Chapter 133

– The Demon King, Grimudo, has begun to plot against this world.

The Three Divine Gods urgently convened. The things they thought they had tightly grasped had recently started slipping away like water.

Lately, the world’s situation had been pulsating in a way completely contrary to their intentions.

The culprit is the Demon King. But the Demon King is not someone even the Three Divine Gods’ forces can touch. So no matter how much they discussed countermeasures, the conclusions were unsatisfactory.

Moreover, now, except for Nemi, the other two goddesses were furious to the core. They finally realized it. Only after Nemi confessed this fact did they belatedly understand.

– Nemi. Why didn’t you tell us about the Hero? If we had known earlier, we wouldn’t have done something like this at such a time.

– After the Holy Knights we raised were defeated by the Celestial Dawn Knight Order, you bring this up now? What are we supposed to do? We don’t even have the strength to rescue the Hero anymore.

The goddess Nemi remained silent. She was the one who had hidden the fact that her Saint had completely betrayed her and that the Hero Party was in danger. After all, she is the supreme deity of the continent.

Knowing that the other two gods could threaten her position at any time, she couldn’t recklessly reveal her weaknesses. She alone tried to mobilize her Holy Knights to rescue the Hero Party. And her messenger bird too.

But the other two gods, unaware of the situation, decided to attack the Imperial Palace, and Nemi, who secretly opposed it, ultimately went along with the majority.

Unable to reveal her weakness and risk her reputation, she feigned ignorance and sent her Holy Knights to this attack. And since it failed spectacularly, that option was now off the table.

With the Saint gone and the Holy Knights dead, she had no way to intervene in reality.

Only now, when Harmail was gathering the Demon Race to surround and annihilate the Hero, did she finally confess to the other two gods and seek their cooperation.

Of course, it was infuriating. If she had spoken up sooner, the Three Divine Gods, not being fools, wouldn’t have targeted the Imperial Palace first.

They would have immediately rescued the Hero Party with the twenty Holy Knights sent to the Imperial Palace and prepared to rebuild the destroyed Sacred Sword.

– …That’s not important right now.

Having no words to say, she decided to remain silent. Naturally, the other two goddesses strongly objected.

Regardless, Nemi kept her mouth shut and only said what was necessary.

– That’s not important?!

– Where did you sell your conscience?

– …We need to consider the current situation.

Unfortunately for the two grinding their teeth, everything Nemi said was true. It was so true that it made them even angrier.

If only she had spoken up earlier, things wouldn’t have come to this. They couldn’t help but think, “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

– Citadel has slipped from our hands. The people there have opened their hearts to Aldehir. Aldehir has gained a lot, and the faith directed toward us has weakened just as much.

The hearts of the people are like reeds, swaying easily. When the crisis caused by the Phoenix’s volcano arose, the Three Divine Gods didn’t show their faces, while Aldehir’s priests struggled alongside their Chancellor.

With all the Three Divine Gods’ priests withdrawn from Citadel, there was no one to explain. It was obvious where the people’s hearts would lean.

– But we don’t have the strength to send priests there now, so we can’t do anything about Citadel for the time being. That land is lost to us for now.

With Yanid stopping the gate, reaching the Citadel Republic requires a ship. Ships aren’t instant teleportation gates, so it would take months to sail to Citadel.

Even if we sent priests, it’s uncertain whether the people of Citadel, who have already leaned toward Aldehir, would return to worshiping the Three Divine Gods. The situation is too precarious to cling to such uncertainties. Our own base is unstable as it is.

– The Evil God, Modrig, is also expanding his domain. If he corrupts our believers, their faith will no longer flow to us. Our power will diminish over time, while his will only grow.

– It’s because of you, no one else but you, that we now have no Hero or Holy Knights. At least my and Elysia’s Saints remain, but your Saint has turned traitor.

The immediate problem is the arrival of the Evil God. The speed at which he’s spreading is beyond concerning; it’s horrifying. Nemi didn’t respond and instead asked a counter-question.

As mentioned, she had nothing to say, so she decided to maintain strict silence on unfavorable matters.

– Hilrae. Can’t we use the method that broke the Imperial Palace’s Protection Magic Array to stop the Evil God?

– ……

– Hilrae?

– I’ll just say it’s impossible. There are circumstances.

Goddess Hilrae also kept her mouth shut after saying that. She learned it from Nemi. It was better to evade than to reveal Yanid’s terminal condition.

