Free Web Novel“In truth.......”
Inside the building called the entrance to the inner temple.
Lee Haein entered the structure and led Shin Youngjun somewhere as she spoke.
Swoosh.
A wall that appeared to have nothing there.
When she brushed her hand across that wall in an unknown pattern.
Rumble.......
The wall opened.
Revealing a path leading underground.
“The holy relic that spread the proper faith to Your Holiness, the [Holy Relic - Crown of Ordromineum], was not a holy relic originally prepared for people like Your Holiness.”
“Hmm?”
At those words, Shin Youngjun expressed confusion.
And with a respectful attitude, she guided him deeper underground as she spoke.
“It had another original purpose.”
And shortly afterward.
As they headed deep below ground, a certain space appeared.
Far too large to simply be called an underground chamber.
Lee Haein pointed toward one of the walls and said,
“Do you see that over there?”
“......That is.”
Where she pointed.
There was a massive glass window.
Beyond it stretched a deep and expansive space.......
And inside it.
-Grrrrr.......
An enormous number of monsters.
Were packed together in confinement.
The space itself was quite vast.
And yet, the number of monsters inside it was so overwhelming.
That it instead felt cramped.
In fact, some of the monsters pushed all the way against the glass were rubbing their bodies directly against the window itself.
“That glass window.”
And upon seeing that sight, Shin Youngjun widened his eyes in surprise.
“......Is that ordinary reinforced glass?”
“That is correct.”
As time passed, the monsters appearing in the world had gradually grown stronger.
At this point, it would not be an exaggeration to say there were no longer monsters that ordinary humans could kill.
Yet no magic power whatsoever could be felt from that glass.
Naturally, it was sturdier than normal glass.
But for something meant to confine monsters of that level.
It was absurdly ordinary.
'How.......'
At that level, if the monsters truly wanted to break out, they could escape whenever they wished.
That was why he found it strange, but.
At that moment.
Creeeak.......
One of the people dressed in pure white believer robes opened a door.
And confidently walked directly into the middle of the monsters without any restraints whatsoever.
-Grrrr.......
The monsters that noticed the believer released hostility toward them.
Unless that believer was an overwhelmingly powerful expert, it should have been a scene where they were torn apart and devoured in an instant.
“How dare you behave so insolently.......”
Yet rather than feeling fear toward those monsters.
Bang!
The believer instead became angry.
And kicked one of the powerful monsters.
“......!”
Ordinarily, it would not have been strange for that foot to be bitten clean off by the monster.
But the monsters offered no resistance whatsoever.
The believer casually kicked aside the monsters blocking the path and continued deeper inside.
“Come to think of it.”
Not when they showed no hostility.
But in a situation where hostile monsters not only refused to attack, but did not even resist after being attacked themselves.
Seeing that scene, Shin Youngjun blankly opened his mouth and said,
“You people were using monsters as military forces.”
“Yes.”
Separate from the faith in the System that had now settled within him.
Shin Youngjun still did not know much about this Church.
The same was true regarding the monsters that had suddenly appeared aboveground and blocked the Legion members.
He had distributed food to them through the power of the Five Loaves and Two Fish.
But he did not know why those monsters had fought to aid the Church in the first place.
“As Your Holiness already knows, the System grants its blessing only to us...... humanity.”
Blessing.
In other words, awakening.
“To put it another way.”
Awakening through the System appeared only in humans.
And that meant.
“Monsters incapable of awakening are creatures abandoned by the System...... insects forsaken by the System’s protection.”
To the Church, which served the will of the System.
If something was not protected by the System, the very object of their faith.
Then it also meant they themselves had no obligation to protect it.
Creatures incapable of awakening...... not only every monster, but all plants and animals on Earth as well.
To the believers, they were beings thoroughly excluded and despised.
And that was not all.
“As Your Holiness knows, there are many ways for us to seek the System’s love.”
The System’s love referred to how much power the System bestowed upon an awakened individual.
......To put it bluntly, it meant experience points.
Cooks gained experience through cooking, blacksmiths through crafting equipment.
Awakened individuals gained experience by carrying out acts or accomplishments suited to their respective professions.
“Among them, there is only one method through which every awakened individual can equally receive the love of that divine being.”
However.
There existed only a single method through which all classes could equally gain experience.
“Hunting monsters.”
Even noncombat awakened ones.
Could obtain corresponding experience if they managed to kill monsters.
For the Church, the meaning of this was simple.
“The System delights in the deaths of those insects that do not receive its favor.”
“.......”
“That is why it grants greater blessings to those who hunt more numerous and more powerful insects.”
To the Church.
Monsters were not merely enemies they had to oppose in order to survive.
Nor simply beings unprotected by doctrine.
'Creatures to be offered as sacrifices to please their god.'
Sacrifices or prey.
Targets of absolute violence and hatred.
'I see. So that is why.'
Beyond the glass window.
Monsters crammed into a narrow space and kicked around.
The Legion also had other races among its ranks.
But they were not treated nearly this badly.
Now he understood the reason for such treatment to some degree.
“Those bastards.”
And beyond that.
Through the glass, he could see monsters of many different species imprisoned there.
Among them were monsters Shin Youngjun himself recognized.
'The ones that never seemed like they could be tamed by humans.'
