Saw It Clearly (2)
What Isaac took out was none other than a cufflink ornament—a golden button bearing the emblem of the Papacy.
Whisper cried out in shock.
[That's that filthy priest's thing! When did you—?!]
Isaac grinned.
It was an item belonging to Elden, the priest from the Papacy who had come to seize a royal-class Holy Spirit. And of course, there was a reason it was now in Isaac's possession.
[So you stole it after you interrogated him?]
Exactly.
Honestly, a priest bastard who dared to target something that was his? If it weren't for the information he held, Isaac wouldn't have hesitated to tie a stone to him and toss him in a lake.
'Where did he get the Deathgrass?'
That plant was something that had been cultivated in the Demon King's castle farm.
Sure, it might be possible to get some.
If, say, a lunatic priest crawled into the middle of demon territory—where even getting in was nearly impossible—and then went out of his way to explore a ruined-looking farm.
Then, after beating up all the rank 8+ demon farmers who had nothing but their fists, he just so happened to pick that scraggly-looking weed called Deathgrass.
And then, by chance, he mixed that weed with a certain oil and tested it on a Holy Spirit, only to find—wow, amazing! The plant nullified Holy Spirits! What a discovery! If that's the story he was going with, then fine, nothing more to say.
'But someone clearly knew what the plant could do and gave it to him.'
In other words, someone out there was trafficking his goods.
Anyway, this cufflink was a Holy Law Amplifier.
And as for not getting dragged back by Grandpa?
Simple!
Just prove you're insanely competent and get people saying things like: "Oh my, could that person be a Saint?! How could such talent be locked away in the Eshua domain?! This is outrageous!"
Then those damn Eshua folks wouldn't dare try to confine him again.
Resolved, Isaac approached the Skeleton King's magic power.
I mean, the knockoff guy had even told him who the real Saint was—how could he let this chance pass?
'With this, I can deal with those bastards in one go.'
In fact, Isaac was capable of using sixth-rank Holy Law, but his specialty was overly skewed.
And what was that specialty?
What else? Damn Purification Holy Law.
Maybe it was because of the attached Holy Spirit, but anyway—Purification it was.
'It's so uncool! Dammit!!'
What Isaac truly wanted was destruction! And more destruction!
Offensive Holy Law, in other words.
Still, with this item, even his unimpressive offensive Holy Law might get a boost!
'Alright, let's do this! Offensive Holy Law!'
Isaac attached the cufflink to his sleeve and activated his Holy Law.
At the same time, a brilliant burst of holy energy exploded outward from Isaac.
FLASH!
Monsters that touched the light screamed as if being torn apart.
The guests and priests inside the banquet hall were all amazed at the intense light.
"Ohh! Such power!"
"Unbelievable, at his age…!"
"Your Grace, did you already teach your grandson such high-level Holy Law?"
"No, I didn't…"
The head of the Cheong clan wore a sour expression as the priests got even more excited.
"Then he learned it on his own?!"
"Good heavens, I haven't seen such clean holy light in a hundred years!"
Even as they spoke, all demonic energy within the light's reach was purified, and the priests' clothes turned clean. Cardinals glanced at their now-spotless robes in surprise, while the priests were full of praise.
"A truly magnificent Holy Law!"
But Isaac, who had intended to use an offensive spell, was furious.
'Why is it Purification againnn!'
He looked ready to chuck the cufflink away. The graduating students looked at him in awe, but who cared?
"My Explosion Kill! Why?!"
At that moment, Shuri raised an eyebrow, having realized something.
He was the only one who knew how skewed Isaac's Holy Law talent was.
"…If you used that cufflink to amplify a Holy Law, you used it wrong. It only strengthens your most specialized Holy Law."
"What?!"
And in the first place, that cufflink shouldn't even be useful to Isaac.
'This kid has already surpassed Professor Elden.'
Professor Elden was a fifth-rank priest. And that cufflink only amplified Holy Law up to rank five.
But of course, no one else knew that.
"Ohh, young Lord Isaac can already use fourth or even fifth-rank Holy Law?"
"Unbelievable! A novice priest—and he's only ten!"
"Isn't third-rank the norm at that age?"
"For Cheong to produce such talent!"
"He's definitely a Saint candidate!"
Shuri clicked his tongue at their words.
Fourth-rank? If they found out that brat could already use sixth-rank, they'd all pass out.
'Well, that Purification spell is that good, so I guess it's understandable…'
But then, as he turned his head, Shuri flinched.
The eyes of the lesser monsters hit by Isaac's light had turned blue.
It only lasted a moment, but Shuri couldn't help being stunned.
'Soul conversion?'
But that power had clearly gone far beyond sixth-rank…!
While praise poured from all sides, Isaac was cursing.
It was because of what the monsters affected by the Purification light were saying.
