A Powerful Martial Artist Reincarnates as a Nun Knight

‘Why did it turn out like this…?’
Pointing his spear at the antlered hounds before him, Conra frowned as he retraced his memories.
Just moments ago, Conra and Maria had been having a truly wonderful time. With fascinating sights to see and delicious, wondrous snacks to enjoy, it couldn’t have been better conditions for children to have fun.
However, the decisive reason Conra could enjoy himself was because Maria was happy. Unlike Conra, who was used to experiencing the mysteries of magic firsthand, Maria, who grew up in the slums, had rarely experienced such things.
Although she had become Sophia’s disciple just a few days ago, she was still unfamiliar with such mysteries. So when she saw the facilities on the first floor of the magic tower, which were blatantly designed to attract people’s attention, she must have been utterly fascinated.
Even the people coming and going through the magic tower seemed wondrous to her, proving the saying that people-watching alone can be entertaining in such cases.
The two had been spending their time like that, but the peaceful moment of the boy and girl was abruptly shattered.
It started with a faint ‘pa-jik’ sound reaching Conra’s ears. With his keen senses, Conra felt an ominous premonition at that moment, which is why he was able to respond more swiftly than anyone else in the next instant.
“Maria!”
The moment the realization that something was amiss flashed through his mind, Conra reflexively pulled Maria close and leapt away. At that very moment, a jet-black figure lunged through the spot where they had been standing.
After setting Maria down, Conra didn’t need a moment to draw the spear slung across his back and take a defensive stance. And finally, as he took in the scene before his eyes, Conra couldn’t help but let out a soft exclamation.
“What in the world is this commotion…?”
“Brother, what is that?” Maria, who had narrowly avoided the crisis by being pulled into Conra’s arms, asked with a bewildered expression at the scene before them.
There, like a shattered glass window, was a broken barrier, and through the breach came the black, antlered hounds, their red irises flickering as they drooled and snarled.
“I’m not sure what they are, but I think I know what those things on their heads are. Deer antlers of Cernunnos, but who in the world came up with the idea of putting those on them?”
Cernunnos, in the druidic traditions passed down to them, was a nature spirit revered as the lord of life and death, with a similar status.
And the denizens of such a nature spirit were said to bear antlers resembling Cernunnos, were they not?
In truth, Conra didn’t know much about Cernunnos himself. Even the druidic faith had its own lineages and branches, and what Conra had inherited from his father Setanta was the ‘Tuatha de Danann’ faith, which revealed the martial aspects of nature, not the ‘Nature Spirit Faith’ that revered the vastness of nature itself.
‘But at least I know that Cernunnos holds a significant position among the druidic faiths across the continent.’
And Cernunnos was renowned as the nature spirit with the most denizens under his command.
Well, of course. As the ruler of the underworld and the deity leading the reproduction of animals, life and death were principles that no living being could avoid, and they were extremely important. Wasn’t it only natural, then, that there would be denizens striving to realize Cernunnos’ providence throughout the world?
So it was not uncommon for antlered spirits to be associated with druidic traditions on the continent.
“But those don’t seem to be spirits from the druidic tradition, no matter how you look at them.”
“They’re called Tibicena, death spirits believed in the Berber tradition,” Maria answered from behind Conra. Surprised by the unexpected source of information, Conra couldn’t help but turn around as he asked:
“Where did you learn that?”
“There was an explanatory sign when we passed by the barrier earlier.”
“You’ve got sharp eyes.”
Conra murmured in admiration and listened as Maria continued her explanation.
“Tibicena are death spirits that live in caves, and their task is to take the souls of the dead and transport them to the shores of the underworld river. They are generally harmless to the living, but some individuals may bite living beings under special circumstances. In that case, the person bitten will suffer for days or even months before ultimately dying.”
“So, what are those ‘special circumstances’?”
