The Grand Temple.
The headquarters of the faith that worshiped the Light.
A sacred structure that had stood for centuries, a fortress that had never once been breached.
A cradle of saints, where countless holy figures had been born.
A treasury of Pendragon’s entire cultural heritage.
It was known by many nas, but every single one of them existed to describe its greatness.
And yet—
FWOOSH!
It was burning.
Not just any fire—a total, all-consuming inferno.
Right now, there was no na more fitting than the Calamitous Flas of Ruin.
And, unfortunately—
"Wh-what the fuck?"
There were poor, unfortunate souls trapped right in the middle of this blazing hellscape.
They didn’t know exactly why they had been suddenly ejected from the Holy Vault.
Maybe it had activated on its own after they killed all the Abyssal Fiends and intruders.
Or maybe—
Maybe the owl had been ssing with them the entire ti.
Either way, they were alive and outside—which, under normal circumstances, would have been a relief.
But—
FWOOSH!
"What the hell?! What happened here?!"
The mont they erged, they were greeted by towering flas.
Not just the Grand Temple.
The entire mountain was on fire.
WHOOSH!
"What the hell is this bullshit?!"
Ihan forced himself to push through the shock.
He quickly pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around his mouth.
If he got poisoned by carbon monoxide here, it was ga over.
"Wrap sothing around your mouths! We’re getting the hell out of here!"
Raq and Maximus were so stunned that they reacted too slowly. It was only after Ihan shouted at them that they snapped out of it, imdiately covering their faces as well.
The heat and toxic smoke were lethal.
"You two—get on my back."
"Oh? You’re taking care of us too?"
"Look at that, even after all this ti, you still care about your forr juniors, huh?"
"Shut up. If you talk, you might bite your own tongue."
Without wasting another second, Ihan hoisted both Dyna and Yan onto his back.
Unlike the knights, they were completely drained after fighting the Abyssal Fiend.
Then—
BOOM!
Ihan shot forward like an arrow.
He used Shadow Step to launch himself at full speed, cutting through the air as he escaped the burning temple.
To make things even more extre—
Tap, tap.
He started stepping on the air.
It was almost as if he was gliding through the sky like a flying squirrel.
He covered a full kiloter in under a minute.
And then did it again.
And again.
CRACK.
But suddenly—sothing in his body cracked ominously.
Had he overdone it?
"Shit. If this were a normal day, this wouldn’t even be a problem... but this is bad!"
The 100-minute fight against the Abyssal Fiend had pushed his body too far.
It wasn’t just exhaustion.
His body wasn’t responding properly.
The death energy from the Abyssal Fiend was still lingering inside him, causing his muscles to slow down.
His healing factor was weaker than usual.
His stamina was draining faster and faster.
And on top of that—
The heat, the smoke, and the toxic fus were making everything ten tis worse.
And it wasn’t just him.
"This is... getting dangerous."
"How much further do we need to go...?"
Even Raq and Maximus were slowing down.
They were almost as fast as Ihan.
But even they were showing clear signs of exhaustion.
After a battle like that, they were supposed to rest.
Instead, they were imdiately forced to flee for their lives again.
Everyone here—
Was being pushed to their absolute limits.
"We can’t keep this up much longer."
Ihan knew it.
Running through this burning hellscape wasn’t just difficult.
It was impossible.
The heat was unbearable.
And worse—
His vision was starting to fade.
He had been too careful, but even so—
The carbon monoxide was slowly poisoning him.
"Where the hell are we? Which way do we go?"
Just when he was about to collapse—
—Drip.
"...?"
A single raindrop landed on his head.
And then—
Drip, drop.
Drip, drop, drop.
THUNDER RUMBLED.
And then—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The sky split open.
And the rain ca pouring down.
Not just any rain.
A flood.
A torrent.
A raging waterfall crashing down from the heavens.
The flas that had consud the Grand Temple and the entire mountain—
Were drowned out in an instant.
The roaring inferno—
Was washed away like dirt.
"......Hah."
Ihan and the others just stood there in a daze.
It wasn’t surprising that it was raining.
The sky had been filled with dark clouds for a while.
But—
This wasn’t normal rain.
The way it ca all at once.
The way it poured down in one concentrated area.
It didn’t feel natural.
It felt intentional.
Almost as if soone had cast a spell.
And as far as Ihan knew—
There was only one mage capable of sothing this ridiculous.
There was only one person who could manipulate the weather like this.
And sure enough—
[Instructor!! Where are you!!]
A voice rang through the mist and the smoke.
A voice pierced through the darkness of the night.
And along with that voice—
A brilliant blue light glowed from the mist.
A golden-haired figure erged.
Ihan recognized her imdiately.
For the first ti in his life, he felt relieved to see a mage.
