Chapter 459
Chapter 459
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 459
Chapter Title: Visit (3)
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The clash between Heinrich, who had arrived as a guest, and Walter, a holy warrior from the Quelladia Church.
However, to someone's great fortune, the brawl—no, the fight—couldn't drag on for long.
"Brother Heinrich, please calm down for now..."
"Stop! That's far enough! Stand down!"
"Cease this at once! Direct physical confrontations outside of formal duels are forbidden within the Pantheon!"
It wasn't as if this had happened in some deserted corner. It had unfolded right in front of the committee's headquarters, in plain sight.
Bickerings stemming from petty provocations weren't all that uncommon here, but when they crossed the line into outright violence, that was a different story altogether.
Heinrich only had a brief window to act before the interference came.
But that short time was more than enough to etch a lesson of propriety into his opponent's body.
In the end, even though one person had been knocked unconscious and carted off in a hurry, no one made an issue of the incident itself.
They merely shot surprised looks at the fact that Heinrich, famed solely for his immense divine power, had overwhelmed a master-class holy warrior with pure physical might.
The venue being what it was, everyone knew Walter had not only started the provocation but struck first as well.
"Did you hear? The Quelladia Church caused another incident."
"Again? It's not even surprising anymore. What's the difference between those lunatics and the evil god worshippers...?"
"They're cooperating with the Pantheon's will, at least. Kicking them out might just push them to join Pandemonium and cause more headaches."
"As the saying goes, an internal enemy is more dangerous than an external one. Or keep your enemies closer, right? Might be less risky to keep them in sight and manage them."
"They crossed the line pretty badly this time, though. We'll have to see what decision the committee makes."
Since numerous churches had been keeping tabs on Heinrich's visit, the news spread like wildfire.
The Pantheon was a coalition that embraced all but the most irreconcilably evil gods as its motto.
Though the Quelladia Church outwardly professed moderation, its leanings were unmistakably toward malevolence, so the reaction to this news was a collective "knew it."
"Well, now, how will they play this?"
Still, with an incident having occurred, the scheduled meeting with the executive committee members was inevitably postponed.
Left alone in the guest quarters provided, Heinrich gazed out the window in quiet contemplation.
'No matter how I look at it, something's off. Someone's pulling strings behind the scenes.'
Even cutting straight to the chase, that much was clear.
Approaching Jason, with whom he had prior bad blood, could be excused, but extending the provocation to him, a mere guest standing nearby? That felt wrong.
'Jason was just an excuse. I was the target from the start.'
The encounter with Walter there probably wasn't coincidental either.
They'd likely planned it, waiting in that spot to stage a "chance" meeting.
'Why? What's their motive for targeting me?'
Various possibilities flashed through his mind.
Not that there were none—it was that there were too many.
Checks against Heinrich, who could upset the fierce power struggles between factions.
Schemes by remnants of the Oath of Reverse Heaven still lurking within the Pantheon, even after their scribe was ousted.
Even a sense of mission driven by clashing religious values.
In this den of demons—despite its name, the Temple of All Gods, where not just faith but greed, ambition, and convictions swirled chaotically—any cause was plausible.
'I can't let myself be dragged around by someone's scheme in the dark. First, I need to distinguish friend from foe and grasp the local situation.'
His response this time was part of that effort.
By flipping the board this thoroughly, the culprits behind it would have no choice but to show their hand somehow.
Plus, it bought him time to gather internal intel—there was every reason to do it.
'Of course. Definitely not because I was pissed about getting disrespected.'
No matter the insult, would Heinrich—a man of considerable dignity—resort to violence so easily over something like that?
...A tiny, very tiny bit of personal grudge might have factored in, but it wasn't purely from malice.
Just as Heinrich finished his usual self-justification...
Knock knock—
A knock echoed at his door.
His awaited reinforcements had finally arrived.
He flung the door open without hesitation and...
"Oh! This ecstatic aura, this overwhelming divine power! You truly are the Saint!"
"Ahh—O Main God. To behold the Saint so closely... and here on Earth, no less..."
...habitually smiled at the group of priests pouring out praise the moment they saw his face.
The familiar divine power emanating from them.
Facing energy of the same kind as his own stirred an instinctive satisfaction.
'Fellow Outerica natives. Priests of the Church of the Main God.'
This was the Temple of All Gods, a gathering of faiths from countless dimensions.
Outerica might be a relatively young world, but the presence of Main God priests here wasn't shocking.
"No time to waste—let's get to the point."
As Heinrich ushered them inside and spoke, the bustling group straightened reverently.
None had met him in person before, but not one doubted he was the Church of the Main God's Saint.
The sheer magnitude of divine power radiating from him served as proof enough.
'Best to turn these definite allies into a proper force first.'
And as the Saint of the Church of the Main God.
The Apostle chosen by the Main God.
The angel proxying His miracles upon the earth—
Whoosh—
He gladly became the conduit linking the flock to their Lord.
✨ GREAT BLESSING ACTIVATED ✨ Wings of Radiance The dazzling light unfurled the Great Blessing: Wings of Radiance.
In that instant, the constraints the priests had endured crossing dimensions melted away through the angelic intermediary.
"Ah, it can't be. A miracle! My divine power...!"
"O Main God! A connection once faded now sharpens again! How, on Earth of all places...!"
"That form—could it be an angel...?"
Their divine power output, recovery, and all abilities reverted to their prime from back home.
Witnessing the miracle up close was enough to reignite their somewhat dulled faith into roaring flames.
The majesty of a god wielding power across dimensions, unlike the others.
How could they harbor any doubt of His greatness in such a moment!
"Listen well."
