Chapter 129 - 129 New Zealots
Steve made a glass bottle to cover Mercurius's head rolling on the ground. Mercurius, turned into mercury, tried to deform his face from inside the bottle and attack with cone-shaped tentacles to break the glass bottle, but he could not scratch the glass bottle.
Steve picked up the glass bottle and spoke with a smile.
"Since it is reinforced glass, it won't break so easily."
The power of Mercurius's attacks was not that strong. She had fulfilled her missions until now by turning her body into mercury to invalidate physical attacks, approaching the enemy, and stabbing them through gaps in their armor to defeat them. Her attacks were not strong enough to pierce the hard glass Steve made, even though they could pierce the soft skin of a human.
"Well, if the torso and head don't attach before the magic power runs out, you'll return to your original form as is and die."
Steve became a devilish smile.
According to the standard operation manual, there was such a description for vital points. The mercury transformation magic cannot create new mass. If even a little is missing, that amount of mass will be lost when returning to the original form.
Since magic power is consumed to maintain the mercury transformation, one cannot remain as mercury forever. Being unable to escape the glass bottle and with Jupiter also restrained, it was a dead end.
"Physical attacks shouldn't work on Mercurius's mercury-transformed body!"
Jupiter, unable to accept the fact, shouted at Steve.
Steve looked at Jupiter with a face like looking at a disappointing child.
"Indeed, attacks against her liquid form didn't work, but if you cool and freeze her, physical attacks will work too. Mercury solidifies at about minus 40 degrees Celsius, so you just need to cool it down that much. That is also why I embedded ice bullets inside her body."
Mercury is a metal that is liquid at room temperature. However, it has a melting point and solidifies when cooled. The mercury created by Mercurius's magic was no exception; it possessed the properties of mercury as a substance. Steve knew this, so he executed the strategy of freezing and cutting.
Mercurius understood after hearing Steve's explanation. Perhaps the Steve she thought was deceiving people with hallucination magic before entering the country was not so. And since all her and Jupiter's attacks were read and invalidated, perhaps he really was the Apostle. If he really was the Apostle, she thought with despair that they had done something irreparable.
Mercurius, crushed by despair, but Steve placed the glass bottle containing her on the ground and led her further into despair with another action.
"Well then, let me show you the original purpose of today, which is making gold from mercury."
Saying that, Steve froze Mercurius's right foot, cut it off, and turned the mercury of the right foot part into gold.
Mercurius felt shock and despair at her right foot that turned into gold in an instant. The reason for the despair was that she didn't know if the thing that changed from mercury to another substance would return to her original body, and she had a premonition that it probably wouldn't return.
And Steve told her that her premonition was correct.
"Well, gold has been made like this, but with the mercury transformation magic, things that changed into another substance cannot return to their original state. So, even if you take your head out of the glass bottle and attach it to your torso, you will lose your right foot. What would happen if I did this to other parts?"
At this moment, Mercurius was convinced that Steve was the Apostle. That conviction was wrong, but what happened before her eyes was enough to be convinced that he was the Apostle.
Incidentally, the reason mercury turned into a gold ingot in an instant was that all the mercury created by magic was the same Hg-198, so there was no need to convert it to gold for each isotope.
Mercurius shed tears of mercury inside the glass bottle.
"I am sorry, Apostle-sama."
To Mercurius who apologized like that, Jupiter was confused.
"Mercurius, what is this?"
"Making gold from mercury was not a lie. And all our attacks were grasped by that mechanism and invalidated. We are God's representatives, and our attacks can reach even demons, but the fact that they don't reach here means only God. In other words, this person is the Apostle sent by God to the earth."
Steve thought it was a rather leap of logic, but since he thought the battle would end if they thought that way, he did not deny it.
And he made a hole in the glass bottle and let Mercurius out.
Mercurius was surprised at Steve's action.
"Will you let me out?"
"If I don't return you before your magic power runs out."
