I like traveling the most

Axis Cult Headquarters.

It was a little cold here, not as lively as before. Even walking in the church's territory, there was no one to be seen.

This was natural.

All the believers in the headquarters were arranged by Lin to the Rebuen family's territory. No, not only the believers in the capital, but all the believers in the kingdom were sent to the Rebuen family's territory. Only a few people were left.

After all, we really don't know what dangers the kingdom will face next. It would be a little more reassuring to place the believers in the Rebuen territory.

Pushing open the door of the church, a greeting came to my ears.

"Welcome back, Master Lin."

"It's Monica."

Lin casually greeted Monica who bowed her head to him. This beautiful woman who had been arranged by him to be the proprietress of an inn in the fortress city now looked very special in the clothes of the believers.

"Where is Gazef?"

"The warrior-captain was sent to the room."

"Really? I see."

Gazef was unwilling to be resurrected, but Lin still took the initiative to keep the possibility. Not only for him, but also for the king he was loyal to.

Lin's resurrection magic was indeed limited - he could only resurrect within one day of death, but he could use magic items to freeze the time of the body and resurrect it when needed.

The destruction of the kingdom was imminent.

He could see that the shadow of death had completely enveloped the kingdom. If the kingdom wanted to retain the last spark, it would probably need Gazef's help.

"My brother, where is Marquis Rebuen?"

"He went back to the territory."

"Really?"

Long before the war began, Marquis Rebuen said that he would go home to recuperate after the war was over after he took command of the army.

In addition to exposing his identity because of his defection, he also wanted to temporarily escape from the power vortex of the capital to protect himself. Of course, more because this was a war that he had to go to war even though he knew he would lose, and the cruelty of killing so many soldiers made him blame himself. However, he did not expect that the result would be like this.

"My brother must be very guilty. Although I have temporarily stabilized his spirit with magic, after all, he is facing such a terrifying monster."

Lin sighed slightly.

Faith magic can heal physical wounds, but it can't heal mental trauma, not to mention that the instigator is the Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown.

With the healing of [Flower] and many excellent Axis believers, his spirit should be suppressed temporarily.

"What about the king?"

"The king blames himself very much, and because the nobles and the pro-king faction suffered heavy losses this time, the proposal to give up the territory was easily passed."

"I know about this kind of thing, I want to say... No, forget it, it's nothing."

Maybe the king didn't expect it. He thought it was just an ordinary pretense and a small fight, but he didn't expect to directly stab the old nest... but he was just stabbed by someone.

The loss of 180,000 troops, the loss of many elites of the kingdom, the loss of the warrior captain, and even the loss of his son - the eldest prince's life and death is currently unknown, but everyone with a discerning eye knows that no matter what the outcome of this war is, he will definitely die.

It's just that the king can't fall now, otherwise he will die without appointing a new king, and the kingdom will be more chaotic and uncontrollable, so no one told him this cruel fact.

"What about the princess? Did she make any statement?"

"No."

"You mean...no?"

Lin turned his head slowly.

His frown seemed confused.

If you think about it carefully, the aristocratic faction is not strong enough and the pro-king faction is in a slump. Isn't it the best time for the civilian faction to rise up?

It's impossible that she is holding back because she might kill the king.

Lin doesn't believe that she is a person who values ​​family affection so much. After all, she was the one who caused the death of the eldest prince.

"In addition, the Blood Emperor sent a message... through the intelligence network of the Axis believers."

"Sure enough, he caught me before the war. I thought I valued him enough, but I didn't expect that I still underestimated him... Forget it, even if he is not discovered, it's useless. Such a strong enemy cannot be resisted by humans alone. Maybe he didn't do that to send me a signal. It's just that I am too stupid, or too obscure, and I didn't understand."

What Lin didn't say was that even if he understood, it would be useless. He couldn't stop the empire and the kingdom from going to war. Not only he couldn't stop it, but the Blood Emperor couldn't stop it either. Just as he had imagined, the Blood Emperor was also helpless.

"The news he sent, could it be that he was discussing fighting against the Magic King?"

