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The person who saved Iris from the magical beast was Akim Norwich. He was fighting the beasts single-handedly, having been separated from the Prince's party.
Thanks to that, he was able to save Iris as she came through the main gate, but this woman was quite a problem.
“I have to go! Let me go!”
Even though her body was a wreck, slashed all over by the magical beasts, the woman screamed with desperation. Akim gnashed his teeth.
“Are you crazy? Don't get caught up in that!”
He knew Prince Elio was playing some trick on his younger brother. But it was a different matter for this woman to suddenly jump into the middle of it.
However, he flinched at the woman's next words.
“That man is my husband!”
Husband?
“Are you Lady Achen?”
Iris flinched at those words. However, a rational conversation was impossible.
“Rahan! What are you doing!”
Because she had begun to frenzy again, looking in that direction. Akim also looked over in surprise, but he was soon relieved to see Rahan being restrained.
But that was a mistake.
“I am Akim Norwich. I am the Margrave Norwich!”
At the mention of the name Norwich, the woman held in his grip froze for a moment and looked at him.
“...Rahan's...”
“Family, damn it. I'm his brother. The situation is turning strange right now—”
Looking back later, no matter how he thought about it, he should not have spent time chatting then.
But Akim at the time didn't know that, so he held onto Iris, wanting to hear something.
Do you know that my brother is being framed as a demon worshiper? Do you know anything about this situation?
He should never have done that.
“Aaaah! Rahan!”
Iris, who had been held by him, let out a piercing scream. Akim turned around in shock.
Coincidentally, the moment he turned around coincided exactly with the instant his brother threw himself off the cliff in the rain.
The strength left his hands. Was this what it felt like to lose one's soul? The woman's body slipped from his grasp. But his fingers wouldn't move.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion. His brother's body quickly disappeared over the cliff. The woman tumbled to the ground mid-run.
Short breaths spread through the damp, misty air.
The Prince smiled faintly, and the priest held by the hair screamed like a mother bird who had lost its chick.
The rain fell...
And a white flash covered everything.
* * *
Archbishop Victor tried to hurry back the way he came.
Seeing the magical beasts covering the sky in black amidst the rain, how could he possibly go to the monastery?
“Ride the horses faster! Hurry! We must escape!”
But no matter how much he whipped the knights, it was useless. The magical beasts had already spotted the white four-horse carriage shining brilliantly in the rain, and the horses were torn to bone in an instant.
The knights fought hard, but because of the black swarm of magical beasts closing in from all sides, only two out of ten remained.
Even they only survived because they had entered the carriage to protect the Archbishop.
“Your Eminence! A prayer!”
“Hurry!”
The claws and teeth of the magical beasts piercing through the carriage were too threatening. One of the two knights was even poisoned.
The last thing they pinned their hopes on was the Archbishop's Sanctuary Declaration. No matter what kind of magical beast it was, it would turn to dust upon entering a priest's Sanctuary.
However, no matter how they fought, there was no sign of a Sanctuary appearing.
Eventually, one knight looked back and screamed in horror.
“Your Eminence! What are you doing!”
Archbishop Victor, who was just about to lift the long seat of the carriage and crawl inside, was startled.
“Ah, well...”
The place he was trying to crawl into was the space used for storing jewels, valuables, or luggage.
In other words, he had been idling, trying to evacuate to a safer place while leaving the knights to fight.
The knights felt their strength drain away. Had they been suffering this much just to protect a man like this?
“You see, a prayer is something that must be offered when the person praying is at peace...”
The Archbishop rambled, then suddenly snapped in anger.
“Listen here! To think that you, as knights, would rely on a mere priest's Sanctuary! Do you not know that hoping for God to solve everything is the laziest way to serve Him!”
But the knights had already noticed. This Archbishop did not know how to perform a Sanctuary Declaration.
To be an Archbishop and not be able to bring down the divine?
The knights felt even the sliver of faith they held wither away.
It was then.
Kieeeee...
Suddenly, a terrifying scream echoed from outside.
Kyaaaah! Aaaah!
The magical beasts that had been cackling while surrounding the carriage were now screaming in pain outside.
Simultaneously, the knights felt a surprisingly warm and comfortable sensation.
“What is this?”
“This is... a Sanctuary!”
A white light enveloping the three of them. A warm and leisurely feeling, as if lying in a field on a spring day, basking in the sunlight.
A perfect world where no unpleasantness existed.
It was the Sanctuary they knew well. The knights unconsciously looked at Archbishop Victor.
Was it you?
But they soon realized it was a misunderstanding. Archbishop Victor was also looking around in surprise.
It was clear that someone had come nearby to save them and declared a Sanctuary. Since the magical beasts had surrounded them, it must have been an arduous task.
It wouldn't be surprising if the person had suffered severe injuries. Thus, the knights kicked open the carriage door to quickly carry their savior to the monastery's Healing Center.
And outside, a surprising and shocking sight awaited them.
Light surged in every direction. Everywhere the knights could see.
From the coastline beyond the distant cliff, across the fields where they stood, to the distant rainy forest.
Everywhere was filled with white light.
“My God...”
“What on earth is this.”
“Ohhh...”
It was a sight they had never seen before. The power of God completely filled the world.
The size of a Sanctuary normally varied depending on the priest's devotion. But a scale like this was unheard of.
Furthermore, what caught their eyes most was the pillar of light reaching from the center of Wind Rock Monastery to the end of the sky.
That pillar of light emitted a steadfast, holy aura, as if supporting the half-collapsed ruins of Wind Rock Monastery.
Archbishop Victor unconsciously fell to his knees in emotion.
“Ohhh...”
The magical beasts that had filled the surroundings were all scattering as ash.
“Kieeee...”
From the south of the world to the north, from the east to the west.
Before they knew it, only the corpses of knights who had fallen fighting the beasts remained around them. Not a single thing resembling a magical beast was left.
“My goodness, Eridrahan. Eridrahan Himself has descended. To protect His children. He could not stand by and watch Wind Rock Monastery, where the mages once fought, be destroyed...”
Was that so? The knights were also persuaded by the Archbishop's words. The sight unfolding before them was enough to fill their hearts with faith.
The rain, which had been pouring down like blades from the sky, had turned warm, stroking their cheeks as it gradually subsided.
Archbishop Victor stood up, filled with joy.
“Let us go! God is present in that Wind Rock Monastery!”
They did not know. That there was no such thing as a god in Wind Rock Monastery.
Wind Rock Monastery, its western side collapsed. It was filled with the corpses of livestock and people, and the puddles of rain were stained red with blood.
A foul smell of sulfur wafted from the mud-slicked courtyard of the monastery, and those who had barely survived sat in a daze, their faces unrecognizable, covered in dirt.
Their gazes were fixed on only one person.
“Rahan!”
Where dozens of gazes converged. There was a woman being dragged away by other priests as she tried to crawl to the edge of the monastery's cliff.
And the heartless white light illuminated the woman's face, drenched in tears.
No, that wasn't it. That light was surging and emanating from her. It was so bright that one could hardly look directly at her.
But she crawled on the ground as if she didn't even know such a thing. The fingertips of the woman trying to reach the cliff by scratching the stone floor broke, and blood seeped out.
“What is this, why...!”
The wailing of one who had lost a loved one echoed down the bottomless cliff.
Thus, the Saintess of Wind Rock Monastery arrived in the world.
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