Published: September 9, 2025
Correction of typos made on 2014/11/09.
Partial revision made on 2014/11/09 at 22:30.
This is Satou. It seems that in fiction, using holy objects for vile cult rituals is surprisingly common. Perhaps there's some strange insistence that a proper cult can't be one that creates evil artifacts from scratch.
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Leaving the fight against the sakura mochi demons to everyone else, I dashed above the underground cavern using flashstride and created a passage down to the cavern with earth magic.
Descending through the passage, I emerged into the underground cavern in an instant.
It’s a fairly large cavern—shaped like an oval, big enough to fit a track and field stadium inside.
Tragically, the floor was strewn with hundreds of mummified corpses.
They were bodies of poorly clothed laborers, street prostitutes, beggars, orphans, and beastmen. The dust gathered on top of them showed they hadn’t all been killed at once.
—Once this incident is over, I’ll make sure to bury them properly.
At the far side of the cavern, opposite from where I entered, a bonfire was burning, and a golden-colored cup rested on a purple pedestal.
That was probably the Holy Grail.
Around the Grail, a dozen or so men wearing purple robes were chanting something.
Judging by their size compared to the cup, it seemed to be about five meters in diameter.
From that direction came an unpleasant ripple of magic power—like a disturbing wave.
Before anything stranger happens, I should interrupt their ritual.
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I dashed over to the men performing the ritual with flashstride.
“Who goes there! Dare to interrupt the ritual! Foolish one who fancies themselves a hero!”
One man shouted, foaming at the mouth, wearing a purple cloak and a water buffalo skull on his head.
He seemed to be the second son of the noble family that had sheltered members of the Freedom of Light.
Unlike the others, this noble second son wasn’t participating in the ritual chanting.
Probably, like me, he couldn’t chant spells.
“The one in cherry blossom colors—”
He started speaking, but I didn’t listen to the end, prioritizing stopping their ritual.
I swiftly struck the Freedom of Light members with two or three rounds of Short Stun each.
White sparks flew across the bodies of those hit by the magic, but I succeeded in knocking them out without resistance.
The members coughed up blood as they rolled on the ground.
Of course, I didn’t kill any of them.
Since some were fairly high-level, I struck strongly enough to guarantee a knockout.
“The ritual—!”
The noble second son was shocked, losing his strength when he saw his comrades fall.
Since his level was only 3, I refrained from using Short Stun on him.
Had I struck him, I probably would have killed him.
Instead, I delivered a deliberately gentler palm strike to knock him out.
I can interrogate him for details later.
Right now, the Holy Grail.
Using earth shrinking, I moved right in front of it.
The golden Holy Grail was filled with a transparent amber liquid.
This amber liquid was probably the materialized form of magic power.
Just approaching the Grail, I could feel the pressure of mana—like the fully charged Holy Sword Excalibur pressing against me.
But unlike a Holy Sword, this Grail radiated a malevolent dread, an indescribable sense of rejection, like hearing discordant noise.
Well, regardless of my personal impression, I need to deal with the Grail quickly.
First, I tried to store it directly into my storage but failed.
No choice, I decided to neutralize it by extracting the magic power.
I casually touched the Grail and began withdrawing its magic power.
There was strange resistance, making it difficult. If I relaxed, the stolen magic might be pulled back.
I forced my will to suppress it and drained the magic.
Of course, I sent the extracted magic to the Holy Sword Durandal.
] Gained "Curse Resistance."
] Gained "Chaos Resistance."
—Oh, resistance skills at last.
I allocated skill points to both resistances and maxed them out.
Now, even if chaos creeps near, I should be fine.