"Master, what's your current situation?"
Niv stepped inside and saw Hel sitting cross-legged on the ground, struggling to calm the violent energy surging within her. She felt a pang of sympathy.
"The main issue is the collision between death and life energy. It should be fine.
These past days, you'll disguise yourself as me to handle that person who came from the capital, stabilize him for now, and wait for me to come out before dealing with anything else."
"Understood, Master. Take care of yourself."
Niv took the Death Emblem handed over by Hel, nodded solemnly, and then left.
In Hel's current state, even creating a clone was impossible. Everything had to be entrusted to Niv for now.
As Niv stepped forward, her hair shortened with each step, and the shape of her chest and the color of her hair began to change.
By the time she exited the Dwarf ruins, she looked identical to Hel.
…
Less than ten miles from Heim City, the newly appointed Archbishop of the Mandrake Principality, Orad, sat quietly in his luxurious carriage. Opposite him were two companions: a gentlemanly middle-aged man with a sharp glint in his eyes, and Gerhard's small assistant, Tonio.
"Archbishop, we've analyzed the remaining poison components in your brother's body. It's the intermediate poison 'Binding Shadow Water' that we gave to the old Grand Duke of Mandrake—a poison he intended to use on his fourth son.
Normally, very few reformists would even have access to such poison, and I am the only one in the Mandrake Principality who knows it thoroughly."
"So that means the forces behind Hel are from outside the Principality—either the old conservatives from the Sacrifice Kingdom or people from other nations."
"This question isn't necessary to dwell on. The entire Mandrake Principality is now under your pastoral control. Anyone else interfering would be breaking the rules.
Furthermore, the conservative and Saintess factions have already been suppressed. As long as we control the moral high ground, no one will complain."
"True."
Orad nodded, furrowing his brow in thought. Then he looked at Tonio, who had been trembling from the start.
"I remember you said a nun under my foolish brother betrayed him?"
"Y-Yes, Archbishop."
Tonio nodded quickly, afraid of punishment for a slow response.
"She's now taken over all church affairs in Heim City?"
"Yes."
"Good. In that case, we'll deal with the nun first and make her point to Hel. But assigning her a crime is the tricky part."
"I have some ideas about that," the middle-aged man said with a smile. He carefully pulled a small vial from his briefcase.
"Intermediate secret potion: 'Wine of the Departed.' I traded for this from a group of alchemists. It can contaminate a user's internal elements, causing them to temporarily emit deathly magical energy, similar to a necromancer.
If we administer this to the nun, the so-called count will end up carrying the charge of harboring a necromancer."
"Good. That's useful."
Orad nodded in satisfaction.
The man continued:
"The potion's effect lasts only three days. So we must prove her crime within three days and force her to reveal the hidden count behind the scenes."
"Only three days? What if the capital sends envoys…"
"No need to worry. We'll kill the nun before that, leaving no witnesses. Archbishop, if we handle it properly, someone from our faction can become the envoy. I'm sure the higher-ups in the capital will welcome this opportunity to suppress the Saintess faction."
"What about the remaining element crystals? Even if we replace them with those of a necromancer, mismatched spiritual fluctuations could expose us."
"That's easy—have a necromancer resurrect her once and then kill her again. Conveniently, there are a few heretics imprisoned in the church dungeon. Give them some incentive, and they'll gladly cooperate."
Orad paused, then relaxed. He exchanged a knowing smile with the middle-aged man, raised his wine glass, and said:
"You're right. Those outlaws would be willing. Hobert, you truly are my right hand. Don't worry—there will be a place for you as deputy archbishop of the Principality."
"Thank you, Archbishop."
Hobert raised his glass, clinking it with Orad's, and drank deeply.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the carriage lightened, except for Tonio, who cowered in a corner.
He had a bad feeling that Count Hel might not be as simple as they imagined.
…
Meanwhile, in a young girl's chamber in Heim City's church, Vivian sat naked, curled up on the bed.
She hugged herself tightly, kneeling and crouching together.
Shreds of her torn clothing were clutched in her hands, and some fingers had dug into her own soft flesh out of frustration, leaving trails of fresh red blood.
From her exposed back, smooth as jade, protruded a pair of dark brown wings.
They slowly fluttered, eventually covering her fragile body, as if trying to offer her a trace of warmth.
"What… am I?"
Vivian groaned in agony. A nun indoctrinated since childhood in the faith of the Lord of Light, she had never considered these teachings as crucial as her family or friends, yet they formed a core of her values.
Now, she had become something despised by the church—a monstrous contradiction.
The collapse of her faith was devastating, especially for someone just reaching adulthood.
Then, in a daze, she saw a holy white light. She felt herself drawn into a kind of vision.
It was a colossal ancient tree stretching through heaven and earth. Its trunk was so massive it resembled a wall, stretching endlessly, dividing the land as if in two. Its canopy was vast, shading the sky, each leaf seemingly large enough to host an entire city.
On one of its branches hung five unusually shaped fruits. Suddenly, one fruit cracked open in midair, and a gray bird emerged.
It flapped its wings and flew toward the sky.
As it soared, its body expanded rapidly. Soon, a single wing was large enough to obscure the sun.
It let out a cry, announcing its birth to the world.
To Vivian's shock, she understood the meaning of its cry.
"My name is Seiz. I am the progenitor of all birds in the world, the god governing all avian creatures."