Chapter 32

“Hero.”

Araidel is not a fool who only knows the goddess.


She is neither a puppet without self-awareness nor a wooden doll without will.


Though the time they spent together wasn’t long, it was enough for her to notice that the Hero Party treated her politely but not intimately.

“If there’s any part where I’m lacking, I apologize to you here, Hero.”


“Lacking? You’ve been fulfilling your role perfectly, Saintess.”


“Do Parnell and Lucia think the same?”

As Araidel spoke with a bitter smile, Yurinel nodded.

“That’s right. The Saintess has been dedicating herself to us to the best of her ability.”


“Only to the best of my ability.”

The Saintess, sitting beside Yurinel, muttered while gazing at the stars flowing across the sky.

“I’m not even at that level.”


“Saintess, why would you say such a thing…”


“Hero. Even though it’s a temple, it’s still a place where people live.”

If the Saintess, Araidel, occupied the left seat of the Hero, then the Archbishop, Reinhaim, sat on the right.


With a faint smile, she looked at the Hero, who wore an awkward expression.

“It’s not a clean place, after all. Dirty power struggles and political calculations are exchanged. To become a bishop in such a place, you can’t always keep your eyes purely on the goddess.”

Yet, the goddess acknowledges them and grants divine power because,


rottenness and lack of faith are entirely different matters.

So what if they like money? As long as their faith is pure. So what if they crave power? As long as they serve themselves.

It’s hard to find a clean person among the high-ranking figures of the temple, but it’s equally hard to find someone with shallow faith. Someone who says, ‘Goddess, if you mess with me, I’ll kill you!’ won’t even get a lowly priest position, let alone a high-ranking one. They’d be arrested for blasphemy by the Holy Knights before that.

“That’s why I’ve come as the Saintess’s aide. The Saintess maintains her pure white, and she must continue to do so. It’s not to boast, but becoming an Archbishop in a place like the Church Country means I’m not ignorant of politics.”

Only the Saintess is an exception. The Saintess is directly chosen by the goddess.


It’s as meticulous as adopting a daughter, and how can humans refute what the goddess has so thoroughly examined? Among the Church Country’s high-ranking officials, there’s no one without faith.

The current Pope of the Nemian Church is a messy person, with rumors of golden statues decorating his garden and illegitimate children, but he’s also a devout believer.


He doesn’t hesitate to fast and pray for days despite his old age. If he weren’t sincere about the goddess, he wouldn’t have risen to the position of Pope. Such a Pope wouldn’t mistreat the Saintess.

In the midst of this power struggle, the Saintess is inevitably an exception,


and no slander can touch her. Attacking her is tantamount to rebelling against the goddess.

Sending such a precious Saintess to the Hero Party is half her own will and half the goddess’s will. The Pope sending Reinhaim, one of his most trusted aides, along with her is because she’s that exceptional.

“The Saintess is the goddess’s representative. But she’s still inexperienced, so the goddess wishes for her to travel with you, gain experience, and achieve feats worthy of the goddess’s daughter.”


“Is that so…”


“It’s just my personal opinion, but I think our Saintess is even more outstanding than the Saintesses of Elysia and Hilrae. Even though she’s still inexperienced, a Saintess is a Saintess. There’s no priest on this continent with greater abilities than her.”

I knew it.


I knew it would be like this.


That’s why I drove Kyle away so easily.

“Yet, you all seem dissatisfied with the Saintess. Is there any reason she doesn’t meet your expectations? Have we been rude to you in any way?”

Yurinel’s head ached. But it was hard to brush it off with a lie here.


Deceiving someone as sharp as Reinhaim isn’t easy. Even if you manage to deceive her once, she’ll keep sensing something off.

“It’s a misunderstanding. Actually, before the Saintess arrived, there was a priest with us.”


“A priest? What rank was he? Bishop? Temple Head?”


“We thought he was just an ordinary priest, but he probably wasn’t. From the moment he said he was the only one on the continent who believed in his god, we should have realized.”

If you ask if I loved him, no. That wasn’t the case. Our personalities were too incompatible from the start.


Yurinel is someone who prioritizes success over men. Her goal is to hold power and gain wealth. She aspires to rise to places others can’t even dream of.

Of course, she didn’t have any ill feelings toward Kyle either. It’s just that the Saintess seemed better.


The Saintess, who would become the leader of the Church Country, seemed like a much better partner than Kyle in terms of ability and position. A partner worthy of walking her path to success, someone to hold hands with.

Kyle had saved her life several times, so she even gave him a generous severance package. She thought that was the end of it.


She only realized her miscalculation after she had already sent him away. She has no way of knowing what he’s doing now, even after he left her with his blessings.

“A god believed in by only one person? That’s impossible. Even a minor god protecting a village or tribe needs at least dozens of believers to maintain their existence. A god with only one believer can’t even be called a god. Unless it’s a being that doesn’t need faith at all…”

Reinhaim’s expression darkened.

“Don’t tell me…”


“The priest created the spring that the Archbishop said was imbued with the power of the Ancient God.”