Mercurius still had some margin in her magic power, but if the magic was released due to emotional fluctuations, she would die instantly. Steve disliked that possibility and took her head out of the bottle.
Bella thought she was still too soft and sighed behind Steve.
Mercurius returned to her original body from her chest area, avoiding the frozen parts, and then recreated her human form.
"Please tell me when you release the mercury transformation magic. I will heal your right foot."
"Can you do even that!? No, it is natural for an Apostle-sama."
Mercurius was surprised but quickly remembered that Steve was the Apostle and accepted it. That acceptance was also a misunderstanding, but Steve did not deny it either.
And she returned to her original body.
Blood flowed from the part where the right foot was lost, but soon her right foot was regenerated by magic, leaving only traces of red blood on the ground, conveying only the past of losing her right foot. If one looked only at the right foot, no one would believe she had lost it.
Seeing that miracle, Mercurius directed a gaze of respect toward Steve. It was the same as Julia's.
Seeing her like that, Jupiter called out to Mercurius.
"Mercurius, don't be deceived!"
"Shut up, Jupiter. That is disrespectful. What is disrespect? You know that mental magic doesn't work on us. In other words, the miracle happening before your eyes is reality. This gold ingot is real, and if you deny that, aren't you possessed by a demon?"
Mercurius picked up her original right foot and thrust it in front of her body as if showing it to Jupiter.
Even though Jupiter knew that Steve was not deceiving with hallucinations, she could not accept it. The fact that the original teachings of God would change, which felt like her past self was being denied, had not changed even now.
On that point, Mercurius had no such resistance to accepting the phenomena Steve caused and immediately believed he was the Apostle.
"Apostle-sama, I will cut off Jupiter's disrespectful head."
"No, you don't have to go that far."
Mercurius looked at Steve with eyes full of determination. There was not a shred of joke mixed in there.
Steve's impression was that she was a zealot. Even if they were comrades who shared life and death until a short while ago, if they are considered enemies of God, they can be killed without any hesitation.
"Is that okay?"
In Mercurius's eyes saying that, there was no dissatisfaction or relief. It was just the feeling of moving as Steve wished.
"Yeah. Instead, I want you to tell me why you targeted me."
"I understand."
Mercurius spoke that she had visited the Kingdom of Cascade to eliminate Steve under Sonne's orders, the head of the Inquisition department. Sonne did not say it clearly, but she also said he probably wanted to eliminate Steve, who was the central figure, because he was not satisfied with the recent review of the doctrine.
"I see."
Jupiter's thinking is close to Minister Sonne. If you order it, I will line up Jupiter's head and Minister Sonne's head before the Apostle-sama."
Mercurius proposed with a serious face.
"Um, is Minister Sonne strong?"
"She is the strongest in the Inquisition department."
"Then maybe you can't get her head."
"If I have my faith, God will be on my side. She is a heretic, an enemy of God, so there is no problem."
Steve probably thought there would be a problem, but he couldn't say it. So he changed the topic.
"Why did you plan to ambush and attack at the church? If you took my family hostage or involved Royal Research Institute staff, I think I would have had more trouble."
"That is because we do not want to sacrifice our believers to defeat an enemy of God. As a result of investigation, your family regularly listens to the Saintess's sermons, and the researchers do not intend to deny God, and many visit the church on their days off. We thought that if we involved such people, God would be sad."
As befitting the Investigation Department, they had conducted prior investigations. There, they investigated the possibility that the related parties would be affected by Steve's bad influence or be his comrades, but the conclusion was that they were extremely ordinary believers.
So, except for Steve, they were not targets for elimination from the beginning. Therefore, they created a situation where only Steve could be attacked.
"It is wonderful that you have the consideration not to cause unnecessary damage."
"I am honored by your praise."
"Since we have the chance, shall I tell you why I am trying to review the doctrine? Do you know the Sect Master?"
"What is the Sect Master?"
Mercurius did not know the Sect Master. The matter of the Sect Master was a secret only for the upper echelons. Sonne, the head of the Inquisition department, knew it, but the subordinates were not informed of it.
