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Chapter 1: Ruined City
<HOLY Kingdom of Qualia’s Classified Records:
Chronological Report on the Manifestation of the Evil God>
・Holy King Era 157, Viridescent Month
──13th day, 1:10 pm
-First report of a strong evil presence from several High Clergy.
Ë n ŭ m̂ а̇ .іd
──Same day, 1:30 pm
-The Three Popes and Central’s Cardinals are notified and an emergency meeting commences.
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-It is provisionally recognized that an abnormal situation has occurred in the Divine Nation of Lenea.
──Same day, 2:15 pm
-The Three Popes and the Mystic Saint issue an order to transition the Holy Kingdom into Casus Belli.
-Urgent summons are sent to the Scribe Saint and all High Paladins.
Е̊ n̆ǔ m̆а. і̌ d̃
──Same day, 2:40 pm
-The Scribe Saint’s Miracle Arte confirms the cause of the abnormal situation in Lenea and the manifestation of the King of Ruin, Takuto Ira.
──Same day, 2:45 pm
-The Mystic Saint declares the start of a Holy War.
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──Same day, 3:20 pm
-Scouting team reports a large conflagration has broken out in Lenea for unknown reasons.
Ėn_ům̈ ã .і̄d
-Immediately followed by another report that the fire was promptly extinguished.
-Immediately followed by another report correcting the prior report to state that the fire was still burning strong.
-Discrepancies and confusion are evident in the scouts’ reporting, bringing the accuracy of subsequent reports into question.
──Same day, 4:00 pm
-The Three Popes issue an order to defend the Holy Capital of Qualiane.
──Same day, 4:05 pm
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-The Scribe Saint and the Mystic Saint accept the request and enter defensive positions.
──14th day, 5:30 am
-Scouts confirm the situation at dawn.
-The fires confirmed in Lenea’s direction were already extinguished.
-Reports from the Clergy accompanying the Scouts confirm traces of an Evil God.
──Same day
Ё nú mа̇.ìď.
-The border with the Divine Nation of Lenea is blockaded.
-Henceforth, its capital is recognized as a Ruined City and designated as a Level 7 forbidden zone.
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◇◇◇
<The Divine Nation of Lenea, Divine City Amrita, Site of the burned down former St. Amritate Cathedral>
AN all-too-small girl stood amid the charred ruins. Despite being young enough she should still be under the guidance and protection of a guardian, she was saddled with a heavy responsibility that would be too great for any adult, much less a child, to shoulder.
Clad in magnificent attire to display her authority within the Holy Kingdom of Qualia, the girl was accompanied by several people who kept their distance, watching and waiting for her to speak. They all revered the girl who stood out as an anomaly in every sense of the word. They felt awe and exultation toward this noble, untouchable being. What was the meaning behind the reverent looks they directed toward such a young child?
Е ṅǔm̀ а̊..i̊ ď
The answer lay with the laughably large book clasped to her chest with both hands. There wasn’t a soul within all of the Holy Kingdom of Qualia who didn’t know her name.
Scribe Saint Lytrain Nerim Quartz, one of God’s most beloved children, stared in abject horror at the devasted Divine City Amrita, a retinue of her followers close at hand.
“Urk…how awful…”
Several Paladins nodded in silent agreement with her wistful utterance.
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What they laid eyes upon made the capital’s former prosperity seem like a fever dream. Designated as a Ruined City by Qualia’s leadership, Amrita had fallen into utter disrepair that gave that designation justice, looking more like desolated ruins lost to time than a recently attacked city.
This was no ordinary razed city. Physical devastation could eventually be repaired. Razed homes could be rebuilt. Food and supplies could be imported from Qualia. As long as there were people, it should be possible to regain some semblance of their former livelihoods, even if the path there was long and arduous.
Е̂ ňú m̂ a . і̌d
However, the true ruin wreaked by the King of Ruin left deep, irrecoverable scars upon the very people who made the capital their home…
Several days had passed since that unfortunate day. Since the day Qualia had confirmed an anomaly within the Divine Nation of Lenea. The ensuing chaos within the Holy Kingdom of Qualia was far too pathetic to leave a record of. Distancing themselves from war for far too long played a part in their substandard reaction, but their inaction was most strongly influenced by terror—terror of the horrifying course of events that had unfolded within Lenea. This resulted in the leadership flip-flopping on their orders, massively delaying their initial response.
The Three Popes feared they would bring the King of Ruin’s wrath upon themselves, so they designated all of Lenea as a Level 7 forbidden zone to save their own hide. As a result, it was nigh impossible to determine what exactly had transpired in this country or just how many lives were lost.
The only thing anyone knew for sure was the hard-to-swallow fact that the forces of good that were supposed to protect Lenea had been defeated…
And now that an official investigative team had finally been dispatched from Qualia, Lytrain was tormented by deep sorrow and a sense of powerlessness that was too much for her young mind to cope with.
