Taming the Evil Saintess

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The Shadow of God is the Pope’s elite guard.

Unlike the Cathedral Knights and Knights of the Saint, who value the protection of the Cathedral above all else, the Shadow of God operates under the Pope’s orders, taking on more challenging and murky assignments as assassins.

Thus, the name “Shadow” fits. Not the bright side, but the dark side. It wields a sword in the darkness that even God ignores.

They will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. The decision to launch an attack within the Empire’s territory was made because they deemed it the most efficient method.

Of course, if they were discovered by an Empire official, it could lead to diplomatic issues. It would tarnish the Pope’s reputation, but he didn’t care. His plan was to finish everything before they got caught and erase all traces. In fact, there had been precedents for that too.

That’s why Benedict, the leader of the Shadow of God, believed that all of this was under his control.

Bang!

“Aaah!”

That was before he lost one of his precious squad members to the knight in front of him.

“What on earth…”

Benedict shook his head in disbelief. The knight before him, Elliot, swung a golden sword enveloped in sword energy with elegance. A clean strike. But it was a feint. He twisted his sword path and pierced the heart of a charging squad member.

The whole process was so fluid it almost seemed beautiful.

Elliot. This knight without even a title was a Cathedral Knight. Just being a Cathedral Knight was an impressive achievement. But he stood out among them. He was a genius who became a Cathedral Knight in just two years.

True to his reputation, his skills were exceptional. He had even overpowered five knights when escaping the Cathedral.

But Benedict never expected it to be this level of skill.

…

The Shadow of God was fundamentally about being assassins. Though they were not suited for frontal assaults, they weren’t weak enough to get overwhelmed by a single Cathedral Knight. They could wield sword energy and wouldn’t hesitate to use vile tactics like poison and curses.

In fact, if all seven squad members rushed at that knight, he was confident they could easily subdue him.

However, there was one reason why that was impossible….

Pah!

Light illuminated the surroundings brightly.

Elliot’s body was soon enveloped in a faint veil. This was not just a simple barrier. It was surrounded by potent divine power.

A barrier made with holy magic.
The source was none other than the Saintess, Ophelia Meredein, standing behind him.

“This is troublesome.”

It was indeed troublesome.
Just as much as the knight, that Saintess was a serious problem.
Close-range attacks were easily blocked by Elliot’s sword. Even if he tried to use curses or magic, he couldn’t get past the barrier of the Saintess imbued with the mark of the Heavenly God.

The combination of the two felt like facing an impenetrable fortress, or rather, a mountain. No matter how well-trained the Shadow of God was, breaking through that front seemed impossible.

“Spread out.”

Ultimately, Benedict had to make a choice and settled on sacrificing a little blood.

“Prioritize taking down the Saintess.”

Touching the Saintess’s body would be sacrilege.
Thus, he intended to kill the knight and persuade the Saintess.
However, in a situation like this, there wasn’t much he could do.
He wouldn’t kill her, but he planned to subdue her.
It would be difficult, but the Shadow of God had their own means.

“Use that.”

At Benedict’s command, thick green smoke spread around them.
It was paralysis poison.

*

“Such a filthy fight.”

I muttered under my breath, holding my breath.
The green fog that spread around was definitely poison. I couldn’t tell what kind, but it wasn’t extreme poison that would take lives.
After all, Ophelia was right behind me.
Then this is….

“Neurotoxin?”

As soon as I muttered that, my tongue began to tingle. The sensations in my limbs became faint.
I spat out blood-mixed saliva while drawing my sword.
We had already been in a standoff for several minutes. I could vaguely sense their identities as the Shadow of God through the faint divine power surrounding us. It seemed like that bastard Pope had finally lost his sanity.

I managed to sever one of their lives while one was caught off guard, but the rest were not foolish. They were employing tactics that carefully drained our stamina.

“Ophelia, that guy seems to be targeting you.”

“I know….”

“They’re using poison.”

“I can detoxify it.”

With those words, a golden circular aura spread out, and my tingling tongue returned to normal.
Well, the reason I wanted to utilize Ophelia in the game was her ability to recover from status ailments.
However, they’d know that too.
Thus….

