Became an Apostle of an Ancient God

Chapter 2

It was then that a command, not of human origin but in the 'language of the gods', was issued from Lee Haru's mouth.

However...

"What did you say, brat? Say that crap again."

Surprisingly, absolutely nothing happened.

"Hmm?"

It was then that Lee Haru tilted his head in confusion. He had certainly used Divine Power, just as the unknown entity had told him. So why wasn't anything happening?

"This son of a bitch. You need a taste of the whip..."

But at that moment, where Haru's fingertip pointed, precisely at the Inquisitor's waist, a vortex of purple energy swirled. The vortex rotated once, clockwise.

"Uh. Guh. Gek. Guh... Gugagak!!"

The moment the vortex rotated just once, the Inquisitor's body began to crumple.

Slowly, centered on the vortex's midpoint, his spine crushed, twisted, and distorted. Blood splattered everywhere, and the whip-wielding Inquisitor collapsed on the spot, foaming blood.

"Huh..."

Haru looked down at his hand with a bewildered expression.

"What... was that?"

Just now, what.

What happened?

* * *

"What is that?"

This happened when Lee Haru was trying his hardest to use Divine Power in the lowest level of the ship to attempt an escape.

A sailor on the Holy Maiden Jeanne, watching the course from the mast, loudly called the captain.

"Captain!"

The captain, who had been resting after entrusting the helm to the helmsman, hurried onto the deck at the sailor's sudden call.

"A huge storm is approaching ahead. What should we do?"

Just at departure, even just a few hours ago, the sky was clear and calm.

But now, dark storm clouds covered the sky, dozens of waterspouts churned right in front of the Jeanne, and lightning flashed.

"Shouldn't we turn the ship around? Sailing through this storm is impossible right now."

An emergency meeting was convened on deck.

The first mate proposed returning to Lisboa harbor. The captain also agreed. Transporting the Heretic to the Hall of Atonement was, needless to say, a very important matter for the theocratic nation of Lusis.

However, breaking through this storm seemed impossible with this ship and crew. Facing the raging storm, the captain and his sailors were merely insignificant mortals.

"Captain, what will you do? We will follow your decision."

"It would be better to turn the ship around."

"No. We cannot do that."

The one who stopped the captain, who was about to turn the ship considering the lives of all sailors and the safety of the Inquisitor aboard, was a priest.

That priest held a staff of strange shape. Unlike ordinary staffs with gems or orbs at the end, this staff was adorned with the preserved arm of some beast.

"Father Moore. What do you mean? If we force our way through this storm, not only you, but all the sailors and believers will surely die."

The priest named 'Moore' smirked at the captain and tapped his temple with his finger, as if telling him to use his head.

"This isn't an ordinary weather phenomenon. Think about it. Does it make sense for a sky that was clear without a single cloud at departure to rage like this? This must be the work of an Evil God."

"Evil God...?"

"Yes. It's the work of Heretics who serve beings other than the Goddess of Light, Serre, and wield Divine Power. To punish the Heretic, the voyage must continue."

"Then how."

"I will offer a prayer to Serre. To stop this storm. Do not worry, Captain Aaron. I am confident in my weather manipulation rites. That is why I boarded this ship."

It was at that very moment.

A sailor, startled by 'something stuck' to the cabin window looking outside, fell backward.

"Huh... Huck!!!"

Seeing it cast a shadow in the flash of lightning, he trembled and spoke.

"J-Just now. Something strange was stuck to the ship's window. Strange... like strange tentacles... were stuck. It's a kraken. The storm arose because we angered a kraken!"

"Nonsense. Krakens are just legends made up by sailors. Now, watch. I will make the storm cease for all to see."

"No, I saw it clearly with my own eyes! It was a kra..."

Before the sailor could say more, Father Moore jabbed the sailor's neck with the beast claw at the end of his staff, giving a vile smile.

"Didn't I tell you? It's just a legend made up by sailors. If you contradict me further, I'll show you real terror, not just some boast from legends. With this staff."

"Kuh."

Father Moore, who had scoffed at the terrified sailor's words as nonsense, went up onto the storm-swept deck and summoned the other Inquisitors.

This was because prayers are much more powerful when offered by many people rather than just one.

"Great Goddess of Light, Serre! Now, the wicked Evil God is trying to ruin our sacred journey to punish the Heretic. Please, with your light, clear away these dark clouds and bestow upon us the radiance of light!"

"Bestow it upon us!"

While the ritual to quell the storm was underway, something squirmed up the side of the Holy Maiden Jeanne, in a corner out of the priests' sight.

[Where are you? Just now, I definitely heard a voice from this direction.]

A faint echo of language 'not of this world'. A sailor who heard the sound turned his head, shining an oil lamp, just then.

"Ugh... Uwaaaaaaaah! A monster! A monster has appeared!"

"What!?"

The priests who were praying simultaneously drew the maces from their waists and took combat stances. Purifying monsters was their duty.

However, facing 'it' which revealed its identity, the priests were terrified just like the sailor before. No, perhaps even more terrified.

