In truth, during that joint campaign by the Mage's Association and the Holy Church, the Dark Council led by Samael had naturally won a crushing victory without suspense.
After all, he had nearly ascended to godhood as the "First Cause," the gravedigger of gods, the mentor of heroes, and the enlightener of humanity. If he could not even handle these juniors, he might as well wash up and go to bed early.
And afterward, as the two factions that had started the war, they naturally could not escape the reckoning of a certain petty-minded deity.
The Holy Church's leader, Pope Innocent VIII, had long since been secretly disposed of by him. That rotten soul was still enjoying the scorching flames of the underworld.
Grand Magus Zelretch had suffered a grievous wound on the spot. Not long after returning to the Clock Tower, he passed the title of Grand Magus to the current second-generation Bartholomello Lorelei, while he himself retreated behind the scenes to recuperate.
If not for Zelretch's feat of fighting Crimson Moon to the death and ensuring the continuation of humanity, this Grand Magus might well have died on the spot.
However, even though he had escaped disaster, Zelretch had to accept that deity's "friendly suggestion" in order to preserve the Mage's Association: mages were strictly forbidden from casually interfering with the workings of human society, disrupting the Rules through force, or slaughtering humans.
Honestly, though someone had come knocking at his door, Samael had repaid almost all the grudges without even waiting overnight. He truly had no intention of slaughtering the entire Mage's Association and Holy Church.
After all, in his view, religion occupied the high ground of faith among humanity and served as a banner for the spirit; magecraft drove civilizational innovation and pushed technological progress.
Even