[Snippet] Making the Church Competent Through the Power of Faith!(Gacha): Chapter 13

Lucian stumbled out of a training room.

Sweat poured down his face, his clothes all but soaked through. Even his face was red, and his eyes were showing a faint bloodshot to them.

He slumped up against the wall, falling to his butt as he took long breaths.

A resounding echo sounded next to him as he let go of a new pair of metal greaves from his fingers.

He had underestimated the ritual to create an ash lock.

There was certainly a reason that the creation of them was limited by person. He didn’t know if he could do another one this month if he pushed himself.

It had a way of just draining you, spiritually.

On the surface, most of the ritual was simple.

It used Bible Verses to form the actual outline of the Ash Lock. Of course, you needed to add actual materials as well, certain malleable metals that weren’t something on the market for the most part.

Expensive things.

A few certain types of gems that you had to grind down, swallow, then bleed yourself. They were called Ash Locks because you used your blood as fuel for a flame to turn Bible verses into ash and lock them in the form of equipment.

Part of the costs was taking medical ingredients that wouldn’t leave long-term damage to the person performing the ritual.

Swallowing bits of gemstone wasn’t exactly the most healthy action.

Likewise, the ritual itself was fueled by the person’s continued supply of blood as well.

He felt like he had just donated several pints of blood all at once.

Then you had to pray for hours on end, non-stop. With every verse completed, that was more ash added to the conceptual weapon. The larger the weapon, the more ash that was needed, thus the more prayer.

The reason why they could be so varied was due to the verses and prayers used in the ritual. They were basically the root of the effects of the Ash Lock. Prayers for mercy, for penance, and for vengeance all produced different results based on what the person wanted.

He looked down at his feet; the distinct lack of shoes greeted him back.

He had fettered his shoes to the Ash Lock Ritual to give them a ‘sealed state.' Ash Locks could be turned into a normal item when not in use to avoid carrying around a very noticeably supernatural weapon.

He leaned back; the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat greeted him in turn.

If he hadn’t done as much training recently as he had, he felt like this time would have been even harder.

And the memories of being a Paladin trainee certainly helped him deal with the process. He didn’t realize how much those memories instilled within him a sense of willpower.

“Cardinal”

“Sister Griselda.” Lucian looked up to see Griselda. She wasn’t wearing her normal attire. Her nun habit was missing, and her hair was wrapped in a towel. Beyond that, she was wearing a sweater and a pair of jeans.

She raised an eyebrow at his staring. “I do own other clothes, you know.” She spoke as if she could read his mind.

Lucian cleared his throat. “I presume you finished with your ritual."

“I just got done with a very long bath.” She said pointedly before pulling a familiar cross necklace out of her sweater. It looked different now; it had a teal hue to it. “I will be catching my breath before I head off for my missions. I did not expect how much the Ritual would take out of me.”

She then looked down at the boots at his side.

It was easy to guess their purpose.

She simply nodded silently as if appreciating the simplicity of his choice.

Putting two and two together wasn’t difficult. If he made boots from the Ash Lock Ritual, they presumably helped with his agility or maneuverability in some way.

For what exact specifications, she would have to see in person, but at this point…she had some manner of faith in his judgments.

“I haven't seen Asia. Where is she?” Griselda asked.

“I sent her on her own 'mission,'" Lucian added the quotation marks with his fingers. “I know a few priests in the area who are in on our line of work. I sent her around to them so she could heal people there under supervision without revealing herself. For practice.”

Griselda nodded. “Fine control is important. Making sure it isn’t noticed by regular people is a good step forward.”

Lucian agreed.

It also got her out and about while they went about their own missions.

Deactivating the Ash Lock wasn’t hard. It was a matter of using his holy power to insert it into the object, and they quickly turned back to his normal shoes, which he slipped back onto his feet.

No long incantations needed.

Though, there was an activation phrase.

A password to prevent theft or other unsavory attempts at acquiring them. It was unique to the wielder and something they could choose upon creation of the Ash Lock.

“I’ve been meaning to ask.” Griselda started. “Should…we do something about the Devil we still have locked up? I’m beginning to feel pity for it.”

Lucian realized that he had forgotten about Diodoria still in their holding room.

“He was trying to break into Asia’s home to kidnap and most likely rape her.” Lucian pointed out.

“How easily that pity just drifts away.” She said dryly. “But should we do something? I havn’t checked on it, but we havn’t fed or given it water in….quite a few days.”

“Devils are hardly, I’m sure he’s fine.”

