Chapter 33 : Despair Gate (2)

The dark attribute is ‘Magi.’

Just the fact that something has the dark attribute is enough to raise a gate’s danger level. For hunters, magi was like poison.

The Despair Gate was even worse.

Inside the Despair Gate, where everything was surrounded by magi, hunters could not use their full strength.

“If only it weren’t for the magi…!”

Rubenca, an S-rank hunter of the church, frowned.

Black spectral entities were flying through the fog-covered darkness.

Dark Specters.

These creatures, born from the grudges of the dead, were immune to physical attacks.

On top of that, they were cloaked in magi, making it nearly impossible for even magic to land a proper hit.

Only holy magic, which countered magi, was the key to defeating the Dark Specters.

But if it were that easy, this place wouldn’t be called the Despair Gate.

Damnatorum eccl… te ad mortem…

The eerie murmurs of the Specters speaking in an unknown language sent chills down the hunters’ spines.

Even Rubenca’s relic, the Execution Claymore, could not fully unleash its abilities inside the Despair Gate.

Clang!

Just cutting down a single Dark Ghoul drained Rubenca’s stamina.

Vos ecclesiae ministr… Morieris…

These monsters wouldn’t have been difficult to deal with under normal circumstances.

But with the magi of the Despair Gate surrounding them, their hunting difficulty had skyrocketed exponentially.

Even for Rubenca, who had taken down only twenty undead so far, her breath was already growing ragged.

The other church hunters were in even worse shape.

“G-Get away!”

“OO……”

Some swung their weapons uselessly against the Dark Specters, while others held up their crosses in desperation—an embarrassing display for supposed elites of the church.

At that moment, an unknown cry rang out from beyond the fog, accompanied by the thunderous sound of hooves.

A headless knight emerged, holding a severed head in one hand.

“A D-Dullahan!”

“This is insane!”

The church hunters’ expressions darkened.

A Dullahan was normally only a B-rank monster, but inside the Despair Gate, it was nearly an A-rank threat.

“Step aside!”

Seeing the charging Dullahan, Rubenca stepped forward and swung her Claymore.

Claaang!

The Dullahan’s magi-coated lance clashed against Rubenca’s Claymore, sending sparks flying.

Red and white auras clashed repeatedly as the two remained locked in battle.

Rubenca gritted her teeth.

‘At this rate, clearing this place is impossible.’

They had to break through somehow, but piercing the Dullahan’s magi was proving difficult.

“Lord!”

“Grant us your light!”

The bishops poured out holy magic, but their powers were instantly snuffed out by the overwhelming magi of the Despair Gate.

“When is the reinforcement arriving?!”

“There’s still no word from them!”

Damn it.

The reinforcements promised by the Vatican weren’t anywhere in sight.

They were barely managing to hold the front line as it was.

Just as Rubenca was cursing internally—

“R-Reinforcements have arrived!”

Hearing the bishop’s announcement, Rubenca forcefully pushed back the Dullahan and turned around.

Her eyes searched for the reinforcements.

But all she saw was a man in a black mask and a blonde-haired girl.

Surely, these two weren’t the reinforcements?

Rubenca tilted her head in confusion.

“Where are the reinforcements?”

“They are right there!”

“!!”

Rubenca’s expression hardened.

Surely not… The reinforcements were just these two?

“Cardinal Francis sent them. He says they are saint candidates, so we can trust them!”

Even with the bishop’s words, Rubenca’s expression didn’t relax.

After all, how many so-called ‘saint candidates’ had the Vatican sent so far?

Rubenca alone had encountered over ten.

Yet not a single one had demonstrated true miracles.

The Vatican had merely paraded around those with slightly stronger holy magic for propaganda.

Rubenca assumed this would be the same.

They were just expecting her to handle everything as usual.

“Hah.”

Feeling drained, Rubenca lowered her sword.

She had no expectations from the so-called reinforcements.

So when the girl stepped forward, she didn’t even bother to look at her.

But then—

Fwaaaah!

A brilliant light suddenly burst forth.

“?”

Had the bishops suddenly awakened?

Puzzled, Rubenca turned around—her eyes widening.

“What is this…?”

The light wasn’t coming from the bishops.

It was coming from the girl.

The girl who had come as a reinforcement.

Her light was on a completely different level.

Ssshhhhh…

The magi that touched the girl’s light evaporated, like icicles melting under the spring sun.

The darkness vanished in an instant.

The fog receded.

Rubenca, who had been staring blankly at the incredible miracle, suddenly snapped back to reality.

Hwoooosh!

She swung her Claymore fiercely at the Dullahan.

The Dullahan, trying to block with its lance, was cut clean in half—along with its weapon.

Without magi, a mere B-rank undead was no match for her.

Rubenca gazed at the now magi-free battlefield in shock.

“Holy power? The saint candidate… is real?!”

[This battlefield is imbued with the presence of the redeemed maiden, Jeanne d’Arc.]

[All of Jeanne d’Arc’s abilities have increased by 80%.]

Jeanne’s power had surged drastically inside the Despair Gate.

