influence.
Status effects that can be inflicted with blessed weapons and divine spells.
The effect was just one line, and unlike other status effects that had long explanations, the text was all 'Greatly reduces all damage inflicted on the target during the duration.'
If you only look at it up to here, you might not really understand the part that says 'greatly reduces damage inflicted', so you might just think of it as a slightly annoying status effect and pass it over.
But simple is best is always and everywhere applicable.
Even in vanilla, the reduction rate was as high as 40%, which was a very dirty state, but in the Dark Mode, it went even further and reached a whopping 90%. In fact, it was almost as if no damage was inflicted at all.
Regardless of whether it's a physical attack, a magical attack, or even a divine attack of the same type. It's a status effect that literally reduces all damage inflicted.
Even the damage reduction I apply is an effect that is applied after all other damage calculations are completed, so even if you use all kinds of buffs to inflate the damage, it still ends up being reduced by 90%.
What's worse is that players have virtually no way to properly utilize this botched status effect.
All blessed weapons and divine spells fill the inspiration gauge, but the rate at which it drains is so horrendous that it doesn't help much.
Even with the slight delay between hitting with a normal attack and the next attack with a dagger, which had the fastest attack speed among the weapons, the status effects were halved.
To my great chagrin, the penalty for inspiration was limited to the player only. Other enemies who used divine powers were just building up the gauge.
'They also know that if players spend too much influence, the game will be ruined.'
But if that's the case, why did you make it?
Did you make it so that the person being targeted would get angry?
Fortunately, in Bella mode, if you get hit by any holy attack, you die before any abnormal status is applied, so it was fortunate that you didn't have to see anything if you just watched out for a few patterns.
I'm not sure if I can call that fortunate.
"What... How...."
Lize, who was unaware of this inside story, muttered in an extremely bewildered voice. Erica, who was preparing to counter the battle nun's attack right next to me, also looked extremely shocked.
Stella returned the favor with a bright smile.
"Did you really think that a heretic who worships a mere devil could touch my body while God was protecting me? How stupid of you."
The game system calls it 'inspiration', so players call it that, but the NPCs in the game call the phenomenon a miracle of God.
Well, it was because of divine power, so it wouldn't be entirely wrong to say that it was a miracle of God.
Stella, who had put the hammer down on the ground, grabbed Lize's left wrist. As she applied force, her arm began to slowly pull outward. The distance between the dagger and her eyes gradually grew longer.
The knight commander, who was ten times stronger than an ordinary person, was easily defeated in a contest of strength. In contrast to Lize, who was flailing her arms, Stella had a very relaxed expression.
This time, the right wrist that had been stabbing her neck was pushed away. Lize, who had both wrists grabbed, twisted her body in an attempt to free herself, but Stella didn't move at all.
"It's a useless struggle."
Stella's body turned halfway as she held onto his arm. Lize's feet shot into the air. Stella twisted her body again after her body had turned halfway.
Lize's feet pointed towards the sky and then fell straight to the ground.
"Sister!"
With a desperate cry from Erica, her body crashed into the ground. There was a thud and dust rose. It was a grab pattern that the heretic judge sometimes used in boss battles.
"Cough, cough!"
Lize, who was pinned to the ground with her back to the ground, let out a painful cough. Since the grip on her arm still hadn't let go, she couldn't do anything else but cough.
In fact, if she had not been influenced, or if she had known from the beginning that she had such an ability, Lize would never have lost to Stella.
That's because he was confused by the fact that his attacks weren't working properly, and he allowed himself to be ambushed.
"Erica."
I called out to Erica, who was about to rush at Stella with an extremely fierce expression. Erica, who was wrapping her sword in flames, stopped and turned her head toward me.
"Just listen for now. The reason Lize's attack didn't work on that blonde isn't because of some miracle of God, but because of the light you just turned around. That light caused a debuff on you."
Erica's eyes widened when she heard the truth. It was probably something she had never thought of.
"The same goes for you. You and Lize both turned the white light inside out. No matter how much you attack that woman in her current state, it won't work."
"… … Then, what should I do?"
"I should step forward."
'There's no particular way, though.'
I told Erica that I would step forward, but in reality, I had no choice.
This was something I had never experienced before in a game, and I had no idea how to overcome this situation.
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Not only did the Inquisitor label me a heretic for using the devil to deal with the lord, but he even came to me from the Holy Land himself. Who would have imagined this?
'If this continues, the main story won't get messed up, right?'
It's okay if the details are a little off, but it's absolutely not okay if the main story deviates.
"Ugh!"
"Sister?!"
Lize soared into the sky and fell down with a thud right next to Erica. Stella had thrown Lize towards us. Erica hurriedly ran to Lize.
I wondered why I couldn't land properly when I fell, but Lize had a look on her face that was almost in a daze. It seemed like what had just happened had really shocked her.
Erica was trying to somehow get Lize up. The battle nuns, each holding a hammer and a shield in each hand, gradually closed the distance.
