Interlude
The Empire Church.
Well past early morning, with the sun already high overhead, the Pope was sleeping off the fatigue that had piled up lately thanks to the Saint and her strange nuns. He had been enjoying the sweetest sleep he'd had in ages—or so it seemed. Reality proved otherwise.
In his dreams, the Pope saw all manner of things. They flashed past like the final recollections of a dying man, observed from a third-person perspective, and left a deep impression on him.
"We're surrounded on all sides! Even the Farot rebellion under the previous emperor wasn't this bad!"
"It's dangerous! The Merchant Union—those bastards who deserve to be torn limb from limb—have thrown in with the White King!"
"The plains bumpkins have risen up!"
"Word is the kingdom's reinforcements have been annihilated!"
"Reporting! A massive demon army has appeared on the eastern front!"
"This is beyond the Human-Demon War! It's a world war!"
"Khh... kuh."
It was a terrible dream. The Empire ringed by enemies on every side. The White King, once a mere southern nobody, had finally pacified the entire south and challenged the Empire's hegemony. The Merchant Union was supplying the military goods the White King lacked, and the Four Heavenly Kings had chosen that moment to appear, scattering the Imperial army's lines as it tried to counterattack. The Imperial navy had been tied down by that distant island nation, scuttling even the plan to ambush the Merchant Union.
At that point the Pope finally jolted awake.
"Hah! What the hell kind of crazy dream was that!"
What even was this dream? How could a dream be so vicious? It was a war more savage than the Human-Demon War the kingdom had once fought as a breakwater—a war that might collapse the Empire completely. If the dream held true, the Empire would fracture and regress to the old Kart era.
In the end the Pope went to the church and consulted the Saint, who of late had looked utterly drained.
"Ha, fuck. While some of us are working our asses off like dogs, this so-called Pope shows up after sleeping straight through lunch just to babble about some crazy-ass dream."
The Saint answered with pure indifference, her tone making it sound as if she were the one who got to lounge around and sleep while others suffered.
"I-is that so? Just a crazy dream? Y-yeah, that must be it."
"Look at the state of the Empire. It's a country that keeps rolling along even when trash is running it. We've unleashed Tarhana to smash the New World Group, and Ashtar is hunting down demons with bloodshot eyes in Krad—why the hell would they invade? If things were as you say, the nobles would be even harder to divide. You think the nobles currently living the high life would fall for the White King's self-proclaimed crusade against the corrupt Empire and split? When their own necks are on the line?"
That much was true. Whatever else, the Ashtar army was the strongest in the Empire. No—given the Demon Realm expedition, it might well be the strongest army in humanity.
"In that case... that goddess who gave me enlightenment in the dream—"
"Don't start with that goddess story about how she enlightened you in a dream. What kind of goddess in this world straps a Pope naked onto a wooden horse and whips him?"
She was stuck filling the Church's Saint position because of Olivia—occupying the seat simply because she resembled her. But this Pope bastard was corrupt beyond all hope of redemption. A goddess what? Strapping him naked onto a wooden horse? It felt exactly like something that damn succubus bitch would do, yet the fact that this man believed it was a goddess was something else entirely.
"Maybe it was something from the Mythic Age?"
"Oh, you sure talk a good game. Are you going to keep spouting this useless bullshit?"
There was bullshit, and then there was this. Records from the Mythic Age? There were few enough of those, and no way a goddess would do something that vulgar. This was why the man was hopeless.
"Sorry."
"If you know you're sorry, then help me out. Stop just pocketing Ashtar's money from behind the scenes."
"Hey, you're taking a million a day from there yourself. What are you talking about?"
Bernoa's head spun for a moment. What the hell was this bullshit? Wait—was it even bullshit? The Saint was skimming that much money? It was so absurd she could only laugh.
Wow. The one who inherited Eldacrad's will is embezzling too?
It was ridiculous. Well, if it were Olivia she would probably spend the money on something else, but still. Olivia was of the Ashtar family. The family itself was tangled up in politics and power.
"That's that, and this is this."
"Ha, but that dream was just so vivid."
Yeah. He sure talked a good game. The dream was vivid?
"Just keep the bullshit to a moderate level."
"By the way, I heard something about you going on vacation or whatever?"
Ah, so he had that much of an information network. Still, she couldn't just come out and say it, right? She would have to make excuses eventually anyway.
"Well, there's a way to travel and do Saint work at the same time."
"Hmm, is that so. Fascinating."
"With Ashtar, anything's possible."
"Ah, right. Ashtar."
