-Krk, krrrk, kuh, kruooooooooogh!!!

The monster approached while shouting words I could not understand.

The monster attacking in itself was not that strange.

What was surprising.

Was that.

'That monster had only had its head left.'

That monster.

Until only a few seconds ago, had been in a state where its head had been cut off.

And at that moment.

“Th-these things...!”

Bewildered voices came from all around.

“They don’t die even if we cut their bodies in two!”

Battles were taking place in every direction.

The Church’s warriors continued cutting down the monsters.

But the monsters cut by their blades were not falling at all.

'...I see.'

And.

Seeing that sight, Lee Haein slightly turned her head.

-Kruoooooooooooogh!!!

The monster rushing toward her.

Just before its massive claws tore Lee Haein’s body apart.

“Do not panic, brothers!”

She looked at the monster and lightly swung her hand.

Then.

Crumble...!

The monster’s right foreleg, which had been swung toward Lee Haein.

Vanished in an instant.

-Krrk!!!

It flinched in pain.

But even that foreleg quickly regenerated, and the monster tried to continue its attack.

However.

“Not the right hand, then.”

Lee Haein.

Continued swinging her hand without the slightest hesitation.

Crumble, crumble, crumble!!!

Each time she swung once.

A part of the monster’s body was torn away.

First the right arm, next the left arm, after that the leg....

And before long.

Crumble....

The head.

And the heart too.

“The head, and the heart!”

After confirming that sight, Lee Haein immediately turned her head and shouted.

“Those are their weak points!”

“Priest Lee Haein...!”

“Do not panic. Respond calmly. No matter how powerful their regenerative ability may be, they are still monsters!”

Unlike when she dealt with Sergeant Shin Youngjun.

There was not a trace of hesitation or wavering in her eyes.

“Vermin who have not received the system’s grace!”

“......!”

“They are not enemies to those of us armed with His grace!”

When Lee Haein shouted that.

“In the name of the great system!”

“Slaughter those without grace!!!”

The shaken soldiers regained their formations.

And began responding against the monsters.

“Cardinal!”

After confirming that, Lee Haein soon ran elsewhere.

Then.

Slice—

“Priest Lee Haein?”

The Cardinal, who had cut down another monster.

Looked at her with a face covered in blood.

***

“This is astonishing.”

A battlefield where fierce combat was unfolding.

In the midst of it.

The place where the most corpses had fallen was none other than beneath the Cardinal’s feet.

“To think that brother was commanding monsters with this much power!”

“.......”

“And monsters are still continuing to spring out of these shadows.... Just how many monsters did he force into submission?”

Countless monsters sprang out from the shadows.

The Cardinal cut them all down before they could properly emerge.

Around him, corpses were literally piling up like a mountain.

“This is no time to be surprised, Your Eminence.”

“What are you talking about, Priest Lee Haein? We must eliminate these things as quickly as possible....”

However.

Lee Haein paid no attention at all to that mountain of corpses.

She stepped over the scattered pieces of flesh and approached the Cardinal, then spoke.

“Sergeant Shin Youngjun is nowhere to be seen.”

“......!”

At those words.

Even the Cardinal, who had been cutting down monsters.

Opened his eyes wide and looked around.

“You’re right.”

“These monsters are nothing more than a delaying tactic.”

“......To deploy this many monsters merely to buy time? It’s hard to believe.”

“It is difficult for me to believe as well. But look.”

Lee Haein pointed at one place.

An injured monster was crawling across the floor.

It was wounded.

But it still seemed to have strength left.

A Church warrior charged at that monster, but....

Srrrk....

Before the monster could enter combat with the Church warrior.

It returned into the shadow from which they had poured out.

“Their goal is not to annihilate us.”

“.......”

“If that were what they were trying to do, the Church members would already have taken heavy losses.”

Just as she said.

After buying a certain amount of time, when the monsters judged that they were in danger, they fled back into the shadows.

If they were attacking more aggressively instead of withdrawing in moderation like that.

Heavy casualties would already have occurred.

“Their goal is to buy time as efficiently as possible. While these monsters hold us here, Sergeant Shin Youngjun must be trying to escape this place. We must pursue him.”

“......That is not wrong, but.”

At her words.

The Cardinal looked back.

“You are saying we should leave the monsters here and pursue him first?”

“Yes.”

“However.”

A place that looked similar to the hall aboveground.

At its deepest end, there was a massive wall.

“You know better than anyone what kind of place this Inner Temple is, do you not?”

The Cardinal.

Looked beyond it as he spoke.

“If Sergeant Shin Youngjun returns to the Legion, then a full-scale war between the Legion and the Church will begin. If that happens, the operation to convert him will be delayed far too much.”

“The relationship with the Legion has already collapsed as of the moment the coronation went wrong, has it not? We have engaged in combat with their soldiers.”

“Sergeant Shin Youngjun is not an officer of the Legion. He likely does not have the authority to use guild messages either. If we succeed in suppressing him now, we can smooth over what happened during the coronation as nothing more than an incident.”

“However, Priest Lee Haein...!”

But.

The Cardinal still looked around with anxious eyes.

“Even if we have to wage war against the Legion, that may be better than putting this place beneath the feet of monsters.”

“.......”

“.......”

“As long as the [Conquest War] has not ended, Brother Shin Youngjun cannot possibly flee to another country either. Rather than trying to handle this in haste. Perhaps it would be better to wage war against the Legion, completely suppress the Legion, and then secure Brother Shin Youngjun’s person....”

“Your Eminence!”

