27
So far, I’ve pieced together the following information: Three months ago, [the Knight Captain] led a team of Paladins in an assault on the Dark Church headquarters. During the battle, he infiltrated the cathedral to steal the Divine Oracle. A month ago, [the Knight Captain] attended the Divine Blessing Day ceremony, where he was publicly rejected by the power of the Light God. Afterward, [the Knight Captain] left the Church of Light under the secret orders of the Pope, Helier, to search for the Savior…
The most unclear part of this is what exactly happened at the Dark Church during that time.
Based on the story progression involving Asa and me, it appears that after obtaining the Divine Oracle, [the Knight Captain] wasn’t cursed and retained his strength. However, while trying to save Asa, who was disguised as “Saya,” he failed to escape the cathedral. The curse must have been inflicted during that time. After that, somehow, [the Knight Captain] managed to escape and make it in time for the Divine Blessing Day ceremony at the Church of Light.
—There’s no record of this part of the story in my data pack. But obviously, if I had known I was cursed by the Dark God, I wouldn’t have attended the ceremony, where I ended up being rejected by divine power in front of all the followers, leading to my reputation plummeting. There’s definitely something here that I’m not aware of.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any story progression involving the Dark Pope.
This is also unusual. Out of all the SR cards and above, the only character I don’t have a story progression with, aside from the Dark Pope, is Lily—likely because we’ve never met before.
Lily, an SR card from the Free Alliance, is a nature mage with healing abilities, the only card in the game that can provide 100% healing across all factions. Based on the information I have, her identity is suspicious. On the surface, she was rescued by Selena from an underground auction, but various details suggest she holds a very high status among the elves, not merely due to favoritism from the leaders.
Now that I think about it, although the Free Alliance is presented as a single force in the game, in reality, it’s very loosely structured. Each race among the non-human tribes has its own king and governs independently. Selena is the recognized leader only when dealing with external threats. She doesn’t interfere with internal affairs and doesn’t stop the non-humans from joining the Church…
These thoughts swirled through my mind, a chaotic mix as I tried to piece together new information. After a while, the darkness in front of me suddenly overlapped with another perspective. At first, I thought the Savior had summoned my card to assist in battle, which perked me up. I wanted to use the Holy Spirit’s vision to observe the battlefield, but instead of seeing a battlefield full of monsters, what I saw was… the Holy Spirit Temple.
The soft white light that knows no day or night illuminated the neatly arranged inscriptions. Gemstones set at the top of the stone monuments shimmered with a rainbow of colors. Helier, dressed in a simple robe, stood in front of me, holding a lantern in one hand and pressing his other hand against my gemstone, lost in thought.
—The Holy Spirits are not just cards; they are a special existence in this world. It’s not only players who can summon them; NPCs can as well. However, it’s rare for an NPC to summon a Holy Spirit. For one, only the leaders of various factions are capable of retaining a Holy Spirit, and earning their recognition is difficult. Secondly, summoning a Holy Spirit requires significant resources, making it impractical for the average person. As a result, Holy Spirits are more of a symbol than a combat tool. For instance, in the Church of Light, the Holy Spirit Temple stores the Holy Spirits of past high-ranking church officials—even though these individuals have long since passed, their successors can still honor and reflect upon their past glories through this connection.
Of course, players can summon Holy Spirits without restriction. It’s like how Luke can freely use Light elements even without undergoing the Church of Light’s baptism—these are special “innate talents” exclusive to players.
The Holy Spirit Temple is open to everyone in the Church of Light, allowing anyone capable to attempt a summoning. Although some curious individuals have tried before, everyone knows that the Holy Spirit can communicate with the memories of its original owner, which could be incredibly awkward, so few dare to actually attempt it.
…What is Helier doing summoning my Holy Spirit in the middle of the night?
28
The Holy Spirit and its original owner share the same perspective, but not the same thoughts. I couldn’t control the Holy Spirit’s actions. I could only watch through his eyes as he respectfully bowed to Helier and gently asked, “I am Alvin, a Paladin. How may I assist you?”
Helier, seemingly lost in his own world, placed the lantern beside the monument and turned to retrieve a clean white cloth from a nearby shelf. My Holy Spirit followed him through the rows of monuments, stopping as Helier stood in front of the monument for Abel, the founder of the Church of Light. Helier bent down and began to wipe the inscriptions clean.
