A snow-white painted plate armor.

A brilliant light radiates from the entire body.

Even the appearance exudes a mysterious atmosphere as the finishing touch.

Abelson Mariette looked like an angel descended from heaven.

“Her Majesty the Queen comes to save us!”

“Look at that holy light…”

“Her Majesty will protect us!”

People looked at Abelson as if they were entranced by something.

The unique holy power, and warm yet noble aura created an indescribable atmosphere.

Thanks to this, the gloomy atmosphere of the city was instantly reversed to 180 degrees.

Everything was going according to plan, but for some reason, Abelson smiled bitterly.

‘It’s regrettable that we have to put effort into this kind of display… But this is also necessary.’

To be honest, this was nothing more than a show.

The armor she wore doesn’t help much in battle.

The holy light is merely a holy power transformed and released.

In other words, it’s a waste of energy with no practical effect.

However, the benefits that can be gained from this kind of display are greater than expected.

It suppresses the anxiety in citizens’ hearts and helps the city regain stability.

It can raise the morale of the departing soldiers.

At the same time, all of these things lead to the expansion of Abelson’s authority and influence.

“Waaah-!”

“Long live Her Majesty the Queen!”

“Hurrah! Hurrah-!”

And so, Abelson and the kingdom’s elite left the capital amid people’s cheers.

***

Abelson and the army soon encountered a group of undead.

This was because Sara Dunphy had moved the undead legion close to the capital.

It was the clan’s strategy to reduce the fatigue of soldiers marching.

The soldiers, unaware of this fact, were surprised by the enemy’s faster-than-expected appearance.

“For the Kingdom of Mariette!”

Abelson once again emitted holy light.

When she charged to the front on horseback, they followed with powerful cheers.

“Charge-!”

“Waaah-!”

Soon after, the undead and the kingdom’s elite clashed.

Grwooo-!

Kieeee!

The undead inherently instill fear in humans.

No matter how elite the kingdom’s soldiers were, they couldn’t be completely free from the fear latent in human nature.

Nevertheless, the soldiers fought the enemy to their best ability.

Because this was a situation where they could not retreat.

If they lose this battle, the undead will reach the capital.

Then the capital is finished.

Along with their families and acquaintances in the capital.

This fact breathed strength into the soldiers’ bodies.

“Die!”

“Filthy undead bastards!”

Some time after the fierce battle began.

The soldiers gradually noticed something strange.

“This is too easy?”

“Hahaha! These bones are completely weak!”

When they first encountered the undead, they were overwhelmed by their repulsive visuals and numbers.

But actually fighting them, they were really nothing.

Of course, this was natural since Sara Dunphy had only raised the lowest-grade undead.

The soldiers, unaware of this fact, thought,

“The Deusis faith’s holy knights aren’t much either?”

“We were scared just because it was the Gatren Empire, but maybe they’re actually weak?”

Deusis faith and Gatren are weak.

Having lost to such easy opponents as this undead, they naturally couldn’t help but think so.

The soldiers’ morale was further elevated, and the speed of defeating enemies increased.

“Advance! Don’t leave a single undead!”

“Waaah-!”

The kingdom’s army pushed back the undead at tremendous speed.

The difference in numbers wasn’t that great to begin with.

When they had an overwhelming qualitative advantage on top of this, the enemy was no match.

“We won! We’ve won!”

“Waaah-!”

Had even an hour passed?

All undead had fallen and returned to dirt.

The kingdom’s casualties were so minimal they might as well have been none.

The soldiers’ morale pierced the sky at this overwhelming victory.

Naturally, their loyalty toward Abelson Mariette, who commanded this battle, also rose together.

“Long live Her Majesty the Queen!”

“Hurrah! Hurrah!”

Amidst the pouring cheers, Abelson smiled brightly.

‘This time, we won.’

She thought of Pope Orban IV.

The Pope had long tried to control the Mariette Kingdom.

Also, he had treated Abelson, who was designated as the next Holy Maiden, like his own limb.

Until now, she had no choice but to dance in his palm, but now it’s different.

‘The world has changed. Because the real savior has appeared.’

Choi Hyun-seok appeared.

The continent’s long-stagnant political situation began to move rapidly.

Now the continent’s fate is one of two:

Either the Holy Empire of Gatren completely devours the continent.

Or Gatren disintegrates and a new order takes its place.

‘The result… Only God would know.’

Of course, Abelson believed without doubt it would be the latter.

***

“Cardinal Fidenzio. I heard you went through hardships.”

“I am only sorry, Your Holiness.”

Cardinal Fidenzio Fiola, who fled from Scolbon.

He had a private audience with Pope Orban IV.

“We were just about to succeed in our great work… But suddenly a large undead legion appeared, and we had no choice.”

Fidenzio was truly frustrated.

The work of swallowing the Mariette Kingdom was progressing smoothly.

He was convinced it would have been 100 percent successful if only the undead hadn’t suddenly appeared.

‘This was an act of God.’

The completely unexpected event of the undead appearing there.

