The power the Weeping Madonna had bestowed upon Ilyena was only good for a single use, after all.
With the Golem's destruction, that power had been completely exhausted.
Ilyena's figure, suspended in midair, drifted slowly to the ground like a feather blown loose by the wind.
Her face was now pale as paper, her breathing faint.
The lofty, sacred, inviolable pressure she had radiated was gone without a trace.
"Ilyena!"
Supported by the Guard captain, the high priest stumbled over.
The residents of Fog Town and the players nearby immediately gathered around her, their eyes filled with worry.
"I'm fine."
Ilyena weakly shook her head.
But when she saw the tears streaming down the high priest's aged face, her brave facade finally crumbled.
Two trails of tears slid down her cheeks, and Ilyena's voice broke with sobs:
"High priest... Her Holiness..."
At those words, the high priest's heart grew even heavier.
His already stooped body trembled violently as his gaze slowly turned toward the pile of pulverized stone inside the church.
That had been the sanctuary Fog Town had believed in and relied upon for a thousand years.
Now, their deity had fallen.
Even though they had defeated the Cultists and the Golem before them, Fog Town had lost the protection of a Righteous God. Every night to come would leave it prey to the Wilderness Monsters.
"O Madonna..."
The high priest closed his eyes in anguish and let out a long, desolate sigh of despair. "Is this Fog Town's fate...?"
It was not just the natives.
Even the nearby players felt an inexplicable ache in their hearts as they listened to the NPCs' sorrowful exchange.
The game's story was simply too immersive.
The Madonna who had sacrificed herself to protect her people left even this band of the fourth