Probably,  Lucian thought to himself.

Maybe

He got up and decided to check on said Devil as Griselda followed behind him.

There was a little peephole on the reinforced door he could slide open to peek inside.

The Devil was still there, tied ot his chari, looking not very good.

His face was pale, his cheeks looked a little thin, and he didn’t seem to be moving much, but Lucian could tell he was breathing.

“Do Devils not defecate or relieve themselves? Shouldn’t there be…a mess?” Griselda pondered out loud.

“I made sure to make the cell not get smelly and prevented that.” Lucian nodded to himself.

Although, it was probably a very unpleasant experience for Diodoria.

“Ah.” Griselda nodded along. “Good thinking.”

He slid the peek hole shut. “He should be fine.”

“How long can Devils survive without water?”

Lucian shrugged.

But he was fairly sure it was much longer than humans.

"But I now have a good idea!” Lucian clapped his hands. “Let’s sell him back to the Devils.”

“.....you want to blackmail a Satan into buying back his family member?””

“They should be rich, right?”

“I feel like I should be against this idea for a plethora of reasons.” Griselda couldn’t quite pick an exact reason why she wanted to reject his sudden idea.

“No need to over think it. We could simply kill him, yes. Rid the world of Evil. Or, we could acquire their resources, use them against our enemies, build a better tomorrow.”

Griselda let out a sigh.

“I was tinking with the Summoning Circle, It should work this time.” 

@***@

Griselda stood at the side as Lucian adjusted the parameters of the Devil summoning Circle.

“And what is your plan in case the Devil decides to attack?”

“One.” Lucian held up a finger. “I reinforced the summoning. I overlaid a Devil Trap; it prevents a Devil from simply leaving the Circle.” Griselda raised an eyebrow at that. “And I added more wards to the room and the building. Satan Beelzebub will not be able to even sense Diodoria a few rooms down. So, I can simply lie and say that he’s not here, of course. And if all that fails, I know for a fact that Father Strada is about half way the city away.”

She didn’t have anything to say, because it sounded like he thought it out well enough.

Lucian finished the final Sigil at the corner of the room, wiping the fresh blood off his finger.

He was thankful for the knowledge of warding he got from Supernatural early on. It hadn’t paid out much compared to his other rewards until now, but it was slowly starting to show its benefits.

He knew that Ajuka Beelzebub was a monster, a Magical monster at that, but he was fairly confident that it would at least take him some time to tear through the Wards if he were trying.

Supernatural warding was more…conceptual in nature compared to the magic around these parts.

It was a brilliant plan.

Sure, he may have just had the idea some minutes ago, but that didn’t diminish how great of a plan it would be.

In fact, if this was successful, they wouldn’t have to worry about funding for several years, if not more.

“Let’s begin.” He held his hand over the summoning circle, and it lit up.

With a flash of light and a distinct demonic energy flair, someone appeared.

Griselda, slowly, crooked her head towards him, giving him the flattest look.

Lucian kept himself completely composed even as her glare bore into him. “This was not on purpose.

“Hi~” Venelana Gremory greeted them again.

“Hello again, Madam Gremory.” Lucian smiled politely.

“Did you call me back to take me up on my offer? You’re in luck, I’m wearing my favorite panties, want to see?” She playfully tugged at the hem of her dress.

“That will be unnecessary.” Griselda all but hissed. 

Lucian cleared his throat. “It seems I summoned you by accident…again."

“Oh pooey. I thought I was going to have a fun night.” The Ancient Devil Matriarch pouted like a young girl. “Are you sure~?”

“Well –”

“We’re sure.” Griselda crossed her arms, giving Lucian another glare.

“I’ll at least have something to gloat about to the ladies. Getting summoned by a handsome priest twice.” Venelana winked at Lucian. “Just so you know, you can freely summon me any time.”

“Thank you, Miss Gremory.” Griselda answered for him. “We apologize for the confusion; please return home.”

“Byeeee~”

The teleportation circle flared up again as the Devil Matriarch disappeared.

A few beats passed after she disappeared before Lucian opened his mouth again. “I really didn’t do it on purpose.”

She gave him another look.

“I changed the summoning runes, I fixed the –”

“Give me your phone.”

Lucian blinked, confused as to why she was demanding that, but his body seemed to answer her almost unconsciously as he took his phone out and handed it to her.

She turned on her heel, phone in hand, and left the room for several minutes.

Lucian stood there like a statue, wondering what happened.

