6.

Starting the next day, the saintess was unstoppable.

She met the King of Akanda straight away and gave him one last chance to explain his son's affairs.

What had happened? There was no room for excuses.

Numerous people had already seen it, and there was evidence left behind that he had even captured sacrifices for an evil ritual that was embarrassing to even call black magic, his eyes half-unfocused.

So the king made a choice.

"A few days ago, the princess and a demon broke into my bedroom. She told me: Feel exactly what I suffered. My son was attacked unfairly. Saintess, please, I ask for your help."

A way to protect both his son and the kingdom. A choice to abandon the last remaining tie with the princess and the Empire.

But it was the worst choice. It might have worked on the saintess of yesterday.

Out of guilt toward the princess, feeling responsible for the fact that she had truly become involved with demons, she might have healed the prince.

But not now.

Although it was akin to being incited by Kim Buja's scam, the saintess was now certain regardless.

The princess had no connection to black magic. God had personally descended, attached an agent to the princess, and wanted them to break through the darkness thickly covering the continent.

The evidence for this was the corruption and betrayal of the temple she had seen and heard, and the thick stench reeking from the leadership of the Allied Forces.

The Kingdom of Akanda was also a place that had stood on the Empire's side but betrayed it to choose survival.

In such a place, an incident related to black magic had occurred.

"I will handle it personally. Do not worry."

If she had even a shred of logical reasoning, she'd be more bothered by the simple fact that the princess was here of all times. But the saintess, unfortunately, had long since substituted normal thought with whatever passed for logic in that head of hers — namely, the hairpin stuck in her hair.

A world that makes sense of the nonsensical. Something possible because God exists.

She gave a bright smile.

At the pure white smile, the king knelt and shed tears of gratitude.

He didn't know because he had let the word 'handle' from the saintess's mouth slip by without thought.

A moment later, he didn't realize it, even as screams loud enough to shake the royal palace rang out from the room where the prince was confined.

What judgment the saintess had made, and what resolve she had taken.

* * *

"I received a visitation from God yesterday."

Before leaving, everyone gathered their hands together at the saintess's words as she prayed in front of the people.

A reception with God. An oracle. The second oracle since the saintess was chosen. To the people, it was a blessing.

The fact that they could hear the words sent down by God, even through the saintess, was joyous.

"God has spoken. Do not succumb to evil. For I am watching by your side. Live for the people."

"Oh, God."

"Ohhh! God has not abandoned us yet!"

Not a single person, not even the Holy Knights guarding the saintess's side, suspected that she was speaking a falsehood.

That was the kind of existence she was.

The saintess. God's agent who actually performed miracles.

Amid the attention, the saintess asked the twelve Holy Knights guarding her side.

"As of today, I will fight without succumbing to injustice. God wishes to set right the corrupt temple and the fallen continent. Will you help me?"

It was a daring remark. At the choice of words without hesitation, the Holy Knights looked at the saintess with surprised eyes.

They knew too. The corrupt and rotten-to-the-core temple. The corruption flowing down from the pope revealed the reason for the continent's current political situation, without filter.

Those watching from the deepest parts of the cult knew.

But no one could raise a voice of opposition.

It wasn't that they hadn't.

Sincere believers, priests, and even elders had raised their voices without reservation about the corruption of the current cult, and the results did not change. They too could not avoid the same fate as the Empire.

They became heretics, were branded as cultists, and were miserably cast out.

The corruption of all kinds inflicted in the name of God was so dogmatic and powerful that one would resign oneself to wondering if this was God's will.

That was why the saintess also had to submit.

She prayed to God every day, again and again.

'What should I do? Please give me an answer.'

The saintess, who had been losing her vitality day by day, changed overnight.

This declaration, these words spoken where everyone could hear, was essentially a declaration of war.

It was a will to fight even while risking the danger of following in the footsteps of the righteous believers, priests, and elders who had fallen in countless numbers.

The Holy Knights had to choose. The pope or the saintess.

It wasn't a choice of whose side to stand on. It was a choice of whether this was the right path.

"As God wills."

"As God wills."

A moment of hesitation.

But there was no one who wavered. The saintess and the Holy Knights left just like that.

Bringing an end to the black magic-related incident that occurred in the Kingdom of Akanda.

7.

Watching the saintess leave, Kim Buja scratched the back of his head, feeling bewildered.

"Did she really have to go that far?"

In fact, even while planning the operation, he didn't know it would go this far.

At most, he thought it would be good if the saintess was fooled, and if not, he intended to constantly plant doubt and induce discord within the temple.

To think she would believe it all at once and simultaneously show an initiative he hadn't even ordered. Of course, it was a significantly positive change.

From the perspective of the Imperial Army, it was a moment where one more ray of hope shone.

In a touch-and-go situation where they didn't even have room to breathe, if the temple became chaotic because of the saintess, the Allied Forces wouldn't be able to easily think of striking the Imperial Army.

Even if their leadership was connected to black magic, due to the battle at the gorge, they might think the princess really did make a contract with a demon.

So, the temple was absolutely necessary for them. Until that problem was solved, they would have breathing room and a chance to utilize the time.

