Chapter 692: Holy Power

The first omen: Water turns to blood.

The second omen: A plague of frogs covering the land.

The third omen: A swarm of lice infesting people.

The fourth omen: A flood of flies darkening the sky.

The fifth omen: A deadly disease strikes the livestock.

The sixth omen: A plague of boils on the skin.

And with these omens, the truth came to light.

The truth that escapes one’s lips against their will.

The capital of the Pater Church, the Holy Capital, was paralyzed.

It wasn’t just an administrative, economic, political, or military issue.

It meant a fundamental paralysis where no one in the City could move.

Oppressed by an unreal and unacceptable disaster, and the horrific truth.

Priests, Holy Knights, students, citizens—all in the Holy Capital were either unconscious from the disaster or frozen by the damning truth, unable to do anything.

The most they could do was reflexively call out to God.

In just one night, the holiest City in the world fell into a state akin to death.

━━━━━━!!

On the highest Hill in this dead City, two opposing forces collided.

With each clash, the landscape distorted, the sky caved in, and the earth shook. A majestic roar split the heavens and earth as brilliant light burst forth.

Those who were crushed by the repeated disasters and their own inner guilt instinctively looked up at the top of the Hill.

Like people finding light in the darkness, they raised their heads.

And as everyone fixed their gaze on the peak of the Hill.

━━━━━━━━━━!!!

Once more, brilliant light and a majestic roar reverberated, followed by a silence that seemed almost unreal.

[Are you satisfied?]

***

The corroded and crumbled Holy Emperor’s Palace.

Around it, headless Nuns and Holy Knights made of scattered flesh, blood, and entrails were strewn on the ground.

Additionally, the ground was littered with marks that looked like something had disintegrated and embedded with hundreds of unknown thorns.

The Woman on the Camel stood proudly in the midst of it all, looking at Merlin, who was in her grasp, and asked.

[Are you satisfied?]

Merlin couldn’t give any response.

Although he hadn’t fainted, it wasn’t surprising. His condition was dire.

His face was smeared with blood, but that was the least of it. His left arm and right leg had been torn off, and the bandages on his body were loose, showing his badly broken state.

His innards were visible through shattered skin and decaying flesh.

It was almost a miracle that he was still alive.

Just as the Woman was about to throw Merlin to the ground, a faint sound escaped his lips.

“Ah… Ah… Not… yet…”

At the same time, Merlin clenched his right hand, weak as it was, and struck the Woman’s hand with it.

He was stubbornly clinging on in a pathetic sort of way.

Tight…

Seeing this, instead of tossing Merlin aside, the Woman tightened her grip on his body with her hand made of Nuns’ arms.

The sound of bones and muscles being crushed echoed, and Merlin’s feeble resistance ceased.

Holding onto Merlin that way, the Woman reached out her other hand towards the door Merlin had been guarding and beckoned with her fingers.

The space around them suddenly felt as if it was being grasped by some unseen force.

━━━━━━━━━━━━!!!

With a thunderous crash, the entire Holy Emperor’s Palace collapsed, sending a massive cloud of dust high into the sky.

The surrounding area became hazy from the dust.

It was just like when the Underground Tomb beneath the Convent emerged above ground.

The only difference was the scale.

The vast flow of earth swept away the surrounding buildings and people.

In that chaos, the Woman on the Camel waved her hand, clearing the thick dust and securing her view of the surroundings.

As the dust that had swallowed everything cleared, a black sphere made of shadows came into view.

It was an uncomfortably pitch-black sphere, as if it had absorbed all the darkness in the world.

Whoosh…

Several round eyes, unnervingly perfect, sprouted from the sphere, scanning the area until they met the eyes of the Woman on the Camel.

As if it possessed a will of its own, the shadowy sphere, upon spotting the Woman, dissolved, revealing the person inside to the world.

Oliver, who sat motionless on the ground clutching his Quarterstaff.

As the shadow retreated, Oliver, who had been hanging his head, looked up to gaze at the Woman on the Camel.

She was encased in a casket of ice, adorned with golden thread, and wearing a dress anointed with Scented Oil. Above all, she had descended into this world using 56 Nuns as materials.

The Woman on the Camel also looked down at Oliver, showing a complex expression that hadn’t appeared since her descent.

For a long moment, the two simply stared at each other.

As if time had stopped. But soon, time began to move again.

The Woman on the Camel threw Merlin, whom she had been holding in one hand, towards Oliver.

Merlin, missing his left arm and right leg, rolled on the ground and landed before Oliver, who silently gazed at him.

Even without using Warlock’s Eye, Oliver could tell that Merlin had little time left as he lifted his head to meet Oliver’s gaze.

In Oliver’s empty, indifferent eyes.

“······.”

“······.”

Neither Oliver nor Merlin spoke, and finally, Oliver looked away first, shifting his gaze to the Woman on the Camel.

As their eyes met, the Woman on the Camel slightly bowed her head and introduced herself to Oliver.

[Greetings, I am the Woman on the Camel.]

She was referencing the past conversation between Oliver and The Burned One.

