Chapter 414 Canaria Pilgrimage ③
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The “Holy Figure” Loire-Rose¹ and her retinue were bound for the capital city of Canarias². As they prepared to pass a merchant’s wagon, a sudden, unnatural darkness swallowed them whole. Without warning, Cardinal Mork doubled over, coughing up a spray of crimson. In that instant, Loire-Rose remembered her purpose.
”…O God, I beseech Thee,” she prayed, “protect this faithful servant.”
”Lady Rose!” Mork gasped, clutching his chest. “There is no time! You must flee!”
Ignoring his plea, Loire-Rose threw herself into her prayer. A brilliant radiance erupted from her, a light so fierce it seemed to scour the shadows from the air. The glow expanded, shielding them both and reaching out toward the guards she could no longer see.
”As if I’d ever leave Mork and the others behind,” she muttered, her voice dropping its regal facade for a moment of raw grit. “You’ve got some nerve, laying a hand on my people!”
It was a display of power truly befitting one titled “Holy Figure.” In the ages of myth, it was women with this exact gift who had captivated the masses and forged civilization from the untamed wilds.
”Incredible…” Mork whispered.
He wiped the blood from his mouth. He could feel the jagged wound in his abdomen-the result of some invisible strike-begin to knit itself back together. With the support of the Holy Figure’s twin gifts of protection and healing, Mork felt he could stand against an army.
But he couldn’t stay idle. He scrambled to his feet to survey the perimeter. The world outside the carriage remained choked with gloom, yet the guards seemed to have held their ground.
”Report!” Mork shouted. “What happened?”
”We don’t know, Your Eminence!” one guard replied. “The darkness… it fell upon us in an instant!”
”And the merchant wagon?” Mork asked.
”Right there, sir!” the guard pointed.
Mork’s suspicion immediately fell on the vehicle they had been passing. The guards felt the same; they had already leveled their weapons at the wagon the moment the light broke through.
”Hmph. It’s exactly as Mother said,” the driver remarked. He watched Mork with the clinical detachment of a scientist observing a specimen. Despite the pitch-black void and the blades at his throat, he remained unnervingly composed. “Those ‘Glow-bugs’ always start shining the moment they’re in a corner. They just keep getting back up with those vacant looks on their faces. It’s honestly revolting.”
”Are you an agent of Wyrope³?”
”Now, I wonder,” the man mused. “But more importantly, Cardinal… was it wise to leave your ‘Holy Figure’ unattended?”
”What-!?”
Mork whirled back toward the carriage. Loire-Rose was just stepping out to follow him, her face pale with sudden realization.
”Mork-san, look out! He’s right in front of you!!”
”Huh-!?”
”Precisely,” the driver whispered.
Mork had fallen for the oldest trick in the book. The driver lunged. The hands that had been loosely holding the reins now gripped a concealed kunai⁴.
”Master Mork!!”
”Mork-sama!!”
”Cardinal!!”
”Tch. My bad, guys…!”
”Hm. I guess that didn’t work after all.”
Mork’s subordinates barely managed to intercept the strike in the nick of time. Truth be told, Mork was not a frontline fighter; he was a cleric of the caster variety. He was the linchpin of the group’s offensive and defensive power; if he fell, their combat effectiveness would crater. The driver had identified the weak point with surgical precision.
”Alright, that’s enough testing,” the driver announced. He turned his gaze toward the ground. “We’ve got the measure of them. Let’s finish this.”
At his word, figures began to seep out of the shadows like ink in water. They were apparitions clad in jet black, moving with the fluidity of ghosts. Mork grit his teeth. The advantage of numbers had vanished.
It had to be magic. But what sort of sorcery could conjure an entire squad from thin air? The Church of Demon-Subjugation⁵ was hardly ignorant of the arcane; they had studied it since their inception, first to harness it, and then to combat it as “heresy.”
That tradition remained the Church’s primary focus. Dangerous spells were investigated and decried across the continent. Even the recent trial of the “Vibrating Companion” sect had been part of this mandate.
However, the Church was unaware that this was an evolution of ancient Elven arts. The interior of the wagon was plastered with intricate magic circles⁶ that fueled the spell.
”Everyone, behind you!!”
”””Wha-!?”””
SCREEECH! The sound of clashing steel rang out. Reacting to Loire-Rose’s warning, the party managed to parry a sudden, lethal assault. These were no longer distractions; these were killing blows. Wraiths had manifested directly at their backs.
This was the spell’s true lethality. As long as the darkness held, the caster could move anything-or anyone-to any coordinate within its reach. The initial strike on Mork had been delivered through this same shadow-path.
Pinned between the driver’s reinforcements and the wraiths at their rear, the retinue was caught in a lethal pincer.
”Urgh…!”
”Gah…!”
