In Backlund's Church of the Evernight Goddess, Saint Samuel Cathedral stood solemn and silent.
While the king delivered his address elsewhere, the cathedral was likewise enveloped in reverence. Devout believers knelt on the square before the church, facing the immense holy radiance of the Evernight Goddess as they prayed quietly.
Archbishop Anthony stood at the cathedral's entrance, holding the Church of the Evernight's doctrine as he recited it for the gathered believers. From time to time, a long, resonant chime rang from the bell tower.
Those who prayed with closed eyes subconsciously murmured along with the doctrine—sometimes grieving, sometimes sighing, sometimes burning with indignation, yet ultimately returning to stillness and serenity.
And in that moment when no one was paying attention—
A middle-aged man stepped into the square.
He wore a black priest's robe. His hair was a muted gold, his face smooth without a single wrinkle, his features as sculpted as classical marble. One of his eyes was a deep blue verging on black, while the other was filled with fine, crawling blood vessels.
He held a thick copy of the doctrine in his hand as well, walking through the believers toward the cathedral. Under their startled gazes, he began to read aloud, slowly:
"Everything claimed by the gods is but a fraudulent illusion.
The existence of churches is no more than a hollow bubble.
The prayers of believers are steeped in desire and greed.
So-called divine grace is nothing but an unequal transaction between humans and gods."
Ince Zangwill's gaze blazed like a torch as it swept across the confused, curious eyes around him. His voice was low yet forceful—each word seemed to carry a power that pierced directly into the soul.
"All fear stems from the unknown.
And that unknown is precisely the veil of deception deliberately woven by churches and gods.
They blind the masses and turn believers into lambs to be slaughtered—ignorant, docile, and offering up pious faith to the gods."
His voice grew increasingly fervent, echoing through the air.
"They tolerate no dissenting voices.
Those who dare to question are immediately branded as heretics.
They do this not merely to preserve their rule—but to kill off any being that might one day threaten their supremacy."
"The so-called gods are, in truth, selfish to the extreme!
They will never tell you that they too were once ordinary humans—
That only by partaking in the Creator's flesh and blood did they seize divine authority and status.
They will never tell you that all they possess was stolen from the Creator Himself.
And they will certainly never reveal that every person—every one of you—
Possesses the potential to become a god!"
A cold smile curled the corner of Ince Zangwill's lips.
"And I—Ince Zangwill—am hunted and persecuted by the Church only because I saw through everything.
But I never retreated, nor did I ever give up.
Today, I stand here to personally unveil the true nature of churches and gods!"
As his final word fell, he raised the Church of the Evernight Goddess's doctrine high into the air. Veins bulged along his arm as if channelling limitless anger and power.
In the next instant, a streak of crimson flame ignited from nothingness—like a ferocious serpent of fire—swallowing the doctrine whole. The flames blazed violently in his hand, illuminating his resolute face.
"I shall complete this glorious vengeance!"
BOOM!
The crimson flames exploded outward, scattering into countless fiery sparks that rained across the square.
A heartbeat later, a magnificent yet weightless full-body suit of silver armour enveloped Ince Zangwill's figure, covering even his head. A long silver sword condensed in his grasp. He stomped heavily on the ground—and his entire body turned into a streak of silver light, rushing straight toward the cathedral.
Archbishop Anthony peacefully closed the doctrine and said calmly:
"Evacuate the crowd."
He plunged his hand into the doctrine. From within that darkness-transformed scripture, he drew a long bone sword covered in strange patterns. With a light sweep—
Clang!
The silver longsword collided with the bone sword. Darkness and silver radiance erupted at the same moment, blasting outward in a terrifying shockwave.
At that exact time, the Red Gloves led by His Grace—wielder of the Goddess's Sword, Crestet Cesimir—rushed out from both sides of the cathedral. Working together, they propped up a sealing artifact resembling a curtain of black gauze and vigorously shook it open.
In an instant, darkness descended, enveloping the area around the cathedral and separating it into a domain isolated from the outside world. Within this domain, Beyonders of the Evernight Pathway would be blessed, while all others would be suppressed.
Ince Zangwill retreated sharply, flashing out before the domain fully solidified.
But Crestet Cesimir had already anticipated this. He appeared behind him as a shrieking female wraith erupted from her body, lunging toward Ince's back. The Goddess's Sword in her hand, carrying the blessing of the Goddess, turned into a streak of pitch-black shadow aimed straight for Ince's head.
Ince twisted his body, vanishing amid flickering light, and immediately swung the silver longsword. Bright morning light burst forth, transforming into a violent, raging storm that swept across everything in its path.
The female wraith was instantly annihilated by the terrifying storm of light. Crestet Cesimir staggered backwards, forced to retreat, large burns spreading across his body.
Screech—
The black gauze curtain was torn into pieces by the violent storm in a single breath.
Then, countless fragments of silver sword-lights erupted from Ince's body, shooting toward the Red Gloves who had been sustaining the curtain.
Leonard's eyes widened abruptly.
He recognised this ability—it was the same one he had used last time when controlling the blood-stained silver armour. Even a Sequence 5 Devil could be instantly killed by it.
It was the ability of a Silver Knight—Sequence 3 of the Warrior pathway.
Ince Zangwill was actually Sequence 3!
He shouted in terror, "Everyone, dodge!"
In just an instant, silver sword-shadows erupted from within every Red Glove present.
