“….”

A black space, a temple that had existed since a time immemorial.

At its center, in the round table room where only those closest to the gods could enter, sat the Pope in the largest chair.

Melia Tohartz looked at the chairs that were empty, or rather, completely shattered.

There were a total of seven Cardinals.

Four were dead.

Of the remaining three, two were currently incapacitated, leaving only one Cardinal who could effectively carry out the divine will.

She knew that half of this desperate situation was caused by the Sword Demon, whom they had been wary of for a long time, but she didn’t dwell on it much.

‘….First.’

A non-awakened one.

Yet, as the Pope, the incarnation of God, leading the New King Church, she knew what she had to do in this situation.

“Helio.”

At her brief command, someone sitting at the round table stood up.

His hair, once golden, was now a dull color, and his clear, shining blue eyes had lost their luster.

Along with that, the star mark on his forehead, his pale skin, and his black armor were visible.

He resembled the demons, one of the transcendent beings.

“I answer to the great God.”

As he bowed his head, Melia spoke.

“What is the status of the Thunderclap Stone matter?”

He was silent for a moment at her question.

Then, with an apologetic tone, he reported.

“I inflicted damage, but I could not completely destroy it.”

The Thunderclap Stone protected the entire Thunderclap Palace and granted them great power.

The Thunderclap Palace was undoubtedly an obstacle to the New King Church and Luna’s plan, which aimed to bring ‘chaos to the world,’ so it had to be dealt with.

To do so, destroying the Thunderclap Stone was essential.

Initially, she had entrusted it to Helio, but he had failed.

That was understandable, as he wasn’t entirely combat-oriented. Even when he was among people, he wasn’t one to fight directly.

“….It’s alright, this is unavoidable for the sake of your revenge.”

Revenge.

At that word, Helio’s body flinched greatly. It wasn’t so much surprise as it was a struggle to suppress something.

The crescent moon mark engraved on his forehead glowed red.

And in that light.

His eyes turned red.

Of course, even if they said they would cooperate, nothing happened immediately.

They just had to wait, thinking that they would return someday, though they didn’t know the exact date.

Or, that’s what was supposed to happen.

“The outskirts are under attack.”

How long had it been since they attacked this place, and now those guys were attacking again.

Of course, the attack was happening on the outskirts, quite far from here, and at most, only people were injured, but the very act itself was significant.

“Looks like I’ll be a bit busy.”

Following Cheon-seo-a’s suggestion to stay here for a few days because of the attack, Ha-yeon obtained a room in the Thunderclap Palace and lived there temporarily.

A day passed like that, and during that time, she made one more connection.

“She’s the same age as me!”

That was none other than Cheon Ha-eun, the fourth of the Thunderclap Palace and Seo-a’s older sister.

She was the leader of the Hwangwoldan, which the Thunderclap Palace directly nurtured and boasted tremendous martial prowess, and surprisingly, she was the same age as Ha-yeon.

Ha-yeon thought that there was quite an age gap, and said to Cheon Ha-eun, who was happy that they were the same age.

“I haven’t seen anyone my age lately, so it’s nice to meet you here.”

Perhaps that was why they became close so quickly.

Currently, they were in the garden of the Thunderclap Palace’s annex.

The place, filled with an Eastern-style atmosphere, was Ha-yeon’s favorite.

It was a place she wanted to visit again after this was over.

“Ha… I’m so busy these days because of the friendly matches, but why is the New King Church picking a fight with us now of all times?”

Ha-eun was quite busy due to the friendly matches with other organizations.

In that situation, the New King Church incident occurred, so even though the friendly matches had ended a few days ago, she couldn’t rest and immediately returned to the main house.

“Well, given the current situation, it seems like they’ll attack again in a few days, right?”

“Probably.”

After that, news of attacks came roughly every six hours.

The intensity was low, but it wasn’t hard to guess that they were gradually approaching the Thunderclap Palace.

“Mother needs to come back soon too.”

The mistress of the Thunderclap Palace.

Gaehwa (Blooming), ‘Han So-yeon.’

The history of the Thunderclap Palace was long.

Therefore, there was no way that the Thunderclap Stone wouldn’t be damaged.

Whenever that happened, the person who restored the Thunderclap Stone was the miko of the ‘Thunder Heaven Temple,’ who was so deeply connected to the Thunderclap Palace that it was no exaggeration to say she belonged to them.

She was the only one who could restore the Thunderclap Stone, and the successive Thunderclap Palace Lords and mistresses were said to have been close to her in preparation for any possible situation.

It was also common for them to marry.

The current Thunderclap Palace Lord and mistress were also like that.

