Chapter 141: Cardinal of Hecate and Divine Titans

"Talk. Where's the magic item?" Arnold held his sword at the girl's neck.

She didn't even flinch, all she did was look at him coldly.

"Magic item? I don't know what you mean."

"I don't want to hurt someone over a simple magic item. Give it up or else."

"Oh? You must feel like a big man threatening a helpless maiden, huh?" she said with a condescending smirk, "Why not just make me a slave and force me to tell you using a contract?"

Arnold silently looked at her.

"I have a very good memory but I don't remember meeting you in my entire life. Why risk your life coming here?"

"…Give me the magic item that you've been using to strengthen those barbarians."

"Ohhhh! So that's what you're after! You think I'll give that up so easily? I suggest you leave before the chieftain gets here. He doesn't like having other men in his future bride's room."

"…Bride?"

Arnold tried to imagine what it would look like if a burly man like the chief he remembers pushed this girl down. She looked as old as Celeste.

He quickly shook his head to get that disturbing image out.

"Listen here, do you think I'm the kind of guy you want to mess with? Let your chief come. I'll kill him and his entire fucking army."

"Y-You're joking… T-The chief is the greatest warrior in all of this land…"

Arnold walked towards her. She hurriedly backed away as a frightened expression appeared on her face.

"Not so tough, are you? Why don't you try and fire a spell at me? I know you're trying to find the right moment to utter a chant."

Some dark magic spells—especially ones above 5th rank—couldn't be cast chantless like dark summoning magic so she'll have to find an opening to use whatever spell she's cooking up.

Arnold knew she was up to something because he could feel a sense of dread and death in the air. That was usually the feeling of dark mana drifting in the air. Although it couldn't be seen, experienced fighters who have heightened senses can still feel it.

Arnold had gotten his warrior sense back so he could feel it quite easily.

The feeling suddenly disappeared. The witch lowered her head.

"Damn monster…" she muttered under her breath. The dark magic circle that she was hiding appeared for a second and faded into nothingness.

Silence.

Only the sound of the curtains flapping resounded.

The witch averted her gaze, "…If I tell where it is, will you take it from me?"

"Naturally, I will. That's why I'm here. I might need to go through this whole dungeon so I need artifacts to increase my strength and help me fight without wasting my aura."

He had plenty of aura but the problem was: could he fight in the long run?

For example, if he encountered many enemies or an enemy at every corner that he has to fight.

His demon power was also an option to consider since he needs his aura to use demon aura. The demonic energy influences his aura, thereby increasing its strength.

That leaves him with Sword Intent which doesn't amount of much since all he'll be able to do is sharpen his sword.

If he's cornered then his only means of surviving is to escape. But if the enemy is too persistent or too strong then… he'll have to use Aether.

'I hope it doesn't come to that.'

"Are you sure you want to use it?"

"Yes."

She was silent for a moment.

She lifted her hand.

Something manifested in her hand.

A necklace.

"This is something I received from my mother when I was very young. I never knew what it could do until recently."

Arnold took out his hologram card and looked at the necklace through it.

· Cardinal Necklace of Hecate

"!"

The word "Cardinal" left Arnold staring blankly.

"You… Your mother is a cardinal…?"

"Cardinal? What's that?" She looked at him in confusion.

'No, maybe it's not that deep of an explanation. They could've just bought the item at a street vendor who didn't know its worth.'

A cardinal would never give away the item entrusted to them by its previous owner, except under special circumstances.

Cardinal wasn't one person but an existence that possesses items of unimaginable power. The Cardinal of Hecate could push its user past their limits and create something known as a stigmata, or better known as a curse.

The curse provides heaps of benefits to its wearer. However, there is a cost to this power. It leaves a wound on one's soul that can never be healed with healing magic of any kind. Of course, this wasn't to say that the wound sustained can't be healed some other way.

There had been no cases of stigmata being healed but theories existed that explains ways of how to cure or even prevent stigmata while benefitting from its powers.

Its power? Granting wishes. The greater the wish, the bigger the price to obtain that wish.

"One way to prevent a stigma is to offer a sacrifice to the necklace. However, only skilled dark magicians can do this. The necklace is the pure embodiment of the Goddess Of Darkness," Arnold approached the girl until his face was mere inches away from hers, "You're using these barbarians to get that something, aren't you?"

"…." She opened her mouth but nothing came out.

"I see. So it's true."

'I'm not sure that even Elizabeth can do this.'

