Chương 136

"I forced Rin into this..." Isabel cried. She buried her face in her knees. She sat in the Vatican's backyard. The grass was green and the sky was clear, but she felt sick to her stomach. She was the one who had dragged her friend back to this place. Cassus stood nearby. He let out a heavy sigh.

"If you refused the Pope's order, someone else would have dragged her back. Rin would rather be brought in by a friend than a stranger. Don't beat yourself up."

"But what will happen to her?" Isabel asked. She slowly looked up, her eyes red and moist. Cassus didn't answer. He couldn't. He knew exactly how the church operated now. The Pope didn't care about Rebecca's Daughters as people. He just treated them like disposable weapons. If Rin rebelled, she would be stripped of her holy artifacts. Or worse, she would be killed. Cassus looked at Isabel. She was only seventeen years old. If the church kept going down this dark path, she would eventually be thrown away too.

Tears actually started to well up in the stoic priest's eyes.

"This place smells terrible," a squeaky voice complained. Cassus and Isabel jumped. They spun around. A strange group was walking across the manicured lawn. Kratos paced back and forth on the grass. The half-gold, half-black cub sneezed loudly. The thick holy air hanging over the Vatican was making the dark half of his fur puff up like a static balloon.

"My nose feels itchy," Kratos whined, rubbing his face with a paw.

"Can we just beat up the bad guys and leave?"

"Hey, settle down," Rudra said. He scratched the cub behind the ears.

"We'll get snacks after we finish up here." Grid marched right past them. He didn't care about the scenery. He pointed a finger directly at Isabel.

"You!" Grid yelled.

"Shield Thief Girl! Give me my shield back!" Isabel blinked. Cassus just stared at the weirdly dressed group.

"Grid?" Cassus asked. He looked at the dark, blood-stained cloak Grid was wearing.

"Is that Malacus' Cloak? How did you get that?"

"I killed him," Grid said flatly.

"Now give me my property." The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Isabel frowned. She wiped her eyes and stood up.

"I appreciate you stopping Malacus. But I can't give you the shield. The church recalled them all because they are too dangerous."

"What?!" Grid's face turned bright red.

"Do you know how much money I spent making that?! It's worth millions! Hand it over before I get mad!" Grid was practically shaking with greed. He had hammered iron for hours. He wasn't going to let some church policy steal his hard work. He reached for his sword. Before he could draw it, the ground shook. Kwaang! A massive flash of golden light erupted from inside the main Vatican building. The windows rattled.

"Rin!" Isabel went pale.

"The Pope is hurting her!" She grabbed her white spear. She didn't care about Grid's complaining anymore. She ran straight toward the massive front doors. Thud. A young girl dropped from the roof. She landed right in front of the doors, cracking the stone steps. She had purple hair and carried a heavy, glowing shield. It was Luna, the youngest of Rebecca's Daughters. She was only fourteen years old.

"You can't go in," Luna said quietly.

"Luna, move!" Isabel begged.

"Rin is in danger!" Luna shook her head.

"His Holiness gave an order. I have to obey." Grid watched from the grass. He crossed his arms. He really didn't want to get involved in church politics. He just wanted his item back. But then, a transparent yellow arrow suddenly appeared in his vision. It was the system helper. It was pointing right at Isabel's white spear. Grid scratched his chin. The game was practically holding his hand, telling him the spear was the key to getting what he wanted. Grid walked up to Isabel.

"Hey," Grid said.

"I'll kill the Pope and save Rin. In exchange, give me my shield." Isabel stared at him. She felt a weird sense of trust coming from his totally absurd promise.

"You... you will really save her?"

"Yeah," Grid nodded. He reached out and grabbed her spear.

"Hey! Don't touch that!" Isabel yelled, panicking that he was touching a sacred weapon. Grid ignored her. He triggered his skill.

"Legendary Blacksmith's Appraisal." A blinding flash of white light erupted from the spear. The system chimed loudly. [You have discovered a hidden feature in the item!] [Raphael's Spear] [Rating: Myth] [The true power of the weapon has been unsealed.] Isabel gasped. A massive surge of golden energy exploded from her body. Her combat power skyrocketed. The heavy spear suddenly looked incredibly light in her hands.

"Whoa," Rudra muttered from the back. He leaned casually on his bone staff.

"That's a neat trick." Grid smirked. He pointed at Luna.

"You handle the kid," Grid told Isabel. He drew Dainsleif from his back. The heavy black greatsword rested easily on his shoulder. Grid turned to Rudra, Piaro, and Mumud.

"Come on," Grid said, marching right past the two girls.

"Let's go beat up a Pope." He lifted his boot and kicked the heavy Vatican doors wide open.