The Return from Beyond, Volume Five - The Rout

"Why?"

Saladin's lips trembled as he moved, but his limbs remained weak and he could not move.

"I'm sorry, child, I don't want to use this if I could..." Latran stroked the ring on his index finger, which emitted a faint blue light. "This is a product of the Inquisition. It can deprive a person of their ability to move for a period of time upon close contact, but don't worry, there won't be any aftereffects."

Latran lifted Saladin up and leaned him against the wall, while Saladin continued to stare intently at him.

"... Why... Father... I... can't understand..."

"Can't understand it? That's understandable... Even I'm a little shocked that I made such a choice."

"Why... why!!!! You... all along... haven't you been... the most devoted person to the Holy See? How could you...--!!!"

"To do my best... Perhaps that's why I took the initiative to contact the former commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Army and volunteered to be their spy."

Tell me... why... I can't understand... why did you betray me!!!

Facing his son, whose eyes were bloodshot, Latran sighed deeply, his wrinkled face looking even older.

"Do you know why the Papacy has been corrupt and decadent for fifteen hundred years?"

"What 'why'?! Corruption and decadence, and all that..."

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed anything. You're not that stupid. The Vatican is no longer the glorious place it once was. Priests and wealthy businessmen collude with each other, bishops wantonly oppress the people, money and power are exchanged, they act recklessly, impose heavy taxes, enslave, and oppress. The Vatican is no longer the Vatican it once was."

"So what! Why can't we reform from within... Why collude with the Rebel Army... You could have..."

"I can't do internal reforms."

Latran's voice became weak and feeble, like that of a terminally ill patient.

"Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice. The internal parts are all rotten, how can it be repaired? I was once full of confidence, I once vowed to restore the Vatican to its former glory, but reality is cruel, isn't it?"

Even so--

"Let's return to my original question, child. To get to the bottom of it, why did the Vatican fall to such a state? Why did the Revolutionary Army, which started as nothing more than bandits, grow to such a size? Ultimately, what is it that most easily destroys a person or an organization?"

"... I have no idea..."

"It's comfortable."

Latran removed the cross that symbolized his status Cardinal Archbishop, looked at it for a while, and then threw it on the ground.

"Comfortable?"

"Two thousand years ago, the Saint Emperor unified the West Saint Continent and then passed away. After five hundred years of religious war, the Divine Law Cult finally achieved final victory. Former enemies were either dead, scattered, or fled, and thus the Divine Law Cult became the sole ruler of the West Saint Continent. For the past fifteen hundred years, the Divine Law Cult has held absolute power, with no rivals or enemies. Do you know what that means?"

"..."

"Without rivals or enemies, there is no need to become stronger; no one can resist them, so there is no need to progress. The excessively long period of comfort has already made the Divine Law Cult a tree full of termites. More and more important powers have been taken over by incompetent people. If this continues... the Divine Law Cult will eventually kill itself."

"So... you sided with the Rebel Army?"

"Don't misunderstand, my child. I am indeed an inside agent for the Revolutionary Army, but I am 'not entirely on their side.' Think about it—as the second-in-command of the Divine Law Cult, if I were to wholeheartedly help them, the Vatican would probably have fallen long ago, and we wouldn't have gone through all this trouble."

"So you want to... create an enemy for the Holy See?"

"What I did for the Revolutionary Army was very limited. To some extent, I leaked intelligence or cut off information about their whereabouts, but it was only to balance the fighting power between the Papacy and them."

"Secretly disabling... the Sanctuary's defenses... counts?"

"Otherwise what? I don't want to see the Papacy cowering in the protection left by our ancestors, barely surviving. That would be meaningless. Creating a situation where both sides are evenly matched—that's what I want to see. Only the crisis brought about by an equal contest can awaken the Papacy."

"And what about me...? I am also... a force of the Holy See! I should join the battle too!"

"But you are my son."

"... ha?"

"You are my most important family member, so you are the only one I don't want to push into the fire. I don't want to see you die at the hands of the Revolutionary Army."

"Stop putting on that 'good father' act! Is this what you wanted... is this what you hoped for? Paladins are dying... Divine Spellcaster are constantly sacrificing themselves... they've even reached the gates of the Cathedral of the True God... is this the tragic scene you wanted to see!?"

"The Chief's betrayal was indeed far beyond my expectations, but it is probably also the culmination of contradictions accumulated by the Vatican over a thousand years. It is both accidental and inevitable. When a system goes to its limit, someone will eventually rebel against it."

"Right now... the Vatican is facing an unprecedented crisis!"

"This is baptism, a ritual. If the Vatican can weather this storm, it will rise from the ashes and become even stronger than before."

"But..."

"Um?"

"But... what if we fail? What if the Papacy doesn't survive?"

