I Reincarnated into a Game Filled with Mods – Chapter 84

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Are you refusing to answer? In that case, I can force you to spill it out.”

Selene pressed her head closer.

Naturally, their bodies pressed together.

Her thigh, wrapped in tights, pushed between my legs, and I felt the smooth sensation of the tights.

A rapier had appeared in her right hand.

The blade, which had come up to just under my chin, seemed ready to stab and kill me immediately, regardless of any conversation, at the slightest provocation.

Her left hand was squeezing my neck very tightly, but while causing pain, it wasn’t so tight as to make me faint from lack of oxygen or prevent me from speaking.

It was an exquisite control of force, befitting the name of Inquisitor.

I had anticipated even this.

Considering that I had touched upon the Pope, who was the closest to the very core of her faith, the fact that she hadn’t killed me immediately showed great restraint on her part.

“Of course I’ll answer. But could you release your hand first?”

“Why should I do that?”

“…I understand. I’ll speak in this state. Where would you like me to start explaining from?”

“Everything.”

A chilling tone of voice leaked from between her lips.

“Spill out everything you know, all of it, without a shred of lies. If not…”

The blade of the rapier glowed with a dim silver light.

The tip of the blade lightly touched just under my chin.

I felt a cool, cold moonlight.

Just as the Sun’s sacred power held a warm heat, the Moon’s sacred power contained a cold chill.

The chill crept up from under my chin.

“I’ll show you the lowest level of the Inquisition chamber. It’s a place where you’ll have no choice but to spill out everything, both what you know and what you don’t know. You’ll never face the sky again, so you’d better choose your answer carefully.”

“I will do so.”

I answered obediently.

My goal was to persuade Selene to skip the intermediate process and confront the final boss of the DLC.

There was no reason to engage in a battle of wills here.

“You’re aware that when the other knight commanders and I had an audience with Her Holiness the Pope of the Sun, Her Holiness the Pope of the Moon personally descended there, right?”

“We know everything that happens within the Holy Kingdom. From the very moment Her Holiness the Pope of the Moon visited the Cathedral of the Sun, we observed everything that transpired inside.”

“Then you must have also seen Her Holiness the Pope of the Moon use violence against the Pope of the Sun.”

“We saw everything. But that was an act carried out by Her Holiness the Pope. It’s not our place to interfere or judge. Are you trying to find fault with that incident now?”

“What I’m trying to say isn’t about the fact itself. It’s about the reason why it had to be done.”

“…”

Selene frowned.

From the Inquisitor’s standpoint, bringing up what happened that day itself would be displeasing, so such a reaction was natural.

The unprecedented event of the Pope of the Moon using violence against the Pope of the Sun had been witnessed not by people of the Holy Kingdom, but by people of the Empire, and those of no less rank than the Silver Dawn Knights.

She would want to make them forget it somehow, but I kept bringing up the situation from that time, so her expression couldn’t help but furrow.

“The words about fate being unchangeable. And the words about not being able to give up on Her Holiness the Pope of the Moon. Don’t you have some idea about this, Inquisitor?”

“Don’t try to gloss over with vague expressions, nor try to turn the questions back on me. Just straightforwardly spill out everything you know. Did you think I would fall for such a shallow trick and start rambling on my own?”

The hand gripping my neck tightened even more.

But it still wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t answer or would faint from lack of oxygen.

It merely increased the pain I was experiencing significantly.

“The conclusion is this. Her Holiness the Pope of the Sun is trying to do something, which Her Holiness the Pope of the Moon considers meaningless. Even though it’s an action intended for none other than herself.”

“…”

Up to this point, it was content that could be inferred with a little thought if one had witnessed what happened inside the cathedral, so Selene only frowned without offering any particular rebuttal.

I, too, had no way of knowing why the Pope of the Moon had done such a thing in a situation where we were openly watching.

She could have done it after we left.

If the situation had been that urgent, it would be understandable, but it was also puzzling that the Pope of the Moon didn’t look rushed at all, judging by her expression or actions.

This seemed like something I would have to ask her directly after defeating the boss.

“Then the core issue is one thing. What action is Her Holiness the Pope of the Sun trying to take for the sake of Her Holiness the Pope of the Moon?”

“…”

“But the answer to this is already as good as given. She said she couldn’t give up on Her Holiness the Pope of the Moon, which means their relationship will become twisted enough to use such an expression. Or that they will no longer be able to meet.”

“…”

Selene still remained silent.

Either my words had hit the mark, or she was deep in thought about something.

In fact, what happened when we had an audience with the Pope of the Sun was truly a coincidence.

How could I have imagined that the Popes would do such a thing to each other?

It wasn’t even an event that had occurred in the game.

But as I organized my thoughts that night, I concluded that if I used this well, I might be able to skip all the middle story of the DLC.

Because the Pope of the Sun was not pleased with her sister’s sacrifice.

And because she trusted me strangely strongly.

