“Ah… achoo!”
Underground, within the Ratman Village, Veil suddenly sneezed while sitting on a bed eating dried fish.
She didn’t seem to care in the slightest, however, merely rubbing her small nose slowly before resuming her battle with the dried snack in her hand.
Whoosh!
A cold night wind swept through the Ruined City, but it failed to snap Amisa out of her dazed state.
‘Huh… what?!’
‘What exactly is the Lady talking about?’
‘I understand every word she’s saying, but why does it feel like I… don’t understand her at all when they’re put together?’
She wasn’t the only one who didn’t understand. Sigrid, standing opposite her, was just as confused.
The meaning behind Ileya’s words was already glaringly obvious.
She was claiming that her ability had been granted by the Supreme God!
Was that truly the case?
Of course not. Ileya knew better than anyone how her ability had come to be.
In the traditional sense of this world, she wasn’t even a Transcendent.
Every Transcendent had a “root.”
For example, the root of Amisa’s ability was a Supreme Being known as the Shadow-Crawling Chaos.
For the Heretic Interrogation Squad before her, their root was the Supreme God.
But her own… if she had to say, her root was a certain Foolish Goddess she was currently raising.
As long as she didn’t speak of it, no one would ever know.
In other words, Ileya was in a state where she possessed no root, nor was she the Divine Kin of any Supreme Being.
Ever since she realized this, the Lady knew that this unique trait of hers could be put to good use. And now… was the perfect opportunity.
When she was down below earlier, Ileya had seen more than just the battle itself through the Remnant Soul’s “livestream.”
Whether it was to recruit these members of the Holy See or to prepare for the possibility of them becoming enemies in the future…
Ileya had invested a considerable amount of energy into studying these people.
And with just a little research, she had noticed some clues.
If one were to speak of the strongest person within the Heretic Interrogation Squad—the one who most deserved the title of Transcendent—it would undoubtedly be Captain Bellelily, who slaughtered the Divine Guards as easily as if she were chopping vegetables.
Her ability was self-evident: a flame that could incinerate everything.
However, the other members of the squad did not possess this ability.
Or rather, the transcendent abilities each of them possessed were different. For example, the man in the team whose bangs covered his eyes had the ability to emit a golden light. The earlier explosion of the oil jar had been his handiwork.
Another example was Sigrid, who seemed able to make her weapon sharper, as if she could apply strange buffs to her armaments.
Yet these abilities were not that powerful.
Just as Amisa had noticed before, whether it was that man or Sigrid, their abilities hovered only between the levels of Level 1 and Level 2 Transcendents.
They primarily relied on their transcendent physical bodies and sharp combat instincts to fight.
In that case, could Ileya conclude that these people were Followers of various different Supreme Beings?
But that was clearly incorrect.
The Inquisition’s attitude toward other Transcendents was far from friendly; it could even be described as hostile.
Their reputation was even more notorious than her own was among the common folk.
Their attitude toward other Transcendents essentially locked out the possibility of other Transcendents entering the Holy See.
Of course, this approach by the Holy See was foolish, but Ileya would have done the same in their position.
Their primary purpose was to proselytize, to serve the Supreme God, and to become his representatives in the mortal realm.
If they were too inclusive, forget becoming the national religion—the Royal Family would have likely exterminated, suppressed, or sidelined them within a few years.
Returning to the topic, if they weren’t the Divine Kin of other Supreme Beings, then the secret of these weak Transcendents was revealed.
What they had received was indeed a Divine Gift from the Supreme God.
However, the Supreme God was perhaps different from traditional Supreme Beings. He was a god, the only god in this world… naturally, he was all-powerful.
Therefore, the gifts different believers received from him might all be different, and they could vary in strength.
Take Captain Bellelily standing before her, for instance.
Her ability was clearly countless times stronger than those of her squad members, reaching an almost terrifying level.
Although Ileya had never seen a true Supreme Being…
If someone were to say that this Bellelily could challenge a Supreme Being who wasn’t specialized in combat, given her terrifying ability to burn everything, Ileya would believe it entirely.
So, would Bellelily’s situation be unique within the Holy See?
Clearly impossible. At the very least, individuals at the level of the Pope and Bishops would possess powerful abilities matching their status.
These people might have many differences, but their commonality was surely their faith in the Supreme God.
So… why couldn’t a believer exist who also worshipped the Supreme God and had been granted authority by him?
And why couldn’t that “lucky” believer be her… Ileya Battios?
This was the reason Ileya claimed her ability was granted by the Supreme God.
It was the source of her confidence when she said “Death is also a Divine Gift,” and more importantly, it was the Lady’s true purpose!
She didn’t just want to get involved with the Church; it would be best if she could somehow climb into its upper echelons.
If that happened, even the Royal Family wouldn’t find it so easy to move against the Marquis Mansion.
In one year’s time…
Rather than desperately groping for ways to become stronger in this dark, twisted abyss of a world, finding a powerful backer was much more reliable.
However, whether all of this would go according to Ileya’s plan depended on what the Captain before her decided.
At this thought, Ileya looked toward Bellelily with a cynical, carefree expression.
The Captain remained expressionless, appearing even more indifferent than Xiao Yaba back at her home.
The only thing she was currently unclear on was Captain Bellelily’s personality.
According to Ileya’s own character, when she completely lacked understanding of an opponent, she would place herself in their shoes and judge them by her own standards.
‘If it were me… I might first play along to keep the person in check while I investigate and notify the higher-ups of the Church.’
Naturally, this was because an important piece of information was missing: the fact that Ileya could “foresee the future.”
In a situation where there was an information disparity, she would always have the upper hand.
Really?
But just as the Lady was waiting for Captain Bellelily to make her move…
The Captain suddenly spoke, asking a single question.
“Huh…?”
“Was your ability really given by the Lord?”
“Then why haven’t I seen you in the Holy See?”
Cough, cough… Wait, there was nothing wrong with asking that…
But wasn’t it a bit too straightforward?
Ileya, who had already prepared several sets of arguments, stared blankly at the young woman before her, whose dark-gold eyes were blinking at her.
Vaguely, she actually saw a hint of “clear stupidity” within those majestic, dark-gold eyes.
The feeling was exactly the same as the innocence in Veil’s eyes.
‘Hiss… I thought of several outcomes, but could it be that this Captain is actually… a complete fool?!’