Angel.

A representative of faith who descends to perform miracles on behalf of a god who finds it difficult to directly project power onto the terrestrial realm.

“Hoo, is that an angel?”

“Wasn’t it human from the start? I had my doubts…”

The members of the Pantheon operating committee gathered in the conference hall struggled to compose themselves as they gazed at the overwhelming presence of the transcendent figure right in front of them.

What such a being said carried an unparalleled persuasive power.

Of course, there was no rule against lying and claiming to be an angel, but this place was ruled by laws that enforced only the truth unveiled by the chairman, wasn’t it?

“It’s not that they forcibly ignored the power of abilities. The author definitely spoke only the truth.”

The chairman could intuitively grasp that fact.

Above all, they were clergy serving the gods and considered some of the strongest in the entire Pantheon. They knew precisely what that newly revealed angel had done.

“A sacred oath made with their faith.”

Having witnessed that moment with their own eyes, they simply couldn’t find a reason to doubt it.

If what was said just now was a lie, that angel would have lost all holy power and fallen right there.

Naturally, the situation had to lead to a flow different from the original purpose.

From an inquiry into suspicious activities that broke the rules to a strategy meeting led by the very subject of that inquiry.

“More obedient than I thought. This method is indeed the best for clergy.”

Heinrich nodded slightly as he observed the members of the operating committee listening to him.

No matter how different their gods were, they too were seekers on the path of faith.

Few dared to act out of line in front of the messenger of the gods.

“…Not all clergy possess such tendencies, though.”

A prime example of that was the beings that were now the talk of the town, wasn’t it?

Pandemonium.

Generally referred to as “followers of the evil god,” it was not only populated by those who simply sought destruction.

There were also zealots armed with extremist beliefs that their faith was the “real” one while all others were mere heresy.

Thus, those who claimed that the world should be purified as a shrine were also part of the configuration of Pandemonium.

“That’s also the reason they can’t easily band together and exist as a disorganized lot. Whenever they meet, they won’t be able to tolerate each other and will fight.”

Due to not being able to consolidate, Pandemonium had long fallen into a convenient hunting dog that the Buncheon Society could handle as they pleased.

Compared to that, the Pantheon was a gentleman’s affair.

First off, the very basic common rules began with acknowledging and accepting other sects as equals.

“One could say that this situation is already a foreseen outcome. As the barriers for inclusion were lowered, it’s only natural that various loopholes would form.”

Fortunately, the hands of the Buncheon Society had not yet touched the top brass of the Pantheon, the 12-member committee.

No— to be precise, a secretary had managed to reach that position, but in being dealt with by their own hands, they had naturally lost influence.

Had she still been in her position, things wouldn’t have progressed so smoothly.

“People really should try to live kindly, you know?”

Heinrich wore a satisfied smile as he gazed at the committee members deep in serious discussion ahead of him.

*

Just after a few hours of meetings with the Pantheon’s top brass.

“Ah! Brother Heinrich! You took longer than I expected. So, did you complete your business?”

Waiting outside the committee headquarters for Heinrich was Jason, the priest who had continuously supported this Pantheon expedition.

Since Heinrich hadn’t yet formally joined the Pantheon, there were limits to moving alone, so he had voluntarily stepped forward as the most longstanding companion.

“There was a minor misunderstanding, but everything’s resolved now.”

With a gentle smile on his lips, Heinrich nodded as if dismissing the matter.

Then, he glanced at him briefly and began to speak.

“By the way, you mentioned you hail from the Tamaria dimension.”

“That’s right. I may have mentioned it offhand, but you remembered.”

As the two moved forward, passersby glanced over at them.

Specifically, they were looking at the silver-haired, golden-eyed Heinrich.

Having appeared so dramatically, it was only natural for them to become aware of his presence unconsciously.

“I’ve heard that religious wars are intense over there. I understand two major sects are locked in a head-on clash, never backing down.”

