“Once again, we meet, distinguished guest.”

Selene bowed her head slightly in greeting towards me. Unlike our first encounter, where she had her robe pulled tight to cover her face, she was now dressed in Inquisitor attire.

Her grayish-silver hair swayed gently behind her. Though tied into a ponytail at the top, it was long enough to wrap around her body several times.

Her bangs fell to near her lips, revealing her violet eyes, which looked strikingly sharp due to her gaze.

Clinging tightly to her fit body was a pair of sheer tights similar to the battle nuns under her command.

She wore armored pieces of gray and silver below her elbows and knees, but everywhere else, tight-fitting tights covered her skin completely.

The contours of her body were exceedingly visible, the translucent material practically showing her bare skin beneath. Her muscles, firm to the touch, looked even more pronounced.

There was clearly no underwear line, as it seemed like she wore nothing under her attire. In fact, she covered less than the battle nuns serving under her.

Fortunately, due to her relatively flat chest, it didn’t go much further than that.

“Tsk.”

Stella openly clicked her tongue. In stark contrast to Selene’s usually expressionless face, Stella wore a thoroughly displeased expression, missing her usual cheerful smile.

“…How did the Inquisitor come to know of our presence here?”

“To offer my assistance.”

That was a non-answer. I wanted to know how she’d managed to find me in this very moment, but her response was merely vague. Had she been watching me from afar?

“Isn’t it prohibited for you to be here, Inquisitor?”

Stella looked very uncomfortable. Her mouth smiled, but her eyes didn’t share the sentiment.

“The sun does not interfere with the moon, and vice versa. That’s tradition, isn’t it? While it’s acceptable for the Pope of the Moon to have brought these individuals to the Holy Kingdom, what’s this about now? Did Your Holiness issue another command to assist our guest?”

“I have not violated tradition, Inquisitor. I aim not to interfere with the sun’s domain but to assist our guest.”

To me, it sounded like the same thing, but there was perhaps a hidden meaning in her words; Stella, after hearing this, seemed to mellow a bit.

As Stella was silenced by Selene, who pulled out a Sacred Catalyst from her waist, she infused it with Divine Power. The white light mixed with gray sparkled like moonlight.

“Kindly remain still.”

After Selene said this, almost five seconds passed by sensation before a clear ding sound echoed.

The white light rising from the Sacred Catalyst began enveloping my body. It spread thinly over my skin, and a translucent membrane-like thing appeared.

The skin wrapped in Divine Power emitted a soft glow. I touched the faint light mass around my body with my hands. My fingers passed through the light mass, reaching my skin beneath.

I felt nothing. There was nothing to grasp or cling to. It was like witnessing an illusion.

But it was definitely not an illusion.

“It’s done. You should have no more problems.”

Completing her task, Selene strapped the Sacred Catalyst back to her waist. Stella regarded her with a disapproving glance.

This Sacred Spell that Selene had just used was called ‘Blessing of the Moon.’

Its effect nullified damage that would lead to the player’s death caused by enemy attacks. To put it simply, it granted an extra life. The duration was originally set at five minutes.

Essentially, it was the equivalent of giving a life boost, making it essential in both Vanilla Brightest Darkness 4 and the Darkest Light Mod.

If one could use it, that is.

Perhaps because of its ridiculous option of defense against damage leading to instant death, the required stats were excessively high. Faith had to be at 30, and Divine Power needed to be 60.

In the first playthrough, it was virtually unusable for builds other than the Cleric. Even with a Cleric, using it effectively in the first attempt meant sacrificing a hefty amount of other stats, leading to a significant burden.

Due to being a late-blooming character concept, the early game was already tough for a Cleric, and funneling stats like that into Faith and Divine Power meant losing far more than gaining.

“Now, would you kindly request a spar with the Inquisitor again, distinguished guest?”

With those words as her finale, Selene headed over to a corner of the sparring ground, kneeling down with legs drawn up, her face resting on her knees as she stared intently at me. Her purplish eyes were fixated on me as if nailed in place.

“Did you hear that?”

I felt a bit of disbelief, but I couldn’t afford to let this opportunity slip by. Stella, with a face full of existential dilemma, eventually nodded with resignation.

I could ask Selene why and how she helped me after the spar. It was clear she didn’t intend to go back alone.

“The excuse has vanished. Fine, I’ll do it then.”

