"You... isn't this what you came for? The saintess of that deity, milady."

The old woman's wrinkle-covered face was filled with fervor. Lea instinctively took a step back and shook her head:

"Saintess? No... I am not a saintess yet."

"You will be very soon!"

The old woman raised her voice, and with a flick of her withered hand:

"Look, there are a full one million people here awaiting salvation. Think of it—what an immense merit it would be to save them. As long as what happens here is made known, you will, without question, become a saintess—the most outstanding saintess—even surpassing the First. Your name will be praised by countless believers. Even when you die, your statue will still stand upon the continent, alongside the deity!"

"But..."

Lea's gaze grew dazed for a moment.

Yes, a million people—if she could save them, the saintess title she had striven for all this time would be easily attainable. The glimmers gained from saving these people would be enough to fill a thousand crystals.

And even without the lure of the saintess title, faced with those sufferers in pain, struggling, howling, Lea could not possibly sit by and do nothing.

Just like every saintess throughout the ages: they would stand up even for a crying infant—let alone for a million people sunk deep in suffering.

This had nothing to do with any position or any expectation—only with the most unadorned kindness of a young girl.

"I want to save you, but my ability is not enough."

Lea shook her head in anguish. She looked at her slender hands and murmured, "With my purification, at most I can purify a few thousand people... if I grit my teeth and add some restorative items, maybe I can purify more, but compared to a million... it's a drop in the bucket."

A few hundredths of the needed power—before this vast sea of mire, there was only despair.

"Or... perhaps we could wait a while. If we wait until the Church succeeds in opening a passage into the inner area, you..."

"There is no time!"

The old woman raised her hand, trembling, and cried in terror: "I can feel it—I can feel the presence of that accursed dark god. He is no longer far from here. He will return soon and devour the souls of our million people. Then, among the living upon the earth, no one will be able to stop Him!"

"But..."

"I have a way!"

The old woman suddenly said, "All these years, we were not waiting helplessly for death. Look up."

Lea looked up.

Majestic cylindrical walls stretched toward the depths of the void, intricate patterns flickering, and upon that vast dome like a firmament, they wove a painting of extreme complexity.

In that moment, Lea finally understood where she stood. Unsurprisingly, she was inside that tower. Yet the tower she now beheld was far larger than its exterior. From outside, it appeared to be a remarkable building; but now, deep within, she seemed like a lost insect or ant, straying into the legendary great tree where a holy serpent dwells.

A magic array vast enough to astonish was inscribed at the tower’s highest point.

"With your learning, you should be able to judge the function of this magic array."

"This array’s function is... amplification?"

In Lea’s eyes was reflected this unprecedentedly enormous magic array—and its sole function, astonishingly, was amplification?

Amplification arrays are exceedingly common. Whether for mages or for magic tools, such arrays are engraved to enhance the potency of magic.

But Lea had never seen an amplification array so vast and complex. If its function was so singular, then how astounding must its effect be?

"Yes—amplification!"

The old woman declared loudly: "Under the array’s effect, taking this high tower as a foundation, and combined with what we have accumulated over the years, it can magnify your power to the utmost—hundreds of times would be no problem!"

"I-is that so?"

"Of course."

The old woman lowered her gaze, then looked at Lea once more with blazing fervor: "All these years, we have been waiting for you."

"Why me?"

"Because you came, did you not?"

"..."

Lea closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

But at the same time, she felt an even heavier expectation.

She understood what those words meant. These people in pain had waited far too long, so they did not care who came—so long as the one who came could save them.

"Yes, you will save us all."

The old woman pressed her hands together devoutly: "I believe that great deity will also be moved by your great deeds."

"Not that deity—a goddess."

Lea looked deeply at the old woman: "The Goddess of Life, Lady Emil."

"Yes—the Goddess of Life, Lady Emil."

The old woman lowered her head submissively, and answered obediently.

Lea drew a deep breath: "What must I do?"

"You... you only need to stand at the center there!"

The old woman was overjoyed: "Let your power flow out; the array will operate on its own."

