Goddess Illusion

The “World Union” seemed to have gone accordingly, as Anastasia felt that her awareness of being a “Pledger” was rapidly diminishing. On the other hand, she knew that Silver Balance had moved to exterminate the monsters that appeared out of nowhere. And although she wanted to join them, the High Elf entourage moved to heal the injured temple knights and tried to shoot down the monsters in the sky with arrows and magic. Given that she was good at taking down flying monsters, Anastasia decided to join the High Elf ranks.

However, Yuri, who disappeared after declaring the revocation of the Covenant, suddenly reappeared in front of Anastasia.

「O-Onee-sama!? Where did you go!?」

Yuri, who was kneeling down, stood up straight, and turned her gaze out the window. Fierce clashes with monsters unfolded in that space.

「Unforgivable.」

「Huh?」

「Such filth cannot be allowed to exist in the Goddess’ world. We are the race chosen by the Goddess.」

「————」

Anastasia could not understand any of what her sister just said.

At that moment, Yuri leaned out of the window and raised her hands towards the sky.

A number of magic circles manifested over her palms as she chanted.

「Maximum magic?! Everyone, get down!!」Anastasia shouted.

But it was a little too late. Yuri’s mana produced a huge tornado. Wind pressure demolished the windows, and a storm blew inside the cathedral. Broken stained glass flew here and there. Both the monsters and temple knights, who were in the middle of a battle, were thrown against the walls.

At the same time, the people who were fighting outside were also sent flying by the tornado. Monsters flying in the sky were caught in the wind and crashed down, resulting in immediate death or serious injury. By the time the wind subsided, all fighting had ceased temporarily.

「——Kill the fallen monsters. And bury and cleanse the place.」

Yuri shouted orders to the people outside, and then turned around.

Sunlight shone through the broken fragments of the window.

Anastasia was confused. Her sister is not someone who would cast such destructive magic without caring about how it would affect the people in the surroundings

Many were still lying down on the cathedral floor. Yuri said to those people with a smile,

「Come now, everyone. Let’s make this world a beautiful place where the Goddess can reside.」

**

The world had changed.

It wasn’t just the emergence of powerful monsters, the emergence of new residents, and changes in terrain.

One is that the skill orbs had disappeared. The current generation will have no problem because the skills remain in their body, but the children who will be born into this world from now on will not be able to use skill orbs. They will have to learn the skills on their own.

The other is the birth of a new religion. Originally, the Church was established by gathering the users of【Healing Magic】, and not the belief in “God”, who may or may not have existed. But now the faith has changed to the “Goddess” who clearly exists.

Many people wondered how the change would impact them, but outwardly, there was no obvious change.

It was, however, a big change in the upper management of every country. Until now, the Church has given priority to collecting skill orbs such as【Healing Magic】from the countries, in return for nursing the sick and injured of the country. With the skill orbs now gone, the countries have lost their advantage over the Church.

In which case, the Church will have an influence on the upper management of each country with their amassed power of【Healing Magic】.

「——Is it a request to dispatch troops again?」

It has already been three months since the Covenant was revoked. It was the peak of autumn. The air blowing through the night was cold and chilly, signifying the coming of winter.

An old man walked down the corridor with a shiny silver cane—the cane was clearly made of Mithril. A man bent down and conveyed a report from beside the old man.

A line of attendant followed behind the two men.

King Geffert, the head of the Keith Gran Federation, who holds a vast territory on the continent, had a bitter look.

「Yes, sir. What should we do?」

「Ask the Ligra Kingdom to move their troops. Those bastards have a lot of free time on their hands.」

「They will ask for a reward.」

「We’ve done a lot to accommodate those guys. Tell them it is the time to show their loyalty.」

「Understood.」

The man bowed his head and saw off King Geffert and his attendants.

「Father. What is the church so impatient? This is the third time they have requested to dispatch troops. Looking at the current pattern, they will start asking for troops every month.」

King Geffert’s son, the crown prince, asked.

His son, already over 60 years old, was healthy but his body was starting to decline.

「It is most likely the Goddess’ words.」King Geffert said.

「We could simply ignore the monsters at the borders. If this goes on, monsters all over the continent will be annihilated.」

「The Goddess probably loves cleanliness.」

They didn’t know if it was a joke or sarcasm, but the attendants smiled subtly.

The Church was using the name of “Goddess” to incite every country to “subjugate monsters”.

The attendants whispered amongst themselves.

「——To think that revoking the Covenant thingy would have such an effect. Don’t you think the Church could have created a fictitious existence called the “Goddess”?」

「——Do they think they can do anything in the name of the “Goddess”?」

「——But there was a rumor that the “Goddess” descended onto the Pope.」

「——Rumors are just rumors. The Church probably spread that to add more significance to the Pope.」

「——But Cardinal Thomasson has also stepped down, and his seat is vacant. It is a fact that the Pope makes all the announcements directly..」

「——Perhaps she loves cleanliness because she’s still a child?」

「——You might be right.」

A light laughter was heard. They are nobles and those who believe that they are the core of a major power. In other words, they believed no danger could come to them.

「Father, even though they are monsters, there are many who make a living by hunting for the materials and resources they provide. If all the monsters are destroyed, then..」

「There is no such thing as exterminating every single monster.」

「But the Church’s request will continue in the future.」

「I left it to the Kingdom of Ligra because that country is adjacent to the undeveloped land “Canion”. They can drive those monsters out to the undeveloped land as appropriate.」

「In other words, we will drive out the monsters to “Canion“, and then step in and cull their numbers when needed? It’s like withdrawing money from a moneylender.」

As the Crown Prince said so, voices of praises towards King Geffert were heard from among the attendants.

King Geffert sneered in response.

The King and his attendants arrived at a small conference room. When the door was opened, the light from the magic lamps illuminating the room flowed out into the dark corridor as well. At the same time, warm air also flowed out.

「Crown Prince, I have something to say to you.」

「Yes, sir. –Everyone, good work today as usual.」

The Crown Prince turned around and said to the nobles. They bowed and sang praises such as, “We were honored to be by His Majesty’s side today as well.”

The father and son entered the small conference room and closed the door.

King Geffert warmed his body by drinking the tea prepared by the chamberlain.

「I don’t know how many more winters I will get to see.」

「What are you saying, Father? This country, this Federation, still needs you.」

This was a conversation that the father and son have exchanged many times.

It was almost like a fraud at this point.

「This time it’s different. When I heard the name “Goddess”, I knew that it was time for me to die.」

「....Father?」

The crown prince noticed that his father, the king, the head of the federation, had a different atmosphere surrounding him.

「There isn’t much wisdom I can leave to you, but they should be able to guide this country for the next 10 years.. no, perhaps only another several years. Listen well to my words.」

The crown prince unconsciously straightened his back.

He realized that this was his father’s will.