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Chapter 154: Inquisitor of the Sun God and Magician of the Tower (1).

“Oh. Nice to meet you.”

The approaching Holy Knight greeted them with a smile.

“You’re outsiders. What brings you here?”

His tone was very bright.

Aquaz replied reluctantly.

“Well, we came to offer support, but is this the sacred ground of Kalosia?”

It was a stupid question.

They already knew the location, so they were aware it was Kalosia’s sacred ground.

But still, they had no choice but to ask.

The current scenery was hard to understand.

“Ah… Yes. You came to offer support, did you…?”

The Holy Knight’s expression was rather ambiguous.

He didn’t look relieved or pleased to receive support at all.

After a moment of contemplation, the Holy Knight spoke with an apologetic face.

“Sorry for the late notice. Everything is over.”

“What?”

“Um. Please follow me. I will guide you to our Holy Knight.”

The Holy Knight knocked on the door.

With a creaking sound, the path to the sacred ground opened.

Aquaz and the magician entered the sacred ground somewhat bewilderedly.

And what they saw were believers restoring the sacred ground.

Their expressions were not gloomy at all.

Rather, they were as bright as they could be. Aquaz asked cautiously.

“…Did you win against the invasion of evil?”

“Yes!”

The Holy Knight nodded vigorously.

“The forces of the dark magicians, the cradle of darkness, attacked our sacred ground. The darkness surrounded the plains and besieged us. Then, in our isolated state, even a demon descended to attack us.”

“A demon descended?”

“Yes. A demon of the Demonic Lines. Rubitra.”

“What?”

Aquaz was horrified.

The demon Rubitra.

A demon of the highest rank with superhuman strength, who single-handedly destroyed a church two hundred years ago.

She knew that name.

The magician was also astonished.

“Rubitra descended?”

“Ah, but how….”

How could they have won with so little damage?

In response to this question, the Holy Knight smiled.

“It is all thanks to the grace of Lord Kalosia. Moreover, we had the help of a collaborator.”

“A collaborator…?”

“Yes.”

The Holy Knight shouted with a full face of emotion.

“A barbarian blessed directly by Lord Kalosia!”

“A barbarian?”

The magician frowned at such an absurd statement.

It was hard to find a combination more mismatched than a sacred ground and a barbarian.

But Aquaz kept silent.

‘A barbarian?’

A person crossed her mind.

But she immediately dismissed the thought.

There was no reason for that person to be here. It was just her overactive imagination.

But if, by any chance, it was true.

“…Could it be.”

Just as Aquaz was about to ask the name of that barbarian,

the Holy Knight stopped walking.

“Here we are.”

They arrived at the training ground.

Voices could be heard from there.

“Oh. So there’s a way like that.”

“Yes. Though Mr. Ketal’s amount of divine power is a bit tight, it should be usable. Think of it as a trump card.”

“Not bad. It’s quite usable.”

Aquaz stopped walking.

It was a voice she remembered.

The Holy Knight spoke up.

“Mr. Rakza. The supporters have arrived.”

“Hmm?”

Their gazes turned.

And Aquaz’ eyes met Ketal’s.

“…Oh?”

“Oh?”

Their eyes widened at each other.

* * *

“Ah. You’ve come.”

Rakza approached with a welcoming yet ambiguous expression.

“The Inquisitor of the Sun God and the Magician of the Tower, is it? Thank you for coming to help. I am Rakza, a Holy Knight of Lord Kalosia.”

Rakza greeted them.

The courtesy was that of the Sun God’s etiquette.

In this world, there were many gods.

And naturally, the followers of each god did not get along well.

Each church believed without a doubt that their god was the greatest, leading to numerous conflicts and, in the past, several holy wars.

Due to the accumulated damage from such wars reaching an unavoidable level on the continent, all the churchs gathered and made one decision:

Respect each other’s churchs.

Whatever one’s heart may hold, let us accept and respect each other’s gods and churchs.

As a symbol of this, whenever followers of different churchs meet, they must greet each other according to the other church’s etiquette.

Therefore, followers were knowledgeable about the customs of all churchs.

Without fully learning them, one would not even be allowed to leave the church.

This was the etiquette and rule for those who worshiped gods in this world.

As a follower of Kalosia, Rakza followed the sun god’s customs, so Aquaz should also follow Kalosia’s customs.

But Aquaz didn’t.

To be precise, she didn’t even think she should.

She blurted out in surprise.

“Ke-Ketal?”

“Oh. Aquaz!”

Ketal approached with a delighted expression.

“It’s good to see you again!”

“Ah. It’s good to see you too, Ketal….”

Aquaz greeted him, flustered.

Ketal smiled warmly.

“Yes. I didn’t expect to meet you here. How have you been? I’d love to catch up over drinks!”

Ketal treated Aquaz with a very casual attitude.

And there was someone who didn’t like that.

“Ahem.”

A magician cleared his throat, uncomfortable with Ketal’s behavior.

“Aquaz, who is this barbarian to act so familiar with you?”

His gaze held a sense of rejection towards Ketal.

Aquaz stammered.

“He helped me before. …You could say we’re friends.”

