the chains kept him in place.
“Sigh… we have failed.” Ativan sighed painfully.
Scarlett and Azure didn’t say anything. Jor didn’t know but Azure was smiling behind her mask.
“…I thought you’d be glad to see me.” Jor said another line from the same movie.
“Good job, Jor.” Scarlett resumed control. “Are those chains secure?”
“I dunno. I just messed around with the magic item that created the barrier. I break the wall of light then removed whatever they used to you and transferred it to them. I recommend we get away as soon as possible.”
“Not without the Faith Water.” Scarlett gave the chained Ativan one glance then approached the tabernacle. She examined it for a few seconds.
“There’s a protective Arte here, I’ll need four-five minutes.” Scarlett started to envelop the box with red mist.
Jor wanted to protest but hold his tongue. Oh great, I must wait until the cup noodle is cooked. In a damn enemy stronghold!
“Thanks, what’s it like outside?” Azure walked closer to him and opened a conversation.
“A few guards, then more guards in the room with the magic item. Have to fight my way through.” Jor crossed his arms and kept the chained men in his field of vision.
“I’m surprised actually, I thought you would’ve left us.”
“The thought had crossed my mind, but I believe saving you guys will benefit me more… right, RIGHT?” Jor asked inquisitively.
“Hey, you saved us. We won’t be stingy for your reward.”
“You’d better be. If my reward is too little, I’ll give that back to the cult. That means you three owes me a life debt. Until your debt is paid, I own you.” Jor sneered devilishly, but then he remembered she can’t see that behind his mask and felt silly.
“Ooh, you want me, my sister, and Soris? Three at once? Wow, I’m impressed. So wild~”
“…That’s not… what I meant.”
“Hm? What do you think I meant? Gasp! Did you think about something dirty? For shame, Jor. We’re in a church, behave yourself.” Azure was nagging him with the tone of a mother scolding her child.
Seeing their banter from afar, Soris was deeply offended. It was as if he wasn’t even there. They ignored his existence.
“Enough of this! You, Jor, you may get away today but I swear to the Goddess I will make sure you face justice!” Angelo roared.
“…Azure, why is he looking at me like he wants to eat me?”
“Either he thinks your meat is juicy like a high-class steak, or because you killed his subordinate.”
“…Leon? Oh yeah, I think I remember you. You’re his captain, right? Othello.”
“Angelo!”
“Right, right, right, sorry about that. I’m bad with faces and names in general. Now, you may not believe me but I’m truly sorry about killing him.” Jor dipped his head down.
“…What?” Angelo didn’t expect this.
“We fought then we talked a bit. He seemed to be a nice guy, I would prefer to not kill him… if possible.”
“Then why you did kill him?”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“…”
Jor didn’t answer for a while, he was really thinking this through. And he snapped his fingers in revelation.
“It’s because I’m not strong enough,” he answered.
Angelo was confused by an answer so alien to him. Next to Jor, Azure was silently watching him in great interest.
“See, if I’m strong enough, I could subdue him without killing him. If I’m strong enough, he couldn’t pose a threat to me even if I let him live. That’s my answer. I was weak and still am, so in my weakness, I had to kill him. Again, I’m really sorry.”
Now this conversation was listened closely by all the church’s people.
“So by your logic, how much stronger you’ll need to be before you deemed killing him was unnecessary?” Azure interceded from the side.
“Hmmm…” Jor put his hand on his chin, thinking.
“Until you’re level 5, the strongest state that can be reached by mortals?” Azure gave an example.
“No, until even if every single human is my enemy, they couldn’t defeat me.”
The room was enveloped in stillness.
“Jor, even if –and this is a big if– you become as strong as that, the goddess and her angels could still smite you down,” Azure spoke again.
“Mm, quite right,” Jor nodded. “Let me correct myself, until even if every single being fought me at once, they couldn’t defeat me.”
“…You want to be stronger than the Goddess herself?” Ativan never heard of a wish so absurd in all of his life.
“Blasphemy!”
“You don’t know the power of the angels, let alone the Goddess.”
“They’re exalted beings that we humans can never reach.”
“You’ll never succeed, it is a fool’s errand.”
The others started to throw jabs at him, but Jor stood straight as an arrow. Their words couldn’t even scratch his tungsten-grade will.
