An ambush really is the best strategy.

To be able to take down so many clergy at once—

If they had been fully alert, pulling this off wouldn’t have been so easy.

“…Haa.”

I looked around.

With every person collapsed and silence filling the space, I could finally see things I hadn’t noticed before.

Sunlight filtered through the stained-glass windows, casting a soft glow over the dust in the air.

For a moment, it was peaceful enough to forget that this was the heart of Pleroma’s diocese.

Leo’s calm voice echoed through the cathedral.

“Have I mentioned before? That soon, I won’t even come close to reaching your level.”

I scoffed.

“When you say soon, do you mean in about thirty years?”

Maybe divine magic was an exception because of holy power, but in terms of combat magic, I couldn’t even reach Leo’s ankle.

Not just his feet. The gap was enormous.

It only looked manageable because I made up for my lack of skill by spamming sheer firepower.

Leo let out a quiet laugh and shook his head.

“No. So, how much did you erase?”

“The spatial layering magic, the Catacomb’s leadership, and all memories of Nicolas from today.”

The laypeople might be innocent, but the clergy here had kidnapped and slaughtered countless people.

I had considered either wiping them out completely or erasing all their memories.

But—

‘There’s one thing that bothers me.’

It was better to wait for Pleroma to make the first move rather than giving them an excuse—“Nicolas has now invaded the heart of the diocese. We must retaliate.”

‘…I need to consider Bavaria, too.’

My reckless actions shouldn’t cause innocent people to suffer.

That was why I erased all memory of Nicolas being here.

Right now, I had the upper hand. It was better to leave them unaware that they had lost.

“These people are just sleeping, right? How long will they stay like this?”

“Until someone channels magic into them.”

Shaking them awake wouldn’t work.

If no one poured magic into their bodies, they could sleep for a year, ten years—

Of course, they’d starve to death before that happened.

‘More importantly, I need to get ready for Ainsidel.’

That meant removing this cathedral.

I had successfully incapacitated all the clergy in the diocese.

I couldn’t let Ainsidel come in and wake them up.

“Leo. What about the others?”

Leo tapped his ear lightly.

I couldn’t see it, but he must have been using a sensory-link artifact.

“They’ve burned all the documents and are searching the auxiliary bishop’s office for anything useful.”

“Good. Then ask them if they can lift the entire cathedral into the Intermediate Realm.”

Leo relayed my message, then nodded.

If Richthofen and Narce were handling the information extraction, I could afford to conserve my strength.

I had originally planned to use mind magic to force information out of the clergy, but I had to avoid that now.

‘At this rate, my eyes are going to start bleeding.’

The smell of blood in my breath was bad enough, but now my eyes were stinging, too.

As I rubbed my fists into my eyes, Leo looked at me in shock before patting my back.

A wave of magic, the same color as his eyes, spread around me.

[Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.]

“…!”

A high-level healing spell.

It wasn’t the simplified version he had used before.

The pain that had felt like a hammer pounding into every inch of my body slowly faded.

“This works well. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s a miracle you’re even standing.”

Leo covered his nose and quickly pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, wiping away his own nosebleed.

So it’s plus-minus-zero in the end, huh?

“…Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. You’re holding up, so this is nothing.”

Leo muttered,

“When I was a kid, I used to skip medical magic classes just to be rebellious. Never thought I’d end up relying on the spells I learned anyway.”

“You? Skipping class?”

“Haha… If I’d known this would happen, I’d have studied healing magic more seriously.”

His skills were already top-tier.

And honestly, any magic was difficult to cast in this environment, given how heavily cursed magic was layered over the area.

‘The only option is to wake someone up and force them to dispel the curse.’

Just as I was about to move, Leo stopped me.

“Lucas.”

“Yeah?”

“With that face, they’ll obey you. Just order them to remove the curse.”

“…Hmm.”

“What?”

“I was just thinking the same thing.”

“Oh? Then hurry up. I’ll heal you right after.”

Good.

The auxiliary bishop should be among the clergy here.

I scanned the room.

‘There he is.’

I walked toward a clergyman wearing a purple fascia around his waist, then cleared my throat and fired a pulse of magic into his core.

His eyes snapped open.

“…Ghk—!”

“You sure wake up dramatically.”

“B-Bishop?! Someone just attacked my core—!”

“I know. Get up. We need to track down Nicolas immediately.”

The bishop’s face went pale as he took in the sight of all the unconscious clergy around him.

“Nicolas Ernst?! But… what in the world…?!”

“This is his doing. The current curse magic in place won’t work anymore. We need to replace it, so remove the old one immediately.”

“Y-yes!”

The bishop scrambled to his feet.

I hadn’t used any honorifics while addressing him.

I had no idea how Ainsidel referred to his subordinates, so I had just barked commands without any unnecessary flourishes.

Luckily, he hadn’t questioned it.

Maybe it was because he had just woken up, or maybe the chaotic situation left him too distracted to think.

The bishop warped away and returned shortly after.

“It’s done! What now, Your Excellency?!”

“It’s done?”

“Yes!”

At his booming response, I snapped my fingers.

A stream of pure white divine power flowed effortlessly from my hand.

No pain in my core.

“Oh.”

