‘…It’s ridiculous, but the effects are definitely there.’
Pope Akzel IV dove into the reports coming from each parish, lost in thought.
It had already been several decades since he ascended to the papacy.
It had also been quite a long time since he started thinking about stepping down from his old age.
But he had a goal.
To purify the Church of the Celestial God and reform it into a proper faith oriented towards the Celestial God once again—
The current Church of the Celestial God was far too corrupt and was indulging in the glories of the past, unable to move forward.
The Church began to rot simply because the Celestial God hadn’t granted any blessings.
Although it wasn’t a chaos reminiscent of a time without echoes, the fact that the Celestial God was no longer bestowing His blessings was enough for the Church to lose its stability.
And then came Ceres’s proposal.
The most efficient way to unify the interior was to create a common external enemy.
Even Pope Akzel IV, hailing from the Duchy of Kapatia and having been a soldier for a long time, had a similar experience.
When internal affairs are in chaos, a common external enemy—back then it was the grand priesthood of Agero—was indeed the best way to quell the disorder.
Besides, hadn’t the hero and the saint appeared?
While the Celestial God descended at the appointment of the saint, He still hadn’t granted His blessings.
With only warnings of an unprecedented disaster left behind, the Celestial God disappearing was an even better opportunity for the Church.
By promoting the hero and the saint, they would gain legitimacy.
And if they could highlight Vervaria, who had descended at the Kapatia Port right on cue—then the Church of the Celestial God would have no choice but to get nervous, clinging tighter to the Celestial God and consolidating their power.
Up to this point, everything was going according to the plan.
It was as Ceres had established and Pope Akzel IV had approved.
It had to be—yet—
The appearance of the saint from the demon realm began to twist the plan.
*
In the dense forests of Kapatia.
As one ventured deeper, even sunlight ceased to reach, leading up to the Glakia Mountain Range, Lake Lukuso, and the Reso River in the north.
But now, they were heading east instead of north.
“Where on earth did Sir Scarlet go…?”
Priest Vigrind muttered in a worried tone.
The news of Scarlet’s disappearance just two days before their departure had thrown Vigrind into confusion once more.
Having been injured by dense dark magic, healing wasn’t working properly for Scarlet, and ultimately, Vigrind had to go and perform the great miracle of healing himself.
In the end, it was Scarlet who had to step in and perform the miracle of great healing, even enlisting the help of Priest Vigrind.
The news that Scarlet had vanished after suffering such serious injuries was a shock to Vigrind as well.
“Since he’s a knight of the Cathedral with sincere faith, it seems he couldn’t forgive the apostate.”
Ludvik couldn’t hide his grim expression either.
It was a shock to him as well.
He had believed in Yona until the very end.
He thought she wouldn’t possibly turn apostate.
But now, she returned, and to anyone’s eyes, she was definitely an apostate.
An apostate who forsook the Celestial God and sold her soul to a Demon.
Her hostility towards the Church of the Celestial God was all too clear and undeniable.
Thus, even Ludvik had to see Yona as someone who must be killed.
An enemy to be defeated, a being with whom they could not coexist.
Though wrapped in the pretty title of “Saint of the Demon Realm,” she had turned into a creature that was not even human anymore.
“I believe the Saint must also be heartbroken, but there’s no other way. Saint, the apostate Yona is now a clear enemy of the denomination. So…”
He couldn’t bring himself to say, “Give up, Saint—”
Just hearing the name Yona twisted Vigrind’s expression, and that was painful for Ludvik as well.
“…We plan to go to Cemetery Village Semek first. While we don’t know their exact intentions, their hostility towards the Church of the Celestial God is certain. The incident in Semek is still under investigation, so they might try to interfere with something there.”
After disappearing using Vervaria, they went missing without a trace.
At least, there hadn’t been any sightings reported afterwards, so it seemed they didn’t move using Vervaria, but for them to be so elusive was also strange.
Thus, the starting point of their pursuit was the place they would most likely target—Semek.
So Ludvik set the beginning of the chase at Semek.
“Is Semek still under investigation?”
“Yes. There are practically no traces left, so the investigation is nearly complete, and I’ve heard that the refugees are returning to rebuild the village. Well… if they headed that way, there should be witnesses.”
“…Yona isn’t an idiot. She wouldn’t go to a place so obvious where she could be caught.”
“Then, do you have anywhere specific in mind?”
Vigrind looked over the map, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the table.
