Vol 3 Chapter 72 – A Very Strong Person

“This is terrible…”

The man, a believer of the Church of Arias, muttered those words involuntarily. It was his reaction upon seeing their comrades collapsed on the ground.

Church of Arias followers had been killed, blood spilled everywhere. It was an unpleasant sight.

“Well, these guys were pretty forceful in their activities. I can understand why they were resented.”
“Spreading the Church of Arias is good, but they were way too extreme.”

He responded to his approaching junior colleague. The ones collapsed were believers considered the radical faction within the Church of Arias.

Currently, the entire religion was conducting recruitment activities to convert people from other faiths, but the ones using particularly rough methods were these fallen believers—Masado’s faction. Working yourself to the bone for the Church of Arias was admirable, but they’d gone too far.

“True. The Church of Arias is the world’s most wonderful religion, after all. We should definitely spread it to save more people. But Masado’s group seemed to be using the god’s authority as an excuse to fulfill their own desires.”
“Eventually, even if this hadn’t happened, the disciplinary squad would’ve moved against them.”

The man nodded at his junior’s words. If Masado’s group had been acting purely for the Church of Arias’s sake, he might’ve wanted to defend them, but that clearly wasn’t the case.

They’d been using the Church of Arias as backing to satisfy their own desires. The Church of Arias existed solely as an organization and personnel for Arias God.

If anyone forgot that, the disciplinary squad—the religion’s self-cleansing mechanism—would’ve mobilized. A violent apparatus existing to maintain order within the Church of Arias and enforce doctrine.

Once they set their sights on you, only death awaited. The thought sent chills down his spine.

“Still, I didn’t think Masado would get taken down. He had enough power to do pretty much whatever he wanted.”
“Right. That’s probably why the higher-ups couldn’t easily deploy the disciplinary squad. If they got counter-killed, it’d be a total loss of face.”

Masado’s flames—his tremendous power—were well known within the Church of Arias. The disciplinary squad might not have moved because they hadn’t crossed the line yet or lacked sufficient evidence, but they likely also feared his strength.

If the disciplinary squad, which maintained order through fear and violence, got counter-killed, their deterrent effect would completely vanish. The man suspected that’s what leadership had feared.

For such a feared man to be lying here bleeding and defeated was truly shocking. Who on earth could’ve done this?

“Yeah. So apparently it wasn’t just the regular disciplinary squad—even a Saint was planning to move.”
“A Saint!? That’s…”

The man’s eyes widened in shock at his junior’s words. A Saint. That was a special existence even within the Church of Arias.

In any religion, those with the word “Saint” attached are treated specially. And such an existence had been about to move to subdue Masado.

“If that were the case, even Masado couldn’t have done anything… Wait, where do you even get this information?”
“Hehe, trade secret. But yeah, when a Saint-level person moves, it becomes a rumor. It’s super rare, after all.”
“True enough. Apparently they usually act freely for the Church of Arias’s sake… but they’re in a completely different league from us.”

If a Saint had mobilized, even the mighty Masado would’ve met his end. He could say that with certainty—Saints were that special.

“They’re directly blessed and empowered by the god. I’m jealous, but it means they’ve devoted that much to Arias God. I need to work harder too.”
“Having that mindset is enough.”

Both the man and his junior devoutly worshiped Arias God, but they’d never directly seen the god’s form or received any particular blessing. That was normal.

If the god visited tens of thousands of believers individually to grant blessings, even a deity would need more than one body to manage it all. But Saints were different.

They’d directly faced Arias God and received powerful blessings. While he felt envious, it meant they’d done something worthy of such divine love.

Besides, gods aren’t egalitarian—they play favorites. They both understood that well.

So they held no jealousy or resentment toward the Saints.

“Anyway, we need to find whoever killed Masado’s group. Even if they went too far, this could interfere with our activities. We should nip potential problems in the bud.”
“Agreed.”

If they’d merely counter-killed Masado’s group, that’d be one thing, but they might turn their fangs on the Church of Arias. That was unforgivable and had to be prevented at all costs.

As the two prepared to act…

“——Well done, both of you.”

A quiet, beautiful voice reached their ears. Looking toward it, they saw an existence that every Church of Arias follower would recognize.

“Y-you are…!”
“Please don’t be so tense. Your nervousness is making me nervous.”
“B-but still…”

That’s unreasonable, he wanted to say. After all, standing before them was a Saint.

In other words, Arias God’s favorite. Incurring her displeasure meant incurring the god’s displeasure.

That had to be avoided at all costs.

“I just happened to be here. I’ll leave immediately so I don’t interfere with you two.”
“No! Please stay as long as you like!”

The Saint, understanding her position, gave a faint, wry smile. This kind of treatment wasn’t what she wanted, but it was understandable.

If she were in the opposite position, she might’ve acted the same way. With that thought, the Saint averted her gaze and looked at the fallen Masado.

“This is…”

Her eyes widened, revealing clear shock. They wouldn’t know since they barely knew her, but anyone close to her would recognize how genuinely surprised the Saint was.

“I heard this man was quite powerful… but he seems to have been crushed by overwhelming violence far exceeding that. Only a handful of people in the entire world could do something like this.”
“Do you have any idea who?”
“No, not at all. However…”

The Saint—Lusaria—looked up at the sky.

“I believe they’re a very strong person.”

Facing the man who’d defeated Masado like this wouldn’t be in the distant future.