Barbarian in a Failed Game

The room was filled with stained glass depicting the gods of heaven. The only furniture inside was a bed just big enough for one person, a thick book of theology, and a wardrobe containing spare sacred robes.

To put it nicely, the room was orderly, but in truth, it was quite bleak. The owner of this room was Elena.

Chosen by the Goddess of Justice as the prospective wielder of the Scales, she had uncovered the corruption within the upper echelons of the church, secured a cardinal’s position, and gained an undeniable voice. Now, she had begun to exude the aura of a mature woman.

‘…Today, too.’

Elena’s closed eyes slowly opened. Though she rarely showed emotional turmoil, even she couldn’t hide the slight tremble in her gaze.

‘Today again. No answer.’

The Goddess of Justice had stopped responding to Elena’s prayers. In fact, he had stopped responding to the prayers of all priests and paladins who served Him.

Had something gone wrong? But then again… what could possibly go wrong with a heavenly God? And even if the Goddess of Justice had somehow been annihilated…

Paah.

‘There’s no problem with holy power.’

If that were the case, most of the immense holy power Elena possessed should have vanished. Yet, she was still a cardinal-level priest capable of using holy arts, and her ability to wield pure holy power was among the best in the church.

“…I don’t understand.”

A sigh escaped Elena’s lips.

‘There’s already too much to worry about….’

Since becoming a cardinal, the tasks she was responsible for were overwhelmingly heavy and complex for a young priestess who had just shed her girlish innocence. She frequently found herself signing documents that decided the lives of many.

It was the side effect of abruptly overthrowing the corrupt leadership. Cardinal Zion, the cardinal of Levant, had temporarily moved to the main temple to share the workload, but…

Given that the Pantheon Church’s activities spanned the entire continent, it was an insurmountable task. On top of that, the worst happened: Khan got caught in a demon’s trap. As the conflict with the demon escalated, an internal war broke out.

‘I just want to quit….’

Hundreds, no, thousands of times she had considered abandoning everything and returning to the secular world in a fit of rage. If Khan had seen her expression, he would have likened it to that of an overworked office employee.

‘Now, even if I want to quit, I can’t.’

Elena’s gaze shifted to the firmly closed door, her self-mocking smile fading. It was an ordinary door she could walk through at any time. It wasn’t barred from the outside, nor was there any measure preventing her from leaving. But for the past ten days, Elena had not stepped outside.

No, she couldn’t.

“Cardinal Elena. Could it be that something has gone wrong since the Goddess is not answering our prayers?”

“Rather than the delusion that the Goddess of Justice has encountered a problem, wouldn’t it be more plausible that she is silent due to Her disappointment in your conduct?”

“We have confirmed that Cardinal Elena and seventeen other paladins have not received any divine responses. Regrettably, let us take this time to reflect in prayer. Additionally, as soon as Apostle Aries and the paladin of the Ishtantil family return, we will investigate whether they have received any divine responses.”

Elena and several paladins were caught in the church’s internal “self-purification” actions triggered by the Goddess of Justice’s silence.

From an external perspective, it seemed somewhat forced, but for those who served the gods, it was a suspicion they could not escape. Elena accepted the order for self-reflection.

While she was confined in the single-room prison known as the “prayer room.” the newly empowered cardinals began to move. They aimed to reduce Elena’s influence and the voice of the Paladin Order within the church, suppressing dissent by claiming their own piety as justification.

The reason Elena, confined in her room, was aware of these behind-the-scenes maneuvers was simple.

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

At her permission, a small, cute-looking girl entered the room. She was one of the many apprentice priests helping with various chores at the main temple in hopes of becoming a priestess.

And.

“Sister, sister! I have amazing news…!”

The girl had grown up with Elena at the convent run by former vice-captain of the Paladin Order, bertha, and was as close as a real sister.

“Why the fuss now? Are they saying they’ll strip the title of Cardinal from my name?”

“They talk about that all day. No, it’s something more interesting!”

“What is it?”

Reluctantly indulging her younger sister’s excitement, Elena’s expression gradually hardened.

“There’s talk of the church retracting the ‘Oath of Purification.’

With the spread of demonic realms becoming uncontrollable, the idea is that instead of focusing on hopeless great demonic realm exterminations, they should use that force to eradicate the demonic realms outside.”

“…So?”

“So what?”

“That story. How far has it progressed?”

“How would I know?”

Elena swallowed a sigh at the girl’s perky shoulder shrug, thinking she didn’t realize how terrible the news she was delivering was.

‘The Oath of Purification… It’s a safeguard to prevent a few transcendents from controlling the fate of the continent and a measure to prevent the overflow of great demonic realms. They’re thinking of rescinding it?’

This wasn’t something to be casually dismissed. The danger of unchecked great demonic realms was obvious, but the real problem was the transcendents who would be unleashed without their restraints.

Their number wasn’t many.

Only five.

‘But if you include the Sword Master of Sword Mountain, who was bound by the oath for being deemed a transcendent force, six monsters would be unleashed at once?’

The continent would fall into great chaos. Living disasters more terrifying than suddenly appearing and encroaching demonic realms would rampage freely across the continent.

The emperor would certainly oppose this.

“Are you sure this came from the upper levels of the church?”

“Yeah. It’s almost a certainty within the main temple.”

“…It’s a fifty-fifty chance.”