Rooted in place until the sister returned, faintly fixing her shirt as she silently, albeit aggressively, pushed his phone back into his hands.

“I will be leaving for my mission. I have arranged my own transportation, someone who owes me a favor, so you don’t need to mind it.” Griselda switched gears rather quickly. “I assume you are preparing for your own mission?”

Lucian cleared his throat again. “Yes, I will be heading over to America. There are reports of a wannabe group of Mafia who have seemingly been using something they shouldn't have. Speculation is a sacred gear, but magic hasn’t been ruled out. Either way, it needs to be dealt with.”

Griselda gave him a once over before nodding to herself. “That should be something you can handle. Make sure you take the proper precautions. I would be…quite upset if I’m forced to see you returned in less than perfect health.”

Once more, she didn’t give him a chance to answer before turning on her heel to leave.

Lucian let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in.

Curiosity got the better of him as he looked at his phone and noticed the changes made.

Rather, he noticed there were now more pictures saved. Some rather lewd ones of a certain Sister that had just left. Explicitly, they showed her in her normal attire this time rather than her Nun habit, indicating that they were in fact recently taken.

He swallowed lightly before carefully putting his phone away.

The cardinal decided it was best to just not say anything.

@***@

A Shower did him well.

Taking a few hours to recoup after the Ritual was exactly what he needed. And it gave him a chance to get the plane tickets he needed.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t charter himself a first-class flight to the United States. Money was tight right now, so he had to ride economy.

He put on his own normal suit, forgoing his Priest get-up to stay a bit under the radar. 

Anyone with any knowledge of the supernatural would give him the side-eye if he were walking around dressed like a priest.

The Church didn’t exactly have the best reputation.

Thankfully, he was able to find a ticket for very cheap because it was literally a flight out today on short notice.

He didn’t need any real luggage because he could basically hide his stuff inside his not-bible as well.

And he took Griselda’s advice to heart. It was his first mission without any support that he wasn’t stumbling into. 

He had a healing potion still from his previous rolls, and he had his own healing spells as a paladin.

And the time after he turned from the last mission, he spent nearly every waking moment working. Be it work as the director or training as a paladin in order to increase his strength.

He had made some progress and even picked up a few more holy spells.

Overall, he was feeling rather confident about things at this point.

Father Anderson was somewhere in Russia at the moment, taking care of some nasty creatures.

Asia was doing her own training around the area, under supervision.

And Griselda had just headed out for her own assignments.

If anything went well, Lucian believed they would be all reunited in about a week’s time.

For a four-person organization, it would look rather productive. But he knew it was still far from enough as things stood.

He needed more members.

There was the obvious inclination to recruit, but as he told the Father back in Romania, the Burial Agency is for elites. He can’t just add numbers for the sake of adding numbers. It would diminish the purpose of the organization.

And obviously, the Eighth Sacrament was still not even up off the ground yet.

He couldn’t rely on them for anything unless he just needed literal meat shields.

He had given his fellow members orders—bar Asia, that is—if you find any… Illicit gains or things of dubious origin that could be worth money, well, better to be in their holy hands, right?

Optimistically, they should be able to get through the next few months without any trouble if they find the right kind of targets.

Lucian grabbed everything else he needed.

Two Holy Pistols that he checked before putting them away. A back-up Holy Light Sword he switched on and off before storing it in his space as well.

He took out Cloudcrack, running a hand along the well-maintained edge as well.

He even had a couple black keys that he kept for himself, while giving Father Anderson the remainder.

Lucian was by no means skilled at the throwing techniques required, but for an emergency weapon, they were quite good. And you never know when you need a Conceptual Holy Weapon for certain enemies.

He could list off all the benefits for it, but he was on a time schedule.

The Cardinal flicked the lights off to his office, holding his coat over his arm as he shut the door beyond him.

The long hallway greeted him, with the exit sitting in the distance.

“We walk in the grace of God.”

The shoes around him shimmered in a blue-teal light, and metal greaves climbed up his shins, almost to his knees.

The sound of metal scratched against the tiled floor below him.

He took one step forward, and he was already at the other end, walking out the door as his greaves returned back to normal shoes.

It was once more time to get to work.

@***@

A/N

Lucian is going on his own solo mission for now, with some updates from the others, maybe a POV of Anderson as he calls Lucian and tells him that the mission is complete, etc. But yeah, they’re building things up; Sacred Gear retrieval will start to be one of their main priorities, and it’ll be one of his main ways to earn faith.