Elizabeth was still inexperienced as a dark magician so she won't know how to transfer a stigmata to another person or even an object to be granted a wish.

"Tell me, do they know you offered them up as sacrifices?"

"...You came here for the necklace, not to ask questions, right?"

"You're just going to give it to me?"

"The stigmata has already been given to those barbarians you speak of. They receive power, just like I do."

'Yeah, but you're the one benefitting from this the most.'

She was basically scamming them. The difference was that she won't get affected by the curse.

"You shifted the damage to those poor natives. Who's the monster now? You probably know that the power breaks down their bodies, right?"

The necklace was crafted using dark magic so only a dark magician could skillfully handle it. They could place stigmata on others without taking the damage themselves. Of course, the extent of the wish depended on the level of the one using it.

This allowed dark magician players to dominate the gaming leaderboards up until the necklace was nerfed. The overall effect in the new version was that the necklace gives you double your own strength.

Considering how broken the item originally was, Arnold could understand why it had to be patched.

Unlike in real life, the players respawn if the stigmata on their bodies expires. That means that they die.

This witch used the others as guinea pigs to gain more power. They die but she lives on. The only difference was that she gets the power forever.

"In short, they are suffering in your expense. They have this fixation that the power they have is endless. What will happen if you stop supplying them with the power, Witch?"

"It's obvious. The ones who accepted the necklace's power will die. They made their beds so they should sleep in it. I'm just giving them what they asked for." She shrugged without a hint of regret on her face.

Arnold scratched his head.

'What the hell am I supposed to do with this thing? It's a literal cursed item and not just a normal magic item infused with dark mana.'

He couldn't sell it since it'll endanger lives if it lands in the wrong hands. He didn't want to cause the emergence of a new villain with the power to control a Cardinal.

'What to do… Hm?' Arnold suddenly recalled his little Cherubim, 'I think I have an idea of how I can use the necklace without suffering from its stigmata.'

"Take it." She pushed it against his chest.

"…."

"I don't want to remember my mother or my family. If I can give this away then I'll do it any day of my life. So take it and leave me be."

Arnold suddenly felt the ground rumble.

"They're here, huh…" He went towards the window and opened the curtains, "A cloud of dust is fast approaching."

"It seems your time here is almost up. Are you going to take it or not?"

"I have a better idea."

"Hm? Kyaaah!?"

Arnold lifted her up and put her on his shoulder. He grabbed a nearby blanket and draped it over her to hide her bare body.

"P-Put me down! Damn you! I'll blast you with a decaying spell!"

"Try me, Witch. I'm not so soft that I'll let you go that easily. Anyway, you should hold on because I'm about to do a little jump."

He could tell that an army's worth of barbarians are coming for him, given the magnitude of the rumbling and the giant dust cloud that rose to the sky.

"Eh?"

Jet-black boots and leggings manifested around Arnold's legs and a spine-like thing coiled on his back. He wasn't certain if his back will be able to withstand the force of the landing so the spine support should decrease the damage or make it more bearable.

Arnold left the hut. His demon lord armor boots sank into the ground due to the immense pressure they emitted.

"W-Wait a second!" the witch panicked when Arnold bent his knees.

Fighting them would be easy since they aren't that strong. However, he had already decided not to waste his time and aura on pointless battles.

"—ROOOOAR!" The chief's beastly roars resounded, "It's you! The coward who used trickery to humiliate me! I'll kill you!"

Arnold smirked and showed him the middle finger before jumping. The jump was so powerful that every hut, within 20 meters of where he jumped, was blown away. Even some of the barbarians who almost reached him were blown away.

A massive crater was left after his powerful jump.

The witch's scream was the only thing he heard when he blasted off.

◇◇◇

"All soldiers, we march forward now!" the king's voice boomed throughout the kingdom.

"OOOOOH!" The soldiers shouted as their stomped the ground. A loud rumble ensued.

The king looked at his men in satisfaction. Their morale was through the roof.

It took an entire day to gather all these men in one place to get ready to move. Everything else—thing like which general commanded which unit and the transportation of food—was finished this morning. Everyone was ready to move out by the afternoon but the king waited a few hours to order everyone to move.

Unlike before, Fecius and Hofir were part of the army, just like Arthur. They needed all the manpower they could even at the expense of the citizens who may be exposed to danger once the army leaves. The king's family assured that it was for the best so all soldiers were called from the palace and every other noble residence.

Arthur hadn't heard back from Shirley and his other classmates yet.

'They're probably almost at the void. It shouldn't take that long to travel from that bridge to that cliff where the void is.'

