Rokton furrowed his brows.
‘Looks like it’s time to show a bit of Ashtar’s dignity.’
“We’re being underestimated. They think they can use the Goddess Church’s threats just to see my cute little sister.”
“Hmm, that may be so, but if you think I have disregarded Ashtar, I apologize.”
“Well, that depends on Olivia’s wishes.”
He had no intention of forcing Olivia into anything.
She had already proven her abilities during the expedition.
Forcing her to go to the Theocracy would be a hassle.
“Oh? So the future head of Ashtar is more concerned about his little sister?”
“Of course. She’s my one and only adorable little sister. Father and Mother treated her poorly, but I’m different.”
When she said she wouldn’t get married, he couldn’t have been happier.
He couldn’t allow just anyone near her—no matter who they were.
Even if they were a Hero.
“But dealing with the Theocracy’s envoy… aren’t you being too casual?”
“Why don’t you just say I’m being rude instead of beating around the bush?”
This was exactly why he disliked the Theocracy.
They acted high and mighty just because they were the heart of the Goddess Church, despite being a nation of barely a few million people.
“Yes. Then I’ll say it outright—you are being rude.”
“And why wouldn’t I be? You’re a pawn of the Pope trying to take my sister.”
If anything, he was being too polite.
If they had any conscience at all, they wouldn’t take offense.
This was exactly why he couldn’t stand the Theocracy.
“Ahem.”
“Anyway, my sister will probably arrive soon. I’ll ask her opinion.”
That much, he could do.
The problem was whether Olivia would even want to go.
He had no intention of forcing her.
Goddess Church? His sister mattered more than that.
“Thank you.”
“And by the way, what’s your name?”
He figured he might as well remember the name of this impudent man.
“I am William, the Pope’s grandson.”
The Pope’s grandson? Of course.
That explained everything.
“Ah, William. Got it. Now leave.”
“Yes.”
Rokton dismissed William.
He had no desire to deal with Theocracy people ever again.
If their country weren’t the heart of the Goddess Church, he would have dealt with them long ago.
***
The road to Crad Castle was entertaining.
It was exactly the kind of experience that made one feel like a true mage.
There were quite a few monster attacks.
Before the recapture of Crad Castle, the main army had taken a detour around the demonic mountain range, attacking the Third Corps from the flank as a bonus.
The real challenge was the direct route to Crad Castle.
Since the main expedition force had taken the mountain path, this road was teeming with monsters.
It was up to them to clear them out.
The mages of the Mage Corps unleashed a relentless barrage of spells.
“Magic Bullet!”
“Fireball!”
“Ice Arrow!”
“Lightning Strike!”
Boom! Crackle! Bang!
While it wasn’t as freewheeling as adventurer combat, the Mage Corps’ mission was still exhilarating.
‘Absolutely perfect.’
The sight of countless spells exploding before his eyes left him in awe.
“What’s so amusing?”
Beside him, Syria asked with a bored expression.
‘Amusing? Of course it is.’
Everything happening right now was thrilling.
“This refreshing feeling—something I never got to experience in Noah’s territory! Ah, I am Olivia. I’ll live as Olivia forever. I could cry from happiness.”
As long as she could live as a mage, she didn’t care about being a noble lady or anything else.
“Wow. You’re completely hooked.”
“Of course! This is exactly what I wanted!”
Unlike that dull, suffocating place—Atlerina.
Unlike a city full of worthless nobles strutting around, this place had real action.
Ah, what a joy.
“Well, you’ll still have to return to the Imperial Capital after break.”
Her excitement instantly deflated.
‘Oh, right. No matter what, I’m still part of Atlerina.’
This would only last for another two weeks.
‘But still, why did this mage have to ruin her fun?’
“You just had to kill the mood, huh?”
“Oh? Olivia cursing?”
‘Look at this guy.’
“It was just a figure of speech.”
“Still, I must say, this place is completely different from Atlerina.”
“Exactly. These are real mages.”
“Well, if you want real mages, you should go to the Magic Tower.”
‘Still talking about that place?’
“They don’t see much real combat, though.”
“Not if you work as a dispatched battle mage. I came from the Magic Tower, remember?”
That was true, but the problem with the Magic Tower was that you’d be stuck there, buried in research.
Sure, all mages were technically battle-ready, but that place was more about magical advancements than real combat.
She didn’t dislike that.
After all, magic was essential for human progress.
It just wasn’t her thing.
“What do you think of the Mage Corps?”
“Hmm. Not as good as the Magic Tower, but decent? Just average, I’d say.”
“Wow, at least try to be polite.”
She had been to the Magic Tower before, so she knew it was a level above.
Still, the Mage Corps wasn’t to be underestimated either.
After all, Ashtar had carefully selected only the most talented individuals.
“Eh~ But honestly, they’re just okay. Maybe it’s because this is a reserve unit. That Kise woman probably doesn’t want you handling anything too dangerous.”
“Is there anywhere in Ashtar territory more dangerous than Crad Castle?”
Probably not.
Within Ashtar’s domain, the worst they’d deal with was routine patrols.
Meanwhile, the monsters around Crad Castle were still largely unknown.