"Yes. In the letter, he hoped that Lord Lin could go to discuss it, and he also invited the Temple Masters of Fire and Wind of the Silian Theocracy."

"Let him die."

"...Eh?"

"Huh, after betraying the kingdom, he still dared to send an invitation shamelessly, pretending to think that he was on the side of humans and that he was the victim? He wanted to arouse hatred and treat us as idiots, which was really a good plan."

Lin sneered at the Blood Emperor.

It had to be admitted that his political skills were brilliant, using Lin as a chess piece to test him while also dragging the Theocracy and the Holy Kingdom into the water.

If he won, he would gain the greatest reputation as the organizer; if he lost, he could also turn around and distance himself from the relationship and protect himself.

After all, he is now nominally a vassal of Ainz Ooal Gown, and the kingdom will be swallowed up if it loses its manpower anyway, so it will just depend on who eats more.

Disgusting guy.

——Don’t get me wrong, this is the highest level of praise for Lin, who sees him as an opponent.

That calculating guy who killed all his relatives and longed for family affection might be losing his hair now because of how to deal with Ainz Ooal Gown.

Speaking of Ainz Ooal Gown.

“What’s going on in the Fortress City… no, it should be the Magic Kingdom now?”

“Yes, the bureaucrats who originally governed E-Rantel have fled, but there have been no riots so far, and the residents living there have not been oppressed. I heard that it was because of the dark hero Momo’s dealings with them.”

“Really? Don’t want to rule by fear? Mr. Momo played a big role in this, but I don’t think the Magic King is afraid of him. Such a strong enemy is not something humans can resist. There must be a deeper reason… Let the Axis cultists sneak in there again and observe Ainz Ooal Gown’s every move at all times.”

Since the other party will not attack the residents for no reason, he can use it in turn.

"By the way, Monika, you are not allowed to go."

"Yes, I command."

It is impossible to say that Monika has no feelings for the Fortress City. No matter when she was at her lowest or at her most glorious, her legend is still circulating in the Fortress City.

"Also, the envoys from the Magic Kingdom will visit in a few days."

"No."

Lin, who is a priest himself, has to face the devil, and the subordinates of the person who killed his friend. He is afraid that he will not be able to help but purify those guys on the spot.

It will not be good to cause social problems, which will make the kingdom, which has already suffered, even worse. In addition, there is nothing to say to those dirty nobles who are unwilling to work and only want to get benefits.

"By the way, is there any news about Mr. Sebas?"

"...Unfortunately, we did not find Mr. Sebas."

"Really."

Sebas was a partner who had destroyed the brothel with him, saved the capital and expelled the devil, and the other party was quite powerful. To be honest, compared to the kingdom army that might be tied up, Lin hoped to gather Sebas and Momo and Nabe's beheading team again.

Maybe the four of them can fight Ainz Ooal Gown in a righteous way?

Unfortunately, no matter the Kingdom, the Empire or the Theocracy, no trace of Sebastian has been found.

It is impossible that he ran to the Holy Kingdom, right?

Should it be too coincidental, or Sebastian has a keen sense of danger, he disappeared all of a sudden.

"Where is Lagis?"

"Miss Aindora is not in the capital at the moment, she should be on a mission."

During the demon invasion of the capital, Gagaran and Tina, who belonged to the Blue Rose, were killed. After they were resurrected, they practiced to restore their strength, and also to strengthen Nina's strength and let her grow into a strong person like them.

I don't know if they know about the Kingdom's defeat.

Adventurers cannot intervene in wars between countries. This is an iron rule set by the Adventurer's Guild. Thanks to this rule, she didn't have to make a difficult decision.

No, even if they were allowed, they probably wouldn't agree to help. After all, Lagis must have thought it was just an annual military exercise like Lin.

Fortunately, she didn't join, otherwise Lin didn't know what the consequences would be.

In fact, the war in the Katz Plains... no, it should be said that there was a massacre, and many civilians died. Even so, the kingdom was not fatally damaged.