'Can we get through this without fighting?'
I also happen to have the Vitality Boost Rune equipped. If I were the only one surrounded, I would have rolled to one side to avoid being surrounded as much as possible and looked for a way out.
But right now, I have to take care of Claudia, Lize, and Erica. I never even thought about leaving those three behind and going off on my own.
So, it was right to devise a solution that would avoid combat as much as possible.
I recalled the information about the Inquisitor in my head. Perhaps because I had one corner of my faith, I was able to maintain my composure to the point of surprising myself.
That was the divine power stat.
Since I had raised my divine power stat to 10, it was safe to say that the possibility of being classified as a heretic in the heresy judgment conducted by Stella was 0.
'... The problem is, if you decide to label me a heretic without even judging me.'
If that was the case, there really was no other way than to fight Stella.
'I have to try it.'
After running a few rough simulations in my head, I stepped forward to protect Lize and Erica.
I heard the sound of Erica stopping Lize, who was startled from behind, as she tried to get up. I told Erica in advance that I would come forward, so she must have thought something was on her mind.
"Why do you insist on coming forward? Even heretics care about their comrades, is that something like that? Ugh, this is disgusting."
Stella made a gesture of vomiting. In contrast to her tone, there was still a bright smile on her face. If you looked at her face alone, she looked incredibly kind.
"I'll say it again, we're not heretics. We're definitely not devil worshippers. You're the only one who's mistaken, so just go back."
"Am I mistaken? Me?"
Stella grabbed the handle of the hammer that had half of its weight embedded in the ground. With a thud, the weight began to come out little by little.
"Who dares to say such shameless things about safety?"
The battle nuns surrounding us closed the distance even further.
Before she knew it, some of them had reached Claudia's side. Claudia tried to raise the greatsword, but before she could even get close to the handle, she let out a ragged breath and dropped her arm.
Lize and Erica also couldn't move rashly. The hammer was still standing near Claudia's head as if threatening us. It was obvious what that action meant.
"Let me ask you one thing. What happens if we surrender here?"
"Surrender? Ah, I see you finally have some grasp of the subject. Of course, we need to verify your purity, confirm that you are a heretic, and torture you until you repent of your sins."
Stella smiled brightly.
That was it. When they say they are verifying purity, that means they are judging heresy. Now, at least, there is no need to die without being judged as a heretic.
"Okay? Okay. Then I surrender."
"delta?!"
"Mr. Delta?!"
As I dropped my bloody sword on the floor and declared my surrender, a startled Rize and Erika called my name. I looked at Rize and Erika, trying to tell them that it was okay.
As if they had read the meaning in my gaze, the two of them immediately became quiet.
"You gave up? Well, that's fine. There's no need to waste energy, so it's good. Everyone, get moving. Be careful about your actions, because you never know where you might find evidence of devil worship."
The combat nuns came and grabbed my arms and made me kneel on the ground. They were so strong that my arms wouldn't move at all.
Lize and Erica ended up surrounding them while disarming them, and Claudia just placed one nun next to them for surveillance. Is this because I'm the mastermind?
"Iris."
"Yes, Your Excellency the Inquisitor."
Stella, with a confident expression, gestured to someone. A warrior nun named Iris approached me with a somewhat timid look. She was a nun with blond hair and green eyes, just like Stella.
It doesn't really matter since all combat nuns are blonde and green-eyed, but that's what happened.
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I maintained my composure even in a situation where the atmosphere was so tense that it seemed as if someone would smash my head with a sledgehammer at any moment. In any case, I was not going to die during the stage of verifying purity, that is, determining heresy.
Another sinister hand forced my head up. I was now looking up at Iris from below. The habit revealed more than it covered.
It seemed as if she had no intention of hiding her lower chest and side chest, and I wondered why she was wearing a garter belt. Not only her armpits, but even her inner thighs and buttocks were all visible.
What was even more absurd was that despite being dressed like that, her exposure was less than Stella's. Is there a rule in the Holy Land that says the higher your position, the more you have to take off your clothes?
"Get started."
At Stella's command, Iris placed a latex-gloved hand on her breast cover without hesitation, and with the other hand she brought the piece of cloth covering her private parts.
'...what?'
I couldn't hide my shock at the strip show that was suddenly unfolding before my eyes. Iris, the one who was actually taking off her clothes, had a very serious expression on her face.
She untied the hem of her habit and slowly lifted the veil over her chest. The small pink protrusion at the end of it gradually began to show itself.
I was confused. I was really confused. Is this really how to determine heresy? Why?
Whether I did or not, Iris lifted up her chest cover and unwrapped her pubic hair, revealing her bare chest and womanly private parts right before my eyes.
Silence fell.
Stella, who ordered this, Iris, who carried it out, and I, who watched it happen. Everyone here was frozen in silence.
"...Huh?"
Breaking the silence, Stella's dumb voice rang out.