Since she decided to do it first, Nemi had no right to complain when Hilrae followed suit. She had that much decency. Only Elysia was outraged, fuming.

– You called me here to discuss, and now not a single one of you is speaking? You cause the trouble, and now you want me to take responsibility?

– Hilrae! Wasn’t it you who insisted we overthrow the Emperor? Nemi! You hid and hid, and now this mess, and you still have more to hide? At least apologize!

But all that returned was silence, leaving her deflated. Elysia, holding her head, gave up on assigning blame. No matter what she said, nothing came back, so arguing only made her angrier.

– So, what are we going to do now? If you have no shame, at least have a plan.

– Hilrae. Can’t we restore the Empire’s magic communication? They need to quickly understand the southern situation.

– ……

The goddess, who learned well from Nemi, maintained her silence. The Divine Power mark on Yanid had already faded.

It wasn’t that Yanid released it herself; it naturally faded and disappeared. In other words, she’s dead.

It’s not strange. That chimera was on borrowed time from the moment it was taken out of the Holy Water vessel.

Preoccupied with the Holy Knights’ affairs, they hadn’t yet figured out how Yanid died. But it was safe to assume it wasn’t murder. Most likely, it was natural causes.

Hilrae sighed inwardly. The current situation was utterly uncontrollable. The storm created by the Demon King had shattered all order.

– What about Oberta and Aldehir? We can’t handle this with just the three of us.

Arguing over right and wrong only brought silence, so the three gave up and decided to plan ahead. Nemi brought up the Heavenly and Evil Gods.

Now, the other two deities, whom they had half-ignored, came to mind. But there was no way to contact them.

The Aldehir Church is in Citadel, so that’s understandable, but Oberta doesn’t even have a proper “church” to speak of.

Thieves, criminals, prostitutes—people who live by dishonest means.

They secretly pray to her for blessings. Whispering, “Make today a lucky day.” Committing trashy deeds and confessing in their hearts to ease their guilt.

Thus, even without any real power, Oberta maintains her status as a deity. It’s quite mysterious who even believes in her.

No one openly declares their faith in Oberta. They all believe in secret, and even believers don’t know who else is a believer.

– Oberta’s skill at hiding is commendable. Even if we tried to find her, we couldn’t. Do you think it’s any different now?

– Even if we found her, she’s not a deity who would help us. Such uncertain talk is no help. Let’s tackle the practical issues one by one.

Until now, the continent had been effectively ruled by the Three Divine Gods. They monopolized the rights, and when they tried to pull in the other two deities for duties, they were met with no enthusiasm.

Aldehir might help from a grand perspective. He is a god born from desire, not human, so his way of thinking differs from humans.

But Oberta—it’s better not to expect anything. That deity would bite us the moment we show weakness, not help.

– Even in this state, if we can just take the Emperor hostage, our plan might not be a complete failure.

– Not a chance. I’ve already ordered the attack to stop.

– What are you talking about? You’ve come this far and now you’re giving up?

– Nemi. Don’t act like it’s not your business. We didn’t come this far to abandon the plan.

Elysia snapped. She was the one who mobilized the Saint, and now someone else is giving advice.

Anyone would think Nemi had contributed the most to this effort.

She used her power, achieved nothing, and now she’s being scolded by a freeloader. It was deeply uncomfortable. She couldn’t feel at ease.

– See for yourself.

The goddess, who found it a waste to speak further, created an illusion to show what was happening on the ground. The vision was from her daughter, the Saint Arseria.

If there weren’t unavoidable circumstances, would she have come this far to abandon the plan? This way, there’s truly nothing to gain and everything to lose.

Not knowing the inside story and spouting such nonsense, she had to barely suppress her boiling anger.

Seeing the vision, Nemi sighed…

– This time, we’ve completely failed. We shouldn’t have done this from the start. I opposed it from the beginning.

– If you had just explained the situation, this wouldn’t have happened! Hiding the reasons and opposing made it impossible to agree!

– Enough. What’s done is done. What can we do?

But the three goddesses share a common trait: they were once humans who became gods.

The path wasn’t one without trials. The Three Divine Gods are beings who experienced all sorts of hardships as humans.

Loss is loss. It can’t be undone. Clinging to what’s lost won’t let us move forward.

Now, we must discuss the future. Unlike the silence of moments ago, the three goddesses engaged in heated debate.