episode_0184

“Huff- huff-”

Pope Gregorio, like a deer fleeing a predator’s shadow, hastily left the battlefield.

Where in the world did such a monstrous woman appear?

Someone unaffected by [the Divine Word]? I’ve never seen such a thing.

Certainly, the magic was conditional brainwashing magic requiring faith in the Goddess of Light, but this time, its effectiveness was greatly amplified through [Lumine’s Cradle].

A bit of God exists in everyone’s heart, and even the smallest imagination should have made the brainwashing successful.

‘But… someone who doesn’t believe in God, even with the slightest hint of jest…!!’

He couldn’t believe what had happened before his eyes.

Surely she couldn’t have been faking her Academy cadet status.

It’s a lie that would be easily exposed with a simple request for verification of her cadet certificate.

So, are all the Academy cadets in the kingdom like that nowadays?

That was also impossible.

No, what kind of person defeats dozens of temple knights with just a few kicks and instantly takes down a Holy Knight who’s won multiple swordsmanship tournaments?

Bad luck.

It was merely an ominous calamity that struck before the ceremony; that’s what he had to believe.

‘At least… the worst was avoided.’

While preparing the magical ritual, [Lumine’s Cradle], for building the temple, he had considered countless setbacks.

Always assuming the worst and doing his best at every moment, this led him to the idea of using an external ritual that wouldn’t be affected by the caster’s concentration.

Thanks to that, despite Narias’s interference, he could supplement the Light mana until the end through the connected device.

The magic was finally cast.

Now, the Holy Kingdom had regained its original form.

The Tower of Ranks is symbolized by geographical elevation, with all the people below supporting the Pope above.

Faith, belief, hope in the Goddess, or respect for the Pope—anything would work. Their vain hearts, built upon the shaky foundation of [the Divine Word]’s brainwashing, materialize as Light mana.

Once the entire Holy Kingdom is enveloped in a hollow golden light, it’s ready to receive the Goddess’s majesty.

“Finally… I can meet your light.”

For decades since he first realized the existence of , he had waited only for this day.

Studying theology all night, spreading the Goddess’s name throughout the world, and sharing glory under her name. He lived a faithful life as a believer of the Lumina Orthodox Church.

Even with his impure goal of meeting the Goddess, his appearance was that of a prophet of Light itself.

It was only a matter of time before he gained the favor of the former Pope, who sincerely served the Goddess and desired only the true happiness of all people under her will.

Seeing his uncommon strong faith among young people, the Pope gave him the name Aurelius and nurtured him wholeheartedly.

He only discovered the Pope’s true intentions after the Crystal Hall was handed over to him; the new Pope, Gregorio, was the epitome of a hypocrite.

A position gained through hypocrisy.

A country acquired through brainwashing.

In a life riddled with falsehoods, the only thing that remained true…

Was this moment.

Thud- thud-

Pope Gregorio walked back toward the center of the altar, toward the final stage of this sacred ritual.

Kwaang- Tookwang—!!

With Narias’s burning fighting spirit as a backdrop not far away…

He stepped forth before the Goddess.

“The devoted believer of , Pietro Aurelius Luminosa… humbly requests an audience with you.”

Thump- thump-

What kind of face would the Goddess of Light have?

No matter how hard he tried to suppress his anxiety, his heart beat faster.

Carefully savoring the Goddess’s presence, which was now so close, Pope Gregorio waited for a moment that felt like eternity.

But the eternity of the senses began to converge with the eternity of reality.

“…….”

Even after waiting, there was no answer.

That was his end.

A tower built on lies could never become true.

.

.

.

Tookwaang—!!

As if bursting with the boiling ether within her, Narias swung her fist fiercely.

Whack- Kwadeuk-

She struck the approaching knight’s breastplate head-on, then delivered a roundhouse kick to his side.

Following the natural turn of her body, she landed a swift blow on the knight rushing from behind.

Pabapak—!

When several knights attacked at once, she ducked to avoid their swords.

Simultaneously, she straightened her bent legs, tripping them, and before they could get up, she delivered a powerful kick to their faces.

Toong- Koong- Kwaang-

Still, quite a few knights remained.

“Huu…”

While calming her breathing and the excitement in her body, Narias freely released the raging ether within.

The intense ether colliding throughout her body seemed about to burst through at any moment.

As the knights’ group closed in…

“Haap—!!”

Her eyes flashing open, she extended her palm towards them.

The ether suppressed by the temple’s effects from outside her body was, in an instant, propelled toward her palm.

Although the ether didn’t erupt outward, its power was still fully transmitted.

All her strength concentrated at a single point, exploding with a blinding white light.

Florain martial arts, Baekhon-gyeong!

Ppaaang—!!

On top of the initial physical impact, the additional pressure of the ether created a second shockwave, sending the numerous charging knights flying outside the temple like fallen leaves.

“Haa- haa-”

This bought her some time.

Although she was quite fatigued physically from fighting within [Lumine’s Cradle], Narias immediately turned and headed for the center of the altar.

Taat-

“That…”

Even during the fight with the knights, her gaze had remained fixed on the Pope, so she had a rough understanding of the situation.

She knew his ultimate goal was to meet the Goddess, and that he had made countless efforts to that end.

However, enough time should have passed to achieve that goal.