“I wonder if you’ve woken up today,” he mused while cleaning the monument. “I hope not…”
The Holy Spirit remained silent since he couldn’t respond to vague questions that weren’t directly addressed to him.
Helier didn’t seem to mind whether my Holy Spirit answered or not. He continued talking to himself, “Luke’s ability to suppress your curse proves he is indeed who we think he is, but he hasn’t realized his identity yet…”
“I originally wanted him to stay by your side, to knock you out every night, but I guessed you wouldn’t agree to that.” He sighed. “So, I only had him bring you your sword and find a way to get you out of the Free Alliance.”
Me: “…”
After finishing with one monument, Helier stood and walked through the rows of stone inscriptions, stopping at one of the last ones—this one belonged to his teacher, the previous Pope, Uriah. He stood in silence for a moment, neither cleaning nor speaking, then continued forward until he returned to my monument. He stared at the inscriptions for a while before suddenly turning to my Holy Spirit and asking, “If you didn’t belong to the Church of Light, where would you go?”
“I’ve never thought about that.” the Holy Spirit replied stiffly, limited by his programming.
Helier let out a huff. “So, you’d rather die here, huh?”
“Of course, the Church of Light is every Paladin’s final resting place.” The Holy Spirit smiled at him, his tone light and cheerful. “I’ve already picked out a plot for my grave. The view is lovely, right next to Helier. I even planted some of his favorite flowers around… Hmm, don’t tell Helier just yet—I want it to be a surprise.”
Helier: “…”
I considered it for a moment and thought that actually sounded like a pretty good idea…
But Helier might not agree. He stared at the Holy Spirit for a long time before letting out a deep breath, muttering under his breath, “Don’t be mad, don’t be mad…”
Me: “…”
Why be mad? Does he not like those flowers?
Helier turned his back to the Holy Spirit and began wiping down the stone monument again. As he worked, a soft chuckle escaped him. “Forget it, you’ve always been like this…” After a moment, he shook his head. “It’d be nice if one day you could be as straightforward as your Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit stood motionless beside him, showing no reaction. After a while, he asked proactively, “Is there anything I can help you with?”
Helier froze for a moment.
He stared at the lines of text engraved on the monument, representing past achievements. Slowly, his shoulders slumped as he pressed his forehead against his hand, which was still holding the cloth. He remained in that position for a long time, unmoving, before finally whispering, “I don’t know…”
“I used to think that rather than letting you live like this, it would’ve been better if—” He abruptly stopped speaking, his throat tightening. When he looked back at the Holy Spirit, a thin layer of moisture glistened in his lake-green eyes. Suddenly, he stood up straight and hugged the Holy Spirit tightly. “I know you’re tired, but just hang on a little longer, Al.”
“The Light has come, and everything will soon come to an end,” he murmured softly. “Whether it’s [Judgment] or [Forgiveness], I will bear it with you.”
29
I opened my eyes.
Lily immediately jumped up from her chair, taking three steps back and nervously shouting, “I wasn’t watching you!”
Startled by her reaction, I asked, “…What?”
Her face turned beet red as she stammered, “I-I-I… It’s because Selena told me to keep an eye on you, that’s the only reason I was watching!”
“Right, I understand.” Realizing what she meant, I nodded in agreement.
Her face grew even redder as she looked anywhere but at me, mumbling, “Why did you wake up…”
I had never been knocked out in the first place, but there was no need to explain that to her. I glanced out the window. “They’re back.”
Lily blinked in surprise and followed my gaze.
From this high-up treehouse, we could see the distant edge of the camp, where white light was gradually approaching, getting closer. Soon, a small team emerged from the dense forest, led by none other than Selena. Lily let out a gasp and quickly turned to me. “How did you know?”
The sounds of the monsters’ growls had stopped fifteen minutes ago, indicating they had been repelled. A simple calculation based on the size of the forces I saw earlier told me how much time they would need to regroup. It wasn’t hard. However, Lily seemed to interpret it differently, and before I could answer, she nodded to herself with a knowing look. “I get it, it’s because you’re a ghost!”
Me: “…”
That really is a catch-all explanation.
