"Phew."
I lightly exhaled while shaking off the Maxworm's saps that were stuck to the mace. Then, a ssage appeared in front of .
[Warning! You have defeated Maxworm, the 13th Child of the Demon God.]
[The Demon God is watching your actions closely.]
I was surprised by the slightly different phrasing compared to before.
The Demon God is watching my actions carefully, huh.
'But since the Estate defense battle is already underway, it probably isn't all that significant anyway.'
I can look into the Demon God's movents after the defense of the fortress is over. Based on the situation so far, a ssage about the Demon God will likely appear even after the defense battle is finished.
It was at that mont that a new ssage appeared.
[All 4 children of the Demon God have been defeated, and a short break ti will begin.]
[Break ti: 3 hours]
As soon as I saw the ssage, I was a bit taken aback. What the heck? No way.
"Does this an that everything up until now was Phase 1?"
It was a little disconcerting, but it wasn't too bad. I wasn't very tired, but others would be exhausted after hours of continuous fighting.
'And after a short break, it will be dawn.'
After roughly calculating the ti, I figured that the defense of the fortress would resu at six in the morning.
The rift that had split open in the sky had already closed.
However, rather than vanishing as before, it rely appeared like a clam that had closed its mouth.
-Child, you worked hard. You must be tired from fighting the Demon God's Children.
As I looked up at the starry sky, I heard Kyros's voice. Even when I was battling Maxworm, Kyros was constantly cheering
on.
'I can handle this much.'
From the beginning, I hadn't actually taken any damage in the battle with Maxworm thanks to 10000-Poison Immunity, and the divine power I used was nearly nonexistent.
It was clear that the Administrator's buff had temporarily amplified the amount of holy power as well.
'Anyway, I guess I'll be able to take a short break.'
-Right, then that's a relief.
I was talking with Kyros as I headed towards the clock tower. Along the way, I encountered Fanatic and his troops, who were still standing guard.
"Church Leader!"
As soon as Fanatic saw , he approached . I was just about to talk to him as well.
"Brother, I have sothing to tell you."
"Huh? To ?"
"Yes. The rift is temporarily closed, so it's fine to rest for about three hours. Please also inform the Lord of this."
"Ah, yes. Understood!"
Fanatic walked away from
with a smile. Since I had delivered the ssage, I changed direction.
'It would be better to check before returning to the temple to rest.'
I headed towards the dical team where the injured were gathered. A pure white tent set up near the clock tower.
In the space designed to accommodate over a hundred patients, far fewer, not even twenty, had gathered.
"Ah, Church Leader. Welco."
As I approached the tent, the dics recognized
and greeted .
"As you can see, there have been no fatalities so far, and the injuries are mostly bruises or fractures."
The dic reported with a smile. I hadn't asked for a report, but it was quite convenient how smoothly they provided the information.
"I see."
Still, I decided to check on the injured myself. As the dic had said, there was no one with serious injuries. In fact, even the injured were in a state that was nearly fully healed after taking the healing potions I had provided earlier.
"Thank you so much, Church Leaader. Donating this precious, high-quality healing potion... Thanks to it, the injured will heal quickly."
"I'm glad to hear that."
After finishing my conversation with the dic, I took steps to return to the temple.
'For now, I'll leave the senior mbers alone who're at each of the fortress towers...'
After heading to a secluded area, I contacted the senior mbers who had fought directly against the Demon God's children.
"You four, please take so rest at the temple."
Grandmother, Chester, and Troy must be quite exhausted right now.
"Church Leader!"
Just as I was thinking about returning to the temple to rest, Fanatic called out to . It seems like he's already back.
"Yes, Brother. Is sothing wrong?"
"The Lord has asked to see you."
My mother wants to see ?
"Okay, since it's break ti anyway."
Then, Fanatic guided
to where my mother was.
Despite five rifts opening simultaneously, as I walked through the surprisingly intact streets, I eventually arrived at a location with a massive barracks.
It was where my mother and her troops were.
"This way."
Following Fanatic's guidance, I arrived in front of the largest barracks.
As soon as I entered, my mother, who had been drinking tea, welcod .
"Church Leader. You've arrived."
"Yes, Lord. May I ask why you called for ?"
"Please sit down first."
I sat across from my mother as she instructed. Then, I took a sip of the tea my mother had prepared in advance.
"I heard the story from Fanatic that we can rest for about three hours, but I wanted to hear the details."
Ah, I guess I must have spoken too vaguely. I said with a serious expression.
"The rift currently in the sky has not completely disappeared, but it is closed. And Lord Kyros ntioned that it will take about three hours for the closed rift to open again, so he told
to rest during that ti."
"Lord Kyros... I see."
Only then did my mother seem to understand, nodding her head. She then looked at
and gave a faint smile.
