"A Red Item… the Church is quite generous to give this to me," Fray commented while in the guise of Rakna. He carefully handled the sword and performed a few swings before storing it.
Angela puffed up her modest chest in pride. "Of course. We might not necessarily have a very high battle prowess compared to the Basilica of Eternal Night, but we make up for that with wealth, influence, connections, and numbers."
Fray nodded. "I see. But is it fine to give me a Holy Sword? Isn't this valuable to the Church?" He asked since he was truly not knowledgeable of the Church's inner workings. He was erudite on a lot of things, but this wasn't one of them.
"Nonsense. It's just a slightly valuable toothpick for us," Angela said proudly. "What you have in your hand is one of the 106 Holy Swords. Below that, we have the 246 Blades of Light and above it, we have the 56 Sacred Swords, the 24 Divine Swords, the 12 Light Harbingers, the 3 Advents of God, and The Excalibur."
"…impressive."
"And that just concerns the Sword-Type Items that we have," Angela added with a smile. "Though, we don't have that kind of meticulous classification for all of them. The Church is primarily feared for how many items and artifacts we possess. If someone offends us; take out a Prophetic Item, a few others specifically made to restrain that specific kind of target and voilà!"
"A bunch of money loafers," O'Gram grumbled quietly.
"Hey! At least we're not the ones borrowing from others," Angela retorted and he closed his mouth with a grunt. It was true that the Basilica would sometimes borrow money from the Church since their financial situation couldn't be considered very good because of how unpopular their group was compared to theirs.
Their establishment was also more recent and they didn't have thousands of years of ancestry like the Church, nor billions of believers donating to them. Additionally, the believers of Eternal Night were not the pure kind.
The Eternal Night God was a symbol of strength. It was a completely different type of faith and those that followed it were those that similarly seek power. On the other hand, the Church would mostly offer protection and safety. Sadly, there are many more of the needing type rather than the power mongers.
At the end of the day, the Basilica's funds relied on their members doing missions for the Pavilion and sharing their gains. But that also was not mandatory. Eternal Night valued freedom of action as well as self-preservation. They didn't need to donate money if they could spend it on themselves or their family.
This was why the Basilica often turned to the Church in times of financial need. They were not on the best of terms, but they were allies. At worst, the two organizations were like friendly rivals.
"At least we don't take money from poor believers," O'Gram snapped coolly.
Angela scoffed. "We offer counsel, health, and blessings to those who donate. You all are only good at fighting so it's a given you are so miserable. I admit that the miracles of your God are formidable, but they are so rare it basically makes them inconsequential."
The priest clicked his tongue and didn't reply. As he had said himself, the Basilica was an army. An army so strong that nearly everyone in the System was fearful of them. They were just slightly bad at social affairs…
"If you are in need of money, why don't you offer the services of an army?" Fray abruptly suggested and O'Gram looked at him.
"You mean mercenary work? We already tried that. It didn't go well. For many reasons."
"No, army-like duties," Fray retorted. "A military force needs an affiliation. Of course, if you accept money from random people, it will end up bad. You need to be associated with a municipality, a country, or at least nobility. You offer your members as official workforces to them under a salary; as either enforcements workers, soldiers, hunters, scouts, spies, or bodyguards."
"Not only do you get a cut from that, but the members themselves earn their life. Slowly, you will build up your reputation and start establishing affiliations with even more powerful countries and settlements that will learn to trust your services. This is something that the Church wouldn't do because it's not in their values to fight a war if it's not a crusade, especially when it's against other non-evil races. However, from what I know, Eternal Night is closer to a God of War. You are not restricted in any way by your beliefs and policy."
"…" O'Gram was speechless for a good while and Angela was surprised as well.
"You know a lot," she commented.
Fray shrugged, as he did not believe that what he just said wasn't in Rakna's capabilities. "It's not something I'm unfamiliar with."
"{Hey, don't blow your cover,}" Rakna chided.
"{It is perfectly fine. You are capable of this much.}"
"{I'm not that nosy.}"
"{Are you sure?}"
"{…}"
"Well, it's not bad a suggestion at all. The main issue is to make all the higher-ups agree," O'Gram said. "But I guess I'll talk about it to my direct superior and see what he can do."
"In any kind of organization with leading figures, management is stable but slow due to pride and conflicting opinions. They sometimes fail to even see the simplest of answers because of such behavior," Fray blurted out and this time, Nyx and Gray sneakily elbowed him and Pronos tapped his head with his tail. It was only then that the author realized he had briefly let go of his control over his tone and word choice.
"{Fray…}"
The story writer shuddered at the growl that echoed in his head and cleared his throat. "Anyhow, my Master's waiting for me. It's better to not make him wait. Before I go, Nyx said that she wanted to take a look at the Basilica. Can you help her, O'Gram?"
The priest hummed and observed the beautiful woman that had a faint aura of divinity. "May I ask why before I decide anything?"
Nyx didn't reply and just raised her hand. In the blink of an eye, strands of black lightning covered it and spread through the air around her.
O'Gram was first mildly taken aback that she was an Aeter user and immediately understood her motive. He was about to agree to bring her to the Black Steel branch when he noticed something. Her lightning was predominantly dark in color, as it should be for Aeter, but there was a faint red outline to it that made it look even more menacing.
