— — — — — —
Following the trail left behind by Celestine, and guided by Chloe, Veyron quickly arrived at a temple dedicated to the goddess Larentia.
"This is as far as I can take you."
Chloe stopped about ten meters from the entrance and gestured toward the temple. "Her Majesty and Lady Celestine are inside."
Veyron gave a small nod before stepping up to the doors. He knocked softly—three gentle raps.
A few moments later, the large doors slowly creaked open.
The interior of the temple was vast and mostly empty. Aside from a towering statue of Larentia—over ten meters tall—there was little within.
At the base of the statue of the goddess Larentia, water flowed gently from a stone basin held in her outstretched hands, gathering in a still, mirror-like pool below.
Kneeling beside the pool was a figure with long black hair and the signature pointed ears of an elf. One hand was gently stirring the water.
As Veyron entered, the doors closed automatically behind him, just as they had opened.
The elf turned to face him, her gaze calm and curious. "So, you're one of the two saviors the goddess mentioned?"
The one speaking was the Dark Elf Queen—Olga Discordia.
"...We're only here to make sure the corruption of the evil gods gets fully purified before it spreads too far."
"We're not here to save the world or anything like that," Veyron replied, not accepting the overly heavy title of 'savior.' It didn't quite match the scope of the mission he'd been given.
Olga pursed her lips, then asked, "According to the goddess's prophecy from two days ago, you and your companion have been here for a little while now. What do you think of the current situation?"
"To be blunt—it's a mess."
Veyron didn't sugarcoat it.
If this were a straightforward battle between survivors and cultists, like he'd initially thought, there might've been ways to tip the scales in their favor. Like assassinating a few of the evil gods' chosen followers, or spreading his flame seeds across the land to burn away the corruption.
But what Merlin discovered through Claudia's dream revealed a far more chilling truth:
All seven million survivors inside the barrier were already deeply tainted by the corrupting rules of the evil god's Lust.
One single trigger—and these seven million survivors could all turn into zealots for Lust.
That honestly left him unsure how they could even win this fight.
"Indeed, so to us, you really are our savior," Olga said again, not denying the dire situation, but reinforcing her and everyone else's hopes in Veyron and the yet-unseen Merlin.
"What's going on with her?"
Veyron walked over to the pool, looking down at the elegant high elf with fair skin and golden hair, lying peacefully underwater with her hands crossed over her chest.
"Back then, seven years ago, when the goddess forcefully revived herself through Celestine's body, it took a heavy toll—physically and mentally. And after the barrier was put up, she had to continuously maintain it," Olga explained as she stood up.
"For the past few years, aside from the rare public appearance to give people hope, she's been here almost the whole time, soaking in the sacred spring to recover."
"I thought the barrier was a one-time thing?" Veyron raised an eyebrow.
He had only heard that the barrier was created using part of the goddess's remaining power. And the seven fortresses were the weak points in the barrier.
The cultists attacked those weak spots relentlessly, hoping to tear down the entire barrier from there. Meanwhile, the Alliance held the fortresses, betting that the enemy wouldn't ignore the easier marks to hit the stronger ones instead.
Their strategy was to kill the cultists before they could reach the barrier, to reduce the strain on it.
"There's no way it was a one-and-done kind of thing," Olga shook her head. "If the leftover power from seven years ago was enough to hold off the corrupted for this long, we would've just used that power to purge the corruption instead of building this barrier."
"Umm..."
"In that situation, the goddess did everything she possibly could."
A soft, muffled voice echoed up from the pool—Celestine had sat up, her wet hair clinging to her shoulders as she took over the explanation.
"Also, keeping the barrier up until now hasn't been my effort alone. If... if Olga and the others hadn't kept this spring going, I would've died long ago." Celestine said in a sad tone.
"Let's not get sentimental," Olga replied coolly, glancing at her. "Just like you said when you came to me seven years ago—without the barrier, in my current state, not even Black City could protect my people."
"Do you have to sound so stiff every time you talk to someone?"
Celestine smiled wryly, and before Olga could continue, she shifted the topic back to Veyron.
"We can talk about the rest later. For now, let's not waste Lord Veyron's time."
"Eh, I've got a bit of time," Veyron replied. "But since we're on the subject, I've got a question."
"Is there anything I can actually do right now—something that'll help save as many survivors as possible? Just so we're clear, don't count on me or Merlin for purifying or cleansing any of that evil god corruption stuff. That's not our thing."
He glanced at little Merlin and saw her crossing her arms in front of her to make a big X: Nope. Zero help there.
"There was nothing in the goddess's prophecy about that. She only told us to support you and your companion fully—whatever you need, we'll provide," Celestine said with an apologetic look.
"And what about you guys?" Veyron asked, not hiding the frustration in his voice. "It's been seven years. Whether it's practical or not, you must have tried to come up with some way to fix things or at least improve the situation, right?"
Celestine's apologetic expression deepened.
"..."
---
Veyron: "'...So what, we're just supposed to hang around and wait for these guys to figure something out? All for the sake of those 90,000 reward points and that 4.8 score?'"
He sent a private thought to Merlin.
"'How about we just go ask her?'"
Merlin gestured at the massive goddess statue.
"Ha? I thought she was asleep? You got a way to wake her up?"
"If her reincarnated vessel is willing to help, we might be able to give it a shot," Merlin said as she waved her staff.
The statue of the goddess suddenly lit up with radiant golden light, shimmering with divine brilliance.
"Not like it's a mystery why people say the end of the world is prime time for religion."
"Seven years. Seven million innocent girls, living on this sacred land, sheltered by the goddess in a world drenched in corruption—imagine the kind of pure, unwavering faith that builds up over time…"
Merlin spoke softly, explaining the source of the divine glow now radiating from the statue.
.
.
.