The priest-king's praise drew everyone's attention. Morgina confidently shrugged her shoulders, as if telling everyone to admire her Champion.
However, her inner feelings were different. If her true emotions had shown on her face, she would have been sweating profusely by now.
*That brat who normally doesn't care about other people's business just had to speak up!*
Every saint currently active in the Holy Kingdom was now focused on Criel. They might even recognize the Abyss power within him.
Of course, she had taken various precautions to prevent such a mishap.
Having him wear the Church of Yv Caha uniform was part of those measures. The holy power imbued in the blessed fabric was sufficient to suppress the presence of the Abyss.
While Morgina's taste was partially reflected in the outfit, there were rational reasons for forcing Criel to wear the uniform.
The pendant marking him as Champion served the same purpose. Since Criel himself wanted to distance himself from the Abyss as much as possible, his Abyss power wouldn't be detected unless faced with incomprehensible ancient mysteries like the Holy Gate.
*...Right?*
Well, even if he were discovered, she had excuses prepared. Morgina was ready to list all the achievements of "Criel, the Soul-Cleansing Ascetic."
Fortunately, the saints were more interested in his abilities than in Criel himself as a person. The position of Champion carried that level of trust.
"A single relic, you say? Could you explain in more detail?"
The first to rise and question the priest-king was an elderly martial monk. Criel, mindful of his temporary position as the church's Champion, carefully considered his tone.
"Of course. While each fragment emanates the power of the Abyss, they are fundamentally connected. It seems something with tremendous power has been split into many pieces."
"Deliberately splitting a powerful Abyss relic? The spawn of the Abyss have always been mad, but this is even harder to understand."
"It's not difficult to comprehend. The Abyss can devour souls to grow its flesh."
Criel recalled a cartoon he had watched on TV when he went by a different name. It was a story about searching for a shattered orb.
The orb, broken into countless fragments, gave power to those who incorporated the pieces into their bodies.
What the Abyss had done was similar. The difference was that the Abyss wedges came with the added function of consuming the owner's soul.
"To those who cannot discern the Abyss, these wedges would appear to be relics that grant tremendous power simply by injecting them somewhere into the body. But the Abyss wedges would instead possess the soul of whoever tries to possess them."
"So the fragments grow by consuming souls?"
"Of course, to match the original form and performance, it would need to devour an unimaginable number of souls. But about ten would be sufficient for it to grow into an independent entity capable of exerting the power of the Abyss without connection to the main body."
"An Abyss relic of that level would be more than enough to create a demon person..."
Those tainted by the Abyss were divided into three main categories. Demon beasts, which were merely injected with demonic nature. Demon monsters, which received not only demonic nature but also the cruelty and strength of beasts. Finally, demon people, who gained human cunning and wisdom.
Exceptionally, those so thoroughly tainted by the Abyss that demonic nature consumed their entire spirit were called demons. With souls rejected by the world, they dwelled outside the material plane, in the chaos of the Abyss.
Demons deployed various schemes to expand the influence of the Abyss, and demon people were the ones who directed these schemes on behalf of demons who could not easily appear in the mortal world.
The martial monk's expression hardened.
"Seeds of the Abyss, then."
The priest-king clapped his hands, sending a grateful look toward Criel who had explained on his behalf. The crisp sound drew the attention of all the saints.
"Fortunately, the demon's plot was detected in advance. 'Seeds' is an intuitive term. These Abyss seeds are still subordinate to their main body."
"Are you calling us together to find and destroy that main body?"
"Yes. Here are maps and statistical data from the regions where the holy knights found the seeds."
The map had been completed by practically working most of Temris's high priests to the bone over the past few days. If one were to indicate the composition ratio, the priest-king himself would have the highest share.
"Take the seeds if you need them as tracking clues. May we wither and kill all of them before they sprout."
***
Morgina had returned to the Grand Temple of Yv Caha. The weight of the task assigned by the priest-king was heavier than expected.