"Didn't make it? Need I say more..."

Latran looked wearily at the sky, at the sky filled with the light of divine magic.

"If the Papacy loses, it means that's all it's capable of now. In that case... it's best to obediently relinquish the throne of the continent's ruler to someone else."

"Father..."

"That's enough... This is all I can do. The rest is up to fate... I'm tired, so very tired... In the end, it seems I'm the only real sinner..."

Cluck.

Latran's jaw twitched.

It seems to have bitten open something hidden in its mouth.

"... Father?"

"This is my atonement, my atonement for betraying the Church... If there truly is a God in this world... Now, it is time for my final judgment..."

Latran slowly closed his eyes.

An ominous bluish-purple hue spread beneath his skin, and when it reached his entire body, his chest stopped heaving.

Moments later, everyone in the entire Cathedral of the True God heard Saladin's heart-wrenching cries.

The Holy City Gloria has been engulfed in war.

On the front line was the main force personally led by Nid, whose overwhelming momentum and storm-like offensive overwhelmed the paladins.

To the left are Haoyue and Xiao Wu's elite troops, who have already reached the entrance of the Cathedral of the True God.

On the right are several division commanders and Little Ying Sin Annihilation, although most of the enemies were instantly Sin Annihilation.

And then--

"Huff... huff... woof woof..."

Several paladins hid in the shadows of the ruins, covering their mouths tightly to prevent their heavy breathing from leaking out and disturbing the animals roaming the streets, which were covered with cracks and eerie bloodstains.

No, those things can hardly be called "animals"! The claws of tigers and leopards, the teeth of sharks, the stings of scorpions, the blades of mantises—they are like a collection of all the organs used for killing from every living creature in the world, pieced together and drenched in blood! Bones, nerves, and muscles are all exposed, and strands of blood flow from between their muscles, the pungent smell of blood almost making one faint!

(I can't take it anymore! What are these things?! They're definitely not monsters!)

(Keep your voice down! Do you want to die too!?)

(Quiet down!)

A flying monster swept overhead, and they immediately lay down to cover themselves with rubble. The thing circled once above their heads and then flew away, and they breathed a sigh of relief.

When did all of this start to go off track?

At first, everything was normal. A total of 200,000 troops guarded Gloria's rear. Because of the previous failure of a million-strong mixed army, this time the troops deployed to the battlefield were elite Imperial Guard with extremely good coordination, high mobility and attack power. They were not afraid at all even when they encountered the main force led by Nid Bradwich.

However... what surged toward them was not Rebel Army soldiers, but a rolling tide of blood and monsters emerging from it.

At first, they didn't take the monsters seriously. Although there were many of them, they were ultimately mindless beasts. Just as they thought this, several enormous creatures, as large as mountains, forcefully broke through the first line of defense. This was the beginning of hell—led by the largest ones, all sorts of strangely shaped but incredibly ferocious monsters began to slaughter indiscriminately, a scene that could only be described as tigers among sheep. This alone wouldn't have made them so miserable. The problem was... blood seeping from the ground and crimson patterns spreading across the buildings. These things seemed harmless, but they were actually extremely dangerous. Just touching them would strip you of your strength, and prolonged contact would cause your flesh and bones to dissolve in the blood. The corpses that had previously fallen in the blood had now vanished without a trace.

(What should we do...?)

(There must be someone in the Rebel Army controlling these monsters!)

(Once we can take care of that guy, everything will be fine!)

Just then--

The culprit has been identified.

What a beautiful creature it was.

With her long, peach-pink hair, impeccable figure, and stunning beauty that left even those accustomed to Goddess faces speechless, coupled with an aura that combined elegance, nobility, gentleness, and mystery, she was undoubtedly an absolute beauty who could instantly captivate anyone.

But before they could be captivated by her beauty, a sudden, inexplicable sense of fear brought them back to their senses.

It's her!

She is the one who caused this hellish tragedy!

Although there is no evidence and no basis, everyone thinks so at this moment.

(What... what should I do...?)

(... Should I kill her?)

(Have no idea...)

The culprit was walking just ten meters away from them, strolling leisurely without any sign of vigilance. A long-range sniper attack would have been easy...

(Shall I give it a try?)

(((All right...)))

The woman, a Divine Spellcaster, swallowed hard, silently chanted Divine Word, and a small arrow of light appeared in her hand. For the sake of concealment, she suppressed the arrow's light and size to the extreme.

(It's on...)

She narrowed her eyes, enhanced her vision with divine magic, and aimed at the woman's head.

The moment she had that thought, that beautiful head would explode into a bloody mess.

Was it the excitement of destroying something so beautiful? She felt an indescribable surge of excitement, and her hands even trembled.

Ready... 3--

Twenty one--

Ready to go.

The woman was completely unprepared.

--emission!