‘The background setting hasn’t changed much.’

The reason why the Pope of the Moon mentioned sacrifice was related to the Creature Abandoned by God, the final boss of the DLC.

A revelation had come down that one of the Popes had to sacrifice themselves to defeat it.

The one who volunteered for the role of sacrifice was none other than the Pope of the Moon.

Of course, as could be seen from the result that the Holy Kingdom would be destroyed without the protagonist’s intervention, that strategy ultimately failed, and even the remaining Pope died during the battle.

‘In the game, they both just thought it was how things should be and moved on.’

Here, the Pope of the Sun, who was supposed to inherit the power, was rejecting that future and trying to find some way out.

It was completely different from the game’s story where both Popes calmly accepted the sacrifice.

This was why I decided to skip the story.

If one side was rejecting fate, the process of persuasion would be much easier than in the game.

“So the word sacrifice—?!”

At that moment, Selene threw me forcefully.

I flew a considerable distance to the opposite side of the chapel and rolled several times on the silver carpet covering the floor.

“Ugh?!”

“There seems to be more explanation left, but I’ll stop listening here. What I’ve heard so far is enough to make a decision.”

A chilling voice was heard from behind me.

I quickly straightened my posture.

Selene was walking towards me with an expressionless face, but her aura was ominous.

In her left hand, she held a sacred catalyst.

The rapier in her right hand emitted a dim moonlight.

Soon after, dense silver sacred power began to burst forth from the sacred catalyst as well.

“At first, I thought you people weren’t the type to speak carelessly, and I was planning to ask you to keep what happened in the cathedral a secret, as it would be troublesome if rumors spread.”

The sound of high heels clicking, tak tak, echoed off the marble walls and floor.

“However, I just had a gut feeling that I shouldn’t do that.”

I quickly drew the blood-stained sword.

As soon as I raised my weapon, a silver flash of light sparkled.

I reflexively brought my arm to the trajectory of that flash.

—CLANG!

With a sharp sound like glass shattering, an intense impact rushed into my arm.

The silver flash of light was one of the patterns that appeared in the Inquisitor’s boss battle.

It was as good as a signal that she was ready to fight, but I rather let out a sigh of relief internally.

‘The fact that she didn’t stab me to death right away means I’ve succeeded more than halfway.’

I had worried the most about whether Selene might stab me to death while listening to my story, but now that I had avoided that, all I had to do from now on was persuade her step by step.

“Why did you tell me such things?”

However, it didn’t seem like I could get through this situation without a physical confrontation.

Behind Selene, who was walking towards me, a small moon rose.

In front of it, a shadow cast from the moonlight appeared.

The full moon melted into the spaces between the darkness.

“You could have chosen to remain silent forever without saying anything. So why did you go so far as to create this situation where we’re alone to tell me what you know?”

Another moon rose. To the left. To the right.

And above my head.

“For what purpose did you do this?”

Inside the chapel, no less than four full moons had risen.

“The information you know is a secret that must never leak outside. But you seem far from being a person who can keep their mouth shut. Therefore, I cannot trust any vow of silence you might make.”

The tip of the rapier was pointed at me.

I had anticipated even this situation.

As the Inquisitor, she would try to prevent the Pope’s sacrifice from leaking out, even if it meant killing me.

If the fact that one of the Popes had to sacrifice themselves spread, it would inevitably be followed by the question ‘why?’, and rumors would snowball and grow uncontrollably large.

It was problematic to reveal the existence of the monster sleeping underground, and it was also problematic not to reveal it.

Either way, it was tantamount to completely negating the faith that had been held until now.

“I know that the Emperor has shown profound interest in you. Even taking that into account, even if it costs me my life to face the Emperor’s wrath, I will do what I must do now.”

Selene took the characteristic charging stance of a rapier user.

Then, identical silver rapiers sprouted from the moons that had risen in all directions.

“You’ll have to come with me to the Inquisition chamber.”

I took a stance, lowering the tip of my sword slightly.

Although persuasion didn’t work immediately, I had made a separate plan in preparation for this situation.

I had no intention of engaging in a boss battle with Selene here.

It was time to skip the explanation and get straight to the point.

Selene charged in, tracing a silver trajectory.

Once.

I only needed to deflect it once.

At that moment, as I brought my sword into the attack trajectory, I shouted loudly.

“If there’s a way to avoid the sacrifice!”

—CLANG!

The blood-stained sword collided with the rapier, creating a vicious ripping sound.

The tip of the blade stopped right in front of me, and the fake attacks flying towards me flickered and disappeared.

The risen full moons set.

Only a faint, deep silver color lingered in the chapel again.

The sacred power surrounding the rapier and flowing through the sacred catalyst vanished without a trace.

I lowered my raised voice and opened my mouth again in a calm tone.

“If I brought this up because there’s a way to defeat that monster without Her Holiness the Pope’s sacrifice, what would you do?”

Selene’s eyes trembled.

“…What?”

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