“Saint Nerim, we have a rough estimate of the extent of the damage. The disease has spread to surrounding villages and towns through the people who escaped from Amrita. The disease hasn’t yet spread to the border towns with Qualia thanks to the Paladins and soldiers keeping a lookout, but it’s only a matter of time.”
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A woman stood behind Lytrain giving this report. Naturally, she was no ordinary woman. She exuded an intimidating aura, one look from her sharp gaze enough to cause those on the other end to shrink back from her. The armor she wore was designed with mobility in mind, and although it made good use of metal and leather throughout, it was more form-fitting than was usually allowed in Qualia’s female attire. In the highly conservative Qualia, her skin-tight attire would receive criticism for inciting lust in men, but no one would dare point out such a thing to this woman.
Or rather, not a soul could even fathom to think such an audacious thing about her. After all, denunciations and judgment were her domain, her inviolable precinct…
One of the soldiers nervously spoke her name, “Inquisitor Imlerith.”
“…Yes? What is it?” she responded.
Krähe Imlerith—an Inquisitor with the Holy Kingdom of Qualia’s Special Holy Order Inquisition Division. She was the blade of condemnation sent to the decimated Lenea with the Scribe Saint.
E n ũm a
“The person we sent to conduct interviews in the surrounding areas has just returned,” the soldier said.
“…I see. Then please relay the contents of their report,” she ordered.
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The Qualia soldier who dauntlessly faced evil as the people’s shield whispered his report to Krähe with a tense expression.
Scribe Saint Lytrain was the nominal person in charge of the investigative team dispatched from Central. However, since Lytrain was still so young, Krähe Imlerith gave various orders on her behalf. Krähe’s role as Inquisitor made even Paladins and soldiers nervous in her presence.
A church-appointed Inquisitor. As the title suggests, she had the authority to ruthlessly investigate and intervene in the lives of Arlos’s believers. There was no telling what calamity would befall someone if they got on the wrong side of an Inquisitor. The Inquisitors had arraigned countless people, yet the number they set free without punishment could be counted on two hands.
The Inquisition Division and Inquisitors had a different kind of absolute presence within Qualia from the Saint and Paladins. The Paladins and soldiers nervously interacted with Krähe, for she was rumored to be the most devoted to Arlos and her job of all the Inquisitors.
Е̃ n ũm̈а.
“According to the reports,” the soldier began, “we have discovered traces of a large-scale conflagration centering around the old cathedral, along with an untold number of corpses belonging to Paladins and some unidentified monsters. In addition to the epidemic we’ve already confirmed in the surrounding areas, the residents also seem to be afflicted with some sort of memory loss. We are lacking too much information at this juncture to determine what happened here.”
There wasn’t even a shadow left of Lenea’s former glory and prosperity. Once the King of Ruin had his way with it, this land became the epicenter of a spreading plague and where people forgot themselves and went mad.
Krähe grimaced over how fitting the name Ruined City was for this place. The soldier continued to speak of some of the most unforgivable atrocities to the forces of good going on there. Almost no one knew what had truly transpired in the Divine Nation of Lenea during this sudden freak attack. Every holy soldier in the region had returned to God’s bosom, and what few witnesses there were, all had addled memories.
Perhaps further investigation would reveal some clues about the horrific events that befell this city. Regardless, one look at the poor souls left alive revealed that something beyond mortal comprehension had transpired.
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“Furthermore,” the soldier continued, “Saint Soalina of Blooming Burials and Veiled Saint Fenne have both departed from this country.”
In the midst of the report came information about the Saints’ survival. A glimmer of hope returned to the investigative team, who’d been in low spirits since seeing the battered citizens and deformed corpses of Lenea’s Paladins. But this good news was accompanied by equally bad news.
Еn u mä.іd
“The two Saints survived?” Krähe asked in an emotionless voice, her nebulous gaze sharply fixing upon the soldiers, her eyes reminding them eerily of a doll’s.
“Y-Yes, ma’am… According to the reports,” the soldier stuttered.
“This is bad news indeed,” she said.
On the receiving end of her soul-penetrating gaze, the soldiers gasped and shuddered.
Krähe’s deployment with the Lenea Investigation Squad could only mean one terrifying thing. Inquisitors were occasionally granted the authority to condemn even the Saints. Sending Krähe and the Scribe Saint to this condemned land spoke volumes about what Central expected to find and have done about it.
“It’s unacceptable for a Saint to flee without finishing what she has started… Doubly so when there are two,” Krähe said clerically. “This brings their faith and devotion into question. This is bad.”
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Someone gasped. What did Krähe mean? No, her intentions needed no explanation.