For some reason, Pope Gregorio knelt before the altar with a rather desolate expression.

“…Did you fail?”

“…….”

There was no answer.

But, conversation isn’t solely about verbal expressions, it also exists through nonverbal communication.

Narias understood the answer through his silence.

Regardless of success or failure, she had to somehow break the damn magical interference barrier of the altar first.

She couldn’t activate [Dispel] because she couldn’t release the ether from her body.

Naturally, she clenched her fists and walked towards the altar.

“…No.”

However, Narias stopped in her tracks at the Pope’s voice that suddenly reached her ears.

“What?”

“It’s… not over yet. Nothing is finished.”

He muttered something continually, slowly rising from his seat.

It sounded more like a lament than a rational statement.

Narias gritted her teeth, utterly disgusted by his stubborn obsession.

Clack-

“You failed. It’s all over—!!”

“No, no, no…!! I’m not finished yet—!! Even after a failure, I still have countless people of the Light—!!”

The Pope spread his arms once more and drew Light mana.

Taat-

Narias kicked off the ground, intending to land a punch on the Pope’s face, but…

“Saint Tier—!!”

“—?!”

Suddenly, Tier appeared before him, blocking Narias.

“Khahahaha—!! Didn’t I say? I still have ‘the people of Light’—!! You can’t use magic now, so unlike last time, it’s impossible to undo my [Divine Word]—!!”

“This damn—”

She quickly stopped her punch.

She was furious at the Pope’s malicious attitude of using this woman she loved as a puppet, even as a meat shield;

But for the same reason, she couldn’t bring herself to strike a blow.

“Or, will you injure the Saint? Kukuku—”

Clack-

Blood trickled from her severely bitten lip.

“Immediately… undo that brainwashing. I’ll only say it once.”

Although he only brainwashed one person, Gregorio seemed exhilarated at controlling two people like puppets.

He burst into laughter, mocking Narias.

“Khahahaha—!! That’s impossible, of course-! What does she belong to, that Saint? Absolutely nothing-! Even if she makes such a resentful expression about being taken… the Saint is, from the beginning, the daughter of —!!”

The Pope’s roar spread like a storm, carried by Light mana.

Overwhelmed by helplessness, Narias had to listen to every word despite wanting nothing more.

At the same time, she thought that the very target she needed to save was wrong.

“Then, I never needed to talk to you in the first place.”

“Wh-what…?”

Taat-

She immediately dashed toward the Pope.

“Hi, hiik—!!”

Of course, the Pope used Tier to shield himself.

From the beginning, the target was Tier.

Narias embraced Tier, then distanced herself again from Gregorio.

“What are you doing—!! The Saint is already under my [Divine Word]’s control…”

“Shut up. Watch quietly if you don’t understand anything.”

[The Divine Word] is conditional brainwashing magic that uses the target’s faith as nourishment.

Naturally, by evoking an emotion stronger than their faith, as Narias had done, it should be possible to resist.

She placed her hand on Tier’s cheek and slowly sent a certain wavelength of mana, activating a particular “device.”

“Releasing mana outside my body is impossible…”

But through physical contact like this, it should be completely possible to send mana into another person.

And influenced by that specific mana…

“…3.”

Brut- Brut- Brut- Brut-

Power flowed into the vibrators inserted into Tier’s vagina and anus, and they began to vibrate wildly according to the input signal.

“…….”

Then, in Tier’s empty golden eyes…

Chuheet- Kucheut-

“Aaah—♡”

Life began to return once more.

“Wh… what is this… what happened—!!”

“Simple. Tier believed in two Gods. One is the Goddess of Light…”

Flutter-

As Narias lifted Tier’s nun’s habit’s skirt…

Her lower body, dripping with the juice from the two holes with vibrators inserted, was fully revealed.

“The other is the love I give.”

“Impossible—!! How, how could a Saint… commit such unholy acts…!!”

As Pope Gregorio’s face contorted in horror, Narias gently laid Tier on the ground.

“Na… Narii… uhng- this…”

“Sorry, I’m busy right now… try to appease yourself with that.”

“Aa- ah, that’s not— ”

Tier was completely confused; barely freed from brainwashing she was violated with vibrators immediately after waking.

However, Narias had something else to do first.

Leaving Tier as she was, she slowly approached the altar.

Thump- Thump-

“Hiik—!! Don’t come—!!”

“You were nothing from the start.”

Without giving the Pope, who was crawling on the ground, a single glance, she walked past him.

“Tier isn’t your property, she’s the daughter of … you said it yourself, didn’t you?”

Slowly walking up to the altar, she reached the sacred object emitting an intense golden light from its center.

Huu-

She calmly took a breath, fully preparing herself.

Narias placed her hand on the sacred object, just as the Pope had done.

“To take your daughter, you have to go to her parents, don’t you?”

The reason Pope Gregorio failed was that everything he had built was nothing but hypocrisy.

Conversely, Narias detested such hypocrisy above all else.

Her life, where true evil was valued as righteousness above false goodness, was naturally filled with only truth, neither good nor evil.

“Hey, Goddess of Light. I want to marry your daughter… so show me your face already.”

Hwaaang—!

To Narias’s truthful heart, Lumine, the Goddess of Light, answered.