They would be able to fight with more peace of mind once the mistress, Han So-yeon, returned.

“Still, we’ve notified her, so I think she’ll be back in a few days, right?”

“That’s true, but… she’s inside a gate, so there might be quite a time difference.”

That could be the case if she was inside a gate, as the time difference between the gate and reality could be significant.

They didn’t know what was going on, but the fact that the mistress had entered a gate meant that it was quite high-grade, and it might take some time.

“Then what about Cheong-rae?”

He was the first of the Thunderclap Palace and the successor, and also the strongest force besides the Thunderclap Palace Lord, so when she asked about him, Ha-eun said in a nonchalant tone.

“He infiltrated a hostile organization.”

“….I see.”

A hostile organization of the Thunderclap Palace. If Cheong-rae was personally dispatched, it seemed quite powerful, but she wasn’t worried about him at all.

In a way, it felt like she trusted him, and in a way, it felt cold. Ha-yeon smiled faintly at the atmosphere and said to Ha-eun.

“More importantly, do you date?”

It was just a question out of pure curiosity.

But at her question, Ha-eun’s face began to rot.

“I broke up a few days ago.”

….Ah.

This was a bit much.

Judging by her expression, it didn’t seem like they ended on good terms. It seemed like it ended in almost the worst situation.

Ha-yeon made a flustered face at the unexpected situation, and Ha-eun sighed and asked her in return this time.

“How can you maintain such a good relationship with the Association President…?”

It was a bit out of the blue, but the relationship between Ha-jeong and Ha-yeon was almost world-famous.

Of course, Ha-yeon was famous, and Ha-jeong had made a name for himself before that, so it was only natural.

‘It was also rumored that we had a good relationship.’

Ha-jeong and Ha-yeon didn’t fight much because they respected each other’s tastes and tried not to intrude on each other’s space.

Even if they seemed to be fighting due to their personalities, they rarely fought with real emotion.

Of course, they fought occasionally.

“I just… it just happened as I lived.”

But she didn’t do it consciously.

That’s why she couldn’t give much advice. If anything, just meet good people?

“Ha…. Well, that’s true, if the other person is good, what’s the problem. Seo-a is also dating that guy, what was his name… Ah, Ha Seon-woo.”

Ha Seon-woo?

Could it be that Ha Seon-woo?

‘Why didn’t those two tell me!’

They had both graduated from the academy, though they had graduated now, each excelling in their respective majors.

Cheon-seo-a with her martial prowess.

Ha Seon-woo with his blacksmithing metallurgy.

She also heard that Shin Jin-ah, whom she had helped, had been quite successful.

She still talked to them, so she occasionally asked how they were doing, but how could they not tell her that they were dating!?

‘I’ll have to say something later.’

Of course, she had received a few artifacts from Ha Seon-woo a while ago, but that was that, and this was this.

“They got close soon after they first met, and now they’re already dating….”

“You didn’t know? That they were dating.”

“I didn’t know! I contact them quite often, how could they not say a word to me!?”

“I heard it’s been over a year already.”

They were both 20 years old.

A year ago, they were in their third year of the academy.

It seemed like they had been flirting since their first year and then got together… I want to experience that kind of romance in school too.

‘Ha-jeong and I… we’re already too jaded.’

It wasn’t about their faces or ages, but about the world.

At that time, they were too tainted by the world, and they didn’t have much of the freshness of children… well, it wasn’t that they didn’t have it at all, but they had less of it.

In the midst of that, someone entered the garden.

“Leader.”

Someone wearing the Hwangwoldan uniform entered.

It was a stylish outfit based on black, with accents of sunset-like yellow and red.

“Vice-leader? What’s wrong?”

Judging by the emblem engraved on the clothes, it seemed to be the vice-leader.

Why was he here?

He approached Ha-eun and whispered in her ear.

She couldn’t hear him either, so it seemed like he was using mana.

‘What is it?’

It seemed like something quite important, judging by how far he was going.

As expected, Ha-eun frowned slightly as if she was annoyed and told the vice-leader to go.

Then the vice-leader disappeared behind them, and judging by the traces of mana, it seemed like he had used a skill.

“Why, what’s wrong?”

Now that the vice-leader was gone, she thought it would be okay and asked, and Ha-eun sighed and said to Ha-yeon.

“We’re under attack.”

“The outskirts?”

If it was just that, it didn’t seem like a big deal.

“No, somewhere else.”

As if that thought was right, her expression became even worse.

What is it?

“The main fortress.”

“….?”

“The main fortress walls are under attack.”

…….????????

Bang!

With a loud roar, her mind snapped back to attention.