Before sending Maru to the El Dorado Continent, I made one request of Yerin Jeong.
“What? Bodyguard?”
It was a request for her to be my bodyguard.
Originally, I had no intention of sending Maru to the El Dorado Continent.
‘Because Maru has to be my escort.’
In addition, I had held back my actions to some extent, fearing that if the White Church found out about the existence of the Holy Sword obtained through summoning, troublesome things might happen.
However, as Maru’s rank became 6-star after obtaining the Holy Sword, my thoughts completely changed.
‘End this war quickly!’
This time, the goal is simply to help Queen Irena of the Sail Kingdom and take over the Free City Alliance.
However, I calculated that I couldn’t just take it.
‘If the Sail Kingdom’s territory expands, other countries will surely covet it.’
After this war ends, will other countries leave the expanded Sail Kingdom alone?
‘No.’
Something is bound to cause trouble.
‘I can’t just let it be.’
In the first place, the purpose of this Special Mission is to transform the Kingdom into an Empire.
If so, I had only one goal.
To win this war.
Not just to win, but to win overwhelmingly.
And the existence of the Holy Sword that Maru possesses would change Queen Irena even more remarkably.
‘I don’t care what the Church says about the Holy Sword.’
Maru’s rank is 6-star.
Except for Celia, there was almost no one on the El Dorado Continent who could contend with Maru.
No, it would be no exaggeration to say there was none at all.
So, I dispatched Maru to Queen Irena.
And I, who remained at home.
“Well, now that you are officially an advisor to the Fire Bird Guild, Kanghyeon, protection is a given.”
I was in my room with hunters assigned by Yerin Jeong for protection.
Unexpectedly, she accepted my request for protection without asking any reason.
Of course, the hunters responsible for protection only scouted the surroundings outside the house, not the interior.
In reality, the ones actually protecting me were the 5-star Mana Gargoyle, the Elf Ciel, and the housekeeper Skeleton Coco.
‘At least I can trust them.’
I had no intention of trusting all of them, even if they were Fire Bird Guild hunters.
There might be factions opposing Yerin Jeong, and there might be personnel who don’t look favorably upon me, who suddenly became an advisor to the Fire Bird Guild.
Therefore, even if they were responsible for protection, I assigned them to the exterior, not the interior of the house.
Just in case, I had also asked Betta, Azmo’s subordinate officer.
“Understood, Master. I will thoroughly guard your residence.”
With Betta, a 4-star slime and a genius at transformation, also on guard, I was finally able to concentrate on the war with peace of mind.
And before long, countless alarms started popping up on my smartphone.
“Skoll sacrifices an Silver Badge Adventurer to Master.”
“Absorbing abilities of the sacrificed Silver Badge Adventurer.”
(Remaining time: 5 hours 24 minutes)
“Necros offers 100 Gold Coins as a sacrifice to Master.”
“Necros is proud.”
“Celia sacrifices a dismembered Half-Elf to Master.”
“Absorbing abilities of the sacrificed dismembered Half-Elf.”
(Remaining time: 5 hours 24 minutes)
“Sharia offers a chocolate cake to Master.”
…
…
…
Alarms saying sacrifices were offered covered the screen.
‘But what’s with the dismembered Half-Elf?’
And where did the chocolate cake come from?
Some of the alarms had meanings I couldn’t understand.
* * *
As soon as Maru was dispatched to the El Dorado Continent, he immediately told Queen Irena.
“Clack clack.”
Of course, ordinary humans couldn’t understand the sound of bones, so he wrote letters on paper as he spoke.
“Master wants the Free City Alliance.”
Lee Kanghyeon had ordered Maru to end the war quickly.
“Requesting quick termination of the war.”
Maru interpreted the command as best he could and conveyed it to Queen Irena.
Upon receiving Maru’s message, Queen Irena’s thoughts immediately began to flow in the following order.
1. Conquer the Free City Alliance.
2. He wants the war to end quickly.
3. Ah! I should occupy the Grand Garden immediately!
4. War over.
Thus, Queen Irena and the soldiers she commanded immediately began their final advance towards the Grand Garden of the Free City Alliance.