"And I saw you and the Kyros Church senior mbers fighting the Demon God's children. You all worked very hard."
"It's nothing."
"Moreover, when dealing with the interdiate-rank monsters, thanks to the help of the Kyros Church, no fatalities occurred. The number of injured was also much lower than expected."
While saying this, my mother praised . I know she's trying to encourage , but...
"Thank you, Lord. But...not everything is over yet."
"Yes. We can't afford to let our guard down."
The first phase had just ended. There was still more fighting ahead. I didn't know what might co next in those battles, so I couldn't afford to be this relaxed.
"I understand. You can go now. Let's talk again after everything is over."
"Yes."
After greeting my mother with a smile, I left the barracks. I stopped Fanatic, who had offered to guide , and headed to the temple alone.
'...It hasn't been that long, but I'm already tired.'
Even though I had rested before the defense of the fortress started, I was ntally exhausted. So, I planned to quickly return to the temple and relieve my fatigue.
'There are fewer eyes watching now after all.'
I put on the hood attached to my robe and quickly made my way to the temple.
Since the temple was filled with the people of the city, I cllimbed my way up the outer wall and headed for my office.
I had beco generally stronger and had done quite a bit of strength training, so climbing the outer wall was easy.
"Leader, you're here!"
"Ch-Church Leader!"
As I arrived at the my office, climbing through the open window, I saw the senior mbers who had already arrived.
Troy and Chester, despite looking tired, greeted , and then Grandmother and Sasha also spoke to .
"You've done hard work, Church Leader."
"Not at all, Grandmother."
"Th-thank for your hard work."
"Thank you, Sasha."
As I spoke with them, I headed towards the comfortable sofa. The senior mbers were huddled together on the sofa.
Sasha was clinging tightly to Grandmother, while Chester and Troy, perhaps, since they were really exhausted from the battle, their bodies relaxed more than usual.
"You all worked hard. We can rest for about three hours, so let's relax comfortably during that ti."
Saying this, I handed Chester and Troy the healing potions that were kept in the office.
"It must have been tough. The Demon God's Children that appeared this ti seed to be quite strong."
"Yeah. It was a little too... strong."
"Y-yes. I had a hard ti too."
Troy and Chester were trying to act fine, but they quickly emptied the healing potions I gave them.
"Oh, by the way. Grandmother. And Sasha. You two should go to the bed and rest a bit."
"I'm fine, but...since you say so, I won't decline."
With a mischievous smile, Grandmother headed towards the bedroom with Sasha. After that, I laid down on the wide sofa.
"Well, then I'll rest a bit too. If you need , feel free to call
anyti!"
Chester headed to the subspace, and Troy laid down on the sofa opposite , just like I did. Not long after, I heard Troy snoring.
-Child, you should sleep too.
'Yes. I think... I'll fall asleep soon.'
Staring blankly at the ceiling of the office, my eyes slowly began to close.
'Three hours.'
Hoping to wake up a little earlier, I closed my eyes. Soon, my consciousness began to fade quickly.
***
Ding!
I woke up thanks to the notification sound in my ears. As soon as I opened my eyes, a ssage greeted .
[The rest ti is almost over.]
[Remaining ti: 30 minutes]
'I'm so thankful for tis like these, System.'
It felt really good that it woke
up at the perfect timing. A short nap had cleared my fatigued mind.
I stretched and got up from the sofa. The uncomfortable sleeping position left
a bit stiff, but it was nothing I couldn't handle.
"Troy, wake up. It's about ti to move again."
I woke Troy, who was soundly asleep on the opposite side.
Fortunately, Troy woke up without any fuss.
"Chester, I'm sorry, but it's ti to wake up."
After calling Chester from the subspace, I knocked on the bedroom door to wake Grandmother and Sasha as well.
Then, Sasha, still half asleep, and Grandmother, who looked perfectly fine, ca out. Shortly after, Chester ca out from the subspace, stretching.
Before I knew it, only about 20 minutes remained.
The morning sun was rising outside the window.
"Let's all return to our respective positions. The battle will begin again soon. Don't forget the instructions I gave you."
I emphasized it once more and sent the senior mbers out. They responded to
with clear eyes and then headed to their respective positions.
I looked at the rising sun for a mont before swiftly jumping down from the office. Then, I quickly started walking.
After arriving back at the clock tower, I looked at the five rifts still present in the sky once again.
Soon, a countdown appeared, signaling the resumption of the estate defense.
[Remaining ti: 10 seconds]
9, 8, 7... 0.
As soon as the number hit 0, the five rifts began to open again.
Crack--
I imdiately took out my mace from the inventory and held it up.
Soon, interdiate-rank monsters poured down again from the five rifts.
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