If those monsters shared one common trait.......
There was only one.
“They are monsters where the leader exercises absolute authority over the group.”
“You noticed.”
At Shin Youngjun’s words.
Lee Haein smiled as though impressed.
“Even if they are vermin unprotected by the System, that does not mean they are useful for nothing except being offered as sacrifices.”
Beyond the glass.
A furious horde of monsters filled with dissatisfaction.
But in the deepest part of that horde.
-.......
Creatures several times larger than the others.
And unlike the other monsters.
They were watching the believers with attitudes so calm they almost appeared reverent, devoid of any anger whatsoever.
“That is the proper use of the [Holy Relic - Crown of Ordromineum].”
Among monsters, there were some that acted independently without forming groups.
But there were also those where the leader wielded absolute authority over the horde.
Or cases where only the leader possessed intelligence, while the rest existed merely to obey that leader’s commands.
“Most of those monsters are vermin, but the leaders of those groups are different.”
If one succeeded in controlling only the leader monster.
Then it became possible to place an enormous and powerful monster horde directly under one’s command.
“They may not receive the System’s protection, but as far as faith goes, they lose to none of the believers.”
Thinking about it.
The influence of a single human individual was rarely that overwhelming.
Most humans possessed wills of their own.
Even if the head of an organization suddenly converted to another religion.
It was rare for the entire organization to convert alongside them.
The [Holy Relic - Crown of Ordromineum] was an object that bestowed faith upon individuals.
To begin with.
That meant its more common usage was actually on nonhuman pack monsters like these.
“Ordinarily, all of them should have been exterminated and offered as sacrifices to please the System.......”
“.......”
“But they voluntarily offered their children as military forces for the System, and we did not reject that sincerity.”
And.
After hearing that explanation, Shin Youngjun.......
“Excellent.”
Spoke with a pleased smile.
***
“Even if they are vermin abandoned by the System, merely possessing faith is not itself a sin.”
“Ah.......”
“To grant those who should have become prey a chance to serve...... that is both merciful and admirable.”
At his reaction.
Lee Haein lowered her head with a joyful expression.
“You honor us by understanding.”
At the same time, she thought.
'As expected, the faith was properly spread through the Crown’s power.'
He was someone who had once resisted the Crown’s power.
She had harbored doubts that perhaps this time as well, he might not have fully accepted the faith.
But after those words just now, her doubts vanished.
'Ordinary humans might criticize this as inhumane if they saw it.'
However.
From the perspective of those who possessed faith in the System, it was different.
Rather, it was a benevolent act that granted mercy to insects that should have merely become prey.
What he had just said was the ideal answer of a believer.
“By the way.”
And then.
Shin Youngjun looked at Lee Haein and spoke.
“If the Crown’s original usage was for something like this, then that means you originally had another method in mind when you tried to spread faith to me.”
“......Yes.”
She had worried for a moment that the spread of faith might somehow have failed.
But his reaction moments ago erased those concerns.
So Lee Haein moved forward without hesitation.
And shortly afterward.
They arrived at the deepest part of the underground facility.
A vast hall.
“This place.”
Upon arriving there, Shin Youngjun looked around and spoke.
“So this is where it happened back then.”
The inner temple.
The place where Ariella and the believers had fought.
And the place where Shin Youngjun had been forcibly summoned by them.
“I felt it back then too...... but this place looks exactly the same as the grand temple aboveground.”
“Yes. More precisely, the grand temple aboveground was created by imitating this place.”
The battle from not long ago had only recently ended.
The state of the inner temple could not be called beautiful even as a joke.
The giant and magnificent pillars that had once supported the vast underground chamber from collapsing had crumbled away like sand.
And where sacred holy relics had once rested, only fragments of shattered debris that had formerly been holy relics now remained scattered across the floor.
“You modeled it after this place...... why?”
“This inner temple is a place only a chosen few are permitted to access.”
And.
Crossing through those fragments, Lee Haein walked toward the deepest point.
Toward the wall of the inner temple.
If compared to the grand temple aboveground.
It was the very place where Shin Youngjun’s coronation had been held.
And at that deepest part of the inner temple.
“The result of allowing ordinary believers to feel as though they are closer to the System...... was the grand temple aboveground.”
There stood a gigantic door.
One that could not be noticed unless examined carefully.
“......?”
And.
As he watched Lee Haein approach that door, Shin Youngjun thought.
'To make them feel closer to the System?'
The answer he received when he asked why they modeled the space after this one was.
'What does imitating this place have to do with that......?'
To him.
It sounded strangely out of place.
“Your Holiness once doubted the existence of the System.”
“.......”
“It cannot be helped. Even if the System truly is a being worthy of being called a god...... if one has never seen proof that such a being truly exists, doubt is inevitable.”
And.
The reason was far simpler than he expected.
“In that case...... there is only one best method to resolve such doubts.”
Creeeeak.......
The door that had originally been protected by those now-collapsed pillars.
That gigantic door slowly opened.
“To directly witness the appearance of a god that truly exists!”
And when the door opened.
What lay inside.......
“Ahh, behold.”
Covered in horrific wounds.
Bleeding enough to fill the entire vast chamber.
“Our great god.”
Was...... the form of something resembling a human.
“The incomparably sacred appearance of the [System]!”