One hour was the fastest time that they could take to reach the void.

"Lord Arthur," the king approached Arthur with his horse, "Today is the day we conquer those barbarians and save this kingdom's people."

"Yes."

"I am very glad that you chose to fight with us. If things were different and you weren't here then we might not have come this far. Heck, we might not have been alive at this point. I hope we can rely on your strength this time as well."

"Of course. I promised to fight for this kingdom. We, as humans must look out for one another. About last night… I apologize for how I acted towards you and your family."

"It is fine. You are a very kind man. Nothing has changed how I see you. It's a shame that we will have to part ways soon. My people would've been grateful to be ruled by a great man such as yourself. I wanted to hand my crown to you."

"....Hahaha... I'm not great at all. I'm not even that strong…" said Arthur with a self-deprecating smile, "Arnold is someone who is truly great because of his strength."

"No." the king shook his head, "Strength does not always determine how great someone is. They should be someone people can look up to or someone whose name people can say with a smile on their face and positive feelings in their heart. I do not know what a Hero is to your people but I understand the idea that they are symbols of hope and peace. To my people what matters most is also what's in here." He tapped his chest with his fist.

"Kindness is the most important thing a great person can have. And that's you, Lord Arthur."

"….." Arthur lowered his head.

'Kindness… huh…'

"—Hey, what's that?" a soldier suddenly pointed at the sky, "Something's flying toward us."

"Flying towards us, you say?" the king looked in the same direction the soldier was looking. Arthur looked as well.

Arthur infused aura into his eyes to get a better view. If it was a threat then he had to immediately stop it.

'Huh?'

"That's… Arnold."

"What…?" the king looked at Arthur in confusion, "But—"

Something suddenly hit the ground so hard that it rumbled. Smoke rose right in front of the kingdom gates. The soldiers hesitantly moved in front of the king to protect him in case it was an enemy. They didn't seem to have heard what Arthur said to the king.

"—Fuck, I shouldn't do that again. That spine support didn't help that much at all." A voice came from within that smoke.

"You psychopath! Y-You could've killed me! No, you could've killed both of us!"

"I'm quite sturdy so nothing bad happened."

A shadow appeared in the smoke and approached the gate.

"Hm?" Arnold, along with some strange person on his shoulder, appeared.

The person he was holding onto seemed to be a woman with long black hair.

"Let go of me, you psycho!" the woman flailed her arms and legs.

"Alright." Arnold put her down.

She wobbled a little before falling down.

"Ugh… Ugh, my head… Everything is spinning…!" her cheeks inflated then she suddenly vomited on the ground.

"I caught the witch."

Everyone looked at Arnold blankly.

◇◇

The armies already marched to the predetermined location where the final battle will take place. Most of the generals also accompanied them.

The king stayed behind with Arthur, Fecius and Hofir along with some soldiers. The king decided to stay and hear what the witch had to say before heading off to battle.

The people in the room were king Flued, Arthur, Arnold, Fecius, Hofir, Rafaela and the witch.

They were currently gathered in the reception room.

The witch wasn't in cuffs as one would expect a war criminal to be. The only security they had that she wouldn't use her powers was Arnold's word. That seemed to be all they needed to trust him.

He marched into enemy territory and captured the culprit behind their enemy's power.

"….This is what the witch has been using to give those barbarians power…?" Arthur looked at the necklace in his hand.

"But how can such a small item do that?" Fecius looked closer at the item, "It isn't even radiating mana as one would expect from a magic item. This might not be a magic item but an artifact."

Magic items were mostly items crafted using mana. Due to this it was easy to tell a magic item apart from a normal item crafted by craftsmen. You do this by looking for any traces of mana leakage. Mana is only invisible before entering a mage's body. It becomes when it exits a mage's body during spell casting or magic item crafting.

The necklace had none so it was technically not a magic item. Still, it had powers so it can be classified as an artifact.

"Hm… May I see?" Arthur gave it to the king who asked, "Oh, this material is definitely not the kind we see floating around our markets. In fact, I don't think that there's any item in the treasury that has the same material. I am very curious to know where this comes from and what else if can do. It's definitely an artifact as Lord Fecius said."

"The witch refuses to say what this necklace's origins are. She only told me that it's a family heirloom. All I know is what it can do," said Arnold who was standing directly behind the witch.

No one besides players should know what a Cardinal is and what kind of powers they have. He would tell them but he saw no purpose in doing so.

"That's disappointing. We will have to do a full examination after the battle. Thank you for securing the artifact. We will make sure to use it for good."

