Such blasphemous cries came from a portly man in a red robe atop the tower—none other than Cardinal Archbishop Josiah Carey.
Josiah's jowls quivered as he shouted with fervent passion:
"My kin, my saints, hear me! Before the might of a god, we are but ants. Who can stand against divine power? Who? Who? The Pope? He cannot! The Six Scriptures? They cannot either!
"Only a god can challenge a god. Defy the divine will, and only ruin awaits. The Six Great Gods have returned to the divine realm, never to descend again. They are the past. EMBRACE THE NEW GOD!"
His words were met with a hail of crossbow bolts and a massive fireball launched by a distant mage.
Under the storm of arrows, several monks guarding the tower's edge fell, yet they died with smiles on their faces. It seemed Josiah had already gathered a loyal following.
Josiah conjured an egg-shaped shield of light, protecting himself and most of the tower's structure. As a cardinal archbishop, his magical prowess was far from weak—neither arrows nor spells could touch him.
Below, from behind a wall of adamantine tower shields, an officer's voice roared with venom:
"You're a cardinal archbishop, yet your faith in the Six Great Gods is worth less than a pigeon's! How dare you compare the Six Great Gods, protectors of humanity, to that fiend Ainz Ooal Gown? You make my stomach churn!"
Josiah, still clad in his red robe, gazed calmly at the army below and said:
"It was precisely after becoming cardinal archbishop, after delving into the secret scriptures, that I began to doubt the Six Great Gods.
"My dear compatriot, as a soldier, have you never wondered why the army's priests pray to the Six Great Gods and get no response whatsoever?"
"Yet the elven druids, Baharuth's clerics, even the dim-witted orc priests—they can all borrow power from false gods?
"And most crucially, after poring over the secret tomes hidden in the deepest vaults of the Theocracy, I uncovered a truth: Ainz Ooal Gown descended to this world from the divine realm. He hails from the same world as the Six Great Gods! HE IS THE NEW GOD!"
Another torrent of arrows rained down, most clattering uselessly against the light shield, unable to pierce its defense.
"I know you can't comprehend, that you even dare to resist the new god," Josiah bellowed. "But for the Theocracy's sake, I'm willing to be the one who carves a path through the thorns!
"I infiltrated the capital's secret temple, built underground for forty years, and mapped out the altar's location and entry routes. I've sent it all to the Sorcerer Kingdom! By handing over the Slane Theocracy's secrets, I've secured a glimmer of hope for our people!"
"You traitorous scum! You sold out our nation's secrets! That's treason! Blasphemy!"
The officer unsheathed his sword, glaring up at Josiah atop the tower and shouting with fury. He didn't know what this underground altar or temple was, but Josiah's vile expression said it all.
"I've told the Sorcerer Kingdom everything I know. Give up. I know there are Six Scriptures agents among the army besieging me. All your schemes are laid bare—you've got no trump cards left!
"Now, the only way to save our nation is to open your hearts to the Sorcerer Kingdom's god and show submission. For instance, reveal the underground altar's purpose to Ainz Ooal Gown, offer the Six Great Gods' artifacts to the Sorcerer Kingdom…"
Far from the tower, atop a bell tower, several Black Scripture warriors gritted their teeth, their eyes blazing with fury as they glared toward Josiah.
"We can't let this bastard keep spewing nonsense!" Alphonse, lean and wiry, appeared beside the Black Scripture warriors in a flash. "Once we break Josiah's defensive shield, we strike. That traitor blaspheming the Six Great Gods dies today!"
"Prepare for battle!"
The Divine Commandant of the Black Scripture barked orders, setting the Slane Theocracy's deadliest killing machine into motion.
Atop the tower, Josiah's eyes bulged as he spat out his fervent speech, oblivious to the elite warriors closing in with blades drawn.
With a faint pop, Alphonse appeared beneath the tower's light shield, finishing a pre-prepared shield-breaking incantation. A surge of deconstructive magic crashed into the barrier.
