The Holy Kingdom’s decisive battle weapon. The Virgin Saintess, her fists enveloped in holy power, swung her fist at the dinosaur humans charging towards her with their jaws wide open, large enough to swallow a human whole.
A powerful punch that could have shattered the skull of the strongest species of all living creatures if not for the robustness of the dinosaur’s cranium. The Virgin Saintess retrieved her fist and clicked her tongue as she eyed the still intact dinosaur humans.
“Ugh… it hurts.”
“The punch was fierce.”
“But still—human.”
Dinosaurs couldn’t be defeated. The dinosaur humans, confident in their biological superiority, charged forward.
As they approached, the Virgin Saintess backpedaled to increase the distance, then delivered a front kick to send one of the leading dinosaurs flying far away. Using the recoil, she leapt high into the air behind her.
Arriving before the statue of the Sovereign God and the cross where prayers were offered, the Virgin Saintess closed her eyes and prayed silently. Then, she ripped out the massive cross and the statue, each now held firmly in her hands.
“Hoo-!”
Watching the Virgin Saintess hold supermassive objects weighing several tons effortlessly, the forgotten cultist dinosaur humans burst into derisive laughter.
“What the… isn’t she a cleric?”
“Does she really think she can rip out statues modeled after her god and use them as weapons?”
“Cruel… so cruel…”
This act was unthinkable for those who once lived and breathed ancient dragons long ago, now extinct.
For a religious person to tear down a statue of the god they believe in and use it as a weapon? Unforgivable by any common sense, especially in a fantasy world where gods descend to earth.
But the Virgin Saintess stood tall.
“—I just prayed and reached an agreement with God.”
She was one of only two connections to God left in the entire Holy Kingdom, and now, with the Pope dead, she was the sole remaining link. For her to commit such sacrilegious acts and solve problems through prayer was laughably easy. Unimaginable for others, but still.
Crackling with holy energy, the Virgin Saintess reinforced the statue and golden cross in her hands and swung both weapons. Too massive to dodge.
The dinosaur humans had no choice but to retreat as far as possible from the weapons. After driving the dinosaur humans outside the papal palace, the Virgin Saintess immediately began praying.
“O God! Protect Thy lambs!”
Her prayer reached the heavens. Soon, a blinding ray of white light descended from the sky, enveloping the papal palace.
An absolutely impenetrable barrier formed, one that even Aura Masters or Great Sorcerers couldn’t break. The dinosaur humans assaulting the papal palace tapped on the barrier a few times before sighing deeply.
“Tsk, we must abandon this place.”
“We’ve already killed the Pope, so it’s not a loss. And above all—.”
The dinosaur human glanced around as he spoke. At this hour, the only people inside the papal palace would be clerics or church officials faithful to the Sovereign God.
Ordinary citizens, the residents of the Holy Kingdom, were still scattered throughout the city, trembling in fear.
“There’s still plenty of prey.”
Foolishly, the Virgin Saintess had encased the papal palace in a barrier to protect herself. They would have to give up on the clerics inside the palace, but the Virgin Saintess would also have to forsake the citizens of the Holy Kingdom.
If word got out that she had abandoned the citizens, what would happen? How long would the believers’ support last?
Unless others stayed silent—and wasn’t the Believer Sect currently under attack by the Evil God Cult and the Forgotten Worshippers? Those two organizations wouldn’t overlook such actions.
“Then I’ll head over there─.”
Crack-!
Just as the dinosaur humans were about to scatter in different directions to hunt the citizens, one of their heads exploded.
The remaining two looked at each other in confusion, unable to comprehend why a head had just exploded. It didn’t take long for them to identify the culprit.
Inside the sealed-off papal palace, the Virgin Saintess emerged clad in paladin armor, poised as if throwing something. The dinosaur human beside them had been struck by the mace she hurled, his head completely shattered.
“Excuse me, just passing through.”
Striding confidently between the two dinosaur humans, the Virgin Saintess yanked her mace from the shattered skull of the fallen dinosaur human. Her hair fluttered as she glared at the two remaining dinosaurs.