Oliver had said that it was polite to introduce yourselves before talking.

“······.”

However, in contrast to his previous statements, Oliver neither introduced himself nor responded in any way.

He simply continued to stare at the Woman on the Camel.

Behavior completely unimaginable from the Oliver who once placed such importance on etiquette.

Yet, she showed no sign of displeasure and actually smiled. It wasn’t a fake smile; she was genuinely unbothered.

[It is an honor to meet you, noble being.]

Noble.

A word that signifies high status and honor.

He had now heard it for the second time.

The first was from The Burned One in the past. At that time, Oliver’s emotions were confusion, doubt, and discomfort.

No wonder—Oliver felt that nothing could be less fitting for him.

A despised orphan raised in the lowest ranks, even in a wretched mine where he was still shunned. How could the word ‘noble’ apply to Oliver?

If anything, the opposite would be more suitable.

That is why, when The Burned One called him noble, Oliver couldn’t comprehend it. Nor did he particularly want to.

Genuinely and earnestly.

But contrary to his wishes, Oliver now understood the reason.

As a result, the title no longer felt so strange or uncomfortable—it now brought feelings of irritation and weariness.

Enough to finally break his silence and speak.

“Do you also know who I am?”

[Not just I, but all of us know you. Born in the highest place in the world, yet raised in the lowest. You should have reaped the greatest blessings and glory, but instead carried the most burdens and hardships. How could we not know you?]

The Woman on the Camel smiled a sad smile, full of admiration and pity, instead of her usual playful grin.

However, Oliver showed no reaction.

“Is that why you came here, to tell me this?”

[Yes, but I do have other business as well.]

The Woman on the Camel replied and moved her hand made of Nuns’ arms once more.

A faint tremor ran through the ground, and a ruined stone structure emerged as the earth cracked open.

It looked like a well, surrounded by a broken circular wall.

But a closer look revealed that it was more like a pond encased in stone.

Like a treasure chest meant to hold something precious.

The fact that it was a stone-lined pond underground made it quite unique, but Oliver’s attention was drawn more to its contents.

“Holy Power, I see.”

Oliver discerned the energy inside the pond.

The water contained Holy Power—specifically, the source of the Holy Power used by the Holy Knights.

The subtle yet vast energy, akin to the ocean, was proof.

Oliver, who had tried not to concern himself with most things, was slightly surprised to find such power hidden beneath the Holy Emperor’s Palace.

He wondered how he hadn’t noticed it.

As if reading his thoughts, the Woman on the Camel explained.

[It’s not strange that you didn’t notice. For hundreds of years, the Pater Church has made hiding that pond its top priority.]

Oliver, who had been staring at the pond filled with Holy Power, looked back at the Woman on the Camel.

When their eyes met, she smiled and continued speaking kindly, as if addressing a child.

[God entrusted the heavens to His most beloved son. That brightest angel who loved humanity as much as God Himself. Do you know what that angel did first when he descended to earth?]

Oliver didn’t respond. He didn’t seem particularly interested either.

A cynical reaction.

But the Woman on the Camel continued smiling as she explained.

[The first thing he did was share a small portion of his power with this pond. A power that could heal any wound, neutralize foreign forces, strengthen the body and mind, and purify evil energy—a power that anyone with the will could use. Because he shared God’s vision.]

Oliver subtly reacted to the words “God” and “that angel.”

Noticing this, the Woman on the Camel’s grin widened slightly.

[They both wanted humans to become better beings. So much so that they would no longer need to rely on them. It’s quite a paradox, isn’t it?]

Oliver didn’t respond. Though, this silence was different from before.

[Haha, personally, I like paradoxes. Those contradictory things. Paradoxes seem bad and like they should be eliminated, but I don’t see it that way. Because a world where everything is perfectly aligned is a ‘complete’ world. Do you know what the problem with a ‘complete’ world is?]

Oliver remained silent.

[It won’t get any worse, but it won’t get any better either. It’s immutable because it’s perfect. In other words, it stagnates. And stagnation means decay.]

“…Is that also why you brought out that pond?”

Finally, Oliver spoke as if seeing through something.

[Yes, because it has strayed far from its original purpose.]

The Woman on the Camel said as she looked at the pond hidden behind walls and encased in stone to keep any water from leaking out.

[God created that pond so that anyone with the will could use it, but now, that’s no longer possible. They built walls to hide it, and on top of that, they built a Hill, ensuring that only they could access it. They even used it to establish a hierarchy. Quite blasphemous, isn’t it?]

Naturally, the Woman on the Camel revealed the secret.

The secret of the massive Hill that rose in the center of the Holy Capital and the white palace built atop it.

That massive Hill and majestic structure were, in fact, a vault built to hide and isolate the pond.

Much like the vault that Oliver had been trapped in.

[I’m here to reclaim that power by God’s command… Will you try to stop me?]

The Woman on the Camel asked as she once again looked at the pond.

Oliver shifted his gaze to the people around him. They had been paralyzed, finding only God, crushed by their own guilt.

After carefully observing them, Oliver answered.

“…No.”