A Crazy Fanatic

The Church is a place that Terra-sama (the goddess of the world) told me to stay away from, mostly because of the eccentric priests inside it.

Honestly, I had no interest in visiting a church, but because of a stupid cat, I somehow found myself inside one.

The church was on the outskirts of the city, made out of stone carvings. At the very centre stood a small blue crystal statue, and along the path leading towards it were multiple giant, 10-meter-tall stone statues of the same goddess, each holding large stone books.

Standing on one such path leading towards the blue crystal statue, I awkwardly scratched my cheek while gazing at the kneeling priest in front of me. Normally, I would have bolted away from him the moment our eyes met—after all, I had no interest in spending time with a fanatic. But that wasn't possible because, right now, we were encased in a stupid transparent barrier.

My instincts were telling me that I could easily escape with my <shadow step> skill, but there wasn't any way to take the black cat with me. Even if I escaped, she'd remain stuck.

The priest who encased us in the annoying barrier had stars in his eyes as he stared at Systie, who was trying her best to hide behind my legs. The guy had somehow found out that the black cat near me was connected to the goddess.

If the word about Systie spreads, it would be a disaster. I had to stop him somehow. Clearing my throat to attract his attention, I asked, "Uh, Mr. Priest, are you okay? Did something happen? Why are you kneeling in front of my ordinary cat?"

He didn't even look at me. His eyes were glued to Systie. "I clearly heard the cat speak in human language. That cat isn't ordinary." He said smugly, as if he'd just cracked some divine mystery.

I glanced down at Systie, who was doing her best impression of an innocent kitten (it wasn't convincing in the slightest). He'd heard her talking. I should have paid more attention to my surroundings. "Did you, uh, happen to see who the cat was talking to?" I asked, hoping against hope that he didn't overhear everything.

"Of course!" he beamed, dashing all my hope. "I was blessed to witness Systie-sama use her divine blue eyes to activate the crystal statue of the goddess. My eyes are honoured to behold such a divine event!"

'Dammit.' He knew everything.

"So… what now?" I asked, trying to remain calm. "What are you planning to do with this information?"

"Of course, I intend to spread the word of the goddess and help her in any way I can!" He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Honestly, if I were in his place, I'd probably do the same. After all, spreading the goddess's word was a priest's duty. But there was a slight catch in our particular case.

"What if Systie doesn't want you to spread her info?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He paused, finally tearing his eyes away from Systie to glance at me. "Why wouldn't she want her divine mission known?"

Before I could answer, Systie poked her head out from behind my legs and reluctantly spoke. "I am on a secret mission from Terra-sama. I don't want my information to spread."

The priest's eyes widened, and he nodded vigorously. "I see. I apologize for my eagerness. I will keep your identity a secret."

Well, that was easier than expected.

The priest stood up and, without missing a beat, extended his arms toward Systie "Now, Systie-sama, please allow me to join you on your journey. Serving you is a dream come true for me. I will protect you with my life!"

He said and lifted the barrier around us, but Systie didn't budge. In fact, she hid even further behind my legs, like a child avoiding a creepy uncle.

The priest's gaze darkened, and he turned toward me. "Little boy, hand over the cat. She is a divine being with a great mission on her shoulders. She needs competent helpers, like me. A 12-year-old boy like you can't possibly handle such burdens."

He ordered while extending his hands towards the cat but I stopped him. "Sorry dude but that is my pet, so keep your creepy hands to yourself?" I said, trying to sound calm. In reality, I was very pissed. I had no idea how strong this guy was, but I wasn't about to let him waltz off with Systie.

Suddenly, I heard a voice in my head, 'That creep's level is 28, and he's a non-combat class called Frost Shield.'

I blinked. Wait, what? I looked down at Systie, who gave me a smug look. The voice in my head continued, 'It's a new skill I got after deleting <Divine Projector>—<Thought Communication>. Now stop gawking and do something.'

Great. Now the cat could talk in my head, I could easily obtain enemy info. Her appraisal skill was pretty good. Knowing the priest's level gave me confidence. Level 28 wasn't too far out of reach. I could handle this.

