After the Saint had left.

In front of the Grand Cathedral, a chilling silence hung in the air.

Though some time had passed since His departure, no one seemed able to collect themselves.

In a way, it wasn’t strange at all.

After all, he was the one they all had sworn loyalty to.

They had just faced that very figure, that magnificent being.

Moreover, He had come to judge them for their heinous deeds.

To maintain any semblance of sanity would have been more surprising.

But… Dominic somehow managed to take a deep breath, steadying his heart.

There was something he had to understand.

Something he had to know.

The last words of the Saint.

The true sin they were unaware of.

And the punishment He had laid upon them, which they would only understand once they faced the truth.

No matter how turbulent his heart was, Dominic could not disregard the will of the Divine.

If the Saint had spoken, Dominic had to fulfill it.

There was no way He would have left such words without a reason.

Dominic rose from his seat.

‘The true sin.’

The real sin that had angered God.

The truth they still didn’t know.

How could they face it?

Where would they go to realize it?

It was all too obvious.

Cardinal Dominic turned his gaze back toward the Grand Cathedral.

The horrific sight visible through the open doors.

Surely, those corpses were the marks of divine punishment. Yet, there was something strange about it.

The punishment upon the people here and the ones inside the cathedral was not the same.

But God is just.

There was absolutely no room for doubt in that.

Then why was there a difference in the punishment?

There could only be one reason.

The weight of their sins was different.

There was some distinction between the people here and those within the Grand Cathedral.

What that distinction was.

What kind of difference it was.

What had happened inside.

He didn’t know that yet…

But at least for now, the task at hand was clear.

He helped those who still hadn’t regained their senses, lifting them up as they walked forward.

Toward the Grand Cathedral, drenched in blood and flesh.

*****

The organs of those strewn across the ground.

Cardinal Caron’s body was probably here as well, but distinguishing it was impossible at this point.

The bodies had been shattered to pieces.

There was no longer any trace of a human form left.

The archbishop beside him, unable to hold back any longer, began to retch.

When you think about it, it wasn’t unreasonable.

As a clergyman, Dominic had often encountered people with severe injuries in his line of work.

But how many times could one witness a scene this horrifying?

Gang wars in the back alleys.

Even Dominic, who had grown somewhat desensitized from his time providing aid in the slums of the kingdom, found it hard to endure.

A surge of rage could be felt.

This was not the result of mere killing.

If killing had been the goal, these bodies wouldn’t look like this.

This was what happens only when inflicting pain on the other was the true objective.

...But this had been done by God.

This wasn’t some petty revenge.

And a just God would never be enraged without reason.

So, this gruesome scene conveyed only one thing.

Their sins were so heinous that they had provoked the wrath of a merciful God.

‘What in the world did you do, Cardinal Caron…?’

The more Dominic surveyed the area, the heavier the sense of foreboding became, growing larger and more oppressive.

He was certain now—some monstrous evil had occurred here.

What had Cardinal Caron, the most esteemed clergyman in the Holy Church, the man once considered God’s most beloved human, been hiding all this time?

“There’s… there’s a suspicious passageway here!”

A voice called out from a distance.

Dominic turned to see a door.

A door concealed by powerful illusion magic, yet somehow left ajar.

Everyone, including Dominic, stood before it. Beyond the door, stairs descended into the depths.

It likely led to the underground chambers of the Grand Cathedral.

However, no one dared to take the first step.

Neither the one who had discovered it nor those who had arrived before Dominic. They all simply stared, gazing down at the staircase.

The reason was simple.

They all knew.

The sin that God had spoken of awaited them beyond this door.

But...

Dominic stepped forward without hesitation.

He had no choice.

No matter how afraid he was.

No matter how much he didn’t want to face it.

‘Because I swore.’

To follow the will of God.

Even though God no longer desired such sinful humans, still.

The mistakes of the past could not be repeated.

Thus, they descended into the underground of the Grand Cathedral.

After what felt like an eternity of walking down the stairs, they arrived.

The place was utterly strange.

At first, Dominic had thought.

This must be a storage room, surely.

The Grand Cathedral was the heart of the Holy Church, so naturally, there would be a need for storage rooms to house valuable relics.

Just like the hidden area they had discovered earlier, this place must have been used to store holy relics.

But that was only half correct.

“This... this can’t be. This should never have happened...”

The elderly cardinal, responsible for the Republic, staggered in disbelief.

And it wasn’t surprising.

The Well of Miracles.

The sacred relic, created by the First Saintess when she sacrificed herself.

A place where other saintesses, before their deaths, would immerse themselves, gathering their remaining strength—the well was as important as the Holy Church itself.

[If I can save people even in death, what greater joy is there?]

These were the words left by the First Saintess. But now... not a single drop of sacred blood remained.

The Well of Miracles had run dry.

The noble will of the saintesses, who gave their bodies to prevent future calamities, had vanished.

And that wasn’t even the end of it.

The Vault of Stars.

The Hand of Grace.

The Seal of Radiance.

All of these treasures, once etched into the history of the Holy Church, now lay scattered above the dried well.

None of them radiated the divine power they once held.

Not only had the Well of Miracles lost its power, but all of the Holy Church’s sacred relics had become powerless.

It was a horrendous scene.

The elderly cardinal with white hair cried out in fury, his voice trembling.

“That wretched Caron, unable to control his greed, has committed this atrocity!”

He accused Caron of using all of these sacred relics for his own selfish gain.

After all, Caron had been renowned for his overwhelming divine power for quite some time.

It was clear now that Caron’s divine power came from secretly draining the strength of these relics.

The sacrifices of the saintesses, who gave their lives for future generations, had been reduced to nothing.

No wonder God was furious.

But… why?

Something felt off.

Dominic couldn’t shake the feeling that they were missing something crucial.

Almost as if in a trance, Dominic moved past the well and continued forward.

[Special Training Room]

Before long, he encountered a door marked with this phrase.

Curious about what this place could have been used for, Dominic pushed the door open.

The room that greeted him was even more bizarre than the last.

A large space, seemingly designed to hold many people.

It reminded him of a theater, like the kind used for performances.

But on the stage… was torture equipment.

Several centuries ago, this torture device had been used to interrogate heretics, but it was banned long ago for being too inhumane.

But why?

A dreadful feeling crept in.

It was a profoundly ominous feeling.

Dominic placed his hand on the ground and began to construct a ritual.

Due to the aftermath of the Divine’s descent, the memories etched into the land around the Grand Cathedral were in disarray.

Fortunately, this area seemed unaffected, likely due to the distance.

Before long, the events that had taken place here began to unfold before Dominic’s eyes.

In the previously empty space, the phantoms of children appeared. All the children were staring at the stage.

And on that stage...

There was a child.

A little one, no older than seven.

That child was being forcibly dragged into the device by none other than Cardinal Caron.

The child cried out for mercy, begging to be saved.

But no one paid any attention to the child’s desperate pleas for life.

Cardinal Caron spoke.

This was punishment for daring to attempt an escape, he said.

If you wish to wash away your sins, pray to God.

He reminded the child that the one who received the sacred stigmata last time had been spared, and there was hope for them too.

If they could receive God’s love and obtain the stigmata, they would be freed from this place.

As he said this, Cardinal Caron smiled.

Blood and flesh splattered.

The child’s limbs were torn apart.

But no rest, no salvation was granted.

The child’s body was restored by divine power, returning to its original form.

Over and over.

Again and again.

Each time, the child screamed.

“Please, save me,” they cried.

Dominic now understood.

He couldn’t help but understand.

This was the sin God had spoken of.

A sin so grave, so unforgivable, that it could never be pardoned.

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