“Exactly. The Laras sect and the followers of the evil god Luceni are engaged in a holy war.”

“Are those followers of the evil god also…?”

“Hoo, that’s right. They are currently part of Pandemonium. It’s tragic to think they fell into the evil god’s temptations and haven’t regained their senses even after returning to Earth.”

Jason clenched his fists in fury as if genuinely sympathizing with the plight of those who devoted body and soul to the evil god.

“…I think so too. After enduring all the trials thus far, struggling to survive, they’re dancing like puppets without even realizing they’re being used.”

The two men sighed simultaneously.

Though their subjects of reference differed slightly, the meaning behind their words was not far apart.

“But why did you suddenly ask about that?”

“Oh, it’s nothing much.”

While they continued their conversation and walked, several people began to wait in front of Heinrich’s assigned accommodation.

“I just… hoped they’d stop being a nuisance and disappear quickly.”

Clergy from Auterica who had been busy scurrying around on his orders.

Looking at them with lowered eyes, Heinrich spoke softly.

“Those followers of the evil god.”

He then halted and flashed a bright smile at Jason.

“And the shadowy figures behind them.”

His smile seemed to carry a personal sentiment, looking somewhat chilling.

*

A few days later.

On a day when the calm before the storm passed.

“Wait! What is the meaning of this?! I am Sandro of the Pisker sect! Do you think our sect will remain silent at such treachery?!”

The incident began abruptly.

Without any apparent warning, a storm shook the entirety of the Pantheon all at once.

“Sandro Fermi. You are charged with multiple counts of collusion with Pandemonium, starting with the murder of Rabin William three years ago.”

“What the hell? You suddenly lay this accusation on me? I couldn’t have killed my friend! …Oh? I get it. You guys plan to use me to take down our sect!”

“No use playing dumb. We’ve already secured evidence and its verification. Do you want me to name all the priests killed by the information you sold?”

“…There’s no point trying to mock me with lies! You filthy bastards! Just trying to fill your own bellies with my sect’s efforts!”

Naturally, none of them readily admitted to the charges.

Instead, they just loudly protested that the Pantheon operating committee was attempting to tame its sects.

However, such resistance couldn’t last long.

“………”

In the face of undeniable, irrefutable evidence, they had no choice but to plead the Fifth.

When the situation reached that point, their backing sects couldn’t do anything either.

The operating committee hadn’t been silent just after hearing Heinrich’s story.

They didn’t just stop at cross-verifying the information provided about the traitors; they also succeeded in uncovering additional crimes.

For security, they even took the trouble of moving with a very small number of trustworthy people, personally gathering evidence.

“I’ve dedicated myself to this sect for so long! And you plan to abandon me over such trivialities?!”

“Damn, how did they catch on? Everything was supposed to be perfect!”

“This is bad. Immediately disperse and regroup at point B!”

As a result,

They were able to catch a significant number of individuals who had directly colluded with Pandemonium and those who had exploited them for personal gain.

Since it was an operation that the entire committee was staked its life on, there were no interruptions in the execution.

‘As expected… It’s true that they seemed quite lax until now.’

When they were lethargic like lazy lions, it hadn’t felt particularly serious, but now that they had made up their mind to act, they indeed showed their finesse as a world-class organization.

It had been a short time, yet they were impressively able to add further investigate what had been somewhat flawed and create a more perfect snare.

‘Having witnessed this event, I can now expect more proactive self-regulating actions going forward. That alone should significantly reduce the number of those being toyed with by the Buncheon Society.’

Watching this incident unfold, one unexpected fact was that those who sided with Pandemonium didn’t necessarily have grand reasons.

Of course, some moved under the belief that it would benefit their sect to go that route, but that wasn’t the whole story.

‘They likely aimed for this from the start, digging into this side.’

Jealousy, envy, desire, wealth and honor, organizational interests, etc.

Though they were supposedly priests, they were also human, and it was far too easy for them to be swayed by such schemes.