"I feel a bit icky, like I've become a supporting character."

If the Gold Mission were updated in real-time, perhaps the current chapter would be something like 『The Saintess's Resolve』.

The saintess stood up to overcome the injustice of the past.

It would be very difficult for her as well. Considering the power the cult held on the continent, the pope had influence that could be considered equal to or greater than the Emperor.

Furthermore, there is currently no emperor.

With a single word from the pope, anyone could become a black magic user and become a devil who committed heresy.

They had to raise a banner of rebellion against him.

It wasn't that she didn't want to be the saintess.

Wasn't the very fact that she uttered words betraying the princess, her friend of many years—perhaps decades—proof that she had finally succumbed to her fate?

'Can I pull this off?'

Because of that lingering doubt, I didn't have much faith.

People do not change easily.

Buja was merely betting his hope on her absolute faith in God, that overwhelming belief capable of transforming a saintess in a single moment.

"Seria will do well. You can trust her."

Once again, he found himself reevaluating the princess's brilliance.

Although she called Seria a friend and claimed to trust her, most of the plan originated in the princess's own mind, from the hairpin the saintess had no choice but to trust, down to the manipulation of her very personality.

The saintess was moving exactly as the princess predicted.

Even if that motivation was a desire for revenge against the saintess, it didn't matter. The attempt to do something became the catalyst for setting a definitive destination.

[Hidden Mission: The Corrupt temple has been generated.]

A clearer goal had emerged.

"Let's go."

The three of them followed behind the saintess.

The continent was undergoing a cataclysm.

The flapping of a small butterfly's wings began to stir at the place that had once been the gateway to the Kingdom of Akanda and the Empire.

* * *

[The Corrupt temple]

▶ Grade: Hidden

▶ Content: A temple rotten to the core. Following the will of God, the saintess has decided she will no longer stand by and watch. Assist the saintess and eradicate the corruption within the temple.

▶ Reward: level +2, 50,000 Gold, 3 Random Item Summon Tickets (Special), 1 Random Skill Summon Ticket (Special), 3 Special Stat Points

▶ Time Limit: None

▷ The mission will automatically fail if the saintess dies.

The more I looked at it, the more impressed I became.

'I didn't know missions like this existed.'

I had suspected they might. It made no sense for a hologram system, where most quests proceeded just like any other game, to lack hidden quests.

However, I never dreamed it would offer such excessive rewards.

'Achievements aren't the only answer.'

It was possible to hit the jackpot through quests as well, not just achievements. This wasn't some petty game company that would implement stealth nerfs just to hinder a player's growth.

However, the price for it had to be paid in full.

That was the reason why Buja's expression wasn't entirely cheerful.

Just the two levels and 50,000 Gold alone were better than the Legendary achievement rewards he had earned during the last Gold Mission at least twice as good.

On top of that, there were three Special-grade random draw items and one skill. Could one dare to calculate their value? The three Special Stat Points felt like they were just thrown in as a bonus service.

Even with a rough calculation, the rewards were more than three times better. Naturally, concerns about the difficulty accompanied these rewards.

The only fortunate aspect was that there was no time limit. It felt like a separate scenario running parallel to the Gold Mission centered on the princess.

To get the rewards, I had to help the saintess.

Furthermore, while there didn't seem to be an explicit penalty at first glance, if the saintess moved according to her beliefs because of this quest—and because of Buja—and ended up dying, it would have a massive impact on the main Gold Mission as well.

'If the pope moves as he pleases, it really is the end.'

The absence of an opposing force meant dictatorship.

The Allied Forces? Could they really remain safe from the pope?

I didn't know why they had joined hands or why they were moving, but if the Allied Forces were truly connected to the demon race, then they hadn't simply brought down the Empire.

'This is getting more and more interesting.'

A story where nothing was certain. The framework of the given quest existed, but building it and changing it depended entirely on Buja's choices.

Choices and changes, and the fluid movements that followed. The resulting Hidden Missions and the underlying secrets.

He wanted to know.

The prelude to this war. The Empire and the temple, the Allied Forces and black magic. The true nature of these four entities and the mastermind behind them.

"What do you intend to do?"

The princess asked cautiously as she watched Buja racking his brain over the increasingly massive scale of events. She knew that blindly following the saintess wasn't a good choice. Moreover, the place the saintess was heading to was the heart of enemy territory.

One wrong move could ruin everything. Naturally, Buja had no intention of following her all the way there.

"I have to set the stage for her."

In just a few days, he had spent over ten thousand gold in the Kingdom of Akanda just to meet the saintess. He hadn't known the situation would turn out like this, but he felt he had to make sure he got a return on his investment.

"A justification, power, and a position where the saintess can speak."

That was why he chased her.

He intended to help her as much as possible before she returned to the Imperial Capital, which he knew had now become the stronghold of the Allied Forces.

The plan was perfect.

The story was flowing more smoothly than ever, and the situation looked positive. He even had the thought that maybe, just maybe, he could turn this hopeless situation around.

That was, until a few days later, when he experienced a financial crisis—a "gold shortage"—for the first time since his Awakening.

* * *

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.