Steve saw Mercurius's reaction and sighed that she indeed did not know.
"That is where the misunderstanding began. The doctrine is something made by the Sect Master who founded the Fries Holy Church and those who were blinded by the subsequent privileges. The Sect Master is an undead monster that uses necromancy. He is the end result of a prince of a fallen kingdom three thousand years ago. The Fries Holy Church was the disguise he used to try to create an army of the dead for the revival of the fallen kingdom. Therefore, the doctrine was not all things that conveyed the true words of God. However, that does not mean there is no existence of God. So, now I am reviewing again what the true words of God are. If this spreads, the existence of the church itself seems to disappear, so it is something only the upper echelons know."
"Such a thing..."
Mercurius was stunned upon hearing the truth. Those whom she had eliminated until now as opposing God's teachings had a very high possibility of actually not opposing God's teachings. The sense of guilt weighed down on her like the water pressure at the bottom of a trench.
"Well, this is the fact. God does not make mistakes, but sometimes human beings cannot accurately convey God's thoughts. So I am trying to review it, but I understand the feelings of people who have resistance to reviewing things they thought were correct until now."
Steve remembered the veteran craftsmen of his previous life's company. They had absolute confidence in their work until now, and if it turned out that it was actually wrong, they would not easily admit that fact and would sulk. Especially when Steve, who was worse than them, pointed it out, they absolutely would not listen. They did not try to kill him, though.
Knowing the dark truth of the church, the Sect Master, Steve thought that Sonne who still disliked reform should be eliminated, and looked at Jupiter. How about her?
"Well, was it Jupiter? What will you do? Even knowing this fact, will you oppose the review of the doctrine and try to suppress it with force?"
Jupiter, to Steve's question, went pale and remained silent without saying anything.
Mercurius spoke to her with concern.
"Jupiter, you can still be forgiven if it is now."
"I... I don't understand..."
Jupiter finally spoke in a voice like a mosquito buzzing.
Steve proposed to such Jupiter.
"Would you like to stay with Julia for a while and reflect on yourself? She is a Saintess. She might listen to your troubles and guide you."
"Jupiter, let's go together."
Mercurius invited Jupiter. Jupiter, who was troubled, nodded when invited by Mercurius.
With Jupiter also breaking, the problem of the assassins who came to the Kingdom of Cascade was resolved for the time being.
They released the two and teleported to Julia's place with Bella included, four people in total, explained the situation, and decided to have them take care of them. The period was until Sonne could be eliminated.
After entrusting the two, Bella spoke to Steve.
"You are still soft with women."
"No, it was just that the assassins sent were young girls."
"I will report to Chris and Nancy."
"I want you to tell only the facts. Besides, since I have to keep these two with strange reasons in my territory, I can't help but explain the situation. Absolutely do not embellish it."
Steve emphasized the "absolutely" part very much. Mercurius and Jupiter looked beautiful no matter how you looked at them, and it was obvious that his wives would worry unnecessarily.
No, only Steve thought it was unnecessary worry, and the surroundings naturally worried. Looking at past records, it was clear at a glance.
"The other boss seems to be a man, so if you keep him alive, maybe they will believe it a little."
"Whether to keep him alive or not is a matter of danger. If he is constantly targeted without repenting, he cannot be kept alive, and if the abilities are comparable, there is no margin to hold back. I haven't said it because it would hurt Nancy."
"That might be the source of the misunderstanding."
As Bella pointed out, the only one Steve kept alive in the Suit Knights' Sword Knights Order was Nancy. It was because there was no margin when she was a Knight, and there was no margin when she was a King and Ace, but you cannot say that Nancy was weak so there was margin. There was bad timing. When she was a Knight, there was no way to turn the enemy into an ally. When she was a King and Ace, they attacked with two people. Only at the time of Nancy did she have the margin and means to make them comrades.
However, he did not feel like he could convey that well, so he did not say it.
And this time, there was no such opportunity, and a misunderstanding was born.
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