War For Underworld

The Broken Taboo

Ilia, Forbidden Valley, Wesdarath

"Be...Be careful... I was attacked...b-by a wicked demon..."

The injury the Emerald Knight sustained was healed, but now it explains why Tahmul left the valley in such a hurry. Now with Tiese's uncle and the young nobleman out of the way, Renly leads the girls towards a stone shrine builted into the valley's walls. As mesmerized by the ancient structure, Ilia feels a swell of fear creeping up her spine. The Reaper of the Woods was one thing, but the mystery here is another.

Istalk says he was struck twice by a "wicked demon" but only one wound was visible, a oblique abdominal cut. The second wound was found after removing his armor. What irks her is that wound across the knight's upper torso wasn't one you just get from a duel. It wasn't a deep cut, one not intending to kill, but that is not the problem. Istalk wears armor, yet it shows no signs of penetration. No regular sword can do that, but many Divine Objects cut through armor, and a smaller number of them would leave the armor undamaged at all. She only knows one who can do that...and when she identified those three points, she looked at Renly.

If he noticed, he didn't show it.

But there's a chance she's completely wrong. No, there's no chance she's right. Ilia trusts her ability to look at things logically, and while the logic adds up, it does not make sense. Yet with every step she takes, she probes her mind of the Integrity Knight's Divine weapons abilities as a reference. Almost every one of them, including Renly's, could cut through armor with their Divine Object's enhancing and releasing phases, if not one or the other. Kirito and Medina's should work by the same logic; Mia hasn't begun training for hers; Jaymes' Release Recollection may not bypass armor, as far as she has seen, but the enhancing phase still damages metal with flesh. And before she counts the Ancient Apostles as a suspect, the powerful Reaper of the Woods' scythe cut through Jaymes' armor too. Chestplate, tunic, and skin.

Only Lady Eydis' Dark Slash Sword, to her knowledge, is capable of ignoring material but flesh outside of a enhance or releasing phase. The enhancing phase allows it to warp through thicker metals (along with the deadly release of dark elements) and she's only heard rumors of the releasing phase, which her lady or the emperor has never seen.

The "demon" must have a powerful weapon similar to Lady Eydis. That's the only reasonable explanation.

Renly holds his hand up as they scale a long staircase to the shrine's entrance. Turning around, he looks at each of the girl with a serious expression. "I do not know what we're up against, so let's be clear on something: If I say to fall back, you will do so without hesitation. Even I will retreat. No one is to play hero, got it?"

"Yes sir!"

"Okay." Renly continues the procession into the shrine, where the group of five shortly come towards a clearing beyond the entrance with a circular grassy area.

"I smell blood," Ronie says fearfully. "It's coming from this way."

"That's why." Ilia points to the several fallen bodies across the clearing. She doesn't even need to inspect them to know they're all dead.

"Hey, look." Mia runs to one of bodies, kneeling beside it. "I recognize this one as the one who attack Lady Medina on our way here."

Tiese gasps as she runs towards a body. "Hey, wait... That's Lord Zizek!"

Ronie's eyes widen. "Zizek? You mean Humbert's father?" Humbert was one of the nobles that tried forcing Ronie and Tiese to some immoral deeds while utilizing a loophole in the rules of the Taboo Index. While Humbert lived, his cohort Raios died due to the interference of Eugeo and Kirito which lead to their arrest by Alice Synthesis Thirty.