episode_0172

“The barrier covering District 1 is being constantly created using the divine power of the many captured followers…s.”

The Saintess spoke in a very, very kind tone, as if she had finally realized her place.

The party members seemed to sense that something was strange about her appearance.

“Do you still have the power to control something?”

“No.”

“Then why is she following us so well? Her tone too.”

“Well, maybe living a life on the run wasn’t easy for her either.”

I can roughly guess.

As a Saintess, she had been living happily, pampered and spoiled, doing what the Pope ordered.

But suddenly being cut off and living the hard life of a pursued criminal must have been too difficult and unfair, leading to the nuance that she would betray them and join us.

If you ask if I can trust the Saintess yet, well.

“This could also be a trap. Leading us into District 1.”

“Absol- Absolutely not…s!!”

The Saintess waved her hands as if to say absolutely not.

“So this time, you must follow my instructions. You understand, right?”

“Of course!!”

“And Grace, Jack.”

“Why?” “Why.”

“You two are good at checking for lies, right? If this one lies, tell me immediately.”

“Yes!” “That’s my specialty.”

We had two kids who were good at psychological warfare from enjoying card games anyway.

The Saintess I’d seen before was already someone whose feelings showed easily on her face. So, if she lied, they would likely notice immediately.

“Rather, I’m glad I can convey my intentions purely!!”

The Saintess reacted positively.

“By the way, I understand that the Spirits provide the Pope with some degree of vision.”

“That’s right. They’re probably tracking our movements right now.”

The Saintess pointed in a direction, where there was one Spirit watching from far away.

“Then is it not a good choice for us to go to District 1 right now? Everything will be visible.”

“That’s true.”

Saying that, the Saintess looked at me.

“No, you didn’t think about that either, did you?”

“All I know is how to get in….”

“Then it’s impossible to sneak in in the first place.”

I felt like I changed my deck to a Thief deck for nothing at this rate.

Around the time I was feeling disappointed, Noah smiled as if the problem was easily solved and said.

“Just a frontal breakthrough, huh.”

“Well, I guess we have no choice. Finish the job before the Spirits and the Guard return.”

At that moment, the Spirits began to block our path.

Have they finally realized we are going to District 1?

But these kinds of guys alone cannot stop us.

“This is a good chance to show off…!!”

A massive light gathered in the fist of the Saintess, who was leading the way.

Perhaps we won’t even need to step up.

A basic magic of Holy Knights, simply swinging a fist enveloped in light.

It is the most basic of basic magic that anyone who can use divine power can use.

But due to its simple activation and no limit on the divine power it can contain.

When used by the Saintess, who has an enormous power level, it becomes a fearsome attack.

Flash-

In the place where the light passed, there were no Spirits retaining their form.

“Follow me quickly!!!”

The Saintess powerfully cleared the way from the front.

As a being at the top of the Ariel Order.

She advanced, smashing everything that came near.

‘She’s definitely strong.’

I heard from the Crown Prince that even if she wasn’t good at fighting, her specs were similar to a deep explorer.

Those words were accurately proven by the Saintess, who was clearing the path quickly and efficiently.

In no time, we broke through countless Spirits and arrived at the entrance of District 1.

“It’s still the same.”

The giant barrier surrounding the entire District 1.

No matter how much you attack it, it repairs itself instantly, and as if space is segregated, you can’t even use spatial magic inside; it is truly an unbelievable divine magic.

Kylek tried shooting a powerful arrow just in case, but as expected, it didn’t even leave a scratch.

Seeing that, the Saintess smiled slyly and said.

“It’s a barrier made using the countless followers captured in District 1, so it won’t be broken.”

“Are they alive?”

“Probably not all of them are alive. About 500 might have died? It’s more profitable to keep them alive and continuously drain their divine power.”

Then it’s correct to assume most of them are alive.

If we release them and rush the Order together, we have a good chance of winning.

“More importantly, how do we get in?”

“The only way to break through this is to offset it with an equivalent output.”

Immediately, divine power surged into the Saintess’s body.

“A small hole for 10 seconds. That’s about all I can maintain…!!”

As soon as I saw the Saintess preparing to run, we also followed behind her.

“Uwaaaaaa!!!!”

Shouting a battle cry, the Saintess charged forward, becoming a divine power cannonball.

As she collided with the barrier surrounding District 1, a massive shockwave spread in all directions, and a small crack began to form in the barrier around District 1.

“No, it clearly withstood the Tower Master-nim’s magic, but it’s this easy…?”

“Perhaps they made it so it wouldn’t react unless it was the same divine power. Since they gathered all the followers in the first place, there would be no one to break this and enter.”

You can feel that they had been planning this for a long time.

The Holy Knights and priests who were brainwashed and attacked each district were not particularly skilled.

Not a single follower with skills above level 7 appeared on the battlefield in the first place.

Even if they scraped them all together, it wouldn’t have been easy to create even a small hole.

If the Saintess, with her overwhelmingly powerful divine power level, hadn’t been here. Could I have broken through this alone?

Probably not easily.

But now, she is here.

“Hurry and come in!!!!!”

The Saintess shouted urgently.

She was holding her body against the barrier, trying to buy time so the hole wouldn’t close.

And we threw ourselves into that spot.

“Hold on tight!!!”

