The few of them fell silent at the same time, looking at one another, pricking up their ears to listen for where the sound was coming from.

Pero was the first to notice something. Ignoring the mud, he dropped flat to the ground and listened carefully.

“Footsteps. Lots and lots of footsteps. They’re close... getting closer and closer...”

The director’s expression changed slightly. She quietly opened the door a crack and looked outside.

On the main street.

Soldiers in silver armor were lined up in neat formation, slowly advancing along the road.

The firelight shining from the buildings on both sides of the street made their armor gleam, but as those flames were quickly extinguished, the entire district seemed to be swallowed by a dark flood.

These soldiers were extremely quiet. As the entire force advanced, it actually produced only the sound of footsteps, and the dreadful aura emanating from them was enough to make ordinary people feel chilled all over.

“This is... an army?”

The director clutched her chest and murmured in confusion, “But why would there be an army here? And these troops...”

“It’s the Kingdom’s Royal Guard!”

Pero poked half his body up from below. He seemed to know this army very well. After seeing the style of their silver armor clearly, he blurted it out almost at once.

“The elite minority force created to guard the royal capital... no, created only to protect the Saint Haze Palace and the King! Why would they be in this place?”

“They seem to just be passing by. And in that direction...”

Aviva looked into the distance. At the other end of the gradually descending night, holy light was slowly rising, fascinating as the morning sun.

“Don’t get involved!”

The director made an immediate decision and shut the main door at once.

“This is not something we can meddle in. Aviva, go call everyone. Gather everyone together and take them to the prayer classroom. Something major may happen tonight. No one is allowed to sleep. Stay awake and adapt as things change!”

“Understood!”

Aviva moved quickly. Her body, restored to health, no longer held her back.

“As for you, Pero, first...”

“I’m going back to my room!”

Pero, too, seemed to have thought of something and suddenly ran toward his room.

“You go first. I need to grab something!”

...

...

The silent, solemn flood of steel suddenly stilled, moving as neatly as one silent beast.

Unlike the silver armor behind him, a black knight tugged on the reins and came to the carriage in the middle of the formation.

“Your Majesty, the soldiers have arrived at their assigned positions. Please give the order.”

“...”

The knight lowered his head and waited for the command.

But after a long while, no sound came from inside the carriage.

Just as the knight thought the person in the carriage had already fallen asleep with the arrival of night, or was quietly contemplating matters concerning the future of the nation, another gentle, pleasant voice sounded.

“Begin. Everything according to plan.”

The carriage curtain was lifted, but the face that emerged was that of a gentle, refined woman.

“But...” The knight was uneasy and did not move.

“Don’t worry. This is your Majesty’s order. He is only a little tired and does not wish to speak.”

The woman tilted her head slightly and asked softly into the carriage:

“Isn’t that right, my King?”

“...Mm.”

After a long while, a response came from within the carriage, neither light nor heavy.

“Understood.”

Even though that voice was so faint, the knight raised no question at all. He tugged the reins again and rode to the very front of the formation.

“All units!”

Clang—

Amid the low roar and the scrape of metal against metal, sharp swords were drawn from their sheaths.

The black knight tightened his grip on the hilt and pointed the tip of his sword toward a place not far away.

At the end of the street, above a magnificent palace, holy light illuminated nearly half the district.

This was the outer perimeter of Saint Haze Palace. That palace was the Ritual Hall serving as the main venue to welcome the Saintess. This place belonged to the royal forbidden grounds, and unrelated people could not enter. So outside that light, layer after layer of ordinary citizens who had followed the Saintess’s procession like a tide had gathered.

They devoutly knelt outside the Ritual Hall’s enclosing walls, almost blocking every entrance and exit, only so they could be a little closer to that holy light.

They continuously recited lines of prayer, utterly unaware that death and threat had already arrived behind them...

In the place the Holy Light could not reach.

“Charge!”

The knight’s sword pointed straight at the Ritual Hall, but the horses’ hooves trampled down on this street that was no longer wide.

Thunderous rumbles rolled out.

The giant beast bared its fangs from the darkness.

...

“Olive, my Olive... where are you?”

The tremor of the army’s charge entered the carriage.

The old man, who had become incomparably gaunt, woke from his dream. His snow-white brows trembled, as if merely opening his eyes had already exhausted all his strength.

“I am here, dear Your Majesty.”

The woman sat beside Saint Peron V and gently clasped his withered, branchlike hand.

“Ah, so you are here...”

As if because he had felt that trace of warmth, Saint Peron V regained much of his strength and forced himself to sit up.

“Your Majesty, please take more care of your body.”

The woman lightly supported Saint Peron V, her movements gentle as if she were holding a delicate, fragile piece of porcelain.

“Your safety is the foundation of this nation. Its importance surpasses everything. Please value yourself.”

“Rest. Of course I want to rest. But the front line... the front line has already... No, not yet. There has not been a problem at the front yet. We have only encountered a small disadvantage, haven’t we, Olive!”

Saint Peron V spoke faster and faster, and a terrifying sharp light actually bloomed in his eyes again.

He tightly gripped the woman’s hand in return and stared straight at her.

“The front line is only suffering a small disadvantage. My elite army is still there. Losing Stensei City is not some major problem. We only need to regroup the army and counterattack to take it back. The Empire’s Lion King army has not arrived yet, and instead, the Empress has advanced deep alone. Add your help, Olive, and right now I, right now the Kingdom, still hold the advantage, don’t we!”

“...”

The woman fell slightly silent, as if organizing her words.

She gazed into the distance, or perhaps at some place outside the city, then turned back and smiled at Saint Peron V.

“Yes. The advantage is yours, my King.”

“I see... That’s good. That’s good.”

Saint Peron V lay back down again, murmuring,

“I just had a dream. I dreamed the imperial army was already at the city walls, that the Kingdom had no way to reverse its fate, and that I... had actually become the ruler of a fallen nation, my ashes trampled under that little imperial bitch’s feet and humiliated at will.”

“How could that be, Your Majesty? You are a great ruler of your age.”

The woman comforted him. “Something like that will absolutely never happen. I promise you.”

“Yes... I am a great ruler. A great ruler who will lead the Kingdom toward endless glory. So all of that... was only a dream, wasn’t it?” Saint Peron V’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.

“Without question. It was only a dream.”

“Then the most important matter you mentioned next—can it be completed?”

“Of course.”

The woman answered, “With Your Majesty’s help, I imagine it can be completed very easily.”

“There won’t be any accidents?”

“There won’t.”

The woman raised her eyes. In her deep pupils, that endless Holy Light was reflected.

“After all... someone will come there to help us.”

...

...

The Holy Light isolated the night, the drizzle, and the cold wind.

Inside the Ritual Hall, everything proceeded in an orderly manner. The slightest ripple from the outside world could not affect this place in the least.

In the deepest area, the statue of the Goddess watched over everyone, its face compassionate and shining brilliantly.

And in front of the statue of the Goddess, the choir was already in position.

The most outstanding clergy from every major church stood straight and tall. Merely by standing there, they added even more sanctity to that radiance.

“Begin.”

The Archbishop stood at the very center. His gaze swept over the Goddess, then over the faces of the clergy one by one, and he nodded in satisfaction.

Finally, he issued the command solemnly:

“Let the sacred hymn be sung!”