◈ Episode 111. Do You understand the situation (1)

Let’s think about it in general.

Muon, the holy land of the Goddess Church.

Even though the gates have been opened, the eyes of the paladins are still fierce. Tens of thousands of pairs of eyes watching, and you’re supposed to find a saintess, Freyja?

Truly, it’s a daunting situation.

“With all due respect to Guyver,…….”

“There must have been a misunderstanding after all, right?”

“There’s no way the Goddess Church as I know it would do that!”

“Well, it’s a magic tower after all, and it solves the problem as soon as it moves.”

And if the players were listening in on the conversation.

You realize how ridiculous the difficulty is.

It’s a bit of a cheat, and it’s a bit of an accusation.

But.

And then.

I didn’t hesitate a moment.

Tens of thousands of paladins, after all.

What about the scale of Muon’s greatness?

For me, there is pride in Grandfell.

“No demonic temptation, deception, or trial could ever dent the pride of Grandfell.”

Even if it is heavy and sinking.

A pride that can never be shaken……!

Such pride was saying.

[Skill, ‘Natural Enemy’ is triggered].

To breathe the same air as the demon.

That this moment is terribly undeserved.

“There.”

I shifted my gaze to look at the white building.

Indeed, the largest religion on the continent of Arcana.

The size of the building is out of the ordinary.

Yes, there’s a demon in there.

A self-proclaimed saintess, Freyja.

A paladin blocked the entrance to the main hall.

” …… See the stern look on his face? I don’t think he can go in there.”

Several players tried to enter the muon’s base.

It seemed to have been stopped.

The muon had already been stopped.

He had no intention of revealing the place where he was playing.

“Foolish.”

But are you mistaken about something?

You don’t seem to understand why a natural enemy is called a natural enemy.

It’s because they can’t be defeated under any circumstances.

That’s why they’re called natural enemy.

Right.

I knew it the moment I set foot on Muon.

Not just his location.

The Paladins of Muon, they don’t have faith.

It’s just a demonic [status abnormality]

“To reach the demon, I must tear that paladin apart.”

There are many, by the way.

Tens of thousands of paladins?

It’s a daunting task, but I have a ‘group’ behind me to make that daunting task a reality.

That’s right, Magic Tower. When you set out to do something, you can do anything.

‘Now that you’ve seen it in action…….’

He opened up the muons, just like now.

To increase the number of eyes watching.

Of course, the tower doesn’t care who sees it.

Even if the world is watching.

If I had my way, I’d wipe out anyone who stood in my way, even tens of thousands of paladins.

But let’s not do that. He won’t know, but the whole world will.

And the chaos that would ensue?

You can’t even begin to imagine.

And in such chaos.

the demon’s power will only grow stronger.

‘Cunning.’

Indeed, devouring the goddess church.

It was a demon with a trick up its sleeve.

It’s nothing like the demons I’ve seen in real life, is it?

No matter what, he dug a hole for himself.

‘But if it’s a hole, I dig holes too.

It means there’s not just one option.

‘To remove the [status abnormality] from tens of thousands of paladins.

Even with all the magic in the world, that would be a common sense impossibility.

Even with Marcelo’s magic, that would be a bit much.

Especially when they’re manifesting magic on themselves.

There’s no way the paladins with the [status abnormality] would stand by and watch.

But I could.

There was no hesitation.

I pulled out a demonic item from my inventory.

A demonic item to be used as a sacrifice in the [Exorcism Ritual].

[The ‘Grim Statue’ was chosen as the sacrifice].

[Skill, ‘Exorcism Ritual’ is activated].

[Invites the selected target to the ‘Ritual’].

‘Ritual’.

A space where demon hunters and demons battle it out.

Demons invited to the ritual can no longer afford to remain [status abnormality].

Even if it is a condition imposed by some great demon.

Yes, I have witnessed it.

A great evil, the Seven Deadly Sins of Greed.

And even the Demon King, Decarabia.

The moment the ritual was triggered.

The moment I opened my mouth, to be precise.

I watched as my words became meaningless.

In that sense, perhaps it’s unfair.

That the Paladins of Muon, after so many years of deception, should have slipped from your grasp in one fell swoop.

But to me, it’s only natural.

Demon hunters and demons.

A natural enemy that cannot be resisted.

That’s what we were.

No, you should know better than anyone.

Because you feared such an enemy.

You lured Akshan into the holy war and sent him to the other side, just as I recognized the demon at this moment. The moment the ritual was triggered, he would have recognized me.

