The Useless Goddess's Agitation, Part 4
Yohan immediately explained his plan to the Goddess.
—I see. Since reaching the Papal Palace undetected is a daunting task, your solution is to disguise yourself as one of the lanky simpletons wandering the streets.
"Exactly." He felt like she had slipped in a rather insulting word back there, but given the circumstances, Yohan decided to let it slide.
—Since you have mastered the art of concealing your divine power, it is indeed a method worth attempting.
"Yeah. But we only get one shot at this."
One way or another, if his identity was compromised, his only option left would be to force his way through. His mind made up, Yohan steeled his resolve and slipped over the massive walls surrounding the Holy City, suppressing his presence as much as possible.
Under normal circumstances, he would have been blocked by the hemispherical barrier enveloping the entire Holy City. Fortunately—if one could call it that—the barrier had already dissipated, allowing him to pass through without any trouble.
Landing in a deserted alleyway, Yohan double-checked to ensure no trace of his divine energy was leaking out.
"Perfect." His preparation was flawless. Even if he ran into a high-ranking priest of the Central Church, they would dismiss him as nothing more than an ordinary, run-of-the-mill human male.
He immediately slipped out of the alley and headed toward a bustling area. The Holy City, which he hadn't visited in a while, exuded a truly bizarre atmosphere. What made it so uncanny was that, at a glance, the citizens seemed to be going about their daily lives as if nothing were wrong.
To anyone ignorant of the truth, it would have looked like a perfectly peaceful scene. But the reality was far from it. The entire city, once brimming with devotion to Justia, the Goddess of Justice, and a unique sacred aura, was now thoroughly blanketed by a foul, demonic energy.
Fortunately, the citizens of the Holy City paid Yohan no mind. Since Yohan was casually maintaining a nonchalant expression, his disguise was practically flawless.
—I had a vague suspicion when we looked from afar... but Apostle, do you see it as well?
As he observed the people passing by, the Goddess's voice echoed in his mind. Yohan nodded silently in response.
He saw Holy Knights clad in gleaming plate armor. And not just one or two—they were packed so tightly that they filled every corner of his vision.
Before long, Yohan discovered the reason behind the unusually high concentration of Holy Knights in the city.
"Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The apostates of Pilgrim Hills have been completely subdued and guided back to the righteous path!" A man carrying a bundle of newspapers shouted at the top of his lungs in the middle of an intersection, drawing a crowd around him.
—Pilgrim Hills... Is that not one of the cities where we plun—ahem, retrieved the divine weapons?
Yohan squeezed through the crowd to listen to the man. Currently, the entire Holy City was infected by the madness spread by the demons. Since everyone's religious cognitive baseline was completely inverted, they appeared perfectly normal on the surface. Therefore, translating the headline of the extra edition into plain terms...
This was terrible news. Above all, Pilgrim Hills, along with the Holy City, was one of the key cities surrounding Patermachi on their route.
He really had to hurry. He needed to rescue that useless, half-witted idiot—no, Justia—as quickly as possible to restore her depleted divinity. Although the number of believers worshipping the Main God Justia was dwindling by the second, there was still a way to restore her divine power.
Yohan immediately turned on his heel and strode toward the Papal Palace. As expected, the security around the palace was far tighter than anywhere else. Even under normal circumstances, the Papal Palace was highly restricted to outsiders, with only a handful of authorized tourists allowed to tour the interior facilities under the guidance of a priest.
But now, they had taken it to a whole new level. From the perspective of those afflicted by the madness, the Papal Palace was currently the sacred site where an impious entity falsely claiming the name of the Main God Justia was sealed. Consequently, a massive force of Holy Knights and Inquisitors kept watch, never leaving their posts for even a single second.
The problem was that Yohan had to penetrate that tight security and get inside, no matter what...
"Well, look at that." Yohan let out a soft exclamation as his eyes locked onto a certain Holy Knight. The man was trudging along with a hollow, exhausted face. That guy... Yohan had definitely seen him before.
It was the very Holy Knight who had tried to pick a fight with Annie under a friendly guise when Yohan had first arrived in the Holy Kingdom, pretending to be a rural farmer seeking to join the Central Church.
"Whew..." Judas, the young Holy Knight who had just finished his guard duty, let out a weary sigh as he walked down a relatively quiet alleyway.
Quite some time had passed since the state of emergency was declared under the decree of Pope Angelo III. A vast number of demon worshippers had emerged across the country, plunging the entire Holy Kingdom into the devastating flames of war.
On top of that, the Pope had expended an astronomical amount of divine power to seal the imposter of the Main God Justia. As if that weren't enough, he had even repurposed the barrier—which was originally meant to defend the city—solely to maintain the seal.
To overcome these hardships, the Pope had completely locked down all entry and exit to the Holy City, deploying a massive number of Holy Knights throughout the streets to ensure the safety of the citizens. Naturally, this had caused the working conditions of the Holy Knights to deteriorate drastically. Judas himself was being sent out for city patrols and guard duty every single day without a moment's rest.
He would have preferred being sent on a long-term mission abroad like before. Although he possessed the resolve to overcome these trials with his steadfast faith, the thought of this grueling labor continuing indefinitely made even his ironclad determination begin to fray.
