Saint, You’re So Vulgar!

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#028 Episode. It’s Not Gone, It’s Self-Shaved

The interrogation, or rather the torture, came to an end too late.

The heretic was frothing at the mouth with his eyes rolled back.

It’s not that he was that angry, but rather he had collapsed in a faint.

During the process, Bershia successfully extracted a lot of information.

Notably, the exact number of heretics gathered here, what tasks they were performing, and a rough outline of the local geography.

“An aberration experiment.”

“…I can’t even muster a sarcastic laugh.”

Their goal was to create a new type of aberration.

Or rather, to be precise—

“An artificial witch? How could they come up with such a notion…!”

Asher felt disgusted.

Even if they were heretics, this went too far.

Isn’t a witch supposed to be the representative designated by their god?

To invent something and attempt to idolize it.

It was something that could not be rationalized under any circumstance.

This place should vanish without a trace.

Of course, since there were still missing persons, this needed to happen after rescuing them.

Suppressing his anger, Asher spoke to Saturn.

“Sir, please start right away.”

“Yes, I will be off.”

Saturn stood up.

The rough geography had already been inputted.

This place corresponded to the mid-level of this underground space, with the upper levels housing the hall secured with aberrations and the quarters where the heretics lived.

The deeper levels supposedly contained laboratories and the residence of key personnel.

So, Saturn’s task was to infiltrate the deeper level, lure the forces away to leave the upper level vacant.

Just as Saturn was about to take a step forward—

“Hey…!”

“Yes, Saintess.”

Rubena stopped him.

Hesitating and swallowing her words, she approached him and whispered.

“If it seems dangerous, run away? Make sure to take care of me…!”

She looked extremely anxious.

But unlike her previous hysterical reactions, it seemed her constant hiding behind Saturn since being here had prompted a sense of connection; concern was evident in Rubena’s tone.

“Health is the most important thing, you know? If you get hurt, I’ll just…!”

“You don’t need to worry. This Saturn will not lose to the heretics.”

“No, you idiot…!”

She gritted her teeth in frustration.

Unable to hold back her rising emotions, she nearly exploded but suppressed it.

Rubena’s eyes narrowed into slits.

Saturn said.

“Thank you for your concern.”

“That’s not it!!!”

Turning abruptly, Rubena grabbed Asher’s collar while glaring at Saturn as if she wanted to kill him.

Asher smiled awkwardly as Saturn bowed his head.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”

Immediately, Rubena spoke up.

“…Hey, are you really okay alone? Shouldn’t you send a guard after you?”

“So you were worried after all.”

“That’s not it! If he’s not around, I won’t have anyone to protect me…!”

“You’re really worrying for no reason.”

Asher looked troubled yet smiled.

Well, these saintesses have no need to fight heretics or train guards.

Perhaps because of their unique status, they may unconsciously overlook such matters.

How special it is to be the guard knight of a saintess.

“Sir Heisenberg is a first-class knight.”

“Why does that matter!”

“Do you know the requirements for that position?”

Rubena sealed her lips.

Her expression remained one of confusion.

Asher chuckled.

“To defeat a hundred knights wielding mana without a scratch.”

“…Huh?”

“That’s the condition for a first-class knight.”

At minimum.

And Saturn was the strongest shield who couldn’t be matched even by a captain in terms of defense.

That’s what it meant.

“Shouldn’t we be worried?”

Even if there were some adversaries down there, even if a witch appeared, it was impossible for Saturn Heisenberg to lose.

Even if he couldn’t win, he would be able to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

*

After Saturn exited the door, the first thing he saw was a long corridor.

Unlike the messily dug-out iron bars, this place had clean paths lined with square stones on the walls and ceiling.

Such abhorrence would have angered Asher, but not Saturn.

He wasn’t the type to expend emotional energy on trivial matters.

He simply walked steadily.

And at the end of the corridor, he sensed a presence beyond the door.

The other party had similarly returned a question.

“You’re pretty late. Did someone escape this time…?”

BANG―!

Saturn’s hand burst through the door and precisely seized the heretic’s head.

And with a crunch, he crushed it.

It seemed to be quite a spacious area, as the sound reverberated.

And then screams echoed.

“It’s an ambush!!!”

Saturn kicked the door.

The iron gate crumpled like paper and flew away.

In the open space, heretics clutched their weapons, and two aberrations could be seen on the ceiling.

About twenty in total.

Given the numerous passages scattered about, this likely was the center of the region.

Saturn’s gaze was fixated on the red flesh stuck to the ceiling.

“It’s a saint knight! Kill him!!!”

“Argh!!!”

The heretics unleashed their hideous sacred powers.

Saturn walked silently.

At a pace neither slow nor fast, he extended his fist towards the void.

WHOOSH―!

The space warped, and the heretics in the path were obliterated without a trace.

As he swung his fist again, the heretics on the opposite side met the same fate.

Even twenty henchmen was not enough.

Next, two aberrations stepped forward, but—

“Hmm.”

Saturn grabbed the one lunging at him and slammed it into the ground.

It exploded with a splat, losing its shape.

The devastation occurred in an instant.

Without even feeling an ounce of emotion, he walked down the stairs towards the lower levels as traps began to activate.