"Seeds of the Abyss..."
From beneath her witch's pointed hat, her eyes turned toward Criel. It wasn't the stern gaze of an executioner dispatched to eliminate the Abyss, but rather one filled with worry and concern.
Seemingly unaware of Morgina's gaze, Criel had arranged several seeds on the table and was observing them.
"The tracking itself shouldn't be difficult. If we depart with the other saints, we can resolve this simply."
"Hey, wait a minute."
Morgina found herself objecting before she knew it.
"Isn't tracking the hardest part of this kind of mission? While most saints are scratching their heads looking at maps and statistics, couldn't just the two of us go and claim all the credit? Even if it was a powerful relic, it's been so thoroughly butchered that it shouldn't be difficult for you and me to handle."
Building up definitive achievements this way would strengthen the justification for keeping Criel as Champion. Even if his Abyss taint were revealed, there would be a chance they might at least hear him out.
Criel calmly shook his head.
"Dealing with the Abyss isn't a competition. It's for the sake of the entire world, so doing our best however we can is the right thing."
Not 'good,' but 'right,' he says. And he claims he's not a proper knight. After mentally cursing him several times, Morgina sighed.
"Fine. Do as you please. I'd be happy if this gets resolved quickly anyway."
Just as her words, half resignation and half admiration, ended, the horn blade tied at Criel's waist began to vibrate with a humming sound. Criel slightly lifted the blade from its sheath, and Orishin immediately poured out words like the wind.
[I think Criel is right! The Abyss, no matter how finely you tear it apart, swells up again quickly!]
"Like your corruption, you mean."
[Yes. Like my corruption. Besides, the original relic of these seeds. The more I think about it, the stranger it seems.]
Having grown accustomed to the sarcasm, Orishin smoothly moved past it. Morgina's eyebrow twitched.
"What's strange? Criel already explained everything. They broke apart even a powerful relic because the return on investment was high."
Morgina responded curtly, thinking Orishin was just repeating the same point. In truth, her curtness had another reason.
She had gone through the trouble of bringing that stubborn knight to the Grand Temple, but now they couldn't have any time alone because of this unicorn ghost.
[I'm not talking about risk and return. How could something be broken into so many fragments and still retain power? As you said, it's practically been butchered. Wouldn't a relic of that caliber be recorded in the holy city's archives?]
Orishin's point was reasonable. If an Abyss relic could maintain its function even after being broken into hundreds of pieces, it would have left traces in the world. Finding information in advance would make the coming battle much easier.
Orishin, showing off their excellent intuition, exclaimed that they should go to the Great Library of Temris tomorrow. They added that while there, they could also look for purification methods other than the violent saint's suspicious techniques.
What the unicorn hadn't anticipated was Morgina's memory.
Every printed word from books was engraved in her mind.
Morgina placed her index finger on her lips, lost in thought. She recalled skimming through forbidden books deep within the Great Library of Temris.
"You're right. Something that powerful might be on the level of the Seven Demonic Weapons of the Demon King."
[The Demon King's masterpieces? Greater demons broke those apart?]
Orishin questioned, but soon nodded. In fact, with only a head remaining, that was the only part they could move.
[The demons of the Abyss wouldn't attach any special meaning to the Demon King's works. There's no camaraderie among demons. The culprit must be one of the six greater demons.]
While Orishin muttered, Criel repeated the word that had suddenly appeared in their conversation.
Demon King.
Criel pondered this familiar yet strange title.
Originally, the Demon King was fundamental to Tirnanog RPG. When opposing the Abyss, the Demon King was who you ultimately faced, and even if you sided with the Abyss to try to destroy the world, fighting the Demon King was still inevitable.
This was because defeating the Demon King and becoming the new representative of the Abyss was an essential process.
So while the title "Demon King" was familiar to Criel, he hadn't heard it mentioned in this world.
It wasn't because people feared to speak the name.
It was because the Demon King had already perished.
The game world Criel had fallen into was set after the game's ending.