Feeling the cold palm gently stroking her head, Holly slowly looked up at the Lady.
‘Given the Lady’s cautious nature, she shouldn’t… Wait! Is she willing to risk danger to investigate the situation there just because of her promise to me?’
“Miss…” Holly was instantly overwhelmed with emotion, her large, grape-like black eyes brimming with tears.
“Don’t worry,” the Lady said, smiling at the Holy Sword Bearer.
Ileya had already planned to check the situation above.
It was not for that Ratman brat, but rather to gain the favor of the Ratman race, or more accurately, to make them owe her a favor.
That way, her search for the statue would involve fewer complications.
The reason she had not offered to help from the very beginning, letting the atmosphere grow tense before speaking up, was so she could harvest one more person’s gratitude.
That person was the Holy Sword Bearer.
She still did not know which prominent figure from her past life this girl actually was.
‘No, no, no… I don’t feel any guilt or anything similar. This is simply… utility.’
Ileya took a deep breath and pulled her hand away from Holly’s small head.
“Let’s go.”
For some reason, Holly felt that for a fleeting moment, the Lady seemed a bit… depressed?
‘Why?’
While she was still dazed, Ileya had already walked nearly 15 meters away.
“Wait! Miss! Wait for me!” Snapping back to reality, the barefoot girl jogged to catch up with Ileya.
“We… should follow them too!” Jerry took a deep breath.
If they went back to the village to inform more people, the conservative priests and elders would never agree to this operation.
“Yeah!” The other Ratmen nodded in agreement.
They had watched Xue’er grow up, and they absolutely did not want anything to happen to the little one!
Rumble…
The group had just started moving when a powerful tremor from above sent them stumbling.
‘Is it… another earthquake?!’
Among everyone present, only Ileya looked up, frowning at the ceiling.
It was as if she could peer through the earth to see what was happening in the Ruined City.
…
“Argh… Arghhh!!”
Splat!!
Whoosh—!
In front of the gates of the City of Rand, a white-cloaked girl charged into the crowd with a giant axe.
She was like a humanoid meat grinder, swinging an axe that was significantly longer than herself.
Members of the True God Sect fell like wheat before a scythe!
Sizzle… Whoosh!!
The corpses on the ground acted like fuel, spontaneously combusting!
A thick, burnt stench replaced all previous smells. Black ash from the combustion drifted through the air.
“Heretics…”
She stood amidst the pile of burning corpses.
Her dark-gold eyes beneath her hood seemed devoid of emotion, like a divine envoy descended to earth, looking down upon all mortal things with equal disdain.
Whoosh! Following her command, the other members of the Inquisition sprang into action!
Against these ordinary outer-circle believers, a one-sided massacre began!
Although these followers were pious toward their “True God,” few had reached the level of true fanaticism.
Most were like Loco, seeking strength, profit, or status.
The outer followers quickly broke rank, fleeing toward the center of the ritual!
Those who knelt to beg for mercy or tried to surrender were mercilessly cut down in the next second.
‘Is this… a Heresy Judgment…?!’
The direct beneficiary of this chaos was Franlot, who had currently returned to his most primitive human form.
The cultist guarding him was clearly terrified by the scene.
Although the guard remembered his duty and did not run, Franlot was not about to miss this opportunity.
As for being naked… ‘I’ve wanted to do this since my last life anyway! No one here knows me!!’
‘Run! Just run!!’
Despite his thoughts, he did not cry out for help, nor did he run toward the Inquisition.
Having played Dark Continent until he transmigrated, he knew the truth.
The Church in this world, or specifically its branch, the Inquisition, was by no means a benevolent entity dedicated to saving the masses and eradicating evil cults.
Those people were complete lunatics.
In the Dark Continent game, during the fight against the third BOSS, Polluter Rester, members of the Inquisition would suddenly appear to help the player kill the BOSS.
But just as players thought these white-cloaked figures were friendly NPCs, the Inquisition would seamlessly transition into attacking the player once the “Polluter” was dealt with!
To put it simply, they were obsessive fanatics who would rather kill a thousand innocents than let one heretic escape.
Franlot did not want to be harvested like wheat alongside the cultists.
‘Then again… an organization that purges dissenters probably needs people like this… otherwise, things would be truly chaotic.’
Without them, the Church’s rule over the Human Kingdom would not be so ironclad.
Gulp… This chaos did not just throw the cultists into a panic or draw the attention of the high-ranking members; it also caused the “eye” watching from above to slowly rotate its gaze toward the white-cloaked girl.
Buzz!!
Instantly, a terrifying pressure swept across the field.
Whether it was the fleeing Franlot, Arthur and Amisa in the shadows, or even Ileya who had yet to emerge from underground… they all felt it.
It was a horrifying pressure that felt as though the sky were collapsing.
‘Is this… the gaze of a higher being?’
Amisa spoke with great difficulty. Even the aftershocks made her blood nearly freeze, making it hard to move or resist.
If the entity were looking directly at her, she might have frozen on the spot instantly.
‘However… this feeling of being suppressed… is actually… quite nice…’
“Heh… Hehehehe…” The masked Great Priest stood atop the altar, looking down at the members of the Inquisition who were frozen in place like clowns, unable to move.
“How foolish. Did you think you could sleep soundly just because the massive Church stands behind you?”
‘Or did you think your strength could rival a True God?!’
Whoosh!! Just as the Great Priest was shouting his mockery…
The white-cloaked girl holding the giant axe suddenly… lifted her head!
“What…”
Under the bewildered gazes of the crowd, she looked directly into the giant eye of the “True God” above.
“MY GOD COMMANDS: DO NOT BOW TO FALSE GODS!”
Boom! Rumble!!!
As the girl stomped the ground, the earth instantly cracked, and countless crimson flames erupted from the fissures!
The gale blew back her hood, revealing her exquisite yet expressionless face to everyone.
Her pale-gold short hair, which barely reached her chin, swayed wildly in the wind.
Sizzle! The flames behind her head gradually condensed into four overlapping rings of fire, resembling a halo above an angel’s head.
“This… is impossible… Stop!!”
Bang!! Following the Great Priest’s incredulous roar, the Captain—beautiful as a seraph yet as brutal as an ice demon—shattered the ground with one foot.
She charged directly upward with her giant axe, striking the projection at the top of the barrier…
The God’s Eye!
“MY GOD’S FLAME, PURIFY ALL THAT IS UNCLEAN!!”
Whoosh—!! Scorching flames filled the sky!
Within the towering sea of fire, the illusory giant eye actually moved from wide open to half-closed under the searing heat.
It was as if a human eye had been suddenly struck by something!
And below, the blood-red sacrificial barrier… at that very moment… began to collapse!