"..."
Under the light passing through the stained glass, a veiled woman was looking at the note in her hand.
She must be around 20 years old now.
The woman's pupils, staring at the note, were very peculiar.
They were like pupils torn in a cross shape.
Her pupils did not consider falling from the note.
And behind her, an old bishop was standing politely.
"... saintess Celestia."
"I understand."
Slowly, the woman opened her mouth.
The contents, fitting her beautiful and neat appearance, came out of her mouth...
"So, neutered pigs were delivered to the temple, and this note came along, right, Bishop Semaine?"
"..."
He didn't answer.
Celestia turned her head and asked Bishop Semaine again.
"Is that correct?"
"Y-yes."
"And it was sent by the Empire's Duke Kyle Grave, right?"
"Y-yes."
At the bishop's answer, the woman frowned slightly.
"...your screwed."
"S-saintness! Please be more careful with your choice of words…!"
"Choice of words? No, the situation should be so sensible that I need to be careful with my words."
Celestia del Ebar.
Known as the siantess closest to Denver in the Holy Kingdom, she is known to represent the word of God.
She couldn't hide her irritation at all.
Understandably so.
"I'm already dying trying to clean up the messes of the old folks these days, and the bishop… Even the bishop is coming back after getting caught by the women's charms in the duchy?!"
"T-that is..."
Bishop Semaine tried to calm her down, sweating profusely.
Of course, no matter what he did, Celestia couldn't calm down.
'And Denver not relaying messages is worrying enough!'
She also had a pressing matter right in front of her.
Recently, Denver hasn't been relaying messages to her.
Why is that?
It's as if there's someone else to worry about.
"Damn it."
"S-Saintess…!"
The bishop tried to stop her, unable to contain profanity with every word from the saintess!
Every time she spoke, the bishop felt a shiver down his spine.
It doesn't matter now, but imagine pouring out such profanity in front of the believers.
'No… I can't let that happen!'
The bishop closed his eyes tightly.
He lived only for one purpose, to seal the cursed mouth of that saintess in any way possible.
"And now, not only are the old folks causing all sorts of trouble, but they're also trying to shut my mouth?"
"N-no, that's not it..."
"Ha..."
The saintess, Celestia, tousled her hair roughly, as if she absolutely hated it.
"Well, there's nothing I can do. It's not like it's from anywhere else; it was directly sent by the Empire's duke."
"Y-yes..."
"And on top of that, since a senior member of the church caused trouble in the territory, we need to compensate and send a proper bishop..."
Celestia's head throbbed, and she couldn't finish her sentence, pressing her forehead and swearing.
"Darn it."
At that moment, the bishop cautiously asked.
"By the way… Saintess?"
"What?"
"Why exactly are you so angry about the contents of the note you received this time...?"
"Ha!"
Celestia snorted at his words.
"Angry? Do I look like I'm angry right now?"
"Yes, you do..."
"..."
She closed her mouth at his words and looked straight at the bishop.
Seeing her gaze, the bishop quietly avoided her gaze and said.
"...I-I think, upon reflection, it doesn't seem visible."
"Fine."
Celestia said so and simply lit the note in her hand on fire, turning it into ash.
Swoosh!
"It was just a personal story. Just a trivial personal story."
"Does that mean... Duke Grave is involved in Saintess's personal issues...?"
"Oh, don't make such nonsense! It's not a problem to worry about!"
She said so and recalled the contents of the note she had burned.
Denver seems to be hesitant to speak up.
"...Tsk."
At first glance, there was nothing special about it.
It seemed to simply express regret over what happened in the territory.
But Celestia instinctively sensed that it was not just a simple meaning.
This isn't just a simple matter.
"He sent it to me, even though there was no need to."
She sent a note with this content to her, who was already worried about a similar problem recently.
"Perhaps… the Duke might know something."
Thinking that it might be something she, as a saintess of the Holy Kingdom, might have noticed.
Of course, there's no way to be sure.
In that case, there's a clear solution for times like this.
"Bishop Semaine, this is quite a serious matter. It's none other than related to the Duke's family."
"Well… in that case, just as you suggested, sending a new bishop and delivering an apology should be enough…"
"No, it's not enough."
Celestia declared firmly.
"Anyway, I think it's right for me, as a saintess of the Holy Kingdom, to personally visit the Duke's residence and offer an apology. Yes, let's do that."
"…Saintess?"
"I think we need to act right away. Bishop, please prepare to head to the Duke's residence."
"No, but… Saintess?!"
The bishop tried desperately to stop Celestia's rampage, but to no avail.
Because she had already decided to do so.
"I'm going to the Duke's residence."
Celestia emphasized once again, smiling slyly.
'Kyle Grave, the Duke.'
What was that boy thinking when he sent such a note?
It's worth finding out.
—–
It spreads. It spreads.
With eyes closed, spreading the power of the stigma slowly throughout the body.
The stigma engraved on the back of the hand slowly spreads throughout the body.
As if connecting one nerve at a time, the stigma begins to expand its area within me.
But at that moment.
– Argh!
Ouroboros suddenly revolted.