“You’re mad!”
“Thank you,” Jor answered the last jeer, it was Soris’.
“Huh?” He was puzzled.
“For your compliment.”
“I’m not complimenting you!”
“You certainly are. Normal people can’t think of something beyond their ken, the idea itself is so absurd that sane people wouldn’t even indulge it. Only a madman dare to tread a path so insane. I’m a madman striving for what people perceive as an impossibility. I’m honored to walk this path.”
The him from Earth knew how much ‘impossible’ the human race had slain. People dreamed of flying in the sky, they succeeded. At the start, the Wright brothers were mocked for their outrageous idea… until they created an airplane and flew in the sky.
In the earlier days when technology was not so mature, people had built superstructure in the sands of Egypt that still stand after thousands of years. People had conquered the seven seas and mapped the globe. People had reached the highest peak in the world in the snowy mountains of Himalayas. People had created steam engines and light the fire of industrialization, defeated vicious enemies so tiny and numerous with vaccines and antibiotics, broke the limitations of gravity and reached the moon.
Then there were uncountable others. Their feat may not change the world but in token of humanity respect to them, their names were immortalized in the Guinness World Records.
His persona that came from Earth was aware of this, the pioneers that had done the impossible that others thought it couldn’t be done until those extraordinary people did it. The trailblazers that destroy the concept of impossible.
“Haah! Sweetened it however you wish, cultist, but you’ll only fail.” Holi howled.
“Perhaps, perhaps not, I’ll do it anyway.”
“Why? What for?” Azure asked.
“You asked strange things, Azure. It’s my way of life — my Path.”
The sound of breaking glass marked the end of their conversation, the protection disappeared and Scarlett opened the tabernacle. Jor stole a glance at the Faith Water. To his disappointment, it looked like a normal water in a transparent bottle. The bottle was quite small, the water should be only about 100ml in volume.
“We’re done here, let’s go,” Scarlett spoke while storing the bottle in her pouch.
No inventory ring? August is the only person I know to have that. It seems it’s quite rare in this part of the world.
“Got it,” Jor unsheathed his sword.
“Stop! What are you doing?” Scarlett interrupted.
“Hm? Killing them.” Jor said as if it was the most logical thing in the world.
“No, you cannot.”
“What? Why?”
“They represent a sizeable chunk of the church’s power in this town. After tonight, their Path-seeker casualties will rise to near the limit. Losing a level 2 would tip the balance to our side. Killing them will only result in reinforcement sent here from Sephoria.”
“I don’t see the problem, we kill them too.”
“Just because we bested these guys don’t mean they’re the best the church got to offer. You’ll die and we’ll die too. No cult has ever survived a scouring from one of the Silver Legion’s full might.”
Ah, that’s right. In my case, I could simply leave but they can’t. This is their base and they have grown their roots here.
“Oh man, and I just told them all that. They weren’t supposed to live long after hearing my exposition. Now I’m embarrassed,” Jor said sheepishly.
Despite saying that, Jor weighed the effect of killing them despite her order.
Letting your enemies go is a foolish, foolish idea! Villains that do that to heroes end up dead in the later part of the story. But I’m not blind to her reasoning either, I’m not strong enough to fight level 2s or above.
The problem is this Angelo, he’s got a grudge against me. I don’t like loose ends so I hope to at least kill Angelo now to end the problem. But if I killed him in front of the level 2, he’ll be the one with a hard-on for my ass. Either I kill them all or not kill them at all.
Let’s look at the benefit of not killing them, the one after me would be the level 1 Angelo and not the level 2. But I’m a level 1 too so I’ll have less risk with him as my enemy. I guess I’ll let them live for now.
“No one told you to blabber like a gossiping auntie.” Scarlett strode to the exit, Azure and Soris followed. Azure pat him in the back twice.
Me and my big mouth… Jor sighed as he went after them.
He caught up to them soon, because they had stopped. They didn’t even make out of the monastery because ten people blocked their path in the hallway, the ten were all wearing mask and cloak.
“Who the hell are they?” Jor asked.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen from the Cult of Dumuzin. We, the Cult of Teorph would like to join this party. I believe you’re in possession of our Faith Water, would you mind giving it to us?” Said one of the three level 2s.