“Fr-friends?”

The magician was taken aback by Aquaz’s acknowledgment.

Rakza, who had been watching silently, murmured curiously.

“A friend of Ketal’s. That’s unusual.”

“I have friends too, you know. Heize is one of them.”

“Oh, sorry. It just seemed odd.”

A barbarian like Ketal and an inquisitor of the sun god being friends was a curious combination.

With those words, Aquaz finally came to her senses.

She hurriedly apologized and showed proper etiquette.

“Forgive me for the late greeting. I am Aquaz, an inquisitor of the sun god.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

Rakza smiled.

“So you know Ketal?”

“Yes… I didn’t expect to meet him here, though….”

“Fate works in mysterious ways. I assume you are here to help us.”

“Yes.”

Aquaz nodded.

The church of Kalosia was on the brink of destruction, surrounded by evil.

Aquaz and the magician had come to aid them.

“Thank you, but unfortunately, it is too late. I apologize for not informing you sooner.”

“Although we heard some details from our guide, what exactly happened?”

“Hmm. You must meet the saint to discuss that. Please follow me. Ketal, we must excuse ourselves for now.”

“No problem. I’ll see you later. Both you and Aquaz.”

Ketal smiled warmly.

Aquaz nodded.

* * *

Aquaz and the magician from the tower met with the saint of Kalosia and heard her story.

Aquaz was deeply shocked.

Late at night, she murmured to herself in their lodgings.

“It was truly a major incident.”

It wasn’t just the Cradle of Darkness attacking the sacred land of the gods.

There was a bigger plan.

It was an invasion to reverse the nature of this land and transform the sacred land of the gods into a sanctuary of evil.

Even the demon Rubitra of the Demonic Lines was merely a tool to facilitate that process.

“If we had failed, the entire continent could have been shaken.”

If this place had turned into an evil sanctuary, demons of Rubitra’s caliber could have continued to descend.

Perhaps even more powerful demons.

Fortunately, they had succeeded in preventing that horrific plan in advance.

Aquaz felt deeply relieved.

However, the magician had a doubtful expression.

“Isn’t that a lie? Such a grand plan was foiled with just this level of damage? Is that even possible?”

The magician argued.

“Think about it. We’re talking about the demon Rubitra of the Demonic Lines. The demon that destroyed a church two hundred years ago. Do you really think it’s possible to fend off such a demon with just this level of force?”

“Though it puzzles me as well… they swore by the Code of Truth and Deception.”

There were no lies in the saint’s words.

As long as the divine code was in place, idle speculation was meaningless.

The magician fell silent at this but didn’t give up.

“Then isn’t it possible they are mistaken?”

While the Code of Truth and Deception ensures no lies, it is possible to be mistaken while believing it to be true.

“That’s right. They said the barbarian greatly contributed to defeating the demon. Does that make any sense to you?”

The magician sneered.

“The mysterious power emanating from that barbarian is nothing more than third-rate. Do you really believe that such a barbarian helped fend off a demon’s attack? It’s impossible.”

The magician spoke firmly, as if his thoughts were the absolute truth.

“Either there’s some mistake, or the evil forces withdrew on purpose. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense.”

“….”

Aquaz remained silent.

Ketal was indeed strong.

His strength was on a level that overwhelmed the named demon, Ashetiar.

But Rubitra was a demon far more powerful than Ashetiar.

Aquaz herself was unsure if Ketal’s strength was sufficient to face a demon from the Demon Line.

A conversation with the saint of the Sun God surfaced in her mind.

‘…An existence beyond the prophecy.’

The next day.

Aquaz left her lodging to find Ketal.

‘The saint said he was an existence beyond the prophecy.’

The Cradle of Darkness had attacked the Kalosia church with full force.

There were several superhuman-level dark magicians, and at the end, even Rubitra, a demon of the Demonic Lines, descended.

It was an assault that the current Kalosia church could not withstand.

Yet they had overcome it with minimal damage.

And they said it was all thanks to Ketal.

They mentioned Ketal’s name, not that of Kalosia, their lord.

‘What could it be?’

Her mind was in turmoil.

The words of the saint of the Sun God kept resurfacing.

She didn’t know that Kalosia had bestowed grace upon Ketal and had direct conversations with him.

Shadrenes had deliberately not mentioned this, knowing what Ketal and Aquaz were aware of.

Thus, Aquaz decided to speak directly with Ketal to understand the situation.

Hearing from others and talking to the person involved were vastly different experiences.

She planned to confirm it with her own eyes.

Aquaz wandered around searching for Ketal.

And finally, she found him.

The moment Aquaz saw Ketal and was about to question him,

she fell silent.

“Oh, Aquaz. Did you sleep well?”

Ketal asked with a smile.

Aquaz couldn’t answer.

All the thoughts in her mind vanished.

“…Ah?”

She muttered, speechless like a mute.

In Ketal’s hand was a radiant divinity, similar to what she possessed.

“That.”

“You noticed. What do you think? Isn’t it impressive?”

Ketal beamed, like a child proudly showing off a toy.

“Uh….”

Aquaz was at a loss for words.