”You bastards…!”
Calling it a “battle” was generous. The retinue was being picked apart. The wraiths, wielding the same wicked kunai as the driver, moved with terrifying synchronization. They tag-teamed their targets, coming from the front and back in a blur of black cloth.
They struck at the vitals: the throat, the armpits, the wrists, the thighs. They were looking for a quick bleed-out. They slashed at tendons and joints to strip the guards of their mobility. Heart, lungs, liver-as soon as a guard moved to protect one, the wraiths mockingly pivoted to another. They were relentless, aiming for eyes and groins without a shred of mercy.
”No! STOP IT! PLEASE STOOOOOOP!!”
Loire-Rose shrieked. She unleashed the same brilliance that had saved Mork. As the light intensified, the wraiths finally faltered, hissing as they retreated into the gloom. It wasn’t fear of the Holy Figure herself; it was that their attacks were literally bouncing off the air.
”…Tch. The ‘Darkness’ is being neutralized,”
”Seems so. God, she’s so bright it’s annoying…”
The attackers sneered at the illogical power. They remembered their orders: Do not engage a Holy Figure while she is luminous. As “Mother” had warned, she couldn’t stay that way forever.
”…It’s too dangerous to poke the nest now,” the driver ordered. “We’ll wait for her to burn out. If they attack, fall back.”
”””Understood.”””
The attackers were content to wait. The Holy Figure was too preoccupied with frantically healing her dying friends to mount an offense. She wouldn’t be able to maintain this output for long. If necessary, they would retreat, let her tire, and then hunt them down again. There were miles of road left before the capital.
But then, the air shifted.
”…!? Intruder! Defensive positions!!”
”What!? An intruder? In this dark-!?!?”
A shadow, even darker than the magical void, ripped through one of the wraiths. The attackers hesitated, caught between their fallen comrade and the new threat. The driver roared:
”Scatter!!”
”””Ous!!”””
The survivors vanished into the gloom, some carrying their wounded, others tossing torches into the wagon as they fled. The flames quickly consumed the magic circles within, and the supernatural darkness dissolved.
All that remained was the Holy Figure, weeping as she tended to the fallen, and the roaring bonfire of the carriage. The night had truly fallen now, leaving only the orange, flickering light of the fire to illuminate the carnage. The only sound was the crackle of burning timber.
Then, a figure stepped out of the night and approached the Holy Figure.
”…Lady Loire-Rose, are you unharmed?”
”You’re… Muse?”
”Yes. By the order of Lady Cecile, I have been searching for you.”
Under the protection of Muse, the Queen’s personal maid, the retinue was finally safe. Thanks to the Holy Figure’s intervention, the wounded narrowly escaped the grave, and some time later, they reached the royal capital of Canarias.
—
Summary:
Loire-Rose’s party is ambushed by shadow assassins using advanced displacement magic. Despite the Holy Figure’s divine light neutralizing the darkness, the party is nearly wiped out by coordinated physical attacks. The situation is only saved by the sudden intervention of the Queen’s maid, Muse, who drives the attackers away.
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Trivia:
- The assassins are using a carriage filled with magic circles as a mobile spell anchor.
- Mork is primarily a caster, making him vulnerable to close-quarters assassination.
- The ‘Mother’ referenced by the assassins seems to have detailed intelligence on the Holy Figure’s weaknesses.
- The light emitted by Loire-Rose provides a physical barrier, not just illumination
—
Character Insight:
Loire-Rose shows significant emotional distress but maintains her power to save her friends, showing her bond with Mork. Muse is established as an exceptionally high-tier combatant capable of outmaneuvering shadow assassins in their own element.
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Behind the Scenes:
The ‘Vibrating Companion Sect’ trial is a callback to the protagonist’s influence on the world’s ‘adult goods’ culture being treated as religious heresy.
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TL Notes:
Notes:
• Loire-Rose – The current Saintess, possessing a divine appearance yet a modern, playful, and irreverent attitude that clashes with Church tradition. She has white hair, pale skin, blue eyes, and wears clergy robes.
• Mork – A central figure in the ‘Inquisition.’ Acts panicked and constantly looks sideways, seemingly pressured by the masked Inquisitor. He represents the rigid, fear-based opposition to the protagonist’s products. A Cardinal and the right-hand man to the Holy Figure. He is a skilled user of Holy Arts.
• Muse – Cecile’s trusted attendant and chief maid, Muse handles sensitive, discreet tasks like espionage and product acquisition. Have sharp, black eyes, wearing maid uniform, and have expressionless face.
• Cecile – A queen in the capital who possesses the authority to regulate business and commerce, particularly concerning moral or public order issues. She is currently investigating Kento’s shop, ‘Harvest.’ Have long golden hair, elegant, and wearing expensive white dress with gold accesories.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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