With little hesitation, Lea followed the old woman’s instruction and walked to the very center of the entire sea of mire.

It was a broad platform, like an altar. Lea looked down and found complex patterns engraved beneath her feet, seemingly echoing those overhead.

Lea stood alone at the platform’s center, feeling heaven and earth both so very far away.

Lea had not failed to notice there seemed to be something off about the old woman—she seemed to be hiding something.

But that pain, that despair, that longing for salvation—those things, without question, were real.

Here were a million souls yearning for salvation, and she was a candidate saintess representing the Church.

What she ought to do, then, required no overthinking.

Just as Moen had once conjectured, the Church had sent them in to save these natives.

"I’m going to begin."

Lea focused her mind. Crystalline, holy radiance seeped from the surface of her skin, turning into countless motes that rose.

The patterns underfoot gradually lit up. Vast mana that had long been stored rose from the lower levels, climbed along the jet-black tower walls, and poured into the enormous magic array overhead.

The magic array activated. A grand, sonorous sound reverberated above the sea of mire.

Those in pain all knelt piously, awaiting the descent of salvation.

Lea felt a powerful tug. The holy light stored within her was swallowed by the patterns at her feet with astonishing speed. At the same time, a holy rain of light fell.

"Ah... salvation... salvation has finally come."

Everyone tilted their heads back with with all their strength, faces fevered as they welcomed the falling holy rain of light. The old woman craned her neck out as long as she could, like an old turtle starved for ages.

As the rain of light fell, the twisted deformities on the sufferers in the sea of mire faded at a rate visible to the naked eye. Those less tainted were already nearly restored.

They shed crystalline tears, praising the miracle and shouting the saintess’s name.

The crystals bestowed by the saintess suddenly floated up of their own accord; countless glimmers flowed into them, making them ever more gorgeous and resplendent.

Lea could not help but smile. Encouraged, she released her holy light with even greater effort.

But very soon, she sensed that something was wrong.

The source of the wrongness lay in the degree of purification; it did not quite match what she had anticipated...

Clearly her holy light was already close to exhaustion, yet those who could be fully restored remained only the ones with lighter taint. As for the great majority who were severely deformed, although they had improved to some degree, they were still a vast distance from being completely purified.

"Not enough... still not enough."

The old woman, too, was murmuring. Though the deformities on her body had lessened a bit, she still appeared twisted and ferocious:

"This is still not enough... we must... we must..."

"I am sorry, my lady saintess."

The old woman suddenly bowed her head, tears streaming down her face.

Lea stiffened slightly, but she quickly understood why the old woman apologized.

Because once the patterns beneath her feet could no longer draw sufficient holy light, they turned instead to extracting from her... blood.

Lea came to a sudden realization. What magic in this world could amplify power by hundreds of times? No matter how vast that magic array was, its effect could not possibly reach such a degree.

However, the power to purify did not exist only in the holy light within her.

As a candidate saintess who had undergone the baptism of holy light since childhood, her blood, her bones, her flesh, even her soul, were suffused with the purest power of the Goddess.

Those were the true might that could purify everyone—but the price... was all of Lea.

"You lied to me?"

Lea’s face grew paler. "You knew that my holy light alone was far from enough!"

"Yes, I deceived you."

The old woman’s face was full of sorrow:

"But for the sake of my people, I had no choice but to resort to this. I feared that if you knew, you would be afraid to step up there."

"However... if you feel anger and wish to leave, in truth, we have no power to stop you. All this is already better than I imagined. Many have already received salvation, though many more are still sunk in pain."

The old woman looked at Lea and forced a relieved smile:

"If you wish, you, you can leave, my lady saintess. We will not blame you."

"..."

A deathly silence fell over the sea of mire where a million souls surged and sank. Everyone raised their heads again and looked up at Lea in silence.

They only looked, saying nothing.

Yet deep within those pained gazes, after tasting salvation within arm’s reach, that hope grew ever... heavier.

So heavy that... it crushed the breath from one’s chest.

