[Holy Sword User (Red): Can use any Holy Sword regardless of conditions, all traits are greatly increased when holding a Holy Sword.]
The effect is okay, it's just a bit of a mixed bag.
Glancing at the newly acquired Holy Sword User trait, a flicker of thought flashed in Tatsuma's eyes.
Both being red traits, Holy Sword User and Holy King's Sword both belong to the Holy Sword type of enhancement.
Looking solely at the traits, neither of these is bad among the red traits, and they can even be said to be very practical. But the biggest problem now is that he doesn't have a suitable Holy Sword in his hand.
No, it seems there is a suitable one.
Tatsuma looked thoughtfully at Durandal.
"Hmm? What are you going to do."
Xenovia, who had just stood up, noticed something was wrong and took two steps back, raising her guard.
"Nothing, just looking." Tatsuma withdrew his gaze.
Although Durandal is very suitable, he can't just snatch it openly. As a legendary Holy Sword, this sword holds extraordinary significance for the church.
Grabbing Xenovia and beating her up without causing death, the Church side would at most give a verbal reprimand or two. But if he were to snatch the other party's Durandal, the Church would send people to start a full-scale war the next day.
In terms of gains, it's not worth it.
Bringing Xenovia back to the Occult Research Club, Asia proactively came up to help treat her injuries.
Taking advantage of this moment, Tatsuma opened the trait panel, consumed the Holy Sword User trait, and opened a slot.
Opening the ninth equip slot requires a red trait or an equivalent proportion of lower-tier traits.
Most of the red traits Tatsuma had before were useful, so he kept them in the inventory and rotated equipping them. But the Holy Sword User trait is different.
Since it's useless in the short term, it's better to use it to increase the equip amount and improve overall combat power.
Putting on [Immortality], Tatsuma, who had temporarily finished changing traits, looked ahead.
Under Asia's treatment, both Xenovia and Irina's injuries had fully recovered.
"That was really miserable." Irina sighed, covering her head.
"It was indeed a crushing defeat." While agreeing, Xenovia glanced at Tatsuma, who was sitting not far away.
"The Red Dragon Emperor's strength is even more astonishing than rumored."
"You were too weak, you didn't even display half the power of the Holy Sword." Tatsuma gave a blunt assessment without holding back.
"..."
Xenovia and Irina fell silent.
The defeated have no right to speak. As the weaker party, they had already lost the right to argue with Tatsuma.
"Cough! Although some conflict occurred, let's get back to business now."
Seeing that the time was right, Rias spoke up at the opportune moment to break the atmosphere and return to the main topic.
"Two members of the Church, I heard you came to Kuoh Town to carry out a special mission."
"Could you reveal to us the contents of this special mission?"
"Of course."
Exchanging a glance with Xenovia, Irina proactively stepped forward and replied, "Xenovia and my mission is to reclaim the stolen Holy Swords."
"Not long ago, the headquarters in Vatican, the New Church, and the Orthodox Church were attacked."
"Although the powerhouses within the Church repelled the enemy, the other party snatched the Excalibur fragments that were separately placed within the three Churches before they left."
Rias asked, "You mean... the culprit who stole the Holy Swords is currently in Kuoh Town?"
Irina nodded. "That's the intelligence we received."
"In fact, before we arrived, the Church had already sent many exorcists to infiltrate Kuoh Town. However, without exception, they were all secretly dealt with by the enemy."
"I did recently receive intelligence about priests operating near Kuoh Town, I didn't expect the truth of the matter to be like this." Rias silently sighed in her heart.
She didn't know when it started, but Kuoh Town and its vicinity always seemed to have all sorts of trouble.
"Who is the culprit who stole the Holy Swords?"
"Grigori."
"If I remember correctly, that's an organization of Fallen Angels, right?"
"Yes, besides that, we also know the identity of the main culprit. This Holy Sword theft incident was entirely orchestrated by Kokabiel."
"Kokabiel?"
Rias's expression immediately became serious.
As the heiress of Gremory, she naturally knew the name Kokabiel. The other party is a Fallen Angel cadre who survived the Great War, an existence mentioned in the Bible.
Judging by strength alone, even the highest-ranking Devils cannot contend with the other party.
"Since the opponent is Kokabiel, why would the Church send the two of you? With the strength of the two of you, no matter how you look at it, it's impossible to defeat the other party, right?"
"That's right, we can't win."
"If nothing unexpected happens, we will face a crushing defeat just like against the Red Dragon Emperor just now."
Facing Rias's questioning, Irina and Xenovia directly admitted it.
Rias said, "So you came with the resolve to die? The faith of you believers is as difficult to understand as ever."
Irina shook her head. "Please don't say that, this faith is what we have always held onto."
Xenovia echoed, "In fact, the Church high command has already made a decision. If we absolutely cannot reclaim the Excalibur fragments, then we will destroy them."
Rias asked, "With the Durandal in your hand?"
Xenovia nodded. "That's right."
Rias asked, "But if you die, wouldn't it be worse for Durandal to fall into the enemy's hands?"
Xenovia said, "The Church side has already prepared corresponding backup plans, and Durandal isn't something just anyone can wield, you can rest assured about that."
Rias asked, "Alright, I understand your intentions, is there anything else you want to say?"
"Hmm... no."
Of course, this was a lie.
The reason the two of them came to see Rias this time was because the Church high command suspected that Devils might potentially team up with Fallen Angels to cause trouble.
To prevent the worst-case scenario, they wanted Rias to promise not to interfere in the upcoming battle between the Church and the Fallen Angels.
However, after witnessing Tatsuma's strength, Xenovia gave up on this objective.
On the enemy's territory, ordering the other party to promise not to act was akin to provoking them right in their face.
If they were strong, it might be acceptable, but now they were the weaker party.
If they really did that, Xenovia had no doubt that Tatsuma would act again. Moreover, unlike just now, this time the other party might truly kill them.
"It seems you were lying."
Rias saw that Xenovia and Irina were not telling the truth, but she didn't pay too much attention.
From the initial deterrence to letting Tatsuma take action for a strong suppression, she also had her own purpose.
"Since the two of you no longer have any requests, then please listen to what I have to say next."
Irina nodded. "Please speak."
Rias said, "Recently, a malicious serial killer has arrived in Kuoh Town, targeting Gremory Devils and related personnel."
"To prevent further sacrifices, after discussing it with Tatsuma, we decided to conduct a large-scale reconnaissance of the entire Kuoh Town tonight."
"Simultaneously?"
Irina was startled for a moment and exchanged glances with Xenovia beside her.
Large-scale detection methods are often unable to maintain secrecy.
For Rias to say this is basically equivalent to openly informing the two. Their actions tonight will alert Kokabiel, who is hidden within Kuoh Town.