The Gatekeeper (2)

Crunch, crunch.

The sound of footsteps on snow.

I was trudging through the snowfield.

I don’t know when it started.

I remember eventually collapsing, but why am I still moving forward?

I wasn’t cold.

I was advancing through the middle of Skadi without a barrier, with nothing but my bare body.

All I could see was a bright light.

I kept moving forward, relying on it without even knowing what it was.

“……”

As my mind gradually became clearer, my physical senses still felt numb, as if paralyzed.

When I looked back at the path I had walked, not a single footprint remained.

I was walking on snow that should have been piled up to my waist.

“……”

When I lifted my head to look ahead, I could see snowflakes suspended in the air as if fixed in space.

Moving very slowly or completely stopped, sometimes falling from the ground up to the sky.

In the midst of this intersection of time,

I finally discovered a temple in the middle of the snowfield.

“This is……”

The place reflected in the fragments of my memory.

The temple, which should have been pure white and holy, was stained black all around as if charred by fire, with no trace of human habitation.

The only thing I could be certain of was that neither snow nor cold reached this place. It was a sensation difficult to perceive in my current state of numbness, but the traces of vegetation around revealed it.

The temple was vast. Enough to be considered a small city.

Fountains could be seen here and there, with occasional remnants of weeds.

It looked as if it were severed from the outside world. But the calamity that had struck this place had left its scars everywhere.

“Thomas… Yes, you were still here.”

I could see black footprints that looked like blood trails.

These were the traces of the one who had taken the pursuing flames head-on while being the last to evacuate me.

The image of the person, erased like ink had been poured over it, came to mind.

Yes, that’s what you looked like. I won’t forget anymore.

“Teo.”

I spotted a blackened spear. He was the one who had taken up a spear to buy time for me.

Did he enjoy slacking off so much that he was often scolded by others?

Yet at the final moment, he was the first to raise his spear.

“Romeo, Rif, Jacob, Drea.”

Those who died for me.

People who stood against trials without powers like aura, holy power, or mana.

I decided to remember their deaths.

Even though there’s now an enormous difference between who I was then and who I am now.

Even if I might view their deaths as if through another’s eyes, they were undoubtedly noble deaths.

“…Yes, there was still someone left. Which side are you on?”

As memories bubbled up like foam, I could see a presence standing in the middle of the path as if blocking it.

This one isn’t in my memories.

And fundamentally different from the others as well.

The place the man was blocking was the center of the path leading to the central area, with a small church beyond.

That’s the real place. What I’ve traversed so far, through piles of stones and the city, was merely a place for people to live.

The truly important thing must be there.

“So it’s an inverted cross…”

The man was wearing priestly robes and a mask with an inverted cross, practically the symbol of inquisitors.

So is my opponent an inquisitor? Did he come to investigate this place, thinking it was a heretical dwelling?

No, that can’t be.

If there had been someone in the Pantheon Temple capable of reaching this place, I would’ve known.

“Turn back. This is not a place you should visit.”

A voice that seemed to resonate from somewhere.

My opponent refused my entry with a resolute voice.

“I’ve heard that a lot. But nobody ever tells me why. If you’re trying to persuade someone, you should put in a bit more effort.”

“I see. I’ll do that.”

When I told him to persuade me, he immediately drew his sword. Did I misspeak?

Well, though I might not have used the kindest words, I never imagined he’d draw his sword so abruptly.

“But certainly, this is the simpler method.”

He blocks with force.

I break through with force.

What could be simpler than that?

I don’t know who this person is anyway. He’s clearly from outside, and I have no idea what his purpose is.

I can vaguely sense he’s not an enemy, but… I feel that even if I could pass beyond him, it would be meaningless unless I overcome this man first.

“Are you giving me the first move?”

After drawing his sword and taking a stance, the nameless man said nothing. Does he really intend to act as a gatekeeper?

I’m an apostle of God. There are only a handful of priests who could defeat me.

But the man before me was not an opponent to be taken lightly. I could tell even without crossing blades.

The tingling sensation rising up my wrist. He’s stronger than me.

Then there’s no need to fight on his terms.

Bang!

With the sword in one hand, I immediately draw my revolver and fire.

A surprise attack while the opponent’s consciousness is focused on the sword.

I could see the man in the inverted cross mask flinch with surprise.

What?

The situation where the opponent deflected the bullet by swinging his sword.

A response so natural it didn’t even seem remarkable.

But the strange thing is his overreaction beyond what I expected.

As if he were seeing a gun for the first time.

Clang!

Sword against sword.

I can see interest in the eyes behind the mask.

I was certain. He’s seeing a gun for the first time. He was quite surprised and intrigued by the weapon I first displayed.

If so, wouldn’t the method I used on Lilia before also work?

I push back his sword forcefully, retreat, and aim my revolver at him again.

“Well… it’s not that simple after all.”

But the opponent doesn’t allow me to create distance, diving in as if determined not to permit it.

A basic countermeasure. And with that, my test crumbled to nothing.

After all, it would be impossible to reload right in front of him.