There was a commotion beneath the tree as Selena’s return caused a stir. Moments later, I heard the sound of someone climbing the ladder outside. In my view, Selena, now back in her human form, nimbly leaped onto the wooden platform. Lily immediately rushed over, and after exchanging a few words, she reluctantly left the treehouse, leaving only Selena, who approached me and lightly tapped the bedside with *Dawn*.
I freed my right hand from the tangled vines and was about to sit up when Selena placed her hand on my shoulder, casually pushing me back down.
Me: “…”
Alright then.
I obediently lay back on the bed, waiting for her to speak.
Selena’s health bar had recovered to about 70%, but the exhaustion on her face was still evident—she hadn’t fully shaken off the aftereffects of her berserker state. Seeing that I wasn’t resisting, she withdrew her hand. “Al, have you made your decision?”
“I won’t stay with the Free Alliance,” I answered without hesitation.
—If before I had considered staying with the Free Alliance to wait for my storyline death, after hearing what Helier said, I had other ideas. After all, I’ve already planted flowers around my grave—it would be a waste to let them go unattended, wouldn’t it?
But to return to the Church of Light, I must first figure out how to break the Dark God’s curse…
“You still want to go back and serve the Church of Light?” Selena’s expression darkened. Her gaze grew icy, and her grip on her sword tightened as if she was barely restraining herself from stabbing me. After a minute of tense silence, she suddenly let out a cold laugh. “Al, you should already know the truth about what happened back then, right?”
“…”
Yes, I knew.
That secret was hidden in the story progression of [Alvin + Helier].
“One day, Helier will follow in his teacher’s footsteps!” Selena gritted her teeth. “When that time comes, you’ll have to either help him or kill him—there’s no other choice!”
“Tell me, is it worth it?!”
Her voice was filled with both anger and despair, and I couldn’t answer.
I had no further storylines, no knowledge of what the future would bring. Perhaps, as Selena said, it wouldn’t be long before Helier made the same choice as his teacher. Maybe I would end up like Selena, and Luke, the player, might receive a mission in the next chapter to “clean up” the Church of Light, killing us both…
But I had no way to turn back.
I knew that if I stopped now, I could keep my hands relatively clean.
But…
“I swore an oath to Helier—I will never betray him.” I took a deep breath and spoke calmly. “Selena, I don’t know what I’ll choose when that day comes, but I won’t abandon my vow.”
“This is the only vow I’ve ever made in my life.”
30
The [Alvin + Helier] storyline begins on an ordinary, quiet night.
A night like any other.
A blond boy lay on his side, sound asleep.
A sudden knock on the door broke the stillness of the bedroom. Alvin’s eyes snapped open immediately. He rolled out of bed with no hesitation, as if used to this routine.
He hadn’t been wearing pajamas. In the few steps it took to reach the coat rack, he hurriedly straightened the creases in his Paladin uniform, grabbed his coat and heavy sword with one hand, and quickly smoothed his short, tousled hair with the other. By the time he reached the door, he was fully prepared to head out.
But standing outside wasn’t a Paladin reporting an emergency—it was Helier, drenched and expressionless.
It wasn’t raining tonight, but the young Pope was dripping wet, his face blank. Sensing something was wrong, Alvin reached out, only for Helier to suddenly grip his arm tightly, his fingers digging into Alvin’s flesh. The young Paladin Captain winced in pain and, seeing that Helier was still dazed, looked to the two guards standing behind him, urgently asking, “What happened?!”
One of the guards quickly explained, “We heard the sound of something falling into the water during our patrol. When we arrived, we found the Pope… walking around in the pond.” He hesitated, his expression becoming strange. “We pulled the Pope out of the water… uh, he insisted on coming to see you. We couldn’t stop him, so…”
Alvin was even more confused.
He thought for a moment and asked, “Do you know where he was before—ow!” He hissed in pain as Helier’s grip tightened further. Seeing that Helier was still in a trance-like state, Alvin changed his approach. “I understand. You two continue your patrol. I’ll take care of getting the Pope back.”
The two guards visibly relaxed and quickly saluted before retreating.
Alvin dragged Helier into the room and shut the door behind them. He couldn’t hide his growing concern and gave Helier a small shake, trying to snap him out of it. “Helier? …Heli? What’s wrong?”
Helier’s face was pale, his pupils unfocused. When he finally heard Alvin’s voice, it was like waking from a dream. He looked up at him, his bloodless lips parting to release a faint whisper:
“…I know why Selena killed our teacher.”
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