His eyes widened almost impossibly so and his calm expression was broken. His figure blurred as he put himself on his knee for her. "This humble priest greets the Eternal Maiden!" His voice was loud and respectful. It was heard by everyone that was still watching the scene and the reporters that had stayed even after Obsidian and Hybran had left.
Gray and Angela were intrigued while Fray frowned in confusion. And Rakna, who was watching from the roof of a far building after leaving through the mirror dimension, hummed meditatively. He still hadn't returned to his base form and his nine tails wagged behind him as he pondered.
'Eternal Maiden… Alexa, anything?'
[The Eternal Maiden, the Holder of Eternal Night's esteem and whose power was directly granted to her through tribulation trial,] the AI responded in a roundabout way. [It is a herald. Or, in other words, it is a prophecy.]
'I see…'
Meanwhile, there was no one more confused than Nyx herself as she stared at O'Gram prostrating in front of her. It's not like it was the first time someone ever did that, but the reason behind it was now one that completely escaped her.
"What do you mean… by Eternal Maiden?" She finally asked.
The priest answered without raising his head, "It was prophesized that a Maiden with the element of Eternal Night personally given by the Kind Demon himself would come to us; you are the only person besides our God that possesses True Aeter. I was sure of it the moment you conjured it."
Nyx made a complicated expression at that. 'Given? And they herald me? The believers of the man who defeated me, deprived me of my powers, imprisoned me, and sent me away through space and time?' She almost laughed at the idea. 'But… would that explain why I awakened Aeter? Did that demon really give me his power? Why?'
"My Lady, you wanted to know about the Basilica, right?" O'Gram followed up. "If you're willing, I can lead you to the local branch and you can discuss with one of my superiors."
Nyx scrunched her eyebrows and hesitatingly glanced at Fray, directing her doubt at Rakna who was watching through him.
"{…just go. Regardless of if you're that Maiden or not, I believe there is no reason to refuse the privileges that this could provide you,}" he replied to her through telepathy and she nodded.
"All right. I will follow you."
O'Gram immediately stood up in delight. He was excited to bring the news back to the Basilica. This might be a sign of a new era for their faith and the entire System.
"In that case, I guess it's time for us to go," Fray said and he nodded at Gray.
"I wish you good luck on your future journeys," Angela said with a radiant smile.
"So do I," O'Gram said. "I am profoundly grateful for giving me the chance of meeting the Eternal Maiden. I swear that the Basilica will always be on her side and yours, whatever happens."
Fray blinked in surprise. "Well… you're welcome and thank you. On this note, goodbye. See you later, Nyx," he ultimately said and left with Gray while O'Gram escorted Nyx to the Basilica.
⠀
* * *
⠀
At the same time, Rakna sighed in relief as this was finally over. It had been quite stressful even for someone like him. One single retaliation from Hybran would have exposed him. That's why he did all he could to convince him. He purposefully released a trace of mystic magic and entered the mirror world to disappear without a trace.
He also made sure to keep his attention on the mayor's emotions and carefully judge how far he could push him. When he released his bloodlust, it was truly a gamble on his part.
"{Haha, even my mighty devourer can be nervous after all,}" Higure commented. "{Still, that killing intent was not half-bad for someone your age.}"
"Not half-bad? No, it was weak," Rakna retorted indifferently as he used Fabled Sight to 'zoom in' on Gray and Fray while waiting for them to get to a concealed location.
Meanwhile, the lioness was perplexed. "{Weak? What are you saying? It's the first time I hear you being falsely humble like that.}"
The wolf snorted. "My brain is therapeutically constrained. At least, that's what the old man's underground doctor told me. Have I never told you? I can barely feel anger or sadness without my psyche tilting in an unhealthy way. If I had been my other self… I have a feeling that the little show I did would have been a hundred times better."
Higure fell silent in shock. She didn't really know what he meant since other than his cold berserk state during the full moon, she had not seen him get pushed until Obsidian Blood was triggered.
But she didn't need to know that to imagine what a killing intent a hundred times stronger would be like. 'A horrifying prospect,' she thought. Unlike others, she was aware that killing intent didn't just equal the number of people the individual had killed.
It wasn't how it worked. In fact, you could say that bloodlust was like a defect of the mind. It was a defect formed from the psychological impact of taking the life of another living being. Normally, the guilt would often mentally wound the most innocent ones. They would be emotionally harmed to cope with it.
But some people do not experience that guilt. Then… does that mean they suffer nothing? No, it's the opposite. Without guilt, they have no inhibitors. Their killing intent grows day after day and their will to kill either turns into enjoyment or a casual daily idea. The more they live, the easier it becomes, the more they hurt themselves, and the more bloodlust they accumulate.
Higure had no wish to know which type Rakna was exactly.
"Anyhow," Rakna continued. "Gray and Fray are about to enter an alley. I'll go join them," he said and was about to flash step over to them when he suddenly sensed a familiar smell from behind him. He froze on the spot and a million thoughts ran through his head to save the situation.
"Wolfy~ Do you mind explaining what the fuck this is supposed to mean?" A very irate voice laced with mock joy entered his ears and every contingency plan he was making in his head fell apart.
He mechanically turned his head and had to look down because of his size. He spotted a certain red-haired vixen with a chilling smile on her face, even by his standards, and uttered the only thing that came to his mind.
"…good evening?"