“What is your impression, lowly one?”

Of course, my response was simple enough.

And then…

“Wait. You can’t access this place.”

My vision was gone.

The paladin had stopped me in my tracks.

I straightened up and declared.

“This is the moment of judgment you have been waiting for.”

*

The paladin, Talim Eber, his mind racing.

“……Why am I on guard against them?”

Stop.

The hand gripping the hilt of the sword at his waist felt awkward.

Pointing a sword at a civilian.

It was against the Paladin’s code.

Talim frowned and remembered.

“The words of Saintess …….

Yes, it all began with Saintess Freyja.

Talim steeled himself as he remembered her voice.

He warned the approaching man.

“Wait. This place is inaccessible.”

The answer came quickly.

“This is the moment of judgment you have been waiting for.”

“……!”

The moment of judgment?

……Judgment?

The word gave Talim a pounding headache.

His head hurt like it was going to crack.

“Judgment Day……!

Vaguely, he remembered Freyja’s words.

‘Until the day of judgment comes.’

No matter what, we must not leave the muon.

For the saintess had said so.

Wasn’t she the one who broke the paladin’s code and didn’t stay?

“!”

I did.

The continent of Arcana was trampled by demons.

Innocents slaughtered.

Even the day his own home was destroyed.

He himself was imprisoned on Muon, awaiting the day of judgment.

“Whoa!”

……I really did that?

For a moment, Talim felt a surge of uncontrollable disgust.

His mind and body were in direct conflict.

Doubt began to brew in his mind.

‘……Why didn’t I do anything?’

It was all about honoring her word.

We trusted her to lead us to the right place.

A voice spoke over Talim’s doubts.

“Freyja.”

“……?”

“Does that still seem like a saintess to you?”

“……!”

Blasphemy.

Ordinarily, he would have reflexively drawn the sword at his belt, but Talim could not. Because the silver-haired man was right.

‘……What am I?’

Freyja, because he could no longer trust her.

Where did it go wrong?

……No, when did I stop noticing.

In hindsight, Freyja’s behavior made no sense.

Goddess religions have a duty to protect their followers.

It has a duty to save the continent of Arcana from being trampled by demons in the name of the Goddess. Freyja was too obsessed with Muon.

But.

‘a sign from the Goddess.’

Whenever such doubts arose, a powerful thought came to mind.

The thought silenced his doubts.

Quack-

Talim clenched his fist.

‘My faith does not waver in the face of trial.’

Yes, the Goddess’s revelations would come as usual soon.

All he had to do was act on it.

“……Why.”

But there were no more revelations.

Doubts that shouldn’t be there were rising to the top of his head.

All I could hear was a man’s calm voice.

“The status abnormality has gone.”

Talim repeated himself.

“……Status abnormality?”

Some sort of curse.

Does that mean I’ve been under a curse all this time?

And yet he felt fine.

Talim’s suspicions grew stronger.

“He said the status abnormality was gone.”

Unless you can tell which curse.

You can work backward to see what’s gone.

But no matter how far back you go.

there was only one thing missing.

The revelation of the Goddess.

“Woo, woo, woo!”

Another wave of disgust washed over him.

In Muon, in front of others, this was disgusting. Talim hurried to his feet and looked at the man, but his expression didn’t change.

Talim opened his mouth.

“……If she is not a saintess, then what is she?”

A nagging suspicion crept into his mind.

He couldn’t help but ask the man.

At the same time, Talim hoped desperately.

Hopefully, the man would not answer.

But once again, the answer came quickly.

“The Demon.”

“Aah…….”

The answer that denied her faith.

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. https://pindangscans.com

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It’s going to make your skin crawl.

You won’t be able to accept it right away.

But what can you do?

This is reality.

Shuffle-

The paladin who had blocked my way knelt on the ground.

His legs seem to have given out.

By the way, I can feel hot gazes on me.

It was the players’ eyes.

I wasn’t close enough to hear the conversation.

‘I wonder if this is just another weird rumor.’

That was a concern.

Now was the time to focus on the demon in front of me.

As I steeled myself, the paladin spoke again.

“……I don’t believe it.”

Yes, it’s unbelievable.

But reality is often ugly.

“Even if I was tricked by Freyja, I can’t agree with her being a demon. Even if the saintess did not exist, it is because we have the care of the goddess. The proof is that the miracle of the goddess and the tears of the saint are intact.”