Captain Soest, Crestet Cesimir with the Goddess's Sword, and even Miss Daly—everyone—was sliced into blood and flesh, their bodies torn apart and scattered across the ground. The thick stench of blood spread instantly.
Leonard's vision turned scarlet. A deep, crushing despair surged within him.
"Dead…they're all dead."
"Once again, I watched my teammates get killed, and I couldn't help at all."
"I'm really…utterly useless."
At that moment, Pallez Zoroast's ancient voice echoed in his mind, "You are stupid and useless! Have you still not realised it? This is a dream!"
"!!!"
Almost in the very next second, everything before Leonard's eyes vanished.
He found himself back inside the cathedral, concealed along with the Red Gloves on both sides—they had not rushed out yet. Ince Zangwill was still confronting Archbishop Anthony. The believers who had crowded the square earlier had already been evacuated.
However, Leonard had not escaped the dream on his own.
It was Ince Zangwill who had shattered the dreamscape, waking everyone who had been dragged into it.
"This Ince Zangwill truly is something," Pallez remarked with a note of admiration. "Losing that quill didn't cripple him at all. Instead, he found a path even more suited to him."
"Not only did he advance to Sequence 3 so quickly, he's even planning to use this revenge against the Church of the Evernight to complete the ritual of advancing to Sequence 2—Glorious!"
Leonard asked anxiously, "What do we do now?"
"Tell your teammates to get as far away as possible, then wait patiently for the right opportunity."
Clang!
Ince suddenly leapt backwards. His Sword of Dawn slashed toward Anthony and the cathedral behind him. A massive silver sword-shadow unfurled, enveloping the entire church.
Ince abruptly shifted his gaze toward the rear. A coin shot toward him—carrying a force more terrifying than a cannon shell. He twisted in midair to evade the first two, then swung the Sword of Dawn down toward the third coin hidden among them.
But he instantly realised that some power had warped his movements, throwing off his aim. He abandoned the slash and attempted to flash away instead—yet his intention was distorted once more.
Not only did he fail to escape, but he even thrust his own weak point directly toward the incoming coin.
Ding!
The coin struck his face with the force of an artillery blast. It left only a shallow mark on the silver helmet—barely scratching the armour.
"Hmph."
Ince Zangwill let out a cold snort. As the distortion ended, he flickered several times toward the edge of the square—heading straight for "Qonas," the marionette controlled by Klein.
"Qonas" threw another coin, invoking Bribery, weakening Ince's will and strength. Then a distortion targeted the shallow dent on Ince's helm, twisting it open into an eye-sized hole. At the same moment, an arrow wreathed in lightning shot toward the newly formed opening.
Ince's body abruptly melted—turning into a pool of flowing silver metal. It writhed at high speed, twisting away from the chain of attacks. Then it suddenly swelled, transforming into heavy, viscous mercury that surged toward Qonas in a suffocating wave.
Distortion—Magnify—Exploit.
"Qonas" used ability after ability, but none of them halted Ince's advance. Forced back by manipulating airflow, he retreated—yet the mercury abruptly flickered.
It appeared behind "Qonas" like a massive maw and swallowed him whole.
Klein immediately swapped positions with Qonas and snapped his fingers.
He vanished in a burst of flames, narrowly escaping the silver mercury's engulfment.
A few more flame leaps followed, allowing him to hide once again.
But as soon as Ince Zangwill returned to human form, he stared coldly in Klein's direction.
"It's you?"
He recognised Klein instantly.
"Perfect. Saves me the trouble of finding you."
Klein felt a jolt of shock.
Even after I've turned myself into…this, he still recognised me?!
Anthony took a large step forward, sending two spirits at Ince—one shrouded in thick black fog, the other wrapped in corrosive curses.
Ince didn't even turn his head.
"Red Angel, Your Excellency."
Boom!
Purple flames descended from the sky and condensed into Medici's form. He blocked Anthony and the spirits, cracking his knuckles as he said, "Honestly, I didn't want to get involved in your mess. I was forced into this. Don't blame me."
Speaking, Medici continued striding toward Anthony.
Priscilla's voice rang in his mind, "Medici! Come back right now! You've reformed—you're a good man now! Don't help the villains! Get back here!"
Medici snorted, "Go find Lilith! I signed a contract, and according to that agreement, I must make a move now."
Layers of mist rapidly spread outward, soon enshrouding the cathedral and the entire square.
After several flame leaps, Klein was still caught by Ince as the latter found a chance to close in.
Ince's cold, mismatched eyes flared with dazzling silver light.
Zzzzt—!
Silver sword-light erupted violently from within Klein's body without warning.
The overwhelming force tore his vessel apart instantly. Klein's body turned into a shredded paper figurine, blasted apart by the erupting sword-light.
Using the momentum, he teleported more than ten meters away. But before he could catch his breath, a second eruption of sword-light detonated—
"Die!"
At the critical moment, Klein swapped positions with Qonas' marionette again.
At the same time, the puppet solemnly intoned in ancient Hermes:
"Fate!"
It was a Fate Siphon charm—created using a Worm of Time provided by old man Pallez—for this exact moment.
———
[Note]: Enjoy the Extra Chapter~ Vote if you liked the chapter so far!
And if you are like me and want to read 40 Chapters in advance of the current story right now, you can support me on my Patreon. Thank me later~
Link - (P)atre(o)n.c(o)m/ Iseeblack [Remove the brackets]