Lee Haein cut off the Cardinal’s words and shouted.

“Do not forget doctrine.”

“.......”

“The one who receives more of His favor than anyone else.... Sergeant Shin Youngjun is the only person qualified to become our leader.”

When doctrine was mentioned from her mouth.

The Cardinal’s expression hardened.

“Unless someone who receives even more favor appears, the current situation itself, where someone other than him reigns as our leader, violates doctrine!”

“.......”

“Sergeant Shin Youngjun’s absence must be as brief as possible. Or perhaps....”

Her eyes.

Became stained with suspicion.

“You still have no intention of stepping down from that position?”

At those words.

Cardinal Jung Suhwan frowned and said,

“That is an insolent question, Priest Lee Haein...!”

His wrinkled face flushed red.

He glared at Lee Haein with a furious face and said,

“This Cardinal is a man thoroughly armed with faith in the system. I have no intention of ignoring doctrine!”

“.......”

“When that brother converts to the Church, this Cardinal will yield this position without hesitation... I believe that discussion had already been settled before!”

However.

Lee Haein looked at him with an expression that said she would not be fooled.

“But the later the moment Sergeant Shin Youngjun converts to the Church becomes, the longer Your Eminence will remain the system’s first believer.”

“......It was this Cardinal who advised that we conduct the coronation, even if we had to exhaust the power of the [Crown], so that we could convert that brother with as few variables as possible!”

“I have not forgotten. Thanks to that, matters ended up going wrong like this. I could not forget it even if I wanted to.”

“......What are you trying to say?”

In the midst of the violent battlefield.

The gazes of the two collided.

“I have no desire to fight you either, Your Eminence. I simply think it is necessary to prove whether Your Eminence’s faith truly follows doctrine... or whether you are clinging to the position of the Church’s leader.”

“By prove... you mean I should capture him myself?”

“Yes.” 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

At her words.

“......How dare you.”

The Cardinal’s face twisted grotesquely.

“To show that sort of attitude to me, this Church’s Cardinal and the system’s first believer...!”

“.......”

“You lowly, insect-like, trash-like bitch, how dare you, how dare you...!”

The Cardinal glared at Lee Haein with a face full of rage.

His breathing grew rough, and his face flushed even redder.

“Have you calmed down?”

“......Yes.”

But.

Only for a moment.

“I misspoke.”

Cardinal Jung Suhwan, who had been pouring out abuse.

Regulated his breathing and opened his mouth.

“I apologize, Priest Lee Haein.”

“I accept your apology.”

“It is never pleasant to have my faith doubted, but....”

Soon.

He lowered his head with a smile that seemed resigned.

“...If that is the only way to prove my purity, then there is no helping it.”

And then.

The Cardinal turned his head and called several names in succession.

“Sir David! Sir Cha Gyeonghwan! Sir Jang Hansol!”

“You called, Your Eminence!”

In answer to that call.

There were people who pushed through the countless monsters and gathered.

[System Paladin Lv.34]

[System Inquisitor Lv.32]

Powerful people who ranked among the Church’s awakened.

Even in this place, where the Church’s elites were gathered, they stood at the very top.

“Leave the cleanup here to the other brothers. We will secure Brother Shin Youngjun!”

“Yes!”

When they began moving.

The monsters blocking their path fell in an instant.

“No matter how extraordinary that brother may be, he cannot know the precise route through this temple. We will head near the exit by the shortest path, and from there...!”

And.

Just as they were about to set out.

To secure Sergeant Shin Youngjun.

At that exact moment.

“I thought I might go a little easy on you if you intended to stay still.”

“......!”

At the voice coming from somewhere.

The Cardinal and the Church members flinched in surprise and looked toward the direction of the sound.

“If you say you will not give up, then there is no helping it.”

***

Kuuuuuuung....

While the believers and monsters were engaged in fierce combat.

The air of the wide hall grew heavy.

Sarak....

The shadows filling the floor of the hall.

Something began to reveal its form from within those shadows.

'That is....'

Blond hair that emitted a faint light, and red eyes as beautiful as jewels.

That figure was so unrealistically beautiful.

'What... is that...!'

...And perhaps because of that.

They could tell that it was no ordinary existence.

Kugugugung....

Along with it.

Enormous pillars rose from every direction of the hall.

The massive pillars, gleaming with dark-red light, writhed like living creatures.

Then.

Srrrk....

Toward the center of the hall.

...Toward the place where the woman who had just revealed herself was.

They respectfully lowered their heads.

Tentacles formed from black mist and red blood mingled together.

Reverently lifted the woman’s body.

“.......”

“.......”

The woman’s body rose into the air.

And she sat upon a throne made of tentacles as she looked down at the ground.

A posture without the slightest disturbance.

An overwhelming dignity, as if she had been born to rule everything from the moment of her birth.

“In the name of Ariella, head of the Karshtein Bloodline, I command you.”

All the believers stared blankly at that sight.

Pressed down by that immense presence, everyone in the Inner Temple waited for her words.

And.

“All of you.”

She lightly stretched out her hand.

Raised one finger....

And soon.

“Kneel.”

That finger.

Lightly lowered.

......And.

That was enough.

Kwaaaaaaaaaang!

They were people who had sworn to submit only before one existence.

Before the name of the only god they served, the system.

That resolve was certainly firm.

“Krrk......!”

But even that firm resolve.

Could not protect them.

A posture of worship that could be offered only to God and His proxy.

......The warriors who carried out the will of the Church.

Knelt at Ariella’s command.