Chapter 95

The priests of the sect held relics in their hands. In this era, where magic has defiled every corner of the world, these ancient relics carried a purity of divine power that could no longer be found.

Among these relics, some of the most revered—those imbued with the deepest breath of the gods—had been sacrificed according to the Pope’s plan. But even so…

The remaining relics alone could herald a new wind for the declining Theistic Order.

It was an omen of a new age.

But for now, they could not revel in such joy. Their comrade Hyacinth, who had remained until the last at the temple, had not returned.

Sect Leader Philoxenon brushed his white beard. Philoxenon, along with Hyacinth, belonged to the older generation of priests within the Aegio Sect. Though known for his cold rationality, Philoxenon had been comrades with Hyacinth for decades. Remaining indifferent to a comrade’s fate was no easy task.

And then, suddenly, the world began to tremble.

It wasn’t an earthquake, nor the physical shaking caused by tectonic collisions or the aftermath of magical forces.

This was the purest divine energy, something thought impossible to feel in this era, now shaking the world.

The priests soon realized that the ground beneath their feet had turned black. It resembled the hue of the Pluto Temple they had just explored.

It wasn’t merely similar. The deep blackness was identical to the walls of the temple they had witnessed.

Beneath their feet, the black mass rising and shaking the earth itself *was* the Pluto Temple.

“This is…!”

One priest gasped in a mix of horror and delight.

The members of the Theistic Order no longer sensed the harbinger of a new age.

Instead, they were witnessing the new age itself.

The glorious splendor of the mythic era. The ancient temple had returned into the hands of the Theistic Order.

***

Kore hid the Pluto Temple within the shadows of the earth before heading toward the Pope’s quarters. It was truly a miraculous accomplishment.

Inside the temple lay a vast amount of relics the various sects hadn’t managed to transport. Whether it was right to consume them for the Pope’s plan was secondary; for the Theistic Order, this was nothing short of a boon.

The Pope clutched one of the most ancient and precious relics discovered by the Theistic Order—a pearl necklace from the relic of Elimon. Kneeling before the altar, the Pope extended his clasped hands holding the necklace toward the heavens, resembling a priest beseeching the gods.

To whom this prayer was directed, or if it was even a prayer for the gods, remained unknown.

The relic slowly regained its original form, tracing back hundreds, perhaps thousands or even tens of thousands of years. Dusty gray, pristine white, the luster of starlight on the night sea—all were restored.

The sacred glow flickering within the white pearl. Yet the Pope did not stop. The pearl regressed further into antiquity, layer upon layer of history unwinding like the layers inside a shell.

Even the fragments of dirt and dust before it became a gemstone remained.

In the Pope’s hand now lay only the remains of the pearl reduced to a few grains of sand and the primordial divine force embedded within it.

The Pope gathered this ancient purity and blew it into the deep darkness behind the altar. Amidst the darkness, starlight flickered.

The shimmering light of divine energy spread into the darkness behind the altar, not swallowed but rather absorbed into it.

The darkness pulsed rhythmically, like a beating heart. Multicolored lights like nebulae bloomed and faded.

“Not enough yet…”

The Pope rose and turned to look down at Kore.

“I hear you’ve acquired the Great Temple. Congratulations.”

Kore felt an unsettling chill in those congratulatory words. No priest could ever truly “possess” a temple consecrated to the gods.

No, it was a sacrilegious act beyond permissible boundaries for any servant to claim ownership over the divine.

Through this improper phrasing, Kore deduced the Pope’s thoughts.

The Great Temple would serve as another center binding the Theistic Order together, and to properly manage it, Kore herself, as Pluto’s priestess, was essential.

This meant that the previously obscure Pluto Cult and its priestess were now officially recognized as another core of the Theistic Order.

That is, Kore would emerge as a new entity capable of challenging the Pope’s authority.

As the Pope phrased it, “Kore acquiring the temple” made her the Pope’s sole rival.

‘Could it be?’

Kore finally understood why Ortes had “handed over” the temple to her.

Her relationship of trust with the Pope could never return to what it once was. Even if Kore provided testimony, the Pope would inevitably judge it through the lens of preconceived notions.

The head of the Theistic Order had effectively split into two.

The sect should have been the Wizard King’s greatest adversary. But the day when the sect’s will would unify would never come.

If Kore fully supported the Pope’s plan now, things might change. However, she still couldn’t accept the Pope’s vision.

The Theistic Order had grown stronger. With the relics from the Great Temple and the Pope’s creation nearing completion today, they might even restore the grandeur of ancient times.

In other words, while the sect had grown powerful enough to rival the Ten Towers, internal unity would never be achieved.

Ortes’ declaration of “the enemy of the Ten Towers” came to mind. He had given the Theistic Order the power of the past so they could become enemies of the Ten Towers.

A dagger piercing through the Ten Towers, whose focus was entirely on Argheirion.

Though Ortes advised waiting for the return of the lost mage and the conflict with the Ten Towers, did the Pope share this view?

How did the Pope interpret the prophecy of the returning mage? Did he believe his unholy creation, following his plan, could even defeat the lost mage?

Or did he dismiss Ortes’ statement as mere rhetoric, not prophecy?

Amid Kore’s confusion, the Pope simply smiled.

The Pope recalled the flickering light on the altar.

The light of Phobos extinguished, leaving only ten flames on the altar. Five relics connected to the altar had been discovered within the Pluto Temple, and one had just been removed.

Having extinguished the flame of Elimon himself, there should have been ten flames left.

However.

Only nine flames remained, flickering.

Someone, somewhere else, had snuffed out the soul of an ancient priest.

***

Haltos received news that brought both joy and suspicion.

A unit dispatched by Argheirion clashed with an elder of the Ten Towers.

“It was unavoidable. That suspicious distress signal had a high chance of being a trap. Therefore, only a small team of volunteers was sent.”

As a result of the clash, the dispatched unit was annihilated, and the subsequent rescue team returned without recovering any bodies.

“The Ten Towers have always been absolute power.” Haltos, former deputy of Blasphemia, knew their strength better than anyone. Given that the enemy was an elder of the Ten Towers, the total annihilation confirmed more success than expected.

However, the struggle also claimed the life of the Ten Towers elder.

“Is that even possible?”

Even assuming the angelification technique performed beyond expectations, the opponent was still an elder of the Ten Towers!

Yet, the discovery of the elder’s body was undeniable reality.

The lack of direct witnesses to the battle raised doubts about credibility. Simultaneously, it was reported that the fight occurred within the confines of a space-alchemy barrier erected by the Silver Elder, making external observation impossible.

The follow-up team observed the deployment of a massive barrier and arrived after it had dissipated. At the site, they found the elder’s corpse.

An irrefutable scenario: the barrier collapsed because the elder maintaining it had been killed.

The question of who killed the elder was laughable. The battlefield was littered with the remains of the unit transformed into angels.

Moreover,

Who else in this era would rebel against the Ten Towers besides Argheirion?

Anyone would see it as a miraculous feat achieved by the unit risking their lives.

An indescribable sense of unease lingered. While cautioning the troops against rash actions, Haltos sought ways to exploit the shocking death of the elder.

“Ultimately, the most effective method is exposure.”

Authority begins to invite suspicion the moment it falters, even slightly.

Publicizing the fall of an absolute power like an elder of the Ten Towers would surely turn more people away from their arrogant betrayal and toward the greater cause.

All reasonable efforts eventually converged into chaos.

It was the moment when the seeds of delusion planted and nurtured by Ortes finally blossomed.