“Where is he now? Can we meet him? Matters related to the Ancient God are not just important to me, but to the goddess as well!”

It was a matter serious enough to change her always calm expression. That’s the presence of the Ancient God.


Even the Three Divine Gods are nothing before the Ancient God. If he’s truly a priest of the Ancient God, it’s best to pull him in and ensure he doesn’t become an enemy.

Given the current influence of the Three God Faith, it might not be difficult to kill a Saint of the Ancient God. But that would be an insane act.

Unlike the personal gods who suffer greatly when their Saints or Saintesses die, the power of the Ancient God doesn’t diminish when a believer dies. How vast is the universe, and how small are humans? No matter how much power is granted to one person, it’s like a cup of water drawn from the ocean compared to the power of the Ancient God.

If the enraged Ancient God, at the cost of eroding their personality, were to cast a curse on this world, the repercussions would be endless. The Ancient God doesn’t take just anyone as a follower unless they’re truly cherished.


If a cherished being is destroyed by lesser beings, the Ancient God’s wrath would be immense. The Three God Faith, which holds ancient records, knows well about the Ancient God’s anger.

Before humans and demons rose. Before the Three Gods stood at the forefront of history, the vampires who once ruled the continent fell miserably.


She knew the reason well. The Ancient God shattered their hegemony with a single curse.


Now, vampires are a weak race, huddled in a single territory, waiting for their doom.

“We… drove him away.”

Reinhaim looked dumbfounded. For a moment, she thought she had misheard.


After quickly scanning Yurinel’s face, she gave a look as if she were staring at an idiot.


The expression was brief, but Yurinel saw it clearly.

“You drove away… a priest of the Ancient God?”


“Yes, that’s right. At the time, we didn’t fully understand his value.”


“Then of course… no, then…”

She felt both despair and relief. She confirmed that the Hero Party wasn’t uncomfortable with the Saintess herself but rather found her lacking in ability.

It’s not a disgraceful matter. It’s not that the Saintess didn’t try hard enough.


If the opponent is a priest of the Ancient God, there’s nothing to say even if compared like this. It’s like being blessed by the universe itself—how could the goddess’s daughter possibly match that?

“I thought it might be the case, but it seems I was truly lacking.”

Even Reinhaim couldn’t help it. The Saintess muttered bitterly.

“What should I do? You must have had high expectations, but I couldn’t meet them.”


“Why would you say such a thing? We just need to work a little harder together.”

Still, the conversation cleared up the misunderstanding. Reinhaim was relieved, and the Saintess felt better too.


There’s nothing more awkward than rejection without knowing the reason. But now that they’ve talked it out, things can only get better from here.

For their respective goals.


For the values they pursue.


They can unite, combine their strength,


and move forward.

‘Revenge.’

Their common enemy, the Primal Demon King Grimudo.

Can they raise their swords against him once more?


Can they charge under the name of revenge?


Can they return to the Arctic, trusting in the Saintess’s power and abilities?

It was utterly daunting. The Hero Party had lost their purpose.


A hero who has lost the goal of hunting the greatest Demon King is no longer a hero. Just an adventurer.

‘That’s a dream that can no longer be achieved.’

The second greatest Demon King, Harmail, has already unified most of the demon forces.


For five people to break through that and assassinate the Demon Emperor is nearly impossible. All they can do is cut down Harmail’s scattered minions.

‘Then what should we do?’

The initial goal of defeating Grimudo had, at some point, shifted to personal success.


Perhaps deep down, they all acknowledged it. Their goal was hopeless from the start.


When Kyle was with them, they at least got close to Grimudo, but now they couldn’t even think of it. Facing Grimudo again would mean certain death.

No matter what position Saintess Araidel holds in the Church Country, it means nothing before Grimudo.


To survive before him, only strength matters. Kyle managed to save the entire party and escape from Grimudo, but no one in the party believes the Saintess could do the same.

‘If he were here, we could at least attempt a surprise attack on Harmail.’

There was a priest who was unparalleled in support and defense.


With his full support, it might have been possible to assassinate Harmail and escape the demon army. He’s the one who saved everyone even before Grimudo.


Could the demon army possibly be more formidable than Grimudo and his monster legion?

Of course, executing that strategy with Araidel would be akin to suicide.


The vast difference in ability is something no amount of strategy can bridge.


Though Yurinel is a hero, she has no intention of sacrificing her life for a mission. Death makes wealth and glory meaningless. Yurinel isn’t that noble.

If they can’t strike Grimudo for personal revenge or attack Harmail for their heroic mission,


then what meaning does the Hero Party have? They need to seriously consider this.

‘A strategic retreat might be necessary.’

No, no. It’s not a retreat.


It’s just a temporary counterattack to respond to the enemy’s future plans.

But whether it’s a retreat or a counterattack, safely returning to the empire is a different story.


War begins when you want it to, but it only ends when you beg for it. Even if Yurinel wants to end her little war, it’s already out of her hands.

All decisions will come from far above.


From that Arctic.