“Grrr?”
The surrounding monsters turned their heads even when they saw Queen Irena’s procession.
This was because, with Maru present, they knew without being told.
It was proof that they were on the same side.
How long had they walked?
Queen Irena arrived at the Grand Garden.
The grand main gate was already completely open. And without any signs of damage, as if someone had been waiting for their visit.
Knights and soldiers were about to enter with vigilant eyes, but Irena stopped them with a gesture.
Irena herself and Maru had to enter first.
The two of them walked slowly without a word, followed by knights.
The moment they entered the Grand Garden, Irena witnessed a shocking sight.
The floor of the conference room was stained with blood. Bloodstains were splattered on the walls and ceiling, and unidentifiable pieces of flesh were scattered everywhere.
They were clearly the remains of people.
But in the midst of it all.
“This cake is delicious!”
Sharia was sitting on a table, swinging her legs, and taking a big bite of a chocolate cake.
Her face was ecstatic, and chocolate cream was smeared around her mouth.
Around her, the councilors of the Free City Alliance were pressed against the walls, filled with terror.
It was the same for the Crusaders and the Inquisitors. They were huddled in different directions, some kneeling and praying.
“Oh, Goddess, protect us…”
The trembling prayer of an Inquisitor echoed in the conference room. His face was pale, and his once majestic appearance was nowhere to be seen.
“It’s so delicious!”
Regardless, Sharia was preoccupied with the cake.
Lucas stood behind her.
Lucas held a silver tray, on which a strawberry cake was placed.
“Hmm~ that looks delicious too!”
Sharia was about to eat the strawberry cake next.
“…”
Queen Irena couldn’t help but open her mouth at this sight.
‘What is going on here?’
The floor was clearly overflowing with blood.
But in the middle of it, there was someone eating cake.
And with a smiling face.
‘Did I miss something?’
Irena racked her brain.
Did she miss something?
‘Or is this also part of His plan?’
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand it, so she even wondered if this might be part of ‘His’ plan.
Everything was confusing.
They were supposed to simply take over the Grand Garden and arrest the Free City Alliance councilors as heretics, but a slight variable had arisen.
“Hmm?”
Sharia, interrupted from eating cake, widened her eyes and muttered.
Celia had given Sharia the mission to occupy the Grand Garden of the Free City Alliance and frame them for colluding with a Warlock.
And she had performed it perfectly.
Even now, the Inquisitors thought the Free City Alliance had conspired with the Warlock who was them.
Similarly, Queen Irena was faithful to the mission given by Celia.
Forming an army and declaring war on the Free City Alliance.
And storming the Grand Garden with Maru was indeed perfect.
“…”
However, variables arose for both of them.
“The, the first apostle didn’t mention this much…”
Sharia muttered in a flustered voice, pausing her cake eating.
It was Sharia’s first time actually facing Queen Irena.
So she didn’t know how to proceed with the situation.
On the other hand, Queen Irena.
‘Who are they?’
She had heard nothing about Sharia.
“…”
“…”
As an awkward silence hung between them, Maru, unable to bear it any longer, stepped forward.
Armed in full armor, Maru held a Demonic Sword in one hand and the Holy Sword in the other.
Then, he focused his power only on the Holy Sword.
With that, a divine light emanated faintly from the Holy Sword.
“Ah…!”
Sharia, noticing the Demonic Sword Maru was holding, let out a sigh.
‘Demonic Sword!’
Both Sharia and Queen Irena could infer one fact from Maru’s actions.
‘They are on the same side!’
The fact that they were on the same side.
“Twice, an angel of God has come!”
Immediately, an Inquisitor spoke.
He marveled at the Holy Sword Maru was holding.
At that moment, Queen Irena understood the situation.
This was the perfect opportunity to put on a play. She assigned herself a role on the spot.
“What in the world has happened here?!”
Irena’s voice echoed, filled with authority and anger.
It was the perfect voice of a ‘Savior’.
“I am Irena, ruler of the Sail Kingdom. I have come for the peace of the Free City Alliance and the Church!”
As Irena stepped forward, her armor shone with a divine aura, reflecting the light of the Holy Sword.