“I’m not sure, it wasn’t written there…”
As if apologetic for not being more helpful, Maria’s voice trailed off. And the one who answered Conra’s question instead was his presiding spirit, Esras-Hermes.
{If the living try to manipulate death, the Tibicena will attack them. The rumor that death spirits are hostile toward necromancers is quite famous.}
Originally, the death spirits were not meant to be commanded by the living, Esras-Hermes said.
{My apologies for the late advice. Berber sorcery is not my main area of expertise, so it took me some time to recall it.}
“No, it’s alright that you shared it now. So, it seems the current situation qualifies as those ‘special circumstances’. Are there any precautions to take when dealing with them?”
{Look closely. They resemble hounds, don’t they? Their habits are similar too. If one bites you, place its body between your knees and pull back on its neck, and it will release within 20 seconds. Do this, and you won’t die even if bitten. However, if you fail to do so and it releases you first, remember that it means death has been bestowed upon that person’s soul.}
Conra nodded at Esras-Hermes’ advice. Indeed, it was invaluable counsel worth any price. As he took in the advice, Conra nodded, but the moment he did, Esras-Hermes uttered words that diminished the meaning of his previous counsel.
{That was the general method for subduing Tibicena, but I’m not sure it will work on these ones.}
“Huh?”
{They have antlers, don’t they? Tibicena that have become denizens of Cernunnos… who in the world came up with the idea of such a hybrid?}
The ‘I don’t know’ remark from the presiding spirit Esras-Hermes was enough to make the boy, who had been expecting useful advice, stagger with dizziness. And taking advantage of the boy’s momentary loss of balance, the Cernunnos Tibicena began charging.
“Tch, get lost!”
Regaining his posture in an instant, Conra’s spear shaft wriggled like a living snake. He chose the strategy of methodically fending off the charging Cernunnos Tibicena with footwork that allowed him to freely advance or retreat, moving as if sweeping the ground.
{Listen while fighting. Originally, Tibicena are not particularly skilled in spellcasting. So their general means of attack tend to rely on their fangs to inflict death on their opponents. However, now that the antlers symbolizing Cernunnos’ denizens have sprouted, the story will be different.}
Batting away the ones lunging overhead with his spear shaft, and kicking aside those attempting to bite his groin, Conra ensnared the ones charging with their antlers lowered and followed up with a straight back kick to their foreheads after blocking with his spear shaft.
{Cernunnos’ denizens are generally known to be skilled in spellcasting. The deer antlers sprouting from their heads supply them with abundant mana resources.}
Suddenly, a faint ‘pa-jik’ sound reached Conra’s ears again. Glancing quickly, he saw a Cernunnos Tibicena condensing a brain thunderbolt between its antlers. The moment Conra’s left hand rapidly formed a mudra, the Tibicena fired its completed lightning spell in unison.
To counter, a pre-stored barrier spell was released from Conra’s spell socket as he completed his mudra.
“Biothaille ai ginas ar ga tre-o! Mi a shaoséint ó bhagat na biothaille oc! (Elemental spirits governing each direction, guard me from harm!)”
A pentagram formed beneath his feet. This was a barrier spell that banished specific attributes from a designated area. Here, Conra chose to banish the lightning attribute. As a result, the lightning spell fired at Conra lost its eligibility to enter the barrier space and dissipated harmlessly into the air.
However, Conra could not rest easy. The other Tibicena immediately began preparing their own spells one after another.
{Trying to counter each spell with barriers will be endless. Your elemental banishing spell is certainly decisive, but it’s not well-suited for nimble operational shifts. Here, you’d do better to utilize your astral brain’s mana resource manipulation capabilities.}
{Well-reasoned. On a battlefield where everything progresses urgently, continuously casting barrier spells is a waste.}
Lugus-Artaios concurred with Esras-Hermes’ advice. Heeding their words, Conra took three steps in the ‘proper direction’. In that instant, Conra’s figure bent like a reed, slipping past the forces of nature that had tried to bind him.