No need to tell the truth. If she did, this corrupt Pope would definitely try to set up a replacement for himself too. She couldn't allow that. She refused to die watching this rotten bastard freeload and play around by himself. That meant she needed to put this Pope to work. If this idiot was going to be of any use at all—right. Have him gather the faithful.
"Anyway, what you need to do, Your Holiness, is gather the faithful. Seriously."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. Seriously. Do your utmost within your capabilities."
It wasn't her place to say, but young people were working hard at the church. Could the one who became Pope really act like this? Other countries' churches even had cardinals and the like. This church truly needed a major overhaul whenever the time came for big plans.
"In that case! So I just need to gather them?"
"Pardon?"
"Anyone will do?"
"Yes."
She didn't know who he planned to bring, but as things stood, for a church that simply ate taxes to be treated as a church rather than a private army training ground, some effort was needed. Even if it was a dog raised at home, if he could turn it into a human, that would do.
After finishing his private talk with the Saint, the Pope summoned his confidant Rafel separately.
"Rafel."
"Y-yes. Your Holiness."
"Do as I instruct."
Saying so, the Pope handed over a document from his robes. The document listed numerous names. Rafel realized the Pope was plotting something big. Sweating profusely, he opened his mouth.
"You mean... bring these people in?"
"Yes. A single drop of water can send ripples across an entire lake, you know."
The Pope's confidant Rafel swallowed hard. Of course he did—because every person on the list the Pope had handed over was a wife who had once been in the Pope's arms.
Somewhere in the world.
The New World Group headquarters received the report of their failure in the Great Forest.
"We failed even with the World Tree?"
"What do we do now? Those damn Empire bastards are hell-bent on catching us."
If they had corrupted the World Tree, it wouldn't have come to this. Corrupting the World Tree would have let them use that immense demonic energy and the Dark Elves to deal a heavy blow to the Empire's flank and obstruct the god's resurrection. The god's resurrection wouldn't have been far off either. And recently the Empire's offensive had begun—strictly speaking, from the Empire's perspective, it was merely the suppression of a heretical cult.
"Our executives are fine, but the new converts are being hunted down and killed like pests by the Empire's rotten nobles working together."
"The Empire's secret police Tarhana aren't to be underestimated either. The branch leaders have had their heads cut off and openly displayed on stakes."
Tarhana, attached to the Imperial Capital Army, had especially infiltrated the New World Group's various branches for sabotage and the assassination of branch leaders, then used large numbers of New World Group members as experiments for new weapons before executing them.
"That's not all. The combat nuns raised by the Church are also a huge obstacle for us."
"It's a warning to us, no doubt."
"At this rate, don't they basically know all our information?"
"Even so, betrayal is impossible. They'd die immediately."
There was definitely no betrayal. Every black mage present had planted a bomb in their own body with one mind. Even if their spirit broke under enemy torture and they opened their mouths, they would die.
"This is no time to just argue among ourselves. We need to reorient our direction going forward."
"In the end, isn't the problem that woman Olivia?"
That's right. That bitch was the biggest problem. A woman as despicable as they come. Countless comrades had met their deaths at her hands so far. A bitch who deserved to die and then some. The New World Group executives ground their teeth. Everything had gone wrong because of that bitch. The Libert overthrow, the hideout hidden in Libert, the plan to collapse the Great Forest from within—all had failed because of her.
"Her family is already the second most powerful family in the Empire. Looking at that woman's abilities, recruitment or brainwashing is impossible."
"Anyway, now that we've made enemies of the elves too, the places we should go are Eltia or Atlan, I suppose."
"When the great war breaks out, we'll need to create chaos inside the Eltia Kingdom, which will support the Empire."
The Empire was coming at them rather sharply, but ultimately it was just the nobles uniting with one heart to pressure the New World Group in order to protect their own livelihoods.
"We may retreat from the Empire, but the Empire will surely collapse, and the new god will descend upon this land."
"Rian. Is your arm all right?"
An old executive asked the boy who had lost one arm—the boy who had once been attacked by that woman Olivia, given up one arm, and barely escaped. Not right now, but someday if he mastered demonic energy well, he should be able to restore an arm at least.
"I'm fine. Something like this... for the great cause."
"Yes. That's the spirit. When the god descends upon this land, that rotten aristocratic whore will be nothing. When that time comes, you'll be able to take your revenge."
"Yes!"
The boy Rian would never forget. That woman who carried the same air as the man of his own race who had so cruelly killed his parents in the Ruined Land. He would never forget her.