Perhaps judging that my slow pace would be insufficient, Grace quickly hugged me and started running.

I nestled comfortably in Grace’s now familiar embrace and moved forward quickly.

Luca and Jack were the first to pass through the hole easily, and Kylek got stuck for a bit as he squeezed through, getting caught in the hole.

“……I- I’m stuck!!”

“Get in.”

Thump-

Noah immediately hit Kylek strongly in the back, Kylek popped in, and Noah entered right after.

Lastly, Grace and I slipped through the much smaller hole.

At the same time as we entered, the Saintess rolled inside as well.

“Phew…. Did we succeed?”

“I think so.”

We succeeded in breaking through the barrier that isolated District 1 and entering the interior.

Cough!! Cough!!!

The Saintess suddenly began coughing.

Then she started retching and lay down spread-eagled beside me.

“Ughhhh.”

Her eyes were unfocused and her expression was dazed; it seemed she had used up every last bit of her divine power.

For the Saintess, who has 2-3 times my divine power, to only be able to create a hole for a few seconds by scraping together everything she had.

Indeed, there was a reason it couldn’t be breached until now.

Moreover, while it seems easy to go out from here, it seems not everyone can enter from the outside; the Spirits who were chasing us are just bouncing off the wall, unable to break through.

“It doesn’t seem to distinguish between friend and foe.”

“Then how can guys like the Guard go in and out?”

“There’s probably a separate method. Like creating a temporary entrance to pass through instantly.”

Anyway, we’ve entered, so that’s not important.

Right now, the important thing is just to keep moving forward.

“Now then, is the next hurdle this?”

We had broken through the barrier surrounding District 1, but we still hadn’t entered District 1 itself.

As you know, all districts in the labyrinth city are surrounded by walls, and the gate leading to District 1 was tightly shut.

“But this is just an ordinary gate.”

The gates of the labyrinth city aren’t ordinary, but they don’t have some gimmick that requires only divine power to break through.

“I’ll break it!!!”

Kylek confidently stepped forward.

In his hand, he held an arrow that kills giants.

Kylek raised his bow and aimed at the city gate.

Immediately, a change occurred in Kylek’s body as he closed his eyes and concentrated.

A powerful energy began to gather into a single arrow, as if charging.

And soon, a little steam rose from Kylek’s body.

This was the black card Kylek obtained this time.

[Overheat]

A simple effect that overloads physical abilities and loads that energy onto a weapon.

But its performance is excellent.

“There’s probably a protective magic on the gate, so shoot towards the wall!!!”

When the Spirits invaded other districts, they couldn’t break through the gates and just broke through the thick city walls to enter.

Perhaps even with all his strength, Kylek would have difficulty breaking through the gate.

Of course, breaking the wall makes it hard for a large force to enter, but for just 7 people entering, that much doesn’t matter.

Immediately, Kylek let go of his hand, and a powerful arrow flew and struck the city wall.

Boom-

As if an explosion occurred, a powerful shockwave spread around, and by then, a massive hole had been opened where the arrow had passed.

“Enter…?!”

Kylek immediately tried to enter through the hole he had made in the wall.

But a powerful divine power filled the interior of the wall.

It quickly filled the gap in the collapsed wall.

“Ah.”

Tap, tap. He knocked on it, but the wall was already perfectly blocked.

Had they anticipated even breaking through the wall and entering?

“It seems like we’ll have to cross by teleporting.”

“Yeah. But.”

『Next possible exchange time: 0:51:33』

There was too much time left until the deck could be changed.

“For now, use all your strength to at least break the gate….”

Grace’s voice suddenly stopped.

Everyone’s gaze immediately gathered where her eyes were directed.

There stood Luca, who had cleanly sliced the city gate, creating an entrance just wide enough for one person to pass through.

“……? I’ll go in first.”

Watching Luca enter alone, Jack said with a beaming smile.

“Even though most beastkin are idiots, there’s still a reason they survive!”

“Wow, that’s seriously overpowered.”

Even though the range was very short, damage that bypasses defenses was great.

“Let’s go in!!!”

We can talk later.

We broke through the barrier around District 1 and also broke through the gate, so now it’s time to really go to the Pope.

Noah roughly took care of the exhausted Saintess, and the rest of us ran and entered through the gap in the gate.

They hadn’t seemed to consider the possibility of the gate being broken at all, as there was no barrier or anything here.

Crossing the gate, we finally arrived at District 1.

But as expected, the atmosphere was unusual.

“…There’s not a single person.”

A veritable ghost town with not a single person visible on the streets.

The buildings were clean, but there were weeds visible in every corner, and magical devices that had stopped working due to the قطع (interrupted) supply of mana stones, as if they hadn’t been maintained.

In this situation that perfectly evokes a city of ruin.

At the edge of our sight, a massive building was the only thing emitting light far away.

The Holy Land of the Ariel Order.

From there, a not-insignificant number of Spirits were flying towards us.

“What should we do?”

“Avoid a frontal confrontation and move while minimizing encounters with the enemy.”

Immediately, I used cards consecutively from the hand I was holding.

[Stealth]

[Stealth]

Immediately, the bodies of everyone around me began to melt into the world.

As soon as we realized our bodies had completely disappeared.

We cautiously made our way through District 1 in the deep darkness of dawn.