Which meant… this gate was closely tied to her.

“I still don’t understand why,” Jeanne murmured, looking puzzled.

Well, whatever the reason, it worked in their favor.

Fwaaaah!

Jeanne, nearly regaining her peak power, cast her light across the entire Despair Gate.

Under her immense radiance, the magi of the undead was completely purified.

And once the magi was gone, the undead were nothing more than ordinary monsters.

“What are you waiting for? Finish them off.”

“…”

“A-Ah, y-yes!”

The hunter, who had been in a daze, came to his senses and swiftly cut down the ghoul.

It was a scene where I didn’t even feel the need to step in.

“Is there anything we can do to help?”

The bishops approached me and asked.

Having been rendered jobless in an instant because of Jeanne, they had nothing in particular to do.

Their expressions betrayed a desire to stay close to the saint in any way possible, but their presence wouldn’t be of much help.

“Please move the wounded outside the gate.”

“…Understood.”

Leaving the disappointed bishops behind, we stepped into the darkness of the gate.

Jeanne sensed something strange when we had cleared the third section.

“It feels like someone is calling me.”

The place Jeanne was looking at was the door to a ‘chapel.’

Most likely, the boss room.

The church hunters took the lead, opening the door and stepping inside.

Beyond the opened doors, a grand Russian Orthodox chapel was revealed.

Under the crucifix hanging on the wall, someone stood with their back turned.

‘A person?’

No.

The chapel could be seen faintly through their hazy body.

An undead.

A high-ranking undead, cloaked in dark energy far beyond that of mere specters.

“It’s a Banshee. Step back.”

Rubenca stepped forward, blocking the path.

At that moment, the Banshee turned around.

And when I saw its face, I realized why this battlefield was tied to Jeanne’s fate.

‘So this is why.’

The Banshee’s face was one I knew all too well.

“Do not worry.”

The knight who had always steadfastly protected Joan of Arc.

“My lady… Jeanne has been captured by the English!”

The knight who had shown the greatest rage when Joan of Arc was taken by the English church.

“The Bishop of Cambrai! That bastard handed Jeanne over to the English church!”

The true identity of the wraith—was Gilles de Rais.

As the Banshee’s darkness reached out, Rubenca raised her claymore.

In that fleeting moment, a girl brushed past her.

“Wait! It’s dangerous!”

Rubenca cried out in shock, but the girl did not stop.

Ssssssss…

The darkness stretched toward her like an outstretched hand.

Rubenca rushed forward urgently.

But she soon had no choice but to stop in her tracks.

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“What in the…?”

To her astonishment, the wraith was not attacking the girl.

. . .

Instead, it was disintegrating, like ashes in the wind, as it touched the girl’s light.

The incomprehensible sight left Rubencawith only one possible conclusion.

‘Is the Banshee… killing itself?’

It was an absurd thought, yet there was no other explanation.

The Banshee was throwing itself into the girl’s light.

As if it had been waiting for this moment.

“Gilles de Rais.”

The girl wept as she embraced the Banshee.

At that moment, a brilliant light erupted.

The Banshee, held in her arms, smiled.

And then, it crumbled into ash and vanished.

Through the blinding light, Rubenca saw it clearly.

The divine stigma that had appeared on the girl’s back.

“A… stigmata?”

[The Despair Gate has been cleared.]

[Clear Rating: SSS]

St. Peter’s Basilica.

The heart of the Vatican, where the Pope resided and where the Holy See’s governmental affairs were conducted.

On the eve of the Despair Gate’s impending rampage, Cardinal Francis had been summoned to a council meeting—as a sinner.

“Cardinal Francis, why did you unilaterally hand over the sacred relic and essence?”

“Because I judged her to be a saint.”

“You recognized someone as a saint without undergoing a miracle review?”

“Yes.”

“Hah…”

The bishops attending the council let out weary chuckles.

To unilaterally declare someone a saint without a miracle review—let alone give away the essence?

That was an overreach far beyond the cardinal’s authority.

Amid the murmurs, the Pope, who had been listening quietly, finally spoke.

“Cardinal Francis.”

“Yes, Your Holiness.”

“Even if she were a saint, handing over the essence so recklessly was a rash decision.”

“I merely acted for the sake of the Church.”

“For the sake of the Church? By giving away the essence?”

“I believed she was worthy.”

“Even with only a day left before the Despair Gate’s rampage?”

“Yes.”

A heavy silence filled the chamber.

Cardinal Francis’s words were impossible to comprehend.

The bishops were about to resume their questioning when—

“Y-Your Holiness!”

A bishop suddenly rushed into the chamber.

“What is it?”

The bishop hurried to the Pope’s side and whispered something into his ear.

The Pope’s expression changed.

“This council meeting is hereby concluded.”

“What? But, Your Holiness, we have yet to discuss the matter of the essence—”

“The Despair Gate has been cleared.”

“What?!?!”

The Pope’s declaration sent shockwaves through the assembly.

A faint smile formed on Cardinal Francis’s lips.