"...You know what? Fine. I’ll admit it. Out of all the spellcasting idiots I’ve t, you’re the most decent one. The best one, even. You’re the only one who actually feels human, magic chick..."
And almost as if she heard him thinking it—
"Ah! I found you!"
Irene Windler rushed toward them, beaming with relief.
***
"Today, if anyone deserves the title of MVP, it's definitely Irene Windler."
She chattered nonstop, barely pausing for breath.
"I was so shocked, you know?! Suddenly, the Grand Temple caught fire out of nowhere! So the kingdom ca rushing to find . I an, obviously, I’m the best water mage in the entire kingdom! They needed to handle the fire.
"Then, while I was preparing the spell, Lord Roen told sothing surprising—he said you were inside the temple. The mont I heard that, I dumped all my mana into the spell. I'm completely exhausted, but it’s such a relief that you’re safe, Instructor! Hehe!"
"...Thank you, really. You saved us, chick. I an that."
"Aww, no need to thank ! This is nothing compared to everything you’ve done for !"
"...I did sothing for you?"
"Uhh, yeah, lots of things...?"
"......."
For soone who claid to be exhausted, she sure didn’t seem the least bit tired.
Ihan carried Irene on his back, fully aware that the girl was shalessly groping his latissimus dorsi muscles, yet choosing to ignore it.
She was today's MVP—so what was a little muscle worship?
He’d endure the harassnt.
But that was that.
There was sothing more important to ask.
"So what the hell happened? How did the entire Grand Temple end up burning down?"
It didn't make sense.
A holy structure, protected by countless sacred laws and blessings, shouldn't be so easily destroyed.
But when he asked—
"Uh, well... that’s, um..."
Irene hesitated.
Then—
"—Number 8, do you know what our mission was?"
"...Number 7?"
"Call Dyna."
The woman, who had climbed off his back after the fire had been put out, spoke.
Before Ihan could even frown in confusion—
"Our mission was to capture you. Or rather, all three of you."
"...What?"
"Not to kill you. Not even to defeat you. Just to keep you in place."
"..."
"It didn’t make sense at first. But looking back now... we were just sacrificial pawns."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
None of this made sense.
They had been waiting there? Just to hold them down?
And for what?
"What would be the point of that?"
His thoughts spiraled in confusion.
Seeing his expression—
"The Prophet," Dyna said. "Our strategist. He said that the three of you were the greatest threats to the organization’s plans.
"As long as you three were kept occupied, the organization would be free to act."
"The Prophet...."
The bastard who had tricked the entire kingdom.
Through her words, his existence beca undeniable.
It was just for a mont—
But then—
"The Prophet said that as long as you three were outside, you would inevitably get in his way. That’s why you had to be removed."
"......."
"So the Prophet manipulated the Grand Temple into action. He made sure that you, Galahad, and Lionel would have no choice but to move.
"That’s why the Pope and the Radical Faction of the clergy were slaughtered.
"They were nothing but pawns—and they never even realized it."
"...What the hell are you saying?"
It was like they had been tricked yet again.
Ihan couldn’t wrap his head around what she was telling him.
He wasn't alone.
Maximus and Raq looked equally confused.
As if they had just beco fools in soone else’s ga.
Then—
Dyna, seemingly drained, leaned against a tree.
"You still don’t get it? The Prophet's real target was never the royal family, the dukes, or the North."
She let out a long, tired breath.
"The Prophet had one goal from the beginning."
Slowly, she raised her hand.
And pointed.
Naturally, their eyes followed.
And then—
They saw it.
Torches.
A vast sea of torches lit up the night.
And the people holding them—
FWOOOOOOSH!
...were burning crosses.
And Ihan understood.
The true target of the organization—
No.
The true target of the Prophet—
"......The temple."
"More specifically, the Grand Temple—and every single corrupt priest inside."
"......."
"The victims of the temple’s sins are the ones executing judgnt today."
Dyna let out a bitter laugh.
"A pretty solid narrative, don’t you think?"
"......."
Ihan saw them.
Not the burning crosses.
But the faces of the people holding them.
Eyes filled with rage.
Tears of grief.
One by one, their faces stood out to him.
They were commoners.
Farrs.
Bakers.
rchants.
Ordinary people.
People you could find anywhere.
And yet—
Ihan felt sothing colder than anything he had ever felt before.
Fear.
He had faced demons.
He had fought monsters.
But nothing had ever felt as terrifying as this.
Sothing far worse than the Abyssal Fiend—
Was brewing right in front of him.
His fingers trembled.
But Dyna, without looking at his pale face, continued.
As if delivering the final, crucial truth—
The very spark that had ignited this hell.
"You know, Number 8?"
"The Prophet once said that the most terrifying creature in the world..."
"...is a parent who has lost their child."
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