The oath’s issuers were twofold.

The emperor and the heavens.

The emperor would resist nullifying the oath as much as possible. After all, it was he who had bound the transcendents with this cunning strategy. He was also well aware that the wrathful blades of these transcendents would be directed at him.

“Thanks for the news.”

“No need to thank me! Oh, and there’s also a rumor that heresy trials against non-human races will be conducted. Considering the recent war initiated by the Beastmen, and the havoc caused by the Dwarven pirates and the Paradise faction, it seems that’s the reason.”

After chatting with the girl about various things and allowing her to loaf around to her heart’s content, Elena spoke lightly to her satisfied younger sister.

“Don’t worry about bringing news for a while. I need to focus on my prayers.”

“Got it!”

Elena waved goodbye to the smiling girl, but her own expression gradually turned cold.

Until now, she hadn’t felt the need to move hastily, but things had changed.

‘The Oath of Purification, heresy trials.’

Neither could be allowed to happen. The former was obvious, but the latter was just as important. The non-human races included the barbarian of Hoarfrost Gorge, and currently, the elves and dwarves were practically under Khan’s rule.

‘Perhaps… the true target isn’t the Beastmen, elves, or dwarves….’

Elena’s thoughts raced as she pondered.

“…The Paladin Order won’t do.”

This wasn’t a fight that could be won by force. It had to be fought with reason and faith, using words to choke the life out of the opponent in the church’s power struggles.

‘What cards can I play at this point?’

It wasn’t uncommon for priests not to receive responses from their gods. If gods responded to every prayer of their followers, the gods of the Pantheon, who had followers all over the continent, would be summoned all day long without rest.

Thus, a divine response was proof that the God took an interest in the matter and a testament to one’s faith. Elena and the paladins not receiving a response cast suspicion on their loyalty.

‘I lack both justification and faith.’

So, how could she….

As Elena’s worries deepened,

Bang— Bang—

“……?”

The sound from the stained-glass wall broke her concentration. For a moment, she thought she had misheard, but—

Bang. Bang.

The same sound came again, and her face twisted slightly. She was confined in a prayer room at the top of the highest tower in the main temple.

Swoosh.

Elena quietly slid her hand into the sleeve of her sacred robe and cautiously approached the wall. No matter how mad with power the cardinals might be, would they send an assassin after her? There was no harm in being careful….

“Oh dear, you should have made some noise inside. It was so quiet I thought no one was here.”

“……!”

Elena spun around, startled by the voice coming from behind her. Almost simultaneously, she lashed out with a kick—

“Why, why are you attacking me!”

The bald man who had effortlessly blocked her attack quickly stepped back in surprise.

“You are…?”

“Don’t you remember me? I’m Alejandro.”

“…Of course I remember.”

Alejandro was the notorious assassin, famed for killing countless Beastmen commanders on the front lines, a figure akin to the Grim Reaper. Even without their shared connection to Khan, it was impossible not to know him.

But…

“Why are you here?”

She couldn’t completely let her guard down; the chaotic turmoil she had endured was too shadowy and grim. Moreover, since Khan’s disappearance, the remaining comrades’ unity wasn’t what it used to be.

“The boss sent me. Said things here are urgent.”

“…! Has Khan returned?! Did Ludmilla’s plan succeed?”

“Uh, not exactly. From what I heard, he returned on his own. Being who he is, we just accepted it.”

Escaping Hell after falling into a trap set by the Scion of the Arch Demon? It sounded like a fictional tale, but Elena didn’t doubt it for a second.

“Then, Aries and Sir Leonir must be with him, so Khan must be aware of the issues with the Goddess of Justice. And about the Oath of Purification and the heresy trials?”

“Before coming here, he already spoke with His Majesty. According to His Majesty, the oath has already been compromised…”

“Compromised?”

“Apostle of the Knight God…? Reports have come from the border of the great demonic realm that he appeared and then vanished.”

“…!”

The Apostle of the Knight God. Hearing that name made Elena’s face harden. She had never met him personally, but his notorious reputation through documents and rumors was well deserved.

‘Executor E-Urel.’

Across the entire Pantheon Church…

No, among all current humanity, he was the pure human who had lived the longest—

“The executor of heresy trials… appearing now, amid the ongoing heresy trials against barbarian and other non-human races.”

“Yes. Most likely, he’s targeting the boss.”

Dangerous.

Elena instinctively knew this was no time to debate legitimacy and faith. The name of Executor E-Urel carried that much weight. Even for her, who had witnessed the Great Warrior slay dragons, demons, and giants, predicting a chance of victory against E-Urel was difficult.

The reason was simple. He was the one who captured transcendents who refused to enter the great demonic realm alive and threw them in.

“We can’t waste any more time. Where is Khan…? No, I must move myself…!”

The Apostle of the Knight God would surely come to the Pantheon’s main temple. Before he appeared and took control of the church, she had to take whatever measures she could.

However.

“Well, actually…”

Upon realizing the issues with the Goddess of Justice and that he was being targeted through the emperor, Khan didn’t run.

“The boss. He’s already outside.”

“What?!”

Just as Elena, shocked, turned her gaze outside, a blaring alarm echoed through the entire main temple.

Deeeng— Deeeng— Deeeng—!

Signaling that the feared situation had erupted.

“I… I tried to stop him, but he insisted on facing the trial.”