The biggest reason it was possible was that this was entirely separate from their faith.

Siding with Pandemonium did not mean losing their faith or violating their sect’s teachings.

In the first place, there was no such content in their doctrine.

Adversely, fighting against the external foe of Pandemonium within the boundaries of the Pantheon was merely a promise made among humans on Earth.

That had nothing to do with the gods they believed in from another world.

The gods felt similarly.

In reality, the division between good gods and evil gods was merely a human-constructed categorization based on their own standards.

Most gods merely granted holy powers to those who believed in them accordingly.

Especially discovered in the sect placed somewhere between good and evil gods were numerous individuals linked to this event.

Among them, there were indeed those who had taken action genuinely for the sect’s sake.

People that exist in any organization— often referred to as hardliners.

They couldn’t admit to having fallen behind and become one of the many indistinguishable sects after being pushed out of the main factions on the limited stage called Pantheon.

Thus, they resolved to do anything to revive the sect’s glory.

“Long time no see.”

“Kuhk, Heinrich…!”

For example, Walter, the holy warrior of the Queladia sect.

“I owe you my thanks. Had it not been for our first meeting back then, I might not have sensed something was wrong.”

“W-What do you mean…?”

With a furrowed brow, Walter questioned, but Heinrich had no intention of offering any kind responses.

He was only here to verify the traces that would remain after being used by someone.

‘…As expected.’

Gazing intently into Walter’s eyes, Heinrich finally found the traces he had long sought deep within.

So faint that one might have missed it if they hadn’t observed closely, even Heinrich noticed the hint only because he had his own doubts.

Had he not acquired crucial information through the Doctor and later gained certainty through his subordinates’ verification, he would have never sensed it.

“What do you mean?”

Feeling an unusual sense of pressure from Heinrich’s silent, penetrating gaze, Walter seemed agitated, losing his composure as he charged at him fiercely.

But after being thoroughly beaten once, there was no way he could do anything now.

“Gah!”

Heinrich stared impassively at him as he collapsed on the ground, writhing.

There was no need for him to do anything more here.

The enforcement unit from the Pantheon was already coming to deal with things on their own.

“…Now, let’s go and see each other’s faces.”

Emerging from his whole body was a brilliant golden holy power.

As he expanded his senses to the maximum, soon a single aura was caught.

In a place where various holy powers were constantly swirling, distinguishing one aura was almost impossible, yet for Heinrich, such obstacles felt merely like added concerns.

His body surged forward quickly.

*

Distant noises grew louder.

Jason, bustling about, frowned.

“Hoo, what on earth is happening?”

Suddenly erupting chaos had plunged the entire Pantheon into confusion.

Of course, the Pantheon was officially a coalition, so they prioritized peaceful methods such as cooperation requests over brute force.

However, even that was enough to give each sect a headache when it came to defending their own.

They couldn’t blindly cover for their own people with clear evidence against them.

“Tsk tsk, I can’t even catch a break for a day. There’s not enough time to devote body and soul to the Lord.”

Jason clicked his tongue while stroking his short beard.

Then he shook his head and continued through the dark hallway.

Whatever might be happening outside was of little concern to him.

He merely needed to carry on with his faith as he always did.

As he was busy ignoring the outside world and focusing on his own duties, he happened upon someone unexpected at the end of the corridor.

“Jason Priest.”

“Wait, Brother Heinrich! What brings you to this place?”

His eyes widened as he looked at the individual.

The man exuded a light as if shining, no— in fact, he was radiating a halo that made him seem like a creature from beyond this world.

“I’ve come to see you.”

Heinrich spoke slowly.

His voice, devoid of any hint of moderation until now, was clearly chilling.

“Joker.”

A schemer of the Buncheon Society, which had hidden within the Pantheon, deceiving everyone, and simultaneously a follower of the evil god in Pandemonium.

“………”

Joker met Heinrich’s gaze with a face drained of expression.