The Priest had failed.

He had lasted a commendable three minutes in his struggle against the corrupting influence of magical entertainment.

It wasn’t that his will was weak, but that the enemy’s methods were simply too cunning.

By the third round of the game, he had only been casually placing a few pieces to fight off the neutral monsters.

But then, a card that refreshed in his shop caught his eye.

It was a Holy Knight holding the Holy Words of the Goddess, his cheeks tattooed with prayers in crimson gold. He wore pure white armor inlaid with the emblems of the Church, and his three-headed flail represented the trinity of the Holy Mother, the Holy Son, and the Holy Spirit.

This was the famous Holy Knight of the Judgment Court, Saint Ka Ao, who had single-handedly defended Oak Town.

In the year 1451 of the Second Age, the residents of Oak Town had abandoned the darkness for the light, no longer worshipping a false Heterodox Evil God and choosing instead to bask in the Goddess’s glory.

The Goddess said to be merciful, so Her followers ought to accept the lost sheep who had found their way again.

However, the wicked heretics would not spare those who had returned to the light, determined to make them fall back into darkness once more.

And so, the Goddess sent Her messenger, Saint Ka Ao, to the besieged Oak Town.

Saint Ka Ao used his flail to purify three hundred heretics who were lost in darkness, unable to hear the Goddess’s guidance.

He also chanted a Holy Song to convert the heretical leader.

’Just as Saint Ka Ao defended Oak Town, I must make the other seven lost unbelievers on this auto-battler board witness the Goddess’s glory.’

So, the Priest unhesitatingly spent One Gold Coin to purchase Saint Ka Ao from the shop.

As a devout believer who had grown up in the Church with absolutely no exposure to games, the young Priest had a surprisingly good understanding of the game.

After briefly reading Saint Ka Ao’s Skill description—providing damage reduction to nearby allies and a chance to redirect attacks to himself—he immediately identified him as a front-row support. He should be starred up as much as possible without overspending, but he shouldn’t be the primary user of front-row equipment because his base stats weren’t high enough.

He was leagues better than the old Dwarf who, despite having played several games, still insisted on giving damage items to his frontline units.

And after Saint Ka Ao entered the board, the Holy Professional synergy popped up in the synergy bar on the left.

’This game even has a Holy Professional lineup?’

The Priest tried clicking on the synergy icon, which brought up a description of its effect and the units included in the lineup.

Assembling enough Holy Professionals activates the Blessing of the Magic Goddess.

Blessing of the Magic Goddess: Every fallen Holy Professional will return to the Goddess’s embrace, providing healing and buffs to their comrades still in battle.

’What a perfect effect for Holy Professionals.’

Every Holy Professional should sacrifice themselves one after another, offering their all to spread the glory of the Goddess.

’The designer of this game must surely worship the Goddess’s radiance as well.’

’Otherwise, how could they have created a Holy Professional effect that aligns so perfectly with our doctrine?’

’As a devout servant of the Goddess, it is my duty to bring Her blessing to every corner of the world.’

’Now I have no choice but to play.’

However, he soon noticed that reaching the highest level of the Holy Professional synergy required nine Holy Professional units, yet the synergy interface showed that there were only seven units with the Holy Professional class.

’Doesn’t that mean it’s impossible to complete?’

’No, wait. If I remember correctly, the promotional announcement mentioned that among the three battlefield augments, there’s a chance to get a synergy-increasing effect.’

In his quest to find everything in this game that went against the holy will, he had listened very carefully to Zog’s introduction, not missing a single point he could critique.

Luck. He was never worried about that.

Fortune favors every believer of the Goddess.

Sure enough, during the augment selection round, one of the three options was "Holy Professional Synergy +1."

He chose it without hesitation. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

But even so, he was still one Holy Professional short.

’That’s right! There are also the Tomes of Conversion.’

Besides battlefield augments, this was the other way to increase a synergy.

By combining a special Dragon Scale with another piece of equipment, one could obtain a Tome of Conversion.

’It’s just like accepting a lost sheep.’

’This designer truly is a person who deeply understands the doctrine. To think I actually suspected this game of being a blasphemy against Magic.’

’This game is actually spreading the glory of the Goddess!’

The Priest lost his last shred of guilt about indulging in entertainment, and in its place grew a subtle sense of mission.

’I am practicing the teachings of our faith!’

Free of his mental burden, he could now throw himself wholeheartedly into the game.

After some thought, he realized that if the Holy Professional lineup needed a Tome of Conversion, then other lineups should logically need them as well.

The Goddess says to be fair.

’That designer would surely design the game according to the holy oracle. After all, he is so devout that he would even violate the prohibition on magical entertainment to spread the doctrine.’

’May the just Goddess forgive this pious sinner.’

At the commentator’s desk, Zog suddenly felt goosebumps all over his body. Of course, it was just a feeling, since Dragons don’t actually get goosebumps.

He looked at the players in the trial game and saw the young Priest from the Church staring at him with an extremely complicated expression.

It was a look of thirty percent pity, thirty percent approval, thirty percent praise, and a final ten percent of loving-kindness.

A pie chart. It was a pie chart! Zog saw a pie chart in that gaze!

’This Priest is nuts.’

But Zog quickly figured it out. ’You have to be a little crazy to make a living in the Church anyway.’

At that moment, the Priest averted his gaze. He now had to work towards getting a Tome of Conversion.

In the item selection round, there was a high chance for a Dragon Scale to appear. In that round, the players’ pick order was determined by their health in reverse order.

In other words, the players with the lowest health had the advantage in that round.

Since the Dragon Scale was an item everyone needed, he had to improve his own pick order for that round.

Therefore, he should intentionally lose to lower his health.

He had already grasped the loss-streaking tactic.

Toto noticed him intentionally fielding weak units and offered a rare word of praise.

"For a beginner to figure that out in their first game, their comprehension is excellent."

An affirmation from the King of Boosting!

Then he glanced at Bane Furnace, who was dancing with joy because his one two-star unit had managed to turn the tables and kill three of the Priest’s units.

He couldn’t even tell his opponent was losing on purpose, and was still taunting excitedly, "Three against one and you still lost? Do you even know how to play?!"

’Worthless apprentice!’

The Priest loss-streaked for three consecutive rounds and, just as he’d hoped, successfully obtained a Dragon Scale during the item selection stage.

After that, it was all smooth sailing; it was as if the dealer was his own father.

He leveled up to a population of nine with over a hundred Gold Coins in hand, all without a single extra roll. He had assembled a perfect lineup purely from free units.

On the round he hit level nine, he spent all his Gold Coins in one go. He had only one target: the Five-Cost Card, the Cardinal.

He rolled with incredible speed and, in the final second before the preparation phase ended, he combined them into a three-star Archbishop.

Bane Furnace, who was in second place, was truly a man of principle. After seeing someone hit a three-star Five-Cost Card, he didn’t just click the surrender button.

He took his hands off his controls, stopped adjusting his positioning, and waited for the beatdown in the combat phase.

A three-star Five-Cost unit was just that terrifying.

The moment the Archbishop’s mana bar filled, he chanted a solemn prayer. As the chant concluded, divine punishment descended, and all of Bane’s pieces were annihilated in a single blow.

A phantom of the Magic Goddess Statue rose above the board.

The Priest shot to his feet, raising his arms high. He had once again spread the glory of the Goddess.

However, when he looked toward the audience, the Bishop was shaking his head at him in disappointment.

’Did I do something wrong?’

The Priest grew incredibly nervous, a sudden wave of guilt washing over him. But the mix of anxiety and guilt did not replace his excitement.

Instead, it was strangely—

Even more exciting.