Lost in these gloomy thoughts, Judas dragged his heavy feet toward his quarters. But just as he stepped out of the alleyway and onto the main street—
"Mmph—!" A hand suddenly shot out from behind, clamping tightly over his mouth, and dragged him away into the shadows.
"W-Where am I?!"
"Oh, relax. It's not a dangerous place."
They were inside the Single-room, which had essentially become the shared storage unit for the Goddess Knights. Yohan had kidnapped the Holy Knight and brought him here. After all, any good infiltration mission required the assistance of an insider. He wore a satisfied smile as he looked at the utterly bewildered Holy Knight.
"W-Who are you? Do you have any idea who I am—!"
"Uh-uh. Quiet down."
No matter how powerful his Apostle's Authority was, running amok alone in the enemy's headquarters was incredibly risky. Above all, the risk of innocent citizens of the Holy City getting caught in the crossfire and dying was far too high. However, snatching up just one guy and curing his madness to turn him into an ally was a piece of cake.
"Now then, first things first." Yohan channeled his divine power and summoned his Light Sword. "Take a look at my sword. What do you think?"
"What do I think?! You are clearly a cursed demon worshipper!" Yohan had summoned it just to be sure, and indeed, this guy was thoroughly consumed by the madness.
"Damn you! In the name of the Main God, I will force you to repent!" Contrary to his rather obnoxious first impression, the Holy Knight's faith seemed genuine enough. The only issue was that the madness had completely warped the object of his devotion. The Holy Knight lunged off the floor, charging straight at Yohan.
Whoosh! But Yohan was far quicker to summon his Divine Flame. The holy fire that incinerated all things wicked filled the Single-room, instantly burning away the demonic madness that had seized the Holy Knight's mind.
Thud! Having temporarily lost consciousness, the Holy Knight collapsed back onto the floor, making an exceptionally loud clatter due to his heavy armor.
"Hey, wake up." Time was of the essence. Yohan immediately went to the bathroom, filled a chipped plastic basin with freezing cold water, and splashed it directly onto the Holy Knight's face.
"Pfft-cough-hack!"
"See? Water always has the answers." Truly, the wisdom of the ancestors never failed. Jolted by the sudden splash of cold water, the Holy Knight let out a bizarre shriek and quickly regained consciousness.
"Hey." Yohan looked down at him and thrust the Light Sword forward once more. "This. What does it look like to you now?"
"W-Where... No, more importantly, who are you..."
"Cut the chatter and answer the question. I asked you what this looks like."
With a deeply bewildered expression, the Holy Knight stared at the Light Sword. "I... I feel divine power. Are you... a brother of the Holy Knights?"
"Sure, let's go with something like that. Anyway, here's the situation..."
"My God... I still can't believe it. No, I don't want to believe it."
Judas, the rather obnoxious-looking Holy Knight, had been consumed by the madness the moment the incident began. Naturally, he had absolutely no memory of what had transpired since. Because of this, Yohan had to spend a considerable amount of time explaining everything. He even took the risk of stepping outside the Single-room for a moment to show Judas the Holy City, which was currently choked with demonic energy.
Seeing the guy who had been trudging through the streets with a hollow face just moments ago now gasping in sheer horror at the very air he breathed was almost comical, if not downright pitiful.
"And this is the Original Scriptures."
"Ah..." When Yohan showed him the Original Scriptures stored in the Single-room as extra proof, Judas finally seemed to fully accept the truth.
"So, the reason I came all the way here is to rescue the Main God, who is currently sealed inside the Papal Palace."
"Do you... have a concrete plan?"
At Judas's question, Yohan neither nodded nor shook his head. "Honestly, I'd love to just charge straight through the front door, but doing that would only get innocent people killed or injured."
"Indeed. According to what you've said, everyone in the Holy City, including myself until just now, is currently under the influence of the demonic madness." Judas suddenly pulled a rosary from his breast pocket. Clutching it tightly in both hands, he bowed his head. "My family, my friends, my comrades... everyone..."
"Don't worry too much. Your Main God, Justia, is definitely alive. If we can just get her out of the Papal Palace somehow, we can turn this whole thing around."
"But didn't you say the Main God is sealed by a powerful barrier surrounding the Papal Palace?"
"Yeah. That's why the plan I'm thinking of right now is..." Yohan explained his idea of pretending to be afflicted by the madness to slip into the Papal Palace, just as he had done when entering the Holy City.
"That is far too reckless. As you said, the forces guarding the Papal Palace have increased significantly, haven't they? Furthermore, even in normal times, the Papal Palace is strictly off-limits to anyone without authorization..." But mid-sentence, Judas suddenly trailed off, his eyes widening.
"Did you think of a good idea?" At Yohan's question, Judas nodded silently.
"Brother, do you know that the Papal Palace and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith are located far apart from each other?"
Why ask such an obvious question? Yohan frowned slightly. "Of course I do. I've actually been inside the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith before."
"The Congregation is indeed an institution under the Papal Palace, but they operate out of a dedicated building erected in a location completely separate from the other departments."
"Well, that's because the Congregation's job is internal audits and investigations."
"Y-Yes, exactly. And... this is actually a secret that must never be revealed to anyone." Judas leaned in close, whispering directly into Yohan's ear. "But in truth, they aren't entirely separate. There is a secret passage that connects the interior of the Papal Palace directly to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith."