Episode 170
Episode 170
“Ha…… But if I unleash my strength strongly……”
“With that level of authority, you can’t imprint the presence of the saint. Before using a large-scale miracle, which is no different from the symbol of the saint. This is one of the reasons why the upper echelons of the Holy Nation are trying to strike you down.”
The unstable saint.
It seems that there were some who expressed their position that they found that annoying.
“But don’t be so hard on yourself. They are dirty bastards looking for recovery slaves to play into their hands.”
His plan to follow was simple.
She prays before a statue of God's grace in the center of the capital city of the Holy Land.
And in response to that prayer, an angel descends.
Show it to the public.
It's a simple yet dangerous plan.
Praying for a long time in the middle of enemy territory.
“There is no angel that will descend upon a heretic. In other words, the Saintess’s heresy will become a meaningless accusation……. At that time, I will gather the forces that follow me and there fully proclaim the Saintess’s innocence.”
In the process, those who tried to strike her down were in turn labeled heretics.
That's the best way to confirm the existence of the saint.
That was when.
“I… but everything is fine, but the ritual to call an angel… wasn’t that just a legend? I heard there were no successful cases.”
If it had worked as she said, history books would have told of the descent of angels.
But I have never heard of such a case.
“It won’t be easy for me to perform the ritual… but what’s the point if I don’t succeed?”
Diablo calmly confessed the truth to Nadia, who was lying in a daze.
“Don’t worry. Seongguk has put a lot of effort into directing for a long time. I can imitate that much.”
Is that something that would come out of the mouth of the Holy Grand Priest?
It was a plan that was laughable, but definitely effective.
Suddenly, I felt like his gaze was turned towards Luna.
* * *
The Holy Land is a country located in the southwest of the Paschalian Empire, and its capital is known as Raphel.
A pure white and sacred city where numerous citizens live.
If you ask children there, the number one thing they want to become when they grow up is to become a priest, which shows how closely the religious order and people's lives are intertwined.
In the case of Lapel, there is a huge sacred law circle that has been maintained for a long time, so it is said that the unclean ones are crushed by the power of that sacred law circle.
Of course, I don't know what the standards of that wicked person are, but at least seeing someone like Baril walking around brazenly, it seemed like he wasn't perfect.
Operation Name: Witch's Stigmata.
Knowing full well that there was no benefit to wasting time, I acted quickly.
It's just a matter of going against the grain and hiding her.
Some time had passed since the plan was made. Diablo also needed to prepare manpower and material resources.
Currently, Luna, me, and the saintess were in the capital city of the Holy Nation, Lapel.
Entering the capital rappel was not as difficult as I thought.
It was thanks to Diablo that he was more capable than expected.
As we entered the capital without difficulty, the expressions on the people's faces were not bright, contrary to my expectations.
It felt more like my body was uncomfortable rather than life being difficult.
Is there an epidemic going on?
Saint Nadia was holding onto one trembling arm with the other, perhaps feeling burdened by the fact that everything depended on her actions.
Currently, she is wearing thick and somewhat worn robes that make it difficult for anyone to see her as a saint.
Above all, the robe was covering up the sexual power she secretly exuded.
What she wants to do now is pray for descent.
In fact, if she succeeds, the repercussions will be significant, as there is no record of a successful case in history books.
And my job was to make sure that no one came within a certain radius of Nadia while she was praying.
This is the middle of enemy territory.
Not only the knights possessed by the Holy Nation, but also the Holy Magic Division, Sword Master-level strongmen, and numerous heretic inquisitors.
In fact, there is a high possibility that a huge number of enemies will flock here under orders from higher-ups.
No, most likely it would be like that.
Of course, Diablo said that he would gather together the paladins under his command, as well as the paladins, priests, and inquisitors who were influenced by the saintess, and have them guard her side.
But they alone cannot stop the upper echelons of the Holy Nation.
Then it becomes my job to stop them.
In the end, it was a mission where my role was quite important, even more than that of a saint, but I accepted it willingly.
Of course, the one who opposed this operation the most was Melissa.
As soon as she heard what I was going to do in the operation, she got furious and tried to chew Diablo out.
But eventually she couldn't object any longer to what I said.
Instead, he grumbled with reddened eyes that he would have to stay in the mansion for at least a month after this was over.
It seems that my constant risk taking seemed so dangerous to her that it was traumatizing.
I took a few steps back so as not to disturb Saint Nadia, who was quietly reciting a prayer while waiting for the start of the operation. I circulated the command mana, elemental mana, and auras inside my body one by one as if checking them.
“Luna.”
Then suddenly a funny thought occurred to me and I called Luna.
Luna, who had been blankly staring up at the sky, stared at me with half-open eyes without saying a word.
He looked strangely uncomfortable.
“Leon, do you know that?”
She spoke in a slow, low voice.
I stared at her with a hardened face at her extremely serious expression.
This is the Holy Land. She is an angel, but a fallen being.
An angel who harbors resentment toward God.
This place would probably not be a pleasant one for her.
Finally, she took something out of her arms.
It was a snack sold on the street.
“This is delicious.”
“…….”
It didn't take long for her gloomy appearance, with dark circles under her half-open eyes, to transform into an infinitely comfortable feeling.
Yeah, it looks good because you ate well.
He looks so calm that even the tension he had was gone.
Finally, a signal sounded from the artifact to indicate that preparations were complete.
“Nadia, it’s about time we started.”
She flinched at my words and turned to look at me.
Since his face looked tense, I spoke to him in a calming tone.
“Relax. It’ll be okay.”
“Thank you for your help.”
“How far does prayer progress?”
“It is written in the temple that an angel descended upon a pilgrim who had been on a pilgrimage for two days after praying sincerely. Of course, this is not a real record, but in keeping with that spirit, the ritual is also performed for two days.”
In reality, there is no such thing as an angel descending, because no saint has ever succeeded in doing so.
But this kind of directing alone is enough to show the public her legitimacy.
“Two days won’t be easy.”
“I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”
“No, I mean you.”
Her eyes widened at my words, and she smiled shyly.
“Hehe. Are you worried about me?”
It's two days. Unless you have decent stamina, it'll be really tough.
If I just sit on my knees for a few hours, my whole leg will go numb. Two days?
It must have been difficult for a nineteen year old girl to do that.
Although it is incomparable to doing it with bare body thanks to the protection of divine power.
“Everything will be fine. Regardless of the truth, you are a true saint with stigmata, so you are not deceiving anyone.”
What's wrong with a saint saying she's a saint?
She smiled faintly, perhaps feeling relieved by my words.
“If possible, I hope there won’t be too much bloodshed. Most of the troops that are coming after receiving orders will probably be people who don’t know anything.”
“I will report and judge.”
It's the best answer for a saint, but it's a zero-point answer for someone facing the enemy.
But it didn't matter.
She also knows that fact, so she is just expressing her personal opinion.
Soon, she joined the priesthood and threw off her robe, revealing the pure white attire of a saint.
After that, she slowly approached Diablo, knelt on one knee, and bowed her head.
Diablo then solemnly accepted the saint's crown and carefully placed it on her head.
“Be bold, Saint. Those who bear the stigmata must spread their good more boldly than anyone else.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
With those words, Diablo knelt down and brushed away the light dirt on her knees as he watched the saint slowly rise from her seat.
“Go.”
With those words, a large number of knights and priests formed two rows and began to make their way through the crowd towards the statue.
The people who were working nearby turned their heads with puzzled expressions at the sudden situation, and then looked surprised when they saw the saint's presence.
“Witch…… She’s a witch…….”
“This is heresy…….”
Some of them noticed her identity and started murmuring.
It seems that her being branded a heretic has spread more widely than expected.
In an atmosphere where it wouldn't have been strange to throw stones at her at any moment, the knights all held their swords and surrounded her as if protecting her.
“Why are you protecting the witch!”
“Bring the witch out!!”
“A disease is spreading in the capital due to the curse of heresy!!”
She had been trembling with nervousness a moment ago, but now she walked forward without the slightest hesitation, knelt down in front of the statue, and clasped her hands together.
Then, an unusual current of air moved through her entire body, and a cluster of pure white lights swirled around her.
That wasn't something like directing, it was something she could express at her own level.
“The Holy Virgin is praying for the descent of the Angel. Everyone, please step aside.”
Soon, the crowd's roar grew louder as Diablo came to the forefront.
There was no way I could fit in there right away.
The knights there alone were enough to hold back the crowd.
Write… … .
Take a short breath and move all the elemental mana within your body.
In this place where the density of divine power is high, the flow of mana is hindered, but it is covered with more mana, aura, and overwhelmingly sophisticated techniques.
I can already feel the momentum of those who have grasped the situation and are moving forward.
The number is not even 50 at the moment, but troops will be gathering from various places under orders.