Rising like a jumping jack with his next step, Conra continuously shifted his mudras, regulating his mana output.
{The key is to have a sense of inserting a lone material with a different thermal expansion coefficient inside a well-integrated structure.}
{Approach it with the same feeling as when fighting masters, focusing on the rhythm. ‘Observe their stance’, then ‘insert your counter’. Isn’t this ultimately the winning formula?}
Soon, the sounds of popping balloons began erupting from all around. It was the sound of spells being disrupted and failing due to Conra’s mana manipulation just before their completion.
Meanwhile, Maria carefully moved her body while sticking close to the wall to avoid interfering with Conra’s movements. Fortunately, at this point, the Tibicena’s aggression was mostly drawn toward Conra, so she didn’t need to exert much effort to withdraw.
However, her luck did not last forever.
“Grr…”
“Oh no…”
A troubled expression crossed Maria’s face.
She may have become Sophia’s disciple, but it had only been a few days, barely enough time to lay the foundations, so how could she possibly face such powerful spirits? Any ordinary person would have already been filled with despair at this point.
However, Maria did not give up. Taking a deep breath, she closed and opened her eyes, then lowered her stance with a calm expression.
Sophia’s teachings flashed through her mind.
‘Will you stiffen your lower body to free your upper body, or stiffen your upper body to free your lower body? Generally, those who can be called masters of martial arts choose the former. Planting their feet on the ground and fighting with their arms is the most stable stance. Moreover, they are skilled at stably deploying attacks and defenses with small movements and unleashing the power of their firmly rooted lower bodies through their free upper bodies.’
‘However, if one is not so skilled, it may be better to stiffen the upper body and leave the lower body free instead. If one is not adept at shifting between offense and defense with small movements, it is safer to move with larger motions. For a beginner whose senses are not yet refined, seeking rationality, efficiency, and distribution of stamina in their movements is a luxury.’
‘So allow me to teach you movements you can use in such cases.’
With a “kung—” sound, as the antlered hound lunged at her, Maria evaded with a side-step, and somehow found herself sitting atop the beast’s back. Firmly grasping the antlers protruding from the hound’s head with both hands, she wrapped her legs around its neck and began squeezing.
“Grr-rrh—!?”
Sudden strangulation caused a look of bewilderment to flash across the Cernunnos Tibicena’s eyes. It had never expected that a frail young girl would dare launch such an outrageous frontal assault against a death spirit.
Next, a look of malice flashed in the antlered hound’s eyes, intent on showing the insignificant living being that dared defy death’s majesty the true terror of death.
However, there was a variable it had failed to anticipate – the presence of Sophia, watching over her disciples from afar. Sensing the malice in the Tibicena’s eyes first, Sophia softly asked the divine spirit Gabriel, who always remained by her side, for assistance.
“Please help Maria.”
[…!]
Receiving Sophia’s request, Gabriel nodded vigorously and merged into Maria’s body as a cluster of light. The next moment, Maria felt an unprecedented surge of power welling up from her limbs. And the result was fully reflected in the Cernunnos Tibicena, which had been preparing its stance to thrash about and unleash its malice upon Maria.
“Grr-rrr—, ugh, rrr-ruck, kkhh, kkhh-hehh…”
Held by Maria’s powerful grip on its antlers, its neck squeezed by her vice-like legs, the Cernunnos Tibicena found itself unable to utilize the spellcasting abilities granted by its antlers, flailing helplessly.
However, its struggle did not last long. Feeling its limbs grow weak and its vision blur, the Cernunnos Tibicena soon collapsed, sticking out its tongue.
While spirits cannot truly be killed, those that have taken on specific forms are bound by the characteristics of those forms. This applied to both the sacred tree Ogma, owner of the forest guarded by Conra’s parents, and the Cernunnos Tibicena that had just been strangled into unconsciousness by Maria.