From the top floor of Trinity Tower where the scenery of District 17 could be seen at a glance, a young man stood gazing at the outside landscape.
Blood-red hair. Ceremonial robes in a harmonious tone of white and red. Even his unnaturally pale skin. He was a young man with an impressive, somehow transcendent atmosphere that didn't match his youthful appearance.
Then someone called his name from behind.
"Cardinal Zaxilos."
The young man called Zaxilos turned around. There he saw a middle-aged man who appeared to be roughly twice his age bowing his head respectfully.
Zaxilos, as if it were natural, addressed him condescendingly.
"Yes, Archbishop Mirak. What is it?"
Archbishop Mirak, who wore red ceremonial robes like Zaxilos, reported the news he had recently encountered.
"Recently, a banquet hall where followers gathered in the 20th district area was attacked by someone."
"Attacked, you say. How truly curious. Do they know where that place is?""The attackers seem to have carried it out knowing that it was a place where we conduct missionary work. According to the blood memories read at the scene, there were only two attackers."
At the mention of two, Zaxilos' eyebrows twitched. Seeing this, Archbishop Mirak hurriedly bowed his head. As if extremely apologetic. Cardinal Zaxilos waved his hand and said.
"Explain further."
"...They obtained information about us beforehand, then secretly infiltrated and launched a surprise attack from within. The believers noticed and fierce combat broke out there, and all the believers died."
"They all seem to have returned to Him. What about the identities of the attackers?"
Even at the news that the believers had died, Zaxilos' face remained calm. As if it didn't matter how many of such things died.
"Based on what we read through the blood memories, nothing is known except that they were a pair of male and female."
At those words, Cardinal Zaxilos let out a "Hmm" of admiration. Those at the bishop level can learn information about what someone experienced through the blood they shed.
And if it wasn't just anyone but an archbishop who personally went out, detailed analysis of what happened at that scene should have been possible.
Yet Archbishop Mirak was now saying he couldn't properly find out.
"Archbishop Mirak. This is truly troubling. To think you could only read that much through blood memories. But to doubt your incompetence would be quite different from the satisfactory performance you've shown so far."
Archbishop Mirak bowed his head deeply as if ashamed.
"I am deeply ashamed."
"Can you explain in detail what happened?"
Cardinal Zaxilos soothed Mirak with a benevolent voice. But Archbishop Mirak trembled involuntarily the moment he heard that voice.
Mirak spoke again to Zaxilos' back as he gazed out the window.
"I put my heart and soul into it since we needed to obtain information about the enemies who attacked us. But what I saw was only pitch-black shadows and pure white light."
"Wait."
Zaxilos showed a proper reaction for the first time.
"Shadows and light? Are you sure you saw correctly?"
"Yes. That was all I saw. The only reason I could tell they were male and female was because I could at least see their silhouettes. That light and shadow moved and massacred all the believers. It was truly overwhelming and one-sided devastation."
"Hmm. No matter how newly initiated the believers were, they shouldn't have been that weak. Who was in charge there?"
"Senior Priest Demian. He was skilled at managing believers and received good evaluations compared to his rank. He was material to become the next bishop."
"From your reaction, it seems Senior Priest Demian also returned to Him. Did you read his memories?"
"That's...Senior Priest Demian's blood did not exist."
"Did not exist?"
Zaxilos' eyebrows twitched. He was displeased by the series of strange reports.
"As if erased by something, Demian's blood was not visible. I wondered if he might have escaped alive, but that wasn't the case either."
Mirak conveyed the facts he knew exactly as they were, without any exaggeration or reduction. Zaxilos listened quietly to those words, then looked out the window again.
"Cardinal, what should we do?"
"What happened to the scene?"
"We managed to cover it up as much as possible using the believers, but the city government seems to have caught wind of it."
"Of course. A secret banquet hall became a mess, so the dirty laundry was bound to be exposed. We should have been more careful."