“B-Bishop?”

I grinned at the bewildered auxiliary bishop.

Then, I caught the wand Leo tossed to me and aimed it at him.

—Unless Yahweh guards the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.

His shocked eyes lost focus.

I sidestepped as his body collapsed to the floor.

Thud—!

I had thought this before, but… skipping class to study divine power was worth it.

I erased all his memories cleanly before standing up.

“…This actually worked.”

Leo let out a dumbfounded laugh before casting a healing spell on me.

Just then, he pressed a hand to his ear.

“Let’s go. They’re here.”

I stepped over the fallen bodies and exited the cathedral.

Beyond the door Leo had opened, Narce and Richthofen were waiting.

Richthofen surveyed the pile of unconscious Pleromas and smiled meaningfully.

“…You really did it.”

“Of course. The curse magic has been removed, so feel free to use your powers.”

“Haha, no wonder my core suddenly feels lighter.”

“……”

Richthofen kept smiling for a while, then slammed his staff into the ground.

From beneath him, a surge of golden magic swept through the cathedral.

[Si vis vitam, para mortem!]

In an instant, the entire congregation vanished.

Richthofen peered inside and asked,

“You left them alive on purpose, right?”

“Yes.”

“Got it. They’re in the Intermediate Realm now, so just tell me when to bring them back.”

I nodded and asked,

“Did you find anything useful?”

“We took a few things from the auxiliary bishop’s office. We also destroyed the contract with the Catacomb.”

“…Wait, you took documents?”

“I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry. Farnese had an interesting idea.”

“We relocated some random documents from the office to other clergy members’ offices. They’ll have fun sorting that mess out.”

“……”

It was a solid move.

With Insight, Narce probably chose people prone to infighting.

As I briefly questioned Narce’s ethics, he handed me a stack of papers.

[Request for a Political Alliance with Pleroma – Various Nations]

Below that, several lines were highlighted in fountain pen.

Always maintain an outwardly anti-Pleroma stance and actively participate in related movements: Maintain an appropriate level to avoid suspicion.

No new blood imports or proselytization until January.

“Unfortunately, the politicians’ names weren’t listed. Looks like they learned from the Strauch incident.”

Good.

At least they were capable of learning.

‘Various nations, huh? This has spread farther than I thought.’

‘When we return, we’ll start with the Bavarian government.’

One by one, we’d interrogate them.

Next document.

[Imperial Intelligence Bureau – N.E. Task Force Promotion]

Discussion: Promote the N.E. Task Force under the Bavarian Intelligence Bureau to an independent N.E. Division under the Imperial Intelligence Bureau.

Votes: 12 in favor / 0 abstentions / 0 opposed – Approved.

“……”

N.E. …

They meant Nicolas Ernst.

They had upgraded an entire intelligence division just to monitor me.

“…This is basically a compliment.”

“You sound oddly proud.”

“Well, it’s already happened. What can I do about it?”

I flipped through the remaining pages.

‘Hmm.’

Honestly, everything I’d read so far was predictable.

But this—

This was beyond expectations.

Not only had we removed the spatial layering magic, but we now had leverage to redirect the Emperor’s attention.

This information could help us settle our business with the Emperor.

I had already decided how much to share with him and how much to keep.

I handed the documents to Richthofen and turned to my companions.

“Alright, time for a strategy meeting.”

“Strategy meeting?”

“The bishop is still left.”

***

Boom—!

The cathedral doors burst open as someone stormed inside.

The sun was setting, casting a blinding backlight that obscured their face.

But I recognized that silhouette.

The newcomer was panting like mad—and laughing.

“Haha… Ha….”

This was our first meeting in this timeline.

I lifted my wand, locking eyes with the shocked Ainsidel.

—Enter through the narrow gate.

Even as my magic activated, Ainsidel kept laughing hollowly as he scanned the empty floor.

‘As expected.’

It didn’t work.

If he had rushed in this quickly, he must have known something was wrong.

There was no way he came unprepared.

Either he had fortified his physical defenses to the maximum, or he had cast spatial layering magic.

Ainsidel frantically searched the room, acting as if I wasn’t even there.

Then, he suddenly snapped his gaze toward me.

“…That’s me.”

Ainsidel gripped the doorway, chuckling.

“This… This is how you choose to piss me off again? I was going to be nice….”

‘Piss him off again?’

The first time must have been Berner Strauch.

I smiled.

“Shall we introduce ourselves properly?”

“I already know you—Nicolas. And it seems you know me, too.”

“You got it. Sit.”

“…Sit? Now?”

Ainsidel burst into hysterical laughter.

Boom—!

I caught his attack as it flew toward my neck.

I wasn’t about to fall for the same trick twice.

He tilted his head, studying me.

“Hah. Well, the one who killed Bern should be at least this impressive.”

“……”

The exact same words he had used before.

Still grinning madly, he stepped closer.

“Alright, let’s hear what you have to say.”

“You’re not in a position to listen.”

I pointed Leo’s wand at him.

“Remove the magic.”

“And if I refuse?”

I smiled.

“Then I’ll kill every last one of your subordinates. Let’s see what happens if all the clergy in Osnabrück die at once.”

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