“Hmm, now that you mention it, that’s true. Wait, no. If it gets dangerous, you could always call for support from the Ashtar heirs stationed at Crad Castle.”
“You really love jumping to conclusions.”
‘At least try to make sense.’
That would be an embarrassment to the Mage Corps.
“But you know, Olivia.”
“What now?”
“The mages found something.”
It was true.
Near the forest, the other mages had discovered something unusual.
“Olivia! Come look at this! We found something!”
Not far from Crad Castle, deep in the woods, they discovered a peculiar gray stone temple.
It was surprisingly large—most likely a sanctuary of some kind.
“Did Berna make this?”
“Berna makes things like this??”
There’s no one else besides Berna who could have done this.
“That girl was obsessed with the Demon King before we even got our hands on her for ‘physical therapy,’ so it’s not surprising if she made something like a sanctuary. This area used to be Berna’s domain, after all.”
“That’s true.”
This place was definitely something Bernoa set up.
Since she was a user of the Authority of Corruption, she must have built this sanctuary to manage her corrupted followers.
“Olivia, should we report this to Kise?” one of the mages asked.
“No. Is there really a need? Technically, Kise’s mission already includes this place. If Berna left something behind, there might be things here worth looking into.”
“Bringing Kise here would take too much time. Besides, there’s no way Clanis or Seto doesn’t already know about this place. From their perspective, they wouldn’t want to leave it alone either.”
Hmm. I’m curious.
But I can’t just go to the Imperial Church, find Bernoa, and ask her directly when she’s busy managing Nora.
It’s better to check this out myself.
“I think we should handle this on our own.”
“We should?”
From the perspective of a former Hero Party mage, it’s best to take care of potential threats before they become real dangers.
After all, before the Hero Party defeated the Demon King, the Four Heavenly Kings’ bases were always a headache.
This sanctuary might not be a base, but the fact that it’s a sanctuary makes it even more unsettling.
That idiot Bernoa might have done something with her corrupted followers.
My mage’s intuition is telling me this.
If I don’t investigate quickly, something is going to go very wrong.
“Let’s at least contact Kise before we go in.”
Kise is the captain, after all.
It’s better to inform her before proceeding.
***
We carefully stepped into the black temple at the heart of the sanctuary.
“This doesn’t feel like something Berna would make.”
“It feels off because Berna made it.”
She’s the Corrupted Saint.
Of course, it feels wrong.
She probably dragged people here, corrupted them, and used them as pawns.
Now that I think about it, shouldn’t Bernoa be grateful to me?
“No, that’s not what I meant. There’s a strange smell, like medicine or something.”
“A medicine smell?”
“No way… Could it be Clanis?”
Clanis was always good at conducting experiments.
Just then, a voice echoed from inside the temple.
“Demon King, please destroy the current humanity and usher in a new era.”
“Return to this land and punish those wretched humans.”
“Long live the Demon King! Long live the Demon King!”
“Ugh. I knew something was off.”
“Those are nuns from the Holy Kingdom.”
“Did Berna defeat them and bring them here for brainwashing?”
That crazy woman should at least finish what she starts.
‘Why did she leave them like this? It seems better to save them if possible.’
“We should rescue them, right?”
“The smell of medicine is concerning, but yes, we should.”
Since Bernoa is in the Empire, the Authority of Corruption shouldn’t be active in this sanctuary right now.
A few hits should be enough to knock them back to their senses.
“Demon King…”
“You all need to snap out of it.”
We approached the nuns to question them.
***
“Demon King… Demon King…”
“Huh?”
Something was definitely wrong with them.
“Olivia, something’s off about these people.”
“Damn it. What the hell did Bernoa do?”
I stopped mid-sentence.
“No. Bernoa wouldn’t do something like this.”
“She’s insane, but she wouldn’t turn her own potential soldiers into mentally broken invalids. She would have just corrupted them and left it at that. I’ve fought her enough times to know. No, this kind of insanity is more like Clanis’s work. Yeah. This has to be Clanis.”
“Clanis’s test subjects never turned out normal.”
“Son of a bitch”
***
Gurgle. Gurgle.
The nuns started vomiting black liquid.
Their human skin peeled away, revealing grotesque black creatures underneath.
They had wings, resembling angels, but their bodies were entirely pitch black—inhuman entities.
Of course.
This is Clanis’s doing.
“Olivia, would Bernoa really do something this disgusting?”
“This is probably Clanis’s work. That lunatic.”
It has his unhinged signature all over it.
The nuns all transformed into angel-like statues.
No… They only looked like angel statues.
They were probably another one of Clanis’s bizarre monsters.
Monsters created from humans.
They weren’t demons.
Just beings with shattered minds, caught between their former selves and monstrous instincts.
The “angels” turned toward me, their claws extending.
Their bodies were made of black stone, but they moved fluidly, their elongated claws striking forward like living creatures.
In simpler terms—
Clanis made another abomination.
“Why is there not a single sane person among the Four Heavenly Kings??”
“If they were sane, they wouldn’t be part of the Demon King’s army.”
No one in their right mind would become a Heavenly King.