Chapter 188: Stigmata and the Brilliant Chalice (1)<hr>  <hr>


    『But if a divine relic wasn’t the cause, what could’ve been?』


    The conversation returned to figuring out what could have triggered Stigmata to manifest. Mira had been in the incredible position to be allowed near the Vessels of the Three Gods, but the members of a newly founded cult would never get anywhere close to that.


    If an angel like Tiriel had been near her, they would have also felt the divine power about to manifest as Stigmata, so they would certainly keep a distance to avoid a disastrous end.


    『So there must have been something there…』


    The woman had been loud at first, but then slowly became weaker. After a lot of thought, Mira started to look at her symptoms differently. Her health only got worse when she went after Soul Howl’s stronghold. That was deep in the Ancient Temple. A temple… it made sense if an item that could trigger Stigmata was held there.


    Then there was therge hole they found beneath the Chalk Castle, which was located on the lowest floor of the Ancient Temple Nevrapolis. A devil had been doing something there too, adding to the ce’s mysteries. So Mira told Martel and the Spirit King about that too, hoping to gain some insight.


    But surprisingly enough, for the second time that day, both of them had no idea what she was talking about.


    『The Ancient Temple Nevrapolis… I don’t remember hearing that name before.』


    「I’m sorry Mira, but I don’t know of that ce either. I do know various temples all over the Three Gods’ Countries though.」


    「How could this be…」


    Martel and the Spirit King were living encyclopedias, but they did not seem to know much about human structures and history. But the Spirit King found it humorous, mentioning how humans would build all sorts of things in all sorts of ces, making it difficult to keep track of everything.


    (I guess I’ll have to ask someone else who knows a lot about that ce.)


    Thinking that, Mira stood up and went to the door leading into the shower room. The person who knew that ce the best was him, Soul Howl, who built his stronghold there. He had been living there for some time, so he could have an idea of an object possessing divine power. Or at least that was what Mira hoped.


    「Soul Howl, can I ask you something real quick?」


    But there was no response, only the rain-like sound of the shower. So Mira raised her voice even louder and began banging on the door. That finally reached him, and the sound of water stopped.


    「What do you want to ask?」


    Saying that, Soul Howl opened the door and looked at Mira, not making the slightest effort to conceal his naked body. Soul Howl’s body was quite toned, his muscles clearly defined, though that was impossible to see before while he wore his robe. There were many scars dotted all over too, showing he had truly lived as a warrior thus far. He was also quite tall, so he naturally had to look down to see Mira.


    Such a situation would make any normal woman beet red with embarrassment, but Mira was obviously an exception.


    「I’m just curious about something. Is there anything in that ancient temple you live in that has a holy or divine feel to it?」


    Mira calmly asked as she looked up at Soul Howl’s face, she had absolutely no interest in a male’s body, or rather, she did not even seem to notice he was naked. They looked like a young man and woman under the same roof, but one only liked undead girls, and the other was a perverted old man. Both knew the other’s personality, so there was no room for any sort of misunderstanding to spark.


    「Something holy or divine? That’s a really ambiguous question, but hmm…」 He muttered as he went into deep thought, but after a while he just said, 「I can’t think of anything like that.」


    「Though well, if anything I guess that castle would be something, it’s all white and stuff. But why are you asking this so out of the blue?」


    「I’m just trying to sift through the information I have, nothing big. I’ll tell you when Ie to a conclusion, sorry for interrupting.」


    Mira returned to her sleeping bag, lying on it as she began thinking about everything again.


    The Chalk Castle had been there as far as she remembered, so it felt almost like a background prop to her, but it was arge and serene building. She recalled it being arge castle of pure white with no blemishes, in a way it almost resembled the Divine Spiritual Crystals she had seen earlier.


    『How about a castle that’s entirely built out of Divine Spiritual Crystals?』


    Divine Spiritual Crystals were put in ce by the Gods wherever they felt their intervention was necessary, in a way they were almost as important as a divine relic. Mira started to think that arge structure built of a divine material like that could easily have the necessary presence to trigger Stigmata, but the response was moreplex than she expected.


    『In terms of raw divine power, yes, it would be enough to instigate Stigmata to appear. But Divine Spirit Crystals are almost always used to seal something, so their power isrgely contained and doesn’t affect the surroundings. Even if an entire castle is made of them, there would be no way for the divine power to leak and resonate with that inside of someone’s soul.』


    「Hrngh…」


    Mira’s head plunged onto the sleeping bag as she groaned, her idea being rejected. Then Martel spoke again.


    『I’m still wondering what that devil was doing there though.』


    The suspicious circr hole they found underground still intrigued Martel. Maybe some divine object had been taken out from there, or destroyed there. The Spirit King was also convinced that something must have been buried there and was no longer present, due to the devil.


    『That’s true. If there wasn’t anything in the Chalk Castle or above, it must’ve been below.』


    There was a high likelihood that the object that triggered Stigmata in the frozen woman had been in that underground space. After considering all other options, the three converged on that theory. Sadly Mira did not possess any more information about that.


    『By the way, is Stigmata even treatable with the Brilliant Chalice’s power then?』


    Realizing they were at a dead end, Mira remembered why she even brought up everything in the start. The devil, Stigmata, the conditions for its manifestation, it all had stemmed from that original question.


    『Ohh, right, that was your question.』


    『Oh, we really strayed far from your question.』


    The two replied like that, their voices cheerful as they had enjoyed the conversation. But soon after the Spirit King gave a proper reply, saying it more than likely could do something about it.


    『As I mentioned earlier, Stigmata is divine power that has awoken, which once aroused can’t be made dormant again. Either it consumes the host’s body, or a devil takes notice and hunts the host down.』


    The Spirit King briefly summarized what he had mentioned earlier, before mentioning what the Brilliant Chalice of Divine Decree could do about it. The surge of divine power was essentially in a critical state, so the way to deal with it was to find a way to subdue it and put it under control again. And the means to do that, was the Brilliant Chalice of Divine Decree.


    Soul Howl’s idea had been pretty much on the mark. The only big difference was that it would not exactly cure Stigmata, but simply return it to its proper state.<hr>  <hr>