[Stupid priest bastard! Is this all you got?! Gah! This?! Gah!]
[This won't be enough! Gah! Won't kill us! Gah!]
"…."
Purification doesn't have raw offensive power, but it does deal damage to demons. Because is a spell that forcibly converts "demonic" to "holy."
In other words, forcibly sanctifying demonic entities causes them harm.
The problem was, since purification is a gradual process, the damage it dealt was over time—like a dot effect.
["Keep going! Grrgh! You stupid priest bastard! Grrgh!"]
[Scum like you! Grrgh! Can never defeat the great Skeleton King! Kkuegh!]
"Should I just blast these bastards with magic?"
Isaac's fingers cracked.
The monsters, seemingly getting worn down by the continuous damage over time, started huddling together, increasing their size.
"Step aside. You can't handle those things with your holy arts."
"!"
Kina Berit appeared in front of Isaac.
She seemed to be evaluating Isaac's current abilities.
And it looked like she had reached a conclusion.
"You're about at the 5th Circle? Seems you haven't mastered Eshua's secret arts yet."
Honestly, she was curious.
After all, there was that display he put on ten years ago in the treasure vault. And now, suppressing the Skeleton King's curse and managing to grow physically?
That wasn't something just anyone could do—her interest was only natural.
And after closely observing...
"5th Circle, huh."
To be at the 5th Circle at age ten was truly impressive.
A once-in-centuries prodigy, perhaps.
'Even so, he's not my rival.'
Kina Berit's eyes cooled, tinged with faint disappointment.
She had reached the 5th Circle at just five years old. Now, she was already an elite priest deployed in real combat.
To other senior clergy, she was "Little Pope," "Professor," "Teacher"—already being treated as the next in line for the papacy.
Her starting line, her race, and her finish line were all on a different level compared to those just now getting ordained. It was no wonder she didn't associate with the other saint candidates.
There was a thing called "class."
—Still, it's a little pitiful. With that kind of power, he must feel awfully lonely.
Of course, she had hoped Isaac Eshua might pose a bit of a challenge—but that's how it is sometimes.
The position of Saint—
That is, the "Throne"—was decided from the beginning.
Thinking this, Kina Berit clicked her tongue as she looked at the monsters.
"That one's tough. Purification alone won't cut it. You have to attack multiple points at once."
Kina prepared to blast the creature away with destructive holy arts.
But unexpectedly, Isaac burst out laughing.
"'Multiple points,' pff, 'simultaneous attack.'"
"...?"
"Are you stupid? You're flailing around aimlessly, which is why it seems tough."
"…??"
Flailing?
Kina gave Isaac a once-over, looking deeply unimpressed.
"You didn't even learn what that monster is at Eshua?"
As in—how can you be from Eshua and still be this clueless about demons?
"That's a Roly-Poly Dust. A stubborn monster with strong regeneration—you need overwhelming force to finish it off…"
"Pfffft!"
"??"
Kina glared at him like, What the hell is wrong with this lunatic?
But Isaac couldn't stop laughing.
This idiot…
Well, whatever. It's not even a real creature, and letting the damage spread wouldn't benefit anyone—so this elder shall kindly share the right answer.
With that, Isaac stepped up to Kina and whispered:
"Kiddo, watch carefully. That's not the real body. It's bait."
"…What?"
"Yeah… So what were you saying? That attacking multiple points would bring it down? Bullshit. If it collapses, that means the real objective was already achieved—it disappears after that."
"What?!"
"And the bastard's real goal is…"
Isaac subtly pointed toward the wall. In the shadowed area, there was something that looked like a pattern.
Kina flinched.
'A mimic bug.'
It looked like an ordinary wall pattern, but it twitched subtly—something was there. It was targeting the students hiding by the wall.
"It's trying to infect them. Didn't that Skeleton bastard say he'd 'wipe out the seed'? The 'seed' of this country is those freshly ordained students."
That fake Skeleton King's goal must've been just that. The flashy entrance was just bait—his real target was the students. Probably to plant sleeper agents through infection.
'There's probably already someone infected.'
Well, Isaac could see it all clearly.
"Anyway, if you're going to do something, burn that bug instead."
Kina Berit gave a small scoff and snapped her fingers.
"Just a bug… what's the big deal…"
Still, it was annoying, so she figured she'd burn it.
Snap! Fwoosh!
[Kkuegh!]
As Kina burned the bug, the monster growing in front of them instantly crumbled to ash.
Shocked, Kina grabbed Isaac.
"Where did you even learn this strategy?!"
"Where do you think…"
But Isaac tilted his head mid-answer.
Wait, hold on a second.
Now that he thought about it, wasn't there a much easier way to get recognized as a Saint than this crappy monster hunting?
'If I infect the students myself and then heal them, that's it, right?'