His eyes trembled as he spoke.

“In such a holy place, Muon, the demon cannot set foot.”

Was that what he meant?

I don’t care, as long as you believe in Freyja.

Neither I nor Grandfell are religious.

There is freedom of religion in this world.

It doesn’t matter to me who believes what.

Not even my parents.

One goes to a temple, one goes to church.

But I’m a tired person who can’t let a wrong statement go unanswered.

I said nonchalantly.

“It’s not a goddess miracle or anything.”

Yes, that’s how the Goddess Church became widespread.

The elixir of rejuvenation that the media was so excited about.

The tears of saints.

Why it has such an effect on the subject of spring water.

At least in my eyes, I could see why.

“The tears of a saint are not as special as their name suggests. It’s just one of the effects of the Aryan Moss, an elixir that grows at the bottom of the spring. It’s hard to tell it apart from ordinary moss, so it hasn’t been properly studied. No wonder you don’t recognize it.”

“……what?”

“But Aryan moss alone cannot produce such an effect. It’s only effective at certain temperatures. Perhaps the minerals in the nail are keeping the water at the right temperature, and given the surroundings, I suspect the Demune Moonstone.”

[The pentagram of pure knowledge].

The truth I was able to recognize.

The quest window confirmed my suspicions.

Identify the factions that participated in the Holy War. (Ongoing)

Encounter a saint of the Goddess Church. (Successful)

Determine the identity of the Goddess Church Saintess. (Successful)

Hunt a demon disguised as a Saintess of the Goddess Church. (Ongoing)

Determine the original sin of the Magic Tower. (Success)

The quest window told you.

The Goddess Church never had saintess or holy women in the first place.

At my words, the paladin completely collapsed.

“……aaaaaaaah!!!”

I knew what the continent of Arcana looked like.

I could fathom his feelings.

Guilt, perhaps, or regret.

In my mind.

I wished I could offer some sort of comfort.

But there was no way I could offer such warm words to this tired man.

I opened my mouth to be myself.

“I don’t believe in God.”

……It’s just so gut-wrenching.

It’s not like I’m fanning the flames.

You’re just spitting out shit about Goddess religions and their enemies.

My eyes glazed over, but my mouth remained firm.

“Because there is no hard evidence that they exist.”

“…….”

“But there is also no definitive proof that God does not exist.”

“……?”

My words brought a question to the paladin’s face.

It was as if he was asking if there wasn’t enough evidence already.

Well, he must be mentally broken.

He had every reason to think so.

Their holy place, Muon, had been played by the demons. Maybe they thought that was enough proof that the goddess didn’t exist, if not the other gods.

But they overestimated.

“A lowly demon is not proof.”

“……!”

That was an admission of the existence of demons.

The pride of Grandfell could not tolerate that.

The moment.

A deafening blast.

Kukkukkukkukk-!

Muon’s pure white nature shattered.

A giant tentacle shot out from the crumbling building.

It was Freyja, the demon impersonating a saintess.

A giant mass of tentacles.

A languid voice that didn’t sound like it belonged there.

Judging by the reactions of the paladins, it was Freyja’s voice.

“Indeed, the rumors floating around were true. good. I have found a new deception. I will stop at this point. It was enjoyable in its own way. Foolish denomination of goddess crunch mad with illusions.”

As I suspected.

She’s not a normal demon, considering she’s unharmed in the ritual.

Besides, it’s a rumor.

It seemed to know something about my existence.

Well, you made a mistake, didn’t you?

In enemy territory, with no idea what surprises I might encounter.

Do you think I came alone?

Yes, of course I had Magic Tower behind me.

Even after Senios’ death.

The senior mages of Magic Tower, whose rage against demons had reached its peak.

That’s right.

……But wait.

Maybe this doesn’t even need to be a Magic Tower.

Thud.

The Paladin is now standing next to me.

His gaze no longer wavered.

Soon, I heard a determined voice.

“Thank you for saying that to me when I was feeling discouraged.”

Hmph.

He drew his sword.

“It’s time to prove my true faith, which does not succumb to trials.”

“It is time to judge the demon who deceived the Goddess.”

“In the name of the Goddess. Draw your swords, paladins of Muon!”

At the same time.

A message appeared in my vision.

[You have been granted command of the Goddess Church Paladins].

[Leader of the Goddess Church Paladins, 46,800 paladins under Talim Eber]

[Current status: awaiting orders]

“!”