The solemn voice cutting through was no different from a divine proclamation.
"This world now faces crisis. And to resolve it, I need your aid."
The enraptured priests prostrated themselves in unison.
Having beheld the miracle, not a shred of hesitation remained in their eyes.
Only the quiet blaze of fanaticism burned fiercely.
Thus, the zealots dispersed silently across the Pantheon after receiving Heinrich's instructions.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 'Troubling.'
The lone figure in the darkness sighed softly.
It was only natural—his carefully laid plan was crumbling before it even began.
'Idiot. Can't even handle something that simple.'
He ground his teeth recalling the culprit who'd botched it.
Whether dishing out humiliation first or getting hit and retreating, either worked.
They'd prepared linked operations across various scenarios to dent the target and erode trust.
'But of all things...'
Despite strict warnings, the fool struck first and got counterattacked into a stretcher.
He hadn't even considered that scenario; it was so absurd he couldn't even laugh.
Easy to manipulate before, fed scraps now and then, but this fiasco meant it was time for a replacement.
'Tch. If the scribe were still around, we could've handled this cleanly.'
There were excuses for the sloppy handling now, too.
Adelaine Schneider, the Oath of Reverse Heaven's North American branch chief and Pantheon scribe.
She oversaw all North American operations while directly commanding Pantheon strategies.
Her rise stemmed less from combat prowess and more from her unique apostle status and scheming talent, so her sudden absence left a void even now.
'I'm just a dagger in the dark. I can't step out forever. To fix that, I need to seat a replacement in the scribe's empty executive seat ASAP...'
The recent executive meeting appointed a new North American chief, but Pantheon's nature made inserting an outsider priest difficult.
He, once second-in-command on Pantheon matters, was now the senior-most.
'Heinrich the otherworldly Saint... He's dangerous. Leave him be, and he might fill the scribe's shoes and wield influence here.'
Circumstances had changed since the scribe first spotted and tried recruiting him.
Back then, they didn't know he was an enemy—and she was still alive.
Fortunately, he wasn't the only one wary, so plotting against him wasn't hard.
Politics meant donning a genteel facade while sparing no means for gain, after all.
'And in any organization, those at the top naturally become politicians.'
Priests were no exception.
Religious coalition or not, they were ultimately separate entities.
'We can't abandon the Pantheon. After all the time invested here.'
Countless churches from myriad dimensions, yielding overwhelming, diverse divine powers.
This pinnacle of abilities, long pooled in one place.
San Francisco had become Earth's most extraordinary site as a result.
In simple terms...
This was the perfect soil for new abilities to sprout.
'Fortunately, the council's backing us strongly, so we can manage. First, deal with that Saint...'
Lost in thought, his head snapped sideways.
He felt eyes from beyond the curtained window.
He rose cautiously, parted the curtains.
Nothing suspicious anyway—no reason to flinch.
Glancing at the source...
His expression twitched faintly before settling.
'...That's definitely.'
A figure he'd memorized from thorough prior investigation.
Normally beneath notice, but with his history, impossible to ignore now.
'A priest from Outerica.'
Coincidence?
Right when Saint Heinrich arrived, one from the same church wandering about...
'Ominous.'
He watched the priest's receding back, then looked skyward.
As if that's what he'd intended from the start.
The next day.
Shortly after discipline was decided for Walter of the Quelladia Church, who had violated Pantheon rules.
The postponed audience between Heinrich and the Pantheon side was held.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Damn, my head's killing me."
Andrew Weaver sank deep into the plush one-seater sofa with a sigh.
The sudden orders had him pulling an all-nighter with his ability, leaving him feverish with throbbing pain.
'At this rate, I'll really overwork myself to death.'
This mission was tougher than usual.
For one...
"The US out of nowhere?"
The observation target was San Francisco—practically the antipode from his current spot.
The farther the gaze, the more power it drained; that was par for the course.
Especially since it wasn't just anywhere, but the Pantheon holy site...
'How the hell did they recruit priests there?'
Impossible without eager internal collaborators.
Without that special 'medium' distributed to them, he couldn't have even reached that far.
He knew zilch about the Pantheon.
"Ugh, is the Immortal King seriously trying to conquer Earth?"
Linking his commander to the target made that suspicion inevitable.
"Whew, whatever. Not my problem anymore."
Bound by contract, escape wasn't an option.
If he had one wish: may Korea stay as peaceful as ever.
With the magic tool handling language and fat paychecks, nowhere beat this for living easy.
'Oh, and a long vacation.'
Thinking of vacation oddly energized him.
Andrew sent the gathered intel via keyboard taps, closed his eyes, and resumed work.
'Nail this, and maybe that long vacation happens.'
At the same time.
Others with the same goal moved in numbers.
Fate manipulation, clairvoyance, astrology—every ability targeted one objective, funneling intel to converge into shape.
And finally.
"...Found it."
In a data center crammed with machinery.
Despite maxed-out cooling, heat baked the air as a low voice resounded.
Thanks to internal hacking aid, sifting electronic data revealed a suspicious access.
Hesperon, in Howard's custom capsule, probed closer for details.
"...What?"
Then...
A question slipped from his lips.
"Huh? No way...?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Beep beep—
Sudden alarm blared.
"Eh? What's this? How'd they reach here?"
A disheveled middle-aged man in a lab coat glanced at the monitor, tilting his head.
But briefly.
Soon, delight like reuniting with an old friend lit his face.
"Aha! So you're that friend, huh?"
Abandoning his work, the excited man rushed to the monitor.
"Woo-hoo! Finally met you—Masquerade's hacker!"
The Doctor beamed broadly.