He said Yona wasn’t an idiot, but honestly, that was a lie. To Vigrind, Yona looked pretty foolish.
During the Cathedral lessons, Yona was always dozing off and got scolded, routinely kneeling in the back of the classroom with her arms raised as punishment.
Falling asleep all the time and getting scolded, kneeling at the back of the classroom with my arms raised for punishment was my everyday routine.
‘—That’s an old story.’
Almost chuckling at that memory, Priest Vigrind adjusted his expression with a hand at his mouth.
Anyway, Vigrind had a hunch.
Semek was probably not their destination.
He thought Semek might even be more dangerous.
“Kapatia… could it be?”
“Kapatia?”
“Yes, technically it is a path to both Semek and Kapatia. But if it’s Kapatia without Regent Ceres, then… who knows? From there, we might take a ship and head to Evian.”
Evian, Evian…
Muttering it a few times, Vigrind’s eyes sparkled as he lifted his head.
“That’s right. It must be Evian. It will be Evian.”
Seeing Vigrind speak with such conviction was a rare sight, leaving Ludvik flabbergasted.
But he also couldn’t help but wonder what the basis for this conviction was.
“Is it because Evian is the hometown of the heretic Yona or something?”
“No, Yona wouldn’t think that way. But I do have a reason to be certain that Yona would head to Evian.”
Sister Aege.
Because Sister Aege would be there.
*
“Is that person really that precious to you?”
“Yeah.”
The carriage was racing across the fields. Regardless, to get to Evian, they had to either go through Kapatia to take a ship or travel overland through Kapatia.
Otherwise, they would have to cross the Instoria Marsh, which was impossible with a carriage.
“Sister Aege…”
Ceres muttered to herself as she glanced at Yona.
She couldn’t understand Yona’s insistence on wearing the tattered and worn-out nun’s outfit that looked utterly ridiculous, but
there must be some reason behind it.
Moreover, she couldn’t comprehend Yona’s stubbornness in wanting to meet that priest, Aege,
but it didn’t really matter anyway.
Whether they headed to Semek or Albre, there was nothing there.
The demon they needed to meet first wasn’t in the Duchy of Kapatia,
but rather, they would have to cross the sea called the Sea of Flabus, known as the sea of gold, to get to the Katus Empire.
Whether to subjugate and absorb it or force it to submit would depend on Yona’s capabilities,
but from Ceres’s perspective, it didn’t matter which direction they took.
After the Deity of the Sky died, her power was split into seven and sent back to the demon realm.
I was summoned back.
And from that power, the Demon Lords were splitting the demon realm into territories, each ruling their own area.
Collecting that power into one was also Ceres’ goal.
A vessel for that power.
For the sake of that vessel, Ceres had latched onto this disgusting Church of the Celestial God and climbed all the way to the position of Elder.
For that purpose, little things didn’t really matter.
“…Why on earth are you trying to resurrect the Divine Celestial God?”
Yona asked Ceres, harboring an unresolved question.
The Divine Celestial God is a being that was directly slain by the Celestial God long ago, isn’t it?
It’s mystifying that it still exists, let alone why one would want to resurrect it.
“There’s always a reason for these things. Isn’t it true that no one really knows if the current Celestial God is the real one, or if the being called the Divine Celestial God is the true Celestial God?”
Ceres replied to Yona with a sly grin.
That response left a bad taste in Yona’s mouth, but she didn’t press further.
Whether it was the Divine Celestial God or not, she didn’t care.
Either way, just thinking about the Church of the Celestial God twisted her guts in anger, and she was prepared to use any means necessary to bring it down.
What value does a religion, already rotten to the core with its very pillars shaking, have?
And can you call a Celestial God right if they allow such a religion to fester unchecked?
Whether it was the Divine Celestial God or not didn’t matter.
If she could use that power to smash the Church of the Celestial God, she wouldn’t care.
If they thought they could poke a stick at her and not face any repercussions, they were truly foolish.
“…Alex.”
Alex, who was lost in thought sitting next to Yona, turned to her at the sound of her voice.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you want to go back to the Cathedral?”
What if he actually wanted to go back?
Would she give him a piece of her mind for lacking guts?
Would she vent her frustrations about how she’d worked so hard to save him, questioning how he could possibly want to go back after seeing such awful things?
There’s no way he’d want to go back to the Cathedral and leave her behind, right?
No, that cannot happen.
That’s just not possible.
Did she ask unnecessarily?
“Nope. Not at all.”
“Good…”
That was a relief.
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