Saint Patrick’s Cathedral.

The damaged cathedral lost its inviolable dignity. The damage inflicted by the battle itself wasn’t too bad; Mona and Umar had restrained themselves in their battle, leaving the foundation intact. It wouldn’t take much to rebuild the architecture anew.

What spoiled the atmosphere was Wayne. Holding a Sacred Tome of Golden Law, he stood in the light while serving darkness. He was more capitalistic than demons and more demonic than capitalists.

Inside the ruined cathedral, clergy members got into a long line and jumped when they heard the roars coming from the front, their expressions bitter.

Oh no. The Archbishop was a demon’s minion. They had falsely accused the envoys whom the Papal State had sent to investigate. It wasn’t something that could be easily forgiven.

A number of white-bearded old men stood in the front. All of them were Gold-ranked mages, save for the captain of the guardian knights, a legendary mage.

“Your...”

“What of mine?”

“Your Excellency.”

“What excellency?”

“Your Excellency Envoy, from the Papal State.”

“Ha, so you know who I am. What names did you call me? Huh? Why aren’t you talking anymore? You hurl curses as easily as you breathe, and you call yourselves clergy? You’ve brought dishonor to the Church of Heavenly Father.”

Wayne had gotten good at playing the typical leader since the successful rebellion. Leaders didn’t have to be loud, tall, or handsome. Those were merely wishful thinking on the part of the numerous civilians.

Being a leader was about affecting the right tone—three parts bright, four parts dark, and ninety-three parts flippant.

In other words, the masters from the Papal State were the masters, so the managers in the rural areas should do whatever the masters said, whether they liked it or not.

Wayne scoffed at the white-bearded old men before him. Thinking that he had been too nice to them, he lifted his chin slightly so that his nostrils were facing them. “Hodgson served the Lord of Envy and recruited a group of fallen evil gods in the Astral Plane, planning on sacrificing the entire Republic of Erland to open the Gate of Hell and let evil demon lords through...”

“As the leadership of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, do you know how many resources the church has put into cultivating you? But then all of you become accomplices of demons. How is the Pope going to face Father in Heaven?!”

“Sir Envoy, please don’t make careless accusations. Hodgson has always been authoritarian and kept everything under wraps. We didn’t know—”

“Shut up and stop making excuses!” Wayne kicked the half-done lump of human flesh at his feet, snarling. “Hodgson said that you were all his accomplices. Aside from me, no one in the entire Saint Patrick’s Cathedral has any decency.”

While everyone tensed up in fright, one of the bearded men said, “Sir Envoy, Hodgson only dragged us down with him because he knew death was his only ending. You must know with your foresight and keen observation that we are wronged.”

“Ha, now you praise me for having good foresight. What were you doing earlier?” Wayne scolded, making all of them lower their heads. After a breath, he continued with disappointment, “Not a single one of you at the Saint Patrick’s Cathedral noticed that Hodgson was a demon’s minion. You’ve done wrong by His Holiness and more so our Father in Heaven.”

“Sir Envoy, we’re willing to accept punishment, if only you’ll put in a good word for us before His Holiness.”

“What good word? About how incompetent you are?”

“Sir Envoy, please give us a private moment—”

“Stop pulling me. If you have anything to say, just say it. I’m telling you now that I do not tolerate bribery. Don’t think you can buy me with money or women. That’s not going to work.”

Chatter.

“Ah, I see that you were wrongly accused!”

Chatter.

“Oh, then I understand you!”

Chatter.

“Tsk, tsk. No wonder I received anonymous tips that allowed me to complete the investigation smoothly. You were the one who had been offering help in secret.”

Chatter.

“How loyal! His Holiness will surely reward you.”

Role models could be influential. With the few bearded old men leading by example, everyone else followed suit and donated their pocket change to prove the devotion of their faith, claiming undying loyalty to the Papal State and burning hatred for the demons.

Soon, almost everyone was deemed a contributor to the plan of eliminating the demon.

Of course, there were a few exceptions. A number of them thought that just because they liked little boys, the envoy of the Papal State must like little boys, too. They ended up arrested as Hodgson’s accomplices and beaten to near death.

The evidence was sufficient; there was no denying culpability!

“Pauly, you owe me the deeds of three mansions. Remember to bring them tomorrow.”

“Of course, of course.”

“Bart, I don’t need your daughter since she’s a married woman, but your granddaughter is maturing. Remember to let me take a look at her tomorrow.”

“You’re too kind.”

“Taylor, I didn’t expect your family to own a shipyard. What a surprise that you’re a noble.”

“My family has long declined. We’ve been trying to sell the shipyard, but we haven’t managed to find the right buyer. You’re doing me a great favor, Sir Envoy.”

“Hahaha—” xN

The atmosphere in the church was serene and pleasant. The envoy of the Papal State got on well with the managers in the rural areas, who were so moved that they dared not move.

Two expressionless women stood at the front door of the cathedral: Mona and Umar.

(눈_눈)x2

Well, they weren’t expressionless per se; they simply didn’t know what expressions they should put on their faces.