Whoosh!

I coat my sword with aura. At this distance, the revolver holds little meaning.

“……”

The opponent glances at my sword briefly, then imbues his own sword with a golden radiance.

Reinforcement through holy power, applied with principles similar to aura.

Originally, I would have fought the same way, but I cannot infuse holy power into the sword my Master gave me.

Perhaps because of that, seeing such a form now seemed rather unfamiliar.

“But I have the upper hand in destructive power.”

Bam!

Aura and holy power differ from their very source. Aura is power refined specifically to break opponents, whereas holy power is more specialized for protection and healing.

My side has the advantage in firepower.

I swing my sword. The opponent is busy just receiving and deflecting my blade. Though his swordsmanship surpasses mine, if I can overwhelm him with firepower, I can overcome such a small difference.

Thud!

With a sensation of my brain shaking, I roll on the ground.

Damn, I’d forgotten. He, too, wears the mask of the inverted cross.

“A sling… When did you…?”

What I saw in his hand opposite the sword was a stone tied to a string, spinning in rotation.

It might seem like nothing much, but it’s an extremely efficient weapon.

It seems while crossing swords with me, he struck my head from an unseen angle. Fortunately, since it wasn’t enhanced with centrifugal force but merely aimed at my blind spot, I could barely avoid having my skull cracked.

“Ugh!”

As I lay fallen on the ground, the nameless man, having confirmed I had raised my head, immediately threw the sling he had been rotating in his hand.

Blocking it is simple.

Stones tied to both ends of a rotating string. Just bringing my sword to the center should entangle it.

However, the drawback is that my sword would be sealed for a moment.

The moment he threw the sling, the opponent was already rushing toward me, forcing me to make a choice.

Bang!

Then I’ll reveal another card. I strike the ground with my palm and send chains upward.

The sling and chains entangle with each other, stopping in mid-air.

I rise again and block his sword.

I won’t miss it this time.

I won’t overlook the fact that with attention divided on a single sword, the opponent can use other means.

“You’re strong.”

“When you say that, it sounds like deception!”

As we spoke, the man made a long strike from below.

Such deceptive tactics were familiar to me as well, making it easy to dodge.

After all, if someone who had been silent throughout the fight suddenly opens his mouth, only a fool wouldn’t be on guard.

“Well now…”

But it was a paper-thin margin.

The opponent’s attack was far more vicious than I had anticipated.

A perfect, disciplined stance. A complete technique infused with holy power.

“Were you a Templar?”

“Incorrect.”

Thud!

This time the opponent stomps firmly. A barrier that instantly unfolds pushes my body back.

Yes, he’s saying he’s not just a simple Templar. An inquisitor and a Templar. And simultaneously a priest as well?

A perfect trinity. It seems even more versatile than me.

The frontal approach doesn’t work, and I’m at a disadvantage in mind games too.

The opponent is truly a skilled ascetic who freely uses all kinds of methods.

“…Then I’ll have to get serious as well.”

Whooosh!

Then I’ll overwhelm with firepower. The opponent is, after all, a pure priest.

During this brief confrontation, I could tell that the opponent has no circles.

His techniques are remarkable and he doesn’t hesitate to use bold moves, but his movements are slow.

His destructive power isn’t anything special either.

With my ability to handle both aura and holy power, I inevitably have the upper hand in terms of firepower.

Bam!

I push my limits repeatedly. I draw out both holy power and aura to their maximum.

Chains springing from the void block the opponent’s movements, while I press forward with a body enhanced by holy power and aura.

Boom!

I pushed him back decisively. I overwhelmed the opponent with firepower, forcing him to retreat.

I could see blood flowing from between the mask of the man embedded in a nearby building.

It hit properly.

However, this kind of fight cannot be dragged out.

The opponent doesn’t know much about me.

That’s why he overreacted to the revolver and greatly flinched.

But given time, the opponent will adapt. The same goes for the power I’m currently pouring out all at once.

A short, decisive battle. That’s the only answer.

“Impressive. Son of man.”

But at the moment I moved to completely subdue the opponent,

A strange sensation struck me.

The opponent is bound by my chains. All four limbs are tied, and his sword has already been knocked away, unable to withstand my power.

It’s an overwhelmingly advantageous situation.

But I know I shouldn’t take this sensation lightly.

What should I do?

Should I trust this feeling? Or should I retreat as is?

This sensation itself might be a strategy by the opponent to deceive me.

The situation is too perfect to let go of an opportunity I’ve finally grasped.

In the midst of such hesitation.

“However, as the gatekeeper of this place.”

The chains disappear.

They slip from my control and scatter into light as if dissolving into thin air.

What the opponent holds is not a sword but a key. At that moment, I could recognize who he was.

Someone I had seen in literature and who remains in numerous records.

“As long as I’m guarding, not even the power of death can pass through here.”

The one said to have walked the most arduous path—a pope, an apostle, and the embodiment of inquisitors.

As the Bible says,

The guardian of heaven’s gates who was martyred while hanging upside down on a cross.

The <First Apostle>, Saint Peter.