'Where is this?'

The unidentified object Lee Haein had thrust toward me.

After I was swallowed by the light pouring from it.

When I came to my senses, I had arrived somewhere I had never seen before.

No, to be precise.

It was not a place I had never seen at all.

'It’s... similar to the hall I was just in....'

The enormous hall where the coronation had been held.

A space that looked extremely similar to that hall.

If there was one difference.

The stained glass that had beautifully decorated that hall was gone.

Instead of the faint light coming down through the glass windows, candles set up throughout the space were lighting the darkness.

'Luca... no.'

It was a sudden situation.

But I could guess what had happened.

'It’s the same as Wandering Clown’s transfer gate.'

The monster I had met in Seoul.

Wandering Clown Tel Lopol.

This felt exactly like when I had crossed the transfer gate it had created.

'A spatial-movement-type skill!'

And.

When I realized that fact.

“My God....”

Suddenly.

I heard a voice.

“No matter how favored he may be by Him.”

I turned my head toward where the sound came from.

“To think he resisted the Crown of Ordromineum, which even I could not resist!”

There stood the Cardinal.

Staring at me with bewildered eyes.

No.

It was not only him.

“What is happening all of a sudden!”

“The Cardinal and even the high-ranking priests....”

“Why are the people who went up to conduct the coronation here?”

An incredible crowd surrounded us on every side.

In the sense that the hall was packed full of humans, they were similar to the people I had seen moments ago.

But there was one major difference.

“Do not be alarmed, brothers.”

“The fact that the light just now brought the people who were to conduct the coronation to this [Inner Temple]....”

Shing.

“Means a problem has occurred.”

They drew their swords while looking at me.

Among the people gathered in the previous hall, there had even been ordinary people who had not awakened.

But here.

'This place is vicious.'

It was packed full of elite troops.

Armed with all sorts of heavy equipment.

'No, wait.'

But at that moment.

As I looked at those troops, suddenly.

I realized there was one strange point in the conversation I had just heard.

'...“Even I could not resist”?'

The moment I understood what those words meant.

A chill was about to run over my entire body.

“I told you, did I not!”

From somewhere among the countless people.

Someone shouted.

“I said it might actually be dangerous, so it would be better not to conduct the coronation!”

A woman I recognized.

Lee Haein was shouting while looking at the Cardinal.

“Do not say something so absurd at this point, Priest Lee Haein! How could we trust and guide someone who had not even gone through the coronation into the Inner Temple!”

“Because that coronation failed, the plan has gone badly off course! If we had persuaded him without putting him through the coronation, we might have been able to persuade him instead...!”

“Was that not a plan you agreed to in the end as well?”

“Look at the damage we have suffered because of it!”

With a devastated expression.

She raised something in her hand.

“The [Gate of Agatheum] was not a holy relic we could afford to waste in a place like this!”

“.......”

Hearing those words.

I looked at the object in her hand.

'A holy relic?'

A miniature-like object that looked like a small version of double doors.

The object that had emitted brilliant light toward me.

Had now lost all that light, turned gray, and shattered.

'I’ve never even heard of that kind of name.'

The crown that had been placed on my head had also been called a holy relic.

The problem was.

I had never heard the term “holy relic” used to refer to those objects before.

They were types of objects I was hearing about for the first time.

But.

Considering how it had tried to dominate my mind.

And how that small door had transferred me and them to this space.

I could guess that they were certainly not ordinary items.

“...I acknowledge that the loss is great. However, neither did you expect that he would possess mental-interference abilities powerful enough to resist the holy relic’s power. You cannot blame me for that.”

“Your Eminence... are you really fighting over pride after we have come this far...!”

And.

Perhaps the destruction of that small door was a fatal enough loss.

They began arguing back and forth.

I looked at them and let out a hollow laugh before speaking.

“Were you planning to do this from the start?”

I did not know the true nature of these objects called holy relics.

But through the conversation they had just exchanged.

I had understood exactly what the word coronation meant.

“You were trying to dominate my mind with that Crown of Ordo... whatever it was?”

At that.

Lee Haein, wearing a flustered expression, waved her hands and said,

“Please do not misunderstand, Sergeant Shin Youngjun. This was not done with malice.”

“You tried to dominate my mind, and you’re saying you had no malice?”

Rustle.

I stripped off the ornate clothes I was wearing and threw them aside.

“We admit that it is an easy situation to misunderstand. But please calm down and listen.”

“I don’t know. From what I can tell, I’m not misunderstanding anything.”

“The Crown of Ordromineum is not a vicious object that dominates the mind the way you imagine. It merely injects proper faith a little more quickly....”

“...No, well. Forget it.”

It had been uncomfortable to move in anyway.

When I threw off the ornate clothes, the military uniform beneath them was revealed.

“That doesn’t matter at this point.”

With one hand, I raked through my hair.

I deliberately messed up the clean hair they had fussed over and arranged for me.

“You know it too, don’t you?”

And then.

“Now that it’s come this far, this isn’t something we can settle by talking.”

I pointed the [Dokgogusik] in my hand.

At her.

“...Ahh, how did this end up like this?”

When I raised my weapon.

Lee Haein wore a despairing expression.

Separate from that.

“That brother is correct, Priest Lee Haein.”

“.......”

“Even if this Cardinal’s judgment was mistaken, there is no meaning in regretting it now.”

Step.

The Cardinal, holding a massive longsword, approached me and spoke.

“Our immediate plan has failed. But do not forget that our purpose remains unchanged.”

“.......”

“A human loved by the system more than anyone... we must make that man one of our believers. Surely you do not intend to violate doctrine at this point?”

At that.