They were even powerful enough to wipe out the empire’s elite.

“They weren’t ordinary undead! Two cardinals blessed by Your Holiness, two thousand elite holy knights of the empire, and one thousand high priests gave their all, but…”

“Not a single one survived.”

“Yes…”

Fidenzio swallowed hard.

‘I did everything I could.’

Fidenzio thought he was fortunate just to have saved his own life.

What could he have done against such a powerful undead legion?

He should be praised just for surviving.

“Do you perhaps know?”

“What are you referring to…”

“Abelson Mariette personally led an army and repelled the undead legion.”

“What…?”

“It was even a great victory, they say. Almost no casualties among the troops. They literally overwhelmed the undead, they say.”

As the Pope continued speaking, Fidenzio’s face distorted.

Even though he is hearing it for the first time himself, he couldn’t accept the situation.

“Abelson Mariette. You’re saying she led an army and defeated the undead? And achieved an overwhelming victory…?”

At that moment, the Pope’s eyes grew cold.

“I dislike repeating myself.”

“I apologize!”

Realizing his mistake, Fidenzio hurriedly bowed his head.

However, his mind was still full of questions.

‘How on earth…?’

Even Gatren’s elite couldn’t do it.

It means it’s not something a mere small kingdom could achieve.

Fidenzio was confused, but these thoughts didn’t continue for long.

The Pope brought up a new proposal.

“I don’t intend to blame you for this incident. This was nothing short of a natural disaster, wasn’t it?”

Fidenzio carefully bowed his head but didn’t answer.

The Pope continued.

“So I want to give you a new opportunity.”

“By opportunity, you mean…?”

“A chance to receive grace.”

At the word grace, Fidenzio’s eyes grew wide.

“Is that true!?”

“Of course.”

“But previously you said I couldn’t receive grace…”

Pope Orban shook his head with a benevolent smile.

“Back then, your faith was merely lacking. Looking at you now, you’re fully qualified to receive grace. Didn’t you show excellent ability in the Mariette Kingdom?”

Fidenzio nodded as if entranced.

Yes. He had done his best and was about to achieve the best results.

He only failed due to a natural disaster.

‘No, even in such worst circumstances, I saved the priests and holy knights of Scolbon. What could be better proof of supreme ability than this!’

In reality, he had only led away the personnel dispatched to Scolbon to save himself.

But in his mind, the rationalization was already complete.

“Let’s begin right away.”

At the Pope’s signal, people wearing snow-white monastery robes entered.

“Follow them. You’ll be given trials to receive grace.”

“What kind of trials do you mean…”

“Tests to prove your qualification for grace. Don’t worry, you can certainly achieve it.”

“It’s an honor! Your Holiness!”

Fidenzio bowed his head several times and left the room.

Pope Orban IV placed his hand on his forehead with a tired face.

“Still, he’s a cardinal. He has much holy power, so he should be quite useful after modification.”

“He was deemed unsuitable last time, will it be alright? He might go mad or become an idiot from side effects.”

A question came from empty air.

The Pope nodded naturally as if this was familiar.

“That’s even better. It’s better to use someone that stupid without having to think.”

“Understood.”

“By the way…”

Suddenly the Pope’s voice grew low.

“You say you can’t find out anything about this incident?”

“Yes. No one survived the battle, and even the record keeper sent with them was killed.”

No traces of the battle remained.

Honestly, it was impossible.

The casualties alone exceeded three thousand.

Plus the corpses of the undead.

How difficult must it be to cleanly erase all these traces?

Not even magical residue remained, so they couldn’t even tell what magic was used here.

A situation where truly nothing could be known.

“There aren’t many places in the entire continent that can clean up a battlefield at this level.

However, that’s precisely why the suspects are narrowed down.

There aren’t many organizations that can handle aftermath cleanup at such an excellent level.

“Do you think Drason moved?”

“I can’t be certain, but I think it’s possible.”

“Sigh, I understand. Continue investigating.”

The Pope sighed and continued.

“Everything else besides the Mariette Kingdom is fine?”

“Everything is proceeding smoothly.”

“Then let’s meet again after Cardinal Fidenzio’s processing is complete.”

“Yes.”

With those words, the Pope closed his eyes.

Even without giving detailed orders, the rest would proceed on its own.

However, there was one concerning point.

‘Sara Dunphy. She’s definitely involved here too.’

Sara Dunphy’s identity was discovered from the previous investigation.

The first king of the Vallington Kingdom.

It was clear that she revived as an undead, and had raised the undead legion.

‘Circumstantially, Sara Dunphy is working with the Mariette Kingdom.’

There’s no definitive evidence.

But the Pope is almost certain.

‘Even if we try to eliminate her, we can’t find her because she’s wrapped up tight and hiding…’

As the Pope continued pondering, something flashed in his mind.

‘If we do it right, we might be able to send her along with the Mariette Kingdom…’

The Mariette Kingdom had already caused several disturbances with accusations of colluding with demons.

A new plan began to form in Pope Orban IV’s mind.

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