Whoosh!

Springing from behind were bars layered with poison and curses aiming for Saturn.

A storm of arrows and lava filled the corridor, trying to harm him.

However, all of it proved ineffective.

None could pierce Saturn’s skin.

CLANG!

That was to be expected.

His defensive capabilities were unmatched within the entire order.

He had reached the depths.

And Saturn realized it was time to go all out.

“There are many.”

The heretics numbered in the hundreds, and among them, five exuded an unusual energy.

And thirty aberrations, with no inkling of how many people had died to create each one, were drooling with malice.

This place was certainly different from above.

A deeper malevolence, and power was palpable.

It would undoubtedly be more strenuous than his previous task of hunting twenty aberrations.

Yet, Saturn did not flinch.

On the contrary, he took a long breath and flexed his muscles.

At that moment, the heretics charged forward.

Saturn threw a punch, and holy power crystallized around his fist like a gauntlet.

WHOOSH―!

One of the aberrations that charged at him warped.

The holy energy crystals scattered into the air.

Someone among the heretics realized Saturn’s identity too late and yelled.

“H-Heyzenberg! He’s here! Form a barrier!!!”

DONG―!

The bells rang.

The sound reverberated throughout the entire underground structure, becoming a massive noise.

Saturn thought blankly.

“Saintess would hate this.”

He himself had a loud voice that could shatter ceilings, yet he could not stand other people’s loud voices.

When he went out to buy clothes, he was the type to hurl insults at merchants who shouted at him to attract customers.

If this were outside and such a noise erupted, she would have likely gone ballistic, demanding to wipe everything out.

While lost in thought, Saturn absentmindedly touched his scalp.

He had rushed to prevent her actions so often that stress had built up to this point.

Recalling the smirk on his face when he made fun of her balding head, he felt some frustration.

As he was lost in such sentiments, the heretics’ forces had swelled twofold.

Seeing the rear blocked off, they must have descended from the upper levels as planned.

Among the heretics, one particularly strong presence stepped forward with a grin.

“I never expected to catch such a big fish.”

His face was hidden behind a robe.

However, from his voice, it felt like a man, and his hair was long, reaching down to his waist.

It was brown and glossy.

“That’s different from the info… I heard he had a lion’s mane but looks like a baldy? Did you have a change of heart?”

Saturn’s eyebrow twitched.

He unconsciously retorted.

“It’s not gone; it’s self-shaved.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“I don’t have eyebrows, do I? I shaved them off myself. They were a nuisance during battles.”

The heretic tilted his head, seemingly unable to comprehend.

Suppressing his agitation, Saturn took a step forward.

The heretic laughed sinisterly and shouted.

“Well, doesn’t matter! Kill him! Bring me that bastard’s corpse!!!”

The heretic was more than confident.

With fifty aberrations in this vast space, according to past information, it was said that Saturn Heisenberg was on the brink of death when he faced twenty aberrations.

The troops were now doubled, comprising cursed mages in the hundreds.

He thought it was an unwinnable fight— this was the heretic’s obvious error.

BANG―!

His only mistake was one.

Not knowing the weight of the name Saturn Heisenberg.

Not realizing where his power derived from.

“…Huh?”

A dull sound escaped the heretic’s lips.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

All attacks were curses. They bore a nature of mountain strength, seething heat, and malice.

Yet Saturn stood unharmed.

More precisely, the ‘scales of holy power’ that began to sprout atop his skin turned all those efforts back to naught.

The scales gleamed with radiance.

And as they multiplied, they swelled Saturn’s form.

Thus, his shape began transforming into something reminiscent of—

“A dragon…?”

Dragons, the apex of all species said to have existed on this land thousands of years ago.

Why was such a form manifesting in mere humans?

To understand the answer, one needed to recognize the lineage and history of the Heisenberg family.

Long ago, at the northern tip of the continent, the explorer and nobleman Juan Heisenberg ventured into the glacier cave of the snow mountains.

In that process, he made a discovery.

The blood of dragons, once thought extinct, and the bones of dragons.

The remains possessed will.

Having been imprisoned in ice for eons, it awaited the day to emerge back into the world.

Juan Heisenberg realized this and answered the call of the lingering spirit within the remains.

– I bestow my blessing upon your bloodline; show us the world.

Thus, the vision for bloodline succession, Dragon Scale (龍鱗), appeared in the world.

The celestial armor that protects against all material and magical damage was to be inherited by the successors of that blood.

Saturn was precisely that successor.

And simultaneously, he was a saint knight blessed with holy power.

It was the first change to occur in his lineage.

The Dragon Scale began to resonate with his holy power, starting to transform.

The initial Dragon Scale was weak.

It broke easily and underwent slow recovery through holy power.

Yet, the more it repeated that process, the more the Dragon Scale grew and began to evolve into its unique form.

That was the information the heretic overlooked.

The reason Saturn was stronger than what he remembered.

Struggling with twenty aberrations was a matter of years past for Saturn.

As long as he was alive, he would continue to grow stronger.

The invincible shield of the order would remain unyielding, regardless of the harm it faced.

And so, he received the sword name, White Scale (白鱗).

BANG―!

Saturn Heisenberg, the knight of White Scale, stomped his foot.