Ha-yeon, Ha-jeong, Lee Seol-ah, and Veronica’s group charged forward at a considerable pace.

Following the Constellation’s guidance, there were no obstacles, and perhaps because it was the initial stage, there weren’t many monsters.

Of course.

[The party has encountered an S+ ranked resident monster of the otherworld dimension, ‘Sacred Domain Nemesis’, the ‘Abyssal Sacred Entity’.]

The ‘Abyssal Sacred Entity’ that had persistently tormented Ha-yeon the last time they came was still there.

The dark mana bullets fired from it weren’t particularly powerful, but they kept coming, consuming a significant amount of mental energy to deflect.

‘More importantly, Nemesis, was it?’

The name she couldn’t quite grasp last time due to censorship.

But now, knowing so much more and having grown stronger, the accurate name, no longer censored, came to mind.

Anyway, as they continued straight ahead.

They finally encountered proper members of the cult.

“Are those them?”

They appeared human, but their irises were either red or black, and they wore priest’s robes that were primarily black with silver accents.

They were surprised to see the group charging towards them and shouted.

“In, intruders!”

“Sound the alarm!”

“The rest of you, defend!”

Their actions were instantaneous. It seemed these individuals were a trained unit.

‘This is going to be annoying.’

The alarm was raised quickly, and combatants would soon swarm them.

Clang-!

Of course, these ordinary followers didn’t pose a significant threat to them in terms of force.

The problem was the Cardinals.

The Cardinals who would arrive soon were the real issue.

‘Still, I need to keep running for now.’

Ha-yeon lightly shattered the shield they erected with her Divine Sword, beheaded them, and continued running.

It wasn’t until about ten minutes later that they encountered a Cardinal.

‘The auditorium.’

A fairly large auditorium. Not a grand hall, but a sizable combat space nonetheless.

As Ha-yeon’s team entered, a Cardinal immediately revealed himself.

“Halt, heretics!”

Seeing him, Ha-yeon thought.

‘I don’t recognize them.’

From what she had gathered so far, Cardinals were ranked.

Those ranked 10 or higher were high-ranking Cardinals, and those below were merely elite.

These ones were probably just elite Cardinals below 11.

“Lee Seol-ah, mark the rear! Ha-jeong and Veronica, provide rear support!”

As Ha-yeon, the unspoken leader of the group, issued the orders, the other three began to move instantly.

Lee Seol-ah disappeared into stealth, and Ha-jeong and Veronica naturally found positions suitable for ranged support and began covering them.

[Skill, ‘Sacred Haze (S)’ is activated.]

Ha-yeon also lightly drew upon her mana.

Consuming too much mana now could leave her short when it truly mattered later.

So, just Sacred Haze.

A path of brilliant radiance settled on Ha-yeon’s hands and feet.

And she ran.

Tap-tap-!

“First, one down.”

She immediately swept away all the small fries beside her.

With Lee Seol-ah emitting a chilling aura from behind, swiftly dealing with the other small fries, Ha-yeon only needed to handle those directly obstructing her path.

Having lightly cut down the small fries, she immediately and without hesitation swung her sharp sword at the Cardinal.

But perhaps because he was still a Cardinal, he smoothly evaded the approaching sword.

Of course, she didn’t see it as a bad thing.

That’s what the party was for, to cover those gaps.

“Wind Flame.”

Ha-jeong’s wind and Veronica’s fire combined into a storm of flames that engulfed the Cardinal.

Both being S-ranked, they displayed formidable power even when suppressing their strength.

“Damn it!”

The Cardinal used a considerable amount of mana to block the storm of flames.

Black mana shields, imbued with dark mana, were created to block it, as black seemed to be his symbol.

“Then it’s over.”

That’s why his attention was focused there.

Ha-yeon fiercely exploited the gap beside him, swinging her sword even faster than before.

And with that, his head fell.

The battle ended faster than usual. Perhaps he hadn’t fully unleashed his power either.

Normally, she would have dragged it out a bit, but Ha-yeon remembered the keyword she had established for the battles before this Pope.

‘Swift conclusion.’

As quickly and concisely as possible.

That was the basis for these fights.

Time passed.

Whether it was Ha-yeon’s group or Raven’s group, neither knew the other’s circumstances, but they were both steadily and quickly advancing along the paths they had been given.

Both had a force that could be argued as the strongest in humanity, and the rest of their forces were considerable as well.

Therefore, it wasn’t long before they could meet at their destination.

It was thanks to Hairel, who knew the entire geography of this Sacred Domain ‘Nemesis’, which was as vast as a large city in a country, and had shown them all the paths.

“Is this the last place?”

“Yes.”

In response to Raven’s question, Ha-yeon answered while looking at a massive door.

A huge door estimated to be about the size of a five-story building.

The decorations adorning it were all somber and black, yet they exuded an air of antiquity and splendor.

The final location.

The chapel entrance.

According to the Constellation, the most powerful force was inside.

The First Cardinal would be there, and behind him, the Pope would be seated.

Thinking that they didn’t have much further to go, Ha-yeon spoke to those behind her.

“Let’s give it our all until the end, and don’t die.”

With those words, she forcefully opened the door with both hands.

Creak-!

The large door opened with a creaking sound.

The place visible behind the wide-open door was as vast as the massive door warranted.

Moreover, the interior, which seemed to be about the size of a soccer field, was filled with chairs, various decorations on the side windows, and dark torches.

And.

At the far end, a man stood before the platform.

The base of his clothing was a normal priest’s robes.

But it was decorated far more elaborately than those.

And in a way, it resembled a wizard’s robe, befitting his epithet.

Grand Wizard.

The First Cardinal, Elia Tohartz.

‘Siblings with the Pope.’

She had heard he was the older brother.

“I didn’t expect things to escalate this far so soon after revealing ourselves to the world. I prepared quite diligently.”

Elia flicked his short, purple hair and approached the party.

And his face was truly unsettling.

That’s because his mouth was smiling, but his eyes weren’t.

Ha-yeon pointed her yellow Divine Sword and red Divine Sword at him.

“There have been too many unexpected variables.”

“….”

“Who would have known that most of the Cardinals would die and the central area would be captured within just a few years of our emergence?”

With those words, he raised one hand.

The moment she saw that, Ha-yeon shouted.

“Everyone, prepare!”

“I’m a little angry right now.”

[Absolute Zero – Sphere]

Extremely cold ice spears flew towards the party.

Ha-yeon activated the power of her Divine Sword towards them.

[The Sacred Spirit skill ‘Fire Dragon Sword (SS)’ of the Red Divine Sword (SS) is activated.]

Intense flames of extreme heat erupted from the red blade.

The flames, erupting from the sword and taking on a more definite dragon shape than before, melted and shattered the ice.

Sizzle-!!

The roar was so loud that it didn’t feel like ice was melting, and the surroundings began to distort as the extreme heat and absolute zero met.

But she didn’t care.

[The Sacred Spirit skill ‘White Night Aurora (SS)’ of the Yellow Divine Sword (SS) is activated.]

This time, brilliant light erupted from the yellow blade.

As the bright aurora that filled the room flew towards him.

“Force.”

He likewise used attack magic to block the power of the Divine Sword.

“It’s not over.”

[The Sacred Spirit skill ‘Ice Dragon Sword (SS)’ of the Blue Divine Sword (SS) is activated.]

She immediately changed the sword to blue and once again drew upon the power of the Divine Sword.

This time, an upward strike.

As she swung the Divine Sword upwards from below, using the Sacred Spirit skill, a massive glacier erupted from the ground.

“Our chapel is going to be ruined.”

Elia said that and dodged to the side, and Raven charged towards him.

[Blood Claw]

“Ugh.”

A crimson Destroying Heaven force was unleashed from Raven’s sword, completely destroying the surroundings.

Yet it didn’t touch his allies.

An incredibly high level of control.

“Isn’t this too hard!!”

Saying that, he seemed to be struggling this time, as he drew upon a considerable amount of mana and erected defensive magic around himself.

Along with that, he shouted.

“All troops in the temple, come here!”

Incantation.

He used magic to shout throughout the entire temple.

‘This is getting annoying.’

The forces coming now probably wouldn’t be that strong.

But even so, they couldn’t be ignored.

He wasn’t calling them to inflict damage, but to divert their forces even a little.

“Ellen, Veronica, Nayeon, and Lee Seol-ah, go outside and stop those coming!”

Ha-yeon shouted while activating Fire Dragon Sword once again, and the four who had been bracing themselves immediately turned and headed outside.

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

This guy isn’t the final boss, but a mid-boss.

They mustn’t mistake that.

Having finished thinking that, Ha-yeon immediately sprinted towards him.