Seemingly unable to tolerate this creature any longer, it began to thrash violently within my body.
"You damn… cough!"
The result of Ouroboros thrashing like that was a bloody nose.
'This damn thing, usually so quiet, but as soon as the stigma comes in, it acts up.'
But it's not something that can be completely removed.
The potential inherent in Ouroboros is boundless. It's almost a waste to cut it off here.
After all, 'Hercules' is also the result of Ouroboros' power.
– It's not easy.
So today, too, I failed to completely draw out the stigma.
As I grimaced at this fact, Abel's voice inevitably came to mind.
– Generally, it's almost impossible for the 'Stigma of the Heavens' to be blocked by anything else…
"Apparently, what's latent within me is related to that Jormungandr."
A calamity that has devoured and destroyed both humans and gods impartially.
Perhaps Ouroboros is the result of the corruption of that Jormungandr.
I can't be sure of its exact nature, but I can infer that much.
"It's not without gains."
– Oh, what gains?
"When Ouroboros rebels against the power of the stigma, there's a momentary surge of power."
Of course, if you go a little further, your body will be torn apart as it did just now, but if you can control the reins properly…
Hmm.
When I spread my palm, a strange sphere of light appeared in the air.
It was a purple sphere, surrounded by several layers of golden rings.
– This is…
"At this point, it's the result of maximizing the power of the stigma and Ouroboros. This is a type I've never dealt with before."
It was the result of two weeks of constant effort after finishing the work at the temple.
Since I couldn't predict when Ouroboros would act up and had to be careful about combining it with the stigma, I approached it cautiously.
And the result was this optimal combination.
It's neither mana nor aura.
Even if I were to regress, it would be a long time before I could use "mythical magic" on my own.
But with this, it's different.
"Of course, it's currently impossible to use mythical magic itself."
If I twist it a bit to forcibly lower the output and adjust only the range, can't I use it right away?
"…Should I give it a try?"
It doesn't seem too difficult, and it might be worth trying once…
– Kyle.
At that moment, Abel called me.
– Let's do that later.
"Why? You're telling me to do something later, but you know what I'm capable of."
– Of course, I thought you might want to test that mythical magic you showed me earlier.
There was a hint of laughter in Abel's voice.
– You probably thought that if you roughly adjusted the output and narrowed the direction, you could use it on your own. It might be possible.
"Well then…"
– If you fail, it could be catastrophic, Kyle.
"…."
That's true.
If it succeeds, there's no problem, but if it even slightly goes wrong, I might have to pay a terrible price.
"Well, I'll test it in ruins later. I've got the direction clear for now."
The additional harvest this time.
"Non-spell casting."
Just thinking about it lightly in my head caused the magic to activate.
When I tried using magic just for fun, it manifested easily without any physical casting.
But the gains were not just that.
"Abel, try attacking me."
– Are you telling me to cast a curse on you?
"Either way, just attack me within reasonable limits."
With that, Abel appeared in front of me, looking puzzled.
"I understand. Since you also have a plan, you must have asked me for that."
With those words, Abel reached out and summoned a spear of pure white.
"It's the 'Holy Spear of Deverr.' It has the power to send even high-level undead to oblivion, but its power decreases significantly against humans."
"Shoot."
Even if I estimate roughly, the spear Abel just summoned seems to be good enough for an experiment.
"…I don't know what you're thinking, but okay."
With that, Abel lowered the hand holding the spear.
And at that moment.
Splat!
The Holy Spear that Abel summoned flew towards me at a rapid speed.
And in response, I activated the magic I had prepared.
"
At that moment, something like a snake suddenly emerged from my shadow and swallowed the Holy Spear.
Crunch!
"What…?!"
Unexpectedly, or perhaps expectedly, Abel looked at where the Holy Spear had disappeared with a surprised expression.
"I… I just stole your spear, Abel."
With those words, I summoned the Holy Spear Abel had just thrown.
Although the re-summoned spear had a slightly different color, it was clearly the one Abel had thrown earlier.
"Before understanding the magic, I received the authority of your spear through the power of Ouroboros."
With those words, I reached out my hand and moved the spear as I wished.
Before regression, Jormungandr consumed what it swallowed to create numerous monsters and demons.
It's similar to that.
The ability to make what was swallowed mine.
It could be quite useful in battle.
"To think that you could not only simply guard against Ouroboros but also utilize it like this?"
"We have to make use of it if necessary. There's no reason to leave it unused, right?"
"Well, that's true, but…"
Abel reluctantly agreed with my calm muttering.
At that moment, a loud voice was heard from outside.
Abel, who noticed, quickly hid himself.
"Sir, Your Excellency!"
The person who urgently opened the door and entered was Cedier, the inquisitor.
He was currently acting as the deputy of the vacant diocesan bishop.
"I apologize for the intrusion, but the matter is so urgent…"
"What is it?"
If Cedier, who usually pales so much when he speaks, says it's a matter that severe…
"The, the saintess of the church…!"
It must be that.
"She has sent word that she will personally visit the Duke's residence!"
"I see."
That's just like her… she's quick.
I thought it might turn out like this.