Just as I was about to make my move, the priest raised his wand and mumbled something. A transparent barrier sprang up around me and Systie once again.

'Get him to move 10 meters away from me,' Systie's voice echoed in my head. 'His barrier skill has a range limit.'

I grinned. This was doable.

With a quick nod to Systie, I activated <Shadow Step> and vanished from the barrier. My sudden disappearance confused the priest, and he spun around, trying to locate me. Little did he know, I was already behind him, dagger in hand.

I aimed for his neck—one clean strike and this would be over. But at the last second, I hesitated. He wasn't a monster. He was a human, just like me. 'Do I really want to kill him?'

That moment of doubt was enough. My blade missed his neck and grazed his cheek instead. Blood trickled down as the priest staggered back, clutching his face.

'Damn it, Ervin!' My inner voice screamed, but the stab still did its intended job.

*The opponent has been poisoned due to <Poison Stab>.*

*The opponent's level is higher than the user's.*

*The effectiveness of poison is reduced. The opponent loses 1/10 of his health every 10 minutes.*

The priest's eyes widened in shock. "Poison?" he growled, glaring at me. I gave him my most charming smile.

"It'll take an hour and forty minutes to kill you," I said casually. "But if you take an antidote before then, you might survive. Though I'm guessing you don't have one on you, do you? So, let's negotiate."

He scoffed. "You don't deserve to stand beside my beloved Systie-sama."

With that, he muttered <Shield Bash> and conjured an ice shield. Before I could dodge, he slammed into my torso, sending me crashing into one of the 10m tall goddess statues. The impact caused cracks to develop on the statue. That was one hell of a hit, hurt like hell, I staggered a little but got up, groaning.

The priest charged at me again. This time, I used <Shadow Step> to dodge and reappeared behind him, aiming for his stomach. But he was quicker than I expected. He muttered <Spiky Shield>, and an ice shield with jagged spikes materialized(damn those are sharp!!). My attack bounced off it, and I rammed into the spikes, barely avoiding a fatal blow. Blood oozed from my shoulder where the spikes had pierced me.

"Damn it!" I hissed through gritted teeth and used <Shadow Step> to retreat behind a giant stone statue. For some reason, I felt dizzy after hiding behind the statue but chalked it up to fatigue and blood loss.

Seeing me disappear, the priest turned back to Systie, who was still stuck in the transparent barrier and beamed. "See, Systie-sama? That child can't protect you. He's unworthy. Allow me to be your shield."

Systie's voice rang in my head again. 'He can't use more than two shields at once. He's using one on me and one for defence. You need to attack him from two directions.'

Easier said than done. I racked my brain, looking for a way to hit him from multiple angles. Then, a piece of stone fell on my head, courtesy of the damaged goddess statue.

That's when it hit me—the statue. Each one of these statues held a large book-shaped stone in hand. If I could knock the book onto him while attacking from behind, I could win.

I tore off a piece of my shirt and tied it around my wounded shoulder. With renewed energy, I picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at the priest. "Hey, I'm still here! What's the matter? Afraid of a 12-year-old?"

The priest sneered, walking toward me. "Taunting me won't save you, boy. You aren't strong enough to protect Systie-sama."

As he closed in, I kicked the statue with all my strength. The goddess statue wobbled, and the giant stone book it was holding slipped from its hand, falling directly toward the priest's head.

At the same time, I used <Shadow Step> to appear behind him and slashed at his neck. He had no choice but to drop the barrier around Systie and summon <Ice Shield> to protect himself.

The rock and my attack hit his shields simultaneously. A cloud of dust erupted, and I heard the priest curse under his breath. Amidst the chaos, I saw Systie dart out of the debris and toward me.

With a sigh of relief, I used <shadow step> again to attack him from a different angle. Because of all the dust, he didn't see my attack coming, and I managed to hit him in the head, knocking him out.

'Thank God.' I breathed a sigh of relief, but then the world started spinning. A warning flashed in my mind.

*Warning: The user has used <Shadow Step> more than 5 times in rapid succession. Your body is falling into a state of unconsciousness.*

'Oh, no.'

The last thing I saw before blacking out was Systie's worried face as she rushed towards me.

Then, everything went dark.