While the orcs were solidifying their bonds in a harmonious atmosphere, the Grand Garden, conversely, was enveloped in a heavy silence.
“……”
In the conference room, Mayor Atilane and Priest Clayton sat opposite each other, discussing ways to break through the situation, but no suitable solution came to mind.
Mayor Atilane’s clenched fist, clutching a handkerchief soaked in sweat, spoke of the dire circumstances.
He had been confident until a little while ago, but after seeing the war situation marked on the map, he could only sigh.
“Look, everyone.”
There were countless X marks on the map.
“The monster attacks are progressing rapidly.”
The places marked with X were already lost to the monsters.
Reports of further surrenders continued to arrive at the Grand Garden.
Mayor Atilane pointed at the map and said,
“The attacks that started from the outskirts are now pushing towards the center.”
Everyone nodded at his words.
Not to mention, through the huge windows, black smoke was seen rising from various parts of the city. Explosions were occasionally heard beyond it, and people’s screams brushed past their ears.
Atilane pointed to the center of the map with a trembling finger.
The place his fingertip touched was the Grand Garden, where they were now.
“If this continues… this place will also fall within a few hours.”
The councilors’ faces turned pale at the mayor’s words.
Some were quietly sobbing, while others clenched their fists, gritting their teeth.
Vice Mayor Reinel straightened his back and cleared his throat.
“This is the greatest crisis since the formation of the Free City Alliance. We cannot leave this situation unattended any longer. How about we actively take action? This is not a problem that will be solved by standing idly by!”
Clayton silently nodded at the vice mayor’s words.
It was true.
There was no help to be gained by staying put.
It would be better to go out and defeat even one monster.
“Mayor, what is the status of the Free City Alliance’s forces?”
When he looked earlier, the guards protecting the Grand Garden seemed sufficient.
He thought that by combining them with the Crusaders and Inquisitors he led, they could buy as much time as possible before the Sail Kingdom’s forces arrived.
In response to Clayton’s question, Caleb, the chief defense councilor, took a step forward.
“Currently, most of the forces were concentrated in the east and west…”
Caleb paused and touched his forehead. Despair was mixed in his eyes.
“Reports have come in that most of them have been annihilated.”
The damage on the eastern front was particularly severe.
That’s because a Monster Wave had swept through there.
Clayton frowned at Caleb’s statement.
“In any case…”
The priest said as he stood up from his chair.
“We will organize the remaining Inquisitors and Crusader forces and focus on eliminating the monsters.”
Mayor Atilane looked at him with gratitude.
Suddenly, another explosion was heard from beyond the window. Everyone in the conference room flinched because of it.
“The situation is not good.”
Mayor Atilane looked up and turned his gaze to a certain presence.
“What is the opinion of the Mage Guild?”
It was Sharia.
Everyone’s gaze turned towards Sharia, who was standing quietly by the conference room window.
In the current situation, Sharia’s help was absolute.
After all, she had driven away the Wyverns with magic and defeated the high-ranking monsters.
Her status here was nothing less than absolute.
Even the Inquisitors of the White Church respected Sharia.
She slowly turned her gaze, which had been looking out the window, back into the conference room.
The hem of her blue robe swayed gently.
“The Mage Guild’s opinion is-”
Sharia slowly walked to the center of the conference room. The sound of her footsteps echoed in the silent room.
“This is not a simple, random attack.”
Clayton expressed his confusion at her words.
“What do you mean by that?”
Sharia approached Clayton and said,
“Look at the places marked with X. It’s not simply a pattern of infiltration from the outskirts to the inside. This is…”
Everyone began to focus on her words.
Clayton also leaned forward to listen to Sharia.
“There is a clear pattern.”
Sharia reached out her hand over the map and pointed to various spots. Everyone’s gaze followed wherever her fingertip touched.
“As you can see, this invasion is not random. Doesn’t it look intentional?”
Clayton frowned.
“What on earth are you talking about…”
No matter how much he looked, he couldn’t find the ‘intention’ she was talking about.
Rather, they couldn’t understand what Sharia was saying.
No, was she saying that monsters intentionally invaded the randomly marked places?
In fact, Sharia was spouting nonsense.
However, there was someone who took her words seriously and responded. It was Caleb.
“Are you perhaps saying that there is someone behind the monsters?”
A smile spread across Sharia’s lips. It was different from the gentle smile she had shown so far.
Something, though she didn’t know exactly what, felt cold.
“That’s exactly right, Councilor. A very accurate guess.”
She slowly walked away. The distance between her and Priest Clayton grew closer.
“And that ‘someone’ is-”
Sharia stood directly in front of Clayton. The distance between them was now only about a span.
“It seems to be me.”
At that moment, black mist rose from her hand. Expressions of horror spread across the faces of everyone in the conference room.
“Wh-?!”
Clayton instinctively tried to draw his sword, but it was too late.
The black mist from Sharia’s hand swirled, and dark red flames began to burn.
The flames writhed and grew, as if alive.
“Warlock?!”
With Clayton’s shout, Sharia’s hand moved swiftly.
The aura of dark magic emanating from her hand accurately pierced Clayton’s chest.
Blue and black flames engulfed the priest’s body. Clayton’s scream echoed in the conference room.
His body was thrown into the air and then roughly thrown towards the wall.
“Priest!”
Someone’s scream was heard, but the situation was already unfolding unstoppably.
“You demon!”
Clayton, who had hit the wall, quickly regained his senses.
“So it was you! The Free City Alliance has truly colluded with warlocks!”
He couldn’t help but think so.
Didn’t Sharia claim to be from the Mage Guild affiliated with the Free City Alliance?
And she was targeting himself, a priest of the White Church, not the Free City Alliance.