Yes! Why bother running around like a fool?
Poisoning!
He was born with a gift for purification magic that synergizes perfectly with poison!
He'd use an easy-as-pie demonic poisoning spell—not to kill the clergy, but just to bring them close to death!
And if it was a level of poisoning even senior clergy struggled to cure, his healing would shine even brighter!
Damn! Becoming a Saint is easy as hell!
As Isaac began to grin slyly at the students, the head of the Blue Faction flinched.
He looked like he was about to do something awful again.
Regardless, Kina Berit urgently grabbed Isaac's shoulder.
"Hey! Are you listening? Where did you hear about this?!"
But Isaac, struggling to suppress his laughter, completely ignored her and picked up a stone.
"Ah, enough already. Just go catch that thing."
Isaac threw a stone at another hidden bug.
Smack!
The startled bug, grazed by the stone, freaked out and began to flee.
Kina Berit gritted her teeth and drew a holy sign in preparation for a wide-range sacred spell. If the enemy ran like that, she'd have to use a broader-area spell.
At that moment, the bug flinched and shuddered—
[I've been found!]
Isaac's eyes curled like crescent moons in a sly smile.
Yes, that's right!
You've been discovered!
'I deliberately missed the shot, so there's no way it wouldn't realize it!'
That monster was the type that, upon being discovered, would release poisonous gas upon death.
So the proper strategy was to destroy it instantly before it realized it had been discovered—but no need to reveal the "correct" method, right?
After all, once he used poison magic, no priest worth their salt would fail to notice.
In short—
'Using someone else's poison is the best way, isn't it?'
Even if something went wrong, they'd just think it was the Pope's grandson who missed his aim.
So, here we go!
'Boom! Everyone get poisoned!'
Just as he finished his thought, the bug hit by Kina Berit's holy spell exploded and began to release poison gas...
BOOOOM!
...But it couldn't. It vanished under the Pope's sacred spell instead. Damn it.
Of course it wouldn't work with a high-ranking priest around.
Still, the first objective was complete, and this outcome was expected.
Time to proceed with the original plan.
Isaac clenched his palm, eyes gleaming. Then, something amazing happened.
FLASH!
A radiant burst of divine power exploded from Isaac, flooding the entire banquet hall and stretching out through the corridors, extinguishing all of the hidden Skeleton King's magic.
RUMBLE!!
It was the moment the Skeleton King's power—used to conceal symbols and buildings—was completely wiped away.
Though, some persistent bastards still remained.
[You who defy the Great King…! You shall not be forgiven!]
Ah, geez! I get you're patient, but take a hint and leave when you're being spared.
Some nearby monsters seemed to be quite powerful; they didn't go down easily to the light of purification.
As proof, slimy shadows slithered along the walls, secretly targeting the students—and even began crawling up Isaac's leg.
[Damn priest! By the Great King's order, I'll take at least one more with me!]
Oh, you're crawling up now?
'I'll end you right here.'
The moment Isaac locked eyes with the shadow—
SPLASH!
[!]
The shadow froze solid.
[T-This power…!?]
Realizing something, the color drained from the shadow's form as it trembled and fled.
Kina Berit, the only one who saw it, flinched in surprise.
'He chased off a demon... with just his gaze?'
And just as Kina Berit tried to confirm what she saw—
FLASH!
Finally, with the burst of light, all the monsters vanished, leaving the people astonished. Even the students whispered among themselves.
"He can wield the power of purification this well?"
"At this level, isn't he on par with the Pope's grandson?"
"Shh!"
Seeing the golden-robed cardinal, the students quickly shut up.
But in truth, it was the cardinals who were more shocked.
"At this rate, he's approaching the 6th rank, isn't he?"
"I'm curious what faith he'll end up following."
"Don't you agree, Cardinal Berit?"
At the rival cardinal's words, Cardinal Berit grimaced like he'd swallowed a bug.
'6th rank? These sly snakes are being obvious.'
If you were just judging purification, the boy was already at the 8th rank. They'd all noticed, yet they were deliberately downplaying it.
'They're clearly trying to lure him into their faith.'
So now they were trying to test the waters while playing dumb.
But did they think he'd play along with that pathetic trick?
"Yes, of course. There have been children talented in specific holy spells from time to time, but to see someone on par with Kina is still surprising."
"Well, even so, Kina is already approaching the 8th rank. The next Pope is practically decided. Hahaha."
Kina Berit bit her lip at those words.
Her hands trembled slightly.
No.
That guy—he isn't someone who can be ranked by mere numbers...!
He had clearly seen it earlier—Isaac driving away a demon with just a look!
And that was the very ultimate realm Kina had longed to reach for ten years, both then and now.
'That's Grandfather's technique.'
The one said to be possible only for the Pope himself.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]