The king smiled gratefully.

Arnold shook his head.

"You can't have it."

"….Pardon? Why is that?"

"Anyone who uses its power will die. Only a dark magician like this witch can negate its effects but receive its power. I'll have an acquaintance of mine do a full examination of the artifact once I leave. She's a dark magician like this woman."

This acquaintance was none other than Elizabeth, the embodiment of dark magic in human form. Her body itself could resist any negative effects the artifact might have. The witch might be skilled in dark magic but her talent as a dark magician was nowhere close to Elizabeth.

If she was on the same level as Elizabeth then she wouldn't have needed to use the barbarians to get stronger. Simply applying it on her own body would've sufficed. Only Elizabeth can do this without any known consequence.

"Try all you like, you won't be able to use that thing's power without having some sort of sacrifice." The witch said while leaning on the chair she was sitting on.

'You'll be surprised what kind of things Elizabeth Dragonborne can do with her dark magic powers.'

"If... this was the thing that's been giving the barbarians all that power… then… what about the holy sword…? Does this mean it doesn't exist… at all?" Arthur fell to his knees. There was a blank expression on his face, "All this suffering and searching… for nothing…"

"Holy sword…? You mean the sword of the gods' champion?" the witch asked.

"…Gods' champion? Who's that?"

"Someone who has the blessing of a god or multiple gods, depending on how special they are. We had them in the world I come from as well." The witch replied.

"Huh? What world is that?"

"I'm from a world in the divine realm."

"Wait, humans live there?" Arthur asked in shock.

"Yes, did you think only angels, demigods and gods live there? Normal humans make up most of that realm's population. Anyway, I heard stories of a human who had the potential to use the aura of the archangels—the beings born from low ranking angels and demigods. We call them the 'Gods' Champions'. The aura they possess is received from things called blessings."

'Yeah, that's the description that fits a hero.'

What the witch just said was literally the opening dialogue to the [Rising of a Hero] DLC. Of course, that was only part of the long history behind heroes.

"Really!? That's what I have!" Arthur sprang up to his feet, "Please tell me, do you know where the sword is!? It's my duty to fight evil using the holy sword! I will never be able to become a hero without it!"

"…." The witch looked at every single person in the room.

"You should stop searching for it…"

"Huh? Why?"

"The person who took it… well, let's just say she's someone you don't want to mess with." The witch laughed.

"What do you mean? Who took it?"

"Some woman who walks around with a bladeless sword," The witch answered Arnold's question.

"Some of those barbarian idiots actually tried to fight her but they were killed mercilessly. It was like watching an ant getting crushed by a human's little finger. She just came to get the sword and left soon after. Anyone who tried to fight her was either killed or beaten up."

"Do you know where she's from?"

"She's a former archangel from the same world as me. I don't know her per se but I know that she was one of the guards of some bigshot goddess. She left the divine realm for some reason but who would've thought I'd meet her here?"

"The Lady Knight." Rafaela suddenly spoke.

"That Lady Knight you mentioned is an archangel….?" Arnold asked blankly, "Why didn't you tell me!?"

There was a slight possibility that the thing he was looking for might be on the floor that this "Lady Knight" frequented. He'll be mercilessly beaten to a pulp if he tried to fight this woman.

He wasn't even fully awakened as a demon lord. He also didn't have all his skills. How could he fight against a demigod? Arnold would have to leave the dungeon and seek assistance from Selia to be able to find what he's looking for.

"Why would I? It has nothing to do with you."

"Miss angel, do you know where this Lady Knight is at the moment?" Arthur asked impatiently.

"Yes, but don't think of going to look for her. You'll die before you even get there."

This mysterious former guard of a god was on the final floor of this dungeon, from what Arnold heard from Rafaela. Not only could she easily move between floors(this means she's a deviant boss), she was also an archangel, one of the strongest beings in the entire game.

If one had to rank them based on strength then they're stronger than demon lords and dragon lords but weaker than an unlocked hero with the holy sword.

"She didn't take the sword to her own world because it doesn't belong to her so she won't be your biggest worry. I'm certain that she took it to the 99th world floor, which is the place right below Lady Knight's own world floor."

"…Eh…?" Arthur looked at Rafaela in confusion.

