6. Blade of Order

The Church, in this era where the only absolute empire, the Rodmar Empire, has fallen, and the continent has gradually descended into a state of “warlords contending for supremacy,” remains one of the few places that still holds complete faith and devotion to the “Lady Goddess.”

It has no “deep ties” with any kingdom; it does not participate in any kingdom’s disputes; it does not initiate requests for aid from any kingdom… This is a land that maintains absolute neutrality. Under the symbol of the true “Goddess reborn,” who can even “foretell the future” like a deity, the Church has gathered a vast number of believers, not to mention the presence of the noble class in various kingdoms who still hold a positive attitude towards faith.

In short, this is a realm that, even while maintaining absolute neutrality, no kingdom dares to provoke lightly! Although previous events had led the Great Yng Empire to somewhat intervene in the Church’s internal affairs, …

Her Majesty Queen Louise IV of the Great Yng Empire, along with the orchestrator behind her, the Moon Fairy Elith, soon discovered the deeper “insider information” within the Church and quickly withdrew the people of the Great Yng Empire. Because, in the eyes of the believers, that holy maiden, no, it should be said that including the Church’s external “faith,” is merely a “part” of the Church.

Like a branch of a spider’s web; a limb of a great tree; merely a side lineage within the organization. Beneath the beautiful faith, the Church’s existence is like an iceberg on the water, with the true hidden things lying beneath the surface.

At this moment, within the Church.

Due to the “sudden demise” of the archbishop, who had long exploited the holy maiden’s reputation for various gains at the summit of the nations, many of the archbishop’s former sycophants remained. They held glamorous positions within the Church to varying degrees, yet found themselves unable to act when the holy maiden returned with the people of the Great Yng Empire.

Now, with the sudden departure of the Great Yng Empire’s people, the dirty thoughts buried in the hearts of these sycophants began to gradually surface.

“Hey, we’re about to take action. You’re sure those knights from the Great Ying Empire have left, right?”

The leading cleric was once a capable assistant under the former archbishop. After the archbishop’s power crumbled, he had narrowly escaped retribution and pursuit. Now that the knights of the Great Ying Empire had departed, he finally had the chance to realize his grand ambitions! As for avenging the archbishop? Ha, he had never thought of such a thing. In fact, the archbishop’s downfall was better for him; it meant he could take the position for himself!

And tonight, right now, was the moment to act!

“They’ve definitely left.”

The people he had summoned were all those who wanted to control the faith within the church and grab a share of the power. Among them were even some who were known as the “Church Guardians,” tasked with safeguarding the church and preventing conflicts.

“Our guardians have taken full control of the church. Now, it’s just that saintess, hiding in her room, completely unaware!”

“Good!”

The cleric was very pleased, his movements becoming impatient with excitement.

Without the troublesome knights of the Great Ying Empire, the saintess was nothing more than a foolish woman with a poor grasp of reality! She probably still didn’t know that she thought she could control the church just because she had followers; in reality, the saintess was no different from a mere mascot within the church!

“Once we capture the saintess, send someone to take her out of the church immediately. As long as she’s out of the church’s reach, we can toss her anywhere—selling herself is no concern! In any case, we can’t let this woman interfere anymore! As for the saintess, we can easily create another one ourselves! Just say a few words to those people and call it a ‘prophecy’!”

Success was within reach; they were about to seize control of the faith both inside and outside the church, which filled everyone present with immense joy.

“Let’s go! We’re going to catch that idiot saintess!”

With a wave of his hand, the man led everyone forward, ready to rush toward a bright future, the pinnacle of power!

Then, as they stepped out of their quarters, preparing to act together to capture the saintess, they were stunned by the scene before them!

In the darkness of night, a figure seemed to have existed for a long time, appearing just as they stepped out! A small stature, yet wielding a scythe that was much taller than herself!

This was not a weapon that could be allowed in the church! Although the opponent appeared to be alone and they had plenty of capable fighters, there was something unsettling about the scene that sent chills down everyone’s spines.

Especially as the figure slowly approached, looking more like an ordinary novice nun, the strange feeling intensified.

After all, her words were equally bizarre, making the man, once a subordinate of the archbishop, feel a chill in his heart.

“Church faith, remnants of the archbishop, the archbishop has been removed. Why do you remnants still refuse to accept judgment? Church Guardians, why do you associate with them?”

This was like hitting his soft spot! While the man was tense about the girl’s identity, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger!

“Which faction are you from!? Stay out of this!”

“Blade of Order.”

“!”

The man was momentarily stunned.

Having once been a trusted subordinate of the archbishop, he had heard something about the church’s “factions.” The mascot-like saintess, surrounded by those who could be said to exploit her, were referred to as “Faith,” a faction dedicated to safeguarding the church. Besides them, there were several other factions, but…

The so-called “Blade of Order” was the one with the least information available!

The man suddenly burst into laughter. This little girl couldn’t possibly be from the saintess’s side, trying to buy time with a ruse, could she!? What a naive thought!

“I don’t care what you are! Hey! Capture her and don’t let her get in the way! Hurry up! Otherwise, if the saintess catches wind of this, she’ll run…”

【Ding ding…】

The clear sound of a bell rang out, and before anyone could act, they noticed: the man who had just spoken to them had suddenly lost his voice, and then…

His legs gave way, and he knelt on the ground, collapsing…

What had happened? No one saw, no one knew! Only the girl’s words lingered like a ghost, echoing around them.

“Your faith in the goddess is so tainted; it seems… we can skip the judgment phase.”

“What did she do!?”

“I don’t know! Just, just hurry and capture her!”

【Ding ding…】

In the next moment, everyone in front of the girl, not even having the chance to move, fell to the ground one after another.

The girl, wielding a scythe, seemed to hold the banner of judgment, her expressionless gaze fixed on the motionless forms before her.

“The faith of the goddess has been violated, but… it seems these are internal to the church, and not the foreign knight order mentioned in the report.”

“…It matters not. Following the will of the goddess, we come to seek and hunt those unfaithful to her, regardless of whether they are inside or outside, friend or foe. Once the remnants of the church’s faith are dealt with…”

“Let’s start with the Saintess.”

——

The illustration is right next to the chapter. PS: I’ve caught a bit of a cold these days, so please forgive any typos or name errors in the content.

Illustration: ???