Umar’s eyes twitched. She couldn’t understand how the church had fallen this far. She whispered, “Śār, is this really alright?”

“Don’t mind him. He’s an extraordinary talent with the special ability to attract demons, which is important to me,” Mona said solemnly. “Don’t call me Śār. My name’s Mona Hawthorne. My angel master Wayne is the Śār you’re talking about.”

Śār, do you realize that you’ve fallen a little?

Umar sighed inwardly, not daring to comment on her supervisor. The Śār seemed to have descended to the human world for an important mission regarding demons from Hell. She wasn’t privy to the information since the matter was above her paygrade, so she didn’t ask about it.

To protect the noble image she had for the Śār, she warned herself that the Śār had only taken this series of absurd actions to hide her identity, not fearing to make sacrifices.

Yes, that’s it!

She understood now.

Then she saw Wayne pat Mona on the bottom.

She was lost again.

Umar lowered her head meekly, her timidness incongruous to her earlier image as an aloof, haughty angel. Wayne took in everything and wondered about Pride’s altar. It really was something else; it had fooled not only the Sacred Tomes of Golden Law, but also real angels.

“Have you taken them all out, Mona?”

“No, none.” Mona shook her head gravely. “Those sects have been evacuated, and even the statues of the evil gods and the Astral Beasts were gone. Only the corrupted fanatics remained, none of any importance.”

Her investigation and pursuit didn’t go well. The evil gods were cautious and well-informed. They had returned to the Astral Plane at once, so Mona and Umar ended up destroying only the headquarters of a few sects, encountering no evil god.

There was a silver lining: the eggs had all rotted before they could hatch because of the departure of the Astral Beasts.

“Miss Angel,” Wayne turned to Umar and asked, “Based on what you know about demons, do you think they’ll give up so easily?”

He didn’t ask her name since an angel’s real name in Heaven was as significant as a demon’s real name in Hell. Followers could use faith magic after learning their real names, so they didn’t just go around telling anybody.

Wayne knew that he wasn’t actually an Śār. To avoid further trouble, he simply addressed her as ‘angel’.

Umar said with an impassive face, “Demons do not give up until they get what they want, especially not the Seven Demon Lords. Since the Lord of Envy plans to open the Gate of Hell, the plan will remain in motion until success or total failure.”

Mona chimed in, “Boss, the demon may have other plans.”

“That’s what I think.”

The expert opinions aligned with Wayne’s own conclusion. He believed that the demon had a Plan B, or even a Plan C, D, E, F, and G.

He picked up the map and said with a frown, “I’ll have the clergy notify the Papal State. The Gate of Hell may not be opened in the Republic of Erland. It could happen in any country.”

“Boss, could you extract more information from Hodgson?” Mona asked. “Perhaps it was he who tipped off the evil gods.”

“He didn’t know much. The demon didn’t trust him...” Wayne thought for a moment before raising his eyebrow. “Perhaps we can use him to lure the evil gods out, as well as Envy’s familiar.”

Mona nodded, praising him telepathically.

Wayne grinned, patting her butt in exchange.

Umar stared. Why don’t I just leave you to it, Śār? My chest hurts.

Wayne dragged the half-done, dead meat out and slapped the back of his head, ordering Hodgson through thoughts to contact Envy’s familiar and lure the familiar out.

Corruption had converted Hodgson from following the Heavenly Father to following Envy, and now Wayne. He did whatever Wayne told him to do as soon as he received the order. With his thoughts, he contacted a corner of the Astral Plane, reaching Envy’s familiar in a hidden space.

Mona’s and Umar’s eyes glinted with golden light. They traced the spatial disturbances and tried to identify the exact coordinates.

“Boss, this angel can find the demon’s hiding place, but it’ll take a long time. Have Hodgson keep the conversation going for longer,” Mona said quietly.

What an outstanding angel! Wayne had a newfound respect for Umar. The boyish yet feminine appearance fit an angel’s genderless trait.

He ordered Hodgson to do his best to keep the conversation with Envy’s familiar going, making sure to prolong the call even if he couldn’t lure the familiar out. At the same time, Wayne followed Umar’s example and traced the spatial disturbances with his thoughts, trying to find the evil gods and the demon familiar.

Regular Gold-ranked mages couldn’t do that, not even Silvia, who was on the cusp of reaching Legendary. Wayne only managed to capture the disturbances with his ridiculously strong thoughts and traced the phone line to three sources: Hodgson, Umar, and Mona.

He was surprised by Mona’s rapid progress. Since she gained the divine blood of Saint George, she had been getting stronger day by day. Her thoughts, especially, would catch up to his at this rate.

He suddenly remembered the strange balance in Mona’s body. There was no Golden Triangle, and life, void, and self had become an integrated whole, reaching a different kind of balance.

Perhaps that was what a demigod was!

Wayne filed that away in his mind, planning to study it thoroughly after returning home. He had been present during Mona’s evolution, recording all the data with his thoughts. As long as he confirmed that she was a demigod, he would be able to go down the path much more easily.

Perhaps he would be able to skip ahead with his high stats!

“How wonderful!”