They had grown their power secretly and steadily by hiding in the city's darkness. But recently, they had encountered various obstacles.
"Listen. Archbishop Mirak. How many years has it been since you became archbishop?"
"...About 120 years."
"Short if short, long if long."
Even at the shocking statement that Mirak, who appeared to be only 40, had lived for at least 120 years, Zaxilos was not surprised.
He couldn't help it. Cardinal Zaxilos was the highest figure in the Eternal Divine Church, which had no pope. He was a being who had lived for hundreds of years, having established the Eternal Divine Church without being revealed to the world and nurtured it to this point.
"Archbishop Mirak. Do you know how I came this far?"
"Yes? That, I'm not sure."
"Feel free to give your honest opinion."
"Well, isn't it because the Cardinal was more devout than anyone else, so the Red Eternity favored you and you rose to this position?"
Words mixed with appropriate praise and flattery.
"It wasn't bad to hear and not wrong either, but it's not the complete correct answer."
"I see."
"When I first tried to pledge loyalty to the Red Eternity, there were superiors above me. But they all disappeared and only I remained. Do you know why? Because in those days, there were many monsters that threatened our existence. I was able to survive because I was weak at that time."
Because he was weak, because he didn't fight bravely, he survived. These were quite shocking words for someone who had risen to the position of cardinal.
"Through that, I realized one thing. No matter how great the authority one is born with, one must never step forward. And in any situation, one must be fully prepared."
This was the biggest reason he could grow his power to this extent in Tirna without being caught.
"You must assume the worst possible situation and respond with your best effort without missing even the smallest details. I was able to survive for a very long time with that mindset. I overcame various crises that way."
"That's, that's amazing."
"Living like this, I developed a kind of sense, you could say my eyes opened. It wouldn't be wrong to say I came to see things others couldn't see. In my view, what's happening now is a great danger to our divine church."
"Yes? Danger is going too far..."
Mirak, who was about to ask if he wasn't worrying too much, realized he had harbored irreverent doubts and bowed his head instead of raising it as he had intended.
"Well done, Archbishop Mirak. If you had raised your head just a little more, that head wouldn't have remained intact."
At those words, Mirak trembled violently. Zaxilos reached his hand toward one wall. Then something emerged from the shadowy corner of the spacious room.
It was one of the Dead Dagger assassins wearing black clothing.
"Yes. Child. What have you discovered?"
Zaxilos asked the assassin in a benevolent and gentle voice.
"Yes. The city government has currently sent people to District 17. Elite special forces are currently gathering, and their goal appears to be to locate and eliminate our organization."
"Hmm. I see. Any other reports?"
"The traces of the Blood Brotherhood we've been tracking recently have been cut off. The last place they headed was right here, District 17."
"Ah. You're talking about those children. I remember them because their name contains blood. Didn't they recently clash with believers?"
It was a situation where the city's worst terrorist organization and the city government had targeted this side. For the Eternal Divine Church, which had existed secretly without being caught, that alone was fatal.
"Archbishop Mirak. Tell the believers. Prepare to welcome guests. It's time to offer new blood to God."
"Yes. I understand."
"And the child who brought me the information. I shall give you a special reward."
As soon as Zaxilos said those words.
-Crack!
The body of the Dead Dagger assassin who had reported to him was instantly compressed. Bones, muscles, and organs. Everything contracted as if shrinking to a single point, then melted and transformed into a small marble-sized blood clot.
Zaxilos gently blew at the blood orb.
The blood orb that absorbed the cardinal's breath began to writhe. What had been floating in the air fell to the floor with a splat, then boiled up forming a large pool.
Soon a large shadow rose from the blood pool. Once a Dead Dagger assassin, but now completely corrupted.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't do that so much."
A woman's voice was heard from the air, then a shadow dropped down. It was a middle-aged woman with tanned brown skin, a red eyepatch over one eye, and wrinkles and scars from the rough passage of time.