Stella shook her head adamantly while tightening the grip on her right hand. The flail in her hand weighed light as a feather before crashing down with a thud!

That must’ve been some kind of signal because the battle nuns around us moved swiftly towards Stella and me.

They picked up their shields from the ground, gripped their flails tightly, and formed a circle around us. The shield adorned with the church’s insignia was turned inward.

The area encircled by the battle nuns became the sparring ground.

“I’ll let you choose the size of the sparring ground. Of course, it can’t be too big. How much larger should I make it?”

“I don’t mind as it is.”

“Oh, are you sure? I’ll ignore it if you later complain that the space was too small for your defeat?”

Stella’s surprise was evident as she covered her mouth. It was not surprising, considering a few more steps back would lead to a collision with their shields.

But the size of the sparring ground was of no concern to me. It wasn’t my first rodeo facing off against Stella. Whether narrow or wide, I could handle her just fine.

In fact, I would prefer a more spacious area, but I couldn’t alter the sparring ground’s size if I wanted to crush the Inquisitor’s pride.

Even in-game, winning against the Inquisitor without changing the size of the sparring ground triggered a different dialogue. I truly admired their skill.

Now, it wasn’t a precisely essential procedure; it was merely a minor revenge for her meddling in the story last time.

“The condition for your defeat is the disappearance of the Blessing of the Moon residing within you. The moment that disappears, you lose. Understood? And, um, my condition for defeat is…”

“If you feel you’ve taken enough damage, just accept your loss.”

While the conditions for victory system-wise aligned with the Silver Dawn Knights’ admission test, which involved reducing a boss’s health to 50%, I couldn’t specify such numbers.

“…What will you do if I refuse to acknowledge my defeat?”

“Then I’ll keep fighting until you do. No other options here.”

I drew my Blood-Stained Sword. The blade kissed by sunlight glimmered red. Stella raised her flail with a look that seemed to say, “See that?” effortlessly wielding the massive weapon with one hand.

The weight of the flail was encased in a mixture of yellow and white light dancing around its protruding tip.

“Getting too arrogant is not wise, you know? What will you do if you get knocked out in one hit?”

Ignoring her, I plunged the sword deep into my abdomen. As blood seeped from the blade, the red hue deepened in color. With a swift pull, the blood dripped from the blade.

“Focusing on the spar? Well, that’s fine. Shall you charge at me first, or should I make the first move?”

I replied by silently nodding my sword up and down. Seeing that, Stella grinned broadly and began to cautiously approach. The color of the Divine Power imbued in her flail deepened.

The Inquisitor didn’t have a predefined “opening pattern.” She simply employed a random attack pattern based on distance and the player’s movements.

Stella raised her flail high above her head. After gauging the pattern, I prepared to deflect the incoming blow.

Stella swung the flail down. The weighted tip aimed straight at my head. With the Blood-Stained Sword gripped in both hands, I followed the natural motion of my arms to carve a trajectory in the air.

Clang! A sharp sound erupted as the flail’s trajectory abruptly shifted. The backlash on my arm wasn’t unbearable.

Without pause, the next attack followed. I deflected the flail swinging from left to right and, considering the irregular timing, I swung my sword a beat late for the final strike.

As the last three strikes echoed with a metallic clang, Stella’s body wobbled slightly. A “Huh?” expression flickered across her face.

Stella seemed poised to continue her attack, but my counter was faster. The crimson blade made a glancing cut against Stella’s arm.

“……”

Stella blinked in disbelief, alternating her gaze between the Blood-Stained Sword and her flail.

One was an ordinary longsword with nothing remarkable other than being stained red with blood, while the other was a flail with a weight that was double that of a human head.

Logically, the sword would shatter upon colliding with the flail. Instead, my blade remained intact, and her flail bounced away, leaving her baffled.

“Oh my, how did you do that?”

“Well, I honestly don’t know either.”

“If you don’t want to tell me, you could just say so.”

Stella smiled sweetly. True to her role as a servant of the Pope of the Sun, her smile was warm and compassionate, reminiscent of Floretta.

“I’ll find out about it myself, directly.”

“You’ve ultimately failed, I see. What a pity.”

I sheathed the now-buffed Blood-Stained Sword. The stares from all around me pricked at my skin. It was the gaze of all the battle nuns, including Selene.

Stella, plopped on the ground, gazed at me with wide eyes.