Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Drops of red blood ran down his fingertips.

It wasn't a very deep wound, but it was mixed with the pouring rainwater, and it got red enough to look excessive.

'This will heal soon.'

If it was Gabriel's divine power. It was when Aria was relieved inside and let go of his hand.

At that moment, drops of his blood dripped on the necklace around her neck.

"Ah, my blood... I'll wipe it off right away."

He was very bewildered and grabbed the jewel in the shape of a drop of water dangling from her neck. He was going to wipe the blood on his sleeve.

But it was then.

A feeling he had before.

A strange sensation, as if the jewel was ravenously sucking the divine power with its will, spread rapidly throughout his body. That too, with the momentum to suck up all his energy and kill him.

"... kugh!"

It was incomparable to what it was back then.

Gabriel had no choice but to let go of the jewel due to the rapidly diminishing energy within him.

"What is this necklace..."

He was confused and muttered. After absorbing the divine power at will, when he saw the jewel shimmering in a divine light, a terrifying feeling came up all over his body.

The jewel became transparent, as it had never changed.

But,

'Something different from last time.'

Something definitely changed this time.

Aria also felt that something unusual had happened and made a serious expression.

"It looks dangerous."

Why? She looked at him asking for an explanation.

"Perhaps it was a structure that activates when blood with divine power is smeared..."

Gabriel had just come to a conclusion after sorting out the sensations he had been feeling a while ago.

"Obviously, if someone with less divine power than me had touched it, they would have just died. They would be drained of energy."

This time, Aria was also surprised.

Died?

She had no idea because Gabriel didn't look so painful.

'When you run out of energy, you die.'

It reminded her of Carlin making a fuss, emphasizing not to pierce her core.

"I think it would be a good idea to formally ask Garcia."

Gabriel did not continue his words, but his words trailed off in a muffled tone. And he stared into her eyes, as if in disbelief.

"Eyes......."

Eyes?

Aria blinked her eyes. And as she looked around, she looked into a pool of rainwater that was glistening.

'What, what?'

Her eyes, which were dark and vivid pink, were gleaming with gold. Just like priests with divine powers.

'Golden eyes. A symbol of divine power.'

No way, this jewel...... Was it a jewel that absorbs divine power and made it usable by the wearer?

In a way, it was a useful jewel.

'But it would be completely useless to Veronica.'

Veronica's divine power was as famous as Gabriel in the past. Because she had bright golden eyes that were bright enough to shine even in a dark basement. Aria clearly saw and remembered it clearly.

"Was it possible that a jewel could use divine power?"

Did Gabriel have the same thoughts as Aria?

The young man asked quickly. He saw it before his eyes, so he couldn't even say it was impossible.

"Oh my God, such a thing exists."

It was an unprecedented phenomenon. Gabriel looked confused.

Aria stared blankly together with him, who stiffened and fell into shock, and then she came to her senses first.

'Let's go inside for now.'

Then she pulled on the hem of his robe and pointed to the guest room where he was staying, the annex.

***

Gabriel was drenched in the rain.

Aria looked around his room, which seemed to have no servants, then found a towel in the corner and handed it over.

"Oh, thank you."

Gabriel, who seemed still in awe, accepted the towel belatedly. In a very grateful way.

Aria looked up at him again.

'Compared to when he first came to this castle, he was so big that I couldn't recognize it.......'

She had to tilt her head high enough to meet his gaze.

And.......

'As expected, Gabriel.'

Holy Knight Commander Gabriel.

Of course she knew. He was dispatched from the Holy Empire, and whenever he saw Aria, his face was full of contempt and he said.

"Listen, monster, Ariadne Cortez."

Contrary to his cold impression, he had golden eyes burning hot.

"Your sin of daring to disrespect the authority of God can only be repaid with death. Soon, the den of the heathens will be cleansed."

And he declared war with a frost-like voice.

"When that day comes, I will hand you over to the inquisitor."

It was a declaration that she would never ever die comfortably.

"What happened?"

Aria just stared at him, then Gabriel asked with a genuinely worried face. It felt strange to have the same face as in the past and completely different words and expressions.

Aria rummaged through the bag she had received from Gabriel a few years ago and pulled out her card.

[I mean, it looks like there is an angel besides me.]

"....."

Did she nail it right away?

He clenched his fists for a moment and repeatedly opened them, and then he finally opened his mouth.

"Can you give me that jewel?"

This was another unexpected development.

[Why?]

Aria, of course, expressed doubts.

"I think I've said it before, but there is someone who is very meaningful to me."

He was talking about Veronica.

"But she has little divine power, so she's always struggling with that, because she doesn't think she can tolerate a lot of suffering."

Ah.

'That's how it happened.'

The scattered pieces of the puzzle now fit perfectly.

In fact, it was not Veronica who found the relic and necklace in the lowest place. It was Gabriel.

'Because the priests said that Gabriel's birthplace was the lowest place.'

If so, that made sense.

Gabriel found the relic and the necklace in the ruins of an old temple. When he found out what the necklace was, he seemed to have given it to Veronica.

However, the question was.......

'Didn't he say this necklace is dangerous?'

[Can I give something dangerous enough to suck up all your energy and kill you?]

Had he noticed a contradiction in his own words? Gabriel continued to speak in a hurry, even though he was bewildered.

"I don't know, but it might be okay if I pour divine power enough to satisfy the jewel."

[It's still a guess.]

"But......."

[It might be satisfied after the person died, right?]

Aria thought that if this was the cursed jewel as Carlin described, the probability of that would be very high.

"That......."

Gabriel was speechless even more. It seemed that he hadn't been thinking about it until it was too late.

"...I'm sorry. It was a mistake."

Gabriel admitted his mistake sooner than expected, bowed his head and apologized.

"I lost my reason for a while. Something unpleasant happened to the saint, so..."

Something unpleasant? She didn't hear what it was.

Gabriel completely shut his mouth, saying that he couldn't go into detail about the saint's personal history.

"The saint will be disappointed in me if I give her something like this. It's an object that devours the divine power and imitates it as her own. It is not suitable for her."

No, didn't she wear it every day in her previous life? Moreover, as far as Aria remembered, Veronica's eyes were distinctly golden each time she looked at them.

Everyone remembered it that way.

'Maybe in the past, he didn't give it to Veronica right away without even thinking about it.'

Hmm, maybe. But Aria soon changed her mind.

He was blind enough to be called a loyal dog, so he might have really done that. He might have given it without thinking deeply and only later noticed the side effects.

'Oh, wait.'

At that moment, memories of her past flashed through her mind.

'The priests murder case.'

An unfortunate incident that took place in the Great Temple of the Fineta Empire. It was an incident in which as many as ten or as few as three priests were murdered throughout the year.

'Every time a corpse is found, all the blood has been sucked into it, so there are even ridiculous rumors circulating that it might be the work of a vampire.......'

As time went on, they were killed with not only their blood but also all their energy sucked out, and eventually came to the conclusion that it wasn't the work of a human.

In the end, the culprit was never identified.

But when she recalled the memories of that time, unpleasant rumors came to mind as well. Everyone used to say that Grand Duke Valentine was the culprit. The reason was simple.

Because it happened in the Fineta Empire, and it was something the devil could have done.

'It's just that when something happens, people want to call Valentine the devil.'

Because it's interesting.

'Although no evidence was found, it was closed as an unsolved case.'

But then, in this case, she had no choice but to know who the culprit was.

Because, soon Veronica was sent from the Papal Palace to the Fineta Empire. Also, to the Great Temple where the incident took place.