From this scene alone, he had no choice but to believe that warlocks and the Free City Alliance were in cahoots.
“N-no… What is this…! No! It’s a misunderstanding! I don’t know anything about this!”
“Shut up! You filthy scum!”
Mayor Atilane waved his hand and spoke the truth, but he was silenced by the priest’s outburst.
“Do you think such excuses will work on me! I will exterminate the warlocks and judge you too!”
Clayton raised his sword high and charged at Sharia.
However, a smile widened on Sharia’s lips.
Then, her fingers slowly rotated in the air, drawing strange symbols.
The moment the symbols were completed, her eyes turned completely black.
“In the name of the Goddess, I will judge you!”
Priest Clayton shouted and struck down with his sword. But just before the sword reached Sharia, the air in the conference room vibrated.
The space between Clayton and Sharia began to split as if glass was breaking.
The sound of reality twisting emanated from the cracks. A piercing, ear-splitting noise filled the conference room, and Atilane and the councilors covered their ears in fear.
“Wh-what…”
Priest Clayton tried to step back, but it was too late.
Because dark red tentacles exploded out of the cracks.
They writhed as if they were living creatures.
“Will the Goddess still protect you now, P.r.i.e.s.t.?”
Sharia asked playfully.
The tentacles wrapped around Clayton like lightning. The light from his sword sizzled as it came into contact with the tentacles, but there were too many of them.
“Arrrgh!”
A scream echoed in the conference room.
The tentacles wrapped around his neck, arms, and entire legs.
His armor was torn like paper, and the flesh beneath it was stripped away.
Blood splattered on the conference room floor.
“G-Goddess…”
Clayton mumbled his final prayer.
Of course, Sharia wouldn’t let him be.
When she flicked her fingers, the tentacles suddenly pulled Clayton’s body in all directions.
With a gruesome sound of muscles tearing, the priest’s body was dismembered.
Blood and flesh splattered on the walls and ceiling, and his sword, devoid of light, fell to the floor.
Eventually, the crack slowly closed, and the tentacles disappeared back into it.
In the conference room, only the torn pieces of armor, bloodstains, and the unrecognizable remains of Clayton were left.
The councilors of the Free City Alliance pressed themselves against the wall in terror.
Vice Mayor Reinel covered his mouth with a nauseated expression, and Councilor Caleb trembled on his knees.
The others could only stare at the horrific scene in shock, their minds numb.
Even the Inquisitor, who represented the Church, trembled with fear, his legs wobbly.
Sharia looked down at her hands with a satisfied expression. A faint black mist rose from her fingertips.
“This is true power.”
She said.
“Power your Goddess cannot give.”
The true power of dark magic.
Atilane was so shocked he couldn’t even speak properly.
“Th-this… It must be a nightmare…”
Sharia, who was trusted from the Mage Guild, was actually a warlock.
Furthermore, the fact that she had killed Priest Clayton was terrifying to him.
Now, there was no one left here to oppose her.
Just as everyone stood frozen in fear, the conference room door suddenly opened.
“You’ve worked hard, Leader of the Church. Here is your cake.”
Deputy Leader Lucas bowed respectfully, holding a thick chocolate cake on a silver platter.
A red cherry was placed on top of the cake, beautifully decorated with whipped cream next to it.
It was a dessert discovered by some warlocks in the underground kitchen of the Grand Garden.
Sharia’s expression changed instantly. The cold warlock who had committed a brutal murder just moments ago was gone, and her eyes glistened like a normal girl.
“Hmm, nice!”
Sharia clapped her hands and ran towards the cake.
For Sharia, who had eaten moldy bread in the past, chocolate cake was like a god.
Ah, of course, it was the next priority after the Evil God.
***
On the road leading from the border of the Sail Kingdom to Libertas, the capital of the Free Union cities.
A procession of kingdom soldiers moved, kicking up dust.
In the midst of them was a woman riding a horse.
It was Queen Irena, the ruler of the Sail Kingdom and known as the second Saintess.
She gazed forward with a solemn expression.
“The city is burning.”
However, despite her expression, her mind was in great surprise.
‘How could this be…’
It wasn’t because the city was burning.
That was a plan she already knew.
The reason she was surprised was the person armed with full armor beside her.
That person’s identity was Maru.
Maru.
A contradictory existence, a skeleton that could use Holy Power.
He had returned stronger than when the civil war broke out in the Sail Kingdom.
‘Just how strong is that ‘person’?’
She grew more curious about the great ‘person’ that Cellia always spoke of.
Maru hadn’t just become stronger.
He had now transcended being just a skeleton, a monster, and performed a miracle.
‘My finger that was offered as a sacrifice has reappeared…’
Queen Irena had offered her left pinky finger as a sacrifice in the past.
But suddenly, Maru appeared, drew his sword, and performed a miracle!
As the miracle occurred, Irena’s missing left pinky finger reappeared.
‘A skeleton that performs miracles…’
It was truly a contradictory existence.
However, having witnessed a miracle right before her eyes, she had no choice but to believe this reality.
Rather, she was growing in awe of the person who commanded Cellia and Maru as subordinates.
She looked around and shouted.
“Monsters are not attacking us. So, we proceed to the Grand Garden as planned!”
Queen Irena’s command was absolute.
No one questioned it.
If the Queen said so, it was so.
In fact, Irena knew that these monsters were those commanded by Cellia.
And Maru hadn’t come to her for no reason.
It was to deliver ‘that person’s’ command. That command was:
‘Take control of the Grand Garden.’
More precisely, her mission was to rescue the Crusaders and Inquisitors trapped in the Grand Garden and to detain the councilors of the Union, including the mayor and vice mayor.
The arrival of the Savior.