Krähe was considering labeling the two Saints as heretics. They had gone off and established a country of their own accord, incited Qualia’s own people to join them, then left them to their ruin, like leading cattle to the slaughter. And then the very King of Ruin they proclaimed they had subjugated had come back to return the favor.
Just how many people had died due to them? How many people still suffered at this moment due to their actions? There was no justifiable reason in all the world for them to flee alone without finishing what they had started.
Even outside of her role as a holy Inquisitor, as a member of the Human race, Krähe was deeply angered by what the two Saints had done.
The calamity brought about by the King of Ruin had to be eradicated. As long as that evil god still lived, he loomed as an ever-present threat to Qualia’s Southern Province, which was geographically closest to Mynoghra. Qualia needed to prepare to deal with the Dark Continent to the south, and they were already lacking the military strength necessary to stabilize the unending turmoil within the Lawful Continent.
As long as the Mystic Saint remained cloistered deep within Central’s holy capital, offering prayers to Arlos, the Scribe Saint would inevitably be sent out to fight the forces of evil at every corner. With Qualia no longer able to ignore the state of things in the El-Nah Alliance of Elementals, all the responsibility would fall upon the small shoulders of the little girl standing idly in front of Krähe.
Ӗnú m ȧ
Krähe’s frustration with the situation began giving her a dull, throbbing headache. But she had to get the ball rolling. Because that was all she could do—it was all she was allowed to do…
“Nerim,” Krähe called out to the young girl before her. She knelt down so she could look at her at eye level, and though her expression was still devoid of emotion, she didn’t exude the same intimidating aura as before.
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“Ah! Yes? What is it, Inquisitor Imlerith?”
Krähe’s expression slightly clouded at her response. For the first time, Krähe allowed what she felt to show through her perfect mask of doll-like indifference. Curiously enough, the emotion that showed was deep sorrow.
“I believe we should begin with saving the people of this land. The scars left by the King of Ruin are too gruesome to leave be. Although they once broke rank with us, the people residing here used to be Qualia’s citizens. God would never stand for abandoning them,” Krähe spoke her opinion as if trying to confirm something with her, sadness still etched into her features. Her eyes intently studied Saint Lytrain, almost as if she were observing the girl. “We will temporarily suspend our search for Saint Soalina of Blooming Burials and Veiled Saint Fenne. I don’t know what led them to abandon this land, but we don’t have enough people to spare in a search for them.”
“Um…” Lytrain darted her gaze around her surroundings and hastily flipped through her journal. Then she began scanning its contents as if searching for something.
Е nu m̌а̄
Krähe wordlessly closed her eyes to that sad sight. Then, after a moment of fighting off some unspoken feelings, she silently opened her eyes.
“I see… You’re doing it again, Nerim. That’s a bad thing.” Krähe gently reached out to stop her from flipping through the pages. “Your power is certainly capable of saving the people here. Your power, which is said to be closest to God, should be able to…”
Surprised to be stopped from reading the journal, Lytrain’s big, innocent eyes seized on Krähe. Under the questioning gaze of those pure, sinless eyes, Krähe spoke to the tiny Saint with heartrending sadness.
“But please don’t ever forget the insurmountable cost of using it. This humble servant doesn’t ever want you to use that journal’s power.”
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“Sorry…?” Lytrain blinked at her.
“I’m just speaking to myself. On another note, please call me Krähe. I’m not fond of stiff formalities.” Krähe rose with a stiff smile straining the corners of her lips.
Еṅ uḿa
Warmed by her attitude, Lytrain gave voice to the unease brewing within her. “Um, did they find my Father…?” She choked up there and said nothing more.
Lytrain’s father, her adoptive father, High Paladin Verdel, was currently classified as missing. Lytrain had covertly reunited with him once more in this city, but their ties were severed during the ensuing chaos.
Under such circumstances as these, it was normal to worry about her father’s well-being during the horrors of war. But her request would never be granted. Since the day Lytrain became a Saint, her relationship with her adoptive father was severed. She was the protector of the masses, not of one special person. Such was the true nature of a Saint that was never allowed to change.
“Urk… I’m very sorry, Inquisitor Imlerith,” she squeaked out.
“It’s Krähe.”
“Erm, Miss…Krähe.”
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Nebulous eyes closely scrutinized Lytrain. Unable to endure that unrelenting gaze, Lytrain squeezed her eyes shut, steeling herself for words of warning or a harsh scolding. Instead, Krähe’s hand kindly rested upon her head. The gesture was awkward and stiff, but it was filled with warmth nevertheless.
“…It’s okay. We will surely find your father. You have offered up a great price to God until now to make it so.” The sadness cracking through Krähe’s schooled features belied the kindness in her voice. “…That’s why I can say it will surely be all right.”
Krähe’s words were intended to persuade the little Saint of this…and most of all, she was trying to convince herself it was true.
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