Clang!

The barrier shook violently as a dagger suddenly flew in, and Ophelia’s stance wavered. I quickly grabbed her shoulder to steady her as she stumbled.

“Ophelia.”

“U-uhm.”

“Isn’t it hard to maintain the barrier and use detoxification magic at the same time?”

“…”

There were six of them in total. Since they were all aiming for Ophelia first, the barrier had to be maintained at all times.

However, their sword energy could surpass Ophelia’s barrier. More than that, maintaining a protective shield made from holy magic while also using detoxification magic was a heavy burden, especially for Ophelia, who didn’t possess the multi-casting trait like Emily.

“I can still do it, so….”

“Ophelia.”

I placed my hand on top of Ophelia’s head.

“You’re getting a nosebleed.”

“…”

Realizing it for the first time, Ophelia wiped her nose.
Bright red blood seeped out onto her trembling hand.
Her eyes were bloodshot, and her complexion was pale, as if she might collapse at any moment.

“Stop it. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

If we continued to fight like this, Ophelia could suffer a blow from which she would never recover.
It was honestly admirable that she had gotten this far.
I could feel she had grown significantly.

“W-what are you going to do? You can’t win alone.”

“I won’t abandon you.”

I had no intention of abandoning her either.
After all, they attacked within the Empire’s territory.
In other words, they were confident. They believed they could kill or subdue us and erase any traces of it.

So the best way to disrupt their plans was to create a mess so out of control that they couldn’t clean it up.

“Tsk.”

There was only one method left.
I focused my mind on the mark.
I didn’t want to use it due to the severe penalties, but there was no other way here.

“…Huff.”

Alright.
I felt vitality surge through my entire body.
Poison could no longer enter me. My senses sharpened to an extreme degree, and the hidden figures within my enhanced vision came into sight.

As Ophelia said, six assassins more than capable of being swordmasters. Since they weren’t facing off directly, even a true hero would have trouble winning.

But I could spoil their well-laid plans.

“Ten minutes.”

I whispered to myself.

“I’ll go wild for exactly ten minutes.”

*

“Hm?”

Benedict sensed something was off.

A kind of instinct he’d honed over his long life as an assassin.
The opponent’s momentum had shifted. The pressure was different. Their eyes were fixated precisely on him. Despite using stealth magic, it felt as bright as noon.

Thus, Benedict tensed his body, ready to respond at any moment. But not all of his squad members did the same.

One of the assassins under Benedict’s command jumped down with a dagger, seizing the opportunity when the barrier vanished. It was a reasonable decision, but it was the wrong move.

“Danger! Get back!”

He exclaimed urgently, but it was too late.
Thwack. A golden blade sank into the squad member’s body. The blade protruding from his back became drenched in blood, shining bright red.

“…”

Silence.

No, faster than the sound, Elliot jumped up. The assassins followed his movement, throwing poisoned magic. Elliot tracked the trajectory of the incoming spells and changed his position mid-air to leap again.

The direction was….

“Gah!”

Benedict hurriedly drew his sword to counter.
Bang! His wrist broke.
He quickly healed his bones through holy magic, yet he had no choice but to roll away to evade the next attack.

A golden sword energy passed over his hair, and several trees behind him were cut down.

Before Benedict could respond, Elliot’s foot found its mark. He barely managed to evade but felt the immense force lifting him off the ground. If a simple kick had this much force, then his physical ability was…

‘A monster.’

Suddenly, the energy shifted. It felt as if a god dwelled within that very flesh.

Was it enhancement magic? Sorcery? An artifact? Or perhaps a mark?

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter.

Benedict made a judgment.
That knight was an opponent they couldn’t handle with their current strength. However, he wouldn’t be able to maintain that momentum forever.

So, even if he had to use his squad members as meat shields, he decided to buy as much time as he could and focus on taking down the Saintess.

He would subdue the Saintess and use her as a hostage for negotiations.
Erasing their traces would be tough, but they could still achieve their goal.

“It’s sacrilegious, but I have no choice.”

Muttering that, Benedict spread his cloak and unleashed a barrage of spells, dispersing extreme poison.