"What... is that."

[Haru! Where are you? Answer me! Haru?!]

"A-Attack! Attack that monster! Quickly!"

The moment Father Moore gave the attack order. The terrified priests simultaneously began firing barrages of light at the monster that appeared on the deck.

The radiant strikes definitely hit the monster.

However, the monster was unscathed. Instead, the radiant strikes aimed at the monster ricocheted off onto the deck and mast, starting to shatter them.

[Hah? Trying your best, mere mortals. Don't interfere!]

A tentacle extending from the monster ensnared the foot of the priest at the very front, then tightened, crushing his leg.

"Hkik. Kkuuooaak!!!!"

The tentacle, climbing up the priest, bound his entire body, and in an instant, twisted, tore, and shattered the man, scattering his remains haphazardly on the deck.

But for some reason, the sight appeared beautiful to the sailors' eyes.

As if the sailors' long-lost goddess, Mistral, had returned, a majestic yet somehow sublime aura permeated the ship.

"Quickly! Prepare the next rite! Riflemen, your guns...! Anything. Shoot anything! Shoot, you idiots!"

* * *

"That just now. Unmistakably a rite...! You, if you could use something like that, why didn't you use it sooner!"

"I. I don't know. It was my first time doing it. I heard a voice. A voice saying it would work like this..."

"A voice? Some kind of oracle?"

For the first time since coming to this world, he had killed someone.

Nevertheless, for some reason, Haru's mind was calm.

It felt like calmly performing a task he had done many times before. Like writing a report on a word processor without much thought. The act of killing itself felt like just that trivial.

The surprise that slipped out in his words wasn't because he was shocked at killing someone, but stemmed from the astonishment that he had no idea he could use such an ability.

"Haru. Soon, guards will swarm out. That rite just now, can you use it on these shackles binding my right arm?"

"No. The activation time for the rite is too long. It would take ages to remove all the shackles binding your limbs with this rite."

"Just breaking the shackle on the right arm is fine! Break this!"

Just as Iron Mask cried out, the sound of a guard, having noticed the commotion, rapidly descending the stairs echoed from the ceiling.

If he used this [Rite of Distortion], wouldn't it be better to use it on the guard rushing in now? Lee Haru thought calmly.

No, that wouldn't work.

As seen earlier, this rite takes quite some time to take effect. This rite, lacking immediacy, cannot be used when numerous believers are swarming in.

For now, he had no choice but to trust this man in the Iron Mask.

"Alright."

Immediately extending his right arm out of the Bars, Lee Haru used the same rite as before on Iron Mask's right arm shackle.

[Be distorted.]

The moment Lee Haru activated the rite, the guard descending from above also reached the floor with the cells. Seeing his colleague collapsed on the floor foaming blood, he drew his mace and shouted.

"The Child of the Devil has cast a curse. Quickly, reinforcements...!"

Kwoooong!

At that moment, the 'Distortion' rite manifested. The shackle binding Iron Mask's right arm broke, and with the sound of heavy Chains, his right arm became free.

And, Iron Mask immediately took action.

"O source of evil that denies god!"

It was the moment Iron Mask shouted that. An unidentifiable pattern was engraved onto the mask he wore, then began to darken black with flames.

However, unlike when he was being tortured just moments ago, the mask wasn't the only thing turning black. The shadow of darkness slowly stained the entire body of the man, Iron Mask.

"Not bad."

Iron Mask grabbed his left wrist with his freed right arm and pulled with force. The Chains fixed to the wall couldn't withstand Iron Mask's strength and were pulled right out.

That was simply not the strength a human could possess.

It was clearly the power of a monster. Otherwise, it couldn't be explained.

"No way..."

Lee Haru, who was blankly watching the scene, couldn't help but be astonished.

He had only released the shackle on his right arm, yet now he had smashed apart all the shackles binding his limbs and finally approached the Bars of the cell.

Iron Mask grabbed the Bars with both hands and bent them outwards as easily as bending taffy, then strode forward.

"You monster wearing the shell of this human...!"

The Inquisitor raised his mace and struck down at Iron Mask's head. However, he surely hadn't expected their positions to be reversed.

Iron Mask slightly dodged the mace swung by the Inquisitor, then grabbed the arm holding the mace and broke it. Then, snatching the mace from his hand, he swung it horizontally with terrifying monstrous strength.

SMASH!!!

In an instant, the Inquisitor's head was crushed as if hit by a cannonball, collapsing dented onto the floor.

Amidst this, perhaps concerned that such a sight wasn't good for a young child's mental health, he kicked the priest's corpse with his foot, pushing it to a corner of the ship.

"Who... are you really?"

"Didn't I tell you? Amnesia."

Iron Mask bent open the Bars of the cell Haru was trapped in, then simply snapped the shackle binding Haru's leg with sheer force, and extended his hand.

"I'm Iron Mask. Let's get along again. Haru."

Haru stood up, grasping the hand Iron Mask offered, and nodded his head.

"Please take care of me. Mister Iron Mask."