22 The Proclamation

"W-Wha the- Gagh!"

Luna quickly swiped away the weapon from his hands and grabbed Isaac by the neck. She then slowly lifted him up from the ground and walked towards a nearby balcony in which he was exposed to what it would be like to fall hundreds of feet into the air

"I'm not as nice as him, so this will be your last chance. Open up the barrier, or I will kill you right here and now. And trust me, it won't be any skin off our backs"

"Ghg...Piss off, you savages! I am a loyal servant of the gods! I will not falter in the face of-"

"Alright, you asked for it"

Without any hesitation, Luna tossed his body right out of the balcony like some ragdoll and sent him flying in a random direction of the city. I could hear his screams disappear overtime as he gets further and further away

"Sheesh, you sure don't mess around"

"I just think you play around too much. You allowed them to trap you in that Archangel's realm despite being able to finish them off before they could even do so. And based on how you look right now, you've probably let him have a few hits even if you have a spell capable of killing him instantly..."

"Woah, that is shockingly accurate. Were you watching us inside there? I thought nobody could see what's going on inside if they're not in the fabricated realm?"

"I couldn't. But you're always messing around when you fight, so it's natural for me to assume it at this point. Good grief, why couldn't you just finish it up quickly and not play with your food?"

"Well, that would just be anticlimactic now wouldn't it? A fight isn't just supposed to be a one-sided beatdown. It's supposed to be something similar to a dance! A wonderful way of exchanging emotions! And I need to experience those emotions slowly...I need to savor their wrath with each spell they cast, and the hatred that is brewing in their hearts as they try their darndest to kill me!"

It seems I got a bit too overpassionate about it because Luna began to look at me like I'm her child who just said the most ridiculous things imaginable, but she had to pretend to make it seem like it was normal for her...

"Fine, whatever you say...I've given up at this point. But you do know that this attitude of yours will come to bite you back soon enough, right?"

"Oh definitely..."

But doesn't really scare me. I'm bound to have a bad end one way or another anyway...That's just how the way the life of villains goes...

And besides, ever since the dawn of society, those who were truly evil got high off of their power at some point and became too overconfident for their own good. And sure, I'm one of those people but until somebody comes and puts me in my place, then I'll continue toying with whomever I please like an excited child

"But enough about this already. I wanna see the mighty relic that is capable of summoning the gods"

"Here you are, dodging the topic again...But fine"

Luna placed her hands on the barrier and began to overload it with her own magical energy. The entire building began to quake in the face of this sudden surge of mana. And not long after that, the barrier began to show cracks until it was completely destroyed like an egg-shell

Luna then touched the door of the pope's room...

"Hmmm, this feels...off"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean the barrier...Sure, it's kind of tough but...I'd expect the layers of protection to be stronger. I mean, this is the only thing in this world that's capable of communicating with the gods..."

"Wow, that's a shocker. You're saying the prayers of the poor souls right now aren't reaching their ears?"

"You know they don't"

"Hahaha! I suppose I do. But don't you think you're overthinking this a bit? You are a dragon after all...maybe something like this is just too easy for you?"

"Hmmm, alright I'll take your word for it. But if it turns out to be a dud, then you'll do me a favor? And if it turns out real, then vice versa?"

"Depends on what the favor would be..."

"It can be anything. Though we can discuss what exactly at a later time"

"Alright then..."

Luna then smiled as she opened the massive doors...

And we were greeted by a singular staff that was floating in the middle of the room. It seemed to be made of pure gold, and hanging on its sides were eight majestic jewels symbolizing the great gods. Ancient runes dating back to the start of this world were engraved on it and were glowing under the dark...

Yet despite this...

"I knew it..."

"Damn, it really is a fake..."

Both of us immediately knew that this was not the true Divine Scepter. Most of the jewels seemed to be nothing more than cosmetics. And the artifact itself didn't even have a single lick of magic...

We scanned around the area and even began to fully analyze the scepter itself. But it is really fake in the end...Which was kind of strange...