Alphonse's magical prowess far surpassed Josiah's, and he was certain he could shatter the shield. But to his shock, the barrier merely rippled before returning to normal.
The Black Scripture's Divine Commandant flashed above the shield, thrusting a spear imbued with anti-magic light, striking with full force. Yet the shield stood unshaken.
"Hahahahaha! What a pathetic waste of effort! I'm laughing so hard I could cry!" Josiah cackled from the tower's peak, mockingly wiping a nonexistent tear from his eye.
"See that?!" He sobered, pulling a gold-encrusted small round shield—a magical artifact—from his robe and roared, "This is the might of the Sorcerer Kingdom's new god!"
Josiah stood atop the tower, thrusting the small round shield—a magical artifact—high into the air, displaying the Sorcerer Kingdom's emblem on its back for all to see:
"I've been in contact with the Sorcerer Kingdom for ages! This is a gift from the new god, a mark of his approval! If you too worship Ainz Ooal Gown, you'll receive such blessings!
"And what's more," Josiah ripped open his inner tunic, revealing the Sorcerer Kingdom's emblem embroidered in gold thread, grinning smugly. "Even without my light shield, what can you do to me? I'm one of the Sorcerer Kingdom's own now. Kill me, and you spit in the face of the new god, Ainz Ooal Gown! You'd be declaring war on the Sorcerer Kingdom itself. How much blood would it take to wash away that sin against a god?"
Alphonse stood below the tower, his face ashen, gripping his staff tightly, at a loss for what to do. The Black Scripture's Divine Commandant perched on a nearby rooftop's edge, grinding his teeth in frustration.
"So, for the sake of the Theocracy's people, for its very survival, listen to me—offer everything to the new god." Josiah adopted a calm, calculated expression, feigning sincerity:
"I know the so-called 'Divine Envoy' from the prophecy has come to our land, sheltered by the Six Scriptures. But you should know, this 'Divine Envoy,' EeDechi, is a fugitive hunted by the Sorcerer Kingdom. If we hand over her hiding place, the new god Ainz Ooal Gown will surely reward us."
He pointed down at Alphonse, leaning on his staff, and barked:
"I know you were the first to meet the Divine Envoy, you arranged her food and lodging, you orchestrated the schemes behind the scenes. Hand over this so-called 'Divine Envoy' now. It's not too late, or all you'll face is the Sorcerer Kingdom's torture and torment!"
"No need to torture him. I'm already here." A cold voice cut through the ranks of heavily armored infantry.
EeDechi, with a giant sword slung across her back, vaulted over the heads of cavalry and foot soldiers, her lithe, cheetah-like form racing to the base of the tower. With a single leap, she raised her giant sword and slashed at the light shield. The moment the blade met the barrier, sparks erupted, and the perfect egg-shaped shield shattered like an eggshell.
Bounding up the tower's eaves in a few swift leaps, EeDechi landed face-to-face with the stunned cardinal archbishop.
"You… you… you…" Josiah's eyes glazed over, unfocused. His throat seemed parched, his lips quivering, unable to form a single coherent word.
"Lord… Divine Envoy…" Atop the tower, Josiah fell to his knees, gazing up at EeDechi. "I… I was wrong…"
EeDechi looked down at him, her voice cold and deliberate:
"In the name of the Divine Envoy, I pronounce your judgment! You are guilty of treason, espionage, and blasphemy. The sentence is death, to be carried out immediately!"
Josiah's body trembled like a leaf, tears streaming from his eyes. His shaking hands fumbled for the gold-encrusted round shield artifact, his lips parting as if to plead.
EeDechi swung her giant sword, the blade slicing through the air like a gale. With one strike, she smashed Josiah, his body and the golden shield shattering into fragments, blood and flesh scattering in the wind.
EeDechi shouldered her giant sword, standing tall atop the tower. She cast a glance at the silent crowd below and said coolly:
"Tell Ainz Ooal Gown I killed him. If he's got a problem with it, he can find me in the Eight Greed Kings' desert."