Seeing Arthur's confused expression, Rafaela explained further:

"Though she might be an archangel, she can't use the sword because she doesn't have the golden aura to do so anymore. Archangels lose their divine power once they are relieved of their duty. She must've been concerned that some stranger would take the sword and commit some unspeakable crimes. She lost her former power but she's by no means weak. She tries to keep everything evil out of these worlds. As I just said, because she can't use the sword, she might've taken the sword to someplace on the 99th world. The original guardians of the sword are the Divine Titans."

"Divine… Titans…?"

"Beings made from divinity itself," Rafaela continued, "They were the original guardians of the sword. She was only returning it to them."

Arnold knew what these titans were. They appeared in the game when Luke was allowed to go to the divine realm to be blessed by the other gods. Melis had already placed a blessing on him before he was born but it took a while for it to manifest divinity and give him the full power of golden aura. The other gods wanted to give him blessings as well—which increased his strength immensely.

They couldn't do it like Melis can since they had no authority over her world. She was the creator of all humanoid beings in their world, after all. Only some small gods, like the Wind God, can give Luke small blessings to help him become stronger, even if it was only a little. Minor god blessings should by no means be categorized the same as blessings from gods since the former doesn't grant a person any special abilities, only an increase in stats.

Getting back to the previous topic, Luke wanted to test his power out so he asked the archangels to fight him. However, they refused because their purpose for existing was to protect their gods. If they were to get injured or die then they'll serve no purpose anymore. Luke was not only on the same level as them but he had the Holy Sword so it was obvious who was stronger.

That was when Melis offered a suggestion: "Why don't you try fighting one of the guardians of that sword I gave you?"

Luke fought against one of the divine titans but they were impossible to defeat. They overwhelmed Luke.

The hero was already beyond the power of a 9th star powerhouse by then. That should paint a picture of how powerful these things are. Not even any of the Testaments or the Great Nobles could fight these things.

Maybe Freya or the dragon lords might have a chance with them but Arnold wasn't sure. Their levels were unknown but he assumed that they were already at the level cap.

'It's impossible for Arthur to get that sword.'

Arthur might've been the hero but that doesn't mean he could get the holy sword so easily. He couldn't control his white aura(which is a requirement to be allowed access to the sword).

It didn't matter if the sword chose him or something, the Divine Titans were the ones who will decide if they'll give it to him or not.

Divine Titans were also known as the avatars of late Elder Gods that ruled the dimensions before the current gods. They're now mere guardians of some ancient artifact.

"How many of them are there exactly?" Arnold interrupted their conversation.

"Four. There was originally six of them but two went towards the Sky Palace to fight with the Sky God. They perished and were unable to be revived by His magic."

'If they can die to these outside forces that threatened the Sky God then it means that they aren't as strong as they were when Luke met them in the game.'

Nothing could defeat the Divine Titans except gods. They were overpowered beings that had the sole purpose of protecting the holy sword.

But that doesn't seem to be the case earlier in the game. Still, they might be on the same level of dragon lords.

Arnold looked at Arthur.

"Give it up. There's no way you're getting that sword now. One titan would've been a hard but winnable battle if you can ask your classmates to help but…"

Arnold didn't even need to finish his sentence. Arthur seemed to get what he was trying to say.

It was unknown what happens to a Hero if they attempt to take the sword before they're ready for its power. Some speculated that the Divine Titans will kill the Hero for breaking the rules of the prophecy.

"That… That can't be…" Arthur looked down, "I'm… I'm supposed to be a hero… I'm supposed to save people… How can I do that if… if I can't obtain the sword..?"

Arnold felt disgust welling up inside his body seeing a hero whine.

It's easy to tell Arthur what he must do(which was to find a way to control his aura better), but Arthur shouldn't be spoon-fed. A hero forges their own path. They can rely on their comrades to overcome a foe or hurdle but they can't do so when faced with their own problems.

Being a hero wasn't as simple as asking someone what to do and simply doing it. The gods won't give Arthur their blessings at this rate. They'll much rather choose Luke despite the fact that his power was unstable.

Unlike Arthur who could channel his power throughout his body, Luke had to use his Semi-Star sword to absorb the golden aura from his blessing.

Arthur was one step ahead of Luke. That one step ahead was a world's difference for someone destined to become a hero.

Arnold wanted to know why the holy sword chose Arthur instead of Luke. Couldn't it wait a little longer for Luke?

The door was suddenly opened. A knight came running inside.

"Your Majesty, I apologize for interrupting!"

"U-Umu, no, I must thank you actually. The gloominess has become suffocating. Anyway, what's wrong?"

"There is a group in front of the palace gates who are looking for Lord Arthur, Lord Fecius and Lord Hofir!"

'They're finally here.'