The kingdom has about 9 million people, and the war dead are only 180,000 of them. It can be said that only 2% of the victims appeared. Although it may not sound good to say this, it won't cause much trouble if they die.

But even so, the dead are men, and they are young and strong adult men. The kingdom will have a difficult life in the future.

"Lord Lin."

When Lin raised his head and looked at the statue without the goddess's face, Monica asked from behind.

"——Can you defeat Ainz Ooal Gown?"

"Why, are you afraid of him too?"

"Yes, very afraid."

Privately, Monika would not show off. If she was not afraid after receiving such information, Lin would think she was abnormal.

"For humans, it is impossible."

Lin naturally told the truth. Even if he said it was possible at this time, he would not be believed.

Monika lowered her head slightly and accepted this heavy fact.

"But it is not that there is no way."

"What?! What should I do?"

She raised her head suddenly and could not help asking.

People are like this. When they feel insecure, they want to find sustenance. She is the same as Brian and Climb.

However, Lin asked: "Monika, what exactly is magic?"

"...Huh?"

"Magic can create incredible power. The higher the level of magic, the greater the power it brings. But humans cannot surpass the sixth level of magic."

"Yes..."

This is an indisputable fact. In this world, humans are the weakest race.

"Who made this rule? No, I'm not saying that humans can only use sixth-class magic, but who promoted and divided magic into classes?"

"The Eight Desire Kings..."

Monica looked at Lin's expression after she said this.

This is something that almost every magic chanter knows. After all, magic has been passed down from the era of the Eight Desire Kings five hundred years ago. However, Lin's question made Monika feel unconfident.

"It is the Eight Desire Kings. You are right."

Lin affirmed and then asked: "Then, the question arises-what kind of magic was used before this? This is not just a human being. No, it doesn't matter even if it is a human being. For example, what kind of magic did the six gods use? Or did they not use magic?"

"Huh?"

Monika was confused.

This was what Lin discovered when he was in the Church. Was that woman-Juesi Jueming called a god-man by the astrologer Qianli? It is the return of the blood of the six gods and their descendants. There are many gods, but the strongest one is Juesi Jueming. According to Lin's judgment, she is likely to be stronger than Sebastian.

Of course, the woman who was hidden by the Church because she was afraid of being feared by the surrounding countries could not help deal with Ainz Ooal Gown.

Ahem, I'm getting off topic.

"Monica, do you know the Dragon King... No, to be more precise, should we call them the True Dragon King?"

"Dragon King? Are they from the Kingdom's Snow Mountain?"

Monica knew about the Dragon King. After all, dragons are creatures that have been at the top of the food chain since birth. There are Dragon Kings in the snowy mountains to the north of the kingdom, and they come to destroy the environment around the kingdom every few years.

"That's just the Dragon King. I'm talking about the True Dragon King."

"True Dragon King?"

"Although there is only one word difference between the Dragon King and the True Dragon King, the True Dragon King can beat all the Dragon Kings. Because they can use a kind of magic - Origin Magic. It's better to say that they are called True Dragon Kings because they know Origin Magic."

"What is Origin Magic...?"

"I don't know."

Lin shook his head helplessly.

He didn't hide it on purpose. He had already said this, so there was no need to keep it a secret. But in fact, he really didn't know what Origin Magic was. Those old guys in the Church kept the relevant information tightly protected.

"Although I don't know, I guess the Origin Magic is the original magic of this world before the Eight Desire Kings."

There is too little information, even he can't connect the development of the world together.

But none of this matters.

Monica suddenly said: "You mean, if you can learn the Origin Magic or ask the True Dragon King for help, you can stop Ainz Ooal Gown?"

"I don't know."

Lin poured cold water again.

"What is it..."

"I don't know if I can learn the Origin Magic, and I'm not sure if the True Dragon King will become an enemy of Ainz Ooal Gown because the kingdom was defeated, but I have another one that is also out of the existing magic system, with a power that may be beyond imagination, and it can also restrain the undead."

The eyes fell on the statue of the goddess.

There is no doubt that Lin will place his hopes on the illusory goddess.