Chapter 289

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the dust cloud at the collision point to settle.

Within the swirling grey dust, a pair of lights flashed. Lights filled with madness.

It was then that Eltea’s hands, gripping her spear, instinctively tightened.

The dust cloud completely settled, and the owner of the eyes was revealed.

“How dare you touch my sternocleidomastoid muscle…!”

Thump!

The figure who slammed the giant black goat to the ground, blood dripping from his neck, was none other than Hispenril.

“I’ll boil you down to replenish my muscle loss!”

<Khaaaaargh!>

Hispenril’s enraged fists mercilessly pounded Tezrihal.

At this, the others regained their composure and resumed their attacks.

After 30 minutes, the demon archpriest Tezrihal finally fell.✠A medium-sized church located in Edinrose Barony, Winchester Kingdom.

The massive grim reaper-shaped demon who occupied this place, Grim Reaper Lord, seemed to have taken a liking to the priest who was conducting a funeral at the time.

He desecrated the deceased by constantly carrying the skeleton bride, dressed in a wedding gown, in one arm as if she were a doll.

The personnel gathered in front of the church were remarkably different from other subjugation teams. Only two people had been dispatched to condemn the wicked undead.

They were a young man with sky-blue long hair wearing a black robe and an older man with blackish-brown hair wearing a black mask.

“I’m delighted to be paired with you, Sir Fliegel. Let’s do our best, as we’re both people who enjoy unilateral observation and voyeurism.”

“…Yes, Lord Moriphis.”

“By the way, it’s truly regrettable about the false accusation of assassinating the Tower Master. Once I overthrow that scoundrel Count Nauzen and become the next Tower Master, your injustice, Sir Fliegel, will be fully resolved.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but…”

“Hm?”

“Shouldn’t you first remove the dog collar around your neck, Lord Moriphis, rather than worrying about my injustice? I didn’t think Her Holiness the Holy Saint would unfasten it.”

“Ahem, ahem! Ah, if only I hadn’t been momentarily swayed by the Order Religion’s Holy Saint… Speaking of which, I was wondering if I should try confession this time.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea.”

“Indeed, we’re on the same wavelength!”

A shadowy combination of a mad wizard and a top-tier assassin.

There was no tank to stand in the front line, but they didn’t care and opened the chapel door.

Just then, Grim Reaper Lord was courting the skeleton bride, gently seating her on a velvet-lined coffin and offering her jewels and Deadly Blooms.

<What?! How dare you, insect-like humans, interrupt my important moment! I’ll separate your bones and flesh!>

Grim Reaper Lord immediately swung his scythe and charged at Moriphis and Fliegel.

Grim Reaper Lord is at most an S-rank boss. If given enough time, either Moriphis or Fliegel alone would be enough to defeat him.

Since it was a 2-on-1 battle, the outcome was inevitably one-sided.

Grim Reaper Lord was unilaterally pummeled by the onslaught of magic and aura.

It was a foregone conclusion. However, Grim Reaper Lord found nothing inconvenient beyond his pride, which was offended by showing such a humiliating display in front of the skeleton bride. He remained defiant.

A wizard and an assassin. This combination had a fatal flaw.

<Hahaha! Do you really believe just two unbelievers can harm me?!>

That is, there was no Divine Power Tier awakener of 6th Tier or higher.

Unless a final blow imbued with divine power was struck, the demons occupying the corrupted church would never die, no matter how many times they were killed.

This immortal attribute was a perfect fit for demons who were undead by nature.

Even if they became a punching bag and were beaten forever, they felt no pain, turning it into a war of attrition that only drained the stamina of their attackers.

Of course, Moriphis and Fliegel were not without countermeasures.

Grim Reaper Lord was a pile of bones, more than half shattered. Seeing the incapacitated skeleton reaper, Fliegel spoke.

“It’s about time they arrived…”

Fliegel took out a cigarette. It was the moment he was about to remove his mask.

The closed chapel door burst open, and a new group of humans appeared.

Their familiar white uniforms proved their affiliation.

Holy War Knights of the Elfenheim Holy Theocracy. They streamed into the chapel and formed battle lines on both sides.

And, as if under their escort, someone walked in from the center.

An elderly cardinal wearing a red stole entered, exuding profound dignity.

She waved off the knight with short brown hair who tried to assist her, then firmly tapped her staff on the ground and stood on her own.

“I apologize for being late.”

The elderly woman with greying hair and a black eyepatch over her right eye was Cardinal Cattleya Gillet.

Fliegel and Moriphis responded.

“We were waiting, Your Eminence Cardinal Cattleya. And Sir Rex too.”

“The Pink Holy Saint said the Pontifical Palace must have been hell, but you managed to escape there.”

Cardinal Cattleya touched the eyepatch covering one eye and said,

“I’ve decided to stop being a bystander.”

“And is one eye the price for that?”

“That’s right, Lord Moriphis.”

“Shall I fit you with a prosthetic eye? As you know, my research field is chimeras… Do you like odd eyes, by any chance? I do.”

“I do. I’ll think about it.”

While Cattleya entertained Moriphis’s banter, Fliegel wanted to hear the specific circumstances.

He asked Rex,

“I heard from the young Count of Gillette that you would be joining us, but exactly how did you manage it? The Pontifical Palace should have taken a direct hit from Abyssinis’s attack.”

“Thanks to having the ‘Veil of Disguise,’ we were able to evade Abyssinis’s gaze.”

Of course, it was no mere coincidence or stroke of luck that multiple people possessed those items from the Pontifical Palace’s relic vault.

Everything was thanks to Cattleya, who possessed the Life-Death Eye and had prepared for this day.

Cattleya’s Life-Death Eye had predicted a massacre quite some time ago.

The remaining lifespans of countless clergy attached to the Pontifical Palace were uniformly cut short, as if measured with a ruler.

This meant a great catastrophe would directly strike the Pontifical Palace.

Fleeing to a safe location at the right time would have been the most certain preparation, but cruel fate only allowed the one with the Life-Death Eye to be a bystander.

Any direct intervention would immediately cost Cattleya Gillet her life.

Thus, Cattleya decided to use a clever workaround to subtly defy the Heavens’ Secret Overseer.

She immediately carried out an experiment. The test subject was Rex, the Grace Knight Commander, whose lifespan had also been cut short.

At the time, they often met as both were disillusioned with the Order Religion due to the Holy Saint assassination order issued by the Pontifical Palace.

Anyway, Cattleya took Rex to the Pontifical Palace’s relic vault and handed him functional items one by one.

Even with all sorts of precious swords, shields, and armor, his lifespan didn’t budge. But then…- Your Eminence, why do you keep giving me and taking back these precious relics? It doesn’t seem like you’re teasing me.

• I cannot tell you why. Next, the helmet… Hmm, not this one either.

• Sigh, still, it was an honor to wear them even once. I’ll carefully wipe off any fingerprints and return them to their original places.

• Thank you. But Sir Rex, what are you wiping that armor with now?

• Pardon? Isn’t this a polishing cloth? It was on the floor.

• Ahem, that’s an item in the form of a Veil. Well, if you like it, you can have it.

• Really?

• After you’ve come all this way to help, how could I not give you just that? Besides, it’s not very useful… Hm?

• Your Eminence?

• This is it! I finally found it!It was only after receiving a mass-produced item with disguise and stealth functions that Rex’s lifespan changed.

Upon seeing this, Cattleya immediately realized that the disaster approaching the Pontifical Palace was a game of hide-and-seek with an evil being.

Thus, she distributed the Veils to those who shared her intentions, and thanks to this, Cattleya, Rex, and other clergy were able to survive.

And the meaning of