Disappeared?
Sophie felt the Divine Voice from Altes vanish from within her mind. At the same time, Altes’s extraction of the clerics’ holy power also came to a stop.
She lowered both hands and released the protective barrier formed from residual divine power.
Turning her head, she saw the clerics who had been in pain. Their expressions grew calm, and some of them had already opened their eyes and awakened.
“Eh, those strange voices are gone?” Nana stood up, looking somewhat surprised.
“That voice… it couldn’t have been… His Holiness the Pope?”
Mia supported her forehead, striving to grow accustomed to the discomfort that had not yet completely faded, and attempted to think.
“That’s right. That was Altes’s voice. He disguised himself as the god and controlled everyone,” Sophie replied. “He forcibly extracted the holy power of every cleric in the entire Holy Land, intending to amplify himself.”
“Not only the holy power—I also sensed that he even wanted our lives!” Nana was a bit angry. “This is really going too far!”
“So this is the… true face of His Holiness the Pope?”
Mia’s gaze grew complicated. She let out a long sigh, not knowing for a moment how to evaluate it. The Holy Land’s Pope, who had always appeared to devote himself to the human race and seemed kindly and approachable, in reality possessed a mad ambition and was willing to sacrifice every cleric of the Holy Land in order to make himself stronger.
“Altes must have used the power of the angel’s body in order to reach this step and mislead everyone.” Sophie said.
“In the depths of my heart, I could sense that a force was protecting us. Sophie… it couldn’t have been you who did it, could it?” Mia noticed some clues.
“Mm. I didn’t want to watch everyone become Altes’s nourishment without understanding what was happening, so I used some of the residual divine power left behind by the angel.”
“Sophie, thank you so much!” Nana grabbed Sophie’s hands and said happily.
“You saved everyone.” Mia was also grateful to Sophie.
Now, Sophie had already used her actions to prove that she had not betrayed the Holy Land, but rather refused to submit to the heinous Altes.
The other clerics who successively awakened also realized this point. The gazes they directed toward Sophie once again became filled with respect.
“No. This was not just me. I only delayed things for a period of time. The most critical point is that someone defeated Altes and eliminated the root of the problem.” Sophie said with a smile.
“Is it her?” Mia immediately thought of whom Sophie was referring to.
“It must be her!” Nana nodded repeatedly.
A starry spatial crack opened. Via walked out from within it and appeared before everyone.
After seeing that Sophie was safe and sound, she let out a breath of relief. Fortunately, she had resolved things quickly.
“As expected, all of you are fine.”
“Via, Altes… lost, correct?” Sophie hurriedly went forward. Seeing that her younger sister had safely returned, her face was filled with unstoppable joy.
“Yes. He lost. Altes wanted to take control of the angel’s power. He abandoned his physical body and even placed his own soul into the angel’s body. However, he overestimated his own strength and was instead backlashed by the angel’s body, turning into a monster that had lost control. Therefore, I took action and eliminated him.”
Via quickly narrated the course of events to everyone.
No one doubted Via’s account. The moment every cleric sensed the Divine Voice descending, they knew that regardless of their own will, Altes, who had disguised himself as the god, had wanted to take everything from the clerics.
Fortunately, Via had taken action and resolved Altes, dissolving the enormous crisis.
Although Via was currently a demonkin, without a doubt she was also a benefactor of the Holy Land.
“Thank you, Via. Thank you, Sophie. Even though the two of you suffered injustice and grievances, you still defeated Altes and saved the Holy Land. You are the true heroes who deserve respect.”
Mia bowed to Via and Sophie.
Her actions infected the others. The clerics one after another offered the highest etiquette toward Via and Sophie.
“Are you happy right now, Via?”
Sophie asked Via. Faced with this scene and situation, she could not help but be curious about what kind of mood her younger sister was in.
“Just so-so. I never particularly cared about these clerics to begin with.”
“Then why did you still take action?”
“That was because of you, Elder Sister,” Via said with a smile. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have bothered with these people. I simply didn’t want to see Elder Sister looking sad.”
Sophie first froze, then smiled. She took her younger sister’s hand and felt the temperature transmitted through her palm. Everything was understood without words.
Two weeks later.
Via was in her room teaching Albion literacy when a knocking sound rang out.
“Via, it’s me.” Sophie’s voice sounded.
“Finally… class is over!”
Light appeared in Albion’s eyes. Without waiting for Via to speak, she opened the window and jumped out. Clearly, she had already studied enough.
“Is class that difficult for Albion?”
Via felt a bit helpless. She walked to the door of the room, opened it, and sure enough, her elder sister was standing outside.
At this moment, Sophie had already removed the Saintess robes of the Holy Land and put on ordinary young girl’s attire.
“Elder Sister, is there some news? I’ve seen you busy inside the Holy Land these past few days.” Via sat down on the sofa and asked.
“The Holy Land is indeed somewhat chaotic. Altes is dead. Some of the other higher-ups of the Holy Land died in the war, and some of the higher-ups who committed faults following Altes have also been held accountable. Therefore, the Holy Land urgently needs a new leader.”
“Did the clerics push you forward?”
“Yes. The clerics of the Holy Land all want me to become the new Pope.”
“Then…”
“I did not accept. I want a bit more freedom and no longer wish to be bound by those things, so I refused the clerics’ request.”
“That’s fine too.”
Via quite agreed with Sophie’s choice. She did not wish for her elder sister to be forcibly bound by those clerics using various reasons.
“However, the clerics still want to retain me. They indicated that the position of Pope can be left open for me until the day I change my mind. Therefore, they plan to first select an acting Pope and wait until…”
“Who has the highest support?”
“Mia.”
“Not surprising.”
“At the beginning, some people mentioned Nana. It’s just that later everyone felt that if Nana were to become Pope, the Holy Land might collapse even faster. She herself also doesn’t seem particularly willing to take on such an important responsibility.”
“That’s a bit of a pity.”
Via rather liked Nana.
If Nana truly had the will in this regard, she might really have gone to support her. However, since Nana did not want it, then so be it. Mia was also quite reliable. Compared to those rotten old fellows, Mia should be able to bring new changes to the Holy Land.
“Elder Sister, what do you plan to do next?”
“Whether in the previous life or this life, I have always lived under other people’s instructions. Right now, I want to properly look at this world,” Sophie said. “Of course, first of all, I still need to go meet Father!”
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