"Do you know how much trouble I go through to raise one of those guys? To turn such an excellent informant into a monster that only seeks battle."
At those words, Archbishop Mirak stepped forward indignantly.
"How dare this lowly thing! Who do you think you are to run your mouth carelessly in front of whom!"
"Oh my. Look at this, our Archbishop Mirak seems quite angry."
When Archbishop Mirak unleashed killing intent with deadly determination, the surrounding air became sticky and seemed to melt. But the woman acted as if nothing was wrong and even provoked Mirak.
Just as Mirak was about to take action, Zaxilos spoke.
"Stop."
The killing intent Mirak had unleashed instantly subsided. Zaxilos spoke to the middle-aged woman.
"Sorry, Sabrina. However, that child looked so clever that I couldn't bear it without giving him grace."
"Ha. How many have you already turned into that state? Well, whatever. Now isn't the time for such trivial talk. You know, right? This is a complete emergency situation."
Sabrina showed no particular reaction despite the assassin she had painstakingly raised being killed. She would have been angrier if a precious object had been broken.
To her, the Dead Dagger assassins were nothing more than replaceable parts.
"I know. So we must prepare."
"Let me tell you, this is different from those who simply caught our tail. They're properly targeting us and coming. Since the main body has been exposed, cutting off the tail won't work, and eliminating witnesses won't work either."
"Do I look like I'm being careless?"
Sabrina, who met Zaxilos' gaze, clicked her tongue.
"Fine. Anyway, we need to prepare too. Same for me."
"For you to step forward, that's unexpected."
"My former student is coming."
Sabrina said this while touching her eyepatch with her hand.
"Seems you didn't have a good relationship with your student."
"My greatest masterpiece."
"Greatest masterpiece. I'm a bit curious."
"Don't be greedy. That one is mine. There are plenty of other excellent materials besides that one, so be satisfied with those."
Sabrina said this and disappeared as if melting into the shadows.
Zaxilos chuckled and clasped his hands behind his back.
"Archbishop Mirak. Prepare."
"Yes. I'll move immediately."
Mirak withdrew from his position. He told the believers through blood transmission to prepare for enemy attack.
Seeing how the city government was thoroughly searching District 17, at this rate they would likely target this place and attack within 3 days at the earliest.
'Still, it doesn't matter. If they come to us, we should be grateful.'
During their stay at Trinity Building, they hadn't just pretended to be a financial company. This building was inscribed with all kinds of sorcery made from faith in the Red Eternal.
No matter how excellent the superhumans who came, they would surely wander endlessly within this giant living fortress and be digested to death.
'I'll finally taste the blood of the strong.'
Archbishop Mirak also subtly conveyed the situation to other archbishops. The emotions transmitted through blood were also immersed in ecstasy at the thought of being able to taste the blood of the strong like himself.
How much had they suppressed their nature while living mixed among humans, pretending to be a financial company. With an opportunity coming at such a time, it could practically be called a festival.
'Come. We're ready anytime.'
Archbishop Mirak was confident. From the moment they entered this building, they would taste hell. Forget the top floor, they wouldn't even reach the middle floors and would become pools of blood.
Half a day passed while raising vigilance with such anticipation. Night came, and it was the moment when their blood awakened more sensitively.
There was still no sign of enemies attacking. Even if they were sneaking in secretly, this entire building was their domain. Even if Dead Dagger assassins moved secretly, they could grasp all their positions.
Then it became bright outside.
A light brighter than the brilliant lights spread between the buildings of District 17 burst in the sky. Immediately after, a huge shock shook the entire building.
"Enemy? Don't tell me they're trying to attack from outside? Foolish. Do they think this place is so easy?"
Whatever it was, hostilities had begun, so they needed to prepare thoroughly. It was the moment Archbishop Mirak was about to give orders to his subordinate believers. He widened his eyes and looked at the sky outside the window where light was flashing.
His transcendent vision discovered something mixed among the countless lights falling from the air.
"No way!"
Attacking from above?