In the vast Supreme Sanctum, the sea of sacred holy light and the grotesque, malformed pollution clashed against each other, like two mutually incompatible blobs of color, splitting space in two.

However, in this terrifying standoff in which both sides wished nothing more than to utterly annihilate the other, the atmosphere settled into an eerie silence; whether it was the dark god or the endless holy light, both simultaneously sank into a strange stillness.

Though beneath that seemingly calm surface seethed a volcano fury.

Looking at each other, there was even a hint of shared misery.

"To empathize with a dark god... is something that fails to be novel."

The Pope rubbed the center of his brow and quickly reined in his emotions.

With his experience, in hundreds of years what outlandish thing had he not seen? He would hardly let something like this ruin his composure.

Moreover, in his view, compared to a small matter like his 'cabbages being rooted up,' the dark god before him had pined for a delicacy of a lamb for a thousand years and didn't even get a single hot bite before someone reduced it to ashes... This far greater loss was surely far more agonizing.

Mm. If it were an ordinary person, their blood pressure would probably already have spiked high enough to blow the top of their head off.

"So that means I really ought to thank that kid."

The Pope tugged a smile that didn't reach his eyes and suddenly swung his scepter.

Overhead, countless cross-shaped radiances surged forth again; before anyone realized it, the sea of holy light had engulfed the entire firmament.

"It is time to end this."

The radiance, like blade of divine judgment, had fully locked onto that dark god. Under the powerful lockdown, It had no escape.

"After dealing with you for so many years, at the very least, this projection of yours should be left behind. Reciprocity is the way to treat a guest, isn't it?"

At the Pope's icy decree, innumerable sacred cruciform lights fell, like a world-ending rain of calamity.

Yet, faced with an attack sufficient to threaten this projection of hers, the Mother of Fertility did not react as the Pope expected.

She neither counterattacked nor dodged, but instead let the rain of light erode her body. Then the vast phantom spread and seized that full moon above Canterwell, which had already halted upon its star track...

The phantom wrapped the moon, as if gripping a lead ball.

Aimed at Canterwell—and smashed down!

Boom!

The semicircular barrier above Canterwell was instantly smashed into a fracture; the moon was forcibly wedged into the crack and was still sinking deeper!

"What is this?"

The Pope narrowed his eyes, swiftly marshaling power to protect Canterwell, yet he was simultaneously perplexed.

Dark gods have no such thing as blood pressure—though once toyed with, their fury is a thousandfold, ten-thousandfold more terrifying than a mortal's.

But it was the King of Wither's flame that burned your lamb. What does that have to do with my Church?

It should understand that with only a projection, it is no longer possible to break through Canterwell right under the nose of the fully prepared Church. At most, as now, it can only 'slam' half a moon into the barrier.

And even if it forced a breach, there would be nothing to gain.

So even if it must rage, it should go beyond the world and vent it upon that King of Wither.

Then why...

"Buzzz—"

As the Pope was thinking, a piercing hum suddenly rang out around him.

At the same time, the entire Supreme Sanctum began to quake; in the distance, red warning lights flashed incessantly.

"Your Majesty."

An anxious voice sounded by the Pope's ear:

"The Stargazing Sanctum has sent word—they have detected unusual movement from the dark god."

"Unusual movement?"

The Pope frowned. "The dark god's projection is in the Supreme Seat—right before my eyes! Do I need you to remind me?"

"N-no, not the projection."

That voice quavered slightly:

"It's the true body—outside the world barrier—the true body of the Mother of Fertility!"

...

Beyond the world barrier, a faceless woman peered through that nearly imperceptible screen, as if examining this beautiful, magnificent, and vibrant world.

All of a sudden, as if bored of the view, she raised her hand; a pale palm slipped out from sleeves adorned with night, aimed in a specific direction, and pressed down gently.

The transparent barrier bent into a faint arc.

Cracks instantly spiderwebbed across her palm; countless eerie little flowers grew and bloomed from the divine blood that flowed from her.

But even at a cost, she still braced against the backlash of the world barrier and brought that palm down, unwavering.

Above the Holy City, a grand ward unfolded in an instant; many powerhouses in the city, as if sensing something, looked up in shock.

But very soon, that heart-jolting sensation vanished completely, as if it had merely been a mass hallucination.

Because, in that instant unknown to anyone, a door appeared above the Holy City.

The door suddenly swung open; the clamor of steel and the rasp of metal rang out.

Then, from that not-so-wide doorway, likewise... a hand reached out.

A... fair, slender hand.

"Pop."

No earth-shaking surges, no end of the world.

Only a sound like a bubble vanishing in the sunlight.

When that hand reached out, all calamity subsided, just like that.

[Gulp]

Outside the barrier, the dark god named Fertility studied that hand, stroked her flat, growling stomach, and let out a sound of ravenous, drooling desire in response.

But in the end, she regretfully drew back her hand and cast her gaze farther away.

...

"What? The true body of the Mother of Fertility?"

The Pope's pupils contracted. In a flash, connecting it with the Mother of Fertility projection's bizarre behavior, he suddenly figured out much.

"Your Majesty..."

"Ignore that. The true body's strike of the Mother of Fertility can't land—and the real issue isn't there, but rather... still on this projection!"

"This is bad—she's going for broke, willing to sacrifice this projection!"

Both the sudden attack on Canterwell and the Mother of Fertility true body's move were merely feints.

She herself knew those acts are futile.

Therefore her true aim was to create an opening for this projection.

To create a... chance to pounce upon her ultimate goal!

Right—everything the Mother of Fertility did was ultimately for [That].

And since she could not gain power through the blood-fed lamb, then in the end it was nothing more than switching methods.

And now, in order to obliterate this projection, under the Pope's deliberate indulgence, her projection was already surrounded by boundless holy light.

In other words, this was also a depth she has never reached!

"Damn it!"

Sure enough, as the Pope once again stirred the endless holy light, the Mother of Fertility seized that brief instant and again... sank.

Toward that deeper—deepest—endless depth at the bottom of the entire Supreme Seat, an Abyss-like profundity.

[That], the thing she craves, was there!

And once the aim was achieved—once she managed to touch [That]...

Then, let alone this Church she despised: all humanity, even all living things in the entire world, would be folded into her pasture!