Lee Haein, who had been looking between me and the Cardinal with a complicated expression.

Soon sighed and said,

“...Haa. Brothers.”

“......?”

“Please escort the one who will become our Pope with courtesy.”

At those words.

Sssssk....

The troops filling the enormous unidentified hall began moving as if to surround me.

[Ingredient Identification (Enhanced)]

There were not only powerful people in the late twenties.

Here and there, I could see people who had even broken through level 30, like the ones I had seen in that meeting room.

'The Church’s most elite troops, huh.'

They were awakened people in numbers.

Far beyond what one individual could possibly handle.

“I apologize that matters have ended up this way, Sergeant Shin Youngjun.”

“.......”

“But... please forgive us for being unable to let you leave this place.”

And.

To those words of theirs.

“Aren’t you misunderstanding something?”

“......?”

I.

Answered with a light smile.

“The one who needs to think of a way to get out of this place right now isn’t me.”

I slightly raised my head and looked around.

A wide hall that looked extremely similar to the place where the coronation had been held.

However.

There was exactly one difference from the place where the coronation had taken place.

“The one who needs to worry about getting out of here alive isn’t me.”

The stained glass that sunlight had shone through.

Instead of that beautiful glass, this space was lit by candles and electric lamps.

In other words.

“It’s you.”

“......?”

Sunlight.

Did not reach this space.

Saaaaaaaak!

The shadow beneath my feet.

Spread out in every direction.

***

'Ahh, how did it end up like this?'

Looking at the man pointing a blade at her.

Lee Haein thought to herself.

It was something that should have proceeded without issue according to plan.

That plan had suddenly gone wrong.

'This is why I opposed the coronation...!'

However.

The Cardinal’s words were not wrong either.

The power of the [Crown] had been greatly depleted.

And they had used up one of their extremely important holy relics, the [Gate].

Even so, the situation was not entirely bad.

'This is the entrance to the [Inner Temple].'

The deepest place in the Church.

And the place where more troops were stationed than anywhere else in the Church.

Since that man had fallen into this place alone.

Suppressing him again would not be difficult.

If they mobilized the power of the other holy relics as well, somehow....

Saaaaaaaak!

Just as she was thinking they would be able to proceed with the plan again.

“...Huh?”

Lee Haein.

Suddenly looked down beneath her feet at the strange sense of wrongness that came over her.

The Inner Temple was located in a space where no outside light entered.

However.

Thanks to torches and electric lamps illuminating the area here and there, it was not a completely dark space.

And yet.

'A shadow...?'

Beneath her feet was far too dark.

It was a shadow so deep it could not be explained even if the shadows of countless Church members had overlapped.

And.

As she stared blankly down at it... soon.

Papak!

“......!”

From there.

Something burst out.

-Kruooooooooooooooogh!!!

“Wh-what is this!”

Papak!

The startled woman kicked off the ground and moved away from that something.

And.

As she leaped into the air, she had no choice but to look around in shock.

The Church’s most elite troops guarding the Inner Temple.

The great paladins who had crossed countless battles and received the system’s favor.

“Aaaaaaaagh!!!”

“S-save me...!”

Kwajik!

Were screaming in pain.

Because of something unseen.

'What is happening all of a sudden...!'

And.

While Lee Haein was thrown into confusion by that fact.

“Calm yourselves, brothers!”

Slice.

Together with a great shout, the sound of something being cut rang out.

“An enemy you have always cut down, our hated foe!”

Along with that sound.

Something flew into the air.

“They are nothing but ugly things from the Otherworld!”

It was the head of a massive monster.

With red eyes flashing.

“Brothers, remember who it is that blesses you!”

“......!”

“The system is blessing you!”

The person who had cut down the massive monster’s head without hesitation.

“Grant immediate death to the vermin who cannot belong to the system!”

The Cardinal spoke as he swung his sword.

“Please the system with their souls!”

At that shout.

The movements of the bewildered believers changed.

“Death to the monsters!”

“We shall earn more of His love with their lives!”

An incredible number of monsters poured out from the shadows on the floor.

Against those monsters, the Church’s warriors began to fight.

'As expected of the Cardinal.'

She disliked him in that he had been the one to force the coronation.

Even so.

The sight of him cutting down the enemy without hesitation, even in a situation that could have thrown anyone into panic, was something Lee Haein had no choice but to respect.

The number of monsters that had burst out from the ground was tremendous.

But perhaps because they could only emerge from those shadows.

The number of enemies they had to face at one time was not quite so high.

The Church’s paladins were somehow able to fight those monsters.

And then, at that moment.

Thud.

Something fell in front of Lee Haein.

When she saw that object, Lee Haein opened her eyes wide and stepped toward it.

'The monster the Cardinal cut.'

A monster wearing an agonized expression.

Its head had been severed by the Cardinal’s blade.

But judging from the amount of mana remaining in that head alone, it was clearly an extraordinarily powerful enemy.

'To command troops like this.'

Lee Haein looked over that head and thought.

'Our words—'

But.

Her thoughts could not continue for long.

Puhwaaaak!!!

“......!?”

The head of the monster she had been examining carefully.

An incredible amount of blood poured out from the severed neck.

Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack!!!

From that blood, blood vessels sprouted, and flesh swelled.

And before long.

-Kruoooooooooooogh!!!

The monster she had thought had died after its head was cut off.

Its body regenerated completely in an instant.

-For our soul’s master, the great Marquis!

The monster that had regenerated its body at incredible speed.

Turned its head and looked at Lee Haein.

-And for the master of our master, who promised us our future!

Kwaang!

-For the great Legion Commander!!!

“......!”

Its massive body kicked off the ground.

And charged toward Lee Haein.