"By the way Isaac was fighting me earlier, he seemed to genuinely believe that the divine scepter was in this room. Which probably means he was fed a can of lies"

"This was most likely a precaution they implemented in case of something like this happening...I already had a feeling that this was too easy. My guess is that the real scepter is hidden somewhere else, and only the Pope along with the Saints would know where it is"

"Hmph, this really sucks. But I suppose we got something positive out of this"

"What?"

"In the eyes of the public, the divine scepter is supposed to be located here. Which means..."

I grabbed the divine scepter and floated out of the room with the use of the little magic I have left. I positioned myself at the very top of the castle and began to spread my arms wide. I cleared my throat and began to adjust my voice before I was about to continue...

"Oh, dear me. What are you planning to do now?"

"Hehe, just a little proclamation"

[---]

By the time Marie was able to open her eyes, she found herself to be on a room that was filled to the brim with citizens of the city. Most of them were gravely injured, with some having parts of their limbs torn out and screaming in absolute agony...

While others were clearly panicking, with some having their hands clenching their heads and reciting whatever prayer comes into their mind. The medical mages and the knights were running around the room, desperate to keep things in order...

"Seems you're finally awake..."

Sitting beside her bed was a green-haired woman who was wearing a familiar black body suit. Even amidst the chaos, her face was still as stoic as ever. She was fiddling around with her kunai as she eats something that seems to be cheese on the side...

"S-Shiori...Where are we?"

"At a safehouse somewhere around the western portion of the city. A little thanks would be appreciated by the way, carrying you all the way from the palace is really hard considering what's going on out there"

It was then all of the memories began to flood back to her...

She quickly got up to the bed and grabbed Shiori by her arms, to which she responded by grabbing her hand in return

"Calm down"

"You're seriously asking me to stay calm?! I could've helped gramps out there! I could've been useful! Yet...yet you did this..."

"I don't know what to say. You aren't really the one who does my payroll so of course, I'm gonna follow what your gramps say"

"I-I know that but-..."

"And besides, what are you even gonna contribute there? The first squad is already stationed at the castle, and they're made up of the toughest bastards the holy order can offer. Having you there would just slow them down, so the least you could do is not get in their way..."

Marie clenched her fist...

Though her words were cruel and cold, it was the truth. Ever since she was a child she had always been getting herself into heaps of trouble. And so, her grandfather had resolved himself to protect her from all harm. But even if that was the case, Marie wanted them to realize that she would not be a child forever...

Yet these words couldn't leave her, because she knew that she had nothing to show for yet

So in the end, she could only grit her teeth as she suppressed the tears flowing down from her eyes

And seeing this, Shiori took a piece of cheese from her plate and chowed it down

"Fuckin crybaby"

"Shut up! Even if I was about to be a burden you still should've let me fight! I'm a deaconess of the Holy order for god's sake! At least let me prove my worth!"

"Then prove your worth some other way. There's a bunch of injured out here, no? Everyone else seems to be having trouble, so you could just help them with that"

"What about you?"

"These hands are only good for eating cheese and slitting people's throats darling. Now be off and show everyone what you can do"

Marie couldn't help but let out a sigh as she walks away from Shiori. At this point, she couldn't even feel depressed if she hangs around with her, so Marie just decided to tend to the wounded for now...

Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant experience. There were so many of them, and the fact that the numbers kept increasing as time went on wasn't exactly comforting. Explosions and sounds of magical spells could be heard from the outside, and it seems that the screams of terror grew louder and louder...

Even if she were to drink herself to sleep, she didn't believe that she'd be able to sleep pleasantly from now on...

And even at one point, something was sent flying inside the safe house...

From the looks of it, Marie initially thought that it was some sort of projectile that came from the outside. But the moment she got close to the impact, her heart immediately sank. It was her grandfather, lying motionlessly on the ground with injuries scattered about his body

"Gramps!"

Marie walked closer toward him to administer first aid, before screaming for help, and the others were quick to recognize him and place him on a stretcher...

And as if things weren't confusing enough, Marie suddenly heard the voice of a man. From the looks of it, it was cast using some sort of spell. It came from the direction in which Grandfather was launched from.

Upon looking carefully, he saw the figure of a man in a suit floating above the very top of the Vatican castle

And he proclaimed these words...