With all her strength, Lea forced her eyes open, swept her gaze over each and every person with all her strength, and with all her strength felt that... weight deep within their eyes.

In that moment.

Or else after a long while—or perhaps in but a fleeting instant.

Lea smiled a heartrending smile; her long lashes were like butterflies about to take flight.

"Continue."

She said, "Continue."

As if a burden were lifted, Lea’s whole body relaxed, letting the array beneath her feet draw out the blood within her. Her strength ebbed away bit by bit.

Yet in that moment, the girl’s tresses danced. Holy radiance traced a perfect silhouette around her. Looking upon the countless people being saved, she smiled, as if the Goddess herself had descended to walk the world.

"Is this... truly all right?"

The old woman was shocked. "You know what the result of this will be, don’t you?"

"I do. But continue anyway."

Lea said:

"As you say, I am now the saintess you praise, and a so-called saintess is supposed to be selfless, to save everyone, isn't she?"

"You... how truly great you are."

The old woman was so moved that her whole body trembled:

"Our clan will venerate you as the saintess for generations; your statue will endure forever!"

"All right, all right, stop wasting time."

Lea closed her eyes:

"Anyway, I didn’t do this for such things. I just did what I ought to do, that’s all."

"Yes... noble saintess, Your Highness."

The old woman pressed her head respectfully to the ground, looking utterly devout.

But from an angle Lea couldn’t see, the bark-like dry, wrinkled corner of her mouth slowly curled into an eerie arc.

"I will faithfully obey your decree."

The array began to operate with even greater force; a rain of light poured down across the sky, like mercy bestowed personally by a god.

Everything unclean was being purified, bit by bit.

Lea, however, felt her body growing ever colder.

Her blood was draining away little by little, and for now it was only her blood; next would be her bones, her flesh, and, in the end, her soul.

"For me, this really is quite a grand finale."

Lea murmured softly:

"But to die in the way one longs for—by saving countless people—is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?"

There is nothing to regret.

It’s just...

Why does my heart feel so empty?

"Sorry, Moen. There are still so many things I want to say to you, so many things I want to do with you, and feelings that have yet to be conveyed."

Lea whispered: "But I broke our promise, couldn’t wait for you, left without saying goodbye. I hope you won’t be angry with me, all right?"

"Of course I’ll be angry."

That familiar voice answered: "Isn’t an apology supposed to come with a beautiful girl’s lap pillow? Saying it like you’re sleep-talking has no sincerity at all, Miss Lea."

"Huh?"

Lea opened her eyes in astonishment.

She realized that the voice wasn’t a hallucination born of yearning, but that golden-haired figure was truly standing before her now.

He was as handsome as ever, his profile slightly softened by the rain of light, yet his brows and eyes carried anger. He bent his thumb against his index finger, aimed at her forehead, and flicked hard.

"Idiot."

"Ow! That hurts!"

Lea clutched her forehead; under that sudden forehead flick, the saintess-like aura she had built up just now instantly collapsed, and in a flash she was knocked back into the cute, guileless girl she had been before.

Lea instinctively puffed out her cheeks and huffed, "What are you doing? Who are you calling an idiot!"

"The idiot—meaning you."

Moen planted a foot on the pattern on the ground, forcibly interrupting the ritual, and said, "You were tricked and still don’t realize it—what else would that make you but an idiot?"

"Tricked?"

Lea blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Who are you?"

Feeling the rain of light cease, the old woman looked at the man who had suddenly appeared, shocked and furious, and shouted angrily:

"Do you know what you’re doing? This is an important ritual for Her Highness the saintess—get out of the way!"

Moen, however, ignored her, and also ignored the countless enraged people in the sea of mud, simply gazing into Lea’s eyes and saying softly:

"My silly Lea, do you still not understand? These people are not the pitiful wretches you imagine. Think back to that diary you saw earlier."

"The diary..."

Lea froze for a moment, then her beautiful eyes suddenly widened: "You mean..."

"That’s right."

Moen finally turned, his gaze icy as he looked at the old woman and at the million people bobbing in the sea of mud:

"These people are the true sinners!"