She looked as if she had received the blessings of a Goddess.
“Ah…”
The Inquisitors and Crusader soldiers looked at Irena with eyes filled with surprise and hope.
“The Saintess has come!”
Tears streamed from their eyes.
“Your Majesty… No, Saintess! Save us!”
One Inquisitor cried, even kneeling.
“These devilish councilors of the Free City Alliance colluded with the Warlock! And they did this to Priest Clayton…!”
Another inquisitor pointed trembling fingers at the remains on the floor, speaking in a trembling voice.
Sharia also quickly assessed the situation.
She realized it was time to perform a play, not to eat cake.
She slowly got off the table and looked towards Irena.
“Ah.”
And she began to speak in an awkward voice.
“Oh, so you are the Queen of the Sail Kingdom.”
Sharia was weak at acting.
“Leader of the Church, it would be good to use Warlock magic as well.”
Lucas, the deputy leader who quickly understood the situation, whispered in Sharia’s ear.
Sharia nodded and conjured black mist in her hand.
Then she spoke again.
“Oh, you’ve come to the wrong place, Queen. This place is already ours, the Warlocks.”
Although her acting was obvious to anyone who saw it, those trembling with fear didn’t have time to think about it.
The problem was that even Irena, at this moment, was not a queen but an actress.
She snatched the Holy Sword from Maru beside her and declared.
“You filthy Warlock! In the name of the Goddess! Cease this wicked act!”
The fortunate thing was that Irena’s acting was much more natural and smooth than Sharia’s.
At this moment, a flicker of hope began to appear in the eyes of others.
Mayor Atilane stepped forward first and pleaded with Irena.
“Y-Your Majesty the Queen! We are innocent! We have never colluded with Warlocks! This is all a big misunderstanding!”
However, Sharia burst into a cold laugh at the mayor’s words.
“Hoho. Ho…”
“Good. Laugh like that and you’ll be framed.”
Lucas, who was diligently coaching Sharia’s acting, said from the side.
“Don’t lie, Mayor. Even He knows how hard you worked to cooperate.”
The Inquisitors seemed to gain more conviction from her words.
“H-How dare you join hands with actual heretics!”
“What a filthy alliance!”
Anger flared in their eyes.
Now came the climax of this play.
Irena turned her gaze to Maru and returned the Holy Sword.
“Holy Knight, purify this evil horde!”
Maru nodded and took a step forward.
The light emanating from his Holy Sword intensified.
In fact, the light Maru was emitting was not from the Holy Sword but from his A-Rank skill, ‘Judgment of Light,’ but the Inquisitors present were not in a state to worry about such details.
“H-How is this possible!”
Sharia feigned surprise at Maru. Her acting was still awkward.
“H-Holy aura? How can this be…!”
She turned and whispered to Lucas.
“What’s next?”
“It seems to have gone according to plan. When the light gets stronger, scream and retreat.”
“Yes, got it! Don’t forget to bring the strawberry cake.”
“Don’t worry, Leader of the Church.”
The light grew stronger and eventually covered the entire conference room.
Sharia screamed as Lucas instructed.
“Ah! Ugh!”
After screaming, Sharia and the Warlocks cautiously headed outside the conference room.
How much time had passed?
The intense light gradually subsided.
After a moment, when the light completely disappeared, no one was there.
“…”
The Warlocks had vanished.
A moment of silence permeated the conference room.
Everyone was unsure if what had just happened was real.
Then-
“L-Long live!”
An Inquisitor shouted in a trembling voice and burst into tears. The overwhelming joy of someone who had returned from the brink of death spread across his face.
“We lived… We lived! Thank the Goddess!”
Another Inquisitor tapped his left chest three times and offered a prayer.
His hands were still stained with blood and dust, but tears fell on them, forming small streams.
Starting with them, others raised their arms and shouted.
“The Goddess has blessed us! Queen Irena, the Saintess, has come to save us!”
“Saintess… True Saintess…!”
Then, one by one, the Crusader soldiers and Inquisitors knelt or prostrated themselves.
Some trembled with emotion, while others embraced their comrades, grateful for their survival.
To them, Queen Irena was the Savior herself.