“What are you waiting for? Are you going to fight or not?”
“—GRRRAAAAH!”
“You’re not even a mouthful!”
The Virgin Saintess swung her mace and fist imbued with the love of the Sovereign God at the two charging dinosaurs.
* * *
Kail, Yuri, and Jerard were swiftly escaping the Holy Kingdom. They secretly scaled its towering walls and headed in the opposite direction from where the invaders had come.
The plan seemed flawless. In fact, it was. Kail and his group hadn’t encountered a single enemy from the moment they escaped the walls until the Holy Kingdom faded into the distance.
All they had to do now was return to the Empire. Feeling pleased, Kail hummed a tune and turned to Jerard, who had escaped with him.
“Come to think of it, I don’t even know your name. What is it?”
“…Why should I tell you?”
“Look, judging by your appearance, we’ll probably meet again. Do you want to get hit and tell me, or just tell me now?”
Jerard let out a derisive laugh at Kail’s non-threatening threat and hesitantly opened his mouth.
“Jera…”
“Jera?”
“A-ah, no. Jerry. My name’s Jerry.”
However, Jerard suddenly panicked, fearing Kail might remember his real name. He quickly concealed it.
Hadn’t he been part of the group that once kidnapped Yuri, Kail’s fiancée? He couldn’t afford to overlook the possibility that Kail had thoroughly investigated them, vowing not to let anyone escape.
At least, that’s what he would have done. Fortunately, Kail didn’t seem to notice that Jerard had lied about his name.
“Jerry? Sounds like a girl’s name.”
“Kail, you can’t say that to a girl.”
“Oh, right. She’s a girl.”
From Kail’s perspective, which evaluated opponents based on muscle tone, gait, and various other factors, Jerry didn’t look like a girl but rather a thirty-something man.
Realizing his mistake, Kail scratched the back of his head and apologized to Jerry. Accepting the apology, Jerry resolved to be more cautious moving forward in this body.
“Just over there is the border.”
“Huh, no problems at all. Guess tagging along with you guys wasn’t a total loss─.”
“─Are you escapees?”
The moment Jerry uttered the fateful line, a pot-bellied middle-aged man slowly revealed himself from afar.
Kail noticed that the middle-aged man exuded no presence whatsoever, appearing even less significant than a village shopkeeper.
Logically speaking, the man before him was nothing more than an ordinary person, utterly unremarkable. But Kail’s intuition told a different story.
‘What is this?’
Kail’s instincts, honed by reaching the level of an Aura Master, screamed danger. His instincts urged him to unsheathe his Aura Blade and cut the man’s throat immediately.
Yet he hesitated because, no matter how he looked at it, the man didn’t seem threatening. Caught between reality and instinct, Kail froze momentarily. Recognizing Kail’s face, the middle-aged man spoke first.
“You’re… Kail Meyer. I saw you in the newspaper. The Sword Saint of the Academy.”
“…Old man, what are you doing here?”
“Me? Hmm—just conducting some simple business here.”
“Business, huh.”
Kail scanned the area. Nothing but an empty plain stretched out before them. No buildings, no merchants, not even a soul in sight. Conducting business here?
Clearly, this guy had ulterior motives. Unable to endure any longer, Kail unleashed his Aura Blade at the man. As the blade, capable of cutting through anything, struck the man’s abdomen, a loud clang echoed, and the blade ricocheted far away.
“Aha, I knew you’d be a bad guy.”
The mysterious man had blocked the Aura Blade with his bare body. Of course, that alone didn’t determine good or evil. He could have been a hidden saint.
But if you’re going to hide your identity, don’t pretend to be weak when you’re actually strong. Pretending was a sin. Sin equaled evil.
“Hey, you—what are you?”
“This is troublesome. I heard you were reckless, but I didn’t expect this.”
The man brushed off the dust from his belly, then expanded his body. Instantly, his form shifted into something Kail had seen many times before.
—Did becoming a master at such a young age make him so arrogant?
He transformed into a dragon.
A creature thought to have gone extinct thousands of years ago.
